244 BRITISH PHYSICIANS. of the patient were admitted, and he proceeded to communicate to them the result of the consuhation that he appeared to full advantage. He then gave a short practical lecture, not merely on the symp- toms of the patient, but on the disease generally, in which all that was known on the subject was brought to bear on the individual case, and in doing this, his utterance was so deliberate, that it was easy to follow him. His explanations were so concise, that they always excited attention, and never tired ; and the simplicity of the language in which they were conveyed, where all technical terms were studiously avoided, rendered them per- fectly intelligible. It was a maxim with him that the most success- ful treatment of patients depended upon the exer- tion of sagacity or good common sense, guided by a competent professional knowledge, and not by following strictly the rules of practice laid down in books, even by men of the greatest talents and experience. "It is very seldom," he was used to say, " that diseases are found pure and unmixed, as they are commonly described by authors ; and there is almost an endless variety of constitutions. The treatment must be adapted to this mixture and variety, in order to be as success- ful as circumstances will permit ; and this allows of a very wide field for the exercise of good com- mon sense on the part of the physician." In his view of the case of a patient, he selected the leading features of the subject, and neglecting all minor details, systematically abstained from touching upon anything ingenious, subtle, or far- fetched. Hence, in the treatment of disease, he
