ADDRESS 
TO THE 
GKEt^IDTTuSkTIIXrG- CLASS 
OF THE 
MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE 
BY C. T. QUINTARD, M. D, 
PROFESSOR OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. 
SESSION OF 1854-5. 
There are moments in life so macle up of mingled emotions 
that it is difficult to analyze them-to know whence they draw 
their interest-whether it be from the half-forgotten past, or the 
realizations of the present-moments when the lips refuse to utter, 
what the heart is laboring to disclose, and when silence is indeed 
a balm to the soul. Utterly unable to tell what feeling is predomi- 
nant in my heart, or to find words with which to portray my 
emotions, I should willingly give place to another who would 
speak words of wise counsel and kindly encouragement to you, 
gentlemen, who have just been made members of a learned, and 
liberal, and venerable profession. I can scarcely realize that this 
is the last opportunity that I shall ever have of appearing before 
a medical class. The time is so short, since, like you, I was 
struggling for the honors which have been conferred on you, and 
since I felt the flush of joy which you now feel, that I can yet recall 
the absorbing happiness of that moment. Eight years have 
rolled away since I received the doctorate. I started out in life 
with many an expectation-which was never to be realized-with 
many a hope springing into life only to be blighted. I found the 
world, and life, and duty, much more matters of fact than of 
fancy. I found that there was something to struggle with and 
something to labor for-that life was full of high and holy duties 
-that sorrow flung a shadow over the heart, and that even re- 
morse was no stranger to the soul of man. I found the silver 
current of life winding among rocks, now shooting out into the 
sunlight, and anon whirling among shifting sands in darkest 2 
ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF TIIE 
shades. I found that those succeeded best who soonest realized 
the responsibilities of living-and that earnest labor always 
brought its own recompense. These things I had thought upon 
before-but had not considered them as matters of much moment. 
They were clouds flitting athwart the horizon and soon cleared 
away. And you, gentlemen, though you cannot feel this now, 
will surely feel it hereafter. You will find more thorns than 
flowers in your path. Like Adam, when driven from Eden, you 
will find thorns and thistles springing up everywhere about you, 
and the sooner you realize the duties which devolve upon you, the 
more earnestly you set yourselves to the task which is before you, 
the sooner you will find the thorns and thistles trodden down, and 
pleasant flowers springing up in their places. You have arrived 
at a period in life when all is bright with anticipation, redolent of 
hope, and glowing with the deepest interest. Let your anticipa- 
tions, your hopes, and all your interests, rest upon the firm basis of 
virtuous principle, that when the lapse of time shall leave this 
season of pleasant association in the distance, memory may 
clothe it with her richest and loveliest drapery. 
The diplomas which you have just received, you must regard 
as certificates of admission into the profession of medicine. They 
carry with them no guarantee of success apart from earnest and 
laborious effort, and wdiile they are tokens of honor, you must 
look upon them as rather conferring the right to investigate more 
fully, to study more closely, and to apply more diligently the great 
principles of medical science, than as testimonials of the progress 
you have already made. I trust you intend to continue students 
some -while longer. If you devote your whole lives to study, you 
will have scarce time to master more than one branch of the great 
science of medicine-and yet the wonderful improvements which 
have been made in that science, the progress which the last century 
has witnessed, should encourage you to unremitting diligence. 
This is true not of one alone, but of every department, contin- 
gently or remotely connected with the science or art of medicine. 
Let me mention very briefly some of the changes which have 
taken place in modern times, changes which are not innovations 
merely, but radical improvements. 
Before Harvey discovered the true circulation of the blood, the 
opinion prevailed Universally, that the blood was formed in the 
liver, and sent out from it by all the veins to nourish the body, 
proceeding outwards during the day, and returning by night. 
