He
found that nature alone often terminates diseases, and works a cure with
a few simple medicines, and often enough with no medicines at all."
Towards the end of the century many great clinical teachers arose, of
whom perhaps the most famous was Boerhaave, often spoken of as the Dutch
Hippocrates, who inspired a group of distinguished students. I have
already referred to the fact that Franciscus Sylvius at Leyden was the
first among the moderns to organize systematic clinical teaching. Under
Boerhaave, this was so developed that to this Dutch university students
flocked from all parts of Europe. After teaching botany and chemistry,
Boerhaave succeeded to the chair of physic in 1714. With an unusually
wide general training, a profound knowledge of the chemistry of the
day and an accurate acquaintance with all aspects of the history of
the profession, he had a strongly objective attitude of mind towards
disease, following closely the methods of Hippocrates and Sydenham. He
adopted no special system, but studied disease as one of the phenomena
of nature. His clinical lectures, held bi-weekly, became exceedingly
popular and were made attractive not less by the accuracy and care with
which the cases were studied than by the freedom from fanciful doctrines
and the frank honesty of the man.
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