T, /*,/ AN V y INTRODUCTORY LECTURE TO A COURSE ON ?T >**! ''■33 « ^ Wl '•« ^ IN THE INDIANA MEDICAL COLLEGE, SESSION 1847-8, BY 3 Professor or thk Principles and Practice of Surgerv, in the Indian Med. Col.—Honorary Member of the Philadelphia Mi.n Society-—Corresponding Secretarv of the North- WlMTERV Academit op thb Natural anh Medical Sciences, etc. / PUBLISHED BY THE CLASS LA PORTE, INDIANA! W.& J. MILLIKAN, PRINTERS. 1848. yr^ I tiasa Menu n f i.;i.ro*. J Laportc. A or 27, 1 HIT. i Vo> 1.1-OR. A B. SllUMAS: ,; ir^r—V a meeting of the Ciassof the Indiana Medical College, held 1:1 rrbiay exeunt?, in the Co'ii^e Koom.Ji^: Wasson was chosen Chairman •id If. S IIahv Secretary.it was unanimously Rosolred, that a Committee be ,,|ij)o.utt-d :o solicit a copy of your beautiful and appropriate Introductory Ad d .■<- delivered before the Medical Cla*s. the present session, for publication. IVnn:' us to add. that a willingness to gratify the Class and .your numerous I; end;, will enable up to place before the public, a production, alike honorabe! >< vourself. and m liiable to the Institution with which you are connected. Willi »(>"t;'iiiMit> of the highest respect, we arc Very truly and sincerely yours. r. r. sTr.r.Ri.. ) WM. B.MAI, < Committee Imuan \ Mudicai. Coi.i.Eof , .\\>r. tl'.K 1^17. \|i-s-r- SrEi.iiE, nnd .M u:— i,( air iii n—I ha\i to acknowledge your lctt:r in behalf of tl.e Class of the Indiana Medical College, requesting a copy of nv Introductory Lecture, for ;> viIk iiioii.. I'rom the ba^tv manner in which the. address was \\ riiten—rthe •;ioai\ rict\ of subjects embraced—(he absence of systematic arrangement— ibc -Unlit and disconnected r< Inn- of the several portions—the broad field over which the remarks are spread, skimming merely, as it were, o\cr the mir- I'n-e of thin::-—the rapid and abrupt transition from one topic to another, and ci uis other things, too numerous to be overlooked—render me sensible of iu many iirperfeeiiuns. Ve'. as the Class have done me the honor, in expressing i desire for its publication, I mo«t cheerfully comply with their request, in furnishing a cojiv, so soon as it can conveniently be performed. You will |de i=e convey to the Gentlemen of the Class, my warmest wishes for theic. le lth and |tfo*;"n' With great respec' I remain your very obed'l serv'i, .Vc A : Respectfully yours. A. B. SUU'MAN' DR. SHIPMAN'S INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. i Ientlemen:— VVk have met where a few years since all was solitude ; un- touched by the hand of civilization, nature reposed in quiet and undisturbed tranquility, the flowers of the prairie bloomed an I faded; the Summer wind bent the tall grass, and sighed through ttis groves: The blast of Winter swept over these plains; Seasons went and came in one unceasing round of solitude, Solitude ! \o, the Red Man of the forest was here the undisputed Lord of there fair and lovely plains. He hunted the nimble fooled deer; he caught the fish from the Stream and Lake} he pitched his frail tent on the borders of these groves; he planted his corn and worship- ed the Great Spirit, with such zeal and light as Nature gave ; he met his enemies in deadly conflict; he lived, and loved, and died. and was buried here. How beautiful must have been these broad pranes, and these delightful groves, ere the hand of civilization was laid upon them, when yonder mighty Lake reposed calmly and tranquilly, save when its waters were disturbed by the wing of the wildlowl or the breath of the Almighty. „,.,.., ,„ „ . M . Where now is the inhabitant of this fair land? He has tied ■iffrighted at the approach of the pale faced lace; he liesdown to die far from the mouldering graves of his forefathers, or he is duven Westward to those immense plains at the foot of the Rocky Moun- tains The Anglo Saxon race have taken up their abode here, and ate rearing towns, villages and cities, with a rapidity that is truly magical °The hum of industry is heard in every nook and corner of The land Where once the Indian moored his bark canoe, thu rnichtv steamer rides at anchor. Where once he chased his game. un hie wild steed, the pant of the locomtive, is heard as on wings of the wind, it hurries over its iron way; Colleges and Seminaries ot learning are fast springing up to dispense the blessings or educa- tion and refinement to the youth of these fertile fields. Wmi a country of unparalleled beauty and a soil of surpassing fertility the march onward to prosperity and wealth, must be ce.tain and rapid Emigration has been unprecedented in the atmals of the world and will continue for years to come. From the worn-out fields 'of Continental Europe ; and the downtrodden, tarnishing, starvino- pestilence stricken Ireland ; from the bleak shores or the Baltic and Caspian ) the sunny fields of Italy, or the classic shores of the Blue Mediterranean ; the fertile lands of Holland ; and tht* green lanes of England; from the mountains of Scotland and Wales the land of Bruce and Cromwell; ftom the banks of the Rhine.the Rhone and the vine clad hills of France and Germany : "rom the Alpine heights and the winding vales of Switzerland, -i 4 race of men have wended their way to the West, and have taker. jp their abode, to mingle with our sons and daughters, and to en- joy thai freedom which their own country denies them. The Son of New England, with his tidy housewife, surrounds his home with oornfotts and even luxuries ; he has exchanged the sterile soil of his native Granite Hills, for the deep, rich mould of the Western Prairie, his sons and his sons' sons, who visit the ancestral man- sion, in after years, will wonder how enough could be extorted from the niggardly soil to sustain life. Here the enterprising 6eeker after wealth and a home will have their anticipations realized, and become blended with its interests. On the surface of these fair domains, on the banks of these beautiful lakes and riven, among these groves, whose beauty surpasses the parks of hereditary lands, dwells an enemy of human life. No age or condition is exempt from its invisible and malignant onsets. The infant at its moth- er's breast; the school-boy at his sports ; the maiden in the lirst flush of womanly beauty ; the robust young man in all his pride of manly strength ; the matronly housewife at her domestic cares; the old man with his 6tafT; all feel its enervating influence, and wrestle with this subtle fiend Wbo hover* in darkness dire and flings, Destruction on mephitic wings." Do you know the name of this enemy? One of the reasons why we aie assembled here is to deliberate on the best means to van- ny will turn back before they have entered the ve&ubule. Others will stray ott by manv of the diverging ways. Some will lie down and sleep awav their time in slothful and inglorious ease. Others will re- trace their steps and turn back from whence they staxted, discour- aged by the difficulties which beset their way. °The great Book of Nature is the volume from which you are M draw all your knowledge. The strata of everlasting rock; the record of earthV history, its changes and mutations, are there writ- ten so plainly and distinctly, that " he who tuns may read." Nor'is tlie st.udv of earth alone, or the things upon it, to limit your knowledge'. " Astronomy should claim a portion of your time, not only from its ennobling and elevating; tendencies upon your minds ; but the action of the celestial bodies, from time immemo- rial, have been supposed to exert an influence in the production of epidemical diseases. Comets were once looked on as harbin- gers of war and pestilence, and Meteors were set down as maga- zines fraught with disease and death. Natural History is one o the most pleasing, as well as impottant, studies, and one that should never be neglected bv the Student of Medicine. Man, the head of the Animal Creation, should claim that share of attention, which his position demands. He should be studied, not alone a* be exists at the present time, but as he