Sir Morell Mackenzie; physician and operator; a memoir compiled and ed from private papers and personal reminiscences . HOUT POSITIVE EVIDENCE. 201 but perfectly fair opinions, and I think I shouldcap them with these equally frank words ofMackenzie :— Theoretically it may be maintained that the practicalresults which are to follow an opinion ought not to influencethe formation of that opinion; common sense demands adifferent conclusion. If action is to be taken—and especiallyif that action brings a human life into immediate danger—much greater certainty ought to be arrived at than if theopinio
Sir Morell Mackenzie; physician and operator; a memoir compiled and ed from private papers and personal reminiscences . HOUT POSITIVE EVIDENCE. 201 but perfectly fair opinions, and I think I shouldcap them with these equally frank words ofMackenzie :— Theoretically it may be maintained that the practicalresults which are to follow an opinion ought not to influencethe formation of that opinion; common sense demands adifferent conclusion. If action is to be taken—and especiallyif that action brings a human life into immediate danger—much greater certainty ought to be arrived at than if theopinion is not to be followed by any practical consequence. In acase of such transcendent importance as that in which I wasengaged, I maintain, at the risk of reiteration, that before itwould have been justifiable to perform an operation, not onlyhighly dangerous in itself, but extremely uncertain in its results,the most positive evidence of its necessity was required. This,however, was not forthcoming. The pathological reports onlyshow that scientific investigation has its limits. ( Frederickthe Noble, p. 200-1.). X. THE BOOK. X. THE BOOK. If the professional and personal attack madeupon Mackenzie by Bergmann and his nine co-adjutors raised the wind, Mackenzies reply in Frederick the J^oble raised the whirlwind. It was of course translated, and then had thehonour of being publicly burned, whilst theEnglish edition ran through 100,000 in a shorttime. Few authors could hope for more thanthis. The controversy raged briskly on both sidesof the water. Mackenzie met with no morequarter from the medical profession at homethan abroad. He had, as we have seen, hiswarm supporters in Germany ; he had his warmsupporters in England ; but, whatever some ofthese individuals may have thought, few of themhad the courage to speak openly^ and the generalfeeling of the faculty expressed by the Royal 206 THE BOOK. College of Physicians and the Royal College ofSurgeons was, that Mackenzie had viola
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