FEBRUARY 8, 1862. sicians, being able, chosen, and admitted by the said president HARVEY, AND THE UNITY OF THE and fellowship of physicians, may, from time to time, as well within the City of London as elsewhere within the realm, prac- PROFESSION. tise and exercise the said science of physic in all and every his members and parts, any Act, statute, or provision made to the Being the Annual Address delivered to the Harveian Society. contrary notwithstanding." The right of physicians, " duly approved of by the president BY EDWARD H. SIEVEKING, M.D., and commonalty of the College of Physicians," to practise sur- PHYSICIAN TO ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL. gery, is specially admitted in the charter given by Charles I. to the and has not been withdrawn (Concluded from page 118.) barber-surgeons, by any subsequent Act or charter. Still though Dr. Turner, a licen- tiate of the College, published a meritorious work " On Sur- I NOW crave not to the contents of the your attention, work,* gery," in two volumes, in or about 1714,* the College, as a but to the title-page. You will there find it stated that Dr. body,-from what motive it is not my province to inquire,- William Harvey, a Fellow and Treasurer of the College of in no way countenanced or promoted the science and art of and to his Charles I., filled the surgery from the days of Harvey downwards. It were useless Physicians, physician Majesty to the which medical affairs have office of Professor of and to the He speculate upon aspect might Anatomy Surgery College. assumed in this country long before the passing of the Medical held this office by virtue of the will of Richard Caldwell, M.D., Act of 1858, had the principle asserted in the statute of who, in the twenty-fourth year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, Henry VIII. been acted upon and the well-meant intentions procured her Majesty’s leave, under the broad seal, to found a of Dr. Caldwell been fully carried out. If medicine includes Surgery lecture in the College. This he endowed with X40 surgery, a liberal interpretation may admit that surgery, in the sense of Dr. Caldwell’s foundation, embraces anatomy; but per annum, which was laid as a rent upon the lands of. charge no interpretation could justify a total exclusion of surgery Lord and and their heirs for ever. What Lumley Dr. Caldwell proper from the Lumleian lectures for two hundred years. the connexion was between the Lord and the Doctor I have’ The College of Physicians has, through many of its most not been able to ascertain ;t but while it appears that the latter- distinguished members, established a strong claim to be con- ’ sidered a of the of As as 1540, certainly was the chief mover in the matter, the former has, promoter study anatomy. early Dr. Caius, whose name is familiar to us all, delivered anatomical obtained the lion’s share of the fame; the Lumleian lectures,’ lectures in Barber-Surgeons’ Hall; while, after his time, we which are still held annually at the College of Physicians, per-’ find Drs. Glisson, Mead, Willis, Lower, Wm. Hunter, and petuate the gift of its quondam president, Dr. Caldwell. Matthew Baillie continuing the chair which links Dr. William Now, you will perhaps have been surprised to hear that; Harvey to the present generation of anatomists-names that these Lumleian lectures were founded for the express purpose are all of high repute, not only in the wide field of medical of cultivating the art of Surgery under the auspices of the Royal1 science at large, but in the special branch to which I am ad- College of Physicians. The original deed says expressly, and verting. t But where do we find any sign that that ancient without the least ambiguity, that the money is to be paid " ad corporation acted upon the principle involved in its acceptance tisum lectoris artis seu scientix chirurgiæ." Your surprise mayr of Dr. Caldwell’s munificent bequest, and laid down in so be justified by the fact that, although you have often heard of many words in the 32nd of Henry VIII., that the science of Lumleian lecturers (now appointed annually, a,nd not for life Physic" doth comprehend, include, and contain the knowledge as in Harvey’s time), and are acquainted with important addi- of surgery as a special member and part of the same" ? tions to medical science which have been given to the public If I venture to bring before you one of the lac7tes of the under that name, you are profoundly ignorant-as I confess College to which I hold it an honour to belong, I trust my myself to be-of any surgical question that has ever been motive will not be misunderstood; but that you will agree handled in them. We are using Dr. Caldwell’s money for the with me that such a Society as the one I am now privileged to advancement of medical science, but certainly not in the way address, and