UNIVERSITMENT SESSION 1853-SPRING, TNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK - MEDICAL SOMMER, AND AUTUMN COURSE OF LECTURES.This Course of Lectures will commence on Monday, March 14th, and continue until the third Saturday in October, when the winter course will be resumed. Two Lectures, or a Lecture and a Clinique, will be given every day, except on Saturdays, when the Surgical Clinique afone will be held. Professors of the Governing Faculty. VALENTINE MOTT, M.D., Emeritus Prof. of Surgery and Surgical Anatomy, and Ex-l'resident of the Faculty. MARTYN PAINE, M.D., Prof. of Materia Medica and Therapeutics. GONNING S. BEDFORD, M.D., Prof. of Obstetrics, the Diseases of Women and Children, and Clinical Midwifery. Joux W. DRAPER, M.D., Prof. of Chemistry and Physiology. ALFRED C. POST, M.D., Prof. of the Principles and Operations of Surgery, with Surgical and Pathological Anatomy. MEREDITH CLYMER, M.D., Prof. of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine. WILLIAM H. VAN BUREN, M.D., Prof. of General and Descriptive Anatomy. Professors not of the Governing Faculty. CHARLES A. LEE, M.D., Prof. of Medical Jurisprudence. B. W. MACREADY, M.D., Prof of Hygiene and Toxicology. THOMAS M. MARKOE, M.D., Prof. of Pathological and Microscopic Anatomy, J.T. METCALFE, M.D., Prof. of Physical Diagno sis and Diseases of the Chest tomy. WILLIAM DARLING, M.D., Demonstrator of AnaGEORGE W. PETERS, M.D., Prosector to the Professor of Surgery. JOHN W. DRAPER, M.D., President of the Faculty. A Course of Lectures, and also a Clinique on the Boletus Laricis, as a Purgative by Dr. Van Buren; Saturday, Surgical Clinique by Dr. Post. From this it will be seen that clinical instruction is a chief feature of the course. The resources of New York in this respect are so great that the Cliniques will unquestionably constitute a most valuable means of practical instruction. Terms of Attendance.-Though no obligation is imposed on the students to extend the time of their residence in the city beyond the period of the winter session (those who have complied with the regula tions of the University being permitted, if they de sire it, to be candidates for graduation, as hereto fore), an extended system of instruction is thus continued during the rest of the year, to which all students of the University who have attended the winter lectures will be admitted free of charge. Students who have not attended a full course of winter lectures, and who may wish to enter for the summer course, will be received on the payment of the matriculation fee and S25; and should they afterwards decide on becoming pupils of the University for the winter course ensuing, the $30 thus paid will be credited to them on taking out their tickets for that course. Fees for the Winter Course.-Full Course of Lectures, $105. Matriculation fee, $5. Iractical Anatomy, $5. Board can be had at about $3 per week. Students on arriving in town will call at the College in Fourteenth street, between Irving Place and Third Avenue, and inquire for the Janitor, Mr. Polman, who will provide them with boarding houses. Letters may be addressed to Prof. Draper, President of the Medical Faculty, University, New York. Feb. 9-eowtAplɔ̃ res of the Skin, will be given by H. D. Bulk-DR. H. W. WILLIAMS has removed to No. 33 ey, M.D. There will be five Cliniques each week, and, after the middle of April, an additional one on Diseases of the Skin. They will be arranged as follow: ESSEX STREET, opposite Rowe Street. Particular attention given to DISEASES OF THE EYE. Nov. 5-eptf. Monday, Obstetric Clinique by Dr. Bedford; Tues-D PHELPS, NO. 5 Beach street, near Washington day, Surgical Clinique by Dr. Mott; Wednesday, Medical Clinique by Dr. Clymer; Thursday, Chipique on Diseases of the Skin by Dr. Bulkley; Friday, Clinique on Diseases of Genito-urinary Organs ISEASES OF THE SKIN.-DR. CHARLES A. street, Boston. Dr. P., since his return from Europe, gives special attention to Diseases of the Skin. Dec. 15.-tf SEPTEMBER 1, 1852. AT WOOD. TREMONT STREET MEDICAL Corporated School will recommence its usual exercises. These Consist of a daily recitation in some one of the various branches of medical science, directed by the fol lowin: gentlemen, who are the Instructers connected with the School. Dr. J. BIGELOW, Theory and Practice and Materia Medica. Dr. STORER, Midwifery, Diseases of Women and Children, and Medical Jurisprudence. Dr. HOLMES, Anatomy and Physiology. Dr. J. B. S. JACKSON, Pathological Anatomy. Dr. HENRY J. BIGELOW, Principles and Practice of Surgery. Prof. CoCKE, Chemistry. Dr. DURKEE, Diseases of the Skin. Dr. KNEELAND, Demonstrator of Anatomy. It is intended that the students shall go over the whole subject of medicine and surgery in the course of each year, as far as may be courpatible with attention during that period to each of the branches. Recitations are considered to give to those students who desire to test their acquirements in this way, the most satisfactory indication of their knowledge or deficiencies; while they afford to those who prefer not to recite, the information usually conveyed by lectures. Besides the recitations, courses of lectures are given during the year upon a variety of topics. September and October.