i?m? i\\m v/ 4a v«/ r^ - A COURSE or FIFTEEN LECTURES, ON MEDICAL, BOTANY, DENOMINATED THOMSON'S NEW THEORY or JMEDICAL PRACTICE; IN WHICH THE VARIOUS THEORIES THAT HAVE PRECEDED IT •DELIVERED IN jbpflClNNATI, OHIO BY SAMUEL ROBINSO There are herbs to cure all diseases, though not every where known. Dr. Ray. The Flora of our country will yet so Enlarge and establish her dominion, as te supercede the necessity of all other remedies. Dr. Mitchell. . Omnibus in terris, quae sunt aGadib is usque— Auroras et Gangem, pauci dignoscere possunt Vera bona, atque illis multum diversa remota Erroris nebula. Jtrr* Sat. WITH INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE PROPRIETOR, COLUMBUS: PRINTED FOR THE PROPRIETOR. 1830. DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, TO WIT: DISTRICT CLERICS OFFICE. fc, TIE it remembered, that on the twentyeighth day of Octo- XJber in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred thirty, and in the fiftyfifth year of the Ameiican Independence Samuel Thomson, of said district, deposited in this office, the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words fol- lowing, to wit: "A course of Fifteen Lectures on Medical Botany. Denominated Thom- son's New Theory of Medical practice. In which the various Theories that have preceded it, are reviewed and compared. Delivered in Cincinnati, Ohio, by Samuel Robinson. There are herbs to cure all diseases, though not every where known. Dr. Ray. The Flora of ,our country will yet so enlarge and establish her dominion^ as to supercede the necessity oi all other remedies. K Dr. Mitchell. Omnibus jn terris, qure sunt a Gadibus usque— Auroram et Gangem, pauci dignoscere possunt Vera bona, .alque jllis multum diversa remota Error is nebula. With introductory Remarks by -the Proprietor." In conformity to the act of Congress of the United Stales of America^ entitled "An aet for the encouragement oS learning, by securing the copies of Maps. Charts and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies durin"- the times therein mentioned." And also of the apt entitled "An act supplementary to an act, entitled An act for the encouragement of learn- ing! ^y securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and tuoprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned; and extend- ing the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching his- crical and other prints." JNO. W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts:, TO THE READER. A combination of causes induced me to examine the System of Medical Botany, and deliver this course of Lectures. Of the charac- ter of an author, I am neither ambitious nor repugnant. Were the items summed together, "of all that creep and all that soar," in this department of Literature, the amount of remuneration might not be very seductive. I am but a pioneer in a path unknown, and may have stumbled in my course, or failed to clear the way; still I aci persuaded enough has been done, to excite the attention of the cu^ r-ious, and rouse the penetration of the profound. Of all the interests of this mortal life, the preservation and the care of health, is one of the most important and absorbing. Without it, existence is a burden.; days and nights and times and seasons, perform their revolutions, spread abroad their beauties and exhibit their varieties, in vain. If, in aoy thin^, therefore, I have contributed, to relieve the maladies of the human race, by directing them to a mode of practice safe and sal- utary, at once within the reach of their attainments and pecuniary resources, I shall feel the highest gratification. I know the subject on which Ihave discoursed, is one highly unpopular; and may subject rue to the reproach of some of my best friends: But the die is cast and the ordeal I am willing toencouter. From the* conviction, (hat even though I should have failed, the cause itself,is susceptible of vast improvement, and progressive elevaton, 1 shall de- rive a solace which cannot be taken away. The prospects of ultimate success, and the view of conferring futuro benefits on society will fortify the mind against, the danger of many evils, and the apprehension of the bitterness of censure. It will obtund the keen edge of sarcasm, and defeat the purposes of malignity, to know that v.c are serving the cause of humanity and truth: For though the lip of scorn is hard to bear; ft- as we instictively love fame, aud desire to stand hii;h iu pul>l,e er- timation; yet there is a higher source of happiness than the applause?- of the world. With a mind perhaps as deeply imbued with sensibility as generally falls to the lot of mortals, I was never much afraid of any thing but the reproaches of my own heart. Let me have but the ap- probation of that invisible tribunal, and I feel as secure from every pointed dart, as the Grecian warrior under the shield and armor of Achilles. The physicians,, of whom I was obliged to speak,.I have spoken with> kindness and candor. 1 have treated them with much more deference than they have accorded to eacfct other. To reflect on a whole commu- nity and succession of learned and eminent men might appear to the inconsiderate,, as the very essence of madness and folly. And so it was said, when Galielo attacked the Ptolemaic system of the heavens, and Lo?d Bacon the dialectics of Aristotle. Great names may give splondor to error, but cannot transform it into truth. And let it be remembered. I have not made an attack upon the Fac- ulty; they, themselves, have alternately made it on each other. 