An introductory lecture to the course on obstetrics, and diseases of women and children : delivered in the University of Pennsylvania, November 6, 1839 / by Hugh L. Hodge.

  • Hugh Lenox Hodge
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introductory lecture to the course on obstetrics, and diseases of women and children : delivered in the University of Pennsylvania, November 6, 1839 / by Hugh L. Hodge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    portancc of exercise, whether passive or active, in the city or the country; of cleanliness; of bathing; clothing; temperature. He investigates and points out the influence of the mind on the body; the necessity of regulating the exercises of the intel- lectual powers; of restraining and guiding the warm affections of the heart; of checking the still warmer and more threatening ebullitions of passion. In short, every thing which can by possi- bility injure human health or life, becomes the subject of his reflections, and enables him to proffer advice beneficial to society. Who can estimate the extent or variety of the blessings thus conferred through the instrumentality of our exalted profession? Were the rules of hygiea universally followed; were intempe- rance in eating and drinking banished; were suitable attentions paid to cleanliness, to clothing, to the purity of the air, to exer- cise, to the indulgence of the animal passions, or to the proper employment of the intellectual faculties, or of the mora] affec- tions, how changed, how renovated would be the state of man; what a vast amount of suffering would be prevented; how many sources of disease would be dried up; how many dire, bloody, and fatal conflicts, now brought on by the excited pas- sions of men, and productive of such a vast amount of misery, would be avoided! How would society thrive, and the com- forts and happiness of life be enlarged, under the benign influ- ences of temperance and frugality—of that moderation in all things—which is the grand principle of hygiea, the secret of health, the procurator of long, and vigorous, and prosperous life! Such general considerations might be enlarged upon and suitably illustrated; but let us for the present apply them to that department of medical science which I have the honour to represent in this University. The science of Obstetrics has more immediate reference to the process of parturition in all its varieties, whether natural or unnatural—simple or complicated. This function (for it is truly physiological, having reference to healthy, not diseased actions,) is by far the most complicated and dangerous of the