such an opportunity as is at present afforded me, in which he intended that it should be employed. Dr. Cald- are the fitting place and time for ascertaining whether we well sowed a seed nearly two hundred vears ago which has have done or are all doing our duty by our profession-a pro- brought fruit in various ways, but whether that fruit would fession which none can cultivate unless they love it, but the not have been more abundant and luscious had the donor’s dis- love of which, like all true love, grows by that upon which it- positions been rigidly adhered to, is a question that I do not feeds. pretend to answer. Nor can it be averred that Dr. Caldwell The Medical Act of 1858 has contributed greatly towards was an eccentric character, bent upon immortalizing himself establishing a certain unity in the profession; but it has not, by some Quixotic undertaking. Ve have seen that he shel- nor could it, make up for that neglect of its duties to the pro- tered himself "magni sub nominis umbra," of Baron Lumley, fession which the College of Physicians has formerly been and it is apparent from the annals of the College, that his guilty of. Still I hold, as I publicly stated in 1850, that we surgery lecture was received as a boon : the College did not may yet redeem the past; and that, by acting in conformity only acknowledge their great obligations clue for this so honour- with the spilit of its founders; of the Fellows who accepted able and generous a donation most thankfully by them ac- "most thankfully" the generous gift of Dr. Caldwell; of cepted, but as a testimony thereof did immediately decree that William Harvey, who was one of the earliest Professors of one hundred pounds should be forthwith taken out of their Surgery to the College, we may supplement what is lacking to public stock, to build the College rooms more ample and estahli,h on the firmest and widest basis a thorough Unity of the spacious, for the better celebration of this most solemn lecture." Medical Profession. And yet, in spite of these warm expres,ions, it was not long It is in Societies like the Harveian that we may not un. before the College virtually ignored Dr. Caldwell’s intention; reasonably see a type of the unity which so many of us desire for already in the edition of Harvey’s works, published by the for the profession at large-unity without uniformity-a. bond College in the year 1766, we find the author styled professor of which allows of the freest individual development, while it anatomy only : surgery is no longer included in his title. serves only as a check to any outgrowths calculated to harm This procedure was the more irregular because, in accepting the commonwealth or to injure the neighbour. Such harm or bonâ fide the gift and endowment of Dr. Caldwell, the College injury may result as well from sins of omission as of commis. acted in accordance with the very letter of the statute (32 sion, and it would appear from what has preceded that the Henry VIII., c. 40) passed in 1540 upon their own humble former categorv is the one to which the faults of the Royal petition to the King and Parliament. The third paragraph College of Physicians have mainly belonged. No one would enacts as follows:-" And for as much as the science of physic desire to see any mere shibboleth set up which should distin. doth comprehend, include, and contain the knowledge of sur guish the true professional man from the spurious imitation. gery as a special member and part of the same; therefore, be it We do not desire that any corporate body should again deal enacted, that any of the same compauy or fellowship of phy. with one of its members as Dr. Geynes was treated, and force him to " in verba as a test of medical ortho- * Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sangumis, ke. swear, magistri," t It is probable, from an expression in Camden’s Annals of the Reign of doxy; but I do think that, on the other hand, the dignity of Queen Ehzabeth, that Dr. Caldwell had a strong hankering after the aris- tocracy, and induced Lord Lumley to give his name -imply as an ornamental * The edition of Turner’s work before me is the fifth, and bears date 1736; addition to his utilitarian ioundation. C,1mdel1, rcfcl’l’i:Jg to" Caldwallus," but in an extract from the Acta Etuditorum of Leipsic of 1722, they refer to a says : " Qui, ut de republica bene mererctur (adscito in partem honoris b acone lacdatory review of Twrner’a Sarncry contained in their Acts of 1715. Lnmieio) iectionem chirurgicam, holesto satarlo, in TIedicorum Collegio t See the works of John Hunter, F.R.S., by James F. Palmer, vol. i., p. 5. Londini i»ctitnit." Medical Tinier April 20th, 1850. No. 2006. 