登陆注册
5228800000039

第39章 II(23)

I will take it for granted that they have so far counterpoised the depreciating language of my fellow-countryman and fellow-teacher as to gain me a reader here and there among the youthful class of students I am now addressing. It is only for their sake that I think it necessary to analyze, or explain, or illustrate, or corroborate any portion of the following Essay. But I know that nothing can be made too plain for beginners; and as I do not expect the practitioner, or even the more mature student, to take the trouble to follow me through an Introduction which I consider wholly unnecessary and superfluous for them, I shall not hesitate to stoop to the most elementary simplicity for the benefit of the younger student. I do this more willingly because it affords a good opportunity, as it seems to me, of exercising the untrained mind in that medical logic which does not seem to have been either taught or practised in our schools of late, to the extent that might be desired.

I will now exhibit, in a series of propositions reduced to their simplest expression, the same essential statements and conclusions as are contained in the Essay, with such commentaries and explanations as may be profitable to the inexperienced class of readers addressed.

I. It has been long believed, by many competent observers, that Puerperal Fever (so called) is sometimes carried from patient to patient by medical assistants.

II. The express object of this Essay is to prove that it is so carried.

III. In order to prove this point, it is not necessary to consult any medical theorist as to whether or not it is consistent with his preconceived notions that such a mode of transfer should exist.

IV. If the medical theorist insists on being consulted, and we see fit to indulge him, he cannot be allowed to assume that the alleged laws of contagion, deduced from observation in other diseases, shall be cited to disprove the alleged laws deduced from observation in this. Science would never make progress under such conditions.

Neither the long incubation of hydrophobia, nor the protecting power of vaccination, would ever have been admitted, if the results of observation in these affections had been rejected as contradictory to the previously ascertained laws of contagion.

V. The disease in question is not a common one; producing, on the average, about three deaths in a thousand births, according to the English Registration returns which I have examined.

VI. When an unusually large number of cases of this disease occur about the same time, it is inferred, therefore, that there exists some special cause for this increased frequency. If the disease prevails extensively over a wide region of country, it is attributed without dispute to an epidemic influence. If it prevails in a single locality, as in a hospital, and not elsewhere, this is considered proof that some local cause is there active in its production.

VII. When a large number of cases of this disease occur in rapid succession, in one individual's ordinary practice, and few or none elsewhere, these cases appearing in scattered localities, in patients of the same average condition as those who escape under the care of others, there is the same reason for connecting the cause of the disease with the person in this instance, as with the place in that last mentioned.

VIII. Many series of cases, answering to these conditions, are given in this Essay, and many others will be referred to which have occurred since it was written.

IX. The alleged results of observation may be set aside; first, because the so-called facts are in their own nature equivocal; secondly, because they stand on insufficient authority; thirdly, because they are not sufficiently numerous. But, in this case, the disease is one of striking and well-marked character; the witnesses are experts, interested in denying and disbelieving the facts; the number of consecutive cases in many instances frightful, and the number of series of cases such that I have no room for many of them except by mere reference.

X. These results of observation, being admitted, may, we will suppose, be interpreted in different methods. Thus the coincidences may be considered the effect of chance. I have had the chances calculated by a competent person, that a given practitioner, A., shall have sixteen fatal cases in a month, on the following data:

A. to average attendance upon two hundred and fifty births in a year; three deaths in one thousand births to be assumed as the average from puerperal fever; no epidemic to be at the time prevailing. It follows, from the answer given me, that if we suppose every one of the five hundred thousand annual births of England to have been recorded during the last half-century, there would not be one chance in a million million million millions that one such series should be noted. No possible fractional error in this calculation can render the chance a working probability. Applied to dozens of series of various lengths, it is obviously an absurdity. Chance, therefore, is out of the question as an explanation of the admitted coincidences.

