BAILLIE. 249 notwithstanding its air of mechanical precision, such examination is not to be depended upon be- yond a certain point. Great disordered action may prevail in a part, without having yet pro- duced such disorganization as may be sensibly felt ; and to doubt of the existence of a disease, because it is not discoverable by the touch, is not only unphilosophical, but must surely, in many instances, lead to unfounded and erroneous con- clusions. One of the inevitable consequences of such a system is frequent disappointment in fore- telling the issue of the malady, that most impor- tant of all points to the reputation of the physician ; and though such a mode of investigation might prove eminently successful in the skilful hands of Dr. Bailhe, it must be allowed to be an example of dangerous tendency to those who have not had his means of acquiring knowledge, nor enjoyed the advantages of his great experience, nor have learned, by the previous steps of education and good discipline, to reason and judge correctly. The quickness with which a physician of keen per- ception, and great practice, makes up his mind on the nature of a disease, and the plan of treatment to be employed, differs as widely as possible from the inconsiderate haste which marks the decisions of the rash and the uninformed. " Dr. Baillie acquired business early by the credit of his book on morbid anatomy. From the date of its first publication, its materials must have been furnished, principally, by a careful inspection of the diseased preparations collected in the mu- seum of his uncle, Dr. Hunter. But it opened a new and most productive field of curious know-
