The good physician : being an introductory to the course of lectures on materia medica and therapeutics in the Medical Department of Transylvania University, for the session of 1842-3 / by Thos. D. Mitchell.
- Thomas Duché Mitchell
- Date:
- 1842
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The good physician : being an introductory to the course of lectures on materia medica and therapeutics in the Medical Department of Transylvania University, for the session of 1842-3 / by Thos. D. Mitchell. 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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![outline, at least, in the varied improvements of every department of science who does not know, that more ig to be learned by the medical pu- pil, as well as by the practising physician, now, than the most untiring industry could have accumulated, a quarter of a century ago! It would seem as though we had but just passed t'le threshold of a mine whose treasures are absolutely inexhaustible. In the dim twilight of our im- perfect researches, the brilliancy of adimond here and there, and the lustre of the precious metals, in quantity almost too minute to be ap- preciated,have suddenly burst upon our vision, and their overpowering charms have struck us mute in astonishment, and perchance we have fancied, that our survey of the rich treasure was complete. Escorted only by the dim rush-light of our own fancy, or by the glimmering ta- per of some splendid theory, baseless as the fabric of a vision, we have not seen the thousandth part of the rich treasure, that lay almost with- in our grasp. Who would thus preposterously essay to explore even the Mammoth cave of Kentucky] With blazing torches shedding lustre on all the glittering grandeur of its dark labryinths, the intrepid lover of nature's gorgeous drapery moves on with cautious step, measuring intuitively as he passes, the inimitable crystal drops, the beauteous massy gems, that arch the rude vault, and speak out in tones that none can fail to comprehend, the hand that made us is divine1'. But what is even that wonder-speaking cave, compared with tbe deep, the broad, the almost fathomless mine of medical science'? And dare we venture within its vast dominions, guided only by the dim light of theory, of vain speculation, of false or bewildering systems'? To explore it is our duty; but at our peril, we enter its enclosure, unless conducted by tho torch of truth, resolved that the world shall be the better for our labors, and not the worse. The foregoing remarks may suffice to give an idea of the value pla- ced by the speaker, on a thorough course of medical studies. Whether the atlainment of this end be realised from laborious research and pro- found thinking in the private study, or from the patient and persistent attendance on medical lectures, daily, for many months in close succes- sion, is not at this moment, a question for debate. We are contemplating the character of the well balanced, and thoroughly furnished physician, and in forming our estimate of the component parts of such a charac- ter, we are compelled to give a prominent place, to the necessity of lay- ing broad and deep, at an early period, the foundation of true medical science; and this can be done only by combining with observation and experience, the perusal and attentive study of the best writers in all the departments of medicine. No where in all the broad range of literary, philosphic or profession- al enterprise, is the well known language of poetry more emphatically true, than in the profession of medicine. A little learning is a dangerous thing, Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. Under the inspiration of this vital doctrine, we affirm, that the man who ventures to the study of medicine, without a determination to](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21141757_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
