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quite so fortunate, and might rather inquire, non solus quomono, sed quo? On such occasions it was usual to take a gooddeal of latitude-to allude to matters of general interest be-tween the profession and the public, and he might withoutimpropriety revert to certain strictures which had appeared inthe public press on the question of medical etiquette-a matterwhich concerned the public even more nearly than the pro-fession. It was said that lives were and are given, if notsacrificed, to its agency. The Lord Justice Clerk, in a late trial,declared that he cared not for professional etiquette, and that" there is a rule of life and a consideration far higher thanprofessional etiquette and professional rule, " and that is theduty that every citizen of this country, that every right-mindedman owes his neighbour, to prevent the destruction of humanlife in this world." One of the most wonderful things in amedical practitioner is the constancy with which he sees his ’ powers, his principles of action, his codes of honour incompre-hensible to patients and the public. Of course the well-being,the salvation and recovery of his patients is the great end, thesummum bonum of the practitioner. It is the life and soul of all the practitioner’s aims, hopes, anxieties, and ministrations;but should a sense of duty to his patients be the only govern-ing principle ? Are there no collateral duties of any kind ordegree ? Must we, need we be unscrupulous as to the means,so we keep our duty to our patients ? Nay, is it ever requiredof us that we shall do evil in order that good may come, if itbe under the pretence of a sole duty to a patient ? And whowould suffer the lowest and the worst if such a practice weretolerable ? Most assuredly it would be the patient himselfwho would suffer. Even 2’Ae Times, amid much abuse, isconstrained to acknowledge that it would not "be fair to denythat the public benefits in some respects by the esp?-it de corpsof professional men. But what is this medical etiquette thatit should be favoured with such dignified rebuke and con-demnation ? Are these traditional rules or written laws ? ’? Isit an inexorable routine ? It is no such thing. It is none ofthese. Professional etiquette has no principles or laws for itsvotaries but the principles of honour, the courtesies which aneducated, an honourable, and a high-toned and human fellow-ship will dictate and demand. Whoever claims to act on the

principles of medical etiquette and transgresses any one ofthese principles, shelters himself under disguise, and mistakeshis duty both to himself and to his fellow-men."

Dr. Hinds then referred to the establishment of a medicalcollege for women at New York, and said the way in which this new movement would be met by the profession in thiscountry would depend very much on the way in which it -wasmet by the public. If women could fully qualify themselvesfor medical duties and responsibilities, and to the satisfaction Iof the public, it would be very hard, if not useless, for theprofession to make any efforts at obstruction. "But," he said," there is another question less easy of solution. Is the highest class of female mind capable of assuming the duties and re- sponsibilities of professional life ? Are professional responsi- bilities consistent with the female character and the duties ofthe sex’? I believe it is hardly so. Many of the humbler dutiesof the practitioner may be aspired to by women, no doubt;but it appears to me, looking at the character of the femalemind, and the duties which women owe to their ordinary posi-tion-one stamped upon them by our common Maker—that allsuch ministrations will be exceptional; and I believe it may befound that the more that is attempted in this way, the moreexceptional are those ministrations likely to become. Suchbeing the case, while we receive actual facts with a courteous 1and welcome spirit, it certainly would not be honest in theprofession, or in the authorities who govern that profession,to offer encouragement in the way of promotion in referenceto a movement which they believe must, in the highestsense of the term, result, more or less, in failure. A studentof medicine, if he is to he worthy of the name, and worthyof his high destiny, must rest his hopes and pretensions onlabour. That he should work, is the most earnest wish ofevery professor, theological or medical, of this college. Workis that for which every student comes here. A college life ismade respectable by work, made successful by it. The wholeworld indeed is carried on by work. Every good man works,whatever be his position in life, and bad men are unredeemablybad, pitiably contemptible, if they do not work. Life is in-deed sanctiiied by work. The brightest gem in the escutcheonof honour and of nobility is true work. The road to profes-sional success is work. Large-hearted men have become greatthrough their large-heartedness, but the price of success inany intellectual profession or pursuit is drudgery alone. Even

