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EDITORIAL. 
himself  to  hold  the  equal  balance  among  so  many  diverse  or  contrary  opin- 
ions, to  distribute  equitably  praise  and  blame ;  to  mark  the  precise  limit 
in  each  where  truth  ends  and  error  commences  Vf 
"  This  difficult  enterprise  I  undertook,  not  to  with  a  view  of  instructing 
others,  but  myself;  not  with  the  intention  of  publishing  the  result  of  my 
research,  for  T  was  ignorant  what  it  would  be,  but  pressed  by  a  desire  to  as- 
sure myself  if  there  exists  in  Medicine  anything  useful  and  certain,  any 
principle  whose  evidence  is  as  striking  as  that  of  amathematical  axiom,  some 
practical  rule  whose  utility  would  be  incontestible." 
Sprengel,  the  only  historian  who  had  attempted  this  task,  had  arrived  at 
the  conclusion — "  That  skepticism  in  medicine  is  the  top  stone  of  the  science, 
and  that  it  is  the  wisest  part  to  regard  all  opinions  with  indifference  and 
adopt  none."  This  maxim  our  author  holds  to  be  erroneous,  hopeless,  and 
impracticable.  He  considers  that  "  pure  skepticism,  then  is  impossible 
in  a  practitioner  who  each  day  finds  himself  placed  in  the  necessity  of 
making  a  decision  on  which  will  depend,  perhaps,  the  life  of  his  fellow- 
man.  A  practitioner  can,  therefore,  not  indulge  in  the  skeptical  indiffer- 
ence of  which  Sprengel  boasts  ;  he  must  on  the  contrary  use  every  effort 
to  free  himself  from  it  and  rise  to  the  point  of  rational  conviction. " 
In  this  disposition  of  mind  the  author  undertook  to  examine  ancient  and 
modern  medical  doctrines. 
We  have  not  space  to  pursue  further  the  steps  of  his  progress,  but  will 
quote  from  the  introduction  an  outline  of  the  arrangement  of  the  subject. 
"  I  divide  into  three  books  or  three  ages  all  past  time.  The  first  age  com- 
mences with  the  infancy  of  Society  as  far  back  as  historic  tradition  carries 
us,  and  terminates  towards  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  Era  at  the 
death  of  Galen  in  the  reign  of  Septimus  Severus.  This  lapse  of  time  con- 
stitutes in  medicine  the  foundation  age.  The  germ  of  the  Healing-  Art  con- 
cealed, at  first,  in  the  instincts  of  men,  is  gradually  developed ;  the  basis 
of  the  science  is  laid  and  great  principles  are  discussed.  The  human  mind, 
always  impatient,  surpasses  in  its  speculations  the  limits  of  the  known  and 
possible.  Many  branches  of  the  art,  such  as  Symptomatology  and  Progno- 
sis are  carried  to  a  remarkable  degree  of  perfection. 
"The  second  age,  which  may  be  called  the  Age  of  Transition,  offers  very 
little  material  to  the  history  of  Medicine.  We  see  no  longer  the  conflicts 
and  discussions  between  partizans  of  different  doctrines;  the  medical  sects 
are  confounded.  The  art  remains  stationary,  or  imperceptibly  retrogrades. 
I  cannot  better  depict  this  epoch  than  by  comparing  it  to  the  life  of  an  in- 
sect in  the  nympha  state;  though  no  exterior  change  appears,  an  admirable 
metamorphosis  is  going  on  imperceptibly,  within.  The  eye  of  man  only 
perceives  the  wonder  after  it  has  been  finished. 
il  Thus,  from  the  fifteenth  century,  which  is  the  beginning  of  the  third  and 
last  Age  of  Medicine,  or  the  Age  of  Renovation,  Europe  offers  a  spectacle 
of  which  the  most  glorious  eras  of  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome  only 
can  give  us  an  idea.  It  would  seem  as  if  a  new  life  was  infused  into  the 
veins  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the  world  ;  the  sciences,  fine  arts, 
industry,  religion,  social  institutions^  all  are  changed.  A  multitude  of  schools 
are  opened  for  teaching  medicine.  Establishments  which  had  no  models 
among  the  ancients  are  created  for  the  purpose  of  extending  to  the  poorer 
classes  the  benefits  of  the  Healing  Art.  The  ingenious  activity  of  modern 
Christians  explores  and  is  sufficient  for  everything." 
