IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 ^^-^ ^j 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 |J0 '"^^ ■■■ 
 
 Jf Kii 12.2 
 
 
 2.0 
 
 1.8 
 
 
 1.25 ||U 1 1.6 
 
 
 < 
 
 6" 
 
 » 
 
 V 
 
 f 
 
 '^ .>^ 
 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 872-4503 
 
 \ 
 
 ^ 
 
 •s^ 
 
 :\ 
 
 \ 
 
 
 v 
 
 %. 
 
 
 
 6^ 
 

 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Features of this 
 copy which may be bibliographically unique, 
 which may alter any of the images in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 □ Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 D 
 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 D 
 
 D 
 
 Couverture endommagie 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaur6e et/ou pelliculAe 
 
 I I Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 I I Coloured maps/ 
 
 n 
 
 Cartes giographiques en couleur 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Relii avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re liure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge intirieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte. 
 mais, lorsque c^la 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas iti filmies. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires suppl6mentaires: 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-fttre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la m^thode normale de fllmage 
 sont indiquAs ci-dessous. 
 
 I I Coloured pages/ 
 
 D 
 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagdes 
 
 Pages restored and/oi 
 
 Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicuiies 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxe< 
 Pages ddcoloriss, tachetdes ou piquies 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages d6tach6es 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 Quality of priri 
 
 Qualitd inigale de I'impression 
 
 Includes supplementary materu 
 Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 |~~r| Pages damaged/ 
 
 I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 
 r~n Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 
 I I Pages detached/ 
 
 r~] Showthrough/ 
 
 I I Quality of print varies/ 
 
 l~n Includes supplementary material/ 
 
 I I Only edition available/ 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc., have been ref limed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errati, une pelure, 
 etc., ont iti film^es d nouveau de facon ^ 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 1 
 t 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 14X 18X 
 
 26X 
 
 30X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 24X 
 
 28X 
 
 
'^'ismww 
 
 Th« copy filmed h«r« has b««n raproduead thanks 
 to tha ganarosity of: 
 
 Medical Library 
 McGill University 
 Montreal 
 
 Tha imagaa appaaring hara ara tha bast quality 
 posslbia consldaring tha condition and lagiblllty 
 of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha 
 filming contract spacificatlons. 
 
 L'axamplaira film* fut raprodult grAca i la 
 ginirositi da: 
 
 Medical Library 
 McGill University 
 Montreal 
 
 Laa Imagaa sulvantas ont 4ti raproduitaa avac la 
 plus grand soln. compta tanu da la condition at 
 da la nattat* da l'axamplaira filmA, at an 
 conformity avac las conditions du contrat da 
 filmaga. 
 
 Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmad 
 beginning with tha front covar and anding on 
 tha last paga with a printad or lllustratad Impras- 
 sion, or tha back covar whan appropriate. All 
 other original copiaa are filmed beginning on the 
 first paga with a printad or illustrated impres- 
 sion, and ending on the laat page with a printad 
 or lllustratad impraaaion. 
 
 Laa axemplalree origlnaux dont la couvarture en 
 papier est imprimie sont filmAs en commen^ant 
 par la premier plat at en terminant soit par la 
 darnlAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impreeaion ou d'iiluatration, soit par la second 
 plat, salon la caa. Toua lea autras axemplalras 
 origlnaux sont filmte en commenpant par la 
 pramlAre paga qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impression ou d'illustration at en terminant par 
 la darniAre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol ^»> (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), 
 whichever appllea. 
 
 Un des symboles sulvants apparattra sur la 
 darnMre Image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 caa: la symbols —»- signifle "A SUIVRE". le 
 symbols ▼ signifie "FIN". 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, stc, may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Thoae too large to be 
 entirely Included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, aa many framea aa 
 required. The following diagrama illuatrate the 
 method: 
 
 Lea cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre 
 fllmte A dee taux da rMuctlon diff Grants. 
 Lorsqua le document est trop grand pour Atre 
 reprodult en un seul cilchi, II est film* A partir 
 da I'angia supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. 
 et de haut an baa. en prenant le nombre 
 d'imagea nAcassaire. Lea diagrammea suivants 
 illuatrent la mAthode. 
 
 1 2 3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 ! 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 

 l*v'' 
 
 'I'll ' . > 
 
 ,R.^. 
 
 
 f- 
 
 h. 
 
 THE PLACE OF CHEMISTRY 
 
 IN A MEDICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 THE INTEODUCTORY LECTURE IN THE FACULTY 
 
 OF MEDICINE OF MoGILL UNIVERSITY 
 
 FOR THE SESSION OF 1893-94. 
 
 BY 
 
 Prop. R. F. RUTTAN. 
 
 (Reprintei from the Montreal Medical Journal, November, 1893.) 
 
 'ii 
 
v- 
 
THE PLACE OJ^^ CHEMISTRY IN A MEDICAL 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 The Introductory Lecture in the Faculty op Medicine 
 OP MoGiLL University por the Session of 1893-94. 
 
 By Pkof. H. F. RUTTAN. 
 
 We meet to-day in conformity with the well established 
 cuhtom of our Faculty to inaugurate by a lecture the session 
 of 1893-94. To-day we plant the sixty-first milestone which 
 marks the progress and development of our school. I need 
 not tell you with what gratification I find myself, though 
 almost the junior member of the Faculty, in the position 
 which my colleagues have been courteous enough to assign to 
 me — a gratification which would bo complete were it not for 
 the sense of responsibility which the position involves, a posi- 
 tion which my own consciousness assures me might, with 
 gi-eater benefit and pleasure to you, have been conferred on 
 one of the others about mo. 
 
 One of the chief causes of gratification which the position 
 gives me is that I am able to offer you all on behalf of the 
 Faculty a hearty welcome back to the halls of your Alma 
 Mater, to assure those of you who are now just entering on 
 the threshold of a life of study that this welcome is more than 
 the formal one of a professor to his class, but is that of friend to 
 friend — to remind you that as fellow students in a profession 
 which demands such ^sacrifices of time and self as medicine, we 
 all have the same great object in life, 
 
In no profession, perhaps, is this sense of camaraderie so 
 strong as it is in that of medicine, no class of students are so 
 true to each other and to their Alma Mater as medical 
 students, and of no other profession are the members so ready 
 and glad to offer each other assistance, when called upon, as 
 those of the profession to which you aspire. I refer to this, 
 Gentlemen, not in any spirit of self glorification, but that I 
 may the more thoroughly impress upon you the fact that your 
 professors are your best friends, and assure you that if you 
 come to them in time of doubt or trouble, the best fruits of 
 their experience and knowledge will be freely and gladly 
 given to you. 
 
