¥&*o,
 
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
             Washington
Founded 1836
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
Public Health Service 
 
 
ANNUAL ADDRESS
DELIVERED
THE MEDICAL,  SOCIETY
STATE OF NEW-YORK,
FEBRUARY 4, 1829.
/
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY.
BY T. ROMEYN BECK, M. D
0*
          ALBANY:
PRINTED BY WEBSTERS AND SKINNERS.
1829. 
 
ADDRESS.
     GENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY,
  Since  we last closed our  annual deliberations,
events have  occurred  to remind  us,  that as well in
our corporate as in our individual  capacity, we are
not exempted from  the  common lot of  man.   An
aged and respected practitioner, one  of the  early
Presidents of this Society, has during the last year,
yielded to the inevitable stroke of fate.*   Nor  ought
an allusion  to his name to be omitted, under  whose
magistracy we  held our  last meeting.   The friend
and  eulogist of  our profession—the scholar and the
statesman—the  pride of his native state,  has sudden-
ly been removed.
  It is a  " taming thought to human  pride," that al-
though death destroys  those whose existence is deem-
ed most necessary to  the common welfare, yet the
train of events proceeds on with a steady march.  It
is no less evident that in the present sera of advance-
ment in knowledge, no minor obstacle can  be  found
which  will  permanently impede its  course.   In all
the  schemes for the melioration of the coudition of
maiJ)—for his  growth in science—his progress in
morality aud religion, the loss of one master spirit is
early compensated by the acquisition of  many ar-
dent votaries.   We feel this in  our own profession.
   Hon. William Wilson, SI. D. of Columbia county, President of the State
.Mci'.ical Society, during the year 1813. 
                        4
 The general diffusion of  information brings numer-
 ous labourers into the  common harvest—and emula-
 tion is excited as well by the examples of the present
 day, as  by a retrospect of the past.  There is no
 branch of  medicine—either strictly  belonging to its
 numerous  departments,  or ministering collaterally
 to  their  improvement,  which  is  not industriously
 and successfully cultivated.
   It is impossible to survey this effort, or its results,
 without  a  sensation of pleasure, or without a wish
 that its value may be generally understood.  That
 there are impediments to this, is only to confess  that
 human nature is imperfect and wayward.   But if we
 examine  more closely into the causes of the indiffer-
 ence or  ignorance manifested by the greater part of
 mankind, we shall, I apprehend, find it mainly  ow-
 ing to the negligence of our own  profession.  The
importance of the subject—its  extensive and inter-
 esting bearings on human  happiness—its magnitude,
 even as a branch of scientific study, are not sufficient-
 ly presented  in relief before those  who can judge
 with  discrimination,  or appreciate  with  accuracy.
 All proper occasions should be  embraced to manifest
 to the community what is doing to remove the charge
 of uncertainty in medicine, and to illustrate the  dis-
 coveries which the talent of the present ase is brin°--
ing forward.  I avail myself of the  opportunity, at
the conclusion of my term of office,  to dwell for a
 short time on this subject in its interesting relations.
  The first illustration I would offer of great  im-
provement in  medicine, is the  distrust  which is
obtaining against general  theories.   There was a
 period when every physician ranged  himself under
 the banner of some great name—adopted his doctrine? 
5
and obeyed the precepts which he inculcated. Many
of the  celebrated individuals to whom I refer, were
indeed master spirits ;  whose lives  cannot be read
without admiration, and whose eloquence and learn-
ing won them willing votaries.  Each in his turn, in
various ages, down to our own days, fondly imagin-
ed  that he had reared the imperishable  monument,
which neither time,  nor  human industry  could ov-
erthrow—each imagined that he at least, had devel-
oped the  laws of life—discovered their mysterious
workings, and elucidated the changes  that disease
produces in them.   But like  material monuments,
 they have slowly crumbled, or  been violently over-
 thrown, and we search among  the  ruins  for some
 precious  relic that  may  have been  forgotten  in the
 destruction.  Such they all contain.   There is  no
 theory ever yet promulgated, which is  not based on
 some portion of positive truth.  Indeed it could hard-
 ly have been otherwise.  The founders were men of
 vigorous intellect and of keen observation.  They
 drew from their own stores, and were only wanting
 in that universality of  knowledge which is essential
 to the formation of a perfect system—They seized on
 some prominent  phenomenon,  and after  examining
 it with skill and  acuteness, made it the groundwork
 of  their  superstructure.  In the devotion  so natural
 towards a favourite opinion, other facts no less strik-
 ing were either  unheeded or diminished  in value to
 their mental view.   Thus  the  basis was  frequently
  narrow and contracted,  but not,  as some  are fond of
  asserting,  imaginary.
