PREFACE AND SUMMARY OP CONTENTS. 



THE late Professor Virchow once remarked with his char- 

 acteristic frankness: "We must not deceive ourselves or one 

 another in respect to the present condition of medical science. 

 Unmistakably, medical men are tired of the many new hypo- 

 thetical systems that are thrown aside as rubbish only to be re- 

 placed by similar ones. We shall soon see that observation and 

 experiments alone have permanent value/ 7 Two years ago, Prof. 

 William Osier expressed kindred views in a general summary 

 of the progress of medicine during the nineteenth century, and 

 radical expressions of a similar kind are not infrequently met 

 with in current medical literature. 



When, early in the year 1888, we wrote the first "Preface" 

 of the "Annual of the Universal Medical Sciences," the purpose 

 of the work was denned in the following words: "It is expected 

 to become a helpmate to the practitioner in his efforts to relieve 

 suffering, and to assist the investigator by correlating facts, 

 thus enabling him to better compare." The successor of the 

 "Annual," the "Analytical Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine," 

 was framed with the same underlying thought as guide. It is 

 not within our power to state whether these purposes have at 

 all been attained, or whether, apart from their immediate use- 

 fulness to the practicing physician, these works have ever 

 opened new channels of thought; we can say, however, that 

 we have always deemed it our duty to closely follow the de- 

 velopment of the various branches of medical science as the 

 yearly panorama passed before our eyes, in the hope that we 

 might eventually collate the necessary elements for a more 

 solid foundation than Medicine now possesses. The present 

 volume is submitted to the profession as the result of our efforts 

 in this direction. 



The pre-eminent impression which has been our beacon 

 in the preparation of this work differs somewhat from the in- 

 terpretation of the status of medical science published by the 

 distinguished authors mentioned, in that we have been led to 



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