medical essays-第87章
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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 scent of a beagle！
Shall I ever forget that rainy day in Lyons； that dingy bookshop； where I found the Aetius； long missing from my Artis bledicae Principes； and where I bought for a small pecuniary consideration； though it was marked rare； and was really tres rare； the Aphorisms of Hippocrates； edited by and with a preface from the hand of Francis Rabelais？ And the vellum…bound Tulpius； which I came upon in Venice； afterwards my only reading when imprisoned in quarantine at Marseilles； so that the two hundred and twenty…eight cases he has recorded are； many of them； to this day still fresh in my memory。 And the Schenckius；the folio filled with casus rariores； which had strayed in among the rubbish of the bookstall on the boulevard；and the noble old Vesalius with its grand frontispiece not unworthy of Titian； and the fine old Ambroise Pare； long waited for even in Paris and long ago； and the colossal Spigelius with his eviscerated beauties； and Dutch Bidloo with its miracles of fine engraving and bad dissection； and Italian Mascagni； the despair of all would…be imitators； and pre…Adamite John de Ketam； and antediluvian Berengarius Carpensis；but why multiply names； every one of which brings back the accession of a book which was an event almost like the birth of an infant？
A library like ours must exercise the largest hospitality。 A great many books may be found in every large collection which remind us of those apostolic looking old men who figure on the platform at our political and other assemblages。 Some of them have spoken words of wisdom in their day； but they have ceased to be oracles； some of them never had any particularly important message for humanity； but they add dignity to the meeting by their presence； they look wise； whether they are so or not； and no one grudges them their places of honor。 Venerable figure…heads； what would our platforms be without you？
Just so with our libraries。 Without their rows of folios in creamy vellum； or showing their black backs with antique lettering of tarnished gold； our shelves would look as insufficient and unbalanced as a column without its base； as a statue without its pedestal。 And do not think they are kept only to be spanked and dusted during that dreadful period when their owner is but too thankful to become an exile and a wanderer from the scene of single combats between dead authors and living housemaids。 Men were not all cowards before Agamemnon or all fools before the days of Virchow and Billroth。 And apart from any practical use to be derived from the older medical authors； is there not a true pleasure in reading the accounts of great discoverers in their own words？ I do not pretend to hoist up the Bibliotheca Anatomica of Mangetus and spread it on my table every day。 I do not get out my great Albinus before every lecture on the muscles； nor disturb the majestic repose of Vesalius every time I speak of the bones he has so admirably described and figured。 But it does please me to read the first descriptions of parts to which the names of their
