superstitious ideas respecting the existence of the soul, presented an almost insuperable barrier to the study of human anatomy, and under this embarrassment it is evident that medicine could only make slow and imperfect progress. For a long period nearly all anatomical knowledge was derived from the lower animals, and consequently was only comparative.
The study of the healing art has always been "the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties." Although it has ever sought the good of the whole world, the whole world has often thrown obstacles in the way of its advancement. The herculean labor of successive generations, and the efforts of the most powerful intellects, have been required to bring the profession to is present condition. So much persevering, unrequited labor has never been bestowed upon any other subject. The medical inquirer has ever been obliged to labor, clad in armor. Ignorance, bigotry and superstition have met him at every advance, and it has been only by overcoming these that he could hope to succeed. As fast as these have declined, medical science has occu-
