Address introductory to the fifth course of lectures in the Atlanta Medical College / by Joseph P. Logan.

  • Logan, Joseph P. (Joseph Payne), 1820-1891.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address introductory to the fifth course of lectures in the Atlanta Medical College / by Joseph P. Logan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    14/34
    bly illustrated by the fact, that all the more prominent 'Medical Reformers of the present day, are persons of low morality. This is a portraiture drawn by those* who are in the very midst of these corrupting innovations of the day, the clear tendencies of which are to sap the foundations of our social structure; and the fountains from which these streams of moral poison constantly issue, are the presses of that infa- mous abolition sheet, the New York Tribune, and that of Fowler & Co., New York, whose bare names upon any pub- lication should seal it to every lover of truth and right. But, Gentlemen, in a physiological point of view, these follies seem to be required by a particular class of minds, and may thus be regarded as one of the necessities of the world, and it is therefore a matter of but slight consequence with us whether this or that form of medical folly be in the as- cendant at a particular period. Be not then discouraged, for you may rest assured that the mass of the world are ever disposed to the side of truth, and that the remaining frac- tion, more or less, consists partly of minds so constituted that they require the marvellous as a portion of their neces- sary food, and partly of unfortunate beings suffering the inevitable lot of humanity, who, having expected too much, and failed to obtain relief from the ordinary resources of medicine, seek for temporary encouragement in the dishon- est assurances of any who will promise to cure ; the first class, is the dog in the fable catching at shadows ; the last is the drowning man catching at straws. To the medical philosopher, there is another interesting view of this subject which is singularly consoling. It is in the highest degree important to ascertain whether or not there exists a regularity in the entire moral conduct of a given society, and this is precisely (as remarked by a late able writer upon civilization; one ot those questions for the decision of which statistics supply us with materials of im- mense value. An immense mass of statistics have been gathered by European governments in reference to crime, *Buffalo Medical Journal and American Medical Gazette.