-In addition to the usual medical recitations, Prof. Cooke will give, through the months of September and October of this year, an extra course of Practical Demonstrations upon subjects connected with Organic Chemistry. Winter Term.-During the months of November, December, January and February, (the lecture term of the Massachusetts Medical College,) weekly examinations are held for those who wish to attend them, upon each of the subjects of the contemporaneous lectures at the College. Fee for the Winter Term, $10. Practical Anatomy is taught under the immediate direction of the Teacher of Anatomy and Phy iology, assisted by the Demonstrator of the Medical School of the University. Ample means of pursuing this important branch of study, and for the practice of the more important surgical operations, are provided without additional expense to the student. CLINICAL INSTRUCTION. This essential branch of a medical education is made an object of especial attention. There will be clinical visits at the Massachusetts General Hospital, in the Medical Department, by Drs. Bigelow, Jackson and Storer, with Lectures at stated intervals; and constant attention to the practical study of Auscultation and Percussion, for which ample opportunities occur in the practice of the Hospital. Clinical Instruction in Surgery will be given at the same institution by Dr Henry J. Pigelow. will be commenced on the first Thursday of March, 1853, and will be continued sixteen weeks. FACULTY. HENRY H. CHILDS, M.D., Prof. of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. ALONZO CLARK, M.D., Prof. of the Institutes of Medicine and Pathological Anatomy. BENJAMIN R. PALMER, M.D., Prof. of General, Descriptive and Surgical Anatomy. ELISHA BARTLETT, M.D., Prof. of Materia Medica and Obstetrics. EDWARD M. MOORE, M.D., Prof. of the Principles and Practice of Surgery. Hon. JACOB COLLAMER, LL.D., Prof. of Medical Jurisprudence. THOMAS ANTISELL, M.D., Prof. of Chemistry. Fees. For the tickets of all the Professors, $50. Matriculation, $3; Graduation, $18. Third course students pay only the matriculation fee. Students who have attended two full courses of lectures at other regular Institutions are charged $10. Board--including room, fuel and lights, can be obtained in good families, at from $1 75 to $2.25 per week. By order of the Faculty, B. R. PALMER, Dean. Woodstock, Vt., December, 1852. J5-eptMh INFIRMARY FOR UTERINE CHARITABLE Natients will receive gratul tous advice, in relation to the above diseases, at the Boston Lying-in Hospital, from 11 A. M. to 12 M., on Thursday of each week. Per order of the Trustees. Nov. 24. 6m ACAD. The Medical Profession are respect fully informed that we have this day received from Europe a large assortment of patent vulcanized Elastic Stockings, Knee Caps, Ankle Socks and Thigh Bandages, whick draw on without the trouble of lacing. (See Dr. Mott's opinion of this article in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, April 21, 1852; also Dr. J. V. C. Smith's remarks in the same Journal, Sept. 1st and 8th, 1852.] They are made ex. pressly to our order, of beautiful silk and cotton texture, and are warranted the finest material manufactured. Our prices are reduced to the following scale: Flesh-colored Silk Elastic Stockings, 64 66 Ankle Socks, Cotton Elastic Stockings, 44 Knee Caps, 66 Ankle Socks, $5.50 4.00 300 400 300 2.50 Full length of the leg at proportionate prices Dec. 29, 1852.-eop3m Ample opportunities are afforded for experience AMG, MD, Editor of this Journal, in one 12 in Obstetric practice. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS. In addition to the medical and surgical practice and operations of the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Students will have admission to the Eye and Ear Infirmary, through the politeness of the Surgeons of that Institution; and also to the insti mo. volume, illustrated by numerous engravings and handsomely bound, is now published and on sale at this office. Price, $1,25. Orders by mail, with the money enclosed, will be answered by the conveyance of the book, postage paid. Jan. 1. tation for the treatment of Diseases of the Skin, by NOTICE TO PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. permission of Dr. Durkee. MEANS OF ILLUSTRATION. The large collections of healthy and morbid specimens in the Warren Anatomical Museum, and the Cabinet of the Boston Society for Medical improvement, will be made available for the purposes of instruction under the direction of Dr. Jackson, the Curator of both these collections. LIBRARY. During the whole Summer term, the Students of the Tremont Street Medical School will have free access to, and the privilege of taking Books from the Library of the Massachusetts Medical College, now consisting of about 1500 volumes, and rapidly increasing by a large annual appropriation, devoted to the purchase of Books most useful and acceptable to the Student. **Application may be made to DR. BIGELOW, Summer street, Boston. The Catalogue for March, 1852, of the past and present Members of the School, with other details, may be had gratis, by applying, post-paid, to Mr. Burnett, Apothecary, 33 Tremont Row, at W. D. Ticknor's Bookstore, or at the Medical Journal Once. The Room of the School, at 33 Tremont Row, over Mr. Burnett's