On gout : its history, its causes, and its cure / by William Gairdner.

  • Gairdner, William, 1793-1867.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On gout : its history, its causes, and its cure / by William Gairdner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    as to exhibit tlie great diligence of the observer, and yet lead the mind of the reader, as little as may be, to the ready appreciation of their nature. The best arrangement we find, is that of the order of their occurrence, yet this is not always followed. It is true, as might be expected, that a practising physician of the present day will scarcely find his attention arrested by a circumstance or symptom of this disease, unrecorded by his predecessors; yet it is equally certain that, in the doubts which assail his mind, he will often turn in vain to their writings for the solution of his difficulties. I have hailed with great interest the works which have occasionally proceeded from some of our ablest physicians dming my time, and particularly some writings which have, within these few years, issued from the press. But though I have found much matter of instruction in them, I have been mortified not to discover certain observations and thoughts of my own, reflected in the minds of my colleagues. Recollecting that my own opinions had undergone great change, I have been led to further inquiry, and though on certain points I may feel doubts strengthened, there are others on which re-exami- nation and reflection only bring additional convic- tion. What these are will sufficiently appear in the following pages. Whether my interpretations are true or false, my contemporaries must judge. But