142 the profession, its social and political position, would be around us and see in every direction the tendency to break materially enhanced if the bonds of fellowship were drawn up the great star of medicine into numerous small fragments, closer than they now are, and if, by joining more cordially in destroying the cohesion, and seeking to make each fragment a the support of that principle which induced Dr. Caldwell, a separate star, the effort is but natural to maintain the integrity physician, to found a surgical lectureship in his College, those of the mother-star, if possible, seeing that the fragments must jealousies and heartburnings which occasionally become per- cease to possess light and warmth in the exact ratio of the ceptible, were obliterated. isolation which they attain. Such Societies as this are the re- I quite acknowledge the necessity of a division of labour, presentatives of the great idea of the unity of medical science; and the propriety of individual members of the profession fol- here we meet on common ground, and each member learns from lowing their peculiar bent in cultivating one department of the other, and takes home to ponder and use again what he science and practice with greater zeal than another. But receives from the common stock. But we must each in his own the less isolation there is between them, the more complete living and teaching seek, as far as possible, not to forget that, as the unity of education and mental development, the more the vessels permeate the whole body, and are in uninterrupted intimate the community of interests in after-life, the more communication with one another, so we can only maintain the certainly and fully shall we, each according to his capa- integrity of medical science by keeping in view the intimate city, be enabled to exalt science and advance the wellbeing relation and mutual bearings of all the various disciplines that of our fellow-men. If I have ventured to draw your attention go to make up the unity of the science. to what I believe everyone who inquires candidly will admit In conclusion, gentlemen of the Harveian Society and visitors, to be a serious neglect of duty on the part of my College, you let me express a hope that while I have ventured, in general will not, I hope, regard me as a faithless son. I make no terms, to advert to topics that we all have at heart, I have accusation against individuals, but would rather, were this the done so without acerbity and without a word that can give proper place for it, indulge in an expression of rejoicing that pain to an individual. Even where great principles are at the College has recently overcome ancient prejudices, and has stake, it is not always necessary to hurt anyone in order to performed its duties to the profession by opening its portals enforce them. In the present instance, I believe I may assume to all, while it has done so at no expense of principle, but under that we are essentially at one, and while we all desire the ad- conditions that can only tend to elevate the character of the vancement of medical science, we shall, when the fitting oppor- profession. tunities present themselves, carry our ideas into practice. The fault that has been committed, and for which many Allow me now to congratulate the Society upon having generations of Fellows of the College must bear and share returned to a newly enlarged and redecorated meeting-hall. the blame, has been the result of that shortsightedness which May the increased dimensions of the room be an augury of the seeks selfish advancement at the cost of our neighbour, and increased expansion and prosperity of the Society; and may it which, as in this case, invariably recoils upon the indi- under all circumstances continue to enjoy the reputation which vidual or corporation which has shown itself oblivious of the has peculiarly belonged to it, of being one in which the severity first law in the code of Christian ethics. The College of Phy- of strict science is tempered by the amenities of friendly inter- sicians, instead of embracing, as was the original intention, all course. If on this occasion we have, for the first time in the that belongs to the profession of Medicine, (mind, I include no annals of the Society, ventured to ask a large number of our medical traders,) and ultimately absorbing and uniting the friends to partake of such hospitality as we are able to offer moral and intellectual power of twenty thousand of the best- them, it is right that the members should fully understand educated men of the country, became a clique eyed with that this is mainly due to the admirable management of our jealousy and distrust. That unity, by which alone we could zealous treasurer, Dr. Fuller. We owe it to him that there acquire force, had to be sought in other ways, and was but are such assets as to justify what in former times might have partially acquired after much and tedious labour. The College appeared an act of extravagance. Whether our means of in- has shown