Apothecary store, is open to Students from 6 A. M. to 10 P. M., furnished with Plates, Pre parations, Articles of the Materia Medica, &c. -Thomas's American Mechanical Leech, Breast Glass, Cupping Glass and Eye Glass. The attention of the Medical Profession is respectfully invited to the above-named Instruments. Their simple arrangement, neat appearance, and a uniformity and certainty of action and result unattained by any other articles of a similar character, reuder them worthy the notice of the Medical Profession and public generally. These Instruments have been thoroughly tested by distinguished Physicians and Professors who have given their testimonials in favor, and strongly recommend them to those in want of such Instruments. For sale by JOSEPH BURNETT, 33 Tremont Row, Boston. **Dealers supplied on favorable terms. April 28. PUSE COD LIVER OIL, Carefully prepared only from fresh and healthy livers, by Joseph Burnett, Apothecary, No. 33 Tremont Row, Boston. Dr. J. C. B. Williams, an eminent English physician, after prescribing it in 400 cases of consumption in 234 of which he preserved full notes), states in the London Journal of Medicine-"As the result of experience, confirmed by a rational consideration of its mode of action, the pure fresh oil from the liver of the cod is more beneficial in the treatment of pulmonary consumption, than any other agent, me dicinal, dietetic, or regimenal, that has yet been employed." June 18-tf. MATHBRIC and for sale by PHILBRICK, CARPENTER & CO. Nov 6. THE BOSTON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL. VOL. XLVIII. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1953. No. 4. THE PHILOSOPHY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, Considered with special reference to Dr. Elisha Bartlett's "Essay on the Philosophy of Medical Science." A BOYLSTON PRIZE ESSAY, BY E. LEIGH, M.D., TOWNSEND, MASS. "I fear he has got hold of his pitcher by the wrong handle." [Communicated for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.] We can hardly place too high an estimate upon the value of a sound philosophy of medical science. No one will deny this statement. Even those who contend most earnestly for "observation" and the strictest adherence to facts, will give to it their full assent. Though they will have no philosophy in science, they will insist upon their peculiar philosophy of science. Indeed it is most obvious that the very shape the science will assume in the mind of the physician, or in the treatise of the medical writer, will be conformed to his views of its true nature and proper elements; so that, to the mature scientific physician, a sound philosophy of his science is of fundamental importance. To the student in medicine, also, it is of no less consequence. The whole character and course of his studies will be shaped by it. Indeed some philosophy of science, either true or false, he will have, for no mind can be employed in the study of science without it. And a sound philosophy he will need, and will feel the need of at the outset, if he has had any experience in the study of other sciences. He will wish to know what he has before him. He will wish to have some general idea of the ground upon which he is about to tread. He will desire to ascend some eminence from which he can take a general survey of the country he is about to explore, and learn something of its general character and prominent features, before he descends to examine it in detail. In this way he will be prepared to proceed in the right direction, to make the most rapid progress, and prosecute his investigations in the wisest and most successful manner. The very title, therefore, of Dr. Bartlett's work will at once attract * Awarded by the Committee of the Boylston Medical Society, January, 1849. the attention of the scientific physician, and of the reflecting student. The volume itself he will find to be one, in which he must necessarily take a deep interest. The perusal of it cannot fail to afford him pleasure, to give him valuable instruction, and furnish him food for thought. There is a charm in the style in which it is written, a beauty and freshness about it, a clearness, precision and vigor in its language, that is truly refreshing as we turn to it from our ordinary medical reading. There is a sincerity and earnestness in the author's manner, an ardent devotion to the cause he has espoused, that at once takes captive the mind of the reader. Moreover, the error he is combating, the error of substituting mere theories, hypotheses, assumptions and speculations in the place of facts and truth, is one of the gravest character-one which has exerted a pernicious influence upon our science from the earliest ages-one which is venerable for its antiquity, and carries with it the influence of great and honored names, and still maintains a strong hold upon the minds of men, though some of its more prominent developments are of recent date, and are only looked upon with ridicule or contempt. The cause he has espoused, the cause of fact and truth against theory and false doctrines, the cause of observation against speculative fancies, of true science against science falsely so called, must ever enlist the sympathies and engage the attention of truly scientific