1 have merely introduced passages &om their owa writings for the sake of argument and illustration. They have all admitted the uncertainty of medical practice, and its. great susceptibility of improvement and re- duction. To spurn the humble efforts of a fellow laborer, willing to toil ia removmg the rubbish- and re-edifying the superstructure; would neither be patriotic nor philosophical. Let every ray of truth suinc upon a subject confessedly obscure—lot every improvement and dtscov* ery be cast into the balance,, so long and fatally found wanting—let all come forward, from every corner of the land, to aid in the reduction of the great sum of human misery suffered by disease, and close up, bv all, the powers of human skill, the avenues of death. In this cause I have been laboring, and to this end I have directed my efforts; with what success let others testify.—1 now bid the reader farewell—with this single assurance, that if in any thin"-1 have errecL or have been mistaken or deceived, orha\e set down aught in malice let it be shown; let any point it. out with kindness and candor, and " Cuncta recantabomaledicta, priora rejondam " Laudibusj et vestnun nomen ia astra feram." S. ROBLNS0N. TO THE PUBLICo A proposition to revolutionize the practice of medicine, by introduc- ing n svstem of contract between the Dr. and his patients, whereby the present system will be changed, and people will pay for their health instead of sickness, (which is the present practice.) And first, it is proposed to petition the Legislatures of the several states, wherein for the benefit of the high and scientiiicaUy mighty ones, law a have been passed, impairing the validity of contracts,* to be gratiously pleased mid condescend to give us the [unconstitutional no doubt] privilege of making our own contracts. Do not startle gentle reader, we have not this monstrous power, we only have proposed to petition for it: but whether the Honorable Legislatures vviil entrust us with this equal privilege, is uncertain; nevertheless, we propose to pe- tition for it. Having gained our first proposition by a special act of the Legislatures, v\ e next propose to enter into contract as physician and patient, upon the following plan, viz: the physician is to agree and covenant with individuals, and families, to keep them in their usual "ood health, for a certain length of time, say one year, for a specified sum, as the parties may agree. And the physicians are also to agree, that in case of failure on their part, they will forfeit and pay to the pa- tients the sum of cents per day, for each and every days sick- ness of the patient; provided, the physician is called on, and the pa- tient follows his directions. Let the foregoing plan be carried into effect, and I venture the as- sertion, that nine tenths of the sickness, and consequent wo and mise- ry which now distorts and distracts the human species, would be ban- ished from among us. The physician would find it for his interest to keep the people not eick but well, for which purpose he would watch over them—would instruct them in the use of his medicines, and keep a stock by them, that they might use as occasion should require, on the lirst appearance of disease, for if his attendance is required, he looses his time, his medicines, and cents per day. This surely will exclude any wish or chance for deception on either side, for no phy- sician will "wish for employment upon the foregoing terms, nor will any person consent to follow his directions for the sum of cents, un- less disease renders it necessary. This is not all, wherever such con- tracts were made, the people would have no cause to fear the adminis- tration of poisonous minerals, or the lancet, for there is no practition- er so ignorant as not to know that the person who takes a good dose of mercurv, antimony, salts, &c. is rendered unfit for their ordinary bu- siness, for one day at least; and he who suffers his "life's blood" to be' drawn, suffers his life to be taken in the same proportion. These ideas are given to the public, with a wish that they may benefit themselves thereby. SAMUEL THOMSON. Columbus, Ohio, January 1831. *The 11th section of the act regulating the practice of physic and surgery,) in this state, makes void all contracts whatsoever, for the practice of physic' or surgery by any person who is not licensed by the authority of said act. PROPRIETOR'S INTRODUCTION. The following course of Lectures were delivered during the last year at Cincinnati, Ohio, voluntarily, without the knowledge of the Author of the Thomsonian System, he being at the time a thousand miles dis tant from that place The writer had no other knowledge of the sys- tem than what he obtained from a few books that had fallen into his hands on the subject, and his personal observation of the success of the practice. He has treated the subjects with much candor and im- partiality, and discovers himself to be a man of learning, and well ac- quainted with the theories