medical essays-第77节
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ript； and not all its books are yet included； the task of indexing any considerable branch of science or literature looks as if it were well nigh impossible。 But many hands make light work。 An 〃Index Society〃 has been formed in England； already numbering about one hundred and seventy members。 It aims at 〃supplying thorough indexes to valuable works and collections which have hitherto lacked them； at issuing indexes to the literature of special subjects； and at gathering materials for a general reference index。〃 This society has published a little treatise setting forth the history and the art of indexing； which I trust is in the hands of some of our members； if not upon our shelves。
Something has been done in the same direction by individuals in our own country； as we have already seen。 The need of it in the department of medicine is beginning to be clearly felt。 Our library has already an admirable catalogue with cross references； the work of a number of its younger members cooperating in the task。 A very intelligent medical student； Mr。 William D。 Chapin； whose excellent project is indorsed by well…known New York physicians and professors； proposes to publish a yearly index to original communications in the medical journals of the United States； classified by authors and subjects。 But it is from the National Medical Library at Washington that we have the best promise and the largest expectations。 That great and growing collection of fifty thousand volumes is under the eye and hand of a librarian who knows books and how to manage them。 For libraries are the standing armies of civilization； and an army is but a mob without a general who can organize and marshal it so as to make it effective。 The 〃Specimen Fasciculus of a Catalogue of the National Medical Library；〃 prepared under the direction of Dr。 Billings； the librarian； would have excited the admiration of Haller； the master scholar in medical science of the last century； or rather of the profession in all centuries； and if carried out as it is begun will be to the nineteenth all and more than all that the three BibliothecaeAnatomica； Chirurgica； and Medicinae…Practicaewere to the eighteenth century。 I cannot forget the story that Agassiz was so fond of telling of the king of Prussia and Fichte。 It was after the humiliation and spoliation of the kingdom by Napoleon that the monarch asked the philosopher what could be done to regain the lost position of the nation。 〃Found a great university； Sire；〃 was the answer； and so it was that in the year 1810 the world…renowned University of Berlin came into being。 I believe that we in this country can do better than found a national university； whose professors shall be nominated in caucuses； go in and out； perhaps； like postmasters； with every change of administration； and deal with science in the face of their constituency as the courtier did with time when his sovereign asked him what o'clock it was： 〃Whatever hour your majesty pleases。〃 But when we have a noble library like that at Washington； and a librarian of exceptional qualifications like the gentleman who now holds that office； I believe that a liberal appropriation by Congress to carry out a conscientious work for the advancement of sound knowledge and the bettering of human conditions； like this which Dr。 Billings has so well begun； would redound greatly to the honor of the nation。 It ought to be willing to be at some charge to make its treasures useful to its citizens； and； for its own sake； especially to that class which has charge of health； public and private。 This country abounds in what are called 〃self…made men；〃 and is justly proud of many whom it thus designates。 In one sense no man is self…made who breathes the air of a civilized community。 In another sense every man who is anything other than a phonograph on legs is self…made。 But if we award his just praise to the man who has attained any kind of excellence without having had the same advantages as others whom； nevertheless； he has equalled or surpassed； let us not be betrayed into undervaluing the mechanic's careful training to his business； the thorough and laborious education of the scholar and the professional man。
Our American atmosphere is vocal with the flippant loquacity of half knowledge。 We must accept whatever good can be got out of it； and keep it under as we do sorrel and mullein and witchgrass； by enriching the soil； and sowing good seed in plenty； by good teaching and good books； rather than by wasting our time in talking against it。 Half knowledge dreads nothing but whole knowledge。
I have spoken of the importance and the predominance of periodical literature； and have attempted to do justice to its value。 But the almost exclusive reading of it is not without its dangers。 The journals contain much that is crude and unsound； the presumption； it might be maintained； is against their novelties； unless they come from observers of established credit。 Yet I have known a practitioner；perhaps more than one；who was as much under the dominant influence of the last article he had read in his favorite medical journal as a milliner under the sway of the last fashion… plate。 The difference between green and seasoned knowledge is very great； and such practitioners never hold long enough to any of their knowledge to have it get seasoned。
It is needless to say； then； that all the substantial and permanent literature of the profession should be represented upon our shelves。 Much of it is there already； and as one private library after another falls into this by the natural law of gravitation； it will gradually acquire all that is most valuable almost without effort。 A scholar should not be in a hurry to part with his books。 They are probably more valuable to him than they can be to any other individual。 What Swedenborg called 〃correspondence〃 has established itself between his intelligence and the volumes which wall him within their sacred inclosure。 Napoleon said that his mind was as if furnished with drawers；he drew out each as he wanted its contents； and closed it at will when done with them。 The scholar's mind； to use a similar comparison； is furnished with shelves； like his library。 Each book knows its place in the brain as well as against the wall or in the alcove。 His consciousness is doubled by the books which encircle him； as the trees that surround a lake repeat themselves in its unruffled waters。 Men talk of the nerve that runs to the pocket； but one who loves his books； and has lived long with them； has a nervous filament which runs from his sensorium to every one of them。 Or； if I may still let my fancy draw its pictures； a scholar's library is to him what a temple is to the worshipper who frequents it。 There is the altar sacred to his holiest experiences。 There is the font where his new…born thought was baptized and first had a name in his consciousness。 There is the monumental tablet of a dead belief； sacred still in the memory of what it was while yet alive。 No visitor can read all this on the lettered backs of the books that have gathered around the scholar； but for him； from the Aldus on the lowest shelf to the Elzevir on the highest； every volume has a language which none but be can interpret。 Be patient with the book… collector who loves his companions too well to let them go。 Books are not buried with their owners； and the veriest book…miser that ever lived was probably doing far more for his successors than his more liberal neighbor who despised his learned or unlearned avarice。 Let the fruit fall with the leaves still clinging round it。 Who would have stripped Southey's walls of the books that filled them； when； his mind no longer capable of taking in their meaning； he would still pat and fondle them with the vague loving sense of what they had once been to him；to him； the great scholar； now like a little child among his playthings？
We need in this country not only the scholar； but the virtuoso； who hoards the treasures which he loves； it may be chiefly for their rarity and because others who know more than he does of their value set a high price upon them。 As the wine of old vintages is gently decanted out of its cobwebbed bottles with their rotten corks into clean new receptacles； so the wealth of the New World is quietly emptying many of the libraries and galleries of the Old World into its newly formed collections and newly raised edifices。 And this process must go on in an accelerating ratio。 No Englishman will be offended if I say that before the New Zealander takes his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St。 Paul's in the midst of a vast solitude； the treasures of the British Museum will have found a new shelter in the halls of New York or Boston。 No Catholic will think hardly of my saying that before the Coliseum falls； and with it the imperial city； whose doom prophecy has linked with that of the almost eternal amphitheatre； the marbles； the
bronzes； the paintings； the manuscripts of the Vatican will have left the shores of the Tiber for those of the Potomac； the Hudson； the Mississippi； or the Sacramento。 And what a delight in the pursuit of the rarities which the eager book…hunter follows with the sce