    A subsidiary but important advantage has also ac-
  crued from the successive promulgation of these theo-
  ries   The disciple,  animated with an enthusiastic 
                         6
 belief in the doctrines of his preceptor ; warmed by
 the eloquence of his prelections,  or excited  by the
 attacks of his opponents, applies  himself to the in-
 vention of new arguments, or the detection of falla-
 cious objections. In such a contest, with much that is
 superfluous,  and often  something  that is  offensive,
 additional facts are notwithstanding elicited, and the
 value of  old ones is better understood and more cor-
 rectly applied.   A rapid  accumulation i9 thus pro-
 duced, of the mass of knowledge,  for which other-
 wise, years of desultory effort would have been ne-
 cessary.   The utility of this has been noticed in oth-
 er sciences.   In geology,  in particular, the promul-
 gation of various theories, and the ardour with  which
 they have been impugned or defended, certainly are
 among the principal causes of the numerous and most
 interesting data, of which it now boasts.
  But notwithstanding this compensating benefit, the
 main objection which I have made remains,  and it ap-
 plies with peculiar force to these doctrines which are
 offered as explanatory  of the phenomena of fever.
 This disease, in its various forms and numerous com-
 binations, is a fertile source of investigation and most
deservedly so—for it embraces a large proportion of
the "ills to which  flesh is heir."  Fevers  strictly so
so called—the local inflammations—many forms of
eruptive disease, and of hceraorrhage, besides a nu-
 merous list usually included under the head of chro-
nic diseases, owe much of their character,  as well as
 severity,  to the  symptoms usually  denominated fe-
brile.—To explain these in their order,  and  to ac-
count for  the  anomalies they so frequently present,
 has been deemed a fit employment for the wisest and
 most intellectual of our brethren in successive a«-es. 
Their want of success may be read in the partial pre-
valence of a modern theory, of which, while I would
desire  to speak of it with respect, I  must notwith-
standing remark, that like its predecessors, it appears
too partial and confined in its application.  Its popu-
larity amongst a portion of the medical  profession in
France, and the favourable reception  it  has met with
in some parts of our own country, is not,  I apprehend,
any invalidation of what I have already said concern-
ing  the general distrust that is  entertained.  Due
praise may  be given for the improvements in patholo-
gical research which it  encourages, (and  which I
shall hereafter more particularly notice,) and for the
caution it  has taught against  pushing too far the use
of some of our most active and valuable medicines ;
but its leading propositions cannot become the creed
of the profession.   A similar remark will apply  to
the opinions  on  the same disease,  promulgated  in
England, by a  talented individual.   They both run
counter to that course of practice, which, although re-
quiring nice adjustment, has  yet  on the whole, been
 found, fry those who have had the most  extensive ex-
 perience, the most beneficial in checking or removing
 disease.  They necessarily lead—the  one often  to
 too active treatment—the other to  an inefficient one—
 and though in the hands of their authors, these diffi-
 culties mav not occur, yet in those of their followers.
 the result, if we may judge from all former experi-
 ence, would appear to be inevitable.  I am aware of
 the delicate ground which I  occupy  in making these
 remarks, and that I may expose myself to the charge
 of ra.h and unfounded censure; but the present is not
 the place for discussing the merits of these doctrines,
 and I have only aimed to announce and elucidate a 
<s
 fact, which I believe you will agree with me, is cor-
 rect, viz, that there is a great repugnance among the
 profession  to embrace general theories, and to shape
 their  practice in strict conformity  to  them, and that
 this repugnance is constantly increasing.   Whether
 this is owing to ignorance or perverseness, is a secon-
 dary point of inquiry.  I for one am free in ascribing
 it to the more general diffusion of knowledge—to a
 candid  but decisive  application of the experience of
 the past—and  to  an increasing desire to study dis-
 eases distinctly with  reference to their appropriate, as
 well as ever-varying symptoms—and the changes that
 are thus produced.
