Aphorisms, definitions, reflections, and paradoxes, medical, surgical and dietetic / by A. Rabagliati.

  • Rabagliati, A. (Andrea Carlo Francesco), 1843-
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Aphorisms, definitions, reflections, and paradoxes, medical, surgical and dietetic / by A. Rabagliati. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    person were to ask an astronomer whereabouts in the heavens a certain body was to be found, he would be told to direct his telescope to a certain part of the heavens at a certain time, say, e.g., due west at 9 p.m. If, now, a second astronomer, being asked the same question, were to say, ‘ Point your telescope due east at 10 p.m. and you will see it,’ the ignorant person would conclude either that his question had been misapprehended, or if it had been properly understood, then he would conclude that there was no astronomical science. But if both experts gave him the same answer to a fraction of a second in time and a fraction of a second in space or place, he would conclude, even if they differed a little, that there was a science of astronomy ; and he would further conclude that if he, the inquirer, could master the principles of astronomy, he might find out for himself where in time and place that heavenly body would be, and would not require to consult the astronomical expert. But if this is so, can we wonder when one doctor gives advice in a sense diametrically opposed to that of his expert colleague—can we wonder that the public should fly to the conclusion that there is no science of medicine ? If, on the other hand, there is a science of medicine, as I firmly believe there is, and if the facts pointed at in these aphorisms give the indication of the method by which the science is to be built up, then it might follow that the layman might use for his own purposes the principles laid down by scientific medicine, and might not, therefore, require to consult the medical man at all.