greater vitality of late than many of its enemies creasing the social and scientific utility of our Society may believed it to possess, and may yet develop the powers given grow with our age must depend upon the interest in the well- to it. If this be the case, we may hope to see, at last, the being of the Society by each individual member. The law, Lumleio-Caldwellian lectures restored to their pristine func- that the attraction of gravitation increases in proportion to the tion, and a Lecturer on Surgery cease to be one of the myths of size of a body, applies to human institutions as it does to in- the College, but become a living, fruitbearing reality. If I am animate aggregations of atoms. If each member bears this in right in the conclusions which documents accessible to everyone mind, there will be, as each new year comes round, grounds have led me to form, we must all, I think, wish that the College for a satisfactory rerrospect and for hopeful anticipations. of Physicians should take upon itself, now that it gives the In resigning the office of president, to which your considerate general practitioner a title to practise, to inquire into the kindness has called me, I beg to offer you all my sincere thanks, surgical knowledge of the candidates, and that facilities should coupled with an expression of regret that I should have been be offered to the admission of distinguished surgeons to the able to do so little towards the promotion of the growth of the fellowship of the College. A multiplication of examinations Society. The little that I have done has been given from a and diplomas is neither pleasant nor useful, and I can see no full heart, and with a lively desire to serve you. difficulty in carrying out the suggestion on the basis of the Gentlemen, I thank yon for the polite attention with which 32nd Henry VIII. Let the College show that it has eman- you have followed me through this feeble attempt to bring cipated itself from all narrow-minded sectarianism by appoint- before you our great prototype under a new aspect, as a repre- ing to its Lumleian lectureships the leading surgeons of the sentative of the Unity of the Profession, and I bid you heartily, day, if there are none among the present Fellows of its body Farewell. capable of taking upon themselves the responsibility of becom- ing the successors of William Harvey, as bonâ-fide lecturers on the Art and Science of Surgery. NICOTINE FOUND IN THE VISCERA OF A SNUFFTARER.- However, I am verging upon the dangerous ground of M. Morin, of Rouen, anxious to ascertain whether nicotine could medical politics. My wish simply was, to recall to all our be detected in the viscera, subjected the lungs and liver of a. minds vividly that we belong to a single profession-to one in snuff taker, who had died at seventy, to a careful analysis, and which there is scope for the most varied physical and intel- found the alkaloid just mentioned. Portions of the lungs and lectual endowments, though one bond may unite all. He from liver were reduced to a pulp and soaked in distilled water, whom we derive our name, and in whose footsteps we all wish slightly acidulated for the lungs with sulphuric acid, and for to tread, according to the strength and steadiness given to us the liver with oxalic acid. Several days afterwards, the liquor severally, accepted the obligations implied by a lectureship on was filtered through paper free from carbonate of lime, then surgery. It is not desirable at present to open a discussion as concentrated to a third of its volume, and filtered again to free to how far this unity of medical science may be represented in it from the flakes which had formed. It was now once more the institutions of the country; but so much is certain, that if evaporated, and treated with pure alcohol, when fresh flakes the bulk of the members of the profession take the view that formed. The alcohol was then removed by heat after filtra- union is strength, the means of achieving more complete and tion. The residue was mixed with a small quantity of pure practical fusion of the various elements that are now too far potash. On cooling, snlphuric ether was added; and, after a sundered, will be readily found, few hours, the decanted liquor was evaporated in vacuo. The I trust I may reckon upon your pardon if my address should substance now obtained, having the smell and the acrid taste of not appear to you rigidly to fulfil the demands made by the nicotine, was treated by the bichloride of mercury, chloride of laws of the Society. But I am of opinion that what is calcu- platinum, tannin, biniodide of potassium, the salts of copper lated to advance the interests of the profession at large cannot and lead, and with all were the reactions of nicotine obtained. but redound to the benefit of a small section. When we look -Gaz. Hebd., Dec. 1861.