Page:Introductory lecture delivered at the Middlesex Hospital, October 1st, 1877 (IA b22447258).pdf/11

11 far as I am able, a few suggestions which may help to lighten your coming labours.

One almost shudders at a first glance at the number of subjects embraced in the medical curriculum, and the amount of time you must devote to each to gain a fair knowledge even of their rudiments. I anticipate havoc in the ranks of this army of subjects, and prophesy the exclusion of several from the medical course, for I am not alone in thinking they never ought to have gained a foothold there, not because such knowledge is unimportant, for of no branch of knowledge can this be said at the present day; but because it should have been sown, and should have borne its fruits, before you commence your new duties in a medical school.

Anatomy must ever remain one of the great central subjects of your medical studies. Like the keystone of the arch, touching both halves of your work—medicine on the one hand, surgery on the other—and fitly crowning the span of your knowledge, for without it neither side could stand secure. For these reasons, therefore, I beg to offer you a few general remarks on this subject of anatomy.

Anatomy should occupy much of your time during the first two winter sessions of your work. The college standard is now high, too high, I venture to think, in one respect, since a very large proportion of what you so laboriously gather is forgotten in a few weeks.

When you engage later on in active practice the broadest outlines alone remain, and few men are able to keep up a knowledge of anatomical details