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Having thus briefly surveyed the domain of American Medical 

 Literature, the Committee proceed to make some few remarks upon 

 its character and tendencies. 



In the course of half a century from the establishment of the first 

 of the Medical Journals, their number has been gradually rising, 

 until at the present time, at least twenty are known to be in exist- 

 ence. Some principle in addition to the wants of the reading com- 

 munity, must exist to account for such inordinate fecundity in this 

 particular department. This is to be found in the homely fact, that 

 a medical journal is a convenient ally and advertising medium for 

 public institutions and publishing establishments, and that by the 

 help yourself system so generally established, it is not necessarily 

 much harder to edit a medical journal than to furnish the "notes 

 and additions" to the work of a British author. Still, the general 

 character of these journals is respectable, and of several among them 

 highly creditable to the state of medical science. Every year shows 

 that exact observation is more and more valued, and that a better 

 literary standard is becoming gradually established. The Committee 

 would not discharge an important duty, if they neglected to point 

 out what appear to them the most obvious defects noticeable in this 

 important department. The first is a tendency to speculate, and 

 very often to dispute about the ultimate causes of diseases, instead of 

 thoroughly investigating their phenomena. This is a point which has 

 been made the subject of controversy elsewhere. Whether the true 

 version be "Don't think but try" or "think, and try," it very cer- 

 tainly is not "think, instead of trying," or "instead of observing." 

 Yet, this is the way in which an incalculable amount of time and 

 paper has been wasted, by men of ingenious minds, placed in the 

 very midst of pathological occurrences which had never been pro- 

 perly studied in their character of phenomena, and this it is which 

 gives such a gaseous and unsubstantial character to many of our 

 magazine articles, that even the greedy Abstracts and the cannibal 

 Retrospects, pass them by as diet fit only for the chameleon ! An- 

 other and sorer cause of complaint, of occasional but not frequent 

 occurrence, is to be found in the liberties allowed to anonymous 

 writers — not so much with regard to each other, for if "Medicus" 

 and "Senex" were to succeed in reciprocal annihilation, the loss 

 might not be serious — but with regard to their neighbours at large 

 and to things in general. An editor is responsible that nothing 

 shall be admitted into his pages, the essential character of which is 

 hostile and inflammatory, on the same principle that he is bound to 



