J&k U>J
INTRODUCTORY  LECTURE,
IBelibereto Nob. 8, I860,
BEFORE THE
LADIES'  MEDICAL  ACADEMY,
At the opening of the Second Term.
Bv SARAH W. SALISBURY, M.D.,
PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY.
BOSTON:
   I..-! .... .:, /» .3 l/.l.i; 4. •*_
'S'J^iTONGENt^U'S OFFICE
PRINTED BY KIPLEY AND COMPANY
      15, Congress Stbbet.
         1861. 
 
LECTURE.
Nothing but the interest I feel in the  cause of the Medical
Education of Women, and a desire to do all I can to promote it,
would induce me thus publicly to address you. I need not  tell
you that the presence of so many friends cheers and encourages
us; it seems to tell us that many hearts beat in unison in a good
cause.  But while we bid you welcome, we regret  our inability
to entertain you as we could wish.  We feel confident, however,
that you are friends, and will be  ready to throw the mantle  of
charity over all defects.
   The occasion which has called us together  is necessarily one
of interest to those about  to attend the present course of lec-
tures; and I think there is much to render it so to all.  Though
only a few of the audience are students of medicine, yet all
should feel an interest in a subject which so intimately concerns
them as  their own health.   No  unworthy motives have called
us together.  We meet here simply to welcome a  class of stu-
dents to a course of medical study;  and to call the attention of
women to the claims the world has upon  them as  the mothers
and educators of our race, that they may be prepared to  meet
those claims and  to faithfully discharge the duties which in  the
order of Providence may devolve upon them.
   The  "Ladies' Medical Academy," as you are aware,  has
been in operation but a short time.  A year ago, the first Intro-
ductory Lecture was given in  this Hall  by Dr. Brown.   Thus
far its success has more than met the expectations of its friends.
It has enrolled upwards of forty students;  and,  as the doors
have usually been thrown open to the  public, many other ladies
have favored us with their presence and influence.
   The  object of the institution  is twofold.   First, to furnish
the public with female physicians;  secondly, to diffuse among
women in general a knowledge of "themselves, to instruct  them 
4
how to keep what health they have, and how to get more;  in
other words, to investigate the laws of life and health, and sug-
gest the best means of their practical application.
   Young women who are preparing themselves for the teacher's
vocation will find here a cordial welcome.  Attendance on one
or two  courses of lectures, aided  by anatomical and chemical
preparations,  will greatly facilitate the  study of physiology, a
knowledge of  which is now legally required  of school teachers
in Massachusetts.
   Nurses of the sick will receive  special attention, as lessons
will be  given  in this department.  Nursing is a highly useful
employment, and we are anxious to make it  as honorable  as it
is useful by raising the standard of their education.
   There is also in  connection with  the institution a Dispen-
sary, which  serves as  a substitute for hospital  practice, by
affording pupils opportunity of gaining practical  knowledge  in
the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and at the same time
furnishes the poor with medical assistance.
   As the happiness of a community depends in a great  mea-
sure on the health of its members, and as the health of the
young is entrusted mainly to women, we therefore,  with a deep
conviction of its importance, dedicate this institution to women.
We earnestly commend it to your  favor and support.   It  is
more especially designed  to  promote your  welfare, and  upon
your  aid  and influence must its  success in a great  measure
depend.  The institution is in its infancy; but we  regard it as
a child of promise,  and, by the fostering care of its friends,  we
trust it is destined  to live, and  grow in favor with both God
and man.
   The present is an age of improvement, the greatest perhaps
the world has  ever  seen.   It is an age remarkable  for  the gen-
eral diffusion of knowledge among  all classes of society. The
progress of science, art, and literature has equalled that  of
Greece  or  Rome in their palmiest  days.   It is an age  which
puts into operation  the latent forces  of nature, and makes them
perform the labor which would  otherwise fall to the lot of man.
It is an age, too, which has assigned to woman  an honorable
position in the moral and intellectual world, and  awarded  her
the palm in all that is elevated in thought or refined in manners.
