Page:The Harveian oration, delivered before the Royal College of Physicians, Wednesday, June 27th, 1877 (IA b22314623).pdf/40

 fabric has, indeed, been scarcely recognised until the present century; and even now, great as have been the achievements of illustrious students, many of whom we claim as associates of this College, we only appear to see the dawn of the full efful- gence of knowledge. Truly, whether we look to the results already secured, or to the promise they offer of greater light, we cannot refuse the claim of the labourers in this department of medical science to be considered as genuine fellow- labourers of Harvey; conscientiousness, perseve- rance, concentration and clcarness of thought, are the characteristics of many of our contemporaries, whom, in an assembly like the present, it would be unnecessary to recal by name. But they, like the collaborators in other realms of medicine, have materially contributed towards rendering this present time deserving of the title of the Harveian cra.

Few things are more encouraging to the medical man, who reads the works of Harvey with atten- tion, than to find that his faith in the value of treatment was in no wise impaired by his studies;** on the contrary, he frequently illustrates the value of his physiological discoveries by showing the direct application to be made of them to the arrest and control of disease. The more we study the works that have survived him, the more


 * See especially Sydenham Society's edition, p. 129.