These notions had become great and important doctrines, and had 
descended to the profession from their oldest teachers, with many 
weighty dependencies, conclusions and rules of practice ; they 
were as articles of faith which it was a heresy to forsake.* 
But when once the doctrine of Harvey had prevailed and dis- 
pelled the idle dreams which haunted men's minds about humors 
♦John Bell. 3 
and temperaments and blood, of the blood concocted in the 
liver, of the veins alone carrying proper blood while the arteries 
carried air only or vital spirits to animate the system by mixing 
with the blood, physicians found all their previous reasoning 
confounded and their theories, embracing the whole body of phy- 
sic, disturbed. They were forced to adopt new theories in order 
to explain the phenomena of health and disease. Where previous- 
ly they had imagined air, there was found pure blood. The 
circulation was found to be a circulation-the liver lost the 
greater part of its importance, and parts which had previously 
been considered scarcely worthy of regard were at once brought 
into conspicuous positions in the rapidly formed theories of the 
day. 
Doctrines not less erroneous than those they displaced were 
adopted, and as a consequence erroneous theories and practices 
were followed. What may be called the globular doctrine main- 
tained by the principal writers of the day, and dilated into 
ingenious but hypothetical theories, was received with great favor. 
This consisted chiefly in the maintenance that the blood was 
composed of globules, the larger globules of smaller ones, 
and then again of a third series-that the blood vessels were 
so proportioned to the size of the blood globules, and these 
so nicely adjusted to the variable size of the vessels, that 
each vesselj selected its proper globules; that when, by too 
violent an action, the larger globules were forced into the small 
vessels they produced either local inflammation or general disease.* 
Subsequently, physicians attempted to measure the force of the 
heart, the strength of the vessels, and the power of the various 
organs of the body, by mathematical processes. 
These mathematical physicians were famous in their day, and 
the names of Bellini, Pitcairne and others gave strength and 
lustre to the deductions of many a lesser light. While engaged 
in studying the various branches of medicine, Pitcairne devoted a 
portion of his time to the study of mathematics, by the applica- 
tion of which he believed much light might be thrown on many 
of the phenomena of life. Thus the process of digestion, explained 
as it then was by mechanical action, was accurately measured by 
Pitcairne, who conceived the food to be ground down by a pres- 
sure equal to a weight not less than a hundred and seventeen 
thousand and eighty pounds, assisted at the same time, in its 
gigantic labor, by an equal pressure derived from the surrounding 
muscles. Mathematical problems soon lost favor, and the theories 
of Pitcairne being less agreeable than other and newer doctrines, 
which were being received into favor he resigned his professor- 
ship at Leyden, which he had held but little over a year. 
From the discoveries which chemists had made while search- 
MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
*For an account of these doctrines see the earlier editions of John Bell's 
work on Anatomy. 4 
ADDEESS TO THE GEADUATING CLASS OF THE 
ing in the inorganic world for the philosophers stone, and " a 
perfect medicine for bodies that be sick," they pushed their inves- 
tigations into the various departments of medicine. 
" Having analyzed the materials of the druggists, the chemists 
proceeded to analyze the parts of the human body to which those 
medicines were to be applied, but from this rational commence- 
ment, followed one of the most trivial of all the miserable doc- 
trines with which our science has been disgraced; for as the 
chemists had already explained the properties of the salts, metals, 
earths, and of all active substances, by the angles, cubes, or other 
forms which they saw their particles assume, they soon persuaded 
themselves that such forms as cubes, wedges, spiculse, &c., exist- 
ed in the blood; and acid and alkaline humours, sharp, corrosive, 
irritating and pointed particles, were the terms in which they ex- 
pressed their most admired theories; and acids, alkalis, and metals, 
and medicines for rounding the pointed particles or obtunding (as 
they termed it) or sheathing or covering the acrimonious humors, 
were their chief preventives and cures."* Boerhaave united the 
mechanical hypothesisf with the chemical. He supposed many 
morbid phenomena to arise from acrimony of the blood which it 
was the business of the physician to neutralize. In his " Insti- 
tutions et aphorismes " he treats of the aids which art affords to 
medicine and details the system on the principles of the chemico- 
mechanical doctrine. It was the most comprehensive view that 
had yet been taken of medicine as a science, a model of erudition 
and method, embelished rather than encumbered by his opinions 
on the acrimony of the fluids, and his mechanical and hydraulic 
theories.J From this brief glance at some of the general doc- 
trines which were entertained by medical philosophers, a century 
or so ago-let us turn to the particular departments of medical 
science, and note a few of the improvements which have been 
made. In general anatomy our knowledge has been so extended, 
and rendered so comprehensive as almost to perfect the science. 