 I have to congratulate you, Gentlemen of the first year, on 
 entering McGrill University at a period in her history marked 
 by such prosperity as the present. It has been her province 
 in the past to set a high standard in the practical and vital 
 branch of education controlled by this Faculty. This duty 
 has been done in the face of grave doubts and difficulties, and 
 this duty our Faculty is now doing, not without the expendi- 
 ture of much thought and labour, but thanks to our generous 
 friends, without running that risk of financial failure which 
 deters so many schools from adopting the most advanced 
 methods of teaching, and fixing a high ntandard for their 
 degree. 
 
 To a certain extent the laws of supply and demand apply 
 to medical schools as well as to the price of wheat, and there 
 is a perfectly natural tendency in many men towards a school 
 which will give them a diploma for the least expendituie of 
 time, money, and energy. Many schools have come into exist- 
 ence to meet this demand for a short cut to the degree of 
 Doctor of Medicine. So detrimental to the best interests of 
 the community has this undignified competition for students 
 become in the United States, that it was seriously suggested in 
 a recent report by a Commission of Education that every 
 medical school in the country be required by law to provide 
 forthwith an endowment of not less than three hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. As Oliver Wendell Holmes wittily remarks : 
 " A school which depends for its existence on the number of 
 its students cannot be expected to commit suicide in order to 
 satisfy an ideal demand lor perfection." 
 
I say it is partially true that the demand for medical educa- 
 tion obeys laws analogous to those which rule the world of 
 commerce, but this is only partially true. The better class of 
 students, as the hintory of our own institution proves, will 
 always go where a high standard of excoUenco is required, 
 justly feeling that only when associated with men seeking the 
 highest class of medical education they will find congenial 
 friends, and meet with opponents for college honours who will 
 compel them to exert their full ftowers. 
 
 But there is another aspect of this question, and that is, that 
 the best medical instruction must necessarily be the most ex- 
 pensive, and the most desirable students are by no means 
 those who can easily afford to pay very high class-fees. Well 
 equipped laboratories, good teaching museums and models, 
 large reference libraries, and above all an able staff of pro- 
 fessors and assistants, are the necessary but costly features of 
 a great medical school. Our benefactors have set the excel- 
 lent example of liberally aiding an already tried institution, 
 instead of launching a new one among the many which are 
 now struggling to float, recognizing the fact that by endow- 
 ing a good medical school they have advanced the thorough- 
 ness of medical education, not only by making that school 
 independent of large or small classes of students, but also by 
 enabling it to provide a larger staff of officers of instruction 
 and well equipped laboratories, without compelling that school 
 to make its class fees almost prohibitory. 
 
 Before leaving this subject I may add that there is one 
 feature in connection with these recent do^itions to which I 
 would like especially to call your attentioa, for it is the one 
 that will continue to give us the keenest satisfaction, and that 
 is that they were bestowed as unsolicited gifts by those who 
 are accustomed to use their eyes in estimating desert, and 
 that this kindly act signifies a hearty approval on their part 
 of our endeavours to advance the knowledge, train the judg- 
 ment, and perfect the skill of those entering on the profession 
 of medicine. , 
 
 And so, Gentlemen, it is with a sense of thankfulness for 
 the past, of satisfaction with the present, and of joyful hope 
 for the future that the Medical Faculty begin the sixty-first 
 year of their services to the profession, welcoming their new 
 
6 
 
 riends, thanking their henefacioiM, and ox(thun^ing with each 
 other, their old wtudentw, und the (JovernorH of the University, 
 mutual congratulationH and good wirthos. 
 
 The beginning of a now sesHion, the entrance on a new 
 course of lectures, is always an event of groat interest to pro- 
 foHsorw and students. The chief interest attached to this 
 period of tlie l^niversity year is duo to the ftict that it marks 
 the advent of a now class of students. No introductory lec- 
 ture, therefore, is worthy of the name that does not contain 
 what might be termed its ** Freshman's Corner." Herbert 
 .Spencer, according to his cold, logical, and scientific ideas of 
 things, would regard you young gentlemen as social units in 
 an embryonic condition, lie correctly ])oitits out that all 
 social as well as biological advancement is a progress from the 
 general to the particular, a specializatiou. As your seniors in 
 medicine know well, all embryos, at a certain period in their 
 existence, are more or less alike, and biologists are not able to 
 tell whether a given specimen embryo, at an early period, 
 will become a sheep or a goat, a monkey or a whale. It is 
 only later, when the limbs appear and the head becomes 
 shaped, and we see how it is to go through the world, that it 
 becomes easy to tell what manner of creature it intends to be. 
 Similarly, as boys we were all more or less alike, and though 
 past the boyhood stage, you, for instance, still possess many 
 general but useless characteristics, which you have in common 
 with young lawyers, curates and businese men ; but now that 
 you are about to differentiate into physicians and surgeons, 
 you must allow those useless appendages of your mind and 
 character to atrophy and disappear from disuse, and develop, 
 by calling them into special activity, your powers of reason and 
 observation and knowledge of humanity in sickness and in 
 health, in order that you may become adapted in the kind of 
 your intelligence to your future envii'onment ; that is, to drop 
 the metaphor, you have deliberately and fully chosen medi- 
 cine as your profession. The world demands, at any price, 
 men that are absolutely fitted to their position. You should, 
 therefore, cultivate in every detail those qualities of mind, of 
 person, and of manner, that will enable you to fill the place 
 that the world reserves for the great physician. Your curri- 
 culum of study will not do all this for you. Much must be 
 acquired by personal observation and thought. 
 
