The gold-headed cane . s and honest Physician of the Englishschool. If this be true in ordinary cases of sick-ness, it is more especially so with the hypo-chondriac, or with those whose appetites arejaded by a long course of indulgence. Tothem an expert Physician will say, I adviseyou to take some calves-feet jelly made withhock; or could you not fancy the claw of aboiled lobster, with a little butter and Cay-enne pepper? But I have few adventures to relate; mystate of retirement kept me in an almost totalignorance of what was passing in the greatworld. It may therefore be a fit opportunityfor
The gold-headed cane . s and honest Physician of the Englishschool. If this be true in ordinary cases of sick-ness, it is more especially so with the hypo-chondriac, or with those whose appetites arejaded by a long course of indulgence. Tothem an expert Physician will say, I adviseyou to take some calves-feet jelly made withhock; or could you not fancy the claw of aboiled lobster, with a little butter and Cay-enne pepper? But I have few adventures to relate; mystate of retirement kept me in an almost totalignorance of what was passing in the greatworld. It may therefore be a fit opportunityfor me to pause a little, and review, for a mo-ment, the progress of medicine for the lasthundred and fifty years. Sydenham died the very year I became con-nected with the profession; him, therefore, Inever saw, but with his name and merits I soonbecame abundantly familiar. He has beenusually styled the English Hippocrates, andwith reason, for there is a great resemblancebetween their characters. Although they 236 BAILLIE. were both theorists, and, on many occasions,apparently founded their practice upon theirtheories, yet they were still more attentive tothe observation of facts, and seldom permittedtheir speculative views to interfere with theirtreatment of their patients. In opposition tothe Physicians of his time, Sydenham di-rected his first attention to the careful observa- * This bust of Sydenham is in the Censors Room. BAILLIE. 237 tion of the phenomena of disease, and chieflyemployed hypothesis as the mere vehicle bywhich he conveyed his ideas. His merit hasbeen justly appreciated by posterity, both inhis own country and among foreigners; andhis works continue to this day to be a stand-ard authority, and are as much esteemed afterthe lapse of a century and a half, as they wereimmediately after their publication. But hisskill in physic was not his highest excellence,his whole character was amiable, his chief viewbeing the benefit of mankind, and the chief mo-tive of his ac
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