It is  an achievement worthy of the age which  has permitted 
5
her to enter the domain of medicine, and given her a position
on the same platform with her professional brethren.
   In the progressive development of human society, questions
necessarily arise which call forth discussions.  These discussions
usually evolve some truth which in  its practical application
conflicts with the views  and interests of certain parties, thus
producing a reaction. This circumstance should neither surprise
nor annoy us, for it ever has been so, and ever will be, as long
as human nature is  susceptible  of  improvement.  The early
part of the present century gave rise to warm  discussions in
regard to the propriety of giving woman an intellectual educa-
tion.  It was urged that learning would beget a dominant spirit
and  a masculine boldness;  that the  cultivation  of the mind
would detract from the merits of the heart.   The  question was
discussed pro and  con both by the  pen  and tongue; but the
prejudices which regarded it  as improper or unsafe to  give her
such an education gradually  yielded to the influence  of truth.
The halls of learning have been opened to her, and it  is found
that she can successfully compete with her gifted brother, and
advance side by side with him  to gather the flowers  and fruit
which grow high on the hill of science.  And  now at the present
day, in the latter half of the nineteenth  century, another ques-
tion arises in regard to giving women a medical education, and,
strange as it may appear,  our opponents bring up  the  same old
objections,—her inability, and the impropriety of her practising
the healing art.
   Ladies, do not stop to call a convention to debate the ques-
tion of woman's ability,  but set yourselves to work  in right
good earnest, and give the world a practical illustration of your
ability both to acquire knowledge and to apply it for the relief
of the sick and suffering.  The scale is already turning in favor
of medical education; and woman is under deep  obligation to
those who have been instrumental in elevating  her to the posi-
tion she  now occupies, and  especially to  those physicians who
have dared to extend to her  the  right hand  of fellowship, and
receive her as a co-worker in the  cause of humanity and bene-
volence.   We are not indifferent observers of the  sacrifices they
have made.   They have encountered the prejudices of the com-
munity, the frowns and sneers of their  professional brethren;
but they have persevered in pressing their claim to a medical 
6
education, until woman  is now placed within the precincts  of
the profession by legislative sanction.  For  these noble deeds
they will have the tribute of grateful hearts, so long as there
are women who know how to  appreciate moral courage,  and,
what is more, they will have  the  consolation of a good  con-
science and the approbation of  Heaven.
   It is not to be expected that every lady who gives attention
to medical studies  intends to  become a practising  physician.
The knowledge which appertains  to health  comes within the
limits of medical science.  It may  not be amiss to remark  here
that the science of medicine, so called, is  in fact the  summation
of  all science.  It may be compared to a magnificent river,
into which all other sciences, as tributaries, pour their contents.
It includes a  knowledge of human  beings in all their gradations,
in the savage, civilized, and enlightened states, in their various
conditions  of health and disease, their physical  and  metaphysi-
cal relation to each other and to things external, as soil, climate,
and productions.  Hence we  perceive that  it  encircles within
its horizon  the whole moral, intellectual, and physical world.
   Medical science  may be considered as comprising two de-
partments,— the preventive  and  the  curative.   The  former
includes a knowledge  of human beings in a state of health, and
the conditions of its preservation in that state.  It has reference
to that part of medicine termed by  the English the prophylactic,
and by the French the hygeanie.   It comprises a knowledge of
structure and function, or, in other words, of Anatomy and
Physiology, at least so far as these  are essential to the preserva-
tion of health.   The term hygiene  is of Greek  origin.  Hygeia
was the  daughter of  Hygeus, and, in heathen mythology, the
goddess of health.  The curative  department has reference to
the  body in  its diseased  condition.   It includes Pathology,
Therapeutics, Materia Medica, Surgery, and the various col-
lateral branches, as Botany, Chemistry, &c.
   A knowledge of the branches of both these departments is
essential to the professional student. She is expected to become
as  familiar with the  details of Anatomy and  Physiology, and
the technical terms of medical science, as with household words;
but these minutiae might encumber the student's memory, to the
exclusion of practical  truths relating to the laws of health and
the mode of  their application.   It  is not our intention to  point 
7
you to the medicine chest, but to those immutable laws, in the
keeping of which lies the grand secret of health.  It is a fact
well known to those who are initiated into the secrets of medi-
cine, that those who observe these laws seldom need a physician,
while those who disregard them cannot long enjoy health, let
them employ as many physicians as they please.
