i874 LORD RECTOR OF ABERDEEN 



437 



with that enthusiasm for truth, that fanaticism of veracity, 

 which is a greater possession than much learning; a nobler gift 

 than the power of increasing knowledge ; by so much greater 

 and nobler than these, as the moral nature of man is greater 

 than the intellectual ; for veracity is the heart of morality. 

 {Coll. Ess. iii, 189, sqq.) 



As for the " so-called ' conflict of studies,' " he ex- 

 claims — 



One might as well inquire which of the terms of a Rule of 

 Three sum one ought to know in order to get a trustworthy 

 result. Practical life is such a sum, in which your duty multi- 

 plied into your capacity and divided by your circumstances gives 

 you the fourth term in the proportion, which is your deserts, 

 with great accuracy. 



The knowledge on which medical practice should be 

 based is " the sort of practical, familiar, finger-end know- 

 ledge which a watchmaker has of a watch," the knowledge 

 gained in the dissecting-room and laboratory, 



Until each of the greater truths of anatomy and physiology 

 has become an organic part of your minds — until you would 

 know them if you were roused and questioned in the middle of 

 the night, as a man knows the geography of his native place and 

 the daily life of his home. That is the sort of knowledge which, 

 once obtained, is a life-long possession. Other occupations may 

 fill your minds — it may grow dim and seem to be forgotten — 

 but there it is, like the inscription on a battered and defaced 

 coin, which comes out when you warm it. 



Hence the necessity to concentrate the attention on 

 these cardinal truths, and to discard a number of extraneous 

 subjects commonly supposed to be requisite whether for 

 general culture of the medical student or to enable him to 

 correct the possible mistakes of druggists. Against this 

 " Latin fetish " in medical education, as he used to call it, 

 he carried on a lifelong campaign, as may be gathered from 

 his published essays on medical education, and from letters 

 given in later chapters of this book. But there is another 

 side to such limitation in professional training. Though 

 literature is an essential in the preliminary, general educa- 

 tion, culture is not solely dependent upon classics. 



