ON THOUGHT IN MEDICINE. 203 



home in physical considerations found a fruitful vir- 

 gin soil for cultivation; but I consider the study of 

 medicine to have been that training which preached 

 more impressively and more convincingly than any 

 other could have done, the everlasting principles of all 

 scientific work; principles which are so simple and yet 

 are ever forgotten again ; so clear and yet always hidden 

 by a deceptive veil. 



Perhaps only he can appreciate the immense im- 

 portance and the fearful practical scope of the problems 

 of medical theory, who has watched the fading eye of 

 approaching death, and witnessed the distracted grief 

 of affection, and who has asked himself the solemn 

 questions, Has all been done which could be done to 

 ward off the dread event ? Have all the resources and 

 all the means which Science has accumulated become 

 exhausted ? 



Provided that he remains undisturbed in his study, 

 the purely theoretical inquirer may smile with calm 

 contempt when, for a time, vanity and conceit seek 

 to swell themselves in science and stir up a commo- 

 tion. Or he may consider ancient prejudices to be 

 interesting and pardonable, as remains of poetic ro- 

 mance, or of youthful enthusiasm. To one who has to 

 contend with the hostile forces of fact, indifference 

 and romance disappear ; that which he knows and can 

 do, is exposed to severe tests ; he can only use the 



