An historical sketch of medicine and surgery, from their origin to the present time; and of the principal authors, discoveries, improvements, imperfections and errors / by W. Black.
- Date:
- 1782
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An historical sketch of medicine and surgery, from their origin to the present time; and of the principal authors, discoveries, improvements, imperfections and errors / by W. Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
50/338 page 36
![r ] formation. In attending to difeafe?, throughOdt all their changes and meanders, he was vigilant and indefatigable, his judgment profound and corredV. His conclufions and predidl'ons arc, not- withftanding, often built upon a finglc fymptom; but to prefage future events, in conformity to his own rules, a more comprehenfive furvey fhould be made of the difeafe, the remaining powers of the conftitution, and the probable fuccefs to be expedled fiom Medicine. His Aphorifms begin in the ufual llile, of v/hich I before gave a fpeci- men. “ Vita brevis, Ars longa, occafio preceps, “ experientia fallax, judicium difficile,” &c. The Latin is put in place of the original Greek, which is ftill more Compendious, and the didlion adorned with greater rilajefly. 1 hroughout, his language is clofe and comprefied ; and on moft fubjedts he is deftdive in arrangement, perfpicuity, and elu- cidation. To beginners in Medical Studies he Svould be dry and frequently unintelligible. His Writings refemble rather a regifter or a (lore houfe of folid fads heaped together, than a pleafing nar- rative. He may, I think, be comparedto our Bacon, JLord Verulam : the one is in Phyfick what the o- ther, in modern times, was in Philofophy. Hippo- crates firil pointed out the true road to arrive at Me- dical knowledge,and made a beginning inalmofte- very branch of Medicine, although he brought none to perfedicn. In fo fhort a time he did wonders for one man : but the fabric of Phyfick was infinitely too large and extenfive for a fingle perfon to finiffi.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21909660_0050.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
