Page:The Harveian oration delivered at the Royal College of Physicians June 26, 1889 (IA b22361285).pdf/31

 possible influence of the forces concerned in the operations of the organism. To do more than this (which has been too often the case) is as mischievous as it would be, were we to refrain from suggesting the probable utility of a discovery having a strong bearing on our subject, merely because it was incapable, as it stood alone, of explaining satisfactorily any given phenomenon. It is to be hoped that collateral experiment, bearing on Graham’s law, may early bring us to important results.

In considering the application of chemistry to the pathology of the fluids, we meet with a field of inquiry so vast that, notwithstanding the labour and thought which have been bestowed upon it, it is comparatively unexplored. The pathological student here finds himself involved in the study of very various and very confusing questions, having reference both to the proximate and proximate analysis of animal matters.

The normal standards given him by the chemist are to serve as starting-points of inquiry, but in applying aU this knowledge to pathology he will rarely gain much advantage. It may happen his faith becomes less firm as his acquaintance with the subject increases, and that he is scarcely bold