722 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURES. 
quently pass in review — their specific characters will be noticed — 
those which distinguish one case from another of the same kind, 
and the influence of these differences on the progress, treatment, 
or termination of the case. Our most important business is to 
shew you what to observe, and how to observe — to superintend 
your first trials, to guide you through the chief difficulties of 
observation, and to point out its fallacies and the means of avoid- 
ing them — the variations in the form, course, and fatality of the 
disease produced by differences in the age, strength, and other 
peculiarities of the subjects of it — the causes which may give 
rise to the affection, and the various kinds of treatment which 
have been adopted for its relief. 
“ It will be the duty of the clinical teacher to accompany you 
to the stable, and to call your attention to the state of one and 
another patient, and to demonstrate to you the peculiar phenomena 
which present themselves. Supposing it to be a case of pneu- 
monia, he will point out to you the peculiarity of the countenance 
and of the respiration, and of the gait or manner of standing — 
the peculiar pulse — the state of the raucous membranes and of 
the skin generally. He will then take you to another stall, and 
shew you the different character of the symptoms in a horse 
labouring under pleurisy. In the adjoining stall will be a third 
patient with the indications of severe catarrh. He will inquire 
into the circumstances that 'preceded the attack, and single out 
those which produced it. He will watch with you the changes 
that arise from day to day. If the case goes on favourably, he 
will endeavour to appreciate the influence of the remedies, and 
he will make allowance for the effects of other circumstances, 
such as the age or the strength of the patient. If the case ends 
fatally, he wall make a careful examination of the body, and in- 
spect all the organs — he will compare and connect the diseased 
part with the symptoms — he will confirm or correct the diagnosis, 
and so prove the value of the symptoms on which it was founded. 
“ A. second case will probably present itself, and the same pro- 
cess will be repeated. Many of the same symptoms are ob- 
served again, and your acquaintance with them is strengthened 
and perfected. Some of the previous symptoms are absent — 
others are superadded, and you learn what is essential , and what 
is accidental. The same ground is travelled over again and again, 
as cases present themselves, until you have had an opportunity 
of becoming familiar with all the important features of the dis- 
ease. These are your chief duties in the stable. 
“ In the lecture-room the principal features of the case will 
again be recounted ; the value of the chief symptoms commented 
on ; the grounds of the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment more 