genius without work is almost a barren waste. Lord Bacon

was a most laborious worker. He even worked in his leisuremoments, for amongst many manuscripts found after his death,were Sudden Thoughts set down for Use.’ Who shalladequately picture the labour and drudgery of John Hunter,who was a collector of facts, in a sense which few other menever attained ? ‘.’ The great men of the profession at the presentday are or were laborious workers, and so are the great menof all professions. The pursuit of science is a chimera, exceptin unison with laborious research and drudgery. Faraday, Sir^Roderick Murchison, Hugh Miller, Owen, Carpenter, Sir Ben-jamin Brodie, Sir Charles Hastings, form a fair sample of menwho owe their whole position and repute mainly to their habits

j and power of laborious work and scientific research. Now,with all our best and tried friends still with us ; with thepress to aid us with its influence and good services ; thestudents with us, of course, and the public also with us ; with;a renewed, earnest, and faithful determination on the part ofthe professors to aim at the highest phase of instruction, andof teaching power, and means,--with these things in our pos-session and in our hearts, we conceive our prospects are trulyencouraging, and on these grounds, therefore, we rest our

hopes and our claims for a future of increasing usefulness andincreasing prosperity."

MANCHESTER ROYAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.

DR. MORGAN’S INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS.

After some preliminary remarks, Dr. Morgan said, "Itseems to me that there are occasions on which medical studentsare easily led aside. One, two, or three leaders of popularopinion denounce lectures as a delusion and a snare, and

thereupon the rest of the flock echo and confirm the cry. Iwell remember at the time I was pursuing my medical studieshow frequently I heard students lamenting the hard necessitywhich constrained them to attend a lecture when their valuabletime might so much more profitably have been spent in thelaboratory or the dissecting-room. Now, gentlemen, I makebold to inform you that if any of you entertain this prejudiceagainst lectures, you will one day bitterly regret your mistake.If there are any subjects especially adapted for this modeof instruction, they are those which bear upon the pro-fession of medicine. I can assert, most unhesitatingly, thatthe series of lectures which I attended at a London hospitalwere as a whole infinitely more attractive, and far more calcu-lated to awaken general interest, than those at which I waspresent at the University of Oxford. Nor is it in any degreestrange that such should be the case : anatomy, physiology,chemistry,--in a word, all those sciences to the cultivation ofwhich you are expected to devote your attention, admit ofbeing illustrated by diagrams, specimens, and diverting expe-riments. Such illustrations vary the monotony of your work;they relax that strain upon the mind which its continued ap-plication to the more abstract sciences is so liable to induce.Let me exhort you, then, to make good use of the hours youspend in the theatre; lend your ears to your lecturers. Manyof you whom I now address will probably be one day selectedto fulfil the duty of instructing others; you will then discoverthat, even though the subject you are called upon to treatshould prove dry and uninviting, your labours will be ren-dered comparatively light if you are but favoured with anattentive audience. No more cheering sight can gladden theheart of the teacher than the quick eye and intelligent counte-nance of the thoughtful and painstaking student." He dweltthen upon the importance of a proper use of the wards. Thetwo grand mistakes which prevailed among the students ofour medical schools were, disinclination to profit by the teach-ing of lectures, and remissness in attending the hospital wards.Dr. Morgan then remarked upon the prospects and difficultiesof the profession, and the grounds of confidence in medicine.He observed: " At the commencement of my professionalcareer nothing inspired me with deeper confidence in medicineas a science than observing the marvellous accuracy of thatdiagnostic skill which unravelled even the most obscurecases, whether admitted into the medical or surgical wards.On those occasions, likewise, in which the disease proveddesperate, and terminated fatally, it was allowable, afterdeath, to verify the opinions expressed during life, and suchevidence could not fail to sttisfy the most sceptical minds. Itis this accuracy of diagnosis which really constitutes one ofthe most satisfactory and cheering features in the exercise ofour profession. I do not say that either you or I will ever