lived in ages long since ^Sacred Historv is the only authentic source from which we learn the cnnditfiort of man at the earliest period of the world ! I he most remarkable thing in man's early history, is his longevity:— MtMi formed with the same organs a* at present; the same teei- ino-s' passions and circumstances in operation, would appear to be subjected to the same laws of decay and death. It may be (and that too without., in the least, impeaching the authenticity of tin. Sacred Writing that time was computed in a different manner from what it is°at present. The sacred writings also give us the earliest account of the diseases of the ancient race. From tlie Tombs of Thebes and Memphis, we are brought, face to face, wuh man as he existed in the days of the Pharaohs, forty centur.es age We findlhim, so far as physical organization is concerned, the same ■i* his living neighbor of to day. Man, as he exists on tlie earth t esent "shoufd be well studied. We there find that wonder- ful power of adaptation which rrart possess. Notwithstanding the v.y uly varying situation in which l.c lives, for uliat can be mare dissimilar, than the poor stupid inhabitant of Iceland and Kams- katka. and the tall and fiery dweller on the burning Deserts of Arabia; yet. from tin* power which mnn possesses of adapting himself to surrounding objects, he may. with proper care and at- tention, change place with impunity. No other animal has the )tUr> pnwrr. The camel, who will cross the burning plains of Africa. carrying a supply of water in his stomach for 20 days or more, vtwiild die of cold, in a winter of Southern Europe. The white bear of the Arctic regions, who is at home amid polar ice and srow, would perish of heat in a Summer temperature. From a perusal of the sacred writings, you will draw much thai re'ates to rim physiology of our race, in an early period of tie earth, and likewise many things, both curious and instructive, in regard to diseases which prevailed and were peculiar to that epoch "I earth's history. Many of the religious rites, ordinances and ceremonies, had reference to the preservation of health, and the cure of disease. What but an acquaintance with certain physio- logical laws, led one of the ancient Patriarchs to try an experi- niert in Natural History, that resulted in one of the most curious phenomena in existence? The speckled and streaked rods of an- i-.iet-t Jacob, show him to have been learned in the laws that gov- e-n the dr.ctrines of generation, and is both curious and instruc- h,: How far ho was justified in the experiments, which ho prac riced on Laben's flocks, in a legal or motal point of view, I leave for those learned in such matters to settle : hut in its scientific ap- plication, it belongs to physiology. In the laws enacted to prevent the epread of leprosy, we have the earliest records of sanatory regulations, which show their early acquaintance with the preven- tion of diseases. The Hygienic practices which prevailed in the isrnt htish camp, in their long sojourn and wandering in the wilder- ness of .smai, and which were enforced as a religious observance if looked at with attention, will be seen such as were best calcula- ted to promote the health and happinesssof the people. The wash ings and ablutions, the purifications and anointings, are so manv methods to preserve the physical condition of man in a state of health and purity. The rigid observance of cleanliness, and which was enforced as a divine rite, in regard to females, might well be practiced ir modem times as go.ng far, not only in preserving health, but in mamtaining that punty of person, that adds so greatly to the charms of the sex. ° * Ascending from man, as placed at the head of the universe and or whom the whole earth and its creatures are made to subserve his ends, we pass to the brute creation. Their relation to man and their uses, are to be studied with much attention. Many of the mfenor animals furnish food, clothing, ornaments, luxuries and medicines Some of them are the natural enemies of man and require to be investigated, so far as to guard and protect™ selve rot:, their deleterious power. The whole class of poi onous eer pit*, reptiles, and venomous insects, require to be well studied i .r our protection and safetv. studied, From many animals we obtain ai tides of luxury, food, clothing and ornamental things, for comfort or 6how. The ostrich, whose plumes grace the head of beauty—the silk-worm who weaves her woof to clothe the body of her sister worm—the cochneal insect bleeds to give color to a lady's scarf—we strip the ermine and lynx to warm and ornament our bodies—there is scarcely an an imal but what man, in some way, appropriates to his uses. Des- cending still in the scale of animal existence, we pass from known and described genera and species, to animalcula. The wondeis ot the microscope have opened fields beyond the leacli of the unaided vision of man. The most powerful glasses show that there is \et animal life that art fails to reach. How far and to what degree Ihese microscopic animalcule are concerned in the production of disease, yet remains to be demonstrated. Epidemical diseases have, by many writers, been conjectured to originate from this source. That myriads of them swarm in the atmosphere at such seasons; enter into the cavities, penetrate the tissues of the body, and are carried by the circulation into the ie- motest portions of the system. But this is meie hypothesis, and lemains yet to be proved ; the subject, however, is a curious f.ne and lequires investigation. The next step of the student of nature should be, a survey of the vegetable world ; and here we shall find some of the mu;i beautiful as well as useful productions of the eartii. It is from this source that much of the food of man is obtained. The niott agreeable, nutritious and salutary articles of diet, are those liom the vegetable kingdom. From some of the aiticles we clothe the body, and decorate the person, while others furnish us the means of building houses to shelter, and ships to waft us to distant lands, in search of wealth, luxuries and friends. The most important and useful medicines ate derived from vegetables. The poppy, which furnishes opium as a medicine, may truly be said to be a Divine remedy. I he pew - er to allay pain and assuage anguish, justly entitle it to such at. appellation. And here, Gentlemen, allow me to digress a short time, to speak of this ancient and much abused article. Of all the numerous articles of the materia medica, this is the most impoii ant, whether we view it as a palliative to militate Luman suffering. or a powerful and efficient agent in the cure of disease. 1 have often heard it remarked, (and many of you maj have done the same) that opium never cures a disease ; that its action is meiely palliative ; lulling disease into fatal security ; smothering pain and giving a false and treacherous security where none leally exists. Were it not for this medicine, or one having like power, few would be found willing to practice medicine a day. To be con polled u. witness human suffering in all its frightful forms, without the pow- er of alleviation, would present so gloomy and upulsive a life that few would be willing to engage in. The positive cures which this remedy effects are truly wonder- ful The whole range of nervous, spasmodic and neuralgic dis- ease, it is almost the only medicine that is capable id givu:g tern porarv, or permanent, relief. In dysentery, dianhcea, atic t:.e r^st foireadable of all, the frightful cholera of India, it cures more than all other remedies combined. But were it unly for its palliative powers, it would still be worth all the encomiums be- stowed upon it. To be able to appease the most agonizing pain; to give sleep and quiet to a troubled breast; to dispel the gloom nf the profoundest melancholy, and strew even the tomb with flow- ers, is what can be done with no other agent. The abuses of this article I will net dwell upon; for