=TJLTff <$bife< rm 6 f IB €§1111 t9 ^a REFORMED MEDBGAL INSTITUTE, February 29th, 1S53. If WI, ¥m SI1TH, M.O. • PHILADELPHIA: FAIRBANKS & GLESSNER, PRINTERS. 1852. tf* Sl*= ■£J1B^= The Course of Lectures will commence in the Reformed Medical. College of Philadelphia, under the direction of the Middle States Society, on the first Monday in Nov., 1852, and continue till the 1st of .March, 1853. No effort will be spared on the part of the Directors to afford i every means of practical knowledge in the following branches of Medical Science: viz : Anatomy, Physiology, Surgery, Theory and Practice of Medicine, Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. The Professors on each branch will be men of . the first abilities. N. B. We hope all who intend to attend the coming course ^ill inform Dr. W. Armstrong, No. 254 Market street, or Wm. F. SmiJ'h. No. 180 Vine street, as soon as possible. ¥ The following are the names of the gentlemen who received the De- grees of the Institute1 on the 29th day of March, 1852. S. S. Ewell, ----- Virginia. ----White, - Pennsylvania, A. P. Fields, ----- Delaware, W. Calver,.....Pennsylvania, ---White, - do J. Hays,......New York, J. JlNNINGS,..... do S. S. Christine, - - - - - Pennsylvania, ---Clark,..... do ---Bias,...... do ---Rock,..... do CONCENTRATED MEDICINES, OR, VEGETO-ACTIVE PRINCIPLES, '.'- To the Medical Profession: The American Pharmaceutical Institute, established in June, 1851, desire to call the attention of the Profession to the Concentrated Medicines or Ver/eto-Active Principles prepared at their Laboratory, 36th Street, City of New York. These medicines are procured accord- ing to the most approved, scientific methods now known and recognised by Chemist and Pharmaceutist, from the various vegetable substances which yield their active principles without detriment to their therapeu- tical properties and effects. The utility, convenience, certainty and potency of remedies thus ob- tained must be apparent. The large and repeated doses necessary to procure an effect when in a crude state ; the aversion $o often expressed by patients to taking powders, decoctions and infusions in great bulk or quantity, and the irritation so often observed as a subsequent effect of their administration, have conspired so to prejudice the minds of phv- [See third page cover. VALEDICTORY GRADUATING CLASS, THE COURSE OF LECTURES REFORMED MEDICAL INSTITUTE, February 29th, 1853. BY WM. F. SMITH, M.D. w Philadelphia: FAIRBANKS & GLESSNER, PRINTERS. 1852. Messrs. CALVER, HAYES, WHITE, EWELL, FIELDS, Ac. Gentlemen: Your request for a copy of the Valedictory for publication is acceded to. If I had known in time that the duty of delivering the Valedictory would have fallen on me, I could have complied with more satisfaction to myself, as well as have made it more useful to our cause. Accept gentlemen my best wishes for your future success and welfare. Yours respectfully, W. F. SMITH. VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. Gentlemen :—The time has come when we must close our course of Medical Instruction in this Institution; and it affords me no small de- gree of satisfaction to say we have spent a session of four months har- moniously. You may have thought the course of examination ordered by the Reformed Medical Society hard, yet you have given the required satisfaction on all the branches connected with the general practice of Medicine. Therefore it is with pleasure that I appear before you at this time; although you well know that I had no time to prepare for this important duty, for such I consider it to be. Therefore allow me to say once more that bodily health is indispensibly necessary to the enjoyment of all happiness, that it is a proposition sup- ported by every day's observation and experience; nay, it is a proposition founded upon the very law of our natures, and growing out of our physi- cal organization ; for let the human mind be what it may in an abstract point of view; let it be material or immaterial, mortal or immortal, created or uncreated, yet all will agree that it acts or manifests itself through material and physical organs. The brain is almost universally admitted to be the organ of the mind, and it is part of the human body; it is a part possessing all the properties of materiality, depending for its life and action upon the same circula- tion, the same nutrition, and the same common sustaining powers, as any other organ of the human body. Nor is it beyond the bounds of that physical sympathy which unites all the organs of the body in one great whole. And as the Brain, the organ of the mind, is material, it is like other organs, subject to disease, and like other organs laboring under disease, its functions are to a greater or less extent suspended or impaired; and while in this diseased state it is not in a condition to receive those impressions, which, in a healthy state gratify its desires or faculties, and thus constitute our mental happiness ; hence we discover why it is that physical health is so necessary to the enjoyment of happiness. The person who is laboring under the agonizing pain of disease, can- not enjoy the good things of life; the Sun, the glorious King of Day, risin"- in all his splendor, diffusing his genial and enlivening rays on all 4 around, inspiring new life and vigor in all living beings, painting all nature by the matchless coloring of his beams, banishing darkness and gloom from the face of nature by casting over it his brilliant mantle