Letters on the Medical School of London. 



302 



and obtained my dinloma ; aUIjoiiRh I 

 have but Utile anxiety as to tlie result 

 of the ordeal : for 1 g;iined at Edin- 

 burgh a tolerable knowledge of ana- 

 tomy, (so at least my worthy preceptor 

 Dr. Barclay was pleased to say,) and 

 Paris atlordcd me several excellent 

 opportunities of witnessing the perfoc- 

 lion of modern surgery ; so that, al- 

 tliough I do not intend to be idle, — for 

 it is not, you know, in my nature to be 

 so, — I shall not pay that exclusive 

 attention to my studies which would 

 be requisite in a novice. 



You have often told me, Frederick, 

 that you would not, upon any conside- 

 ration, be a medical man ; and you 

 liave urged as your objections, first, 

 the necessary loathsome nature of the 

 preliminary studies ; and, secondly, 

 the excessive toil and provoking un- 

 certainty of the practice itself. All 

 Ihis is very well for a nervous, sensi- 

 tive jouth like my good friend; whom 

 Fortune has placed beyond tlie neces- 

 sity of exertion, and who can sit at 

 liome by his fire-side, and gaze with a 

 careless eye upon the toil and bustle 

 around hiui. But to one, who is to 

 gain his bread by the sweat of his 

 Imow, all these discouraging djHicultios 

 become gradually less conspicuous 

 and formidable, till he finds that those 

 very obstacles, which were once so 

 obvious and disheartening, arc only so 

 many " exciting causes" to exertion 

 and perseverance. Thus have I found 

 it ; and it shall not be my fault if I do 

 jiiit gain a very comfortable compc- 

 1( ncy by the exercise of that profession 

 to which I am every day becoming 

 more enthusiastically attached. 



As to the lo;ithsouic nature of our 

 .studies, — at least of our anatomical 

 studies, (and anatomy is the key-stone 

 (if It" , rcfcssjon,) — I would engage to 

 insj;jre you with pot only a reveicnce 

 .'or the study, but v^ith a decided and 

 paiisiona'e |)redilection for it. Your 

 licaevolcnt and well-cultivated mind, 

 — 1 prithee blush not at such fine 

 phrases,— could never behold, without 

 the most fervent admiration, the won- 

 derful and most beautiful organization 

 of the human body. The very evidence 

 of design and contrivance, and of the 

 most admirable adaptation of means 

 to euds, would imjiress you with a 

 powerful conviction of the mercy and 

 (■mnipotency of Him who fashioned us. 

 \(,ttli(re are some who presume to 

 fiii<l fault with tlie mechanism of the 

 human skeleton. Au excellcjit Jiua- 



[May I, 



tomist once said, there viras not a well- 

 made joint in the whole body ; but he 

 was then talking like a carpenter, — 

 like one who had no means of judging 

 of the works of Nature, but by com- 

 paring them with our own limited de- 

 signs and performances. It was, how- 

 ever, a com|)arison of the mechanism 

 of tlie Kg and foot that led Galen 

 (who, they say, was a sceptic in his 

 yontli,) to the public declaration of his 

 opinion, that intelligence must have 

 operated in ordaining the laws by 

 which living beings are constructed. 

 That Galen was a man of very supe- 

 rior intellect could be readily proved, 

 were it necessary. 1 have often known 

 the passage 1 allude to made a subject 

 of reference, but not of quotation, 

 among my fellow-students; and I make 

 no apology for reciting it now, although 

 it may happen that it is already known 

 to you. "In explaining these things, 

 (he says.) I consider myself as com- 

 posing a solemn hymn to the Great 

 Architect of our bodily frame ; in 

 which, I tliink, there is more true piety 

 than in sacrilicjug hecatombs of oxen, 

 or in burning the most costly per- 

 fumes: for I lirst endeavour, from his 

 works, to know myself, and after- 

 wards, by the same means, to show 

 him to others, to inform them how 

 great is IJis wisdom, His goodness, 

 His power." 



Tiiere are, however, other structures 

 in the body, besides tlie frame-work, 

 Mhicli are all wonderfully beautiful. 

 Dr. Hunter could never demonstrate 

 the back-part of the human throat, the 

 passages by which we swallow and 

 respire, and the mechanism by whieii 

 the extremely diversified intonations 

 of the human voice are produced, 

 without enthusiasm. I have heard, 

 that it was really delightful to see this 

 venerable old man expatiating, with 

 all the raptures of a poet, upon the 

 exquisite structure of the larynx, pha- 

 rijux, and the organs attached to thera. 

 Who, also, can examine the laerymal 

 parts of the human eye, or the wonder- 

 ful mechanism of the ear, — to say no- 

 thing of the structure and functions 

 of the viscera, — without the most un- 

 feigned admiration. But why do we 

 admire these things ? Is it not because 

 we understand them ? We see the 

 necessity for contrivances, and we 

 find them constructed beyond our 

 highest expectations, and perfectly 

 adequate to ell'ect the purposes for 

 which we believe them dc-ji^jued. Tl»e 



same 