like everything useful and po- te:t in nature, it is liable to evil. Its fascinating and exhilerating power has been sought with much avidity, by thoso who have once experienced its delightful and enchanting power. Individual have fallen under its control and been held in worse than iron bondage, and abandoned to its dreamy and pernicious influence. Orienu.i nations, as China and Turkey, have suffered most from t!t;s debasing practice, it being one of the common luxuries in dai- ly use, with many of the inhabitants of those countries. But I must leave this subject, fertile as it is in matters of weighty import, to pass on to other things which will engage our attention. The subject of vc getables will be freely and faithfully discussed ' iu its proper place by your Teacher of Materia Medica. By main this branch is considered dry and barren ; but let me assure you, gentlemen, none is more worthy your serious attention. By the aid of some of the most simple articles, you may do more in cur- :ng disease than the boldest operator with knife and saw. Of the mineral kingdom, which will occupy a share of your time hut tew, comparatively, will be found as articles of medicine— J I o j.ubhc, it is true, have erroneously supDosed, that minerals were almost exclusively used in our practice.' This idea has been encouraged and strengthened by the graceless Quack, who trims his sa::s to every breeze, and rides triumphant on the wave of jopular (rejudice. What has pioduced this unworthy clamor against minerals? Certainly not its intrinsic merits or demerits or Wh0re shall we find so deadly a poison, one that extinguished life with almost as much rapidity as lightning, as prussic acid 1- ibe stramonium, the hemlock, the aconite, the nux vomica, are all more deadly po.sons than arsenic or mercury; and yet we hear no popular outcry against them. Another popular error, and one t at is as absurd as false, is that the Great Author of Nature has planted the remedy bes.de the disease. That on the ground where erom^f,1 bf"°WS '">»>?. g'°*s the specific**, arresbe tr "vTol ki; ^V ^0tb'DSI8m^ unreasonable, or more con- tr.rv to the laws which govern the universe. You might with ecu.1 propriety expect guineas to grow on an estate wK pockets prevail; or clothes ready made on the hedge rtJ sheTers the naked beggar. You might as well say that tea? coffee spices and sugar wil grow on the spot where naturerehire"' The spices and tropical fruits and dye-woods, are arttcles^of necessTu >et they grow far f.om the countries that demand them Com' merce was designed to promote the interchange of suTh produT fJ .vnich we are governed, that man, in common "with the beasts mat perish," or as "flesh that is as grass," must return to its original elements, and mingle with the dust from whence he sprang. Geology is a branch of Natural History that canr:ot fail of be- ing both pleasing and profitable, as it can be carried on without books, in your professional excursions, that you may in truth, lit- erally "run as you read," and hear "sermons in stones," and this will be a perpetual feast, and one that never cloys. From the time the "Earth was with out form, and void," an^ darkness brooded over the face of things, to the period when the first living thing began its existence, to the present rime, how ma- ny ages of unwritten history has gone by? Yet there was a time, long before the advent of man, when monstrous shapes, realizing the wildest fables of Antiquity, such as the imagination can scarce- ly contemplate; when the Ocean and Rivers teemed with huge Leviathans, the Gigantic Saurian lashed into form, the solitary waters of a primeval world. The Lizard Dragon hissed out his -vrath amid the dark forests that now lie buried in the coal fields of an ancient world. Their remains come to the light of day in the strata of everlasting rock, which has for so many ages been their tomb. The stone we quarry from the mountain's side ; the dust we tread beneath our feet; the Islands of the Ocean, yea, and even whole Continents, are the cast off' garments of beings th.it were once in possession of animal life ; genera after genera, and species after species, have lived and died, and been succeeded by others, in one long series of ages, until earth has become one mighty sepulchre of animal remains. Man, standing on the earth. contemplates this mighty wreck, with the light of science beam- ing around him, discovers ever and anon some new family to chal- lenge admiration, or to awaken astonishment. We should never have known the existence of the Mastadon but for the fragments of bone and teeth that are now and then turned up to the light of day, from the bed where be laid himself down and breathed out % his mighty spirit. The study of Geology will make you acquaint- ed with the great and striking changes earth's surface has under- gone, previous to man's coming, who is a being of comparatively recent creation. Geology wilt teach you that there was a period when the mighty Niagara had no existence; that the waves of Lake Michigan and Ontario beat far inland from their present lim- its, and that a river like the present Niagara, flowed off towards the Gulf of Mexico ; that a great portion of this State was once the bed of an ocean, and that a great portion of the earth's sur- face, has at one or another time within the lapse of ages, been covered with the waves of a rolling sea. It is not my intention to touch upon all the branches of Natural Science, which you will do well to acquire; but some of the most prominent and important, and such as each of your individual op portunities will give you time and inclination to cultivate. In a class of Medical Students, we find all the varieties of tem- perament and disposition which exist in the various inhabitants of a community : The ardent and ambitious, the sanguine in fee'ing, -onfident and full of hope, who masters each sub ect with the ra- 10 pidity of intuition ; there are no obstacles which can impede h <• progress; to see is to understand at a glance ; to hear is to corn prehend ; he rushes on with the impetuosity of a torrent ; his i est less spirit brooks no delay ; rneteor like he shoots upward; il j goal 1*9 in sight; his eagle eye looks sunward, undimmed by tl. i glare of light that breaks mound him. Do yo i envy hire h « brilliant career, you who move more carefully along? No, dr pen I upon it, there are many who, like the tortoise in the fable, wi pass him ere he is aware ot* it. It is the slow, the deliberate, th industrious, the systematic, that will finally triumph. Nature, wh , i9 always just, giving'to one while sha withholds from another, litis been so considerate, that in giving to one a lively and ardent im i gination, denies the mora solid and weighty qualities of the min I, as judgement anil discrimination. The brilliant and witty a: i rarely profound, and more rarely are tbey studious. They m v laugh and despise the plodding one who acquires his stores I knowledge by the sw.j,,t of his brain ; but tell me who is oinicet. in his profession ten or twenty years hence'? And there are rea- sons why this i9 so ; good substantial philosophical reasons. Thrt love of company draws away the youthful votary, and books ard science are dull thing-, cornpaied with the convivialities of the ' -.einbly room, or the charms and seductions of the social circle.