32 HUNTERIAN ORATION. 



and throw the whole profession into con- 

 fusion. So much, also, is to be known 

 and done in either department, that if we 

 invade each other's province, we must ne- 

 glect properly to cultivate and improve our 

 own. 



There are those who think that a still 

 further subdivision of the subjects of me- 

 dicine might lead to a more perfect know- 

 ledge of them. Yet the ultimate struc- 

 ture of all parts of the body being the 

 same, their diseases must be similar, and 

 treated upon the same general principles. 

 If also, to investigate and understand any 

 subject in nature, art, or science, a great 

 deal of collateral knowledge be required, 

 which serves like light shining from various 

 points, to illuminate the object of our at- 

 tention ; when we examine particular dis- 

 eases by the lights emanating from others, 

 here such lights will indeed be found to be 

 most apposite and illustrative. It is by 

 comparing the nature and treatment of 

 diseases with one another, that we im- 

 prove our knowledge and practice with 

 respect to those of particular organs, or 