    I would not say aught to discourage any one from drinking
deep at the fountain of medical lore; but to those who do not
intend to practise the healing  art, and  only design to become
familiar with their own organization for purposes  of self-preser-
vation, I would say, Be careful  how you tamper with medicine.
It takes a really skilful physician to know when to give medi-
cine and when to withhold it.  Nature herself is a good physi-
cian, and, like a good housekeeper, can generally do her  work
better without the help of servants than with it.  Disease is
not, as many imagine, something to be driven out of the system
by medicine, but it is a condition to be changed by removing
the cause.  As health answers to the normal  condition of life,
so disease answers to  the abnormal.  In the former we see the
beautiful effects of harmonious  action, producing that fulness of
life which we term health; in the latter, the sad results of dis-
cordant action termed disease.
    There is no royal road to health.  Like every other blessing,
it requires constant care to  preserve it.   In the language  of
Dr. Alcott, the body is "the house we live in"; and if we would
render the  immortal  tenant  comfortable while he sojourns in
this house of clay we  must see  to it that it  be  kept  in  good
repair.  If we would  preserve the gem, we must take due care
of the casket.
   Female medical education has taken  deep root in the  com-
mon sense of an enlightened  public, and whoever takes a view
of the subject from the right  stand-point cannot fail to see  its
beauty and utility.  They will perceive that it embodies the true
idea of woman's mission, inasmuch as  it looks to the practical
duties of her life. I know there are those who pretend to regard
it as a retrograde step, which  will  neither benefit society nor
enhance the delicacy or purity of female character; but  their
vision is dimmed by prejudice.  They belong to that  class  who,
as Dr. Watts would say, look with  jaundiced  eyes, and conse-
quently make yellow observations.  Those who attach  ideas of 
8
impurity or indelicacy to the study or practice of the  healing
art have  yet to learn that  their views of propriety aro not in
accordance with virtue and  truth.   The highest study of man-
kind is  man.  So thought  the sages of antiquity, as well as
those of the present day.   Man  has ever been  a wonder to
himself;  and  the more he  studies the  intricate mechanism of
human organization  the more he sees to excite his admiration.
   But to return.  The care of the body in sickness and infancy
devolves upon woman.   This is her honorable prerogative, and
well worthy her highest  ambition.   She is destined to take the
infant in its helplessness, to  rear the physical system upon which
the vigor of the mind so much depends; in short, so to train
up the child as to fulfil the intention of its Creator.  As  a tree
retains the marks made upon it when a sapling, so  the impres-
sions made in early life are as lasting.
   It would seem that no question could arise in regard to the
propriety of giving to females those advantages which will ena-
ble them to discharge the duties that in the order of Providence
may devolve upon them.  But the young woman enters upon
the most responsible duties  of  life with little or no preparation.
She assumes the maternal responsibilities without  a knowledge
of those laws which would  ensure health  to herself, and  to her
offspring a vigorous  constitution.   The effect of such ignorance
is realized in the  distress which parents experience  in  seeing
their children cut off by early death, or suffering from a feeble
constitution.  We require of a person who makes an  article of
apparel some knowledge of the business she assumes.   We do
not apply to a milliner to cut our garments, nor to a blacksmith
to repair a watch; but,  in  the latter case,  to  one who  under-
stands its mechanism, who  sees from what cause the disorder
arises, and knows just what to do  to put the machine in order.
   Among the various diseases which  afflict the human family,
it  is probable  that very few originate from defective  organiza-
tion, but the great majority result from the vices and follies  of
mankind. No constitution  is endowed with the power of main-
taining its vitality for an indefinite length of time.  Neither  is
every constitution alike  in this respect, but each possesses  a
certain amount of vital  power, which would keep the  body in
health and vigor for a long  time, but at last becomes  exhausted
and dies out, as a taper when all the oil is consumed.  Were  it 
9
not for the  degenerating  effect  of hurtful influences, mankind
would  be today as free  from disease  as the wild animals that
roam unharmed by man's perverted reason or his scientific in-
vestigations.
