Page:Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (ser 03 vol 05).djvu/50

xl, are more prevalent now than they formerly were. However this may he, there can he no doubt, I think, that life is often lost, or health permanently impaired, by the omission of venesection in cases proper for its use; for by no other means can the morbid changes, incompatible with either, be so effectually arrested and prevented. Observation at the bedside, uninfluenced by theory or prepossession, must guide the judgment in each individual case.

It is no valid objection that the practice is liable to abuse by unqualified persons who, unhappily, gain admission to the profession. Indeed, such practitioners are doubly culpable, for the mischief they directly do, and for the discredit which they bring upon a mode of cure for which, timely and judiciously employed, there is frequently no effectual substitute. The same remark will apply, though with less force, to the use of mercury, which few physicians of experience would desire to have altogether abandoned, because it has been prescribed wrongfully and indiscriminately. Dr. Wood's book was written for educated men, and presupposes tact and intelligence in those who read it. The author's standard of professional qualification was a very elevated one; his diagnosis was careful and accurate; and, knowing his own full and conscientious preparation, he would not unlikely presume the equal caution and fitness of others.

There was little of originality in the mental constitution of Dr. Wood, and hence he was more inclined to deal with fact than to indulge in speculation. He has not, perhaps, added much to our stock of ideas; though almost unrivalled in the presentation of existing knowledge. He walked in the olden paths consecrated by long prescription and general approval, deferred much to authority, and was slow—as in the important concerns of life and health all should be—to