Tt has been sai<l that we till go through the world back- 
 wards. We Hoe clearly the path we have travelled, but what 
 is to come is either absolutely unknown, or indicated only by 
 that shadowy knowledge our experience has given us. When 
 we see others in whom we are interested coming blindly along 
 the way we know so well, the impulse to shout back a warn- 
 ing or two is almost irresistible. Lot this bo my excuse for 
 inflicting on you a little, a very little, of what is recognized in 
 oar profession as advico gratis. I do so entirely from a sense 
 of duty, knowing full well that you will not be long here 
 before you get more advice than you will know what to do 
 with. It will pour in on you from all sides, and it will all 
 bear the stamp of the genuine, disinterested article. 1 shall 
 make this part of my address very short, as I am in full sym- 
 pathy with that class of healthy-minded young men to which 
 the great majority of you belong, who think twice before ask- 
 ing advice, and then think again before acting upon it. The 
 first advice is : Do not let anything you hear from me stand 
 you in the place of your own thoughtful observation and 
 enquiry. Think out your own viow of the profession honestly, 
 liberally, and truthfully. You are entering a profession ; you 
 must, therefore, cultivate perfect freedom of personal judg- 
 ment, and be conscious of your own responsibility. Your 
 time is short ; divide it up economically, and do not waste 
 your odd half hours. Be particularly careful of your health ; 
 nothing is worth so much to you as that. Do not fear your 
 examinations; above all, do not cram for them. This stuffing 
 your brain with shapeless masses of unorganized learning is 
 the worst possible preparation for examinations. Do not try 
 to commit yonr text book by rote. No text book, not even 
 Grey's Anatomy, has any claim to be verbally inspired. 
 Make the thoughts on every page your own, and you will find 
 no trouble about clothing the ideas in words. 
 
 I have selected as a topic for this lecture one which, though 
 bearing on my own special department, will, I trust, be of 
 sufficient general interest to justify its discussion on this occa- 
 sion. The subject which 1 have taken is " The Place of 
 Chemistry in a Medical Education." 
 
 First of all let us examine for a few moments the influence 
 that chemistry and the study of chemistry have had on the 
 development of medicine. 
 
8 
 
 Chemistry took its rise from alchemy. It sprang up among 
 those scientific dreamers of the first centuries of the Christian 
 era, whose guiding star in their search for Icnowledge was 
 their belief in the transmutation of the baser metals into gold. 
 Their theory of the constitution of matter led them to believe 
 in the existence of a »iort of ferment, at the touch of which 
 transmutation would occur. This philosopher's stone was also 
 regarded by many as a panacea for all human ailments; so 
 we find thus early the efforts of a class of men turned towards 
 thediscovery of a universal medicine, rather than of inexhaust- 
 ible lucre. Alchemy, although almost divorced from medi* 
 cine of the time, indirectly contributed not a little to its ad- 
 vancement. The later alchemistn, despairing of finding this 
 magic substance in the mineral kingdom, sought for it in the 
 products of animal life. All parts of the human body were 
 assayed. The philosophy of the period taught them to regard 
 man as an epitome of the universe, a microcosm, and his 
 body as a sort of mysterious agent by which the viler material 
 composing his food was transformed into the nobler thinking 
 individual. They naturally concluded that ho must possess 
 withm him some great transforming agent, and that sub- 
 stances that remained for a long time in the body must be 
 strongly impregnated with this powerful transmuting sub- 
 stance. 
 
 Besides many less important results, this search for the 
 philosopher's stone in the human body led to the discovery 
 and partial isolation of urea, uric acid, phosphoric acid and 
 the element phosphorus, and thus gave us the first facts in 
 physiological chemistry. The history of these fruitless en- 
 deavous to find a universal medicine, though, properly speak- 
 ing, merely the history of a superstition, will always prove 
 interesting to the student of science as a record of the strange 
 phases through which scientific knowledge has passed in the 
 course of its slow development ; and also of the difficulties 
 and obstacles asrainst which the human intellect has had to 
 struggle in the past, while seeking a solution of the great 
 problems presented by nature. 
 
 Towards the end of the fifteenth century chemistry began 
 to throw off the yoke of alchemy. It was just at this period 
 that independent criticism began to spread, and traditional 
 
9 
 
 beliofd to lose their power. The induotive method of roaMon> 
 ing, gradually forcing itself forward, called into oxiHtonce tho 
 flrat indicatioHH of oxporimentui Bcienco, This dawn of a now 
 era in thought, which ushered in both chentiHtry and medi- 
 cine, found itH moHt powerful exprcHHion in tho Keformation 
 itself. Although chemistry did not entirely free itHolf from 
 the fascinations of the hermetic doctrines until a much later 
 period, another aim came into prominence, which gave it a 
 distinctly scientific character. Medicine and chemistry were 
 to be conjoined in the most intimate manner, for their mutual 
 benefit and advancement. The leading physicians of the 
 period became the chemists ; as chemists Ihey discovered new 
 remedies, prepared them carefully, and determined their con- 
 stitution, while as physicians they tried and explained their 
 physiological and therapeutic action. It is to this inter- 
 action of medicine and chemistry that this period in tho his- 
 tory of science owes its peculiar characteristics. The result 
 was an enriching of both. 
 
 Chemistry passed from the cloisters and private laboratories 
 to the aniverslties — passed gradually from the control of vain 
 dreamers and charlatans to that of a learned, and, for the 
 period, scientific profession. Medicine, on the other hand, 
 received from this union the greatest impetus in its history. 
 Doctors became sceptical regarding the infallibility of the 
 works of Galen and Hippocrates, and began to observe and 
 record for themselves. The spirit of independence induced 
 by laboratory experiment and observation extended to their 
 daily practice, and a more careful study of the symptoms of 
 disease followed. The fundamental object of chemistry then 
 became not to make gold, but to prepare and examine medi- 
 cines ; and the knowledge of chemistry thus ao(][uired led to 
 the doctrine that the healthy human body is but a conjunc- 
 tion of certain chemical matters — a receptacle containing 
 chemicals acting in a fixed way. When these underwent 
 change, illness resulted, and the latter, therefore, could be 
 cured only by means of chemical medicines. The spread of this 
 doctrine resulted in the overthrow of the old school of Galen ; 
 but, of course, any successful treatment based on such an 
 hypothesis could only be possible when chemistry had attained 
 a higher development. 
 