and practice of the regular physicians, lie is entitled to the thanks of the author of the Botanic System, and all those who take an interest in its success. An edition of the work it was thought would be useful,and would be read .with pleasure and profit by the friends of the system, to whom it is recommended, as also to the pc rusal of tho public generally. ADVERTISEMENT. THE public are hereby informed that the general agency'for the dispos alof the.THOMSONIAN MEDICINES, AND FAMILY RIGHTS^ &c. has.been transferred from Horton Howard, to Jarvis Pike, Hiram Piatt, Thomas Johnson, and Rufus Ferris, by Dr. Samuel Thomson. Therefore, all those who have formerly held agencies under the said Horton Howard, as well as others wishing to become agents, will ap- ply to the undersigned at Columbus, who will be ready to attend to all calls, and upon sufficient testimonials being produced, will grant new agencies, &c. PIKE. PLATT, & Co March 21,1831. •CONTENTS. PAGE. To the reader « « .,-,-. in To the public - v Proprietor's Introduction - - - v Advertisement ... vi General reference to the works quoted, &c. - - vm LECTURE I.—-Introductory remarks - - - 9 II.—Historical view of ancient theories 21 IIL—Historical view of the modern systems * of medicine - - - rV.—The Theories of Drs. Brown, Rush, and Thomson - - - 43 V.—Medicine as it is taught in the schools 54 VI.—Improved theory of medicine - - • 62 VII.—Theory of fever according to the mod- ern systems of medicine - 72 VIII.—Fever, continued - 81 IX.—On medical poisons - - -91 X.—Hepatitis, and phthisis pulmonalis; or diseases of the liver and lungs - - 101 XI.—A general review of the nature and ope- ration of Thomson's remedies - - 110 XII.—Review of Thomson's remedies - « - 121 XIII.__The power of the Thomsoninan remedies - 133 XIV.__The extent of the Thomsonian remedies «. - 142 XVI.—A general view of the whole subject - - 151 A GENERAL REFERENCE TO THE WORKS (WOTED, OR ALLUDED TO, IN THE FOLLOWING LECTURES Hippocrates Falkner Galen Waterhousc Celsus Glisson Plato Winter Aristotle Kirkland Clem. Alex. Buchan Syncell. Chron, Ewell Diodo. Sic. Benerrctte Herodotus Miner and Tully, on fever Pliny Derham Alexander's History of Med. Thomas Encyclopedia Britanica Niewenty Encyclopedia, Reece Burns Medical Record Richerand Medical Journal Linnaeus Medical Review Magendi Stahl Bishat Hoffman Broussais Haller Thommasini Van Swietcn Whytt Baglivi Hales Sydenham Zimmerman Hunter Barton Harvey Chaptal Boerhave Chapman Munro Lieutand Cullen Williss Brown Gaubius Thomson Huxham Ray Nichols Rush Mead Reynolds Vaughn Barnwell Des Cartes Darwin Lord Bacon Hooper Sauvages Cooper Pope Donaldson Haen Newton Vogal ---.o^.--- LECTURE I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Ladies and Gentlemen: We have assembled on this evening, for the purpose of intro- ducing a course of Lectures on Medical Botany—generally deno- minated Thomson's System of Medicine. I am well aware that the prejudices existing against it are numerous and strong: and so they have been against every new discovery, or invention, since the beginning of the world. Since the day that Noah built the ark, and had to encounter the mockery and scorn of the Antideluvian race, till the present hour, obloquy and proscription have assailed every new and untried experiment of man. This spirit forms one of the most unseemly traits in the human character. It indicates a state of mind, neither resting for success on the resources of its own power, nor relying on the superintend- ing care of a just, a wise, and holy Providence. Because we our- selves are not first in the discovery—or because it might militate against our interests—we would wish it buried—yes!—no qiatter how useful or benevolent?—we would wish it forever buried in the cave of the Cyclopes. Pride and presumption lie at the foundation of all this hostility. It presumes, either that all which can be known is already dis- covered; or that our own fair fame must not be tarnished by the superior penetration of exalted minds. If we had humility to re- member, that the progress of mind is endless as duration—and the question of the inspired Elihu, "who hath §earcbed out the works 2 10 of the Almighty to perfection?" we might be willing to concede to others, with all complacency, the signal honor of having added one single item to the great sum of human knowledge. Let us remember, in the language of an eloquent writer, that pride is unstable and seldom the same. That she feeds upon opin- ion, and is fickle as her food. She builds her lofty structures on a sandy foundation—the applause of beings every moment liable to change. But virtue is uniform and permanentr and fixed upon a rock are the towers of her habitation: For she looks for approba- tion only to him, who is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever. The road to glory would cease to be arduous if it were trite and trodden. Great minds are not only ready to seize upon opportuni- ties, but they make them for themselves. Alexander forced the Pythian Priestess on the Tripod, on a forbidden day—the Pythia exclaimed "my son, thou art invincible." It was all the Oracle the warrior desired! On another occasion, he cut the Gordian knot, which others had endeavored to untie in vain—and thus accom- plished the oracle which ascribed to him the Empire of Asia.