It has influenced in a wonderful degree the cognate sciences. 
Physiology is built upon it. In the first place it is the object of 
anatomy to ascertain structure; it is the object of physiology to 
ascertain function. An organ is constructed in such a manner as 
to fit it to perform a certain action; that action cannot be under- 
stood unless the structure is known; and often that structure can- 
♦John Bell. 
fHe had been a pupil of Pitcairne. 
| " Boerhaave was the most remarkable physician of his age, perhaps the 
greatest of modern times ; a man who, when we contemplate his genius, his 
erudition, and singular variety of his talents, his unfeigned piety, his spotless 
character, and the impress which he left not only on contemporaneous prac- 
tice, but on that of succeeding generations, stands forth as one of the bright- 
est names on the page of history, and may be quoted as an example not only 
to physicians, but to mankind at large. " MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
5 
not be known without directly leading to a knowledge of the 
action. Until the art of anatomy began to be cultivated, the 
science of physiology was without existence. In proportion as 
anatomy has been practiced, physiology has advanced, and these 
two, anatomy and physiology, are now the basis of the science of 
medicine. 
Comparative anatomy, by which term -we understand the 
science which conveys to us a knowledge of the differences in the 
structure and organization of the whole animal kingdom in all its 
classes, orders and species, though scarcely a half century has 
elapsed since the first attempts were made to systematize its 
almost infinite details, has furnished the most important aids to 
the study of human anatomy and physiology, and has supplied a 
secure and broad foundation for all zoological knowledge, both as 
regards existing and extinct races. This progress in anatomical 
science has rendered almost useless to the medical student the text 
books published half a century since. Even the work of John 
Bell, which was first published in 1793, and justly esteemed the 
best work of the day, is scarcely ever consulted, and yet John 
Bell was an accurate anatomist and a polished writer, and in his 
work is to be found none of that tedious interlarding of technical 
terms, that studied harshness and obscurity of anatomical descrip- 
tion, which was so much in vogue at the time he wrote. The skill 
of more recent anatomists, aided by physiological knowledge, has 
explained those delicate and obscure parts of anatomy which fifty 
years ago were quite unknown. 
With this improvement in anatomical knowledge, there has 
been a like improvement in the science of Surgery. Without 
an accurate knowledge of the structure, situation and relation of 
organs, the surgeon cannot proceed a single step in the practice 
of his art without the most imminent peril. It has been justly 
stated that no one can form an adequate conception, but those w'ho 
have witnessed it, of the confusion and terror occasioned by the 
sight of a human being from whose body the blood is gushing in 
torrents, and which none of the spectators are able to relieve- 
and it is impossible to conceive the situation of a medical man 
who knows not what to do in such an emergency. Yet ancient 
surgeons were constantly placed in this situation. Not only were 
they prevented, through terror, from interfering with the most 
painful and destructive diseases, which experience has proved to 
be capable of safe and easy removal, but in general, they were 
afraid to cut the most trivial tumor. They never thought of 
amputating until the limb had mortified and the dead had sepa- 
rated from the living parts ; being ignorant of the means of stop- 
ping hoemorrhage-they were afraid to cut into the living flesh. 
In his treatise on the Operations of Surgery-by Samuel Sharp, 
Surgeon of Guy's Hospital-published in 1751,* the writer says 
*Sixth edition, London, 1751. 6 
ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE 
" I have laid it down as a rule, that the mortification should 
not only be stopped but advanced in its separation; the reason 
of which is, that though the blood is so much altered for the bet- 
ter, as to occasion a stoppage of the gangrene, yet at this point 
of alteration, 'tis still in a bad state, and should be left to mend, 
with the utmost tranquillity of body and assistance of cordial 
medicines, until such time as granulations of flesh upon the 
living part of the extremity show the balsamic disposition of the 
blood." * If we compare this work with our college text books we 
find a vast improvement, not only in the operations of Surgery 
-but in surgical pathology. The writer tells us-" In the 
description of diseases I have only mentioned their distinguishing 
appearances, and have not once dared to guess at the particular 
disorder in the animal economy which is the immediate cause of 
them."f He did not "dare to guess"-he was quite unac- 
quainted with structural and relative anatomy. lie possess- 
ed none of that accurate knowledge which has since guided 
our great surgeon-Dr. Mott-in those formidable operations 
which have placed him at the head of the now living operators. 