of light, has no charms, gives no ease, and excites no pleasure to the sons and daughters of affliction—all the beauties of creation are inadequate to impart one moment's pleasure. The gentle moonbeams by them are disregarded; to the afflicted they offer no charms. So the myriads of sparkling gems which bespangle the concave of the Heavens lose all their lustre, and fail to gratify the mind of that person whose only desire is freedom from pain and afflic- tion. Taking this view of the subject, which all experience declares to be a correct one, who will say that a knowledge of those things which per- tain to the preservation of health and life, and to its restoration when impaired, is not at 'once that knowledge which most intimately interests all mankind, and after which we should seek with the most persevering and unremitting industry ? and if we have acquired some of this know- ledge while we have been connected with this Institution, may we not rejoice that our time has been well spent, and our labors rewarded. How much time is spent by many inquiring into the organization and instincts of the lower order of the animal kingdom, such as small insects that creep beneath our feet, or wing the air over our heads; the quadrupeds that run up and down the earth, and the fishes that inhabit the mighty deep; and yet how little do many of these same persons think of the organization and functions of their own bodies, and leave this all important subject pass. Man, who we are told, was made in the very image of God; Man who was made but a little lower than the Angels in Heaven, is almost entirely overlooked in the contemplation and study of God's works. No part of the creation exhibits so much of the wisdom, goodness and mercy of the great Author of all things as man. The most exquisite mechanism is manifested in the structure of his organs; the most con- summate wisdom in the arrangement of these organs, and their adapta- tion to the various offices for which they were designed. Again, the structure and distribution of the blood vessels and nerves to every part of the body, show forth his power and wisdom, as well as his boundless goodness. The structure and figure of the bones and muscles are sub- jects of pleasing contemplation; in a word, the study of our own species is highly interesting to the mind in every view of the subject: infidelity and atheism cannot stand before Anatomical and Physiological facts, 5 and seek not to hide themselves in the dark labyrinth from whence they come. " The study of man should be man." Much light is to be gained on the subject of Disease, Inflammation and Irritation, as well as the medical treatment, by a proper knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology. To understand how the blood is formed and conveyed to every part of the body for its support, we must have a knowledge of the structure and office of the stomach and intestines, the heart and blood vessels, the liver, lungs, glands, with all the important organs of our system. Every part of our body, the smallest fibre, is formed and nourished from the blood. And, in order to understand the nature of disease, we must be ac- quainted with the normal condition of the system that we may be able to trace the symptoms of disease to their proper cause, and to discover the seat of that cause; and to do this it is highly requisite that we have a know- ledge of the situation and structure, as well as the office of each organ that constitutes the human body. By this knowledge, as well as a knowledge of the various diseases, also a knowledge of the therapeutical properties of medicines, we shall be able to come up to general principles, which are invariable and irresistible, and which, like the stars in guiding the mari- ner, will conduct you through the various stages of disease. I know there are some who seem to think that general principles are of little importance; so much so, that they dare propose to the world something which they call a system of medical practice, without being able to give the fundamental principles upon which it is founded; but such a system (if system it may be called) will not, cannot stand the force of sound investigation—it must vanish. Professor Eberle tells us, that without general principles medicine would be lifeless. Dr. Herschell says: We must never forget that principles, not phe- nomena; laws, not insulated facts, are the objects of inquiry to the Medi- cal Student. It must be recollected so far as our experience has gone, that every step towards generality has at the same time been a step towards simplification. You must always recolleit that sound theory will lead to sound practice. Practice is the only test of sound medical theory. They should be indissoluble links ; and he who attempts to separate them, knows nothing of the essence of the science. If any of you suppose that all that will be required of you to be- come successful practitioners is now completed, let me disabuse your minds of a delusion, which, if encouraged, will undoubtedly lead to disastrous consequences. You must recollect that the attendance on 6 Lectures is but a very small part of the labor you will be called upon to perform, if you would make yourselves useful practitioners of Medi- cine. In the Lecture Room you have been in tructed only in the general principles. You have had arrayed before you the opinions of what have been considered the luminaries in medical science; and have received from the founders of this institution