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CULTIVATION OF SCIENCE

BY THE

PROFESSORS OF MEDICINE ANDLAW.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—I feel no hesitation whatever in

making this call upon you. You or yourcontributors have sailed somewhat out of

your latitude, and I, though one of theuninitiated, may be permitted the samelicense. I throw myself (for publication)on the libcrality of THE LANCET, whichhas been so often boasted as the championof the utmost freedom, and as affording anopen field for the most unlimited discus-sion, and which, I am hound to add, hasoften acted up to its professions, unlikesome other liberals, whose deeds hy nomeans square with their declared senti- ments. -

In an article professing to treat of thelast meeting of the British Association,you introduce a long, elaborate, and severeattack on the education, degree - of know- i

ledge, and state of mind, of the membersgenerally, of what has hitherto been ea- I

teemed the first of the liberal professions.There is some foundation, I admit, for your Icriticism, but whether it justifies the ex-tent to which your correspondent hasgone, and his speculations thereupon, isanother question, upon which I do not feelinclined to enter at present; admittinghowever the evil to exist, as it does, with-out question to a certain extent, the re-medy of it is one of the many advantageswhich I am sanguine enough to expect willarise from that glorious instrument of good,the British Association. Your philosophi-cal correspondent, for such his effusion

bespeaks him, has the eal1doul’to acknow-ledge also, that amongst the members ofthe medical profession who rejoice in the.appellation, "par excellence," of " the

faculty," (a sotsbriquet, which in very manyinstances I am sorry to say might justifythe smile of scepticism, if not of ridicule,)there exists an evil of a very similar na--ture, if not identical in kind and degree.When things are carried on in such a

candid and philosophical spit it—where theobject is to discover the defects and evils ofour system,—not from a malignant desireto hold them up to public reprobation andodium, but that we may know them, and,knowing, turn onr attention to the cure,and so indulge the high ofrice of increasinghuman knowledge, and, of consequence,extending human happiness,—no man canor ought to feel offence at the conclusions

come to, even though they should touchhim on a tender point. For illy own part,I take all in the most perfect good-hu-mour ; I admit the evil and deplore it, notmerely on its own account, alid its effectsupon the profession of the bar, but for itsreflected operation on medical science, amatter which obviously concerns more

nearly the public good.From very many causes not necessary

to be gone into at present, the professionof the bar forms a most important, perhapsthe chief, element of society in Dublin.Its members are, of consequence not onlythe patrons and employers of the medicalprofession, but the artificers of medical

reputation also, for their opinion gives con.siderable tone to that of the community:they are, as it were, the impanelled jury,who are to prononnce their verdict beforeGocl and their country, while each medicalman, in his game of life, may be lookedupon in the light of an advocate (his own ad.vocate;, and the question at issue is medi-cal reputation. Thus medical men are atonce placed in the position, not of seekersafter truth and justice, but of mere adva-cates, whose only object is the irterest oftheir clients, their own interest in theirdexterous pleacling, to forward which itis not unlikely they will sometimes forgetthe objects of true philosophy, and restcontented with what will fulfil all theirends as well, and is obtained with far lesslabour, viz., the mere character for science.It too often happens in other suits, (it mustand frequently does occur in this, wherethere is no presiding judge, firm in pur-pose, dispassionate in conduct, clear andunbiassed in intellect, to direct the asto-nished jury, and strike the balance be-tween advocacy and equity,) that the mostpowerful and adroit advocate carries a

triumphant verdict at the expense of truthand justice,-an evil which we must con-tinue to meet daily, so long as the jurieswhom we have imagined, have to pro*.nounce on questions of which they haveno adequate knowledge, as the argumentadmits, or are destitute of the assistanceof constitutional judges. It may be said,that the medical corporations completethe deficiency of the supposed analogy :they ought an:l perhaps .niyht, but for theiruniversally admitted corrupt condition ; infact I believe I am quite safe in saying, thatmanaged as they now arc, they are prettygenerally allowed to throw theirweight intothe opposite scale, contributing to forwardthe interests of the noisy and dexterouspretender, rather than those of the grave,

learned, and modest philosopher.This is a great, a crying evil: it is notthat the medical profession must be in-

