May the relation of these disgraceful occurrences, selected from numerous similar ones, which, to my knowledge, have taken place both in London and Edinburgh; but which, as, fortunately for their authors, they produce no injury to reputation, I am therefore unwilling to state—may it, I say, serve as a proof of the danger arising from ignorance of the principle I have proposed. Now, may I ask, what are we to think of the supporters—the promulgators of such doctrines, and the abettors of their authors? Such men are to be found in Edinburgh, as well as in London. Suppose, for a moment, one of these gentlemen, who are the deriders of precise and accurate methods, proposing to perform on the dead subject, in the most fascinating and splendid style, the operation for tying the femoral artery. He delivers a proem which shall verbally assure the pupil of its ease, but, by the complex flourishes of his knife, he intends to convince him it is difficult. He expects, however, that he shall speedily lay it bare, and that his dexterity, in the midst of such complexity, will produce the most brilliant effect. But alas! his first incision is made about an inch from the artery—still he cuts deep, in order to discover it—now he is embarrassed at his situation—next he mines off laterally, forms excavations under the flesh, and leaves the artery above the course of his incision—at last he reaches the profound, instead of the superficial artery, and comes off with the never-failing, and, in this case, ridiculous excuse, that there was an unusual distribution of it.... The errors of Surgeons have very curiously discovered a greater number of varieties in the distribution of arteries than ever were demonstrated by the labours of anatomists. I have seen one of these surgeons commence such a disgraceful operation with more flourishes of the knife, than ever a dragoon used when performing the Saxon exercise with the sabre. Contrast this with the plain and manly operator, every movement of whose knife has a meaning, because every movement of it is strictly adapted to effect the most useful of purposes.[1] [1] It may be surprising, but it is not inconsistent with human nature, that such men should be the persecutors of others; and it may perhaps be worth while to quote a few sentences from the production of such men directed against myself.