The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-11

ghtl0n anu DuBIDInCblOlt uhbDONOkCN ebO
part played therein by tho operation Of
living organisms. By his Investigations
he laid the groundwork Of an edi6ce prom
Using to attain dimensions which will en-
brace the whole range Of lnfectivo diseases.
Never in the history of medicine has a pro-
posed addition to its reached In
90 short q time q position 80 unassailable
rs has the explanation Of infective diseases
and Of Inflammation by the Intervention OF
bacterial parasites. The science Of bac-
teriology has grown up under the eyes OF
the present generation, and has revolution
lied our conceptions Of the nature Of disease.
While the nature of disease and its causa-
| tion have become palmer, equal progress
| has been made in the methods Of clinical
investigation the powers Of accurate dag
nosis have been vastly extended during the
Victorian era. Sixty years ago but q short
time had elapsed since LAENN had d.
rected attention to the new field OF
observation opened by the use Of the
stethoscope, an instrument then appre-
ciated only by q few. 1t would be hard to
o~verrate the value OF the results of the
methodical examinations Of the chest by
physical exploration. AS years rolled by,
the clinical armamentaria received other
Important accessions, such as the thermom-
eter, fret used clinically In 1850; the oph-
kaleidoscope. 1851; the laryngoscope, 1857.
The aid given by electro-physiology In d.
agnosis forms another OF the remarkable de-
velopments undergone by the study Of dis.
eases of the nervous system. There is, in
truth, no department Of clinical medicine
which has developed to 30 great an extent
| I-.t.- 81, l,ak Nu,, ~nnA,t1-a NJ chat ~
neurology. The localization Of cerebral func-
tions; the discrimination Of the "system
diseases" Of the spinal cord; the di%fferentia-
tion Of spasmodic muscular affections and
of tho forms of muscular atrophy; the study
Of neuritls; these and many moro are the
fruits Of the clinical medicine Of our
era, supplemented, as 1t has been, by
pathological and physiological research.
We need not dwell upon the other
mechanical means which have been
turned to account for the study Of
disease; the clinical use Of the micro
scope and of the t~est-tube. the invention Of
the sphygmograph and cardlograph, and
other instruments imported to bedside
observation from the physiological lab
oratory. Scarcely any agency has been left
untried to secure greater accuracy In dag
nosis, and the consequence Is that the deter
mination Of disease can be made far moro
skilfully and unerringly than 1t could
when the Queen was called to the throne.
So much for pathology and clinical medi-
cine; 1t remains to speak Of therapeutics.
Has there been o like advance In the art of
healingi To this momentous question the
Lancet replies that tho chief gain to medi-
nina has heen mt No nnrh in the arfual
treatment of disease as in its prevention.
The Victorian era has been character.
lied by the rise and development of
sanitary science, the aim of which
is to promote the public health through
securing cleanliness Of air, water,
food, and drink; the construction OF
dwellings on hygienic principles, the avoid,
ance of overcrowding. and the practise OF
measures Of isolation; the control of
unhealthy occupations and the better
management Of factories. With these
efforts on the large scale to pre-
vent disease should DO coupled the
exertions of those who strive to in
culcate a knowledge Of the laws of health
among the people, and thereby to diminish
the suffering and mortality which the neg
lect of those laws entails.
But even when we turn from the devel
opment of public and personal hygiene t.
the actual treatment Of diseases, we cannot
fail to be struck by the progress effected
in the last two generations. We have wit
messed, for instance, the abolition of whole
sale venesection. and of the lowering
treatment Of fevers; we have witnessed
3 an unremitting effort to place msdica
therapeutics upon q rational basis, to de
, termine with accuracy the action of drugs
/. and to limit their prescription to deflnit'
t objects. We have witnessed, In q word,
: gradual emergence of therapeutics from al
. empirical to q scientific status, O recogni
ton of the limits of physics, and the intro
Q duction of methods other than those II
which drugs are concerned. Quito recently
r moreover, we have seen q direct appli
cation of moro exact knowledge of tn
nature of disease to measures for it's cur
or mitigation, as In the Pasteurian treat
ment Of h~ydrophobia and the antitoxil
treatment Of diphtheria. In these and II
Q analogous innovations there Is proof tina
o the art Of healing is becoming moro ra
I tiona and scientific and less q matter O
chance and guesswork than 1t has eve
bee before.
q To sum up In O sentence the twenty-five
d pages Of the Lancet, we may say that jus
v as the Elizabethan era was characterize
by triumphs In letters and learning, 80 tn
Victorian era will be known as that where
In science established its dominion and len
b Its powerful aid to the cause of humanity
"a The Coal Strike.