Intheearliestandembryonicstageofprofessionaldevelopment，anyviolentimpressionontheinstructor’smindisapttobefollowedbysomelastingeffectonthatofthepupil。Nomother’smarkismorepermanentthanthementalnaeviandmoles，andexcrescences，andmutilations，thatstudentscarrywiththemoutofthelecture-room，ifoncetheteemingintellectwhichnourishestheirshasbeenscaredfromitsproprietybyanymisshapenfantasy。Evenanimpatientorpetulantexpression，whichtoaphilosopherwouldbeamereindexofthelowstateofamiabilityofthespeakeratthemomentofitsutterance，maypassintotheyoungmindasanelementofitsfutureconstitution，toinjureitstemperorcorruptitsjudgment。Itisaduty，therefore，whichweowetothisyoungerclassofstudents，toclearanyimportanttruthwhichmayhavebeenrenderedquestionableintheirmindsbysuchlanguage，oranytruth-telleragainstwhomtheymayhavebeenprejudicedbyhastyepithets，fromtheimpressionssuchwordshaveleft。Untilthisisdone，theyarenotreadyforthequestion，wherethereisaquestion，forthemtodecide。Evenifweourselvesarethesubjectsoftheprejudice，thereseemstobenoimproprietyinshowingthatthisprejudiceislocalorpersonal，andnotanacknowledgedconvictionwiththepublicatlarge。Itmaybenecessarytobreakthroughourusualhabitsofreservetodothis，butthisisthefaultofthepositioninwhichothershaveplacedus。
Twowidely-knownandhighly-esteemedpractitioners，ProfessorsintwoofthelargestMedicalSchoolsoftheUnion，teachingthebranchofartwhichincludestheDiseasesofWomen，andthereforespeakingwithauthority；addressingintheirlecturesandprintedpublicationslargenumbersofyoungmen，manyoftheminthetenderestimmaturityofknowledge，haverecentlytakengroundinaformalwayagainstthedoctrinemaintainedinthispaper：
OntheNon-ContagiousCharacterofPuerperalFever：AnIntroductoryLecture。ByHughL。Hodge，M。D。，ProfessorofObstetricsintheUniversityofPennsylvania。DeliveredMonday，October11，1852。
Philadelphia，1852。
OntheNature，Signs，andTreatmentofChildbedFevers：inaSeriesofLettersaddressedtotheStudentsofhisClass。ByCharlesD。