Introductory address delivered at the Middlesex Hospital on the opening of the winter medical session of 1850-51 / by S.J. Goodfellow.

  • Goodfellow, S. J. (Stephen Jennings)
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Introductory address delivered at the Middlesex Hospital on the opening of the winter medical session of 1850-51 / by S.J. Goodfellow. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    define what becomes of the saccharine and fatty principles of the food—to be able to follow the albuminoid matters, the phosphorus, the earthy, the alkaloid, and the metallic salts—to have a clear perception to what particular class of organs they go—how they are used up in the production of different kinds of force, or in the formation of various secretions; and, finally, to find in the very debris and excreta of the body the sure and certain measure of the vital action itself. It is a great fact to know that no force is gene- rated, that no heat is evolved, that no motor power is produced, that no nervous action takes place, nay, that even no thought passes through the mind, without equivalent changes in the form of the organised materials of the frame^ The physiologist obtains thereby a clearness of conception as to the most occult processes of life, which is strongly felt by all who possess it, but which, in the absence of all the extended knowledge out of which it springs, is difficult to convey to others by mere description. He is, for example, by one simple distinction, thus enabled to separate the multitudinous organs of the animal body—leaving out of the category, for the moment, the mere preparing organs, like the glands —into two broad and distinct classes, according as they are the generators, or the mere recipients or transmitters of force; he readily recognises the cause_of the large supply of blood sent to the producer of the motive force, the muscle, and the comparative absence of vascularity in the mere passive organs of locomotion; and in this way is prepared that beautiful in- stance of design revealed by the microscope—the looping back and the return of the blood-vessels, when, reaching the end of the muscle, they refuse to enter its tendinous appendage ; and further, even when passing to such a subordinate group of organs as the bones, cartilage, and tendons, he finds, in the precise parts they have respectively to perform, the reason of the varying supplies of nutrient matter they demand and receive. All these principles, which have given an interest and a meaning to chemistry, as applied to the analysis of animal structures, it never before possessed, are among the highest truths of organic science; and it is now plainly seen, must, in all subsequent time, constitute one of the prime means of interpreting vital phenomena, whether these be healthy or morbid. Such is a brief resume of what organic chemistry has done for physi- ology and medicine, and is still calculated to do, and there can be no doubt that every year will be marked with fresh proofs of the power of organic chemistry still further to elucidate the composition and functions of the tissues and organs of the body. I would earnestly impress upon you, who are now passing your pupilage in this hospital, the great importance of making yourselves acquainted with the present state of physiology; and one great object in bringing before you a few of the discoveries in this branch of science during the past few years, is to place before you the great influence which these have exercised in advancing our knowledge of practical medicine. I look upon it that physiology forms the most substantial, indeed, I may say, the only true founda- tion of medicine and surgery, and that without a knowledge of it, it is impossible to understand the* principles of either. The more extensive is our acquaintance with the actions of the body in a state of health, the more competent shall we be to detect and to appreciate any alterations in them occasioned by disease; and for a proper understanding of physiology, we must be accurately and practically acquainted with the intimate struc- ture of the organs and tissues of the body Believe me, the labour of studying the minute structure of organs is much over-rated ; but what- ever it may be, it will be amply repaid to you in the pleasure and value of the knowledge so possessed. There is such a beautiful simplicity in