Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-10-06

Medical College:
1t is, my good fortune to have been chosen by
ny eolles CUES to delysr the opening lecture to
thank them for the compliment they have
paid me, and esteem It an honor 10 be the first to
1t IS az hohor, however, which did not ask,
ami from which would have preferred to havs
have been deyolved on one of those who are more
accustomed than to public speaking. To some
Of these an address is a pleasant pastime. To me
it is an embarrassing and laborious task. It has
been several years since have appeared before
an audience in formal address. 1 was then
Added years have taught me added caution and
d little less self-confidence than / then pos
brief professional career had permanently ended:
that had laid aside for life the relation /
now reassnme: Yet in the new essay l confess
excitement. 1t is an agreeable mental exhilara-
ton. not unmi1 I'd with some fear, to arouse in
your breasts, II L my, those sympathies which
are the bond of union between
PROFESSOR AND STUDENT.
hope shall succeed in doing this. While /
speak for myself, may not do, SO for those witr
whom was formerly associated, and ask that you
will accord us that hearty response of effort and
appreciation which the classes of former years
extended, and which you have bestowed on these
honored colleagues with whom we are now newly
associated2 You have listened to the IN with much
pleasure pleas Hu1 and s5ateatSSn Let us share with
What, then, young gentlemen, are the natives
which have brought you to these halls? What
leave pleasant homes and intimate friendships
to sojourn for a time in strange city, to devote
What the purpose in life which has now, BY your
presence before us, taken practical shape? You
reply, to become physicians, surgeons, sccoueh-
eurs, specialists for these have we come.
We hsve adopted as our ch Oice the most honora-
ble OF all secular eallings, the profession &c :. -l
toward NY the most superior aids
.Us successful attalnm snt-a decision,
young gentlemen, which we highly honor and re-
ssPcct., We welcome you gladly to our classes.
we take you cheerfnlly and warmly by the hand.
Let as epdeaver to lead you kindly along the
hoary road in which SO many OF the wisest an
best Of our race haxe for centuries trqd. Let us
speak to you Of it1 noble, purposes, its glOriou;
achievements, its, honorable end. its coveted
goal There her are two g'asset Of medical studsnts
~tnose ,s VINO study and those who do not There
investigate and those which 90 not. OF the for
Tn, mer the highest aimn, is to acquire the
education seems well nigh completed. Or, rising
little higher in the scale, are content with mod
and secure position in the confidence Of limited
so,.ny j; very large: It ia Is through in-
nifty of the profession and is most commonly
center with its solid emolaments, its silver and
The latter class with more empriss possesses
more exalted ideas of honor and success and puts
forth correspondingly Increasing ex,rtion, till
amb ton o. more rigorous intellect, they delight
in habits Of study and work to very high
lney DecOme laDOrlOuS, ueep tnlnk-
ers, patient inquirers after truth possess an in
sa'iable thirst for knowledse, and result Of
their own and the labors of others, rise to emf
nence and success. These possess tre genius OF
labor, of steady, patient toll.
None of us doubt the existence of men of gen
lus. There are great differences in natural ca.
paeities. The sale Of being is graduated
thing and deep alike than the pride of pomp o.
hidden characters" The Divine Being has en-.
dowed many men with wonderful powers
with mighty intellectual grasp. Their percep
X nd kaan hair N
thought profound and vast. To these
THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGs
is SO easy aud natural it is a seeming intention
These tower above their fellows as giauts anC
manship was Webster; in oratory, Clay; in iuris
prudence, Calhoun; in literature, Sir Waite
and Byron; in war, Napoleon; in medicine
John Hunter, Sir Ashley Cooper, Eirchon. Bill
10Th, 10Th, Hselpeau, Vel Simpson, Rush, Mot, SIMS
What said Milton when in the glow of hi
his muse: 81 thence invoke thy aid to my ad
venturous song that with no middle flight in
How grand Pollock s tr butte to B rou, England
great bad poet: "Others though; great beneath
| from above de cending stoopei to touch tn,
lloftiest thought and proudly stopped as thougl
there glowed and burned the fire Of genius
which burst into life to illnmine by it
l rover and It's beauty. L would descend iron
| these elegant QoftS) quotations to the wit
| humor of Webst'r, who, when less gifted bar
| rster complained to him of the crowded ranks o
the legal profession, pithily replied, You ough
to come up, here, where 1 am; it is not at al
crowded up here,, so conscious was he of hi
great powers and is vast erudition. While her
| aud there genius dazzes with its meteoric bril-
lisncy, it is the light from the untirin worker
| the unWearying student which glows and beam
l with all the steadiness of the great fixed stars
To its great students the world owes its grandes
and best achievements: from these it expect
| and obtains its most benefcent results. Coul'
/ we look into the secret histories of the mel
whose names we have just enumerated we woul'
genius of brilliant powers, the grander genius o
| labor. 1t is this which has written their name
upon b tine a
| titles. The world bows before. these men o
geOius. They. bowed the knee before the geniu
3f toll and paid him lowliest homage
| same ,ereat. spirit and exhibit in you
truth that there is no excellence without labor.
