Page:Blackwell 1898 Scientific method in biology.pdf/33



HILST fully recognising the right of the laity to criticise scientific method when it deals with sentient animals, fashioned on the same general plan as ourselves, and capable of fear, pain, affection, and gratitude, there is another aspect of the subject which we are bound to consider.

The present condition of medicine is that of an art, not of a science. It is erroneous to speak of the science of medicine. There exists uncertainty in diagnosis, uncertainty in the action of remedies, ignorance of individual idiosyncrasy, and terrible inability to meet such devastating diseases as cancer, consumption, leprosy, etc.

No one outside the profession can fully realize the grave responsibility, even desperate anxiety,