resemble the German philosopher, who had labored sixteen hours daily, for many years, except on the day of his marriage, when he lost two hours; but who rose two hours earlier than usual the next morning, and thus regained the time he had lost.

II. The ways in which we may directly aid and encourage the efforts of others, to advance our science, are numerous, and need not be specified.

The Hinderers of our Science.

But there is always a class of men in our profession, who not only refuse to aid, but who consistently oppose, every effort at improvement, as mere impertinence, if made by a young man, or as mere folly or intentional humbug, if by one more advanced in life. Yet most discoveries have been made by men still young. Newton was but twenty-three, Copernicus thirty-three, Sir Charles Bell thirty-three, Fabricius thirty-seven, Kepler thirty-eight, and Harvey and M. Hall forty-one, when their respective discoveries were made. Never making an observation nor a deduction themselves, these persons seem to assume that nobody else has the right or the capacity to do either, and receive what is suggested in good faith, and after much labor and anxious thought, with suspicion and unkindness. I am bound to say that the number of such in our profession is very small; though their opposition to all true progress (which they call innovation) is sometimes so unscrupulous and energetic as to counterbalance, for a time, their fewness in numbers, and much to discourage the

THE HINDERERS OF OUR SCIENCE. 97

actual discoverer. These gentlemen, it is, who in their successive generations, have uniformly taken the same position in respect to all proposed discoveries in our science ; asserting first, that it is no discovery at all; secondly, that somebody made it long ago; and thirdly, either that it is of no account, or is fraught with only mischief to mankind. They adopt the policy of the dog in the manger; and like him also, in respect to all scientific improvement, starve themselves.

But, on the other hand, discoverers themselves do not always remember that they must, from the very nature of their position as discoverers, be in advance of their age, and that, therefore, some time is required to elevate their contemporaries to their own point of view. Discoverers, therefore, sometimes lose their temper, or in their enthusiasm perhaps seem overbearing to others; who cannot possibly see precisely and as clearly as they do, because they have not traversed the same ground with them. A discoverer must expect, as a matter of course, to meet for a time with comparative indifference, if not actual opposition, for the reasons just mentioned; and few, therefore, have lived to see their discoveries generally accepted, however important the latter may have been.

Thus in our scientific relations even, there is need of mutual forbearance; but the true scholar welcomes every attempt at improvement, from whatever source ; remembering that by encouraging the spirit of investigation and progress, he indirectly contributes to that consummation which is. the scholar's

7

highest aspiration—that perfect state of our science which has been defined. Nor is he discouraged by failures; for with Goodwin he believes, that the "human man can conceive nothing which it cannot finally execute."

Fellows Of The New York Academy Op Medicine:

To advance our science and art, is the main object of this association; though it would at the same time, also maintain the dignity and honor of our profession. We have here no superstitious rites, or cabalistic mysteries, for we have a science now; we have no plans for self-aggrandizement; we only labor to make ourselves and our profession wiser, and better qualified to relieve the sufferings of our fellow-beings. But in the fulfillment of its objects, no external influences, no considerations which mix themselves up with the diverse motives and the opposing interests of daily life, must be allowed to obtrude themselves here; and if it become necessary to exert its disciplinary powers, it is better to err on the side of clemency than of undue severity. Science knows no party, clique, or school; but then she is dignified, liberal, charitable, magnanimous, and not narrow-minded and vindictive. She cordially extends the hand of fellowship to all ranks and conditions alike; conducting the poor medical student, previously a laboring blacksmith, to the professorial chair of the erudite Velpeau; and out of four penniless boys, the poorest of the poor, moulding a Galileo, a Kepler, a Davy, and a Parraday.

But when dissension enters, science takes her leave; and would that every member of my profession realized the ennobling influence upon himself of the spirit of kindness and courtesy towards his professional brethren. Like mercy—

"Its quality is not strained,
It falleth like the gentle rain from Heaven
Upon the place below. It is twice bless'd—
It blesses him that gives and him that takes."

Let us then remember we are men—we are brothers. Much has this Academy already done to advance our science, much in diffusing a spirit of kindness and liberality among its fellows. It now only waits for a local habitation, for an edifice commensurate in beauty and capacity with the taste, the liberality, and the wealth of this great'city, to enable it to extend its benefits to our profession throughout every part of our land.

APPENDIX.

NOTE I.—Page 40.

Of the different branches of medical science, anatomy first took a systematized form. Although the Greeks transplanted the knowledge of Egypt to their own soil, Homer nowhere distinguishes the muscles from other parts, nor does Hippocrates even. The latter also includes under the same term (vevpov or rovof), the nerves, the tendons, and the ligaments, and also says these vevpo contract the limbs. He did not discriminate between the veins and arteries, calling them both ^Ae/fcf. Aristotle says, nearly one hundred and fifty years afterwards, that the vevpa originate from the heart, connect the bones, and surround the joints. He therefore means the ligaments, and not the nerves, as some have supposed. He also traced the veins to the heart. Herophilus, of Alexandria (b.c. 300), taught that the nerves are the channels of perception; but he also included the tendons under this term. There was now a stationary period till after the victories of Lucullus and Pompeius in Greece and Asia Minor, and the rush of learned men from these countries to Rome, to exchange their art and science for Roman wealth.

IN