| These words of import have been as deeply carve
| the temple of Esculapius as over those of Mercu
rius or Minerva. Let it rivet your gaze as you to
| day cross its threshold and enter It's antecham
bsr; carry them with you into the recesses of ii
| most sacred shrines. Would that l could i'm
press upon your minds its weighty import.
TIME, FAITH, ENERGY,
| three ma Sic words which woke into life one
| the most beautiful and touching creations wbic
/ ever flowed from Bulwer's enchanted pen. Ii
| who has read Night and Morning has seen in tn
character of Philip Morton" the secret OF tn
| conquering power which triumphs over the mos
darkest vicssitudes in life. 1t is that of the over
| mastering, will confident in his strength I
tse hour Of dG Gumph aSd "ads
should come. What these magic word
% IN BuiSers w powerful pft S bTain OSa they Hsi ca
be to you in far higher and easier application a
i you nerve yourselves to the unalterable purpos
| which has drawn you here-t5at of becomin
| skilled, learned and eminent practitioners of tn
| healing art.
Time, Faith, Energy; let their stirring, rim
| of a great purpose and be to you the wide wild
difference between failure and success.
In order to give you some faint idea of you
studies; let me draw some illustrations 81 from M ou
study Of mau is man, fell from the lips Of i
gifted author, it had reference to the moral an
intellectp Il man: In your ST studies it has rsfel
confronts you is that tf the study of anatomy
When you look upon the form of man you regard
whole. When you take it to pieces and examin
| into its intricate mechanism, you are
once prplexsd and and ,bs bewideTed at Of
| organs and tissues. Inasmuch you are 500
| to try your skill upon it, how important that 70
the name of Descriptive Anatomy and wit
the intimate relation of those under the tern
| Regional and Surgical Anatomy. Before 20
have attained such accuracy and minuteness
| knowledge you must master its difficult termiT
| ology and become famlllar with It's great numbt
| Of names. Many of these are long and difficul
| To those of you who may have had some know
edge of the classics, their pronunciation an
| their meaning will be easier; to those who hav
not, the difficulty will embarrass you to the clos
of your professional lives Yet you mu
master them. 1t will to you
first be an unmeaning lingo. You will be lost
the intricacies Of such words as ''sPhenoi ;,
sors, eemmissures,' "ganeiia siausses,
"foraminas," .'Bt idomne genus" You mu
become thorough anatomists. The student WI
| spends every available moment in the dissectin,
| room is the man who is going to turn down his
COMPETITORS IN THE RACE.
He who upon cadsver performs much operati,
surgery is tho man who is going to feel most
| home when he has to operate on tho living bod!
aud nerves is the man who is the best able
| meet the great emergencies of injuries an
| wounds with ease and skill; it is wonderful az
vantage. The ignorance of these will man
| times perplex and often bring upon you di
| credit and great pecuuiary loss: But suppose yo
| have committed the names and mastered the r.
| lations of these dry bones, these wonderful mu
| cles, these throbbing arteries, these sensiti'
| nerves; suppose you have studied the huns
| brain and the great spinal cord, the sympafhet
gan glia in all their COMP kites, your next il
these, ,snd how are they blended into that m yster
| Gus union we call life You pass beyond this seer
| ingly meaningles mastery of dry detail of fac
and find in physiology and chemistry many soil
( ons of to you otherwise inexplicable mysterie
Physiology comes with all her beautiful disco
cries to unfold their meaning. Suppose, for O.
, ample, that one of these handsome young GENT
men-and 1t is very supposaele case-has by
admiring look or tender word brought the mo
est or suffused blush to the cheek of beauty, VIII
would be the physiological explanation OF q
pleasing effect? Scientific explanations might
, to him a matter of very smsll Importance in q
agreeable or embarrassing effect produced. Ply
iolosy will tell you that the impression made u