10 
 
 llowovor, (lio iniportiiiit {\u\\ toiiitiiiuMi tliul. modicino wuh 
 now no lon^oi' ^iiiiUul l»y liiuiilion, hut hy u HiMMUIilh^ liypo- 
 IhoHin wlii(«li took Um oii^in (Voni liiiman olmorvHlion luid 
 oxporinuMit, In hrin^in^ hImmiI MiIh union o\' (^lioniiHtfy lunl 
 inodli'ino, wluoh wiih ho nuiliuilly liolpHil, no ono oll'ootod moi'o 
 than l*ura«'olHnH. His duo nanio wnn l*hili|> llorlinor, lait, on 
 «MUiM'inf>; his nuulical couino, \\o asNuniod llio ratlior inoru pro- 
 tontiouH nanio of IMiillipus Auroliiis TliooplitastUH MonthaHtus 
 I'arafolsus von lloltonhoini. Althougli ho was a pioUnlious 
 (diai'hitan, a man of wldoly oxti'ava|ij;ant and <lisN(tluto hahits, 
 yo( (ho toiro of inipaol, with which this Hlranf^o, orratio 
 nioloor mot tho opposition of his tinio, <Miusod tho whoUt fidu'ic 
 t»f n»otiia>val nunlioino lt» toltoron its haso. Tho oonipiotodis- 
 iM)n\tituio, howovor, of tho dtsoipU^s of Iraditioiuil niudiidno 
 was otVooto<l (diiotly hy his suiH^ossors, von llolinont. and 
 Silvias, with whom should also ho assooiatod Inhavius and 
 (ilauhor. 
 
 Tho viows of l*araoolsus and his school aro naturally Hoon 
 to bo hi'istlin^ with ridit-ulous orrors, whon oxandnod from 
 tho altitU'to attainod hy modiiMuo of our own day ; yu(. tho 
 progress oauswl hy thoir introduotion was vory ^I'oat. Tho 
 hi^host t^dont of tho day was enlisted in tht« ranlcH of tho 
 modioal ihomists, to whoso work ho had ^ivon suoh impotUH, 
 and to him wo «>wo thodisoovorv of numv faots in troatmont 
 and physiology, that havo ronuiinod truo to tho prosont timo. 
 Ho was tho tirst, for instance, to ro«H)j>;ni/.o tho inoorroctnoss 
 of tho dooirino that tho heart wan tho centre of hoat. His 
 acute observation tii'st called attention to the (H)nnootion that 
 exists between j;o»it and urinary calculi. His reputation, 
 however, rests chietly upon tho number and importance of tho 
 new remedies which ho introtluced. lie was tho first to 
 employ as internal medicine the salts of mercury, load, and 
 antimony, sulphate of copper, and the various preparations of 
 ii\>n. All this, too, was done at a period whon it was not tho 
 thing to use chemical motiicinos (and what greater condemna- 
 tion, even in t)ur own timo, could a now departure in thera- 
 peutics receive ?) No; tho orthodox medicines of that period 
 wore of a ditlorent type. To give you a faint picture of modi- 
 eino of ihe fifteenth century, let me quote a few ideas of the 
 great (talen. The following is taken from a chapter entitled, 
 
11 
 
 "Tlio lloud iind IIIh PiirtH," in ii hooU of rn(Hli(>ino of'tlm hIx- 
 loniiUi (uuitiiry. (iaiori HiiyoMi : " TImi l.uiid Ih dividod int<» 
 lour piii'tN; ill llin Curo pint luttJi blood Mio doiiilriion, clndur 
 \\w i-i^lit Mido, iiudiiiiclioly in iJnt loll Hido, and llo/i^nm Ixtiinith 
 nilo in Hut liindtM'nioHl, piii'l." In Hnul^Mny and phyHiolo^y 
 NiK'h UUmih aH liumit piovaiind : 'IMio Hploon wan tlio contio of 
 wit; tJi(f Hi/.n of llin hraiii irin-DaHttd and ditci'dawud wilh llio 
 moon; llio riinc.l.ion of l.lio livur ih IJio Hoat of lovo ; Uio liin/L(H 
 woro employed lol'an lli« iioarl., wlii<di, in hiin, wan tlio (Minlro 
 of animal lioat. Manod on Hindi pliynifdof^y, yon will luadily 
 undtM'Hhind tint HdionUlIc, mwoHHily lor iImh proMcriplion : 
 " TaUo Mm) ri;^li(, oyo of a IVoKK. Ii>p il in a pio(!o of ruHMot 
 riotli, lian/; it altont llio ntxdt, it cnrntli tlio ri^ht i^ya if it ho 
 inllamt d or bloamd ; and if tlio loft oyo ho ^M-iovod <lo tlio liko 
 liy tini lol't oyo of tlio naid troKK-' Smilia mnilihm aurantur. 
 IliHtory I'opoatH ilMoll. •W«» liavo hoard of tho hoiiKoopathio 
 Hiir^ooiiN in tho |>ro;^roHHivo ropiihlio to tho Hoiith of uh. iloro 
 wu havo homdiopathic ophthalmology in I ho tif'toonlh cuntiiiy. 
 I havo tlniH dwolt Homowhat at loii^th on tliJH poriod in tho 
 hJHtory of modioinu, on account of tho ofl'oot whioh (diumicul 
 viowH and knowlod/{o had on tho dia^rtioisiH and trcutmont of 
 <liHoaHo. Tho Holiition of tho prohlom hoii^IiI hy thoHo old 
 phj'HiidanH was, of ooui'ko, impoHHiltlo. On tho otiior hand, tho 
 attonipt to mto in ovory ooonrronco in tho hody a procosn of 
 Ibivnuntalion and dooompOHition capuhht of oxplanation hy 
 nioaiiH uf <diomi(tal roaotionH had tliiH honofioial off'oot: the 
 (hxjtoiH bo(;amo aooiiHtomod (,o tho thought that thoy mi^ht 
 oxpuot littlu from tradition and Hptuiilation, ainJ everything 
 from thu oxamiriation of faotH. Medicine owoh much to tho 
 poi'C(»ption of thiH cireumHtanco. ItH effect hiHted long after 
 the abMiird liypothoHiH whi<di gave rise to it had pawHcd away, 
 AfterwardH a now M(diool of phywicianH aroMc;, who re/^arded 
 diHOJiHo aH the roHult of mechanical diHturhancoH, Huch m Htag- 
 nation of the blood, and, an they exprosHod it, of ntagnation of 
 tho contontH of Iho norvoH. A violent cotitrovoi'Hy laged 
 between thin new dynamic hcIiooI and the followei'H of TTluuber 
 and LibaliuB. Tho result waw a partial defeat of tho chemical 
 doctrine of disease ; but the inconHirtteticieH and one-Hided nefi.s of 
 both of thcHO nyHtomn of pathology ultimately led to a blend- 
 ing of tho two. Medical chemiMtry came thuH to occupy a 
 