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acquire the highest skill in this department of our calling, butstill it is attainable. Study the writings of the late Dr.Graves, of Laennec, the treatise of Frerichs on Diseases of theLiver, and the admirable works of Dr. Stokes, of Dublin, onthe Heart and the Lungs. Follow the workings of mindslike these, study the chain of reasoning that determined theiropinions, accompany them in their after examinations, and youwill, I feel assured, rise from the inquiry with a feeling ofprofound admiration for the sagacity and judgment displayedin their writings .....But while our knowledge of the historyand tendency of disease has become more accurate, so like-wise has our treatment grown more scientific. There is less

theorizing in our profession, more observation. We do not saythis is a case of pneumonia or peritonitis, and therefore such aline of treatment is imperatively called for; but, before wetreat, we seek to understand that unseen working of the dif-ferent organs, that adaptation of parts to the functions theyare called upon to fulfil, which is included in the popular butcomprehensive term-constitution. The lecturer then referredto differences of constitutional vigour and variations in type ;he dwelt upon the value of medical services, and concluded anable oration by an eloquent reference to the heroic self-sacrificeof Herbert Llewellyn on board the Alabama.

LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY SCHOOL OFMEDICINE.

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS BY DR. RAWDON

The lecturer commenced his address by referring to thevarious circumstances which made the first day of the sessionpeculiarly interesting; he bade the students welcome to theschool, and expressed his hearty wishes for their success intheir studies, as well as in the profession they had chosen.He exhorted them to unremitted application to their studies,reminding them that the time allowed was very limited indeed. IHe impressed upon them the importance of system and method in the arrangement of their studies, and advised them as tothe best mode in which they were to be pursued. Having re-ferred to the pleasure which he himself felt on looking back tohis student days passed in that school, Dr. Rawdon proceededto touch upon the resignation of Mr. Fletcher, the lecturer onphysiology, in consequence of ill-health, which, he said, was asource of general regret, and to the appointment of Mr. Har-rison to the position. He then alluded to the high andsolemn character of the duties devolving on members of themedical profession, observing that in their hands were, to agreater or less extent, the health and happiness of their fellow-creatures, among whom they would, in accordance with theirdegree of ignorance or knowledge, cast misery or diffuseblessings. After touching on the sciences of anatomy, phy-siology, and pathology, he dwelt briefly on the advantageswhich medical students might derive from the obtaining ofclinical clerkships and dresserships. Dr. Rawdon expressedhis approval of the plan lately adopted by the lecturers onanatomy of conducting the weekly and prize examination onthe dead subject, and thus testing the student as to his prac-tical knowledge. He cautioned them against any intermissionin or neglect of their studies under the delusive idea that by afew weeks of hard and forced application, previous to theirexamination, they could make up for lost time. Even ifstudents did succeed in obtaining a diploma by such a course,they would be unfit for the practice of their profession. Healso condemned the practice of "grinding," which, he said,was happily dying out, in consequence of a more efficient sys-tem of examination having been adopted. With a view of

showing the great advances made in medical science in moderntimes, Dr. Rawdon quoted extracts from several medical workswritten in the 15th and 16th centuries. The earliest book uponthe subject of medicine he could find was "Guido, his ques-tionaires on chyrugerie," bearing date 1579, and having thefollowing title-page : "A worke both learned and profitablefor chirurgions, the like whereoff before this tyme hath notbene printed." At the commencement the author gives "aprayer necessary to be sayde of all chirurgions," in which,after referring to the Fall as the cause of mankind’s infirmities,he praises God for " having given vertue unto trees, herbes,roots, beasts, fowles, fishes, wormes, stones, and metals, to thehelp of their griefes. " In a work by " The reverend MasterAlexis of Piedmont," as he was termed, and about the samedate, was the following title : "The manner and secrets toconserve a manes youth, and to holde backe old age ; to main-

