INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 
687 
account, when percussion of the inferior half of the thorax 
produces resonance. Whilst we may probably be sure about 
the absence of air in the region, when there is an absence of 
all respiratory sound. 
According to what has gone before, as well as to all that has 
been written on the physical means of exploring the chest 
for disease in animals, it is evident, that, in veterinary 
medicine, the study of auscultation and percussion is still in 
its embryo state, and that, in all cases, we must have practice 
and circumspection at our elbow to avail ourselves, with any 
advantage, of these two means of recognising the diseases of 
the chest. — Repertoire de Med. Vet., September , 1 850. 
Home Department. 
EXTRACT FROM THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS, DELIVERED 
AT THE ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL. 
By Dr. Tytler Smith. 
( From the Lancet.) 
# * * When the sciences which form the present basis 
of medicine, w r ere so little advanced that one man could teach 
the majority of them, or an admirable Crichton master them 
all in a single year, we may well believe a course of general 
medical education was impossible. Now the matter is widely 
different. The centuries behind us have accumulated such 
stores of science bearing upon medicine, that we may declare, 
without fear of contradiction, there is no other profession or 
occupation which rests on such a broad foundation. This 
the humblest student will feel at every step of his progress. 
I need not dwell on the extent of medicine, surgery, and 
midwifery — the three great departments of our profession ; 
but I may, for the sake of illustration, refer to a few points 
relating to the more obvious requirements for medical edu- 
cation. To speak first of the materia medica. There is 
scarcely a country in the habitable globe which has not 
contributed to the substances in daily use in medicine. In 
the simplest prescription we may combine materials drawn 
from the four quarters of the earth. But what an extent of 
commerce, knowledge, and intercommunication was necessary 
before these various products could be collected and their 
uses ascertained. Then there is botany, including vegetable 
