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88 PARSONS'S LECTURE ON ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. [Nov.

The Importance of the Sciences of Anatomy and Physiology as a Branch of General Education; being an Introduction to a Course of Lectures to the Upper Classes in Brown University. By USHER PARSONS, M. D. Cambridge. Hilliard & Metcalf. 8vo. pp. 31.

THIS Lecture was delivered as introductory to a course addressed to hearers not professional, and presents, therefore, only a very general view of the subjects which are noticed in it. Dr. Parsons considers, first, the nature and progress of the sciences of anatomy and physiology, and some of the difficulties which usually attend the study of them. He illustrates the value and importance of the knowledge derived from comparative anatomy in their pursuit, and shows in what manner it may be made to throw great light upon the operations of some of our organs.

But what has particularly attracted our notice to this pamphlet, and induced us to call the attention of our readers to it, is the author's attempt, which we would gladly second, to prove, that a competent knowledge of anatomy and physiology is a desirable. thing, and one of practical utility, to other persons than those who are devoted to them as a profession; whilst, to the general student, they form an interesting branch of philosophical inquiry.

The term, anatomy, though originally confined to the art of the dissector, is now frequently used to designate the science of organization, and, of course, includes both physiology and natural history, particularly that of the human species.

Physiology is the science of life. The physiology of man, considers him as a living being, investigates the laws by which his vital actions and processes are governed, traces their causes, and examines their effects. The natural history of man, regards him as one among animals, and points out his characteristic distinctions in regard to form, habits, customs, and the varieties of his race. These sciences are nearly connected; the former regarding rather the internal economy, the latter the external characterictics of their subject.

One of the first remarks, that occurs to us in considering these sciences, is, that the public are remarkably, and, we may add, unnaturally ignorant of them. And this is the case, not only with the public in general, but even with many who are not, in other respects, deficient in general knowledge. There is scarcely any science, which is so completely confined to a single profession. We hear gentlemen talk of the law; and who is without some

knowledge of theology, controversial theology at least. Our periodical publications, our every-day reading, our parlour-window books are loaded with long essays on the former subject; while the latter is only excluded by the common consent, which appropriates to it a particular class of publications, as wide-spreading as those merely literary. The public have some knowledge on both subjects, and naturally seek for more. But how seldom does a straggling physiological essay find its way into one of our journals. And what is the reason? The public do not understand the subject sufficiently to be interested in it. They have not learned the first principles of the science, and it is all darkness to them. The few notions they have, are generally derived from, or colored by, the traditional lore, which has descended from the sages of a

darker age to the sages of the nursery. How many are there, who, while they would be ashamed of the same ignorance on any other subject, hardly know the meaning of the names of the sciences of which we are speaking, and would be puzzled, if called on to define either the one or the other.

We have applied the term unnatural to this general ignorance and neglect of these subjects, because it seems at variance with the common results of the most powerful impulse of our nature. We are eager to pry into every thing else, and our efforts are frequently successful. A degree of knowledge of the other sciences is widely diffused. The phenomena of eclipses are now generally understood, and comets no longer, "from their blazing hair, shake pestilence and war." But our knowledge has neither begun nor ended at home; since we are better acquainted with the motions of bodies separated from us by millions of miles, than with those far more wonderful motions, which are continually going on in our own. We flock to see, and are delighted to understand, the machinery of a cotton-factory or a steam-engine. But what are these to the machine, for which, and by which, these noble engines were constructed. Even if we had no more immediate personal interest in this, than most of us have in the machines of Birmingham or Manchester, one would think, that it would attract and fix our attention. How much more, when it is considered, that upon the wellbeing of this depend the happiness and comfort of every moment of our lives, all that moralists have said, and all that poets have sung, of the blessings of health.

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The meanest floweret of the vale,
The simplest note that swells the gale,
The common sun, the air, the skies,"
To him are opening paradise.

Can we contemplate these glorious results of the well-ordered action of our systems, and yet be content to remain in ignorance of their structure, and the laws which govern their actions?

The general ignorance on this subject is to be referred to two principal causes. The first is its intrinsic difficulty. The internal structure of the human body is completely concealed from observation, and the opportunities of examining any part of this during life are rare. They can, therefore, only be studied after the subject has ceased to be a living being. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that a condition like this is a sufficient bar to the study, with the majority of individuals out of the profession of medicine. The power of curiosity is neutralized by that of disgust and abhorrence; and the natural feelings on this subject, strong as they are, have been strengthened in almost every age and nation by motives of a moral nature. The acquisition of physiological knowledge from books is attended with many difficulties. In the first place, there are no proper elementary works on this science. In this respect, many other sciences have greatly the advantage over it. Astronomy, geography, botany, have all their guides and compends. We have "Conversations on Chemistry," "Conversations on Natural Philosophy," and even "Conversations on Political Economy;" but we have no physiological works, except those which are intended for professional students, and suppose a considerable amount of previous knowledge. The science itself indeed supposes a good deal of such information, and some acquaintance with many of the natural sciences, and even with the learned languages, is necessary, before the student can understand a physiological work. The solitary reader is stopped on the very threshold by barbarous names, barbarous doctrines, or, what is worse, allusions to doctrines, which have long ago been consigned to partial oblivion.