their comments, which we believe to be based on true philosophy. It then remains for you to subject these principles and comments to the rigid test of experience that never deceives. And all theories which will not accord with facts derived from bed-side observation, must be considered as so much useless lum- ber, calculated only to retard our knowledge and success. In past times when the Aurora of Medical Science was far below the horizon, when chance seemed to be the only regulator of men's views, (of whom some I am sorry to say remain so this day) it was customary to pay a holy respect to the opinions of individuals; these opinions were regarded as oracles, to depart from which was deemed the highest offence. Thanks to our free American Institutions, these days of dark- ness are passing away. According to the early traditions, the first collection of medical pre- cepts was derived from Thouth, reputed to have possessed extraordinary talents and unequalled skill. These precepts were collected into a vol- ume which constituted the text-book of the priests, who were the only physicians in those early days. As part of their religion, the priests were required to regard, and in fact follow in their practice, the precepts as sacred and unerring guides. It mattered not what consequences en- sued, they were always certain of impunity, so long as they adhered scru- pulously to the prescription of the Thouth ; whilst, on the other hand, the slightest attempt at deviation, however favorable the issue, was me- naced with forfeiture of life. In those times of darkness it was considered far better that ninety and nine should fall victims, than that the validity of the mighty oracle should be called in question, or one heretical pa- tient presume to recover in contradiction to them. Would to the great Giver of all things, that these prejudices, origi- nating among a people who knew not the blessings of Christianity, were confined to that period of ignorance and folly. Gentlemen ! their existence has been felt, their influence acknow- ledged, even beneath the light of revelation, pervading the most sacred depositories of literature and government. Medical Science has felt deeply the pernicious efforts of idolatry, paid to the dicta of men. 7 She has suffered for years from the perversion of truth; and her vota- ries now feel that facts must be substituted for hypothesis, and patient investigation take the place of wild conjecture. Medicine is a Science of well established fact, and all that is excellent in her domain reposes on fixed and immutable laws. Nature, in her varied phases is the sage mistress from whom we derive the fundamental principles of our science. In health, she discloses to us the beautiful harmony of her system; whilst in disease, she points us to the effects of morbid action, and ad- monishes us of the means by which it is to be arrested. This know- ledge so essential to the discharge of our duty, cannot be attained but by daily communion with the sick and afflicted and the dead. In watch- ing over the former, we are enabled to discover the value of experience. In contemplating the latter, we become familiarized with the devastating effect of disease, as well as the injurious effects of ill-timed, misapplied medicines. To obviate the injuries and often fatal effects, let human physiology and pathological inquiries ever engage your minds. The laws of organization should ever be kept in mind; ever believing in the great and indispensable utility of general principles. Let us ever be inquirers into general principles which stand as the durable basis of correct medical practice. It must be admitted that there are many branches of science which have been ably and successfully cultivated, both by the ancients and moderns ; while it must also be admitted that others have been neglected. While certain branches of physical research have made the most wonder- ful advances, there are others no less important that have languished in a comparative obscurity, for which we are at loss to account in a great measure. Even the conceded belief of their utility, and the popular prejudices in their favor, have not been adequate to bring them into general favor; and this has been the case with Botany, which is the base of our materia medica. But as a proof of reform with respect to Medical Botany, let us examine Botany before the time of Hyppocrates. It could scarcely claim an existence. It was Thcophrastus and Diosco- rides that first created this science. Pliny and Galen, of Pergamus, enriched it, but failed to form a system; and it was left by the Arabians as they had received it. But those of our day, who would have us believe that they are the only oracles through which everything pertaining to the healing art must come, notwithstanding the conceded belief of the utility and the popular prejudice in favor of vegetables as remedial agents, have not, until very lately, been adequate to bring them into general favor, owing to the opposition from these would-be oracles. 