   In civilized society, very few  enjoy firm health; the greater
part labor under some physical infirmity.   It  is estimated that
one-half  of the human species perish in infancy; and probably
one-half of those who survive this period do not attain maturity,
leaving but  one-fourth to live on to advanced age.  Perhaps it
would  be impossible to determine what proportion of these die
from unavoidable diseases.  Infants and  children are liable to
infectious as well as hereditary diseases; but we may reasonably
conclude that the greater number of early deaths may be traced
to preventable causes.
   There is  in general no lack of natural ability on the part of
mothers, but a want of practical domestic training.  More is
thought of the shadow than the substance, more of show and
ornament than of solid acquirements.  More duties, I am in-
formed, are  paid on artificial flowers than on railroad iron.  The
last novel,  the latest fashion, a little drawing, painting, and
music,  are reckoned of sufficient importance  to take  the  place
of those  solid acquirements so essential to the faithful discharge
of the  duties of  life.  If a mother were to write down a list of
her duties, health for herself and  health for  her  family should
stand at  the head of the catalogue.  It should  be written  upon
the tablets of her heart, and inscribed on the door-posts of her
dwelling. Most parents are anxious to lay up for their children
the wealth of this world; but if they would lay up  for them a
firm constitution and a stock of health, it would be  to  them
a treasure richer far than the gold of  California or the gems of
Golconda.   They may leave them gold and silver; but there is
danger that it may prove a curse rather than a blessing.  It
may take away the stimulus to exertion, the restraints to indul-
gence,  and  by so doing it may  take  " wisdom out of the  head,
virtue  out of the heart, and strength out of the muscles."
  It is safe to conclude that health and longevity are  the  natu-
ral conditions of life; but  they  depend on  the observance of
immutable laws: consequently man would enjoy uninterrupted
health  if nothing interfered with  the operation of these  laws.
It is true, man is destined to die; but there is no proof that he 
10
is destined to die from disease.  It  is supposed that we would
decline gradually, and without pain, even as a candle goes out
in its  socket.  "God made  man upright, but he has sought
out many inventions."   He  created  him in His  own image,
capable of understanding and  obeying the laws which would
give him health  and length of days;  but his understanding is
perverted, he sees " as through a glass darkly," both as regards
the present life and the  future.  How far, think you, would we
be obliged to go to find ladies, even  at the  present  day, who
regard it as a mark of gentility to look delicate, and therefore
take pride in being " out of health " ?  Such persons give but
little heed to their condition until it is too  late, and  then they
will run hither  and thither  in search of health, swallow any
amount of medicine, and at  last sink into an untimely grave,
dug by their own imprudence.
   It is  a curious manifestation of human folly, to see mankind
cling  to life with such  a tenacious grasp when it is too late,
and yet so indifferent while it is in  their power to preserve it.
It is true that there are thousands in this degenerate  age whose
natural  constitution falls below the standard.   Such people
cannot enjoy that fulness of  life and  health which falls to the
lot of the more robust;  but they may fortify their  natural con-
stitution,  and enjoy that measure of health which they are
capable of receiving, by a strict observance of sanitary laws.
   I am aware that a belief prevails that our diseases are sent
upon  us irrespective of natural laws.  They are regarded  as
mysterious providences, over  which man has no control.  But
those who understand the relation  which man sustains  to the
material universe perceive that these  so called providences are
the effects of  causes which  God  has ordained,  or, in  other
words, the result of his established laws.  All the mystery about
them arises from the mist of ignorance which obscures  human
vision.  Man being ignorant of the laws which govern the living
organism, is easily led into this error.  It is a law in  nature that
fire shall burn; but there is no law  which requires  that a person
shall  put his fingers into the  fire.  If  he does so, he must suffer
the penalty which the  violation of that law inflicts.  Suppose,
for instance, a man from excess in eating or drinking brings  on
a disease whicn terminates  in  death;  or  suppose a person in
health goes out from a heated  room in a state of perspiration, 
11
and exposes himself to the cold north wind, and in consequence
the blood is thrown upon some of the internal organs, producing
a fever, of which he dies.  Does not such an individual cause his
own  death  as much as a person who commits suicide by means
of a  rope  or a razor ?  Yes, say  you, but both are not equally
guilty: in the one case there was intention to take  life, and in
the other there was not, and guilt lies in the intention or motive.
