Chapter I: Front Matter

PERCIVAL’S MEDICAL ETHICS.

_The Profits of this little work, if any, will be given to some Medical Charity._

OXFORD:
PRINTED BY I. SHRIMPTON.

MEDICAL ETHICS;

OR, A CODE OF
INSTITUTES AND PRECEPTS,
ADAPTED TO THE
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
OF
PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS.

BY THE LATE
THOMAS PERCIVAL, M.D., F.R.S.

_THIRD EDITION._

OXFORD:
JOHN HENRY PARKER.
LONDON: JOHN CHURCHILL, PRINCES STREET, SOHO.

M DCCC XLIX.

TO
STANLEY PERCIVAL, ESQ.,
OF BRIDGEFOOT, MIDDLESEX,
ONLY SURVIVING SON
OF DR. PERCIVAL,
THIS NEW EDITION
OF HIS FATHER’S LAST AND
MOST VALUABLE WORK
IS RESPECTFULLY OFFERED.

EDITOR’S PREFACE.

As the late Dr. Percival’s Code of Medical Ethics is commonly quoted as a work of authority, not only in this country, but also in America[1], and as the original edition[2] has now become somewhat scarce, it was thought that it might be usefully republished.

The present edition is reprinted from that published by Dr. Percival himself, (8vo. Manchester, 1803,) corrected occasionally by his unfinished and unpublished edition[3], and also by the posthumous reprint contained in vol. ii. of his collected “Works.” (4 vols. 8vo. Bath, 1807.) The references have been verified, and in several instances the quotations have been corrected, but no other alteration has been made in the _text_ of the work; as, even when the statements contained in it were positively erroneous, the Editor preferred correcting them (where necessary,) in a note[4]. Of the Notes and Illustrations added by Dr. Percival several have been omitted, as being no longer wanted, as also has the “Discourse on Hospital Duties” by his son.

By republishing Dr. Percival’s Code the Editor does not mean to imply his agreement with all the opinions it contains, or his entire approval either of the plan or the execution of the work. The want of a detailed and scientific treatise on the subject of Medical Ethics, suited to the present state of the Profession in Great Britain, (as M. Simon’s admirable “Déontologie Médicale” is to France,) is beginning to be universally felt. It has indeed long occupied the Editor’s thoughts, and (as he has already ventured to intimate to the public[5],) he still hopes, if life and leisure be allowed him, and if no abler writer step forward to anticipate his design, to endeavour at some future time to supply it.

_Sept. 11, 1849._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In the Note prefixed by Dr. Hays to the “Code of Ethics of the American Medical Association,” he writes as follows:—“On examining a great number of Codes of Ethics adopted by different societies in the United States, it was found that they were all based on that by Dr. Percival, and that the phrases of this writer were preserved to a considerable extent in all of them. Believing that language so often examined and adopted, must possess the greatest of merits for such a document as the present, clearness and precision, and having no ambition for the honors of authorship, the Committee which prepared this Code have followed a similar course, and have carefully preserved the words of Percival, whenever they convey the precepts it is wished to inculcate.”

[2] A new edition was published in 1827, but the Editor’s notes are of such a nature as to render the book absolutely mischievous.

[3] Of this rare volume the only copy that the Editor has seen or heard of is in the library of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, and was given by Dr. Percival himself. In the beginning there is the following Note in his own hand-writing:—“The completion of the Medical Jurisprudence has been long suspended; and it is uncertain when the undertaking will be resumed. A title page; an introduction; a fifth and sixth section; and an appendix, containing Notes and Illustrations, are wanting to finish this little work.

_Manchester, March 17, 1794._”

It ends abruptly on p. 96, which terminates chap. iv. The text for the most part agrees with that which was afterwards published, except that this latter contains about twenty paragraphs that are not to be found in the original sketch, and that great part of what forms Note XIV. in the present edition is there found in the _text_. At the end of the treatise there is the following Note, also in Dr. Percival’s own hand-writing:—“Two sections wanting. Sect. V. On the Powers, Privileges, Honours, and Emoluments of the Faculty. Sect. VI. On the Moral, Religious, and Political Character of Physicians.”

[4] All the Editor’s additions are placed within brackets.

[5] In the Advertisement to Gisborne “On the Duties of Physicians.”

Nulla enim vitae pars, neque publicis neque privatis, neque forensibus neque domesticis in rebus, neque si tecum agas quid, neque si cum altero contrahas, vacare officio potest; in eoque colendo sita vitae est honestas omnis, et in negligendo turpitudo.—(Cicero, _De Off._ i. 2.)

CONTENTS.

Page

Sketch of the Life of Dr. Percival 13

Author’s Dedication 17

Author’s Letter to E. C. Percival 19

AUTHOR’S PREFACE.

Origin of the work.—Suspension of it.—Farther progress of
it.—Addition of supplementary Notes and Illustrations 21