— NKLS0Nywhen the statue of Victory was holding her laurel wreaths in either hand, uncertain where to bestow them—Nelson seized upon both! These who start in the career of glory, must, like the mettled steeds of Action, pursue the game not only where there are pathsrbut where there are none. For it is given to man, and is the high distinction of his mental power?,- not only to explore the whole circle of human science— but passing that awful and venerable limit—bearing in his hand the torch of intellect—enter, alone, the trackless wilderness, untrodden by mortal feet—to travel on a path which the vulture's eye hath not seen, nor the lion's whelps trodden, nor hath the fierce lion passed thereon. Enclosed on every side by the magnificent scenery of Jehovah's works—he may exclaim with the Prophet, the works of the Lord are great, and sought out by ail that take pleasure in them! It is sweet and dear ta the mind, the acquirement of knowledge. But in the acquisition of a new truth, gained by the efforts of our own industry, there is a sort of holy and divine unction, which is not t» be obtained by wisdom derived from the labor of others. 11 From the very nature of our immaterial structure, and every thing gleaned from its operations, we are well assured that wisdom is progressive and eternal: That our highest attainments are but as the perceptions of infants, crawling on the very threshold of being, in comparison of that knowledge of Jehovah, his works and ways, that shall pour its radiance on the unclouded intellect of man, as he rises from the blow of death, and wings his mighty and majestic flight amidst the boundless splendors of eternal worlds-, where he shall look on that ineffible glory, of which eye hath not seen, nor -ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive the magnificence of its uncreated beams! The inspired writer, from the awful elevation of the third heaven, suddenly dropt his wing, and cut short the history of his visions, at the awful remem- brance of that overwhelming sight of dazzling splendor, which rilled his soul with silence ami adoration! If the wise and learned only were to make discoveries, it could be borne—a strong prejudice ar-d opposition would be rooted from the mind. But that the illiterate, the mere plough-boy, and the peasant—a man like Samuel Thomson, who had spent his life among the ci<.ds of t.Me valle>— and himself but little superior to the dust he walk-d on—that he should pretend to make discoveries in the science of medicine; and invent fonns, and medinnes,nn& rules, to enlighten its exclusive and profound professors—is not to be endur- ed by men, proud of their high attainments,and fortified by all the tenacity of system ! If 1 might quote the poet Burns, in this serious discourse, it might be-of service to them who think more highly of themselves then they ought to think. I n his add ress to the unco guid and the rigid righteous, the poet was endeavoring to cast the mantle of his charity over the poor, fallen daughters of misfortune—and thus addresses the proud matrons of Scotland: "Ye high exalted virtuous dames, Ty'd up in godly laces, Before ye gie poor frailty names, Suppose a change of cases. A dear lov'd lad"----- But 1 desist—you may read for yourselves. 12 Let the brightest son of medical science, suppose a change of cases with Dr. Thomson, and but for the care of that good and holy Providence, of whom, perhap?, he has never acknowledged the existence, he might have been consigned to the plough-tail, and Dr. Thomson to the wisdom of the Schools. And thus situated, would he have considered it a crime in himself to have forced his way through all the asperities of nature, the obstructions of poverty, the ab- sence of education, and the iron and heavy hand—the combined pha- lanx—of science, of wealth, and power, and popularity, arrayed against him, to spurn, to trample him down, and crush him to the earth, and plunge him in oblivion forever!—would he have thought it criminal in himself to resist this terrible array, to rise superior to the blow that would have cloten his fortunes down; and by the unaided innate vigor of his own intellect, have forced his way, in despite of enemies to wealth, and rank, and fame, and taken his station amongst the benefactors of the human race? No, I am per- suaded he would not; for it is the very path in which superior minds do most delight to travel—the untried, stormy journey of perilous adventure—according to the saying of that modern sage, Dr. John- sox, "The man that can submit to trudge behind, was never made to walk before." Beyond all this, we are presented with solemn facts from history, to shew us that, perhaps, the learned are as much indebted to the illiterate, for their observations, as the latter to the former for their science. They are equally necessary to each other, in forming the sum of human things—from "The poor Indian whose untutored mind, Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind," to the soaring spirit of the philosopher, traversing the starry sky. In vain do enlightened nations boast, that they have gathered within themselves all the arts and sciences. The earth is covered over with