— A mind of ordinary capacity, cultivated by industrious habits, go. i common sense, with a well balanced intellect, free from till m'or.l obliquity, is that which conducts its pi ssessor most often to em- inence and happiness. There is no branch of the profession you have chosen, abo< * your comprehension ot attainment; nothing but what will be i pleasure to acquire, if you romrnence as you should, and hold out as you are instructed. Study, like a good and healthy appetite, it regularly and rationally indulged, will become a habit which, :i, time, will create a necessity ; like a healthy'appetite, it miM n.»t he abused one day to evens-., nfter a long period of fasting, ? r rhere is sometimes a morbid craving for study, as for food? an I should be carefully guarded. Reading spicy, high seasoned', i i- aginative works of fiction, tinfi-s the mind in youth fo1 the m< it. sober and weighty works of science. By training the mind to the study of scientific subjects, \ra become greatly interested, as tho<0 who live on simple fare, have the appetite and taste so exquisite. Iy cultivated, that simple bread and water become luxuries. It is astonishing how a habit once formed, clothes the most Ci\ and cold scientific treatise, with all the splendor of an Oritt. I romance. A habit of study ako is the surest protection :n»ain««t the vices and follies of youth. This id a fact so self evident Thar, it requires no argumeot to sustain it. Cultivation of the intellect n the strongest barrier that can he thrown around youth and itu-x- pertence. The passions will never gain ascendencv over . .Miti'inoss and safety, while the sai v j> isbiuus, uncontioled atiC unregulated, are as the sweeping tor.-jad >, driving before its fury, Ill's mastless and rudderless vessel, to destruction. A man profoundly learned in the natural sciences, can scarcely be other than a Christian. The hab.ts of patient study, the hou^ m ci!m contemplation, hush the stormy passions to repose, and levL the mind from " Nature up to Nature's God." \ class of Medical Students mutt necessarily present a great dieisity of talent and disposition Each Student stands alone, ;oiided by his own views of propriety. No rigid College rules, and ordinances of discipline, which renders the violation so sweet to the youthful mind, will here be applied to you. You are now supposed to be capable of self govetcojui t. The only law to guide you while here, is such as exists belvreen one gentleman and an> other. The conventional rules of society aline, are such as we expect and desire from you. We look for 'ich conduct, as men who by nature and education are destined for a hicjh and honorable profes- sion. In this I have little fear of being di-appointed. Most of you li ive left friends who feel a docp ;md abiding interest in your future prosperity. Perhaps you have j'rieudn who feel an honora- ble pride in your career of u.sefulues-f—on you they may in time jo ' one lean for support. Some of you, perchance, may have a uidoued mother, with helpless brothers and sisters, who look on you as their protector. Or you may huvu closer ties that bind you to your own hearth-stone, with hoi -< hold gods that claim your ievotic'M Now is the season to lay the foundation for future usefulness. It is therefore most import ant that you begin your course in such a manner that you will remember this winter as a bright era in your career. The yotnhfo! miud is more open to impiessioii>, and remembers its euiy toni, (anions and teachers, more vividly than in after years. What Physician can not look back with pleasure,or pain, to their foil course of Lectures. The individuals of the class are followed in after years—their career not/ved, as one after another of their e uly associates arrive to em- inence, becoming distinguished in one or the other branches of iho Profession—or occupying high situations of trust, iti civil or political life, and with feelings of mournful interest we read, ever and an>n, of the death of ona whose face was once familiar with- in these walls. Yes, and even here. the censure and cnticism of the pub- 14 lie, who never fail of pronouncing a verdict. When we look at the nature of the injuries we are called on toropair; the porieha ble nature of the material we have to deal with ; the complicated and unmanageable difficulties that beset our path : the capricious and unrra-on ible patients that we have under our care, it is not furpiising that failure so commonly attends. A wound will not heal; a bone refuses to unite; a scar will be left after the most careful managemenr, and even our cherished limbs, however skill- f .illy nursed, will sometimes mortify in spite of all our application*. The mechanic who repairs our watch or our carriage, is not ex pected to make it better than it was originally, but the poor Sur- geon, if he does nor mend a broken bone, and restore it to more than its former beauty and perfection, will be asked an equivalent from his pocket to pay for his patient's misfortune. And then it cost-; nearly as great exertion to maintain and support a high sur- gical reputation as it does to earn one. The envy and detraction which awaits the eminence you so ardently covet, is to a sensitive mind, a source of much annoyance. " Ho who ascend-) to mountain tops shall find, The lorticM peaks most clothed in clouds and snow: II who surpasses or subdues mankind, Must look down on the hate of those below." I think, (Jentlemen, that I have presented you with some of the i'.vila that attend the steps of the young Surgeon. It has its attrac- tions too, and one possessing the proper qualifications, may reap a nch harvest, as a reward f.„ zeal and exettions. Its results are more palpable and demonstrative than medicine, in many instan- ces. A man opens a large blood vessel; the purple tide of life is fast ebbing away-the Surgeon takes a delicate instrument and a bit of thread, and lo, as by enchantment, the blood ceases, the nan is saved ^ ou can lay your hand on your heart and say. J have saved a human life, it was done quietly, without pain, will,- out ostontatinn Where can you say as much from the exhibition, of medicine? Great improvements have been made within a few years, m every department of our art; but in Surgery we have advanced with gtant strides. Every year adds 6om°e fresh laurel to the brow of some worthy son of ^sculapius. Every year some .tattling invention breaks upon us like a dazzling light To aoanTeaTr lb" * "? S°l h^n deformit>' > »5 ff-morrtw a panacea for the pain of an operation. One may now sit down o the loss of a breast or a limb, and have a pleasant dream wnTle he operation is being performed. The fabled waters of Lethe oTlmeHca '^ m ^ Bineteenlh CGntU^ »d "n ** Continent What shall we have next? We have mnan*raA a e w l iii. ... nave Lonqusreu derormitv— Uehave subdued pain —We have conouerpH a ^ia„ y, benefactors of the earth. conquered a place among the In the race for professional renown, our own countrymen stand out preeminent in the eye of the world Wo u ymen scan(1 proud of the achievements in surgery by nTnh ,ru T°V° 1 educated on this side of the Atlantic *£„ X 'eSed *„. prufe«,ont.nd .n.do.ng it honor have gained imperishlbfe renoln 15 To a Physick we are indebted for some of the most important and interesting discoveries within the last third of a century.— Horn and educated in this country, he went to Europe to perfect himself in his profession, at a time when the facilities for study here were comparatively meagre. In London he had the good for- tune to enjoy the instruction of the celebrated John Hunter — I nder the tuition of this great Surgeon and Physiologist, he laid up stores of knowledge, which in after years he so richly dispensed to the youth of this his native couutiy. It was my good fortune to sit for a short season, under the eloquent outpourings of thi3 great man ; his whole soul seemed given to the va^t interests, wrapped up in his wish to alleviate human misery ; he worshiped at this altar with all the ardor of an Eastern devotee. He seemed always impressed with the solemnity of the high ;;nd holy mission. " No mirth or jollity, or playful sarcasm, ever escaped his lips ; he stood like a statue of Pentelican Marble. while woids of choice wisdom poured forth from his lip3." No smile ever lit up a face, that was cold, stern, and passionless as a piece of statuary ; his dark eye, alone, gave token of the slumber- in c fire that burned beneath his cold and icy brow; and when some tardy laggard entered the Amphitheatre at a late hour, tho Ibdit of that eye which you could " neither bear nor forbear," was truly withering. But