Page:Introductory lecture delivered in the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin, at the commencement of the clinical course, October 31, 1864 (IA b21916433).pdf/20

20 and smaller, until they dwindled down to nothing. The great advantage of charity sermons in support of such an institution as this is, not so much the amount of money they bring in, as their keeping the existence of the necessities of the hospital prominently before the public. A careful consideration of this whole subject has produced, in my mind, a decided conviction that the abolition of the medical class would be detrimental to the best interests of the charity. Not to speak of the services rendered to the hospital by the pupils as clinical clerks and dressers—services at present rendered gratuitously, but which would then have to be paid for—think of what an advantage it has been to have had the merits of the hospital brought under the notice of hundreds of families who have had their sons or their nephews in attendance, who would otherwise have known little of its merits, if they had even heard of its existence. The medical school has been a cheap standing advertisement. The great stimulus to sustained interest and activity in the service of the hospital, presented to the staff of medical attendants, is the class of students. Take this away, and you will soon find it necessary to provide salaries for the performance of duties, which will cease to be attractive. At present the office of physician and surgeon is an object of ambition to the most promising members of the profession, whenever a vacancy occurs. Do you think it would continue to be so if this inducement to seek for the appointment were removed? Further, I consider the existence of the clinical arrangements to be necessary, in order to uphold the original design of the institution. That design was to provide an efficient hospital for the treatment of cases requiring professional assistance. It was not to be a shelter for chronic cases lasting for years, but presenting no hope of ultimate amendment. However important such an institution may be, it is not what was contemplated in the establishment of the present charity. Take away then the active surveillance of the medical officers, stimulated by the perpetually recurring necessity of maintaining its true character, and there can be but little doubt that it will soon degenerate