MEDICINE 



them, there appeared in England the " land of com- 

 mon-s<>nse," as a German scientist has called it "a 

 cool, clear, and unprejudiced spirit," who in the golden 

 age of systems declined "to be like the man who 

 builds the chambers of the upper story of his house 

 before he had laid securely the foundation walls." l 

 This man was Thomas Sydenham (1624-1689), who, 

 while the great Harvey was serving the king as sur- 

 geon, was fighting as a captain in the parliamentary 

 army. Sydenham took for his guide the teachings of 

 Hippocrates, modified to suit the advances that had 

 been made in scientific knowledge since the days of the 

 great Greek, and established, as a standard, observa- 

 tion and experience. He cared little for theory unless 

 confirmed by practice, but took the Hippocratic view 

 that nature cured diseases, assisted by the physician. 

 He gave due credit, however, to the importance of the 

 part played by the assistant. As he saw it, medicine 

 could be advanced in three ways: (i) " By accurate 

 descriptions or natural histories of diseases; (2) by es- 

 tablishing a fixed principle or method of treatment, 

 founded upon experience; (3) by searching for specific 

 remedies, which he believes must exist in considerable 

 numbers, though he admits that the only one yet dis- 

 covered is Peruvian bark." As it happened, another 

 equally specific remedy, mercury, when used in cer- 

 tain diseases, was already known to him, but he evi- 

 dently did not recognize it as such. 



The influence on future medicine of Sydenham's 

 teachings was most pronounced, due mostly to his 

 teaching of careful observation. To most physicians, 

 however, he is now remembered chiefly for his intro- 



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