We  admit this; but as regards  physical  law both  are equally
transgressors, and both receive the same penalty — death.  The
design in the one case to take life is not subject to organic law.
It was a mental  act, and subject to the law of mind,  not matter.
He who intentionally takes his own life is doubly guilty; for he
violates two laws of his being, physical and mental.
   The  laws which appertain  to the  body, mind, and soul of
man observe such an intimate relation that it is difficult to draw
the line of demarcation.  No philosopher of the past or present
ages has been able fully to explain the mysterious connection of
mind and matter; and it would  be  presumption in one to  at-
tempt it who has but just  passed the threshold  of medical
science.  Those mysterious causes which we term laws lie be-
neath the surface of things.  We may see their effects, but the
causes themselves are not so apparent.   We may see the  flash
of the lightning and hear the roar of the  thunder, we may see
the wild tornado sweep everything  before it, and can scarcely
persuade ourselves that it results from the silent influence of
the sun upon our atmosphere.  We may see the fell destroyer,
Consumption, sweep annually its  thousands to an untimely
grave; but the causes which underlie and produce the abnormal
changes in the living organism are difficult to find out.
   I have  said  that this is an age of improvement, in intellect
at least.   But  notwithstanding the intellectual elevation of
woman, notwithstanding our literary institutions are of a high
order, there  is much in education  as it  exists  at  the present
day  that is radically wrong, and this wrong  strikes  at the very
root of all  human enjoyment —health.   It fails to produce a
sound mind in a healthy body.  Education implies the develop-
ment of the whole human being.   It  appertains to the body,
mind, and soul,  each of  which must receive due attention, in
order that the  whole be developed  in its true and beautiful
proportions. 
12
   Physical culture underlies all other.  It is as the fountain  to
the stream, or  as the foundation to the superstructure.  The
physical system attains its full growth in a very few years; but
the mind may need many years to develope its powers.  It is
far better to defer mental culture to a later period than  to rob
the body of the nervous energy requisite to its full development.
If the nervous energy is expended in maintaining undue activity
of the mind, the bodily functions  are  disturbed, and  ill-health
follows as naturally as water runs down hill. Such a draft upon
the constitution cannot long remain hidden.  The precocious
youth and the feeble  constitutions of the  rising generation are
proofs  of our assertion, and will be living  proofs of our folly.
There probably never was a time (at least in this country) when
the mind was so educated at the expense  of the body.  Sure
enough we live in a fast age.  We not only learn too fast, but
we eat too fast, we breathe too fast, the pulse beats too fast, and
it is no wonder that  we are fast becoming a  race of invalids.
The excited condition of the system rapidly consumes its own
vitality, and people die long before the natural limit of life.
   Although physical education underlies all other, it is only as
a means to higher development, for upon this in a great measure
depends  the  health  and vigor of the moral  and intellectual
powers.  The great want of the age is symmetrical culture,  or,
in  other words, a  better  physical culture  in connection with
mental and  moral training.  Physical culture was well  under-
stood by some of the nations of antiquity,  especially  by the
Greeks and  Romans.  They had their gymnasia and athletic
sports;  consequently the youth of both  sexes became hardy
and vigorous, capable of  enduring great fatigue and  hardship.