vegetables and animals, the simple vocabulary of which, no scholar, no academy, no nation, whatever, will ever be able per- fectly to acquire. No. nor ail the human race, in their united wis- dom, shall be ever able to find out the limit?, the name and nature of her innumerable millions! IS We, therefore, with all humility, in consideration of our profound ignorance, should be willing to glean from every source, which pro- mises an accession to the stock of our materials* "And it is to savages,—to men utterly unknown,—that we are indebted for the first observations which are the sources of all science. It was neither to the witty and the polished Greeks, nor the grave and stately Romans,—but to nations which we denomi- nate barbarous, that we are indebted for the use of simples, of bread, of wine, of domestic animals, of cloths, of dyes for cloths, of met- als; and for every thing most useful and most agreeable for human life. Modern Europe may glory in her discoveries; but the Art of Printing, which ought to immortalize the inventor, has been ascrib- ed to a person so obscure, that the world could scarcely fix upon his name, or ascertain his identity; so that several cities of Holland, of Germany, and even China, laid claim to the discovery as their own! Galileo would have never weighed and calculated the gravity ef the air, but for the casual observation of a fountain-player, who observed in his presence, t"hat water could only rise thirty-two feet in a forcing engine. And the sublime Newton would have never read these heavens, but for the occurrence of some children, in the Isle of Zealand, playing with the glasses ef a spectacle-maker; which first suggested to him the idea of the telescopic cylinder: And perhaps the arms of Europe would have never been able to have subdued America, had not an obscure monk made the dis- covery of gunpowder. And whatever glory Spain may attribute to herself for that dis- covery—the nations of the East,—the savages of Asia,—had found- ed mighty Empires, of splendor and renown, over that vast conti- nent, which Spain could never rival, notwithstanding her boasted wisdom and erudition! And the great discoverer himself, Chris- topher Columbus,—whose name this vast portion of the globe shall bear upon its bosom to immortality,—would have perished with all his followers—and his discoveries perished in the ocean with \\\m,—had not the kind hospitality of the simple aborigines furnish- ed him with food." "It was the fortuitous observation of the Co- lonel of a marching regiment, which instructed the great Syden- ham in the utility of bleeding in inflammatory fevers!" 14 Let, then, academies and schools accumulate their machines, and .models, and books, and systems, and eulogiums; the chief praise of all is due to the ignorant who furnished the first materials! Aid let those who have reached a boundary at which they have •designed to stop, not envy, nor impede the progress of him, who it determined'to press forward till his journey shall end in the dark valley of the shadow of death. AmidsUall the innumerable branches of knowledge, which solicit the attention of the human mind, there can be none of so much im- portance, religion only excepted, as that which shall constitute the subject of the following Lectures—the Healing Art. For the soul in a diseased body, like the martyr in his dungeon, may retain its value, buthas lost its usefulness! Such is the nature of man, under the strong power of sense and sympathy; influenced by all the elements around him, and the ener- gies of thought within him—wearing out his mortal covering—sap- ping the foundations of his house of clay—while the passions pour a continual storm upon the wheels of life. Thus circumstanced, and impelled forward by the combined action of so many agents, to that ''bourne from whence no traveller returns"—it is not aston- ishing if man, although the soul is so much superior to the body, !?hoi*!d bestow upon the care of the latter, the principal portion of his labors and his life. Medicine is therefore a study, not only of curious inquiry, but of •deep interest, to families and individuals, who, after all that has been done by its professors, ought, in fact, to be their own physicians. And this great desideratum Dr. Thomson professes to aid and establish, by his own discoveries. To promote health of body and tranquillity of mind, the sages of antiquity labored with the most severe and incessant toil. They studied the constitution of man, that they might find out the seat of hi* maladies, and the sources of his misery. To assuage the sorrows of the heart, and lift the load of melan- choly from the desponding mind; to restore to the wounded spirit its elasticity and vigor; they exhausted all the powers of reason, and all the arguments and arts of their divine philosophy. Sometimes ttiey succeeded, but they often failed. It was from a deep sense of 15 (he Inadequacy of their feeble powers to eradicate the disorders- ef the mind, that led them to look for divine succor, to that benevolent Being, who sits upon the circle of the heavens, and showers his; mercies down upon the world. And this aid was not implored in vain. The day arrived. The veil of superstition was rent in fragments. The Apostle, from the hill of Mars, led them to the knowledge of their unknown God. He conducted them to the infinite sources of wisdom and consolation, in Him in whom there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand are pleasures forever more. In their application to the diseases of the body, the Greeks were more successful than in their applications to the mind. And if we may believe the current testimony of ancient writers,they had more power over their patients, in stemming the inroads of dissolution,. than the moderns have obtained after all the improvements of ad- vancing science. It is certain, they often arrested the career of death when he appeared in his most awful and terrific forms.