224 ON THOUGHT IN MEDICINE, 



the three brothers Weber of Leipzig must first of all be 

 mentioned, who have built solid foundations in the 

 mechanism of the circulation, of the muscles, of the 

 joints, and of the ear. 



The attack was made wherever a way could be 

 perceived of understanding one of the vital processes ; 

 it was assumed that they could be understood, and 

 success justified this assumption. A delicate and 

 copious technical apparatus has been developed in the 

 methods of microscopy, of physiological chemistry, and 

 of vivisection ; the latter greatly facilitated more par- 

 ticularly by the use of anaesthetic ether and of the para- 

 lysing curara, by which a number of deep problems 

 became open to attack, which to our generation seemed 

 hopeless. The thermometer, the ophthalmoscope, the 

 auricular speculum, the laryngoscope, nervous irritation 

 on the living body, opened out to the physician possibi- 

 lities of delicate and yet certain diagnosis where there 

 seemed to be absolute darkness. The continually in- 

 creasing number of proved parasitical organisms substi- 

 tute tangible objects for mystical entities, and teach 

 the surgeon to forestall the fearfully subtle diseases of 

 decomposition. 



But do not think, gentlemen, that the struggle is at 

 an end. As long as there are people of such astound- 

 ing conceit as to imagine that they can effect, by a few 

 clever strokes, that which man can otherwise only hope 



