THE STUDY OF MEDICINE 71 



are published in Italian, and to a less extent in Spanish and other 

 modern European languages, they are not so numerous as to justify 

 a study of these languages. Latin is required for admission to certain 

 medical schools, " in order to enable the student the more rapidly to 

 master scientific and medical nomenclature." The international 

 anatomical nomenclature is now entirely Latin and many of its terms 

 are employed as English words. It is, therefore, very desirable that a 

 student of medicine should have studied Latin as a part of his prepara- 

 tion for college. Greek is of much less importance, although it has 

 supplied many barbarous medical terms. 



English. — Although some students believe that in an examination 

 in anatomy they should be marked upon anatomy alone, and not upon 

 English, this is impossible. Every examiner, as well as every intelligent 

 patient, will judge of the physician, in part at least, by his manner of 

 expression. In a lot of examination books which had been marked 

 in the usual way, there were a few with the grade A, and in none of 

 these was there an example of strikingly bad English. The first book 

 of low grade (60 per cent.) which was taken up, contained the fol- 

 lowing statement: 



Voluntary striated muscle, developed differently, than smooth and cardiac, 

 that coming from mesenehyma, this from somite or segments, has a definite 

 cell membrane sarcolemma, which gives off fibers, its nucleus is found at the 

 periphery. 



It is useless to assert that clear and well-ordered anatomical knowl- 

 edge exists in a .mind which can not express it. 



The study of English literature in college is to be recommended 

 not only for its utilitarian value, but as a source of recreation and 

 diversion from specialized scientific studies. There may be a few 

 medical students who need the advice which Holmes gave to the young 

 practitioner : " Do not linger by the enchanted streams of literature," 

 but many more should heed the warning — " Do not let your literary 

 life become a memory — a reminiscence." Unfortunately there are 

 those who enter medicine with nothing on which to found a literary 

 reminiscence. 



Drawing. — The principles of drawing are taught in connection with 

 courses in the fine arts or in architecture. Accuracy of observation 

 may be developed in such courses, for no sooner does one begin to 

 draw or model an object than attention is called to many details other- 

 wise overlooked. For this reason drawing is required in studying 

 anatomy, especially microscopic anatomy, in certain medical schools; 

 and inability to draw seems to many students a justification for defici- 

 encies in these subjects. To be sure, their professors are often in a 

 similar predicament. Ruskin says : 



