Charles Hastings

“ What, then, can hinder us from devoting ourselves to the rational, the scientific investigations which it is the object of our Association to institute? Shall we say that we have no leisure for these pursuits? that the practice of our profession and the cares of life, too much engross our attention for us to engage in so useful an exercise as this which I am proposing to you? ”

“ In reflecting on the state of medical science, and on the aid which it has derived from the opportunities of observation afforded by congregating the sick in hospitals, it has often struck us with surprise, that so little should be known of the many interesting cases that must have occurred in provincial hospitals. If, from the establishment of these institutions, faithful records of the valuable cases that have occurred in them had been handed down to us, our present limited knowledge of morbid anatomy, the only correct elucidator of disease, would have been greatly extended. ”

“ I hope, therefore, as a society, we shall never allow any opportunity to escape us of cultivating friendly intercourse, and of exalting, as far as we have the power, those favoured sons of science who have, by their life and conversation, shed a lustre around them, and whose example, reputation, and acquirement's, are calculated not only to stimulate their brethren to exertion, but also to raise admiration of our art in the public mind. ”

“ The benefits which arise from the association of men, for the advancement of general science, have been long felt and acknowledged. Witness, more especially, the recent establishment of the “ British Association for the advancement of Science, ” in which are enrolled the names of scientific men from all parts of Great Britain; a vast proportion of whom assembled together at their late meeting at Oxford. We may, therefore, infer, that the desire for such a combination of forces in the Medical Profession, though dormant, has existed. ”

“ The facilities of communication, too, between distant towns, both personally and by letter, are so much greater than formerly, that the very distance at which many of the members may reside from each other, will oppose but a slight barrier to our undertaking. Every thing now conspires to make the present a fit time to begin our great experiment. Let us look, alone, to the numerous charitable, medical institutions which, to the honour of the provinces, flourish so vigorously in every direction. ”

“ I feel satisfied that no one who can entertain so libellous a doubt, will venture to be present this day; but if there be any one who hesitates as to the probability of the provinces containing able writers, willing to devote themselves to the cause of our science, for the pure love of truth, and for that only, I would beg to call his attention to the publication of the Midland Medical and Surgical Reporter, which commenced in the year 1828, and of which, sixteen numbers have been published. ”

“ The means which they would afford, to increase our knowledge of the medical art, if they really were sanctuaries of science, as well as of sorrow, are incalculable! Again, I am far from thinking lightly of the influence which provincial medical men have in society; but I also believe that, as a body, provincial medical practitioners do not hold the rank in the community to which they may attain, and to which it will at all times be the effect of our association to stimulate them to aspire. ”

“ This retrospective view of medicine alone, will, I think, stamp a considerable value upon our proceedings, because nothing can be more proper than that, at stated periods, reports should be made of the advancement of a progressive science, and nothing can be more likely to stimulate to renewed exertions those who have been toiling hard in the field of knowledge, than to look back and discover, that a harvest, more or less abundant, has been reaped as the fruit of their exertions. ”

“ In a densely populated and manufacturing country, where the elements for this sort of inquiry must abound almost more than in any other, it is somewhat marvellous that this should be the case, and particularly since the importance of the information to be obtained, has been often stated to the public. For it is but justice to the medical periodical press of this country to state, that its conductors have repeatedly endeavoured, but hitherto with not much success, to awaken the profession to the necessity of cultivating this branch of knowledge. ”

“ Opinions differ widely as to the evils and remedies, but few are found to commend the existing state of things. This subject is closely connected with the advancement of science, for, if the profession were constituted as it ought to be, and as reason and sound principles dictate, the harmony that would be thus established among the several departments, could not fail to prove a direct means of their co-operating more cordially and efficiently in extending the science and improving the practice. ”

“ When I see assembled around me some of the brightest ornaments of our profession; and when I call to mind the fact that, in addition to those now present, our association already numbers amongst its future members, a large proportion of provincial physicians and surgeons, who are, and have been, zealous and successful cultivators of our science; whose wishes, moreover, for the success of the association, are ardent and strong ”

“ But there may be those who, though they allow the scheme of an association, for the advancement of medical science in the provinces, to be excellent in itself, do not admit that it can ever be made practically available to the furtherance of science, owing to the dearth of willing labourers to cultivate the new ground, which we are about to lay open. ”

