Читать книгу The Dawn of Modern Medicine онлайн

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As I write these lines I am prompted to add the further statement that during my stay at Lexington, which covered a period of seven months, I received every assistance from the Transylvania College authorities that I could possibly desire; and in particular I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to the librarian, Mrs. Norton, for the interest which she manifested in my work and for the valuable assistance which she rendered in hastening its completion.

Cuvier, the celebrated naturalist, in a memoir which he read before the Royal Institute of France, makes the following statement: “It is not through a perusal of the insufficient extracts that are commonly made from the published works of distinguished men, nor through the incomplete indications which the recital of their discoveries may furnish, that we derive the greatest pleasure from the eulogies pronounced after the death of these men. This desirable result is more likely to be obtained when we are made intimately acquainted with their individual traits of character,—when we are, so to speak, permitted to know these men in a social way; when we are given the opportunity of contemplating, close at hand, their distinct qualities, their virtues, yes, even their faults,—provided the facts are plainly stated by one who is skilled in such portraiture. Furthermore, the reader is sure to derive the greatest pleasure, and also to be the most benefited, when every page of the eulogy furnishes evidence of the genuine happiness and wonderful serenity which characterize the lives of those who devote themselves to the culture of the sciences. Compare these men with those who have been intent on securing glory through devastating the world, and note how frequently they live to be septuagenarians or even octogenarians.” Deeply impressed by the wisdom of the advice thus briefly given by the celebrated French naturalist, I have striven, in the following chapters, to act upon it as circumstances might permit.