8 We ask then, in all candor, what have they done to favor the vegeta- ble Materia Medica and Therapeutics ? We can find nothing of value emanating from them, save a simple description. They seem to avoid the consideration of vegetables as a general thing, otherwise than a simple description and classification, and in a great many instances you cannot depend on them. Notwithstanding their boasted knowledge of the science, the properties and uses are for the most part overlooked, and all very imperfectly understood. It is no less surprising that many of them are entirely overlooked. WThat are we to expect in regard to reformation in medical science from such a quarter, before we call on the dogmatics for help ? Let us look at the beacons placed on the innumerable shoals, rocks, and clouds of error, falsehood and deceit, as it has been called by those who have had a long experience in this sea of conjecture. Prof. Ring says: In my lectures on the art of Physic, both theoreti- cal and practical, I have fully proved that there is no necessity for that bane of the profession, conjecture or hypothesis; and if I were asked whether, if I, myself, were dangerously ill, I would suffer any hypo- thetical physician, however plausible, to prescribe for my malady, my answer would be no, unless I wished to risk the loss of my life. Specu- lation and hypothesis are always at variance with sound experience and successful practice. If the employment of the lancet were abolished altogether, it would, perhaps, save annually a greater number of live than in any one year the sword has ever destroyed. Sir Gilbert Blane, Bart., Physician to the King, says : The history of the art of Medicine, in all ages, so teems with the fanciful influence of superstitious observances, the imaginary virtues of medicines, with nugatory, delusive, inefficient and capricious practices, fallacious and sophistical reasonings, as to render it little more than a chaos of error, a tissue of deceit unworthy of admission among the useful arts and liberal pursuits of men. Dr. Thomas, in his Practice, says : It is impossible to give a proper definition of the disease known by the name of Fever, as it has no symptoms invariably attendant on it, which can point out its real nature or essence. Prof. Hosack says : Whence, then, has arisen the discordant, and we may almost say, empirical practice, that fills the pages of the best wri- ters on Fevers, and that is even to be found in the truly valuable works of Boerhaave, Cullen, Fordyce, Wilson and others? We answer, it is in a great degree ascribed to the local view of the animal economy to 9 which some of-those writers have been limited by their own hypothesis, and which practitioners, relying on the authority of great names, have hastily adopted.— Thomas' Practice, page 947. Again, on page 949, he says : Are we not hereby led to condemn that indiscriminate and long continued use of the debilitating evacuants, usually prescribed in the advanced period of Fevers and febrile diseases, in as far as they are calculated to add to that waste of excitement, and that very vitiation to which we have referred? Is not the abstinence, too, usually enjoined by Physicians in the typhoid stages of Fever, for the same reasons, no less to be reprobated ? Are we not led, upon the same principle to condemn the prescription of camphor, musk, opium, digitalis, and other powerful sedatives, so frequently directed in this stage of Fevers ? We refer to the ordinary mode and quantity in which these narcotics are administered in fevers by the greater part of practi- tioners; and who, forsooth, by a strange misnomer, denominate them stimulants. Prof. Chapman, says: The giving of calomel, and salivating is hori- ble, unwarrantable, murderous quackery. Again, he says: Consult- ing the records of our science, we cannot help being disgusted with the multitude of hypotheses obtruded upon us at different times. Nowhere is the imagination displayed to a greater extent; and, perhaps, so ample an exhibition of human invention might gratify our vanity, if it were not more than counterbalanced by the humiliating view of so much absurdity, contradiction and falsehood.— Therap. vol. 1, p. 47. Again, he says : To harmonize the contrarieties of medical doctrines, is indeed a task as impracticable as to arrange the fleeting vapors around us, or to reconcile the fixed and repulsive antipathies of nature.—lb.p. 20. As it is we are plunged into a labyrinth almost without a clue. Dark and perplexed, our devious career (to borrow the fine illustration of a favo- rite writer) resembles the blind groping of Homer's Cyclops around his cave. Perhaps we shall ultimately learn to discriminate accurately the diversified shades of morbid action, and apply to each its appropriate remedies. Prof. Abercrombie says: The uncertainty of the old school medicine, which is thus a theme for the philosopher and the humorist, is deeply felt by the practical physician in the daily exercise of his art. Prof. Gregory says: All the vagaries of medical theory, like the absurdities once advanced to explain the nature of gravitation, from Hippocrates to Broussais, have been believed to be sufficient to explain the phenomena of disease, yet they have all proved unsatisfactory. 10 Men of extensive fame, glory in pretending to see deeper into the recesses of nature than nature herself ever intended. They invent hypotheses; they build theories and distort facts to suit their aerial crea- tions. The celebrity of many of the most prominent characters of the last century, will, ere long, be discovered only in the libraries of the curious, and recollected only as a matter of history.