But the  motive which prompted  them to adopt a  course of
physical training seems  to have had  its  origin in the selfish
element of human nature.  It was  their highest ambition to
become victorious in war and a terror to  their enemies.  They
had a burning desire for that fame which Mars brings  his vota-
ries.  War and Victory were their watchwords; while  Justice
and Love,—those  precious elements of the moral nature, — lay
dormant in the recesses of the heart.  The women also partook
of the same  spirit.  Mothers would hush their infants  to sleep
singing of wars, of heroes, and of victory.  The  powers of the
mind were in keeping with those of the body.  The intellectual 
13
faculties were highly cultivated; they excelled in literature, in
science, and art; and their power was felt throughout the earth;
yet they fell, because their  system was defective in moral cul-
ture.  The Spartan youth who concealed the stolen fox under
his cloak, and at the same time persisted in his innocence even
while the fox was eating into his vitals, affords an example of the
views the ancients had of virtuous conduct.  Theft was regarded
as a virtue;  and the youth who  could  practise  intrigue and
escape  detection was deemed  worthy of  the highest  praise.
Thus, in casting our eye over the history of nations, we see the
lower propensities of our nature developed  in an undue degree.
The Egyptian, the Greek, and the Roman each had a body and
mind highly developed; yet it was not until  after Christianity
shed its benign influence  that the powers of the heart and soul
were called out, which previous to this had lain nearly dormant.
It is true, there may be found  isolated cases where nature and
circumstances have co-operated to  produce  a full  development
of body, mind,  and soul.  We need not go out of our  own
country for examples.  In a Washington we see  a noble heart
prompt, a mighty intellect direct, and an iron constitution exe-
cute, the purposes he undertook.  What would the noble heart
of Florence Nightingale have availed the poor soldiers  in
the Crimea, had she not possessed a large fund of the nerve and
muscle of endurance ?
   From these considerations it will be conceded that the full
development of the human being is requisite to bring mankind
up to the highest standard.  It does not consist in intellectual
power alone, nor in literature, science, or arts, though these may
dignify  and adorn it;  neither  does it consist in the physical
powers  alone:  but in  the  moral  element, enlightened by the
intellect, and rendered efficient by the strength of the physical
system.
   I am aware it is an easy matter to point out existing evils;
but to trace them to their source and remove  their cause is no
easy task.  The evils to which we have alluded may be traced
not only to a wilful disregard of Nature's laws, but to the igno-
rance which  everywhere prevails  on the subjects of life and
health.   Could  the grave  speak, would  it  not reveal  to the
world that  its victories have been achieved  mainly through the
ignorance of  mankind in  regard to these laws ?  Would it not 
14
proclaim to mankind that the great end  of life can  never  be
attained until we give heed to  the precept,  "Know thyself."
This injunction applies to all, and is as binding upon every one
as a command of the  Decalogue.   The author of it speaks to
us today in tones as distinct as those uttered from Mount Sinai.
Know thyself.  There  are probably no two words in our
language which embody an idea of so much import.  Know
that man is a compound being;  that he has a moral, spiritual,
intellectual, and physical nature,  each  of which requires a cul-
ture suited to itself.  It shows us that man sustains in this life
three important relations.  The first and most important is that
which he sustains to his Creator,  the second to his fellow-man,
and the third to external objects.  To know these relations, and
to perform the duties which grow out of them, should be the
great aim of life.  Whoever does this  answers the purpose  for
which he was created.
   It has been said that coming  events cast their shadows  be-
fore;  and in the achievements  of the present  which  give to
woman the advantages of a medical education and to the rising
generation a knowledge of the laws of health, we see the pre-
cursor of a medical millenium which will ultimately lead to
that more glorious  future predicted by the  Prophets.  In that
better time coming the earth itself will remain unchanged, the
stars will  shine with  no  more brilliancy, the moon  will pour
forth no extra light, nor will the sun shine with greater splen-
dour.  Yet  there will be a  change, and that  change will be
essentially in man himself, in the keeping of  those laws which
have been instituted for his good, or rather in  the conformity of
heart and life to the will of God.
   It is to  be lamented that the  science of  medicine, and all
that appertains  to the physical  well-being  of mankind, should
have  been kept at such a distance from  common observation.