   This leads me to the notice of a second feature in
 the present history  of medicine,  illustrative of its
 improvement, viz. the advancement in Pathological
 Research.
   If there  be a single individual in later  times  to
 whom the honour of exciting and directing to this par-
 ticular branch, is  pre-eminently due, it  is the illus-
 trious Bichat.  His life  was  closed at  the early
 age of thirty-three years,  but  that short span  was
 sufficient for him to produce  his volumes in General
 and Descriptive Anatomy, his Treatise on the Mem-
 branes, and his Essay on Life and Death. And these
 works were the result of numerous and varied exper-
 iments and observations—of laborious and unweari-
 ed employment in  the dissecting room—and finally,
 of the application of  rare intellectual powers to their
generalization and arrangement.  The division of the
body by him into its elementary textures—and the
inquiry into their distinct properties, with the chang-
es they undergo from disease—form the basis of dis-
coveries, of which we cannot yet appreciate the ex
tent, or the value. 
9
  Since his lamented death, the path of inquiry has
been thronged  by  his votaries  and  admirers.  In
France, pathological anatomy is pursued by hundreds
of ardent and active minds, and in England, with each
succeeding year, it is evident that the subject is gain-
ing and commanding  consequence.   In  this nation,
with obstacles peculiar, and in some instances almost
insurmountable, some additions have been made to the
general fund.   The result is cheering to  the man of
science, as well as to the philanthropist.   Knowledge
is advanced, and human  suffering is mitigated or re-
moved.  Look at the practical operation  of this pur-
suit.   An  individual  after struggling with  disease
which resists all medical skill, sinks under its effects.
The  symptoms have been narrowly  watched by his
 attendant, and he has endeavoured to apply appro-
 priate remedies.  But occasionally some  appearances
 have been noticed, the cause of which he cannot ex-
 plain.  His medical agents also do not produce then-
 usual effects.  What are the morbid changes  that
 have caused this ? If  the lifeless body be consigned
 to its mother earth without examination,  can any in-
 formation, except of  a mere negative kind, be drawn
 from the case, to be hereafter applied for the benefit
 of the living ?  Not so is the practice in the foreign
 countries which 1 have noticed.  The view of the rav-
 ages of the disease illustrates the alterations which
 have taken place ; and although they frequently ap-
 pear rather as effects, than causes, yet sufficient is ob-
 vious to enable useful deductions to be formed, to ex-
 plain many of the symptoms, and to furnish  materials
 for reflection and improvement in  future  practice.
 Need I suggest that many diseases are yet imperfect-
 ly understood, and can only be elucidated by the light
 of this torch.  How many have been thus developed
                         2 
10
  by the  labours of Morgagni,  Baillie and others.
  How many, even  within  the present century, have
  been successfully explored by Laennec and  his com-
  peers in France,  by Bell  and  others in England.
  The nature  of  new or unknown diseases  can thus
  alone be discovered.   Allow me, in illustration,  to
  refer to a case of mortality, the sudden announcement
  of which is feelingly remembered by every man in the
  community who was then living.  If the death of our
  beloved and lamented Washington, was owing, as
  would seem from the  brief account we have of his
  symptoms, to the disease now styled Laryngitis,where
 was the instruction  to guide the practitioner ? It was
 not until several years thereafter, that the sudden de-
 cease from it of two distinguished physicians in Lon-
 don, led to pathological examination.  Its nature be-
 came evident—its mortality was rendered  less cer-
 tain—and dangerous as it must ever prove, instances
 are  even multiplying  of recovery from its  effects.
 And yet this disease must have occurred centuries ago,
 and who can tell how many lives might have been
 prolonged,  had  its character been thus specially
 marked and investigated at an early  period.