—See Practice, page 31. Prof. Bigelow, says: The premature death of medical men, brings with it the humiliating conclusion, that while the other sciences have been carried forward within our own time, and almost under our own eyes, to a degree of unprecedented advancement; medicine, in regard to some of its professed and most important subjects, (the cure of disease,) is still an ineffectual speculation. Prof. Rush says: I am insensibly led to make an apology for the instability of the theories and practices of physic. Those physicians generally become the most eminent, who soonest emancipate themselves from the tyranny of the schools of physic. Our want of success is owing to the following causes : 1. Our ignorance of the disease. 2. Our ignorance of a suitable remedy.—Medical Inx., page 79. Again, he adds : Dissections daily convince us of our ignorance of the seats of disease, and cause us to blush at our prescriptions. " What mischief have we done under the belief of false facts and false theories?" We have assisted in multiplying diseases; we have done more, we have increased their mortality.—lb. page 44—45. Prof. Eberle says : The judicious and unprejudiced physician will neither condemn, nor adopt unreservedly, any of the leading doctrines advanced.—Practice, page 1. Prof. Jackson says : Daily observation and reflection confirm me in the conviction, that what is called experience in medicine, is a fallacious guide. Prof. Mackintosh asks the serious question: Who knows any thing about disease ? And says: The most eminent physicians know very little about it. Prof. S. M. Whiting, in a dissertation, says: The very principles upon which most of what are called the theories, involving medical questions, have been based, were never established; they are, and always were, false and transient in their existence. Passing away upon the introduction of new doctrines and hypotheses, like the dew before the morning sun. And that speculation has been the garb in which medi- cine has been arrayed, from that remote period when it was rocked in the 11 cradle of its infancy by the Egyptian priesthood, down to the present day; its texture varying, to be sure, according to the power and skill of the manufacturer, from the delicate, fine-spun, gossamer-like web of Darwin, to the more gross, uneven and unwieldy fabric of Hunter. Its hue also changing by being dipped in different dyes as often as it becomes soiled by time and exposure. And what has been the conse- quence ? system after system has arisen, flourished and. fallen and been forgotten in rapid and melancholy succession, until the whole field is strewed with the disjointed materials in perfect chaos; and amongst the rubbish the philosophic mind might search for ages, without being able to glean from it hardly one solitary, well established fact. Is this a true statement of the case ? Let him who doubts take up the history of medicine, if that enormous mass of matter which has been, time out of mind, accumulating, and which has been christened Medical Science, is, in fact, nothing but hypothesis upon hypothesis. Who is there amongst us that would not exult in seeing it swept away at once by the besom of destruction.—Boston M. and S. Jour. vol. 17, p. 183-7-8. He con- tinues thus : Because all systems which have hitherto been promulgated have been false, and consequently transient, it by no means follows that there may not be found one which will stand, a tower of strength, un- harmed by the rude shock of opposition's bursting wave, through all succeeding time; and such a theory it is conceived may, and will be formed of disease.—lb. vol. 13, page 136. Prof. Harrison says: Opium is the Magnum Dei Donum, for the relief of pain. Prof. Eberle says: Innumerable Infants are irretrievably ruined by it. Prof. Gallup says : It has done, for the forty years past, seven times as much mischief as good on the great scale of humanity. Prof. Wright says: He prefers water to Mercury as a therapeutic agent. Prof. Harrisson says : Mercury is a powerful depressor of the energies of life. Minerals exert a pernicious and baneful influence on the system. They seldom or never cure, but often destroy the patient. Their opera- tion is altogether uncertain, depending entirely on the state of the stomach whether they act at all, or prove injurious.—See Thacher's Dispensatory. Of the modus operandi of Mercury we know nothing except that it probably acts through the medium of the circulation.— U. S. Dispen- satory, page 379. 12 Prof. Lobstein says : So far from blood-letting being beneficial, it is productive of the most serious and fatal effects—a cruel practice, a scourge to humanity. How many thousands of our fellow citizens are sent by it to an untimely grave ? How many families are deprived of their amiable children ? How many husbands of their wives ? How many wives of their husbands ? Without blood there is no heat, no motion in the system; in the blood is the life. He who takes blood from the patient, takes away not only an organ of life, but a part of life itself.