Sequel to Outlines of medical proof / [Thomas Mayo].

  • Thomas Mayo
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sequel to Outlines of medical proof / [Thomas Mayo]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    10/48 page 4
    point of view, I am not aware that I have overlooked its connecting idea. What, for instance, is the dis¬ tinction, which I have carefully illustrated, between induction by experiment and induction by observation, in reference to our pursuits, but a distinction between the kinds of connecting idea, which pervade these methods respectively ? But, to return from this digres¬ sion, I propose to throw my further remarks on the sub¬ ject of medical proof into the form of detached essays. The course of reasoning pursued by me in the Outlines, in its relation to pathology and therapeutics, supposes a series of facts used collectively for the purpose of establishing, or giving probability to, certain conclusions. The only exception to this view consists in my brief reference to the application of extempo¬ raneous hypothesis to medical reasoning.* This appli¬ cation may be made, and often is very effectually made, through the medium of even one well-selected and well-appreciated fact. Indeed, the consideration of facts or cases, as implying proof, when used singly, or with no reference to their aggregate effects, demands a place here, inasmuch as it illustrates one of the most distinctive qualities of the medical mind. Those who tread the safe path of practical medicine, however carefully they may bear principles in mind, act imme¬ diately from facts remembered or conjured up through an effort of the imagination, which operates upon its collected stores of reading and experience. Meanwhile, * Outlines of Medical Proof, page 20.
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