12 
 
 subordinate position, and in the eighteenth century it became 
 pharmacy only. All medical chemistry was taught in the 
 drug shops, and its sole raison d'etre was the preparation of 
 m*3dicines. Only here and there dotted about Europe were to 
 be found men who had the time, means, and inclination to 
 study for its own sake a science which had fallen into such 
 disrepute. 
 
 The influence of Paracelsus was not entirely lost, and 
 the profession of chemistry did not become absolutely dis- 
 reputable until medicine came to be governed by another new 
 doctrine. This new theory was an outgrowth of the dynamic 
 doctrine of physiology which was originally advanced by 
 Stahl. It was a compromise effected with the Church. This 
 was the doctrine of animism. It ascribed all physiological 
 and pathological change to an unknown and unknowable 
 animal force. This has survived under the name of vital 
 force, or vis vitce. 
 
 Now, this acknowledgment on the part of the profession, 
 that they not only do not know, but could never know any- 
 thing about either the substances of the body or their mode 
 of action, at once suggested that all scientific investigation 
 regarding the cause of disease was superfluous. It was a 
 wretched delay in the progress of medicine, as the result of 
 this compromise was to close for ages that path in medicine 
 which alone leads to discoveries of value, the experimental 
 method, and to re-open the old path of empiricism and tradi- 
 tion. This belief in an inscrutable vis vitce persisted, to the 
 detriment of both medicine and chemistry, until the present 
 century was well in the forties. 
 
 It is natural that such a doctrine, if this negation can be 
 called a doctrine, should have prevailed. It is only human. 
 When one does not understand a thing in science, the easiest 
 way out of the difficulty is to give it a good name, and look 
 wise. If the roots of that name are deeply mired in Greek, 
 so much the better. Vis vitce is only Latin, but that is com- 
 pensated for by the alliteration. The words seem to have 
 been born together, like the Siamese twins, and, as in the case 
 of the latter, no doctor dare cut them asunder. 
 
 To the chemists Justus Liebig and Wohler we owe the 
 beginning of the overthrow of this fatalistic doctrine, and to 
 
18 
 
 them may be ascribed the credit of introducing the modem 
 perit'd medical chemistry. Of the physiology and path- 
 ologj" the eighteenth century only the knowledge which 
 experience gained, and scientific observation disclosed, has 
 remained in the possession of later times. Not one of the 
 numerous systems of schools based on animism now exercises 
 the slightest weight in modern medicine. The material hav- 
 ing been collected, however, the few well-cut stones of expe- 
 rience and observation remain for use when an architect arises 
 who can find a place for each in a symmetrical structure. 
 
 The belief in vital force has now almost entirely disap- 
 peared. We know now that the same chemical laws govern 
 the animate and inanimate worlds, and that definite compounds 
 formed in plants and animals can be prepared artificially, us 
 soon as their chemical constitution has been worked out. The 
 conditionB under which the constituents of the body are pro- 
 duced we can only conjecture, but that they obey laws differ- 
 ent from those which rule the inanimate world is a view which 
 is no longer tenable. 
 
 After this rather long historical sketch of the progress of 
 chemistry and medicine, and the objections made to the theory 
 of animism, it is but natural that you, should expect me to main- 
 tain the thesis that the chemistry and physics of to-day are able 
 to suggest a theoretical foundation for the art of medicine — 
 to indicate a sort of mental remmi for all departments of the 
 healing art. Such a brief description, or formulai resuming all 
 medicine chemistry has not found and may never find ; but of 
 this you may be sure, that its method of seeking for one is the 
 sole possible method, and that the truth reac'^ed by this 
 method is that which w. ! most permanently satisfy the 
 human judgment. You would misunderstand me if you 
 imagined that I think it even jmssiblo that the psychical and 
 biological enigmas underlying physiology and pathology can 
 he elucidated in the chemical laboratory. That this can ever 
 be done we have at present no evidence whatever. The gate- 
 way to the acquisition of a theory of medicine that will har- 
 monize our past with our possible future knowledge is the 
 experimental method of inve8tigation-«-a method which is 
 employed by chemistry, which was introduced into medicine, 
 taught and especially illustrated by chemistry, and for the 
 
14 
 
 advancement of medicine must be applied, not only to chemi- 
 cal research, but to biological and psychical research as well. 
 Chemistry got beyond its depth when it undertook to analyze 
 the complicated processes of life into their several factors, nnd 
 to explain them in accordance with the rigid laws of chemical 
 action, and the lesson taught has not been forgotten. 
 
 The goal of chemistry as an experimental science is to offer 
 a complete interpretation of the constitution of everything 
 animate and inanimate; but the goal is an ideal one. It 
 marks the direction in which we travel, but never the spot we 
 shall ever actually attain. For, as the late Kingdon Clifford 
 says, *' Scientific thought is not an accompaniment or condi- 
 tion of human progress, but human progress itself." 
 
