662 
AN ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
of prospects blighted and hopes destroyed, for want of the know- 
ledge which we have endeavoured thus briefly to convey ! 
Numerous are the branches of study which will claim the stu- 
dent’s attention. All must in turn be attended to ; but there are 
two, the importance of which must never be lost sight of for a 
moment, — anatomy and hospital practice. Anatomy is the founda- 
tion of the healing art, and is equally indispensable to the phy- 
sician and to the surgeon. The more accurate and the more ex- 
tensive the knowledge of anatomy acquired by the student, the 
easier will it be for him to rise to eminence in after-life. The 
driest, the most minute, and elaborate details of structural or 
practical anatomy find their application in the study and treatment 
of disease ; indeed, there is not a branch of medical knowledge 
which will better repay the time bestowed upon its cultivation as 
a science than anatomy. Our young friends must not, however, 
be disheartened or impatient should they not at all be able at once 
to commence their anatomical studies. The month of October is 
one during which the mortality is comparatively slight ; con- 
sequently the supply of subjects is small— indeed, totally inade- 
quate to the wants of the numerous students who flock to town, 
and who, generally speaking, all wish at once to commence dis- 
section. Should any, therefore, be disappointed at first, they must 
make up their minds to wait, and employ their time as usefully 
as possible, until the time arrives when a more abundant supply 
of subjects may enable them to commence. 
In no degree inferior in importance to the study of anatomy is 
attendance on hospital practice. The wards of the hospital to 
which the pupil enters, and the visits of its medical officers, should 
be seriously and regularly attended during the whole time of his 
residence in town. It is thus that he is to learn how to recognise 
and how to treat disease. If he neglect this opportunity, either 
from idleness or because he thinks he has already had sufficient 
facilities for studying disease during his apprenticeship, he remains, 
for the rest of his life, either a grossly ignorant man, or a mere 
shadow of the one medical man whose practice he has seen. During 
the period allotted to following hospital practice, the student has to 
lay in a stock of practical information for the rest of his life. 
At that period he ought, therefore, to endeavour to see and study 
carefully at least a few examples of nearly every ailment to which 
the flesh is heir, in order that he may be prepared to recognise 
and treat disease when he is himself called upon to act. At the 
same time, he must not attempt to follow too many cases — especially 
“ medical” cases — at once. If he does, his recollections will be- 
come confused, and he will cease to profit by what he sees. The 