These difficulties are avoided by popular lectures, which seem to afford the easiest, if not the only way, in the present state of things, of diffusing some physiological information through the community. The lecturer can often explain, in a few words, an allusion, or a doctrine, which would have cost an unassisted inquirer a day's or even a week's labor. A course of lectures may, moreover, excite a taste for this science in the community, which would soon bear down the present obstacles.

Another reason why the public do not learn more of this science is, that they are not sufficiently aware of their ignorance.

There is a great deal of false knowledge abroad on this subject, which has taken the place, and prevented the progress of the true. The natural consequence has been, that people have not been eager to obtain, what they supposed themselves to be already in possession of.

The advantages to be expected from the diffusion of some general knowledge of physiological science, are such as belong to scientific knowledge in general, and are connected with this in an eminent degree. Physiology is among the noblest of the sciences, and the common consent of all who are acquainted with it, declares it to be inferior to none in point of attraction and interest. It possesses, moreover, some peculiar advantages. It may frequently afford to the individuals of a community opportunities of preserving or prolonging their health and lives. Many instances might be pointed out, and many will probably occur to our readers, in which some information of this sort would be advantageous. But, supposing the knowledge thus acquired to be never, or rarely, applied in practice, it has a tendency to raise the standard of excellence in a profession to which this science properly belongs, a profession which all are ready practically to admit to be of the utmost importance to society. Under how many delusions do the public labor in this particular, and what gross impostures are they not liable to. What absurd and wicked empiricism is not continually practised even in this enlightened age and country, and how feeble are laws and statutes against these things. The light of science, it is true, is gradually chasing away these shadows, and effecting what legislation has labored for in vain. But what can call louder for encouragement, than an attempt to promote this desirable end, and what more likely to produce this effect, than the diffusion of a general knowledge of the laws, by which living beings are governed. That cancer-curers, and warttouchers, and Indian doctors, and high-pressure practitioners will ever be entirely banished from society, is not indeed to be expected, as long as there are so many cases where learning and judgment must pause and hesitate, and as long as "fools will rush in where angels fear to tread;" but their ranks may be thinned, and the number of their victims diminished. Surely every new test which the public can obtain of the capability of those, to whom they are to trust their health and lives, must be valuable. The simple fact, that some knowledge of this subject is common in society, will tend to keep up attention, circumspection, and a desire of real excellence among the members of this important fraternity..

There is another point of view, in which this subject may be considered. In a concern so generally interesting, as the knowledge of the vital actions and processes, if men cannot get right notions, they will have wrong ones. They neither can, nor will, remain in utter ignorance. Every man, woman, and, we had almost said, every child, pretends to some knowledge on this subject; and the consequence is, that the world is filled, and physicians are embarrassed and annoyed, with superstitious and idle fancies. The practitioner is sometimes met by presumptuous confidence, and sometimes by ill grounded timidity, where it would be as hopeless to argue as to talk Greek, not because his opponents are foolish, but simply because they are incapable of appreciating his arguments. We remember to have seen an old man, of good common sense in regard to the ordinary concerns of life, who resented, as an insult to his understanding, an attempt to prove to him, that the world was round, which he saw to be flat; and we are told, that the "inhabitants of a certain island, visited by Captain Cook, were alarmed by his cows and horses, but his sheep and goats came within the narrow bounds of their comprehension, and they gave him to understand, that they knew them to be birds." It is even so with too many domestic physiologists, who have not yet learned their own ignorance. But there is enough to operate upon the feelings and bias the decisions of physicians, without the influence of such pernicious prejudices. We may here be met with the common objection, that instruction in this particular would be injurious; that it would lead people to criticise and embarrass their physicians; and, perhaps, we may have arrayed against us the threadbare quotations, "A little learning is a dangerous thing," "Where ignorance is bliss, 't is folly to be wise," and the like. We shall be told, that people will be too fond of inquiring into the nature of their complaints, and too apt to imagine disorders which never existed.

But, in the first place, we are not disposed to admit the soundness of an argument, which leads to the conclusion, that ignorance is ever bliss, at least in regard to any subject, which the Deity has rendered accessible to our faculties. Our minds were formed for exercise, for activity. We were born to learn. And must we never begin to inquire into a subject, because we cannot understand the whole of it at once? Shall we avoid the water, with the simpleton of Hierocles, till: we have learned to swim?

Who does not perceive, that this is the same reasoning, that has been repeated over and over against the communication of information of any kind to the community. It stands upon a

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