   The tendency  of these  observations necessarily
 leads me to  notice the importance  of dissection   I
 am aware of the prejudices  that must be encountered
 in discussing its necessity ;  but  they must be over-
 come, if  at all, by arguments that  shall shake their
 vehemence   They  owe their origin in some respects
 to the best feelings of the human heart-while thev
 are unquestionably heightened by the  practice of dis
 interment.  But it is because we would  render this
alte^^

  That an intimate knowledge of  the condition of the
human  system, both in health and in disease, is in. 
11
dispensable to the judicious application of curative
means,  would seem to be an  axiom  that requires
only to  be stated, in order to meet with universal cre-
dence.  It is no less certain that the community must
suffer from the consequences of ignorance.  The truth
of these remarks  appears most  strikingly  in the de-
partment of surgery, although they will be no less
conspicuous  to him who will investigate, in that of
medicine.   In the language of the report made  last
summer to the  English House of Commons, by a,
committee  of its  members  not  professional (a  paper
which should be  in the hands of every intelligent citi-
zen in  our own country) " as the science of anatomy
 has improved, many operations formerly thought ne-
cessary have been altogether dispensed with ; most of
 those retained, have been  rendered more simple and
 many new ones have been  performed, to the saving of
 the lives of patients, which were formerly thought im-
 possible.  To neglect the practice of dissection would
 lead to the greatest aggravation of human misery;
 since anatomy, if not learned by that practice, must be
 learned by mangling the living. Though all classes
 are deeply interested in affording protection to the
 stady  of anatomy, yet the poor and middle classes
 are most so : they will be the most benefitted by pro-
 moting it  and the principal sufferers by discouraging
 it.   The rich when  they  require professional assist-
 ance can  afford  to employ those who have acquired
 the reputation  of practising successfully.   It is on
 the poor, that  the inexperienced commence  their
 practice."
    But it is uot the poor only that are thus to be bene-
 fitted  by the pursuit of anatomy.  There is another
 class of the community whose condition must excite
  all the best feelings of our nature-the victims of the 
12
  elements—at a distance from  their home—deprived
  of the  blessings of domestic life, and  yet  proudly-
  maintaining the honour and glory of their native land.
  Our gallant soldiers and sailors, in time of war, have
  no solace when  the hour of danger approaches—no
  hope amidst the storm  of battle, that they shall es-
  cape from the consequences of dangerous wounds, ex-
  cept in the skill of their medical attendants.   The re-
  cords of the armies and navies of foreign countries,
  and particularly of England, where the materials for
 comparison are most copious, attest how much of hu-
 man life has been thus preserved,  and how great has
 been the diminution of mortality, when compared with
 former years.
   A word or two is necessary in defence of those who
 pursue these studies.  All will grant that they would
 not  have been selected, except from a high sense of
 duty.  It requires some lofty incitement—some mo-
 ral  courage, to be thus employed.  The mysterious
 change  which death  induces,  is alone sufficient to
 startle the most buoyant spirit; but with this, the pa-
 thologist  must familiarize himself.  He proceeds to
 his  high office at the risk  of health—often indeed of
 existence.   I appeal to your reading, in confirmation
 of the truth of my assertion, that  for several years,
 scarcely  a medical journal has arrived from abroad,
 which does not contain an account of some individual
 who has either met with irreparable injury to his con-
stitution, or has lost his life,  from accidents occurring
 during dissection.  Instances of a similar nature have
happened in our  own country—And  apart from the
 honourable  ambition of acquiring  some  fame,  what
can be the object of this untiring and  hazardous la-
bour? J, it not to ascertain what has been the cause
of the mortality, and whether its seat  and nature are 
13
under the power of human skill ?  Surely, under the
obstacles  which I have noticed,  a triumphant proof
is given of the desire of improvement in our profes-
sion.
   I will only  notice a third circumstance indicative
of my main proposition—viz, a most remarkable im-
provement in the composition  and  administration of
remedies.