Dr. Sharp gives the method of extirpating the tonsils by liga- 
ture. The best manner of applying the ligature "by means of 
an instrument of Mr. Cheselden's contrivance, which holds one 
end of the string on the side of the tonsil next to the throat, while 
you make a knot by pulling the other with the right hand quite 
out of the mouth. " He tells us how patients were prepared "for 
inoculation, " which had been introduced into England about 
thirty years previous to the publication of his work, and which 
was then universally had recourse to. Since the discovery of 
vaccination by Jenner, this operation has deservedly fallen into 
disuse, for whatever were the merits of inoculation in lessening 
the severity of Small-pox in the persons inoculated, it was on 
the whole productive of more harm than benefit, by introducing 
the disease, as it often did, into districts previously free from 
contagion. 
But consider the progress which has been made in Chemistry 
during the period of which we speak. Not simply in the dis- 
covery of gases and alkalis and metals, but the remedies which 
it has given us in an eligible form-its assistance in diagnosis- 
the light which it sometimes throws on the action of remedial 
agents-and its application to many of the arts of life. 
A century has not passed since Cavendish discovered and 
described the properties of " inflammable air, " since called 
hydrogen gas-the proportions of the constituent gases of the 
atmosphere and the composition of water. On the 1st of August, 
1774, Priestly discovered what he called " dephlogisticated air, " 
now called oxygen gas. This discovery has served as a basis 
*Page 215. 
■fOp cit-Preface. MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
7 
for all that is known respecting the nature of the atmosphere, 
water, acids and alkalis. Uis work entitled "Experimentsand 
Observations on different kinds of Air, " contains a vast number 
of experiments from which various inferences might be drawn, 
■which he seems, in his rapid career of discovery, to have over- 
looked.* 
But I should weary your patience were I to attempt to men- 
tion even the discoveries of Bergman, of Scheele, of Lavoisier, 
Berthollet, Guyton, Morveau, Fourcroy, Klaproth, Vauquelin, 
Wollaston, Davy, and others who have assisted in bringing the 
science to its present degree of perfection. I will mention only 
one or two discoveries which have been most important. 
The doctrine of definite proportions, founded on well ascer- 
tained facts, has bestowed on modern chemistry an almost math- 
ematical degree of precision. " Dalton," says Sir Robert Kane, 
" in promulgating the law of multiple combination, the most 
beautiful, as well as the most extensive principle that had been 
conferred on Chemistry since the epoch of Lavoisier, announced 
it as the result of speculations which, though in their general 
nature true, and constituting still the essential basis of all theories 
of chemical action, were yet overlaid by a tissue of hypotheses 
so irregular and so unnecessary, that for a long time the real dig- 
nity and excellence of the experimental laws were underrated 
and misunderstood. These accessory speculations have now, 
however, passed away, and the theory of combination laid down 
by Dalton may, in all its essential conditions be stated as follow's: 
all substances are supposed to be constituted of particles perfectly 
indivisible, and hence called atoms. In different kinds of matter 
these atoms are of different weights, and probably of different mag- 
nitudes ; but this latter quality is of no material interest. When 
bodies combine chemically, their combination must be so effected 
that one atom of one unites with one atom of another; or one of 
a first with two, three, or four of the second; or two of the first 
with three, or five, or seven, of the second; but no intermediate 
degrees can possibly occur, for the one atom being absolutely 
indivisible, no intermediate degree of union can take place." f 
The earliest experiments which could have served as a basis for 
the atomic theory are those of Wenzel, who, in 1777, published 
a work " On the affinities of Bodies." The author showed that 
when any two neutral salts decomposed each other, the resulting 
new compounds were exactly neutral. " The very attempt," 
remarks Dr. Thomson in his Ilistory of Chemistry, " to analyze 
the salts was an acknowledgement that bodies united with each 
other in definite proportions; and these definite proportions, had they 
*A portion of Dr. Priestly's apparatus for experimenting on gases is now- 
in the Labratory of the Memphis Medical College, together with portions of 
the apparatus of Sir Humphrey Davy, and Dr. Franklin. 