the excitements of a life wholly devoted to the exercise of a laborious profession, prematurely shattered a constitution of ori- ginal delicacy, and the Father of American Surgery, went down to the grave with a fame which few have won. Since his time, Surgery has held that rank which its great and growing importance demands, until now, it has a>sumed almost a demonstrative character. We have a Warren, who has done much to elevate and improve the science; especially, his great work on Tumors. We have a Mott; whose reputation has pen- etrated the remote corners of the earth, A Gibson, who is a wor- thy successor of Physick ; a Stevens ; a Parker : a Smith ; i March; a Mutter; a Pancoast; a Barton; a Randolph; a Norris; a McNauuiiton; a Post; a Rodgers ; a Hoffman ; a Cheese- man, and a host of others whose names, would fill whole pages, and whose inventions and improvements would require volumes. The Student, at this day, is required to believe only such doc- trines as are susceptible of demonstration. No fine spun specula- tive theory will be taught or forced on your belief. Facts, sup- ported by"facts, and truths, sustained by truths, are now taught in all our Medical Colleges. Not that every physiological and patho- logical principle is clearlv understood; but such as are doubtful, are so taught, and you wi'l not be required to believe hypothetical doctrines. „ \ field of unexplored science lies before you. Enter upon it and make new discoveries. The Nervous System, where the Physiologist and Pathologist have discovered so much that is new *nd interesting, within a few years, is a field where tuUire discov- -rers have much to hope for. The manner in which mind is uni- ted to matter, i-mains yet to be discovered. 1 he d-aeased mant- 1G festations of mind, or the diseased tissues througii which it is di- played, for we Ifdieve that the human mind is always bright and perfect, the diseased medium gives its apparent imperfections.— We place a bright light in a clem and transparent glass, and it -heds its clear and dazzling i a\s upon every object. We place it [?> a colored medium aud we find it tinges eveiy thing with its al> tered color, or we suiround it with darkness and its light is gone ; '•till it blazes clear as ever. The poor benighted idiot has still the same divine spark within, but it is surrounded and bedimmed with a dark, impenetrable, night. The various multitude of insane, have the soul shining out in a great variety of fantastic forms and hues, now flashing with the nio.st intense and brilliant light, now dickering and wavering as if agitated by the wind, or going out in .lloom and darkness. Here there is a field where new discoveries are to be sought. Some future Philosopher may yet arise to sys- tematize and arrange these apparent mystoiies, and clear away the mist that has hung like an impenetiable veil between the boun- daries of mind and matter. What a curious and wonderful organ is the brain! A tissue of waiter, whose appearance gives little import of its bigh arid lofty uses. Take, for example, the brain of Napoleon Bonapaite—look on that few ounces ef soft pulpy matter, enclosed in its bony case, -unounded by membranes and pierced by nerves and blood ves- sel*. That was the field whereon were marshalled the five hundred thousand troops, scattered over a great extent of country, yet so disciplined as to concentrate within an hour of each other on some field of strife. Each man had a place on that wonderful brain.— The five hundred battles were fought there. The thirty millions of the French nation had a place; the snowy Alps ; the Sacred Mountains of Palestine; Egypt; the Pyramids ; the Nile; the f,ybian Desert; the mighty Oriental Empire ; all these, with vast plans for national glory, found a place ; and yet there was room for his beloved Empress and darling boy, The nervous system has much unexplored ground, that a waits some future discoverer. Here. too. the structure gives little evidence >f its astonishing and varied functions: a few small white cords, emerging from the brain and spinal marrow, acted on by distant objects, gives all the exquisite beauties of nature, in all her gor- geous coloring. Or the vibrations of the atmosphere all the harmonious 6oundsof the Universe. The study of the organs, concerned in the manifestation of Mind, is one of vast and absorbing interest. Within a few years past, the physiology of the brain and nerves has been investigated with great zeal and ability. The researches of Gall, Spurzheim, Combe, and many others, have given an impulse to this de- partment, that has cleared up many unexplained phenomena in physiological and metaphysical science. We do not pretend to endorse every thing that is claimed by these men; yet there are facts enough elicited in their investigations, to render their labors exceedingly valuable. It will not appear strange that great error may have been mixed up and blended with truth; especially, where i r:e subject is surrounded with great obscurity. The ardent -U^-J. 47 sanguine, in their search for fasts to sustain a favorite theory, may have seized hold of some plausible appearances, and bap- tized them into their creed. It should be your aim in all these vexed questions, to steer clear, on the one hand, of an overween- ing credulity, ot an obstinate scepticism. You must remember that absolute demonstration is not to be expected in matters ap- pertaing to the science of mind. Your evidence must be inferen- tial in many instances; and let me tell you, it is exceedingly un reasonable to doubt all that does not appear plausible. The hu- man mind, after all, is one of the most incomprehensible and mys- terious things in nature. Can any one explain its most simple act? Can you tell me how I raise my hand and place it on my breast? What connection has my will with the muscles of my arm ( What sympathy has my eye with that distant grove, that lies like an island on the prairie? Or can you explain how. by an effort ot the mind, we are transported to our distant firesides, see the fa- miliar faces of our relatives and friends, as we left them a few weeks since; or how, with the velocity of thought, send our fancy to distant lands, skimming the boundless seas, scaling lofty moun- tains, sinking into sunless abysses, traversing the whole earth, and even up to the highest heaven, at the very foot of the throne of the Eternal. What a mystetious thing is the human mind? the tenant of a home so perishable as the human body. A structure of bone and muscle, of membranes, nerves and blood vessels, liable to a thou- sand accidents, more perishable than idols made ot wood and stone, yet the tenement of immortality. Our business the ensuing winter will be ir. endeavoring to ren- der this structure a place of comfort and security. Where shall we commence our labors? How so likely to succeed as to make ourselves thorough masters of this curious habitation, to keep it from decay, to prevent the worm and the insect from committing ravages, protecting it from the storms that sweep over the plains, and The mouldering damps that collect beneath its foundations, to o-uard against the devouring fire from within, and the scathing lightnings from without, the rude attack of hostile foes, or the secret ambush of hidden enemies." Like skillful engineers, our energies should be directed in warding off the attacks of the sap- pers and miners of life. Then, after having perfected yourselves in every branch of our art, you will go forth into the world on your errand of mercy. And now, gentlemen, allow me to say a few words to you as practitioners of medicine and surgery. On setting ou: in the world as candidates for its honors, its riches, and its distinctions, a few simple precepts, if followed, will amply repay you for your trouble in acquiring. Your first object is to secure patronage. How are you to do this most successfully, most honorably? You have your diploma. with its large seal, and blue ribbon, as a passport to the paironagc- of society. Will it be necessary for you to read this :n bar- rooms, to a gaping crowd, who, because they do not uuderstani: a word of it, will invest with tenfold consequence? Or will > ... 