jured as a calling; it is not that individual

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merit goes unrewarded, and sees with sorrow and vexation its honours borne away Iby undeservers : this mig1Jt be endured ; ’,but it must be quite evident that such asystem wars against medical philosophy,and of course nullifies and destroys all theinnumerable public benefits that must re-sult from the due cultivation of medicalscience. And here, if I am to be candid,1 must declare that this is not mere spe-culation, but that the system Itas producedthe very fruits which reason and argumentwould lead one to expect. Medical scienceis not generally cuitivated here; there arebut few medical philosophers, in the truesense of the term, in Dublin; nor can itbe otherwise, so long as they have no in-dependent and discriminating tribunal,before which to lay their claims, and fromwhich to receive their well-merited re-wat’/!

No doubt, to the unspeakable honour ofhuman nature, there ever will be in thisas in other callings, some few, who, evenin silence and solitude, and among themost disheartening difficulties, will travelthe rugged uphill path of science, urged,by no other stimulus but the love of truth,seeking no other reward than that whichresults from the nobleness of their pursuit;but the number of these must necessarilybe small; to swell the little chosen bandto a multitude you must add the stimulusof self-interest, you must distribute, as re-wards, this world’s goods and honours; andthis upon the judgment of an honest anda rnmnntnnt tribunal

But if we are deficient in medical philo-sophers, as all must admit who mean anything more by the term than a mere know- Lledge of human, with perhaps a sprinklingof comparative anatomy, a certain ac-

quaintance with disease,-which, howeverconnected with reasoning in theory, is as-suredly empiricism in practice,—togetherwith a quantum sufficit of chemistry, andperhaps a sprinkling of botany, for suchconstitute the medical man very generally,we are by no means stinted in a supply ofpersons who arc quite alive to the valueof a character for science, and who leaveno arts unemployed to obtain " the con-summation devoutly to be wished." Thesepersons, men of small minds and less ac-quirements, who feel no regard for philo-sophical truth, who care not a button forall the science in the world, who merelytrade upon

" character," are to be foundobtruding every where. Their reputationis to be made, and they never stop pushingand driving and manœuvring until theygain their ends, to wit, the exclusion of allcompetitors, the management and hatrozz- -age of whatever body they thus take bystorm, a reputation for science, and a con-

sequent improvement in practice. Theseindividuals contribute but little themselvesto extend the boundaries of knowledge,while they operate as a great bar to itsfurtherance by others : a vicious systemhas called them into existence, and theygratefully improve upon that system, bybanishing, in a measure, all genuine philo-sophers whether medical or otherwise fromthe field. This likewise is an evil of greatmagnitude, which 1 trust will be muchalleviated, if not entirely eradicated, bythe British Association.There are in this city a knot of doctors

and surgeons, whom it would be easy topoint out, who are most offensive in thisrespect; they are to be found in all placesof scientific resort : thev rnononolize tothemselves all character for science andknowledge; are most loud in their ownpraise; and (to believe themselves) concen-trate in their own persons all that hasflourished in the brilliant series fromI Esculapius and Hippocrates to Bichat andCuvier inclusive; and yet it would be aneasy matter, even for one uninitiated, todemonstrate their complete shallownesson whatever topic they might select asthat on which they are best calculated toshine. A competent and unflinching tri-bunal is now brought to their doors ; thesewould-be philosophers, these tradesmenin science, will now be reduced to their

proper dimensions, or forced in goodfaith to become what they have too longpretended. and, on very easy and profita.ble terms, passed for. Too long have theyplayed the triton among the minnows. tothe great detriment of science, and thegrief of all true philosophers. It will nowbe seen whether they deserve an ho-nourable appellation, even among thatlimited section which their doings havenot tended to raise much in the estimationof the cultivators of knowledge in general.Did the British Association promise no-thing more than this purgation, it woulddeserve the gratitude and support of alltrue Irishmen.

