PDF (Whole thesis) - UTas ePrints - University of Tasmania

225
kno\'lledge of the anatomical structure of the snake, and in the chemical
composition of its venom, Hall wrote in encouragement
Direct experiments , carefu lly made , to establish the truth ,
or othe'lise of the foregoing points , would be an acceptab le
contribution to Australasian medical science .
Though my paper is far from being as comprehensive and
satisfactory on this exciting branch of Australasian medical
practice as I could wish, yet there is so much want of any
reliable information on the subj ect on record that I have
thought I may do good service to my medical brethren by
thus conveying my own experience and ideas on it and
perhaps incite others to come and do in like manner .
Incomplete though "On Snake Bites" may have been , it achieved the lasting
distinction in the history of medical science in Australia of being the
first pub lished record of the "post mortem" appearances after a death
from the bite of a snake.
In the new social period the techniques of the medical scientist
- painstaking dissection, careful observation, detailed analysis , followed
by the suggestion of new forms of treatment - became more apparent in
Hal l's response to Hobarton society;
physician.
the city was his patient , he, the
Indeed, in 1860 Hobarton was still very sick, tottering
uncertainly between the past and the future and manifesting many symptoms
of the old disease of convictism.
Keeping his finger carefu lly on its
pulse, Hall was determined to cure its many ills and to guide and direct
it towards a healthy future . In a letter to the Mercury on January 7,
1860 , he requested the assistance of the press in this difficult task :
Now that our social state is undergoing such an important
transition, it can only be led to the perfection it ought
to arrive at , by the rigorous oversight of a jealous and
watchful prss, in which rour labors hold so conspicuous
and honorab le a position.
Three months later, on March 1, he wrote again concerning the Orphan
children :
I am impatient to see every trace of the crow ' s-foot of
convictism eradicated from the establishment, and
unoffending , helpless chi ldren no longer surrounded with
associations which formerly made a child's transit from
the Orphan school to the prison, one of so little change. 2
Fortunately by 1860 the community for the most part offered little
resistance, except that of ignorance and lack of understanding 7
to Hall's
attempts to succour it, and accorded him the position , respect and honour
he already received in other parts of Australia and overseas , and so
1
2
Mercury, January 10, 1860 .
Mercury, March 3, 1860 .