APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS 25 



On the face of the matter, it is absurd to ask 

 whether it is more important to know the limits of 

 one's powers ; or the ends for which they ought to 

 be exerted ; or the conditions under which they 

 must be exerted. One may as well inquire which of 

 the terms of a Rule of Three sum one ought to know 

 in order to get a trustworthy result. Practical life 

 is such a sum, in which your duty multiplied into 

 your capacity, and divided by your circumstances, 

 gives you the fourth term in the proportion, which is 

 your deserts, with great accuracy. 



Books are the money of Literature, but only the 

 counters of Science. 



Medicine was the foster-mother of Chemistry, 

 because it has to do with the preparation of drugs 

 and the detection of poisons ; of Botany, because it 

 enabled the physician to recognise medicinal herbs ; of 

 Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, because the 

 man who studied Human Anatomy and Physiology 

 for purely medical purposes was led to extend his 

 studies to the rest of the animal world. 



civ 



A thorough study of Human Physiology is, 

 in itself, an education broader and more com- 

 prehensive than much that passes under that name. 

 There is no side of the intellect which it does not call 

 into play, no region of human knowledge into which 

 either its roots, or its branches, do not extend ; like 

 the Atlantic between the Old and the New Worlds, 



