In the article upon Cullen (q.v.), so full an account is given of the doctrines of that celebrated physician that it is unneccessary to add more than that most of the distin guished physicians of the latter part of the 18th c. belonged to what may be termed the Cullenian school of medicine. His views were attacked with great acrimony by his former assistant, John Brown, the founder of the Brunonian system of medicine. In this country the views of Brown were regarded as too purely theoretical, and did not acquire any great popularity; but on some parts of the continent, and especially in Italy, they were very generally adopted, and became for a considerable time the prevailing doctrine in several of the leading medical schools. To supplement this meager outline of the progress of medicine in the 18th c., the reader is recommended to consult the biographies] sketches of Monro, Blanc, the Hunters, Jenner, etc.
If we exclude certain popular quackeries, we may regard the Brunonian as the last of medical sects. The present century may be considered as the epoch of physiological experiment and clinical observation. The efficient laborers in the field of medicine, during the la-st 60 years, have been so numerous that it would be impossible to notice, in this article, even those whom we deemed the most celebrated, while it would be invidi ous to attempt such a selection.
Our materia medica has•received a large number of most important additions, among which may be especially noticed quinine, morphia,.strychnine, iodine, and the iodides, the bromides, hydrocyanic acid, cod-liver oil, and chloroform. The physical diagnosis of disease has been facilitated to an extent far-beyond what the most saneine physician. of the last century could have deemed possible, by the discovery and practical application of the stethoscope, the pleximeter, the speculum. the ophthalmoscope, and the laryngo
scope; while chemistry and the microscope have been successfully applied to the investi gation of the various excietions, and especially of the urine mid its deposits.
The discovery of vaccination as a means of preventing small-pox, although rnade (SCC JENNER) at the close of last century, may be regarded practically as belonging to the present, since a considenible time elapsed before its value was generally recognized.
The true and certain diagnosis between typhus and typhoid (or enteric) fever is due to living physicians; and the discoverers of Bright's disease of the kidneys, and of Addi son's disease of the supra-renal capsules, have only recently been lost to science.
The treatment of many diseases, especially those of an inflammatory nature, has been much modified, and in most cases improved, especially during the last quarter of a cen tury. The victims to the lancet are far fewer Phan they formerly were, but if the patients of the present day run little risk of being bled to death. there is an occasional chance of their perishing- from the too copious administration of brandy. The moral to. be drawn by the unbiased observer of the depleting and the stimulating modes of treat ing inflammatory diseases such as pneumonia. and pericarditis, is that nature will often effect a cure even'in" Spite of the interference Of tett energetic physiciaus. It is estah lished beyond all question by the statistics which have been collected by an eminent living physician, that the progress of pulmonary consumption is retarded for an average space of three years by the judicious administration of cod-liver oil; due attention being, .of course, paid to the general treatment of the patient.