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23rd. Materia Medica.—Medical students who are studying the Materia Medica, will find that by adopting the following plan everything will be rendered easy for them. Take for each article in the Materia Medica one division. Let the subdivisions harbour the various notions necessary to be remembered respecting that article, thus, in 0 physical properties, 1 specific gravity, 2 chemical composition, 3 on what its active principle depends, 4 effects of heat, exposure to air, &c., 5 therapeutical effects, 6 when to be preferred, 7 when not to be used, 8 dose, 9 mode of administration. The above are the notions which it will generally be necessary to remember, respecting each article of the Materia Medica. Some variations must occasionally be made, according to the nature of the drug under consideration. These the student can easily make as he proceeds.
24th. Osteology.—Osteology is that part of anatomy which treats upon bones. The bones are the organs of support to the animal economy, they give firmness and strength to the entire fabric, and afford points for the attachment of the numerous muscles. It is therefore necessary for every person who wishes to become acquainted with that science, which, of all others, is the most wonderful, viz., anatomy, to make himself first of all acquainted with the bones. The plan I would recommend you to adopt for this purpose is to take a skeleton, or, if this cannot be obtained, the best drawings of the various bones you can obtain. Now write out the names of the bones upon slips of paper, and paste them upon the bones which each name represents. Connect these names with their respective bones, and by this means you will learn the names and position of the whole 246 bones in the human subject, in about one sixth of the time usually bestowed upon this branch of study.
For the present, this will suffice: you will have the goodness to study over this lesson attentively, then write to me, and I will then forward you the sixth lesson.
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