Page:The Hunterian Oration, delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons ... February 14, 1817 (IA b22009358).pdf/13

5 stance, whether well or ill founded, would be unimportant, were it not for the consideration that in those days the same professions continued to be exercised in the same families through successive generations; and the accumulation of facts and of observations thus made, is entitled to the greater respect, inasmuch as they are founded upon long experience. The accurate descriptions which Hippocrates has given of those internal diseases and general disorders of the constitution, the treatment of which falls exclusively to the physician, have, in every succeeding age, been the subject of admiration, and frequently the directions to successful practice. With the very imperfect knowledge of anatomy that he possessed, it is surprising how rational in many instances, was his treatment �