   The slow progress of the materia  medica in former
times, is sufficiently explained by the fact that reme-
dies are applied  to  a  system,  that we are  scarcely
ever  certain, is constituted exactly  alike in any two
individuals.   Apart then from the general operation
of medicinest and even these are modified by the pre-
 sence of different diseases, numerous observations are
 required to establish their respective characters.  In
 addition to this, it was so much the fashion in former
 times,  to unite  several in  one prescription,  that it
 would seem almost impossible to  designate the dis-
 tinct effects of each.   The imagination also often aids
  in diversifying these results.  Some patients,  buoy-
  ed up by an implicit confidence in a particular sub-
  stance, assist as it were, its effects, while others take
  it In doubt and fear, and thus deprive it of half its ef-
  ficacy.  Another and most serious impediment to the
  advancement of the materia  medica, has been the
  number of medicines which encumber our pharmaco-
  poeias and dispensatories.
    Some of these difficulties are from  their nature in-
   surmountable—since they attach to the nature of the
   human  system,  and are inseparable from it.   There
      others, however, which our own  times are about
          ■   It has been discovered, that many medi-
         . whose efficacy all agreed, but whose effects
         casionallv uncertain, are of a compound nature
are
removing
cines, in
were oc 
14
  —that, along with their  curative constituents, they
  contain useless or  noxious ingredients.   We are in-
  debted for this  knowledge to modern  chemistry—a
  science eminently practical in its details, and promis-
  ing  at no distant day to remodel  its sister branch.
  I cannot adduce more striking examples of the fruit
  of this analysis,  than the discoveries that have been
  made concerning bark and opium.
   The first of these, the  cinchona or Peruvian  bark,
 has for many years been known as  a powerful febri-
 fuge.  It was ascertained that there were several spe-
 cies of trees,  which furnished it,  and experiments
 soon showed that their qualities were various.  From
 time to time a change took  place in the popularity of
 the different kinds—but  the difference in quality of
 the imported article, and the repeated disappointments
 experienced in its administration, either from loading
 the stomach, or causing  other  results  destructive of
 its anti-febrile powers—all  tended to impair its gene-
 ral reputation, and there was a period, where another
 remedy, but which all would agree in omitting, if its
 place could be supplied, was substituted.   Chemists
 however have analyzed the bark,  and found, that in-
 stead of being homogeneous,  it consists of eight or
 nine ingredients.  They have separated the important
 constituent (the quinine,) and in  its distinct form, it
 is now to be purchased of every druggist.   Of its ge-
 neral success  in  the removal of intermittents, every
 physician can  speak.
  Opium also  is a remedy that all unite in commend-
ing,  when judiciously administered.  Its powers in
mitigating pain and in soothing the wearied mind and
diseased body, entitle.it to a high rank among medi-
cinal agents.  Yet its operation has occasionally been
unkind :  and often when  we are most desirous of ob- 
15
taining its anodyne effects, a dread of its attendant
consequences has  restrained us from recommending
it.  Substitutes, comparatively inefficient, were neces-
sarily employed.  But about twenty years since, the
compound  nature of opium began to attract the atten-
tion of chemists, and from the experiments of Sertuer-
ner, Robiquet, Pelletier and others, it seems now es-
tablished that it consists of (besides several unimpor-
tant ingredients) three principles—morphia—narco-
tine and meconic acid.   The first of these produces
the soothing effects—without the feverish excitement,
 heat and head  ache, which so frequently accompany
 the employment of the drug, and which from experi-
 ments seem  referable to the second substance I have
 mentioned.  The third does not appear to produce
 any effect  on the human system.   If morphia be unit-
 ed to an acid,  its stimulating properties are apparent-
 ly still further counteracted.
    These are surely important improvements, and the
 more so, as they allow its use in states of disease,
 where it must otherwise  have been interdicted.