 I have now tried to show that the history of medicine, as a 
 whole, shows progress or stagnation in proportion as the 
 experimental method of enquiry, the process of trying and 
 thinking, has been used or neglected, and that this method is 
 the one that will most surely sift facts from fancy, and, by the 
 orderly arrangement of facts, enable us to see relations pre- 
 viously obscured. I now wish to emphasize the fact that a 
 training in this method is of the highest importance to every 
 student of medicine. You, as students, are not now so inti- 
 mately concerned with the advancement of science as with 
 the acquisition of the knowledge and training that will make 
 you useful practitioners. " How, then," you may ask, " will 
 a training in the experimental method of enquiry be of such 
 advantage to us ? Very few of us will bo placed in circum- 
 stances that will enable us to become investigators; what we 
 want are useful facts; we wish to be practical men, prac- 
 titioners." Now, that is precisely what we intend to help 
 you to become ; investigators you may be some day, but you 
 must acquire your profession first. It is obvioui^ly impossible 
 to advance medicine until one has mastered it ; he must first 
 step to the front before his blows can tell in the strife, and I 
 may add — I do not believe anyone can be thorough in any 
 department of science without wishing to advance it. But I 
 will tell you why this training is of such importance : 
 because it educates your seeing powers — your mental vision. 
 It teaches you to ob.serve correctly, and to reason accurately 
 from your observations. That you should receive a training 
 
16 
 
 in this method is almost an essential to success, and it is the 
 surest way of enabling you to assimilate and made part of 
 yourself the very facts you feel are indispensable for your pro- 
 fession. I need scarcely remidd you that the whole practice 
 of medicine consists largely in the exercise of the power of 
 observation. To make a correct diagnosis requires this power 
 to be acute and highly trained, or some imperfectly developed 
 symptom may escape recognition, and j'our own experience 
 teaches you what a very difficult thing it is to observe cor- 
 rectly ; to see ever^'thing, even in a small field of observa- 
 tion ; to proceed methodically, overcome the desire to flit from 
 one object to another ; and to exclude what you wish to see, 
 what you were told to look for, from what is actually there. 
 
 A training in experimental work also aids you in acquiring 
 the facts of science, in learning your profession, not only be- 
 cause it educates your attention and precision of observation, 
 but especially because it teaches you to question nature, to 
 cross-examine her and yourselves as well. Cultivate, then, 
 Gentlemen, early in your career, the habit of careful observa- 
 tion, and go to nature herself for information, whenever you 
 have an opportunity. It is the pride of this Faculty that she 
 has always insisted upon laboratory work as an essential por- 
 tion of the preliminary training of her students, and that the 
 chief portion of the final work is taught with a patient before 
 you, at the bedside in the hospitals. But before you I'each 
 this later stage, you should have acquired the habit of 
 mind which only the experimental sciences can give you. 
 Now, chemistry, of all your primary work, presents you with 
 the best examples of accurate and discriminative observation 
 and of inference therefrom. It begins with the study of the 
 simplest phenomena, and advances the investigation step by 
 step to a complete and exhaustive analysis of complicated re- 
 lations. You will never, however, acquire a scientific training 
 from a mere literary acquaintance with chemical facts and 
 theories. In this way you acquire only scientific information, 
 an altogether different thing. You must seek out the infor- 
 mation for yourselves, and obtain your knowledge of chemical 
 facts at first hand, by making the best use of your time in the 
 laboratory; and, believe me, if you do not train yourselves to 
 observe and think for yourselves when the objects you have to 
 
m 
 
 16 
 
 examine are comparatively simple, when the complex 
 phenomena of disease in its many forms are presented to you, 
 you will find that you cannot or will not do so, but will be 
 guided by empiricism, or by what the text-book or lecturer 
 says should be seen ; and as the student is, so is the practitioner. 
 Lest you should think I am over-estimating the value of 
 laboratory work in chemistry as a training for the profe^ision 
 of medicine, I will give a few reasons for the faith I have in 
 its power of developing the scientific habit of thought. But 
 first let me offer a word of explanation. I do not in the least 
 under-estimate the training afforded by the other two great 
 primary subjects, anatomy and physiology. They are, when 
 properly studied, of very high educational value; but still, 
 their greatest utility is in the intrinsic value of the subject 
 matter taught. Every fact of these branches has a direct 
 bearing on medicine and surgery. Anatomy, besides, is an 
 excellent training for the memory, and also cultivates the 
 observation, but not the same sort of observation that is 
 developed by experimental science. You learn anatomy in 
 precisely the same way that a cabman learns the streets and 
 principal buildings of the city, by going over the ground 
 again and again, till the relation of nerve, artery, and vein are 
 as familiar to you as that of sidewalk, curbstone, and pavement 
 to the city carter. It is only in this way you can learn ana- 
 tomy. You must see the relative position of parts, and see 
 them again and again, and from all sides, before you can find 
 your way with certainty about the human body. You would 
 be as much justified in undertaking to drive a London Hansom 
 cab because you had made a study of Baedeker- s Guide Book, 
 as you would to enter the field of surgery without years of 
 training in the dissecting room. Observation, and careful 
 observation, is required and developed by anatomy, but not 
 that which involves casual relations. Eemember, I am speak- 
 ing of human anatomy, not of general morphology, nor of 
 comparative anatomy. In human anatomy, observation is 
 not associated with reasoning as to the relation between one 
 fact and another. There is no mental effort, such as tracing 
 an observation back to the grounds of belief in its truth, and 
 forward again to some other observation for discovery or veri- 
 fication. Such processes of thought are required, however, in 
 
17 
 
 • I ' 
 
 physiology ; but experiments in this department are made with 
 difficulty. The material and the forces are so complex, and 
 altogether so little is actually known, and so much conjectured, 
 that verification even of the simpler phenomena is difficult 
 and uncertain, and requires much time and elaborate apparatus. 
 
 The problems of animal physiology, except those which are 
 of a chemical nature, are far too difficult to servo as a means 
 of scientific training for beginnei's in medicine, and should 
 really be undertaken only after one has received a good 
 laboratory course in chemistry. 
 
 Now, I have no intention of forcing you to select chemistry 
 {IS the subject affording this most desirable training, by any 
 process of exclusion. On the contrai'y, I wish to point out 
 clearly, how by work in chemistry you may derive that scien- 
 tific training which I have tried to show is essential for the 
 successful study and practice of our piofession. In the first 
 place, lectures on chemistry, ts^en when illustrated by expei-i- 
 ment, are of comparatively small value as a means of training. 
 Lectures are, of course, essential to expound the relations and 
 theories of the science, and to illustrate them by experiments 
 which are not adapted for a teaching laboratory ; but it is by 
 practical work only that a student can extract the full benefit 
 obtainable from an experimental science such as chemistry. 
 As Huxley says, " The laboratory is the fore-court of the 
 temple of philosophy, and whosoever has not offered sacrifice 
 and undergone purification there, has little chance of admission 
 into the sanctuary." 
 
