XII. DEPARTMENT: 



ANDROPHYSICS. 



IN the department of Androphysics, we include the study of the 

 structure and functions of the human body ; the diseases and acci- 

 dents to which it is exposed ; and the remedies for these, so far as 

 they have been discovered. The name is derived from the Greek 

 my?, a man, and tjnxuj, nature ; and it may be regarded as synonymous 

 with the appellation of Medicine, or the Medical Sciences, derived 

 from the Latin medico, I cure ; by which names this group is often 

 referred to. In our own language, the word physician, has a relation 

 to these sciences alone : whereas the French word physicien, is ap- 

 plied, as we have already intimated, only to the natural philosopher. 

 The study of this department, presupposes a general knowledge of 

 Natural Philosophy, and a thorough knowledge of Chemistry ; on 

 which many of its reasonings, and still more of its practical applica- 

 tions depend. 



The study of Medicine is often ranked as an uncertain science ; 

 in contradistinction from the mathematical and acrophysical, which 

 have received the appellation of the exact sciences. In this respect, 

 medicine stands on a somewhat peculiar basis : for not only are its 

 principles, derived as they must be from extensive induction, liable to 

 be called in question ; but the problems which it presents, are so 

 complicated and embarrassed, that even when its principles are correct, 

 there may still be an uncertainty in making their application. Grant- 

 ing that a given remedy is efficacious in a certain stage of a certain 

 disease, it may nevertheless be difficult to identify the disease, and 

 especially to determine the precise stage at which the remedy should 

 be applied. These last remarks relate to medicine considered as an 

 art, rather than as a science : for many of the facts and principles of 

 Anatomy, Physiology, and even of Medicine proper, are as firmly 

 established as any truths in the whole wide range of knowledge ; 

 though others are less certain, or still on trial : and, after all, the in- 

 herent difficulty of rightly applying them is the greatest source of 

 error ; one which we fear can never be wholly removed. 



On the importance of the Medical profession ; the rewards which 

 await its successful votaries ; and the responsibility which it imposes, 

 in cases where the slightest error may prove fatal to the confiding 

 patient ; on these themes, we need not here expatiate. But we feel 

 bound to remark, that the physician who has studied the microcosm, 

 or little world, of the human frame, without realizing that it is the 

 work of a Divine Architect, can hardly possess those reasoning facul- 

 ties, which alone can merit success in this profession, or ensure a 

 proper use of it when attained. The last branches of Androphysics, 

 are among the ultimate sciences ; subsidizing others, but subsidiary to 



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