The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-27

which had been source of worry and dis
| pute for many generations. Louis clearly
! differentiated typhoid fever, and by the
work of his American pupils, W. w. Ger
! hard and Alfred Stille. of Philadelphia,
/ and George b. Shattuck, Of Boston. ty-
| plus and typhoid fever We're defined as
/ separate and Independent affections. Re
/ lapsing fever. yellow fever. dengue, etc,
/ were also distinguished. The work of
| Graves and Stokes of Dublin, of Jenner
and Budd in England, of Drake. Dickson.
and Flint in America, supplemented the
| labors of the French physicians, and by
| the year 1860 the profession had reached a
sure and safe position on the question
Of the clinical aspects of fevers.
The most distinguishing feature of the
| scientific medicine of the century has been
| the phenomenal results which have fol-
| lowed experimental Investigations. While
this method of research is not new, since
it was introduced by Galen. perfected by
Harvey. and carried on by Hunter, 1t was
not until well into the middle of this CEN
| fury that. by the growth OF research lab
| oratories, the method exercised a deep
| influence on progress. The lines OF ex-
| perimental research have sought to de-
| ternine the functions of the organs in
| health. the conditions under which per-
| version of these functions occur in dis
eases. and the possibility of exercising
protective and curative influences on the
| processes of disease.
The researches of the physiological
| Laboratories have enlarged in every di-
rection our knowledge of the great func-
tons of life-digestion. assimilation. cir
culation, respiration, and excretion. Per-
haps in no department have the results
been more surprising than In the growth
of our knowledge OF the functions of the
brain and nerves. Not only has expert
mental science given US clear and accu-
rate data upon the iocalization of GER
tain functions of the brain and of the
paths of sensatory and OF motor impulses,
but 1t has opened an entirely new field in
the diagnosis and treatment of the dis
eases of these organs. in certain directions
of most practical nature, enabling us
to resort to measures of relief uHdreamed
OF even thirty years ago.
The study of physiology and pathology
within the past half century has done
more to emancipate medicine from routine
and the thraldom of authority than all
the work of all the physicians from the
days Of Hippocrates to Jenner, and we
are as yet but on the threshold
THE GROWTH OF spEcIALlsM.
The restriction OF the energies of trained
students to narrow fields in science while
not without its faults. has been the most
important single factor in the remarkable
expansion of our knowledge Against the
disadvantages in a loss of breadth and
harmony there is the compensatory bene-
fit of a greater accuracy in the applica-
ton of knowledge in specialism. as is
well illustrated in the cultivation of spe-
cial branches of practice. Diseases of the
skin. of the eye, OF the ear. of the throat.
of the teeth. diseases of women and of
children are now studied and practiced
by men who devote all their time to one
limited field of work. While not without
minor evils this custom has yielded some
of the great triumphs of the profession
Dentistry. ophthalmology, and gynae-
cology are branches which have been
brought 10 state of comparative perfec-
ton. and very largely by the labors of
American physicians. in the Iast-named
branch the blessings which have been
brought to suffering women are incalcula-
bic, not only as regards the minor all
ments of life, but in the graver and more
critical accidents to which the sex is
liable
One of the most remarkable and bene-
ficiai reforms of the century has been in
the attitude of the profession and the pub
lie to the subject of insanity. and the
gradual formation of a body of men in
the profession who labor to find out the
cause and means of relief of this most
distressing of all human maladcs. The
reform movement inaugurated by Take in
England, by Rush in the United States.
by Pinel and Esquirol in France, and by
jacob and -Hasse In Germany has spread
90 all civilized countries. and has not only
led 10 an amelioration and improvement
in the care of the insane, but to a scien-
tiiic study of the subject which has al
ready been productive of much good In
this country. while the treatment of The
insane is careful and humanitarian, the
unfortunate utilization of insanity with
politics is still in many States a serious
hindrance TO progress.
1t may be interesting to take glance
at the state Of medicine in this country al
the opening of the century There were
only three schools of medicine. the most
important of which were the University
of Pennsylvania and Harvard. There were
only two general hospitals The medical
education was chiefly in the hands OF the
practitioners who took students AS an
prenuces for certain number of years.