MEDICINE 1 



In France at the beginning of the last century modern 

 methods of clinical observation had their birth. 



BICHAT, following the great MORGAGNI, began to 

 reveal those changes which occur in the organs as the 

 result of disease, and to correlate the pathological altera- 

 tions with symptoms which occur during life. And when 

 his too short day was past, there followed a remarkable 

 group of eager clinicians who endeavoured on the one 

 hand, by physical means, to detect these changes during 

 life and by the accumulation of careful clinical and post 

 mortem observations to improve the art of diagnosis; 

 and on the other, by the employment of a rigid statistical 

 method to test the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment. 

 It was into French that the generally neglected contri- 

 bution of AUENBRUGGER, announcing the discovery of 

 the art of percussion, was first translated (de Roziere de la 

 Chassagne, "Manuel des pulmoniques, etc.," 16, Paris, 

 Humaire, 1770); and later, in 1808, it was CORVISART 

 who first recognized the value of percussion and intro- 

 duced it into general use (Auenbrugger, "Nouvelle 

 methode, etc.," par J. N. Corvisart, 8, Paris, Migneret, 

 1808). 



LAENNEC followed with his discovery of the art of 

 auscultation, which for the first time made possible the 

 accurate diagnosis of diseases of the chest. The clinical 

 methods of this great man, as set forth in the preface 

 of his famous work "L'auscultation mediate, etc.," (8, 



1 [Drafting Committee: W. S. THAYER, Johns Hopkins University. 

 ED.] 



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