—See his paper on Blood-Letting. So zealous are the blood-suckers of our age, says Salmon, in his synopsis of Medicine, that they daily sacrifice hundreds to its omnipo- tence, who fall by its fury like the children of old, who passed through the fire to Moloch, and that without any pity left to commiserate the inexorable sufferings of their martyrs, or conscience of their crimes which may deter them in future from such villainies, the bare relation of which would make a man's ears tingle, which one cannot think of without grief, nor express without horror. From these testimonies are we not led to say to the Old School fra- ternity : Ye men of hypothesis and imagination, we perceive that in all things pertaining to rational medication ye are too superstitious and fearful of your craft. As we pass by your temple of skulls we behold your devotion to "false facts and false theories," with the inscription : " Great is the mystery of disease ! Great is thy power, oh ! Mercury ! Thou art our Samson, without thee we can do nothing ! notwithstanding, we must confess, that of thy modus operandi we know nothing; yet thou art our Goliah. We know that thou art a great depressor of the energies of life, but still thou art our strong tower. And unto you, An- timony, Zinc, Copper, Lead, Iodine, Opium, and your kindred, we must also confess that how you cure disease we know not; but do profess to believe all is right. Oh! blessed Science of mystery, none but the learn- ed for years dared to look at thy working, and all was right; but those blessed days are gone; the vulgar people, in these times, declare their right to look, aud think, and act in this matter for themselves. Ah! what is this world coming to?" Can we not answer this question, gentlemen ? Yes ! it is not coming, it has already come to the investigation of all subjects upon scientific principles, and that which will not stand the test of sound investigation must fall. The people, the only sovereigns of free and happy America, have declared it, and say in the language of Prof. Waterhouse: We are sick of learned quackery. And with Rush : That we are after truth 13 and are indifferent whither we are led so she be our leader. Has not the cry been for years ? " Is there no balm in Gilead ? Are there no Physicians there ? Why is not the health of the people restored ?" Can we answer these interogatories in the affirmative ? Yes, gentlemen, I believe we can ; and say to our enemies at the same time : 0 ! ye sons of Paeon ! restore your dismal mines, and your fuming laboratories to the workers in art and trades, and return to the flowery paths of na- ture. Did not Hyppocrates and Galen revive and purify the stream of life without the aid of mines, furnaces) crucibles and retorts? The Flora of North America abounds in good sanative remedies, and we will use them in the healing of our nation. You, gentlemen, with us, have rejected the contradictions, absurdities, and tyranny of the old schools of Physic and Blood-Letting. The time has come, and principles have been discovered in Medicine, with their mode of administration, that will stand, a tower of strength, amidst the rude shock of opposition's bursting waves. With these facts, not hypo- theses, before us, is it supposed for one moment, that we could think of entering among the absurdities and uncertainties of Dogmatism ? You say no ! no ! we cannot believe it of you ! I will now call your attention to some things that you should and must do, if you would be useful in your profession. You must have a proper knowledge of the duties you owe to society as physicians. Re- member you are not to act, by virtue of your profession, as lords over God's heritage, (as some in our day do,) but remember your duty is to heal the sick and relieve the suffering. This is your most immediate concern. Life, when burdened by disease, is but a complication of woes, as we have already said. Health is that choice seasoning which gives a relish to all our enjoy- ments. As the end of Medical Science is to restore and preserve health, the welfare of every human being, of whatever age, nation, sex, color, or condition, is concerned in the improvement of it. Medicine is a science as important in its objects, as it is difficult in some of its acquisitions. It is extensive in its researches, and presup- poses a general knowledge of many branches of what is called Medical Science. And it demands of those who engage in the arduous pursuit, an enlarged soul and a benevolent mind. I will just call your attention once more, to those branches which I consider of the first importance; and a knowledge of which isindispen- sible to successful practice. First. I consider a correct knowledge of General Anatomy 14 and Physiology, to be all important. The first teaches you the parts and location of the different organs, as well as the uses of the several parts in the human body. Physiology is that science which teaches the actions and powers of an animated body, both of the vital and ani- mal, in a sound state. The illustrious Haller denominated it animated anatomy. It is the application of natural philosophy to anatomy, and is properly a philosophic knowledge of the human body. You see the necessity of always being a student, as our bodies are constantly under- going a change from various causes. Pathology.—This, you know, treats of the vital, animal and natural functions in a morbid state, as Physiology does in a sound, healthful condition. It points out the seat of disease, as well as examines their causes and effects. It shows their differences, explains their symptoms with all the phenomena which results from various affections of the sys- tem. It is the great prognosticator of the changes. It indicates the method and remedies in the treatment of diseases. It is a system of precepts in the healing art. It is the immediate guide in the practice of medicine. Look ye to it. Practice of Medicine is immediately conversant with disease, and treats in the most particular manner of their nature, differences, causes and symptoms, and the method of curing them, or alleviating the severity of them when incurable. It teaches the application of proper remedial agents, which should always act in harmony with the vita* laws