An introductory address on the future of St. Thomas's Hospital : delivered at the hospital in the Surrey Gardens on the occasion of the opening of the session of its Medical and Surgical College, October 1st, 1862 / John Syer Bristowe.

  • Bristowe, John Syer, 1827-1895.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An introductory address on the future of St. Thomas's Hospital : delivered at the hospital in the Surrey Gardens on the occasion of the opening of the session of its Medical and Surgical College, October 1st, 1862 / John Syer Bristowe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    apart from accidental and controllable conditions, merit tlie stigma of insalubrity which people are so fond of affixing to it. We are apt to forget that change of air involves numberless other changes. The overworn and anxious citizen, whom I have cited, goes to the seaside; he throws off all his cares, he eats, he drinks, he sleeps, he lies fallow. The little urchin, bursting with suppressed spirits, pining for exercise, eteolated by confinement, gives, in the country, full play to all his teeming functions. The invalid passes out of his monotonous and sickly chamber, and wakes to new life among the fresh and ever-changing beauties of nature, revels in the exercise of long-dormant powers, and strengthens them by their exercise. Think you that “ long rest and blissful ease/’ early hours, plentiful sleep, wholesome and wholesomely-consumed food, and out¬ door amusement and exercise according to one’s taste or needs, are not sufficient to bring back health? Unquestionably they are; and, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, it is to these, and not to any peculiarity of atmosphere, that the restoration to health and to vigour is due. Still, there are a few cases in which the air must be really, to some extent, credited with the amelioration of the patient’s health. But the cases are mostly special. Thus, there are certain constitutions and certain diseases which are benefited by an atmosphere peculiarly dry; others thrive, best where moisture is the predominant quality; some natures are best suited by warmth, others by cold, and others again by uniformity of temperature; there are even those—some asthmatics to wit—whom the much-maligned air of London better suits than that of the country. But the old fable of the man and his ass warns us of the impossibility of satisfying everyone’s requirements; and clearly, unless we propose to treat within its walls only certain forms of disease, a Hospital ought not to be erected, in satisfaction of some fanciful theory, upon any site presenting extreme peculiarities. It may still be objected to my arguments :—“ Oh ! it is a recognised fact that patients in rural Hospitals, especially after operations, recover much more quickly, and altogether more favourably, than patients do in the Hospitals of the Metropolis;” and, I know, many persons believe, that all patients would get well more speedily in the atmosphere of the countrv than in that of London. Such statements are easier made and believed (partly because they fall in with our prejudices) than they are proved or refuted, But allowing, for argument s sake, that