18 .■■tcrtain in the same pbce and on all occasion*, the rabble. with stories of your exploits with the scalpel aim bistoury, tw astonishing cures, with heroic or Ferret remedies, that you alone are master of? Or a fool hardy boa-t of your disregard for hu- man life and human suffering—making derision of human weak- ness and infirmity, as coming under your professional eye? Or lounging in stores or places of public resort, idling away valuable time "in trifling conversation'' No—I trust you have been too well bred, and thoroughly educated, to demean yourselves in this man- ner. The first is the selection of a place to commence the practice of your profession. Next obtain an office in which you will make your books your companions, devoting such lime os you can ppare in reviewing your studies, or reading one or more journals of the day. In the selection of a journal, I would advise that you lake a weekly and monthly, and also a bi-monthly, or quarterly.— The weekly, coming often, will be sure to be read; while the others contain such elaborate articles as can rarely be admitted into a smaller work. If you do not take some of the periodicals of the day, and spend a portion of time in reading them, you will find, in a few years, that you have been taking a Rip Van Winkle plumber, that will make that which is familiar toothers, strange to. you. The first year or so, you will probably have as much leis- ure as heart can wish. But do not despair at this seeming neglect of your claims on the public. If too much hurried and perplexed it: business, you will be liable to mistakes; and society, knowing this, considerately deny you more than is for your good. Better, therefore, that you have too little than too much. A slower growth is more desirable; for, like Jonah's gourd, that which is the growth of a night, will perish before the day is gone. If you go to a place where all are strangers, a few letters of introduc- tion may be advisable, but in delivering them, be exceedingly careful not to offend those to whom you are introduced by offi- cious visits; especially, if the family happen to be sick, let them seek you out and tender you their hospitalities, and be very tardy in accepting them. Observe the most scrupulous delicacy in your enquiries into the health of their families, especially, should the family physician be in attendance, and do not seem to expect, that because you was introduced to them as a gentleman, you have at the same time a claim on their confidence and purse. The first business you will have will probably be frorn the poor. There in a true reason why this is so, and it is well for you to know it.— The patience of the older physicians has in some instances been exhausted by a long attendance on families whose exchequer is as light as their gratitude, and consequently, the doctor, who has been rather inattentive for some time ere this, is dropped, and the new one employed. Perhaps the former physician may hava politely requested them to do sqme little labor for him, or respect- fully hinted at some trifling remuneration for his professional ser- vices. Be this as it may, you are installed the poor man's family physician, and he receives as many visits when sick, as his aristo- 'r3tic neighbor across the way. And why should he not? "Who 19 has made us to differ?" Are not his pains as acute, his nerves as. sensitive? Is not his poor wife crushed with poverty and hard labor, as greatly to be pitied as her sister, who is sui rounded with luxuries and comforts? Is not that child, who lies panting with croup, or livid with scarlatina, on its squallid bed of rags, as.mncb an object of sympathy and solicitude as the rich man's child in yonder comfortable mansion? These poor people will be your first patients, and their gratitude and thanks your first fee. Es- teem not these lightly, either, for it is giving you experience, it is giving you reputation. You have restored some poor wretch to health and happiness; you have given him back his wife, fir his child, and in the fullness of his heart and gratitude, he blesses you, and tells his sick neighbor of your priceless cure.— That poor servant girl you have attended so faithfully when all others forsook her, now goes to that wealthy mansion, rich in her grateful heart and buoyant health. She tells casually the story of her woes to her mistress, who falls sick with what her imagination fancies is the same disease. And now it is that your benevolence, like "bread cast upon the waters, is found after ma- ny days." In this manner you will go on, until, finally, you will secure a large circle of practice, and earn an enviable position.— Remember this maxim and practice upon it. Get, first, a good reputation, and riches and honors will soon follow. When you select a place of residence, courtesy requires that you call on all the respectable physicians in the place. They will give you much valuable information, and feel better towards you; besides, it is due them, as a mark of respect. Notwithstanding you may have treated your brethren of the profession with the most studied politeness and liberality, I am Borry to say, you will meet with many who will treat you ill in return. But your course is clear, let such ones fighi their hattles alone, and slander and villify you in all directions, yet you will live to thank them for many a fee; and they will serve to advertise you in all directions, without your being obliged to pay the printer. I have never known an instance where a worthy young gentleman was attacked by one of these belligerent donors, but what it made bis fortune. There is something so illiberal, and palpably gross, and wrong, in such a course, that every body is disgusted, and shun the man who does it. Be deferential to the senior physicians in the town where you reside, and if you have your choice in cases where consultations are required, choose those who have age and expe- rience. In consultations and the etiquette to he observed 1 MiaU not dwell. The code of medical ethics adopted by the N. i ork State Medical Society, and. I believe, by most medical organiza- tions, are of universal application, and you will adopt them as your standard. . :r In the course of your practice, scenes of woe and misery wib cross your path, and you must fortify your mind to meet them with becoming firmness. You will be entrusted with the heal h, and even the life of a beloved woman. The young husband pla- ces in your hands that which he prizes above earthly treuurer- The hour so long hoped for, yet with trembling anxiety looked forward to with dread, has at length come. You are summoned to the bed side of woman in her hour of trouble. You are t prove to her at this hour of need, a guardian of skill to sive, or by your ignorance to destroy ;to bring joy and tranquillity ti this anxious family, or plunge it into an abyss of gloom and s't row. Here you will see a daughter, in whom a father and mother have crarnered up their affections; she is their idol, and they worship her as a saint, or an angel of purity. And well may they, for she is beautiful in her hectic flush, which livals the carnation in hue, that dark eye growing brighter and deeper, as her earthly portion wastes away to naught but mere spiritually. What does this great change mean? She has never complained, her spirits are buoyant, she dreams of naught but life and happiness. The anxious parents consult their physician. Alas! his sagacity but too plainly discovers the canker worm at work at the vitals; slow, certain, and fatal; anil you will be compelled to witness the agonv of suspense, the alternations of hope and despair, on the anxious parents, as their darling child glides onward to the grave.