J. H. Dempster
Published: 2015-08-06
Total Pages: 88
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Excerpt from Pathfinders of Physiology Medicine, on the whole, however, has advanced during periods of great intellectual activity and during times of intellectual torpor has remained in a quiescent state. The rise and fall of systems and methods would dispose one to wonder if the end is yet; if we have at last reached the bedrock of fact in a scientific sense. The great advantage of truth over error is that though at times crushed to earth, it will rise again. Not until science and philosophy had freed themselves from the throes of ecclesiasticism, was any marked forward movement possible, for, during the first fifteen centuries of the Christian era the most preposterous ideas of physiology obtained, being founded upon the sacred writings and superstitions of the saints. The growth of knowledge through observation was scarcely possible until the priest was no longer physician. With this great event is associated the name of Hippocrates who was the first to make deductions based upon experiment and observation. He lived during the Golden Age when Pericles ruled with mild persuasion; when Phidias made immortal the sculptured art of Greece and Herodotus recorded the history of the illustrious people; when Democritus proclaimed the atomic theory of the universe and Socrates taught that the greatest knowledge was to "Know thyself." Experiment, observation and deduction have been aptly called the tripod of science. Though much that Hippocrates taught has been discarded, yet in the field of clinical observation many of his teachings prevail today. The "facies Hippocrates" still designates the characteristic signs of impending death. We have many accurate descriptions of disease made from careful observations, but perhaps more than all else we owe to him that lofty idealistic note which comes down to us in the Hippocratic oath. It was not until men disregarded authority and made direct appeal to nature that medicine experienced its renaissance. Such was the method of Harvey, Beaumont and of others whose contributions are of permanent value. The sincere student of nature approaches his subject with an open mind; his is the quest for truth. He possesses that enthusiasm for truth, "that fanaticism for veracity, which is a greater possession than much learning; a nobler gift than the power of increasing knowledge." As Sir Michael Foster once said, "His nature must be one which vibrates in unison with that of which he is in search; the seeker after truth must himself be truthful, truthful with the truthfulness" of nature, which is far more imperious, far more exacting than that which man sometimes calls truthfulness. Such is the religio medici. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
