AgeographerwhowasaskedtodescribethetidesofMassachusettsBay，wouldhavetorecognizethecircumstancethattheyarealimitedmanifestationofagreatoceanicmovement。Toconsiderthemapartfromthis，wouldbetolocalizeaplanetaryphenomenon，andtoprovincializealawoftheuniverse。TheartofhealinginMassachusettshassharedmoreorlessfullyandreadilythemovementwhich，withitsperiodsofebbandflow，hasbeenraisingitslevelfromagetoagethroughoutthebetterpartofChristendom。ItspractitionersbroughtwiththemmuchoftheknowledgeandmanyoftheerrorsoftheOldWorld；theyhavealwaysbeenincommunicationwithitswisdomanditsfolly；itisnotwithoutinteresttoseehowfarthenewconditionsinwhichtheyfoundthemselveshavebeenfavorableorunfavorabletothegrowthofsoundmedicalknowledgeandpractice。
Thestateofmedicineisanindexofthecivilizationofanageandcountry，——oneofthebest，perhaps，bywhichitcanbejudged。
Surgeryinvokestheaidofallthemechanicalarts。Fromtherudeviolencesoftheageofstone，——arelicofwhichwemayfindinthepracticeofZipporah，thewifeofMoses，——tothedelicateoperationsofto-dayuponpatientslulledintotemporaryinsensibility，isaprogresswhichpresupposesaskillinmetallurgyandinthelaborsoftheworkshopandthelaboratoryithastakenuncountedgenerationstoaccumulate。Beforethemorphiawhichdeadensthepainofneuralgia，orthequininewhicharreststhefitofanague，canfindtheirplaceinourpharmacies，commercemusthaveperfecteditsmachinery，andsciencemusthaverefineditsprocesses，throughperiodsonlytobecountedbythelifeofnations。Beforethemeanswhichnatureandarthaveputinthehandsofthemedicalpractitionercanbefairlybroughtintouse，theprejudicesofthevulgarmustbeovercome，theintrusionsoffalsephilosophymustbefencedout，andthepartnershipwiththepriesthooddissolved。Allthisimpliesthatfreedomandactivityofthoughtwhichbelongonlytothemostadvancedconditionsofsociety；andtheprogresstowardsthisisbygradationsassignificantofwide-spreadchanges，asarethevaryingstatesofthebarometeroffar-extendedconditionsoftheatmosphere。
Apart，then，fromitsspecialandtechnicalinterest，mysubjecthasameaningwhichgivesacertainimportance，andevendignity，todetailsinthemselvestrivialandalmostunworthyofrecord。A
medicalentryinGovernorWinthrop’sjournalmayseematfirstsightamerecuriosity；but，rightlyinterpreted，itisakeytohiswholesystemofbeliefastotheorderoftheuniverseandtherelationsbetweenmanandhisMaker。Nothingshedssuchlightonthesuperstitionsofanageastheprevailinginterpretationandtreatmentofdisease。Whenthetouchofaprofligatemonarchwasacureforoneofthemostinveterateofmaladies，whenthecommonsymptomsofhysteriawereprayedoverasmarksofdemoniacalpossession，wemightwellexpectthespiritualrealmsofthoughttobepeopledwithstillstrangerdelusions。