Page:The Harveian oration delivered at the Royal College of Physicians June 26, 1889 (IA b22361285).pdf/32

 enough to acknowledge an infidelity which might bring obloquy upon him. Though checked by these considerations, the student may be cheered by the reflection, that the true objects of pathological research are rarely appreciated by the chemist who is not a worker at the bed-side. Symptoms must be correctly noted and valued before they can be usefully connected with changes from the healthy constitution of the fluids, and this is no task for those who are unaccustomed to look upon disease. On the other hand, the physician, unless he be an accomplished chemist, will not comprehend the true nature, bearings, and value of the results obtained in the laboratory. The chemist’s return sets forth the proportion of various proximate elements contained in the material submitted to analysis; but that this yields any information worth possessing to the practical physician who is not a chemist, is to my mind very problematical.