common funds for its support, when fees are dispensed with, which might justly be claimed.

§ 26. It frequently happens that a Physician, in his incidental communications with the patients of other Physicians or with their friends, may have their cases stated to him in so direct a manner, as not to admit of his declining to pay attention to them. Under such circumstances his observations should be delivered with the most delicate propriety and reserve: he should not interfere in the curative plans pursued, and should even recommend a steady adherence to them, if they appear to merit approbation.

§ 27. A Physician, when visiting a sick person in the country, may be desired to see a neighbouring patient who is under the regular direction of another Physician, in consequence of some sudden change or aggravation of symptoms. The conduct to be pursued on such an occasion is to give advice adapted to present circumstances, to interfere no farther than is absolutely necessary with the general plan of treatment, to assume no future direction unless it be expressly desired, and, in this case, to request an immediate consultation with the practitioner antecedently employed.

§ 28. At the close of every interesting and important case (especially when it hath terminated fatally,) a Physician should trace back in calm reflec

tion all the steps which he had [has?] taken in the treatment of it. This review of the origin, progress, and conclusion of the malady, of the whole curative plan pursued, and of the particular operation of the several remedies employed, as well as of the doses and periods of time in which they were administered, will furnish the most authentic documents on which individual experience can be formed. But it is in a moral view that the practice is here recommended; and it should be performed with the most scrupulous impartiality. Let no self-deception be permitted in the retrospect; and, if errors either of omission or commission are discovered, it behoves that they should be brought fairly and fully to the mental view. Regrets may follow, but criminality will thus be obviated; for good intentions, and the imperfection of human skill which cannot anticipate the knowledge that events alone disclose, will sufficiently justify what is past, provided the failure be made conscientiously subservient to future wisdom and rectitude in professional conduct.

§ 29. The opportunities which a Physician not unfrequently enjoys, of promoting and strengthening the good resolutions of his patients suffering under the consequences of vicious conduct, ought never to be neglected. And his counsels, or even remonstrances, will give satisfaction, not disgust,

if they be conducted with politeness, and evince a genuine love of virtue, accompanied by a sincere interest in the welfare of the person to whom they are addressed.

§ 30. The observance of the Sabbath is a duty to which Medical men are bound, so far as is compatible with the urgency of the cases under their charge. Visits may often be made with sufficient convenience and benefit, either before the hours of going to church, or during the intervals of public worship; and in many chronic ailments the sick, together with their attendants, are qualified to participate in the social offices of religion, and should not be induced to forego this important privilege by the expectation of a call from their Physician or Surgeon1.

§ 31. A Physician who is advancing in years, yet unconscious of any decay in his faculties, may occasionally experience some change in the wonted confidence of his friends. Patients, who before trusted solely to his care and skill, may now request that he will join in consultation, perhaps with a younger coadjutor. It behoves him to admit this change without dissatisfaction or fastidiousness, regarding it as no mark of disrespect, but as the exercise of a just and reasonable privilege in those by whom he is employed. The i See Notes and Illustrations, No. VIII.

junior practitioner may well be supposed to have more ardour than he possesses in the treatment of diseases, to be bolder in the exhibition of new medicines, and disposed to administer old ones in doses of greater efficacy. And this union of enterprise with caution, and of fervour with coolness, may promote the successful management of a difficult and protracted case. Let the Medical parties, therefore, be studious to conduct themselves towards each other with candour and impartiality; co-operating by mutual concessions in the benevolent discharge of professional duty *.

§ 32. The commencement of that period of senescence, when it becomes incumbent on a Physician to decline the offices of his profession, it is not easy to ascertain; and the decision on so nice a point must be left to the moral discretion of the individual. For, one grown old in the useful and honourable exercise of the healing art, may continue to enjoy, and justly to enjoy, the unabated confidence of the public; and, whilst exempt in a considerable degree from the privations and infirmities of age, he is under indispensable obligations to apply his knowledge and experience in the most efficient way to the benefit of mankind : for the possession of powers is a clear indication of the will of our Creator concerning their pracSee Notes and Illustrations, No. IX.

tical direction. But in the ordinary course of nature the bodily and mental vigour must be expected to decay progressively, though perhaps slowly, after the meridian of life is past. As age advances, therefore, a Physician should from time to time scrutinize impartially the state of his faculties, that he may determine bona fide the precise degree in which he is qualified to execute the active and multifarious offices of his profession; and, whenever he becomes conscious that his memory presents to him with faintness those analogies on which Medical reasoning and the treatment of diseases are founded, that diffidence of the measures to be pursued perplexes his judgment, that, from a deficiency in the acuteness of his senses, he finds himself less able to distinguish signs or to prognosticate events, he should at once resolve (though others perceive not the changes which have taken place,) to sacrifice every consideration of fame or fortune, and to retire from the engagements of business. To the Surgeon under similar circumstances this rule of conduct is still more necessary; for the energy of the understanding often subsists much longer than the quickness of eye-sight, delicacy of touch, and steadiness of hand, which are essential to the skilful performance of operations. Let both the Physician and Surgeon never forget that their