Though perfectly assured of the truth ofthese sentiments, I should not neverthe-less have ventured on their expression,were they not sanctioned by the opinions,come to with sorrow of several grave andlearned members of the medical profes-sion, admirable alike for their originalgift of mind, extensive acquirements, andliberal and refined tastes, who sacrifice allnarrow pi ejadices and bigoted feeling togeneral principle, the extension of humankno-.vledge, and the increase of human hap-piness. The conclusion I would come to isthis, that there are among the other liberalprofessions as many genuine cultivators ofphilosophy, as many searchers after truth

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for truth’s sake, as many ardent admirersof science, as many workmen willing andanxious to extend the bounds of humanknowledge and human happiness, as areto be found adorning the followers of thehealing art; but that not finding it theirinterest to gain such character among thepublic, they are more modest in theirbearing, more moderate in their preten-sions, less obtrusive in their character,while they are animated with a more libe-ral and refined taste, the unerring conse- Iquence of a more extensive acquaintancewith literature, history, and dialectics, andpossess a more general knowiedge of phy-sics and mathematics, which, strange to I,say, are entirely neglected, as I am in-formed, in medical education, exceptamongst those who have taken a univer-sity degree, which forms but a small por-tion of the profession.

I hope I shall not be supposed to beimpelled in these remarks by anything soeontemptible as the sectarian prejudicethat might animate one profession againstanother ; such a feeling would indeed beunworthy of any one laying claim to thecharacter of philosophical reformer, andcapable of lifting his eyes from the narrowschemes of paltry party and vulgar fac-tion, to the broad, the unbounded field ofgeneral improvement and general utility.No one holds in higher estimation thanI do the medical section of philosophy;it is most noble, most comprehensivein its grasp, most useful in its resultsand objects, and affords the widest and

most interesting field for the greatestgenius; none is more anxious than I amto see it established on its proper founda-

tion ; but we must all confess that, from itspeculiar nature, it is most apt to be in-fested with ignorant quacks and designingpretenders, who would " deceive even the’elect." My object has been simply truth.I have not made mere accusations with aview to condemn, but I have stated facts,and traced them to their causes, with a

view to reform. I wish the case to be

stated truly, and on the broad principlecontained in the line with which I con-

clude ;’* Homo sum, hamani nil a me tdL’Hnm pnto."

LEX.. Dublin, Sept. 3,1835.

DR. CLANNY’S SAFETY-LAMP.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—If I was astonished attheincorreccommunication inserted in the MedicalGazette for the 8th of August, I was stillmore so when I read the Editor’s com-ments inserted at the same time with myreply in the following number of thatjournal. Be it known that I never in-tended in my reply to identify the Editorof the Medical Gazette with that report,as I considered and do still consider it tobe the production of those concerned inuprearing a well-puffed safety-lamp. Iacknowledge that when more at leisurethan at the moment when I wrote my re-

ply, I found that this ‘ one-sided report"was given by way of " Leader

" in the saidnumber.

I did not expect that the Editor of theMedical Gazette would have showed suchvirulence of disposition towards me. So

many years having elapsed since thecholeramachiæ, I vainly thought I mighthave escaped such unjust animadversion.I certainly was indignant at the trick

played upon me by J. Roberts, and shallso continue to the last moment of my ex-istence.

In this " Leader" when giving an out-line description of my new safety-lamp,we find the following words :-" In thissort of lamp a wire run across the gauze,from side to side, which fuses when’ strongly heated by the name within,&c." Now this is not the fact, for thepiece of wire is so fine in texture, that theweakest light-giving name fuses it, as J.Roberts would readily understand from

my printed evidence before the Committeeof the House of Commons, and also fromthe said safety-lamp being so frequentlybefore his eyes at the Committee-room.As to the courteous Editor’s hint of my"making my reply an advertisement formatters behind the scenes," I deny it in toto,as I never showed or intended to show thecommunication to any person whatever,only intending that the bane and anti-dote" should follow each other. And asto the equally cidl remark, viz., "A bit ofsilly impertinence at the end, we tookleave to strike out," I beg leave to makeknown, and now give the words "strockout," as nearly as my memory permits;—"J rejoice that I have seen and been ena-bled, before I leave town, to show thesepersons up, in their proper colours’"As the Editor took the cap for his ownwearing, I am not surprised that he keptthis paragraph out of his conservative