Excerpt from Guy's Hospital Reports, Vol. 4: Second Series Great though his merits, incalculable his services to the profession, and indisputable the efficiency of his system of diagnosis; Laennec furnishes no exception to the common lot of all original discoverers: for he, like the rest, had to encounter his full Share of doubt and denial, of misrepresen tation and ridicule. It cannot, however, be otherwise than gratifying to his admirers and to all lovers of justice to know, that he survived his labours, and his publication, suffi ciently long, to reap an honourable reward in the respect, the acknowledgments, and cordial Congratulations, of the most eminent in his profession; and indeed of all, who, hav ing had the industry and perseverance fairly to test his merits, possessed a heart capable of rendering honour where honour was due. It is nevertheless scarcely to be doubted, and very much to be lamented; that the cause of Laennec has sustained more real and serious injury from indiscreet and indiscriminate advocacy; than from the most determined and open hostility. Credulity may be less unamiable than scepticism: we may be disposed to regard the former as an infirmity untainted by selfishness; whilst we look upon the latter as too often blended with envy, hatred, or malice: still are they alike opposed to the advancement of truth. In the present instance, indeed, the man of science may be per mitted to dissent from the moralist; Since scepticism, what ever shape it may assume, or from whatever motives it may proceed, serves but to provoke discussion, to encourage in quiry, and to subject all novel pretensions to the searching test of repeated and careful experiment: Whereas, the ten deney of an easy belief is just as certainly to create and strengthen prejudice, to engender misguided enthusiasm, and to pervert or suspend the exercise of that calmer judgment, so essential to the honest and impartial investi gation of facts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.