 One of the first surprises that a student of practical chem- 
 istry receives is to find out what a very uifficult thing it is to 
 do what you are told to do — to find out what little power 
 mere words have to create a correct picture in the mind. 
 This is due to the fact that to those untutored in scientific 
 observation there seems to bo scarcely any connection between 
 words and the things represented by them, except in the 
 case of affairs of every-day life. Now, this power of clearly 
 picturing before your mental vision a sequence of things from 
 a verbal description is a function of the brain called the 
 scientific imagination, a power latent in all minds, and one 
 which, unless developed by a training in scientific work, is 
 likely to remain dormant throughout life. 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 If 
 
 Develop, then, this mental fucultj'^ at every opportunity by 
 endeavouring to create before your mental vision a distinct 
 image of the thing described — a picture of the realit3\ The 
 power thus acquired will help you in every walk of life. 
 
 I have already dwelt on the importance of observation, and 
 correct reasoning on the facts observed. In chemistry a 
 student is brought face to face with nature, and with that field 
 of nature which is capable of very accurate examination. He 
 learns of her by reading and by experiment, and the juxta- 
 position of the two necessitates thought. He handles and sees 
 the things he reads about, bonce he gets definite ideas of 
 things. He performs a certain experiment with a certain 
 result — a result always the same, under the same conditions. 
 The experiment is simple, the conditions easily controlled, 
 and the result sure. This leads him to ask the cause of this 
 inevitable result. What are the relations of the materials 
 entering into the re-action — what the product ? He has 
 questioned nature and received a reply ; he now questions 
 himself, and the very asking the question causes thought. He 
 creates a theory, or applies one he leurns elsewhere, and veri- 
 fies it by further experiment. The whole process is, neces- 
 sarily, when properly taught, an alternation of observation 
 and thinking ; and he must observe correctly, and think cor- 
 rectly, or his error will certainly find him out. The punish- 
 ment for error in chemistry is quick and certain, if the student 
 only works with care. It is just in this particular that chemi- 
 cal work affords the most valuable training for a medical 
 student — his little mistakes are never productive of erroneous 
 ideas ; because from the very nature of the work he must, 
 sooner or later, detect his own error, when the work has to be 
 done over again. This self inflicted punishment for error 
 occurs again and again in a day's work. The little blows thus 
 inflicted do not discourage, but tend to shape the mind, until 
 constant watchfulness, accuracy of observation, and a determ- 
 ination to reach absolute truth in his work become a habit 
 of life, a part of his very nature. 
 
 I might suggest to you, Gentlemen, many means of helping 
 yourselves to cultivate this habit of close attention and accu- 
 rate deduction ; but I will refer to only one, the great value of 
 which experience has shown me is not as fully appreciated by 
 
 (( 
 
19 
 
 3it 
 
 JU- 
 
 of 
 
 you as it should be. What I refer to is the habit of carefully 
 recording all your obBervatioriH when directly in contact with 
 Nature, and also all the chief facts connected with them. Do 
 not trust to your memory, for you may forget an important 
 detail, or, worse, it may return to you a disturted imago of 
 the original, an imago that has been gradually altered in the 
 process of keeping. 
 
 Gentlemen of the first yeai", begin this practice at once with 
 the objects presented to you in botany and histology. Make 
 rough sketches of some of your dissections, even if you destroy 
 them immediately after. In the chemical laboratory it is 
 absolutely essontial to progress to record everything that 
 happens — your reasons for tho experiment, and the conclu- 
 sions deduced from it. Make notes of what you see and do 
 in tho phyniological laboratory ; what you see at tho bedsides 
 and at tho autopsies. It should bo the constant habit, not 
 only of your student life, but after you leave us to engage in 
 practice; and especially remember thai these notes are 
 always to be made with tho object you describe before you. 
 Now, if you have any doubt regarding the importance of this 
 habit, convince yourselves of its value by trying this experi- 
 ment on yourself. Make a simple series of re-actions on a 
 substance in tho laboratory, or examine carefully a plant or a 
 diseased organ, and afterwards, in tho quiot of your own 
 room, sit down and write out what you did' and what you 
 saw ; and unless you are more than ordinarily gifted, I feel 
 sure a comparison of your notes with the original, next day, 
 will convince you of the fact that to delineate ad Naturam 
 your model must be always before you. 
 
 Much more might be added regarding tho educational value 
 of laboratory woi k in chemistry, but I will content myself 
 with pointing out, in conclusion, that although other subjects, 
 notably practical physics, are able to att'ord much the same 
 sort of education, yet in none are the materials so available 
 and of such constant properties, or the apparatus so inexpen- 
 sive and simple, or the experiments so easily made, and the 
 results so quickly obtained as in chemistry. 
 
 The tendency of education to-day, in all branches, from the 
 kindergarten to the university, is more and more towards 
 placing laboratory work und personal observation before tra- 
 