of our nature. Therefore select your medicines, not from the poisonous and destructive minerals, but from the sanitive and innoctious agents which are so abundant in our happy land. Recollect we are American Physicians and are to follow the principles taught in our sys- tem, which are ever to learn and ever willing to be taught, proving all things, holding fast that which is good. Materia Medica, you know, treats of the natural history and medicinal virtues of all those bodies which are employed in diet or in medicine. It considers the changes they undergo when applied to the human body, either internally or externally, and the effects they produce on the system. In this branch you must be well acquainted, as it be- longs to this to consider the nature of aliments, the choice of medicines, and a knowledge of their action in the vessels, and how they preserve or restore health. Thus you see Physiology, Pathology, Materia Medica and Chemistry lend a mutual aid to each other. Botany is a knowledge of vegetables, and is the base of our Materia Medica, to which your attention must always be directed. This leads 15 you to Pharmaceutic Chemistry. This considers the virtues and pro- perties of all medicines in a simple state, or those they acquire by com- bination. Therefore give this branch of your profession particular attention, as it constitutes the great differences between the Old School Physicians and the Reformed Schools. Our principles and system have been in a state of warfare for the last fifty years, hard has been the struggle, the odds between the parties have been great, both in regard to numbers, money, and long established influence. But truth, plain facts, not hypotheses, living witnesses, not vain boasting, have been our leaders; and we stand on the only hard contested field in America. Philadelphia is well known to be the place where the declaration of human rights could be made and can be sustained; this we have done; let us act our parts faithfully, and the free, indepen- dent people will sustain us. We cannot help but see that the mercurial, antimonial and blood- letting flag, in this city is fast losing its power and influence; true, rational, common-sense philosophy, is the test of all things, in this, our day. Permit me, in conclusion, to say, never appear in a hurry, nor talk of indifferent matters in the sick room. Be calm, collected and dignified. Make all the necessary inquiries into the symptoms and causes of the disease, as far as possible. Avoid making light of any case ; recollect that there is no disease so trifling that it has not, directly or indirectly, proved fatal. Be punctual in your attendance, particularly in acute disease, by thus doing you will save your reputation in many instances. Be very care- ful in forming your prognosis. Maintain an inflexible authority over your patients in matters that are essential to life. Preserve upon all occasions a composed, cheerful countenance in the sick room. Inspire as much hope of recovery as you can consistent with truth, especially in acute diseases. Never become angry at anything a sick man or woman may say. (Or what any man may say, recollect that a gentleman never will insult you; and never have it said that a blackguard can.) Remember, a Physician is always a welcome visitor to his patient; but never let the smell of Rum be on you; a drunken Physician is a bane to society. Remember, the laborer is worthy of his hire; there- fore let good conscience govern your charges. Make your collection twice a year. Remember, the poor needs a physician; therefore be faithful in your attendance on this class of community; and for your pay in these cases, always imagine you hear the voice of the Good 16 Samaritan sounding in your ears, " Take care of him, and I will repay thee." Thus, Gentlemen, I have performed the last duty laid upon me by the Reformed Medical Society. You know the embarrassments I have labored under throughout the entire course of four months; but such as I have I give unto you, it is all that I can do. I hope that in the coming fall and winter session of this Institute that each branch of Medical Science will have an able and efficient lecture. This I am led to believe will be the case from the present arrangements of the directors; therefore let me ask you to help, by your influence, to build up this Institution. Allow me to say this has been my first attempt at teaching the prin- ciples of Practical Medicine, and you know that such has been the press of my practice, that, so far as the lectures were concerned, each day had to provide for itself. You know it is my determination not to be known in a like capacity again, but shall ever be on the side of medical im- provement, lending my feeble aid to its advancement. I ask of you, for the good of our common cause, to let good reports come from you. Some pf you leave in the morning for your homes in other States; we may never meet again. Let me say, once more, go on in medical im- provements, until, if possible, that time which Dr. Rush thought would come, viz : that there would not be a single outlet for life but old age, may come. This may be the case yet, as the book fixes the period of life from 75 to 80 years. Gentlemen, let me say, remember the basis of our theory, which regards life as a unity of principles. That these principles act on the different organs of the human body, which are also a unity forming a whole. That disease is a unity of causes acting on the unity of organs, in