fElements of Chemistry-page 217. 8 
ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE 
been followed out, would have ultimately led to the doctrine of 
atoms." Although the atomic theory as developed by Dalton in 
1808 contained truths of the highest importance, it was not until 
after the appearance of Dr. Wollaston's memoirs "On super- 
acid and sub-acid salts," and " On a synoptic scale of Chem- 
ical Equivalents," that chemists were fully impressed with the 
practical applications of which the theory was susceptible. Ber- 
zelius pointed out a number of numerical proportions in which 
different bodies combine so as to neutralize each other. Gay- 
Lussac discovered the important laws according to which chemists 
estimate the weight of the vapor of bodies which have never yet 
been separately vaporized. Sir II. Davy-Drs. Turner and 
Henry, Mr. Faraday, Mr. Brande, and others have made the 
matter so practical that it is now found to have important bear- 
ings on many of the arts. As Dr. Daubney remarks " it would 
be superfluous to enlarge upon the proofs already afforded with 
respect to the greater precision it has introduced into the science 
-the wonderful saving of time and labor which is derived from 
it-not only by the philosopher in his more speculative inquiries, 
but even by the manufacturing chemist, in the every-day opera- 
tions of his trade." * 
But Chemistry is of the most practical importance to the physi- 
cian. It has not only aided us in procuring new agents, but has 
so separated and changed others as to have greatly increased our 
resources. In 1803, Serteurner discovered in opium, the first of 
a new class of bodies, or the vegetable alkalis; this alkali is 
Morphia. In 1812, Iodine was discovered by M. Courtois, of 
Pafis. In 1818, Berzelius discovered a peculiar inflammable 
body, to which he gave the name of Seleneum. In 1824, he 
obtained the metalic basis of Silica and Zirconia, and in 1829, 
he found a new metal to which he gave the name of Thorium. 
In 1818, Stroymeyer discovered Cadmium, a new metal, and in 
the same year, Lithium was discovered by Arfwedson ; Bussy 
obtained Magnesium from its oxyde in 1829, and in 1830 Sefstrom 
discovered the metal Venadium. In 1823, Mr. Faraday showed 
that various gases which had previously resisted condensation 
might be rendered fluid. In 1826, Balard made known the new 
elementary body, Bromine. Thus one by one discoveries have 
been made, the full import of which cannot yet be calculated. 
In toxicological practice, Chemistry has become the almost exclu- 
sive guide. In the department of Materia Medica and Pharmacy, 
great improvements have been and still continue to be made; 
not only in the discovery of valuable remedies, but in the method 
of preserving them. In Obstetricy, " with the light afforded us 
through the investigations of modern obstetricians, w'e are enabled 
to surmount, by simple and harmless means, most of the incon- 
veniences and dangers attending a natural process which, however, 
♦Introduction to Atomic Theory, page 87. MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
9 
the excess of refinement-a consequence, perhaps, of the advance- 
ment of civilization and luxury, too often renders hazardous." * 
And all this improvement, has been of vast benefit to the hu- 
man family. It has not only rendered the life of man more 
happy by removing many annoyances and relieving him of many 
difficulties, but has actually increased the duration of human 
existence, for statistics prove that while in the 17th century, one- 
half of the population died under twelve years of age-at the 
beginning of the present century, one-half exceeded forty years. 