“ Your presence here this day, stamps with your approval the general principle which is involved in our society, and shews that at any rate, the founders of this institution did not make a wrong estimate of the desire, which exists amongst provincial medical practitioners, to advance medical science, and to promote among themselves that harmony and social feeling, which ought ever to characterise a liberal profession. ”

“ The advancement of medico-legal science, to which it is proposed that the labours of the Association shall be directed, is of the highest importance. The superiority of our continental brethren over British medical men, in their knowledge of forensic medicine, has been long painfully felt by those who are emulous of their country's fame. ”

“ Medical Ethics, also, will claim some attention from an Association like ours. It is strange that, with the exception of a few meagre essays, no attempt has been made to establish a code for the guidance of those who need such direction. In a well organized profession, there could be no difficulty in adapting to its exigencies the doctrines of general Ethics, the principles of which exist in every well governed mind, and are identical in all circumstances, however variously they may be applied. ”

“ It is, likewise, admitted, on all hands, that the organization of the profession which obtains is not what it ought to be; for the whole system of medical polity in this country, is both defective and erroneous. ”

“ That great and numerous obstacles," to use the language of a learned author, in an excellent article in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, " exist, to a general medical topography of this or any other country, we are most ready to admit; but, we have little hesitation in saying, hat the greatest of all is to be found in the apathy of the resident medical men;, from whose cordial co-operation alone any thing of the kind can be expected. Any voluminous work, whether systematic or empirical, must, unavoidably, contain much useless, and some erroneous, matter. ”

“ But theory has not yet developed the principles on which it is founded, so as to render them clear to those who are entering on the practice of their art, or who have not had opportunity for forming their own experience. There is reason to believe that the vascular and nervous derangements continually co-exist, and are intermixed in every conceivable proportion; and if, in the treatment, either be overlooked, the success will be less speedy and less complete. ”

“ The actions of the heart have become the subject of much minute observation, ingenious speculation, and keen controversy. However the inquiry may terminate, the science of physic cannot fail to profit by the labour and intellect so meritoriously devoted to the research. ”

“ They were moved to this consideration by contemplating the necessity that, in the yet imperfect state of our science, exists for the further collection of facts, which, in order to be abundant, must be derived from a wide field, and from numerous contributors. But the duties and the cares of life prevent many from paying their mite into the general treasury, except where arrangements are made for exciting industry, and facilitating communication. Association ministers to these ends more effectually than any other means hitherto devised ”

“ The combinations of nervous and vascular derangements, too, their mutual influence on each other, and the modifications of treatment required, according as either obtains the ascendancy, furnish matter for observation and inquiry of the highest moment. In the present state of our knowledge, there is too much tendency to view these states as radically distinct from each other, if not directly opposed; to infer that if one prevail the other cannot co-exist ”

“ Many, whose avocations and cares will not permit them to engage in the more regular and laborious task of a treatise, may render much service by this more convenient, and not less effective way, of communicating valuable information to their brethren. ”

“ Mercury, for instance, which, when administered according to its more immediate and physiological operation, is capable of extended and accurate use, of which they who judge only from its more remote and curative effects, have but a very imperfect notion. ”

“ Diseases of inflammatory action require depletory treatment and anti-phlogistic regimen. Nervous excitement, when not dependent on increased vascular action, is, oftentimes, best allayed by stimulants and narcotics. ”

“ It is manifest that, if the valuable results of hospital and dispensary practice, throughout the kingdom at large, could be brought before the public in an authentic shape, the measure would be attended with the greatest possible advantages. ”

“ The learned author has brought to the subject much zeal and industry, and the result of his researches is a work replete with valuable information upon the duration of human life in every quarter of the globe, and even in all the cities of any considerable size. Nor must it be forgotten that the profession owes much obligation to Dr. ”

“ It has fallen to the lot of the humble individual who is now addressing you, to communicate, either personally or by letter, with a very large proportion of physicians, surgeons, and general practitioners, resident in different provincial towns ”

“ From these empirical sources, we have reason to suppose that the loss of human life varies in different proportions, from 1 in 36, the average rate for Middlesex, down to 1 in 73, the calculation for Cardigan ”