Page:Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia (ser 03 vol 05).djvu/65

Rh of personal advancement, as derogatory to themselves, injurious to others, and degrading to the profession. It is difficult—though not, therefore, the less obligatory—to maintain a high standard of professional rectitude, when the public, the party most interested in upholding it, offers such inducement to its abandonment; for, unfortunately, it is as true now, as it was in the days of the Prophet, "That truth faileth, and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey."

Dr. Wood was the connecting link between the physicians of a former age, now known only by tradition, and those of the present generation. At the beginning of the current century, medical men still received their instruction chiefly in private offices, very few, comparatively, leaving the country to perfect their education abroad. Those who thus added to their qualifications what was beyond ordinary attainment at home, were regarded as the magnates of the profession, and as persons having authority. Rush, Physick, Wistar, Chapman, and others, loomed up to the common eye as almost something more than ordinary mortals. There was only one medical school in the city, and the professors—men certainly of exceptional ability, character, and acquirement—were regarded with the greatest respect and veneration by their pupils. They bore, relatively to other physicians and to the public, a higher position than those of the present day. Not that they were actually superior, either in talent or in learning. On the contrary, so great has been the advance of science since their time, that much of their highest attainment would now be deemed rudimentary. The Jefferson College did not come into existence till long afterwards, and the venerable and distinguished Professor of Surgery in that Institution, whose semi-centenary of active duty was