Volume 1

A text-book of medicine for students and practitioners / by Adolf v. Strümpell.

  • Strümpell, Adolf von, 1853-1925.
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A text-book of medicine for students and practitioners / by Adolf v. Strümpell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    13/874
    AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SEVENTEENTH GERMAN EDITION The extent to which my text-book has been used; both in Germany and in other countries,1 justifies me in the assumption that it has exercised some little influence upon the professional thought and practice of numerous medical read¬ ers, and imposes upon me the obligation of employing every opportunity for the improvement and perfection of my work. Yet I must confess that this task seems more difficult to me with every new edition of the book, for scien¬ tific workers are making deep and extensive investigations into the many subdivisions of internal medicine, with such zeal and skill that it becomes difficult for any one man to keep step with the unceasing progress of investi¬ gation in this wide domain, and to maintain that complete and universal command of facts and theories which is essential for a presentation of the subject, which shall be at once brief and true to the present' standpoint of science. The author has often been painfully sensible of these limitations of his personal knowledge and ability, but he hopes that this will be regarded not merely as subject for criticism, but also as an excuse and an incentive to clemency, in case a reader who is expert in any specialty finds here and there an omission or an error. Above all, I beg the reader to consider that no text¬ book such as the present one ought to replace, or could replace, the vast mate¬ rial of the larger reference books. My purpose was not to collect all the facts of pathology which have been discovered up to date, nor all the methods of treatment which may have been recommended, wisely or unwisely, nor all the theories or views which have been propounded. My wish was to give a com¬ plete presentation of the essentials of our present knowledge and views with regard to the various diseases, from a scientific and individual standpoint; and I desired particularly to impart to the reader an insight into the origin and relation of the various morbid phenomena. To this end I have brought the facts of clinical experience into the closest possible relation with the data of pathological anatomy and of general pathology, and have endeavored, also, in discussing therapeutics, to deduce from the nature of the symptoms a basis for rational medical opinion and treatment, although I have not undervalued the importance of simple experience. A text-book intended for students and a larger circle of graduate readers ought not to incline too decidedly toward any one of the prevailing currents of scientific opinion. It should, however, acquaint the reader to such an extent with the questions at present under 1 So far as I have been informed, translations of my text-book have appeared in the following languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish, Russian, modern Greek, Turkish, and Japanese; and some of these translations have had several editions. • • Vll