Such are some of the improvements and such the results which I 
offer, gentlemen, for your consideration and urge as reasons for 
diligence in the performance of the high duties which belong 
to the profession you have just now entered. You are not to 
suppose that all has been accomplished-that there are no fields 
of research courting your enquiries. " Excited, " says the vener- 
able Humboldt, " by the brilliant manifestations of new discoveries, 
and nourishing hopes, the fallacy of which often continues long 
undetected, each age dreams that it has approximated closely to 
the culminating point of recognition and comprehension of 
nature ." But you have only to look around you to see men 
reaching forward to higher and still higher discoveries. Nor 
can any one say what new discovery may change the tide of 
human affairs, " what hidden treasures may yet be brought to 
light, in the air or in the ocean, of which we know so little ; or 
what virtues there may be in the herbs of the field, or in the 
treasures of the earth; how far its hidden fires, or stores of ice 
may yet become available. Ages can never exhaust the treasures 
of natirre." 
But the profession of Medicine is not less benevolent than 
useful. Its members are ever ready to listen to the calls of the 
suffering, and every true physician holds his talents and attain- 
ments in trust for the puplic good. Consider the various insti- 
tutions of charity, the hospitals, asylums and dispensaries to 
which physicians contribute their time and talents, frequently 
without remuneration. It was my fortune, soon after entering 
the profession, to become attached to the Medical Staff of one 
of the largest hospitals in the United States, and during my 
term of service, three out of the number who composed that 
Staff, yielded their lives, a sacrifice to their humanity. Consider 
*Dr. F. Campbell Stewart. " Figures," he says, " on a large scale, fully 
establish the fact, that very great progress has been made in the practice as 
well as the theory of Obstetrics, and in confirmation of the assertion now 
made, I will state that I have collected the particulars of more than ninety 
thousand cases, embracing two periods. The first series comprises 47,116 
cases, occurring between the years 1800 and 1825, in which instruments 
were used 430 times, or about once in on6 hundred. The second series is 
composed of 43,256 cases subsequently to 1825, 'and in these, instruments 
were resorted to only 252 times, or about once in two hundred."-Annivers- 
ary Discoubse before New York Academy of Medicine. 10 
ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE 
the number, who, during the last two years, Eave fallen at the 
post of duty in the fearful epidemics that have visited our South- 
ern cities, and tell me where you will find a body of men who 
more consistently and honorably and devotedly pursue so benev- 
olent a calling. And when we take into account, the personal 
charities-the relief which is carried by individual members of the 
profession to the hovel and the abode of suffering-the account 
swells up far beyond what the profession has credit for. In a 
recent oration, by Dr. Griscom, delivered before the New York 
Academy of Medicine, he proved that, without considering the 
bad debts of the profession-the personal cash gratuities in the 
medical attendance, medicines, etc., given by each individual 
in his private capacity-that the time, labor and medicines, gra- 
tuitously rendered to the poor of New York at the various hos- 
pitals, infirmaries and dispensaries, amounted, in the year 1853, 
to the enormous sum of $800,000. And then, top, it must not 
be forgotten, that all the discoveries and improvements in the 
Science are freely given for the benefit of the public with no 
patent rights to reward labors which have, oftentimes, been pur- 
sued unremittingly for years. In that admirable code of Ethics, 
put forth by the American Medical Association, and which is 
recognized by all Medical institutions and individuals of char- 
acter, it is declared to be derogatory to professional character for 
a physician to hold a patent for any surgical instrument or medi- 
cine, or to dispense a secret nostrum, whether it be the composi- 
tion or exclusive property of himself or others. For if such nos- 
trum be of real efficacy, any concealment regarding it, is incon- 
sistent with beneficence and professional liberality, and if mystery 
alone give it value and importance, such craft implies either dis- 
graceful ignorance, or fraudulent avarice." And what are the 
rewards for all this labor, this benevolence, this unstinted charity? 
