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The Progress and the Spirit of Medical Science.

AN

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE,

DELIVERED BEFORE THE

NEW YORK ACADEMY OF MEDICINE,

NOVEMBER, 85, 185a

c...... / -..V

E. R. PEASLEE, A.M., M.D.

ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE.

Mr. President And Fellows Of The New York Academy Of Medicine:

Standing in the presence of so many of my profession whom I have been accustomed to reverence, I might feel some embarrassment, did I not remember that I am placed here to-night by you and in your service; and that this is an occasion not intended especially to call forth your criticism, but to enkindle anew and to expand our professional sympathy. I would gladly, therefore, render the exercises of the present hour an entertainment to you, instead of a task. But I must select no trivial theme; and since the regular exercises of this association are mostly of a kind in accordance with the precept that—

"That which before us lies in daily life
Is the prime wisdom"—

I do not feel at liberty to select a strictly practical subject. I will, therefore, present some thoughts upon the progress and the spirit of medical science, and its claims upon medical men.

"Hitherto," says a French critic,* "medicine—