610 
INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 
continuation of such success at all times and under all 
circumstances. 
The state of the world consists at present in the substitu- 
tion of the ever-burning lamp of science for the fitful gleams 
of instinctive knowledge. Moreover, as science advances em- 
piricism recedes, and at length disappears so completely, that 
the scientific man can only smile at that which has almost 
ceased to exist. Probably we are at this day far worse 
guessers of the nature of a disease than Aristotle, but we 
are far more successful explorers. This has been brought 
about by our having, so to speak, the textures and localities 
of the organs in our minds and thoughts ; by our facility of 
travelling, as it were, from structure to structure ; and by our 
investigating by the light of physiological science the disor- 
dered functions of the heart, lungs, brain, or other organs, in 
dubious cases : thus, by our making the whole organism 
mentally transparent, our second sight is enabled to tho- 
roughly scan all parts of the body. It is thus that we render 
ourselves valuable labourers in an age which has uniformly 
given up empirical guessing. 
The study of anatomy is indeed an intricate journey 
through the Divine wonders of organization, and if it had no 
practical end, must yet, to a reasoning being like man, fur- 
nish the noblest contemplations which material grandeur can 
supply. Every muscle and nerve you cut are the instru- 
ments and the inhabitants of a sensation and a life which 
eclipses all our thoughts. I consider that we are fortunate 
in the fact, that this marvel-producing science, which is 
literally the key to progressive philosophy, is a necessity of 
our studies. 
Anatomy consists of two great divisions. In the first 
place, you have special anatomy, which reveals the arrange- 
ment of the several parts of the organs of living bodies ; such 
as the skin, nerves, muscles, bones, and the contents of the 
various cavities, as well as the continuity and relation of part 
to part, and their relative situations. It treats also of the diffe- 
rent organs and members of which the body is composed as 
a whole. The more, however, you look into any object of 
nature, the more you find there is to admire; and the more 
you isolate any part of an object, the more it expands into 
a separate fund of knowledge. Nature grows under every 
contemplation. Thus as soon as the microscope^vvas in- 
vented, sight became as it were progressive, and it w^ld be 
rash to say what new inventions of optical instruments may 
not achieve, or how far our visual faculties may be yet 
extended. At any rate, by the combined aid of science and 
