Lecture ignorant? Then the virtuous Professor alledges what he ought to know is untrue and unbecoming, as it is undignified and false.

GRAY & WOOD,

PLAIN DEALER

STEAM PRESS.

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS,

5

DELIVERED AT THE CLOSE OF

THE THIRD ANNUAL SESSION

OF THE

WESTERN COLLEGE OF HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE,

AT CLEVELAND, OHIO, FEB. 28, 1853.

BY

PROF. JEHU BRAINERD.

CLEVELAND:

HARRIS & FAIRBANKS, PRINTERS, HERALD BUILDING, BANK ST.

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :

GENTLEMEN OF THE GRADUATING CLASS.

It falls to my lot to say a few words on the occasion of the closing exercises of the third annual session of this Institution. Eighteen weeks have now elapsed, since the members of this class assembled here from various parts of the Union, for the purpose of devoting some special attention to those studies which appear necessary to a preparation for the responsible station some of you are about to occupy in society.

In the performance of this duty, it gives me pleasure to advert to the pleasing contrast exhibited between our present prosperous circumstances, and those experienced by the members of this Institution one year ago.

The hand of violence was then laid rudely upon us, now we are blessed with peace and prosperity, and I believe, enjoy the confidence of a virtuous and intelligent community. And permit me here, Ladies and Gentlemen, to make a public acknowledgment, in behalf of my colleagues, for the generous and timely assistance so kindly bestowed by the friends of our noble cause, by which we have been able in a good degree, to replace the necessary means for illustration, in the various departments of our course of instruction.

The kind donors will ever be gratefully remembered, not only by the Faculty, but also by the Students, and all the friends of our Institution.

Gentlemen of the Graduating Class, we meet you here to-night, to greet you with a parting blessing, and may our words on this occasion, be worthy of your remembrance.

Although you have completed your term of instruction, and have received the highest testimonials from this Institution, of an honorable course, yet you should remember that your term of study in the school of nature has not ceased, and that through life, you will only be preparing to receive those higher honors, which can only be

bestowed upon those who are found worthy by the Great Master, who over-rules the destinies of man.

You have been studying a branch of the healing art, for which its advocates claim the high distinction of resting upon a scientific basis. We propose therefore, briefly to examine some of the evidences which are brought to view in support of this position.

Science is the comprehension, or understanding of truth by the mind; a collection of general principles or leading truths relating to any subject, arranged in systematic order. [Strictly speaking, Science is a Unity; but in order to acquire a positive knowledge of it, we must divide it into many branches, all of which radiate, as it were, from one focal point or center, and to a certain extent, are all dependent upon each other; that is, one department, as Physiology, Chemistry, Botany, Mineralogy, or Geology, cannot be studied independently of all the others; for they perpetually interlock; their radiating fibres intermingle, as it were, and form a complete network, consolidating all the branches into one Universal whole.

Science, in its various departments, has rested solely upon the observation of facts for its development.

The science of Astronomy was only advanced by actual observation or attention to facts, by Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and others; and had it not been for these observations, the Mythological doctrine, that the earth was flat, and carried upon the back of a huge turtle, might still have been believed: or the Ptolemaic system which placed the earth in the centre of the Universe, around which all the other planets revolved, might also have had it advo

cates.

As strange inconsistences have prevailed, some of them, even to a very late period, in relation to the formation of the earth. Among the early Egyptian Philosophers, some supposed that the production of the world was due to a Masculo-feminine principle, residing in the Universe. The doctrine was this. That the first chaotic mass was produced in the form of an egg, by a self-dependent and eternal being, and by the mysterious functions of this Masculo-feminine artificer, the dormant germ was nourished into life-this embryonic or mundane egg brought forth a living world.

Various legends have prevailed among the ancients, relative to the changes which have taken place in the crust of the earth since the formation of the planet. The return of great catastrophes have been determined by the return of the Annus Magnus, or great year,