Not always pecuniary, because, as a class, the practitioners of the 
healing art are actuated by motives far above pecuniary compen- 
sation. As has been most truly said, c the highest rewards of a 
medical practitioner must always spring from the conscientious 
discharge of his responsible duties, and it is to the monitor within 
that he must appeal whenever he seeks the highest incentive to 
the practice of his art. If this were not so. how discouraging 
would it be to see the worldly success, with which impudence and 
pretension too often meet; how the heart would sicken to see 
one whose whole life had been devoted to master the secrets of his 
profession, earning scarcely a decent support, while some plausible 
Dr. Dulcamara gulls the public with an elixir which gives life to 
his purse." * 
Let me urge you, gentlemen, who arc about to start in life as 
members of this useful and benevolent profession to bear about 
you at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances, a 
*R. D. Arnold, M. D. MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
11 
sense of the dignity of your calling, and if. perchance, you see 
ignorance with brazen face, and quackery in golden robes sport- 
ing in the fickle sun light of popular favor, be not turned aside. 
Turn neither to the right hand nor the left, but pursue your call- 
ing without defiling your hands by the contact of quackery, wheth- 
er it be unmasked, or presented to you in the garb of a refined and 
transcendental philosophy. Yon need never fear lor the success 
of legitimate medicine. 
"The feeble sea-birds, blinded by the storms, 
On some tall light-house, dash their little forms, 
And the rude granite scatters, for their pains, 
Those small deposites that were meant for brains. 
Yet the proud fabric, in the morning sun, 
Stands, all unconscious of the mischief done ; 
Nay, shines all radiance o'er the scattered fleet 
Of Gulls and Boobies, brainless at its feet." 
The isms in medicine may, for awhile, succeed, but no sooner 
are they subjected to the trying ordeal of time, than they pass 
away. And let me tell you, gentlemen, that there can be pointed 
out no discovery in medicine which has proved lastingly benefi- 
cial to mankind, which has not been made by the regular members 
of the profession. And who has the real confidence of society ? 
The quack with elixir ? or the honest, upright physician, who 
follows the art as it has come down to him, from the worthies of 
old, acquiring more and more power to benefit mankind ? To 
whom do the poor resort ? On whom do the rich rely, when 
pestilence walketh in darkness, and the sickness destroyeth at 
noon-day ? 
I assert unhesitatingly and without the fear of contradiction, 
that public opinion awards to the regular medical profession, its 
unreserved confidence. In the cities of New York, Philadelphia, 
.Boston, Baltimore, Ilichmond, Charleston, Savannah, and New 
Orleans, out of six hundred and more physicians, employed in 
charitable institutions of a respectable character, scarcely a single 
individual has been elected, who is not an honorable member 
of the regular faculty. And who are they who compose the med- 
ical staff of our Army and Navy; who go forth to the battle 
fields, with brave hearts and wise heads, to minister to the 
suffering? Let me tell you there is not a member of either staff 
" who may not be regarded as an ornament to his calling, and 
not only regular in his practice, but punctilious in his observance 
of the rules of Ethics." I would have you, gentlemen, remember 
these things. I would have you bear in mind the fact, that in all 
the teachings which you have received within the walls of our 
Institution, a rigid adherance to the honor of your profession has 
been enforced. Let the remembrance stimulate you, in an honor- 
able career, and never fear for the success of your well-directed 
efforts. 12 
ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE 
Gentlemen of the Faculty-I cannot contemplate the severance 
of a connexion, which, during the past four years, has existed 
between us, without some degree of pain. For four years I have 
been associated with you on terms of that kindly intercourse which 
begets the warmest esteem and most affectionate regard, and 1. 
should do violence to my feelings, were I to neglect to return you 
my heartfelt thanks for the kind consideration which you have 
at all times exhibited towards me. Four years ago, I brought 
the weakness of my wisdom and the strength of my hope, and 
added them to your more matured wisdom and more subdued 
hope, in the effort to establish, in this rapidly growing city, a 
substantial School of Medicine. Success has crowned our efforts. 
