Medical ethics : a discourse delivered in the theatre of the Meath Hospital, November 1, 1869 / by William Stokes.

  • Stokes, William, 1804-1878.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical ethics : a discourse delivered in the theatre of the Meath Hospital, November 1, 1869 / by William Stokes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    They wrote with a pure object, the advancement of science and the benefit of mankind. There is still another important feature of these works : they are the result of large and long experience. There was no hurrying into print with some ephemeral production; no rushing into authorship in the hope that experience would follow; no premature publication of cases that had not terminated, of operations whose final result was not known. To use the words of Dr. Acland, No truer guide to the temper in which Medicine should be followed could be found than what then fell from the lips of the elo- quent Professor of Surgery. If young men were to ponder on these words, how much discredit would our Profession escape from. The abuse of statistics to confirm particular views would cease; the climbing into notoriety by the alleged power of this or that remedy would become more rare; the extreme difficulty of settling the real value of any therapeutical agent would be admitted ; dogmatism would become unknown, and jealousies disappear. A feature of some schools of the present day is irreverence. I do not mean in a religious sense, but as regards the respect due to our noble band of prede- cessors. The disciples of some vain men affect to despise the past without knowing the past. How few of them know anything of the old Egyptian medicine ? Which of them has read Hippocrates ? Which of the so-called anatomical school has studied Bonetus or Mor- gagni ? To confine ourselves to Medicine, how few- have read John Peter Frank, or Sydenham, Hay garth, or Gregory. I will not enlarge on this topic, but only