The veil which hangs over medicine not  only gives it  a  suspi-
cious look, but serves as a screen to a  host of impostors, whose
sole object is to make money by imposing  on the credulity of
mankind.  Far better would it be if the preventive department
of medicine devolved more on  the physician; but, as the cus-
toms of society now are, he is debarred from exercising his
highest prerogative.   If he should devote his time to  keeping
people  from being sick, he  would cut off his own  livelihood, 
15
which depends upon the incompetency of people  to take care
of their health.   This condition of things is to  be  deplored,
more, perhaps, by physicians themselves than by any other class
in the community.  They are surrounded by circumstances over
which they have  but little control, and which  impel  them to
travel on in the beaten track.   I am not inclined to censure the
good physician.  He has spent his time and money to acquire a
knowledge of the healing art, and who is there more worthy of
a fair compensation ?  He has not a moment that he may call
his own.   Like a minute-man, he is expected to be ready night
or day to do the bidding of his employers.  The  blame which
seems to attach to physicians is without doubt more the fault of
the people, or should be set down to the customs of society.
Ask  any respectable physician if he is satisfied with the popular
ignorance  on the subject of health.  Does he not lament that
his own pecuniary interest and the sanitary welfare of mankind
antagonize?  In a word, would he not rejoice to see the Doctor
of Medicine placed  on the same platform with the Doctor of
Divinity, receiving like him a salary for his services.  We  hope
the time is not far distant when the physician's claims will be
better considered, when he will receive from the public treasury
a fair compensation not merely for curing  diseases but for pre-
venting them, and thus become in the fullest  sense of the  term
what his M.D. justly entitles him, a teacher of medicine and a
public benefactor.
   Ladies, you are about to engage in a great and good cause.
It requires no small share of moral courage to come  out  from
the world  and  engage in an unpopular enterprise; but having
chosen the right way, dare to pursue it.   In the language of
Scripture,  " Who is  he  that  can harm you, if ye follow that
which is good?"  I need scarcely remind you, that the profes-
sion  on the one hand and the  public on the  other are looking
with anxious eyes on this  movement.  The  darkened  brow of
the former and the propitious look of the latter indicate plainly
the feelings they cherish towards you; but let none  of these
things move you.   Let your motto be " Excelsior."  An arrow
aimed at the sun may rise higher than if aimed low.
   The medical education of woman marks  a " golden  era" in
her history. It presents a broad field for the exercise of her
intellect,  and  opens the  way to  competence,  influence,  and 
16
honor.  These considerations may have  a tendency to  induce
some to enter the profession who do  not  possess the necessary
qualifications. Those who enter at an age when the mind has
partially lost its  relish for study cannot  expect to  attain that
eminence which is desirable, or which the  present wants of the
community demand.  The medical student should have an ar-
dent love for scientific investigation,  as well as a taste for the
duties of a practising physician.  Not only a vigorous mind but
firm health is requisite in order to encounter  the  hardships at-
tendant on medical  practice.  It is desirable to receive students
directly from the schools, with  minds invigorated  by  mental
training, and before they are encumbered with the active duties
of life.  If,  ladies, to native ability  you  add a good  medical
education, you will honor your profession and spread around it
a halo  which will  command the  respect of the community.
We do not expect your motives to be entirely unselfish.   That
would be unreasonable.   The desire for money, to a  certain
extent, is compatible with the most  lovely traits of character;
and it should have its appropriate place, subservient to higher
motives.  Not only a  desire for gain, but  for honor and position
in society, is natural, and if kept within due limits is not to be
condemned.
   But  the  honors  to which you aspire  are  not to be gained
without personal effort.  " The gods give nothing  valuable to
men without great  labor."  This saying  of a heathen philoso-
pher applies equally to you.  Do not  suppose that you have only
to listen to two or three courses  of medical lectures, and get  a
diploma, which will serve as a passport to the confidence of the
public.  You will need all the aid which can be derived from
lecturers, from books, and from the bedside of the  sick.  Your
instructors may present ideas to your mind, but they will vanish
like objects seen in  twilight unless there be also effort on your
part. They may select and prepare your intellectual food with
the greatest care, but  they cannot assimilate it for you.  As the
food of the body must undergo several processes before it can
be converted into the various organs and tissues,  so the mental
food must be properly digested before it  can  become a part  of
your intellectual self.   Teachers may smooth the path  and re-
move  obstacles  which lie  in your  way; but the  knowledge
acquired in the lecture-room should not take the place of study 
17
You should mark out a course of study, and pursue it in  a
truth-seeking spirit.  It would be well to bear in mind the sen-
timent expressed by Dr. Watts, —

             " Go search for truth wherever found,
              On Christian or on heathen ground.
