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the fact. The knowledge I have looked for was a 

 real, precise, thorough, and practical knowledge of 

 fundamentals ; whereas that which the best of the 

 candidates, in a large proportion of cases, have had 

 to give me was a large, extensive, and inaccurate 

 knowledge of superstructure ; and that is what I 

 mean by saying that my demands went too low 

 and not too high. What I have had to complain 

 of is, that a large proportion of the gentlemen 

 who come up for physiology to the University 

 of London do not know it as they know their 

 anatomy, and have not been taught it as they 

 have been taught their anatomy. Now, I should 

 not wonder at all if I heard a great many " No, 

 noes " here ; but I am not talking about University 

 College ; as I have told you before, I am talking 

 about the average education of medical schools. 

 What I have found, and found so much reason to 

 lament, is, that while anatomy has been taught as 

 a science ought to be taught, as a matter of 

 autopsy, and observation, and strict discipline ; in 

 a very large number of cases, physiology has been 

 taught as if it were a mere matter of books and of 

 hearsay. I declare to you, gentlemen, that I have 

 often expected to be told, when I have asked 

 a question about the circulation of the blood, 

 that Professor Breitkopf is of opinion that it 

 circulates, but that the whole thing is an open 

 question. I assure you that I am hardly 

 exaggerating the state of mind on matters of 