— Perhaps, in your desire to rescue your lovely patient, you order a visit to a sonthern clime. The sunny skies of Italy, or the orange groves of Florida, are tried. All that wealth, and skill. and kindness, and love, can do—all that the prayers of distracted relatives and friends can do, will not stop the destroyer, and as the fatal day draws nigh, gleams of hope flash up amid the sur rounding gloom, ever and anon, to tantalize the hopes that are born but to perish. She sinks into the grave far from her nativ< home, in a land of strangers; but to the last, her hopes were brigh: and her pathway strewn with flowers. Look on that mother with hectic cheek and eye of unearthly brightness —she is watching the gambols of that young child, scarce able to walk; her lip quiv- ers, her bosom heaves; tears course each other over her burning cheeks. Why this emotion? Why that look of mingled sorrow and affection? The history of that woman is one of woe and suf- fering. That child "is the child of love, though born in bitterness." In her days of innocent girlhood, she gave a woman's confiding love to a villain, who swore before high Heaven to love, honor. and protect—but in one short year she is forsaken, and cast on a world's cold charities. In the drunkard's bowl he has smothered the last spark of affection, and forsook his love and his offspring. fn the course of your life, you will witness scenes of mental a* weli as physical suffering, that will defy the potency of your ut- most skill, "for who can minister to a mind diseased!" In almost every state in this republic, noble asylums have been erected, which have done much to mitigate the sufferings of these unfortu- nates still, all cannot be provided for, and the early stages of madness generally fall under the eye of the physician in private practice. From the slightest eccentricity of conduct to the furiou- onset of raging maida; a thousand shades will present themselves, requiring the keenest sagacity in many instances, to detect. The- '.rst paroxysm may be ushered in by a deed of horr u that wi! se'.d a thrill through community. An exemplary and dutifui >1 daughter may butcher her father and mother as coolly as if do:n<- an ordinlary act. A mother that has watched her babe with the affection and care that a mother only knows, takes the fatal Knife and deliberately outs the throat of her offspring, while sleeping the sleep of innocence. A tender husband may, in a moment ot phrenzy, make his children motherless, and stain his soul with the murder of her whom a few short hours before, he would have 'chid the winds of heaven for visiting too roughly." You will witness the strangest absurdities and inconsistencies. A son mur- ders a father, from excess of affection, that he may escape a pov erty that exists only in fancy. A mother kills her babes that thpy .may go to Heaven with her. One hurries his soul before his Maker with his own hand, that he may escape some imaginary evil, and encounters dread reality from a fear that exists only in a distempered brain. Men have lost their senses from some good piece of fortune, and some real affliction has chased from the im- agination a phantom that prosperity and affluence have nour- ished. A strong herculeaia intellect has sunk down to a driveling idiot, while a dull one, by the stimulus of insanity, has been quick- ened and regenerated. The blockhead has become a wit, and and the wit a dunce. The exemplary and pious have been trans- lot med into blaspheming demons, and the profane have assumed the garb and livery of Christianity. The weak and timid become brave as lions, while the strong of heart shrink irorn the most trifling appearance of imaginary danger. In your intercourse you will witness many death bed scenes and 1 advise you all, as Christians and philosophers, to draw a moral from each example. You will see youth and beauty sur- lounded.by sorrowing friends, offering up prayers, and tears, and lamentations, while the object of their solicitude is waiting calmly and tranquilly, and with a smile of joy, the hour of dissolution; or we shall see age, and misery, and poverty, clinging, with'iron grasp, to a life that has been one long seriesof trial and affliction. The triumphant death of the Christian, filled with the joys of immortality, or the sullen departure of the sceptic, who quakes with unmanly fears, or submits in sullen desperation. The miser. who has lived a life of want and misery, that his gold may rise up and taunt him with its worthless power to save in his final hour, and as he closes his eyes on his glittering treasure, he clutch- es it to his heart, as if to bear it along on his unknown journey. The spendthrift and proflgate voluptuary, whose appetites and passions have long been extinguished on the altar of his lusts, now lies down with the vulture of conscience gnawing at his vitals. What an offering does he bring to the Author of his existence-^ the cold and worthless ashes of a misspent life. The child of sin and sorrow, she who was once the beloved of an admiring circle of relatives and friends—a serpent has whispered soft and treacherous words in her ear. She left her home of luxury and affection; that grey haired sire who nightly invoked blessings on her innocent head, that mother, who looked with pride on the budding loveliness of her second self. She left a'l these, friends. station, a home, to be cast forth upon the world a thing of » scorn and contempt, to die, perhaps, in a public charily, unpit- ed, unhonored, and alone. >»ome i.f you gentlemen may be called to follow the armies f your country to the field of battle, and there, amid the shock 't charging t-quadrons, or through an iron tempest of shot and Khel!, bear the wounded soldit-r to a place of safety, to bind up his wound?, and restore him to health and a nation's gratitude. L\en now, the booming of cannon reverberates among the peaks *f the lofty Cordilleras, and the clang of steel ilses up from the plains of Mexico, while the smoke of battle hangs on the sides, und curls around the summits of her mountains, as if a new volcano had broken forth, and the glorious stars and stripes wave from the lofty battlements of the "Halls of the MontcZumas." While man n striving against man in mortal combat, your brethren, like angels f &alv;«tjor, are moving amid the caniBgo of the battle field, snatching many a brave soldier from his impending fate, mitiga- ting the horrors of war, by a skill and assiduity that will return many a war worn vettrau to health and a home in a land of lib- el ly. Uutit is not in the treatment of wounds alone that the military surgeon displays the greatest heroism. To face the deadly vornito on the .scorching sand.-, of the Terra Caliente, or the pestilential ntmosbheie of Vera Cruz, requires an amount of moral courage •!.:it challenges admiration. Vet there your brethren are firm at 'heir posts witn the deadly pestilence raging around them, the long, fatiguing march, the battle, the cold bivouac on the moun- tain's top, the tempests of wind and rain, the hunger and thirst and care and anxiety, are the lot of the soldier surgeon as he fol- lows our armies to the field of glory. The instances of medical heroism on record, are unsurpassed in point of moral courage by any thing we read of. The courageous devotion and self sac'n'i- cing zeal which has characterized our profession in all ages of the world is scarcely exceeded by the martyrs of an holier faith — I he black Death of the fourteenth century, th« terrible plague cd London in the year lGGii, the yellow fever of Philadelphia in l/»o and the epidemic cholera which swept over the whole world in our own day, called forth examples of moral courage in so many noble instances, that the heartswells with honest pride in the contemplation. ' But time would fail me in enumerating the varied scenes, cir- ei.mstances, and situations under which you will labor. Mental as also physical suffering, will often be your lot as you hurry from one place to another. J Your constitution will undergo a severe ordeal, from exposure to all te "skyey