XI. There is, therefore, some relation of cause and effect between the physician's presence and the patient's disease.

同类推荐
  • 律宗新学名句

    律宗新学名句

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Soul of the Far East

    The Soul of the Far East

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 红楼圆梦

    红楼圆梦

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 长门怨

    长门怨

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛本行集经

    佛本行集经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 常务副县长

    常务副县长

    于光汉是某县常务副县长,有人说他受贿嫖娼,有人说他使价值千万的国有资产流失,还有人说他竟然在县府和女人胡搞,真真假假,他被纪委双规审查了。而且,就在这不久之前,他发现他的妻子有了外遇……县政府仍然在旧筒子楼里办公,六个副县长的办公室一字排开,一间挨着一间。常务副县长于光汉刚进办公室,挂职副县长刘玉成就踱了进来,在于光汉对面坐了,一脸不好意思,好像有话要说。刘玉成到任还不到一个月。于光汉主动问,怎么样,县里穷,比不上你们省城,这一阵也胡忙,没和你好好聊聊,还习惯吧,有没有什么困难。刘玉成苦笑一下说还好,然后说,有个事我想向你反映一下。
  • 你拿什么改变世界:乔布斯给年轻人的100条成功忠告

    你拿什么改变世界:乔布斯给年轻人的100条成功忠告

    《你拿什么改变世界(乔布斯给年轻人的100条成功忠告)》是一本关于成功励志的通俗读物。史蒂夫·乔布斯,这位亲手打造苹果帝国奇迹的 男人,创造了当代历史上不可思议的商业辉煌。自他离世后,世人都在思考:是什么让乔布斯成为了改变世界的天才呢? 在《你拿什么改变世界(乔布斯给年轻人的100条 成功忠告)》中,作者黄薇收集和整理乔布斯的名言 警句后,归纳总结出乔布斯给年轻人的100个忠告, 将乔布斯跌宕起伏的人生经历精彩地呈现给读者,研究乔布斯的思维,找出他成功的秘诀,用生动的案例和简单的道理给予读者诸多人生启示。乔布斯的经历无法再现,但只要敢于尝试,你也可以成就一番了不起的事业。
  • 靖康缃素杂记

    靖康缃素杂记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 小学生最喜欢读的益智故事(中年级)

    小学生最喜欢读的益智故事(中年级)

    小朋友们,你们爱听故事吗?喜欢故事里跌宕起伏的情节吗?喜欢那些出人意料的故事结局吗?喜欢故事中蕴含的智慧吗?喜欢探究答案的快乐吗?这里有你喜爱的故事,这里有你喜欢的故事结局,这里有你想要的快乐,孩子们,还等什么,来吧……
  • 萌妃酷帅狂霸拽:皇上要翻牌

    萌妃酷帅狂霸拽:皇上要翻牌

    纵可后宫三千,他独要她一人!东临睿认为,他有足够的耐心等着顾安然乖乖就范!哪知那小东西居然明目张胆地给他表演脱衣舞,既然如此,他干嘛还要客气?被扑倒的顾安然气的几乎脑溢血,NND,她这满脸绯红各种燥热分明就是被下药的征兆啊!勾引东临睿?她脑子秀逗了要去和三千佳丽抢一根小黄瓜,还不如直接杀了她!东临睿:安安乖,朕不会杀你,只会好好“疼”你!
  • 网王之男神约会吗

    网王之男神约会吗

    “手冢男神,我不管冰山在北极,南极,更甚至在西伯利亚,我忍足锦葵一定会把你追到手,绝对会成为站在你身边的那个人!”忍足锦葵霸气的宣言要扑倒手冢,为了达到这个目的,她是三十六计全部用上,可是男神貌似却和她越来越远,她手一握,一咬牙,决定先扑倒再去培养感情【喜欢不需要任何理由,爱才需要理由!】【群号:205913624,欢迎大家前来玩耍~~】
  • 教你学马术·轮滑(学生室内外运动学习手册)

    教你学马术·轮滑(学生室内外运动学习手册)

    体育运动是以身体练习为基本手段,以增强人的体质,促进人的全面发展,丰富社会文化生活和促进精神文明为目的一种有意识、有组织的社会活动。室内外体育运动内容丰富,种类繁多,主要项目有田径、球类、游泳、武术、登山、滑冰、举重、摔跤、自行车、摩托车等数十个类别。
  • 兵典:《孙子兵法》新考

    兵典:《孙子兵法》新考

    何新是名振中外的著名学者,其在政治、经济、国际关系方面的研究早已素为人知。他在中华古典方面的研究,更为独树一帜。“何新国学经典新解”收入近二十年来,何新研究古学的全部重要著作。何新认为:中华乃是“日华”贵胃。惊世之论,石破天惊,欲寻民族文化之根者,不可不读这一套千古奇书!
  • 六十种曲鸾鎞记

    六十种曲鸾鎞记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 洞元子内丹诀

    洞元子内丹诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。