Introductory address delivered on the opening of the medical session of King's College, London, October 4th, 1870 : with the inaugural lecture of the surgical course, delivered Oct. 5th, 1870 / by John Wood.

  • Wood, John, 1825-1891.
Date:
[1870]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory address delivered on the opening of the medical session of King's College, London, October 4th, 1870 : with the inaugural lecture of the surgical course, delivered Oct. 5th, 1870 / by John Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    THE INTEODUCTOEY ADDEESS, Delivered in King’s College, London, Oct. 4th, 1870. Mr. Principal and Gentlemen,— [A MELANCHOLY task which I little expected and most deeply deplore, must take precedence of my address to day. It is the announcement of the death of our much esteemed colleague. Dr. Wil- liam Allen Miller, Vice-president of the Royal Society, which took place, after a brief and distressing illness, on Friday last at Liverpool, whither he had gone to attend the meetings of the British Association. For a long period of years Dr. Miller occupied the chair of Chemistry after being a student of medicine in this college, where the benefit of his teachings and example was as great, as his loss will be deeply felt. The singleminded and conscientious earnestness of his character, and the steadfastness of his Christian faith, assure us that he now beholds that Perfect Truth which he sought after so constantly in his earthly career.] In accepting the duty which the courtesy and confidence of my colleagues have placed in my hands upon this occasion, I have been impressed with a due sense of the responsibility which attaches to the duty of opening the medical session of King’s College. I scarcely share in the opinion that the performance of such a function on such a day is a trouble that might well be substituted by the opening lec- tures of the several professional courses. Owing to the pressing demands of a medical career in a busy metropolis, this is almost the only opportunity afforded for the assemblage of all grades in this great medical educational establishment, from our honoured principal to our newest recruit—to greet and welcome our friends, to review our forces, to note our progress, to animate our confidence, and to gather up our strength for the attack upon the strongholds of ignorance, prejudice, and disease in the forthcoming medical campaign. My sense of the utility of a plan which has been sanctioned by custom and approved of by experience ever since medical education has assumed its due place among our institutions, and which has come to be looked for by the public at this time as the exposition of a kind of medical programme, has not diminished my anxiety lest its effective application should be impaired by imperfect execution in hands hitherto untried. The appreciation of the council of this College of work at least fsithfully performed has placed me in a position of honour among you, B 2