The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1894-06-27

| hhS AuuHuhtluh OF tHc theory anu treat
ment OF disease, rapidly became the
text book OF Europe and of the east
and long remained in the hands OF his
pupils the basis OF medicine teaching
Yet there We're so-ealled practical
men, in those days who received the
work with seant favor. They boosted
that they read nothing; that all avail
able knowledge was the produce OF ex
perience only, They sneered at mus
cum doctors. and said that such Were
not hit 10 doctor a cat.
But Boerhaave's greatest glory wal
the prominence he gave TO chemical In
struetion. Instead OF aimiess wander
ing through the hospital wards. HI
adopted the plan OF examining few pa
tients. but with them TO be exact. thor.
ough and exhaustive. At the bedside
he taught with great minuteness the
conditions that prevail in health, and
then the changes wrought by disease
and upon these data he proceeded e
formulate his therapeusis. Under him
the post mortew room assumed the
same Importance as the library. The
chemical laboratory. the dissectnl
room and the botanical gardens. HI,
pupils in other lands established clinic,
and clinical instruction in conformity
with the precedents he established. The
clinical schools Of Edinburg and Wien,
ma under the guidance OF Cullen and
Van Sweeten, owe their glory to his
transplanted spirit.
His system OF treatment. like that Of
Sydenham and Hlppocrates. comprised
few remedies. and laid great stress
upon hygiene He had little faith In the
prevailing elixir and longam vitam. AS
to "nostrums," he says, "let those who
have them keep them. till they can
convince impartial observers OF their
real worth" In a foot-note to this
Burton, who was his Boswell and wor.
shipper, says, Mrs. stephens sapo.
naceous dissolvent for stone in the kid.
neys and bladder may be a proof OF
one of them"
In Ills he accepted, in addition Ia
his other public positions, the profes.
sorship of chemistry then left vacant
by the death OF LeMort. In 1888 he
published his Elements OF Chemistry
1t Is divided into three parts. The
learning; the second part presents
Boerhaaves theoretical views; while
in the third part the authors personal
observations are given. These are
chiefly of interest as showing the vol
ume of useless experimentation that
preceded solid advances in chemical
science.
AS a sample Of old-ime ways, Burton
with loving admiration, details Boer-
haave's attempt to accomplish the con-
summate publication of quicksilver.
With matchless perseverance he tor
tured 1T by compensation, trituration,
digestion and by distillation; he ANAL
gamated it with lead, tin or gold, re-
peating this operation to 511 or even to
ST. Installations. But, alas, owing to
an inherent turpitude in the metal, at
the end it was only the same quicksil-
yer as at the beginning.
| That this and similar experiences
were not satisfactory to Boerhaave is
evident from his preface. The work
he complains was produced at the in
stance Of his friends, and because of
spurious accounts Of his lectures which
wre then in circulation. This brought
Petrarch to my mind, who bewails the
unhappiness of his age, upon finding
himself ranked among the chief poets
in it. With what confidence could l.
conscious Of my own insufficiency, and
full Of admiration of other authors
enter the list Of writer's Of chemistry!
At length, however, I undertook the dis
gustful work which I now declare was
extorted from me.
In his prime Boerhaave was tall, 70.
bust and athletic, hardened by exercise
negligent in dress, with a large head
curly brown hair, bright piercing eye
and a florid complexion. He was a
sincere and affectionate friend, cour-
teous in his professional intercourse
with praise for others but silent con-
corning himself There was in his air
something rough and artless, but SC
majestic and great at the same time
that no man ever looked upon him
without veneration and kind of tacit
submission to the superiority of his gen.
ius." He rose at o'clock in summer
and at in winter. Ten was his usual
bedtime. One hour he devoted to
prayer and meditation. This, he said
gave him spirit and vigor in the bust
ness of the day. All his abilities he as
cribed to the goodness of God. In the
severest winters he had neither fire nor
stove in his study where he passed three
to four hours in the morning. His IL
brary abounded in the works Of the
best historians, poets and authors of
| polite literature as well as in those