ORIGIN OF PERCUSSION.

Abstract

Dr. Henry Smith Williams, in a paper on "The Century in Scientific Medicine," in<i>Harper's Monthly</i>for June, givesCorvisart, physician to the first Napoleon, credit for introducing to the profession the method of examining the chest by percussion. WhileAvenbrugger, a German physician, was the first to call attention to the method, in a book published in 1761, yet, for some reason, no one untilCorvisartmade use of it paid any attention to the German discovery. It seems strange, as shown by Dr.Williams, that the still more important, yet simple idea of auscultation should not have been thought of for so many years after, and only an accident revealed toLænnecthe value of listening to the sounds of chestauscultation. The magazine article referred to is a concisely stated account of the progress made in scientific medicine during the century, and the more such papers are placed