taine a man alwayes in health and strengthe, as in the fayresteflower of hys age." Don Alexis, the author, was once re-quired to treat a number of soldiers of the Emperor Carlo-Quinto (or Charles the Fifth), Duke of Austria’s army, fordysentery, and the following, he said, was most successful,though Dr. Rawdon remarked that he had no great notion ofDon Alexis’s veracity : " First, I caused them to eate wel, andthen on ye morning I gave them a vomit, and then every dayafter they had eaten I caused them to goe into the water of thesea, and there to remaine four or five hours." In a book byPeter Lowe, dated 1612, it is said, in reference to the amputa-tion of fingers and toes, "Some for this purpose doe use a.

sharp chizell and a mallet, laying the member on a blocke, andso cuts it off." Dr. Rawdon next referred to the progress.which of late years had been made in medical and surgicalpractice. The student had now, he said, the opportunity oflearning his profession from several professors, and he

acquired a more extended knowledge of medical science bylistening to the discourses of men of opposite views. Norshould they underrate the aid furnished by the extensivemedical literature of the present day, whilst collateral sciencehad also contributed to this end, chemistry and the microscopehaving rendered assistance in the study of physiology. Stillit was necessary to progress, for, although their knowledge wasconstantly being increased, there yet remained something to becompleted.

Correspondence.

LIEBIG’S EXTRACT OF BEEF AND FOOD FORINFANTS.

"Audi alteram partem."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SiR, — Having recently made some analyses of Liebig’sExtract of Beef and Food for Infants, and being, therefore, wellacquainted with the composition and nature of those articles, Ibeg to be allowed to offer a few observations on the communi-cation of W. Stevens Squire, Ph.D., inserted in your issue ofSept. 30th. I have the less hesitation in making this request,because, freed from its unbecoming personality, and much thatis wholly irrelevant, the letter in question contains exceedinglylittle that really affects the points at issue, and that little

is, moreover, founded in error.The first part of Dr. Squire’s letter relates to Liebig’s extract

of meat, and the second to his infants’ food. The brief remarkswhich first follow will relate to the former article. This extracthas been generally extolled on account of the highly nutritiveproperties which it has been declared to possess, it being broadlystated in nearly every notice I have seen relating thereto, thatone pound of it was equivalent in nutritive value to no lessthan thirty-two pounds of lean fresh beef, and that one tea-spoonful was sufficient to make a pint of strong beef-tea. Inproof of this assertion I might quote many authorities. Liebighimself says of the extract that " one pound contains thesoluble matter of thirty pounds of flesh, free from all fat; andif boiled with a few slices of bread, potatoes, and a little salt,is sufficient to make broth for 128 men in the field, and of a.

strength which is not to be obtained in the best hotels." Mr.Boner, writing of the extract in the Popular Science Review,characterizes it as " the juice and essence of the strong oxennow feeding on the pampas;" as " the sap, so to say, of theflesh;" as containing " every nourishing particle" capable ofextraction from the beef ; one pound of it as representing " theessence of thirty-two pounds of beef ;" and that it is not simplya restorative, but well adapted "for use in the kitchen."While, on turning over a few pages of the first numbers ofTHE LANCET which come to hand, I find it stated in an adver-tisement by Messrs. Allen and Hanbury, that "the extractrepresents thirty-two times its weight of meat;" and again,in the number for the 8th of July, the very day of the publi-cation of Dr. Hassall’s letter, Mr. W. Hooper likewise affirmsin his advertisement that "this extract represents the nutri-tive properties of thirty-two times its weight of meat." Othersimilar announcements might be quoted if necessary; and yetDr. Squire now coolly affirms in his letter that the article wasnever intended to be regarded as a nutrient; that such an