minds. He has done his work, too, in many respects, in such a masterly manner, that we involuntarily entertain for him more than the respect which his professional standing and reputation would demand; we feel that we are sitting at the feet of a master in science. But with all our admiration of the author's abilities, of the vigor of thought, and beauty and freshness of style which his work exhibits, with all our sympathy with the cause he has espoused, with all our readiness to unite with him in excluding from the domain of science all speculative fancies, and unfounded assumptions, we cannot receive the philosophy he has thought necessary to adopt in order to secure this end. It is not the true philosophy which fact and reason teach. The common idea of the philosophy of science is doubtless the true In accordance with this idea of it, science embraces, one. I. Certain Primary Truths, or fundamental principles, upon which all its reasonings are based. These belong to each of the sciences in common with all the others. Two of the more important, only, need be mentioned here. One is the "principle or law of causation," that "every beginning or change of existence has a cause." The other is "the principle or law of uniformity," that "matter and mind have uniform and fixed laws," that "all the processes of nature take place in accordance with uniform and permanent laws." II. Science embraces also certain ascertained and classified Facts (or, as Dr. Bartlett calls them, phenomena and their relationships), some of them ascertained by observation directly-others ascertained by reasoning from previously known facts and established principles. III. But, above all, science embraces certain General Ideas, Truths and Principles, which the thinking, reasoning mind arrives at by studying the facts that have been ascertained and classified. Of these threefold elements does science, absolute science, consist. Take away the first, the primary truths, and the whole fabric of science is overthrown, its observations and its reasoning are worthless, its facts and its truths are gone. Take away the second, the facts, and there are no means of arriving at its truths, the whole structure and its very materials are wanting, there is nothing to be seen but the everlasting foundations. Take away the third, the truths and ideas of science, and you leave the solid foundations, surrounded by a rich supply of well-selected and well-assorted materials; but the noble structure, the beautiful living temple of science, is not there. The second class of these threefold elements-the facts-are often, in themselves considered, of great interest and importance. But their chief value lies in the truths and general principles to which they direct the mind, and which can be fairly deduced from them. It is in these general ideas, these scientific truths, these large and comprehensive principles, that science especially consists. Take them away, and you leave only a mere naked skeleton of material facts, beautifully formed and arranged, perhaps, but lifeless, powerless, inert. It is the mind, in the exercise of its higher powers, that gives to facts their significance, and, by working among them and upon them after they have been collected and arranged, draws forth and holds up to view those ideas, truths and principles, which constitute science in its highest and noblest sense, and make it the living, efficient, all-pervading thing it is. But the philosophy of the work which has been referred to, in its attempt to banish theories and speculations from science, has left no place for its truths and principles; it has at once taken away the foundations and removed the superstructure, leaving only a limited collection of wellarranged, and well-classified materials. It admits into science nothing but "observed facts." No other fact however clearly proved, no idea of science however clearly discerned, no principle of science however well established, no scientific truth however well known, no doctrine however sound, can gain admittance. Nothing can enter but mere facts; and each of these must enter by itself, through one of the five senses; and then poor pitiable reason is allowed to look at it, see what it looks like, and put it in its place by the side of others like it-that is all! This is absolutely all the author allows science to consist of. He makes it a mere cabinet of such dead material facts as the five senses are able to pick up on the surface of things. Such a philosophy he never could have dreamed of, had he not been, either misled by the dogmas of the grossest materialism; or, what is more probable, blinded by his ardor to demolish speculative theories. As it is, he has set up an hypothesis against all hypotheses; a theory against all theories; an assumption against all assumptions; a mere speculation against all speculations; a false doctrine by which to annihilate all other false doctrines. For such in reality is his philosophy; it is hypothesis, theory, assumption, speculation, false doctrine. His leading doctrine, "that all science consists exclusively in phenomena and their relationships classified and arranged," is so far from consisting of "phenomena and their relationships," that it is not even based upon them, or deduced |