The influence of physical agents on life : being an introductory lecture to the course on chemistry and physiology in the University of New-York / by John W. Draper.

  • Draper, John William, 1811-1882.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The influence of physical agents on life : being an introductory lecture to the course on chemistry and physiology in the University of New-York / by John W. Draper. 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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    LECTURE. Gentlemen:— Since the last Session a change has been made in the duties of my Pro- fessorship. To Chemistry has been added the importnnt and interesting eubject of Physiology. I purpose to occupy your attention, this evening, with an exposition of the general principles which will be offered to you in this Course of Lec- tures, to illustrate the influence of external agents on life, and especially to point out the change which has taken place within the last few years in Physiology- Men are too prone to stretch their knowledge to the farthest limit, and often make up in fiction what is wanting in reality. This is especially the case where pride or interest is involved. The three learned profes- eions bear their appellation most justly. It is one thing to {)rofess, and another to possess. The good old phj-sicians of the last century, with their grave faces and gold-headed canes, were obHged, in the necessity of the case, to make people believe that they were quite familiar Avith every- thing pertaining to the animal functions, and that Physiology was the most perfect and best known of all the sciences. How else could they have pretended to set a machine in order, the nature and action of which they did not know ? Here, in reality, was the great obstacle to the ad- vance of the science. It was not the interest of the profession to permit changes to be made, nor even to acknowledge that any improvement was possible. Yet, as tliere have ever been in the Church great theologians, and in the State great lawyers, who have risen above the prejudices or interests of their profession; so, from time to time, there have been great physi- cians who have recognized the path that ought to be taken. Among such I may mention the Italian, Sanctorio, who, foreseeing that the methods of Natural Philosophy were the only sure guide in Medicine, attempted to