True, we cannot point to great numbers of students, but we can 
congratulate ourselves on the evidences which our pupils have 
given of such positive attainments as will entitle them to the first 
rank in the profession. And you need ask no higher honor than 
that which will be reflected back upon you by such a class as 
you, this evening, send out into the world. It is upon the character 
of the instruction you afford, that your success depends. It is 
not spacious structures-nor magnificent apparatus-nor extensive 
libraries-nor a great crowd of students-it is not any nor all these 
that can ensure success. Though your apparatus is unsurpassed, 
and your appliances for practical teaching unrivalled, you have 
not looked for success from these, but rather, that you have made 
the quality of your instruction, such as will bear the test of time 
and render your alumni useful members of the profession. You 
have prepared them to cope successfully with the difficulties which 
are ever and always arising in the way of the physician. To 
your graduates, you may entrust, without fear for the result, the 
honor and character of your College. I say success has crowned 
your efforts. You have succeedel in establishing what you 
proposed-an institution, which should be recognized as every 
way worthy the regard of the profession; which should come 
up to the high standard of the present professional era, and 
maintain a character in consonance with the advancing spirit 
of the age. The difficulties which were in your way, have 
gradually disappeared. The plain, straight-forward, honest course 
has overcome all obstacles, and the avenues which are now rapidly 
opening, for communication to the North, South. East and West, 
and which will render this city more accessible than most other 
points where reputable Medical institutions are established, will 
add greatly to the numbers who will resort to you for instruction. 
The high moral character which your school has already acquired, 
as it has inspired, so it will secure, the confidence of the profession 
and the public. An institution which seeks popularity, on any 
other than the substantial basis of moral principles, though it 
may obtain notoriety, can never enjoy a lasting reputation. I 
congratulate you on the prospects that are before you. I COn- 13 
gratulate you that you have secured, for the chair which I 
have so imperfectly filled, Rene La Roche, a man whose pro- 
fessional learning is only equalled by the sterling worth of his 
character; and I trust your future success will be equal to the 
merits of your school. You need ask nothing more. 
Gentlemen Graduates :-The unchanging kindness and respect 
you have exhibited towards me-the warm feelings of friendship 
which you have manifested for me, render it difficult for me to 
say farewell as I would. I would offer you words of encourage- 
ment, by pointing you to what has already been done-to what 
each day is doing, in the noble profession upon which you have 
entered, and urge you to mingle in the strife with stout hearts 
and diligent hands. I would urge you to unwearied study-to 
laborious investigation. Make use of all the means at your 
command ; nay, search for means for improvement. Let me tell 
you, in the language of Dr. La Roche, that "you will never 
succeed as physicians unless you read, and read a great deal on 
Medicine. No man ought to be so self-conceited as to suppose 
that, out of his own mere observations and reflections, he can, 
during a short term of existence, acquire what it has taken man- 
kind twenty-five centuries to learn concerning the nature of dis- 
eases and their cure. Such a thing is impossible and you will 
make an egregious mistake if you suffer yourselves to believe 
that you can ever become learned, useful, and successful physi- 
cians, unless you should give yourselves up to the reading of 
works on Medicine. " * 
You must gather knowledge from men as well as from books, 
and, gathering it from every source, store it up in your minds. 
You must not only read, but reflect upon what you read:- 
" For mind is not as merchandise, which decreaseth in the using, 
But liker to the passions of men, which rejoice and expand in exertion. " 
I tell you now, and time will prove how truly, that you must give 
yourselves to reading and reflection, and while I tell you there is 
labor, real work before you, I can, at the same time, assure you 
that your labors will bring their own reward. Assume to your- 
selves a manly independence, and go forth to meet the future- 
" Heart within, and God o'erhead." 
Above all, remember that this world is not your abiding place. 
Forget not that you are immortal beings, and that whatever 
of joy or sorrow you may meet with in life, look beyond them 
to eternity. Think upon this. Let your hopes ever be fixed 
upon this fact. It is the one great fact that must influence your 
career in time, as it will fix your destiny when time shall be no 
more. If you heed it not, life -will have no worthy aim, exist- 
MEMPHIS MEDICAL COLLEGE. 
* Vide Meigs on Childbed Fever, Letter of Dedication, page 4. 14 
YELLOW FEVER. 
ence will prove a blank, reason will be utter foolishness, and 
hope worse than vanity. If you heed it aright, then, after you 
have served God in your generation, you may be gathered to your 
fathers, in the confidence of a certain faith, in the comfort of a 
reasonable, religious and holy hope; in favor with God, and in 
perfect charity with the world.