              The plant's divine where'er it grows,
              Neglect the prickles and assume the rose."

   The student will need nice discriminating powers to distin-
guish between what is  true  and  false in science  and practice.
She should  examine the different  methods of practice, deduce
logically, and receive nothing as truth until fairly convinced.
Ladies, you have foes from within as well as from  without.
Your prejudices in favor of or against  a particular method of
practice will prove a great obstacle  in your way, if adhered to.
How many, think you, would be admitted into a medical  school
if they were required,  as in  a court of justice, not  to have pre-
judged the case ?  Let me then  advise  you to  defer judgment
until you have examined the different  pathies  and isms.  Try
to become a worker that needeth not to  be ashamed,  and you
will require no hobby to gain popular favor. The whole world
will be your materia medica, and the  concentrated wisdom of
past ages your guide.  You will learn that many of the opinions
of the past, by the light of advancing  science, are now shown
to be erroneous; and we should remember that those who held
these opinions were as positive as we are in regard to our own.
This consideration should  moderate our enthusiasm, and keep
our minds open to the truth, with  a resolve to  follow in what-
ever direction she may turn.
    The philosophic method  of investigating  medical science
which has been  recently adopted cannot fail to lead us  aright,
if judiciously pursued. It needs but a  glance at the subject to
convince us of the importance of pursuing a systematic course
of study.   It would be sheer folly to require a  student to work
 out a problem in fractions or proportion who had  not  mastered
 the fundamental rules of arithmetic; and it would be quite as
 unreasonable to  expect  the medical  student to  understand
 Pathology  without a previous  knowledge of  Anatomy  and
 Physiology, for these form the basis of the whole.
    In entering upon the duties which devolve upon the chair of 
18
 Anatomy, I feel deeply sensible of the responsibility which rests
 upon me. Be assured, ladies, that it will be my highest pleasure
 to aid  you in the  great work of preparation; but, let me say,
 I am decidedly opposed to  that method of instruction which
 relieves the student of mental  labor.  However fashionable it
 may be to listen to  some half-dozen lectures in a day, it is not
 a judicious course.   The goddess Fashion sways her  sceptre  in
 the medical world  as everywhere else, and the  votaries obey
 her mandates, however unreasonable they may be.  It is not
 the abundance of words you hear, but what you understand and
 retain, that adds to your intellectual store.  Lectures are de-
 signed to afford explanations and to enable you to  pursue  your
 studies  understandingly, not to relieve you of mental labor.
    The  subject of every lecture should be known  and studied
 by the pupil previous to its delivery, that she may note what is
 obscure, and be ready to hear the explanation when  the  point
 is referred to by the lecturer.  She should then have time  to
 retire and carefully  write down the leading features of the lec-
 ture, for her own improvement and for reference.   This method
 would afford an exercise in medical orthography and composi-
 tion, which could be submitted to the teacher for examination.
   Far be it from me to utter a word of discouragement.  On
 the contrary, we shall endeavor to combine the useful with the
 agreeable.  In the language of Milton, " we will straightly con-
 duct you to a  hillside, laborious indeed at the first ascent, but
 else so smooth, so green, so full of goodly prospects and melo-
 dious sounds on every side, the songs of Orpheus are  not  more
 charming."  Yes, ladies, medical science opens to your aspiring
 minds a broad field.  It opens to you the book of Nature;  and,
 if entered upon with a right spirit, will bring its  own reward.
 Here you may improve the heart as well as the mind; here you
may admire the wisdom, love, and purity of that perfect Being
who created and who sustains all things.