opposition to the vital principles, thus producing all the various symptoms of morbid action, and must be met by remedial agents which act in unity with the vital principles, by giving aid to the efforts of nature, perfectly harmonizing with each other. Keep these facts before you, and be governed by them in the treat- ment of all diseases, and you will be successful, aud prove a blessing to the afflicted. I will now say that heart-touching word—Farewell! sicians against their remedial virtues and use, that some of our most valuable foreign and indigenous plants have fallen 'into disrepute and are very seldom exhibited. If the active therapeutical effect of a vegetable remedy can be obtained, without at the same time cumbering the stomach of the patient with a useless mass of inert and worthless substance, upon which its salutary operation in no way depends, it must be obvious that a most serious objection to the use of this class of remedies has been wholly overcome. The signal advantages which medical science has already derived from the researches and experiments in vegetable chemistry have led the Profession to look for still further and comprehensive developements in the same direction. Until within a short time, however, but little atten- tion lias been given to this most useful and important branch of medical knowledge. The proprietors of the above Institute take pleasure in announcing to the Medical Profession, that, at great expense, they have procured the requisite apparatus, and have .availed themselves of the latest improve- ments in every department of the Laboratory in order to prepare thoe highly popular remedies in the most approved and perfect manner, so that every physician who employs them in his practice, may feel the utmost confidence in their being what they profess to be—the active principle of the varum* vegetable substances from which they are obtained. The Concentrated Medicines have been introduced into nearly every State in the Union ; and the voluntary commendations they have received and are receiving from physicians of all classes, warrant us in saving that their universal adoption at no very distant period is hardly a mat- ter of doubt or uncertainty. We have already prepared about forty varieties, and are actively engaged in their manufacture, as well as in making further researches and discoveries in this unst interesting department of Medical Science. Among the remedies now offered for sale, we may mention the Hydrastine from the'Hydrastis Canadensis. CauloPhylline from Caulophyllum Thalictroid". Lkptandrine from Leptandria Virginica. PODOPHYLLINE from Podophyllum Pdtatum. Cypripedine from the Cypripedium Pubcscens. SCUTTELLINE from Scutellaria Lateriflora. Sanguine from Sanguinnria Canadensis. Senecine from Senccio Gracillus. Stilligine from Stillingia Syloatica. AMBROSINE from Ambrosia Elutior. Ceanothine from Ceanothis Americanus. Cytisine from the Cytisus Scojwrius. Macrotine from the Macrotys Racemosa, &c , &c. The medicines are put up in quarter, half, and one-ounce vials of flint and encased in paper boxes so as to protect them from the action of light and atmosphere. Each bottle or vial will bear a label from engraved plates, with the title of American Pharmaceutical Institute, New York, and hermetically sealed; also over the cork will be fixed the name of W. Elmer, M. D., Chemist. The proprietors are also in the man- \_See fourth page cover. ufacture of appropriate pocket cases, accompanied with a manual of direc- tions, containing twenty varieties of the medicines. Price 80.00. Wm. Armstrong, M. D. 254 Market-street, Philadelphia, is our authorised Agent for the sale of the Concentrated Medicines. J8®1* We shall shortly issue a Journal of Organic Medical Chemistry, published at three dollars a year. Medical Works, Surgical Instru- ments, etc., may also be had at the above Institute. All Orders for the Journal or Medicines addressed to W. Elmer, M. D., Union Square Post Office, Broadway, New York City. Our terms are Cash. A liberal discount made to the Trade. New York, March, 1852. AMERICAN ECLECTIC DEPOT. 11. II, &lliII@SI9 . Botanic Druggist and Pharmaceutist, IV©. 254 market Street, Philadelphia, General Dealer in American, English and German Roots, Herbs, Barks and Extracts, Wholesale and Retail. ALSO, an extensive assortment of Powdered Articles, Syringes, Glass- ware, Surgical Instruments, used by Botanic, Eclectic and Reformed Physicians, together with many articles prepared according the Pharmacy of the New School. Tinctures, Plasters, Syrups, Salves, Ointments, Fills, Liniments, And all the Medical Books, such as Professors King and Newton's Eclectic Dispensatory, Hill's Surgery, Kost's Materia Medica, Beach's American Practice, Howard's Works, Curtis' Lectures, Thompson's Guide to Health, Elmer's Journal on Concentrated Medicines, and all the new works as fast as they are issued from the press will be made known. GENERAL AGENCY for the sale of DR. WM. ELMER'S CONCENTRATED MEDICINES, These remedies are now claiming the attention of the Medical Pro- fession every where, and the reputation they are gaining is beyond a parallel in the annals of Medical History, and the success attending their use in the curing of Disease is truly encouraging ; and, be it remem- ber ed, we only speak for those prepared by Wm. Elmer, M. D., of the New York Pharmaceutical Institute. All Orders addressed as above will be promptly attended to. N. B. A liberal discount allowed to Wholesale Dealers.