The History of Medicine, Philosophical and Critical Volume 1; From Its Origin to the Twentieth Century (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1910 Excerpt: ... FIFTH: PERIOD OF THE RENAISSANCE (Continued) CHAPTER IX Medicine In The Eighteenth Century (Concluded) WE have followed the development of medicine through almost another century, from Stahl and van Helmont to Cullen and Good, seemingly a brief period, but marked by a succession of great men, great events, and of magnificent progress in science and discovery, The previous century was distinguished by men of inspiration, men with vague visions of the truth, like Stahl, de la Boe, and van Helmont; half-conceived ideas, ideas too grand for their vocabularies to frame, or to put into intelligible form; who made up with "brass mouths and iron lungs," like Brown of Edinburgh, for what they lacked in clearness of perspective. But contemporary with them were men less brilliant and pretentious, quiet workers, persevering, plodding men, who lie awake at night to follow new lines of invention and discovery, with no thought of reward or remuneration for their time and lost sleep, except the glory of achievement, or of advancing science and learning, such as van Swieten of Vienna, James Gregory and William Cullen of Edinburgh, and John Mason Good of London, and an innumerable host of others whose day and night dreams never come to fruition, at least in their day. Other men less ingenious and more practical take them up and make practical application of them. Neither a learned man nor a thinker, nor even an inventor and discoverer is necessarily a great man. He is the greater man who is able to comprehend the meaning and significance of new truths and discoveries and to bring them to fruition. It is rare indeed that an inventor comprehends the significance of his own discovery; and it is as rare that he ever turns it to account, to the benefit of humanity, or to enrich h...