    But it is not only to the  investigation of the nature
 of old remedies, and of which I might continue to ad-
  duce numerous examples, that the intellect and labour
  of the  profession are directed.   New  therapeutic
  agents  are  constantly developing.   Iodine was un-
  known in 1811.   A manufacturer at Paris observed,
  that in preparing carbonate of soda from  the ashes of
  sea-weeds, the residual liquor powerfully corroded
  metallic vessels.  He inquired into the cause of the
  corrosion, and the result  was the discovery of this
  substance—a simple, undecomposable body, so far as
  our knowledge extends.   The next step was to  as-
  certain in what bodies it  exists—and among these,
  sea-weeds, the kelp prepared from  them, sponges, 
16
  and some marine animals, were found to furnish it in
  the greatest quantity.  A physician, recollecting that
  burnt sponge had  acquired  some local reputation  in
  the treatment of goitrous  affections, embraced the
  idea, that its virtue might have originated from the
  iodine it  contained.  He prescribed it in  these  dis-
  eases, and found its effects  so  powerful, that it was
  necessary to alter the form  of  administration.   Yet
  his success and that of others have  been great.  Its
  use has been extended to the  diseases of other glands.
  The result is  still  under judgment—but  all agree,
  that an agent has been discovered  more direct in its
  operation, than any yet  known, on those maladies
  which minister to the production of our most common
 and fatal diseases.
   Are these  examples which I  have adduced satis-
 factory in showing the exertions of the profession to
 improve the nature of remedies ? Are they  sufficient-
 ly illustrative of its desire to  increase them, so far as
 sober judgment and prudence will warrant ?  If  so,
 why should others,  who  are not of the  profession^
 and who cannot, even in common charity, be suppos-
 ed to have the necessary preliminary knowledge,  ei-
 ther of mediciues  or of the body, be permitted to em-
 ploy their supposed curative agents ? It has been re-
 plied, that  the use of vegetable  remedies alone are
 to be permitted, and the  usual argument  advanced,
 that if they do no good—they will do no harm.  But
 I would ask,  whether the effects and the extent of
 vegetable and mineral medicines  wheu thus placed in
 opposition to each other, are sufficiently understood
 I he supposed deleterious  substances of  the former
 class, which are  most  commonly used, are arsenic
and mercury.   They have been known for centuries
as poisonous substances when given in considerable 
17
quantities.   The child  hears and remembers this ;
and the man, long before he enters on the practice of
medicine, has his mind  deeply impressed  with the
necessity of administering them in small doses, and
then only with caution, and after mature reflection—
they are so given.   Arsenic combined with  potash
has been used for upwards of forty years, with great
success in the treatment of agues and other diseases.
But it was not from choice.  It was because the bark
failed in numerous instances—because its  quality
was often bad, and  its  effects  even  positively injuri-
ous.  For  the reasons already stated, the use of qui-
nine is rapidly diminishing the  employment of the
mineral.
   As to mercury, I will only say,  that if there be a
single drug, that in human hands has proved a most
distinguished curative means, it  is  this.  That its
effects  may be occasionally  uncertain or  injurious,
is only to repeat, that there are peculiarities  of con-
stitution for which  the wisest cannot be prepared—
or that there is a malignancy in some diseases which
no human effort can counteract.   But who will deny
its positive utility ? Look at the thousands whom,
not only in tropical climates, but  in our own country,
it has saved from that fell destroyer of our race-
fever.  Look at the numerous  inflammations it has
checked or dissipated.   Look  at the tens of  thou-
sands whom it has saved from the  consequences  of
vice.
   A similar answer will apply,  if  we notice the re-
maining medicines.  Their noxious effects  (if any)
are known—they are given under the high responsi-
bility of this knowledge, and they are selected, not-
withstanding this, because their effects are more cer-
                         3 
18
   tain, and their operation as kind,  as those of vegeta^
   ble substances.
     But it would seem to be intimated  that mineral
   medicines are incongruous to the human system, and
   a  certain mysterious  affinity has been  imagined be-
   tween it and  vegetable remedies.   The latter, it is
  asserted, are milder in their operation; produce heal-
  ing effects more certainly, and are not injurious, like
  calomel, in their consequences.   Are these assertions
  founded in a knowledge of the  human body, and do
  the authors of the first idea know of what it is com-
  posed ? Have they ever heard that a large proportion
  of the solid parts of the body are a mineral substance
  —the  phosphate of lime ?  Do  they know that iron
  enters into the composition of the blood ?
