REVIEW ON THE STUDY OF SURGERY. 265 
sionatelv on the history of our profession since its revival in the 
latter part of the eighteenth century, must admit that to the 
master-mind of Coleman, England is indebted for having raised 
the practitioners of our art to the rank which they now hold. 
Those amongst us who enjoyed the privilege of Mr. Coleman’s 
teaching, well know how ardent was his zeal in the promulga- 
tion of knowledge, and how forcibly, by physiological arguments, 
he contended for the introduction of an improved system of 
ventilation in our military and civil horse establishments. Cole- 
man’s mind was naturally bent to physiological pursuit, and to 
this must be attributed, in great part, the success which attended 
his endeavours as sole teacher at the St. Pancras School, during 
the greater part of the present century. While, however, we 
exhibit Coleman to our readers as an example to prove what 
physiology may do, we also adduce him as an instance of what 
physiology cannot do. Many of his theories of lameness and 
shoeing, of the effects of breathing cold air in pneumonia, and 
of the action of certain medicines and articles of diet, were 
founded on a priori physiological hypotheses, and, as these 
proved to be fallacious, the former necessarily fell to the ground. 
True it is, that from his ingenious mind hypotheses always 
soared nightly aloft like rockets, but (being unsupported by ex- 
perience) to fall, not unfrequently “ darkly like their sticks.” 
There can be no doubt that, while physiology is of incal- 
culable advantage as a beacon to the persevering inquirer in the 
maze of pathological investigation, as an aid in explaining many 
otherwise unintelligible facts, and in suggesting subjects and 
modes of inquiry, it must be productive of evil “ if used for the 
pre-determination of the conditions and laws of pathology.” In 
other terms we could convey this idea by observing, that, while 
a surgeon or a physician without physiology is inconceivable, 
a physiological surgeon or physician, viz. he who founded his 
notions of disease on physiology alone, would, according to our 
notions, be worth little more than the motley host of hydro- 
pathists, mesmerists, and homoeopathists, who infest society with 
the creatures of their pampered and perverted fancies. 
Convinced that exaggerated advocacy often endangers the 
issue of a good cause, we have impartially judged the import- 
VOL. XXIV. O O 
