48 ON THE STUDY OF LATIN. 



tion," and Ihey find no difficulty in writing their prescriptions. As 

 well might it be supposed that the ancient languages are indispen- 

 sable to the Naturalist, because the scientific names of animals and 

 plants are in Latin. A man may be an excellent Naturalist-^nay, 

 he is more likely to be so — and well qualified to give new names to 

 natural objects, without knowing a single word of Latin. So, in 

 the same manner. Physicians must, of course, know all the medical 

 terms which are in use ; and what more does he want ? The Latin 

 of prescriptions — which, after all consist of little else but terras — is 

 such as any one might write and any one understand : and, indeed, 

 were not this the case, how would it be possible for apothecaries' 

 boys to understand them? In some cases, however, where we 

 may suppose the Physician has wished to show the effects of his 

 " sound classical education," the wrong medicine has been adminis- 

 tered, and the luckless patient poisoned, by this absurd practice of 

 writing the prescriptions in a dead language. It appears to me that 

 instead of cloaking the prescriptions in such a dark veil of mystery, 

 they should be rendered as plain and intelligible as possible, espe- 

 cially when we consider the awful effects which may be — and not 

 unfrequently are — produced by a misinterpretation of the Physician's 

 prescription,, and when, moreover, we consider the description of 

 persons employed to decipher them. 



Another argument frequently brought forward in favor of the 

 classics is, that they are eminently useful as media for the corres- 

 pondence of scientific men of different nations. But would it not 

 be much easier, and far more useful, to learn the modern languages, 

 as French, German, and Italian, and especially the two first? — 

 French is better suited for science than almost any other language; 

 and from its universality, and the facility with which it is acquired, 

 it is preferable to every other for the useful and pleasant intercourse 

 above alluded to. It may, however, be urged that Latin must 

 be learned in order to facilitate the acquisition of the modern lan- 

 guages. The fallacy of this argument is so evident that I consider 

 it quite unnecessary for me to offer any remarks on this subject. I 

 may, however, just state that Franklin advised a method of proceed- 

 ing diametrically opposed to this. He says that the pupil should 

 begin with Italian, then go to French, Spanish, German, &c., and 



