Commentary: a thesis that still warrants defence and promotion.

I replied, ‘‘you have been teaching students at least for twenty-five years?’’ ‘‘Yes,’’ said he. Then I asked him: ‘‘Can you tell me the symptoms of which the majority of people complain when they fall sick?’’ After some consideration he said, ‘‘No.’’ I said, ‘‘The most common complaint is exhaustion. Can you tell me what is exhaustion?’’ He again, after a little consideration, said ‘‘No.’’ ‘‘So,’’ I said, ‘‘here is a symptom of the most common kind, a symptom which, when understood, throws a flood of light upon the patient’s state, and yet you, who reckon to be able to teach students how to examine patients, have never given it the slightest consideration.’’ I quote this incident to show what should be the first step in investigating disease, and the only individual whose opportunity permits him to take it. The necessity that the general practitioner should participate in other fields of research is obvious as soon as a real perception of medical research is obtained. I know quite well that these views at present will fail to carry conviction. All I wish you to do is to pause from time to time and ask whether they are true.