the late Maxwell Garthshore, M.D. 333 



must vanish, and sink under the manslaying operations of 

 inedical artifice. The sword has cut off as thousands, the 

 doctors their tens of thousands. 



But the natural history of medical practice during the 

 last 50 \ears is too intimately allied with the venerable life 

 of our octogenarian, and too honourable to his talents as 

 a philosopher and his probity as a man, to be wholly over- 

 looked in this brief sketch. Dr. Garthshore lived to see 

 the rise and fall of the s,)asmodic theory and of antispas- 

 modics, that of the antiphlogistic regimen, phlebotomy, 

 diffusible stimuli, drastic purges, gases, digitalis, and even 

 stramuiiium ! The curative powers of all those sovereign 

 reiTiedies, and many more, which owed their existence to 

 the sanguine iiiiagmations of speculative enthusiasts, have 

 sprung up, flouristied for an hour, and sunk to lasting obli- 

 vion. While popular attention, however, was occupied 

 vi'ith these phantoms, the true indications of nature were 

 entirely neglected, and all our knowledtre of her oeconomv 

 remained as stationary as if the chemist's laboratory or the 

 apothecary's shop had been the real seat of every disease. 

 Hence the great merit of Dr. G.'s practice, which was 

 peculiar, original, and efficacious far beyond vulgar belief. 

 Well knowing the impotency of drugs, and the imperfection 

 of human knowledge, (which in medicine has not one fea- 

 ture that can aspire to the character of scientific,) he 

 studied nature, identified himself with his pa'ient in iamily 

 digressions or friendly inquiries, discovered his latent sym- 

 pathies and idiosyncrasies, ensured his perfect confidence 

 by his suavity and tender attention, engaged his feelings, 

 relieved his mind, and restored him rapidly to health, 

 strength, and improved moral character! In doing this, 

 however, he was far from neglecting any other means 

 which could possibly contribute to the relief of his patient; 

 but he never considered them as alone sufficient, without 

 his own [)ersonal care and gra!if\inir attention. The na- 

 tive benevolence of his heart, indeed, impelled him to use 

 every possible resource for the relief of the suffering, and 

 his long experience added to his means, and even to his 

 zeal in apjilying those means. That he was eminently 

 successhil will, we believe, be readily admitted bv all disin- 

 terested persons capable of judging. Considered as ati ob- 

 stetrician, his talents and success peer above all competi- 

 tion ; and he formed a distinguished exception to the truth 

 of the general observation, that all accoucheurs are super- 

 stitious. Were we called upon to write an epitaph oa 

 his tomb, we should say, •' Here lie the mortal remains of 

 Y 3 a raoet 



