Page:The Hunterian Oration, delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons ... February 14, 1817 (IA b22009358).pdf/50

42 are expelled from the body, were explained ; and in short, the powers of which the constitution is possessed, to resist disease and to repair the effects of injuries, were far better understood than at any former period.

This preliminary knowledge necessarily produced a more rational pathology; and that the comforts and safety to mankind from thence derived became apparent, and were properly appreciated, is seen by the high degree of estimation in which those who exercised the Art and Science of Surgery were held. ‘The easy and effectual method of restraining hemorrhage by the ligature—the general adoption of simple and superficial applications to wounds and sores—the practice of saving as much skin as possible in

operations— and even the bringing into con- �