20 
 
 dition and theoretical instruction, and we hope, in the near 
 future, wlion thirt wuvo of ]>r()^roH8 w felt by those who regu- 
 late our medical curriculum, to bo able largely to increase the 
 valuable laboratory work in cliomiHtry, and in greater propor- 
 tion to reduce didactic lecturer. This change, however, can be 
 ctlocted only when a higher (juality of chemical work is done 
 in medi(!al schools than is now possible. Wo are bound to our 
 present system of teaching by two forces — the standard fixed 
 by the licensing boards, and the absen(!0 of preliminary train- 
 ing in science on the part of the groat majority of our matri- 
 culants. Higher chemistry should bo taught in our medical 
 schools, and much loss of it. It is positively cruel to require 
 a medical student in his Hrst year, whose time is so fully 
 recjuired for those things which boar directly on his future 
 work, to go through tho drudger}' of mastering the eloraonts 
 of chemistry. To obtain a knowledge of chenilcal nomen- 
 clature, and the nature of chemical processes, is not ver}' 
 interesting, and is hard work ; and to do oven this thor- 
 oughly certainly occupies for him one of the two precious 
 years ho has at his disposal for the preliminary btudies, and in 
 his second year but little time is left for either acquiring a 
 knowledge of medical technical chemistry, or for the training 
 which laboratory work affords him. It is not doing justice to 
 chcmistr}', nor to the professois who teach it, that this condi- 
 tion of affairs should exist. Tlio student naturally regards 
 chemistry, up to within a few months of the end of his study 
 of it, as something uncanny, made up of barbarous names and 
 very crawly formulee — as a science presenting all tho difficul- 
 ties of algebra, without its compensating accuracy. It is only 
 too late when he finds out that formula9 and nomenclature are 
 not chemistry, but bear about the same relation to it that the 
 German irregular verbs bear to the poetry of Goethe's Faust. 
 The remedy for this is obvious — he should be required to 
 know the elements of chemistry before entering medicine. 
 The only chemistry taught in medical schools should be 
 organic and technical medical chemistry, or what the late Dr. 
 Carnelley has called bio-chemistry, which, as the name 
 suggests, is the science which treats of chemistry in relation 
 to life and its attendant phenomena. It treats in brief of the 
 action of dead matter on life, and the reciprocal action of life 
 
 anti 
 
 i'esi 
 
 havl 
 
 althi 
 
 scieil 
 
 thesJ 
 
21 
 
 on dead matti ; and, of course, includes what is usually 
 called physiological, pathological, jind Huiutaiy chemiHtry. All 
 the training which chemistry can afford in the experimental 
 method of inquiry could be given in a chemical laboratory by 
 experiments in medical chemistry, as well as, if not better than 
 by using our present systom. In fact, any portion of the field 
 of chemistry does almost equally well as a training ground. 
 In the course given here, the ro-actioiis of the common acids 
 and metals are used for this purpose, not because the informa- 
 tion obtained is of value to medical students in particular 
 nor because that portion of the field of chemistry affords any 
 better subject matter for experiment, but because it is us good 
 a field as any other, and it is a very favourite hunting ground 
 of the Board Kxaminers. 
 
 Apart from laboratory training, what every medical man 
 requires is a clear view of the broad principles of chemistry, 
 that he may intelligently follow advances in medicine made by 
 chemical research, and a limited acquaintance only with the 
 facts of chemistry. A knowledge of two classes of f:icts is 
 required: first, those which are essential to a perfect under- 
 standing of the principles of the science, very few in number, 
 and second, those which bear directly on his profession. It 
 is the first class of facts that should be partially acquii-ed be- 
 fore entering medicine, in order to give both professor anJ 
 pupil time to dwell on the more congenial, important, and 
 interesting facts that bear directly on the principles of the 
 healing art. 
 
 Apart from its value as a means of training the student in 
 those habits of thought especially useful to him in his pro- 
 fession, chemistry has another claim to a high position in a 
 modern medical education— a claim based on what she has 
 shown herself able to do in aiding physiology and pathology 
 in the solution of the fundamental problems of medicine. 
 
 Time will not permit me to discuss even the more import- 
 ant advances recently made, and a mere enumeration of the 
 results obtained would be tedious in the extreme. I shall 
 have said enough on this subject when I remind you that 
 although the great powers of the chemical and physical 
 sciences to aid medicine have only recently been appreciated, 
 these sciences, and especially chemistry proper, have shown 
 
the oxiHtonco of flolds of roMoarch of unimugine<l fertility. 
 The whole of provontative modicino, the medicine of the 
 next century, in becoming more dnd more u chemical 
 queHtion. 
 
 BiochemiHtr}' has taken up the thread of roMearch, whore 
 it haH been lost (o the highest powers of the microBCope. 
 There in no field of Hcience which during the pnut few years 
 has attracted the mimu public attention an that which ih now 
 being searched over by bio-chemistrj^ and pathology. An I 
 have hinted elHewhere, recent synthetical work has about 
 completed the rout of those who believe that the higher pro- 
 ducts of life, the more complex of the constituents of plants and 
 animals cannot be fabricated from their elements by artificial 
 means. 
 
 The recent synthesis o" grape sugar by Fischer and his 
 pupils, and the synthesis from their proximate principles of 
 too proteic substances by Schutzenbergor, exhibiting the 
 chemical and physical properties of peptone, show that the 
 chemist can construct even the most characteristic compounds 
 and the highest products of life. The construction of a starch 
 granule or a muscle fibre, however, will always necessarily 
 I'emain beyond his powers. It is as absurd as to expect the 
 chemist to synthesize oi'ganized tissue as to expect that a 
 workman who could combine copper and zinc to make brass 
 could construct a mcdern chronometer. But the problem of 
 synthesizing the different materials of which the living cell is 
 composed is to the chemist of today a far easier problem than 
 the construction of a telephone would have been to the elec- 
 tricians of the time of Volta or Ampdre, 
 
 The greatest value of the contributions made by chemistry 
 to our knowledge of disease is not so much the actual benefits 
 they have conferred on medicine as the clear prophecy they 
 utter of greater blessings to come. The study of medicine is 
 carried on amidst the deepest mysteries of nature. We have 
 been created with minds to enjoy, and reason to aid us in 
 unfolding such mystei-ies. Nature calls us to study her, and 
 all our better feelings urge us in the same direction ; and, 
 Gentlemen, I shall have missed the object of this lecture if I 
 have failed to impress you to some extent not only with the 
 necessity of studying Nature, but of obtaining your knowledge 
 
 i» 
 
of her at fli'Ht bHnd. A^^aHHiz linH hhicI, " If you Htudy Nature 
 in books, when yon fro out of doorM you cannot Hnd hor ;" so 
 if you Htudy diHeurt' only in locturuH and toxt-bookn, when 
 you go to tho bfxlHide yu will not rocoj^ni/.o it. Kememboi* 
 that tho ph^Hiciiin i - fi sorvunt of Nature, never hor maHtor, 
 and ho only will rise In the Horvi(^o who can follow cIoho in 
 her footstopH, una ^uccoHHtuliy aid hor in hor r^trugglu with 
 diseoBe.