influences." the drenching rain and driv^now storm the pestilence that walketh in darkness and stiikelh at noonday, the sleepless nights and days of ceaseless car r quire a cotstilution of iron and a heart of Heel But we do not always encounter woe and sorrow, even in our proess.onalavocaaons Our paths often lead us amid scenes if enchan ,ng beauty; landscapes of surpassing loveliness and grand ,Ur,*,lliren,enilyr„eu,, to o,r view, or we wander be8idB 2cd> ciystal streams, and through vales, where Hygeia's self mi^cC rear her altar. From the close and noisome atmosphere of the hospital, or sick room, we go forth to inhale the pure and bracing air, and enjoy the glorious sun shine of Heaven. The good cheer that awaits and the hearty welcome that attends the step of the physician, goes far to soften the rigors of a chilly atmosphere, or the comforts of our own firesides, where " 'tis sweet to know there i.s an eye will mark our coming, and look brighter when we oorre," There is one glaring fault, I am sorry to confess, lies at the door of our profession, and the younger members are more ob- noxious to the charge than others. It is the boasting manner of speaking of the great cures they have performed, and an exemp- tion from losing patients by their peculiar treatment. Whoever practices medicine a certain length of time, must certainly meet with losses, and although it may grieve his heart, he must submit with becoming fortitude, to what he cannot control. There are some diseases, from their very nature, that a fatal issue must be the result. Of such are some of the cases of scarlatina. From the onset, the patient is a doomed victim; no known remedy is of any avail. Even while walking about, or calmly eating a meal, the livid and purple skin shows that decomposition has already com menced in the fluids of the body, and the dissolving chemistry of death is usurping and taking the place of the vital functions.— You cannot cure a case of this description, and it argues no wa'U of skill that your patient dies. Many diseases have passed the curative point when you are first consulted. Some vital organ is irrevocably destroyed, and you may as well raise a second Lazarus, or animate a marble statue, as to be successful.— The early stages must be seen, the first approaches are carefully to be watched, and promptly subdued ; the outposts once carried, the fortress soon falls, an easy victim. In your prognosis, be exceedingly guarded and circumspect, until by experience and success, you have learned the true value of it. That Physician tnu.,t have more than human sagacity, who was never at fault in his prognosis. There are, no doubt, a great many Phvsicians, who hav • observed nature with so accurate an eye, and studied her ways with such unerring certainty, as to be rarely mis- taken. But these'are veterans in the tanks, and their superior powers are the work of years of observation. V.r careful not to interfere with ihe vis mc.H.atrix nalura, for it is to this friendly and conservative principle, ttaut you have to look far all your success. Encourage, foster, and aid when aid is wanting; but never r> j) ct support when you too roughly and violently outrage this all-pow- cu':il principle. Death, alter all. in a great proportion of instances, is the submission to an imperative and stern law of nature, that is beyond I he control of science. As fruit that i.~ fully ripe, "and as a shock of corn ready for the haivcst," so " man that is burn of woman" mast go down to the tomb, the "house appointed for all living." When we look abroad over the face of nature, we discover manv things that are calculated to fill us with admiration and astonishment, at the wis-inm of the Great Author of the Universe. We discover a tree loaded with fair and lovely fruit; but every now and then one falls to the pround. prematurely ripef, or with the worm and insect at the core.— We cast our eves over a forest scene; the giant trees rear their head-* %( rcrdure one above another,, strong to do battle with the storm and. ■2-1 the hurricane—a tempest drives and sweeps with fury ottr Hie plain — the tall oak is uprooted—limbs are torn and scattered far and wide—; >cene of desolation usurps the plate of beauty. Still many an huinblfe shrub and plant .aie left beneath the fallen trunk of the lofty tree— Again we take a survey of a beautiful grove, we may remark that all dre uot perfect; a knotty and gnarled branch on one; a spot of decay on another; the leaves of one are beginning to wither. We enter a garden u( flower: they bloom around us, loading the air with their delightful perfume: some are just expanding to the light; others are dropping rheir petals. The insect is pi eying upon one ; the worm at the root ol another. The work of death is here. No place you will find exempt fiom the withering breath of the destroyer. The lofty pine is splinter- ed by ihe thunderbolt of Heaven, while the modest violet at its root is trampled to death by the foot of some prowling enemy. Under the same roof where an infant is born, theiold and worn out are at thd same time dying. A gay bridal party (ollow close on the heels of a funeral procession. "And the tones of the lute and the viol have scarce died away, before the requiem for the dead comes swelling afier." The last expiiing groan of a dying mother, is followed by the first feeble cry of a new born infant. Death can only be parried off a (ew years at most, and is as natural an event as the birth and growth of a being. But if we cannot avert the last great enemy, we can do much to miti- gate its sting, and rob it of its terrors. A skillful selection of all the resources our art furnishes, is the business of your lives; by their uses you may restore the glow of health to many a pallid cheek, give the tire and sparkle of pleasure td'rnany a dim and tearful eye.— The wasted and withered form clotho in the garniture of glowing beau.- i\; the lame and crippled wretch the sprightly elasticity of youth. The gloomy and wretched hypochondriac, peace of mind and the sunshine of happiness; the gibbering maniac "clothe in his right mind;" hope to the desponding soul, and the balm of consolation to the wounded spirit. The revelations and secrets which belong to the profession should be guarded with the strictest fidelity. There is not a more prominent lault. or one deserving severer reprobation, than a violation of the sa- cred confidence in our professional honor. 80 sacred has this been deemed, that like the secrets of the confessional, courts cf law have no power to compel us to divulge. This is proper, for the physician may become the depository of .vhat may blast the good name, and de- stroy the peace and happiness of whole families. You may admonish the wicked and the profligate, and it is your bounden duty to do so; but never, as you value your good name, wantonly expose a professional secret, or scoff and make lidicule of human weaknesses and infirmities. Be ever the well bred gentleman, as from your position and education! society has a right to consider you. No coarse vulgarity of manner, or reckless disregard of the wholesome rules and regulations of life, should you ever be guilty of. In questioning your female patients, ob- sei ve the most rigid propriety of language and manner, and the most scru- lous delicacy in your enquiries into the nature of their complaints; make no immodest allusions, for there is a language aud manner that can never offend the ear or raise a blush on the cheek of modesty. And finally, gentlemen. I advise you all to be good practical Chris- tians. The education you have received, the studies you have pursued all have a tendency to fit and prepare you for a belief in the sublime doctrines of Christianity. The s«enes of wretchedness and woe you have so many times had under your observation, all point you to a home of immortality beyond the skies, and that this life, brief and fleeting h a meteor, is but a prelude and a preparation for a brighter and a happier