314 ON MEDICAL EDUCATION xif 



medical schools, and the number of them, are 

 such as to render it almost impossible that men 

 who confine themselves to the teaching of the 

 theoretical branches of the profession should be 

 able to make, their bread by that operation ; and, 

 you know, if a man cannot make his bread he 

 cannot teach at least his teaching comes to a 

 speedy end. That is a matter of physiology. 

 Anatomy is fairly well taught, because it lies in 

 the direction of practice, and a man is all the 

 better surgeon for being a good anatomist. It 

 does not absolutely interfere with the pursuits of 

 a practical surgeon if he should hold a Chair of 

 Anatomy though I do not for one moment say 

 that he would not be a better teacher if he did 

 not devote himself to practice. (Applause.) Yes, 

 I know exactly what that cheer means, but I 

 am keeping as carefully as possible from any sort 

 of allusion to Professor Ellis. But the fact is, 

 that even human anatomy has now grown to be 

 so large a matter, that it takes the whole devotion 

 of a man's life to put the great mass of knowledge 

 upon that subject into such a shape that it can 

 be teachable to the mind of the ordinary student. 

 What the student wants in a professor is a man 

 who shall stand between him and the infinite 

 diversity and variety of human knowledge, and 

 who shall gather all that together, and extract 

 from it that which is capable of being assimilated 

 by the mind. That function is a vast and au 