   But this is not all.   Allow me to throw a rapid
  glance over these mild  vegetable remedies—these
  substances that any man after a day's reading may
  administer.  I have already enumerated two of them,
 opium  and iodine.  Opium  has been raised in this
 state.   It  may be thus an indigenous product.   Io-
 dine may hereafter be  extracted from the sea-weeds
 on your coast.  Now a grain of narcotine extracted
 from the first, has killed a dog,  and a few grains of
 the last taken daily for a short time, has destroyed a
 human  being.   Do you know of a substance which
 indicates its power over life  by lessening  the action
 of the heart with great rapidity—which reduces the
 rapid beat of the consumptive patient to comparative
 slowness?  It is foxglove,  a  vegetable cultivated in
 many of our gardens.  Are you acquainted with ve-
 getables which  will  produce raving madness  and
 convulsions-which inflame and  destroy the texture
 of the stomach? The stramonium,  cicuta and wild
parsnip will do this.  They too are indigenous-thev 
19
grow   in  our  streets  or lanes—or abound in our
marshes.  There is a substance which in small quan-
tities convulses the palsied arm of the bed-ridden—
the limb that has  hung dead for years  by his side.
It is strychnine, a vegetable product.  But to crown
all this—what is  the most concentrated and deadly
poison  with  which  we are acquainted—which will
destroy all species of life, from the snail up to man,
with  the  rapidity  of  lightning—which has struck
down the suicide in death, before he could fiuish the
fatal  draught ? It is prussic acid—a vegetable pro-
duct, that can be distilled from the leaves and kernels
of the peach, or from the laurels that abound through-
out our state.
   And yet, after this enumeration, we have only gone
through a portion of the noxious vegetable substan-
ces.   Let not this statement startle any of my hear-
ers.   It may be  laid down as an  axiom, generally
true, that with the exception of some remedies in the
classes of astringents and tonics, a vegetable is val-
uable as a medicine, in proportion as it is noxious in
large quantities.   In every  botanical work, you find
the remark, that those which  are  not possessed of
 some acrid qualities, are inefficient in their operation
 on the human system.
   The question then presents  itself to the mind  of
 every enlightened man,  whether those who have re-
 ceived an appropriate education ; who have the stores
 of accumulated knowledge opened to them, are the
 safest persons to  be entrusted  with the care  of  the
 health of the community,  or  whether they shall be
 put on a par  with such as claim instinct-or self-
 inspiration as their guides.  Can these  soldiers  of
 Cadmus  be  expected to bring any useful spoil into
 the camp? Look at every modern work on the ma- 
                          20
  teria medica.  We now know the nature of almost
  every secret remedy—Chemistry furnishes  us  with
  the means of analysis, and almost without an  excep-
  tion, they are the cast-off prescriptions of  the older
  physicians—neglected, because more eligible substi-
  tutes have been obtained—or abandoned, because
  their constituents were found uncertain  or dangerous.
  That man will render a service  to the community,
  who will  furnish our public prints with the receipts
  for compounding these vaunted catholicons.
    I rejoice, that as your representative,  I have been
  permitted  to bear my testimony on this subject.   I
  do not feel that the profession are to be  the greatest
  sufferers.   It will be the  community—the  country.
  The three professions at this day furnish the greatest
 proportion of educated  men.  Education is  essential
 to  the stability of the republic.   Will it then  be
 attempted  to break down one of  these  professions ?
 If  so—the young men who now crowd  its  avenues,
 will seek other means of support—the old will retire
 in  disgust  from  the thankless  contest.   The  study
 of  the collateral sciences, which  has ministered  so
 largely to  the advancement of medicine, and which
 is  beginning  to give character to the  nation, will
 cease.   The eera  of improvement  in medicine will
 have passed away, and the encomium of Sir William
 Temple, quoted, and sanctioned, and applauded, by
 De Witt  Clinton, will no longer apply.   " It is
 < certain (says he) that  the  study  of physic  is not
 6 achieved in any eminent degree,  without very great
< advancement in the sciences, so that whatever the
< profession is, the professors of it have been gen-
< erally very much esteemed on that account, as well
' as of their own art, as the most learned  men  of
6 their ages." 
 
 
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