— Athens was rescued from the plague by the skill of a single man! It was in the commencement of the second year of the Peloponne- »ian war, that the plague broke out in Athens; and never before had! this dreadful scourge of the human race, ravaged so many countries and climes. Rising on the burning brow of Africa, through Ethio- pia, Egypt, Lybia, and Persia, Syria, and Cyprus, and Lemnosn together with many other places of Asia and isles of the iEgeare sea, it held its dreadful and desolating course. The nations stood? appalled in its presence, and thousands perished by its breath! A merchant vessel landing in the Piraeus, brought the disease to A- thens; and this fell destroyer raged with a fury before unknown, over that celebrated city ©f Minerva. Its fearful and rapid pro- gress seemed to bid defiance to all mortal skill. From the first attack of the disease, the powers of the mind seemed blotted out, while the body acquired new and additional strength; as if the enemy, on purpose, had augmented the power.to suffer. The tor- ment was terrible. The sick were seized with despair, and the sound confounded with madness. All the laws of equity ahd social! order were trampled down. Scenes of riot and confusion, and reckless tumult, surrounded the march of Death! The diseased were first smitten in the head; from this the malady passed dow® l(i through the whole body, leaving in one shapeless, ruined mass, that noble form divine. But the sufferers seldom waited for this terrible catastrophe; but, in the beginning, in the fury of distrac- tion, plunged into wells, rivers, and the sea, to quench the consum- ing fire that devoured within them! It was in this awful crisis of her ruin, that one man—one single man—skilled in the use of those divine remedies, which the God of Nature has lodged in the herbs and flowers of the field, entered the devoted city, and shook off, with a giant's strength, the deadly grasp of the destroyer. The sound of his very name poured hope and consolation through the torn bosom, filled with the agonies of despair! This man was the far famed Hippocrates. He dwelt in the island of Cos. At the breaking out of the plague in Persia, Artaxerxes the great, king of the empire, wrote to the physician to hasten to the relief of his dominions. He allured him by the most magnificent promises; the most splendid offers of wealth and honors. But the physician replied to the great king, that he had neither wants nor desires; and he owed his service, and his skill, whatever they might be, to his country, rather than to her enemies! This magnanimous reply so enraged the monarch, that he sent a squadron to bring him by force of arms; but Hippocrates had sailed for Athens. And the power of his fame upon the mind, and his skill over the body, scattered the shadows of death, and shed around him a radiance of joy and hope, as if an angel's visit had lighted upon the city. To purify the air, he caused large fires to be kindled in all the streets and lanes of Athens. And to relieve the suffering from the consuming heat which devoured their entrails, he placed them in warm baths, to expel the infection by the surface of the skin; and, to support their weakness, caused them to drink of the rich wines of Naxos. These great examples of success and diligence in the healing art, to discover and apply new modes of cure, when we find all the com- mon and established forms baffled and confounded, should dispose us to cherish, as the martyr would his faith, whatever discovery may be calculated to deliver U6, by a short and simple process, from the long train of diseases entailed upon our fallen race. Before Hip- 17 pocrates anived, all the physicians of Athens had either fled or fallen with their victims. They had no success. Their practice seemed rather to aggravate than to remedy the miseries of the dy- ing. Why had Hippocrates so much control over the pestilence? Because he applied a new method of relief; one that seemed to strike down, at once, the strong hold of the destroyer! From all these considerations, and from the fact, that the healing art is yet in its infancy, by the confession of its most successful and celebrated practitioners; the great and venerable Dr. Rush com- pares it to an unroofed temple:—Uncovered at the top, and cracked at the foundations—unless you admit his own theory of animal life, as a sure and solid basis—for he scatters, like atoms in the sun beam, all the systems of pathology, that have gone before him; from all these, we ought to deeply ponder the peradventures which Provi- dence may elicit, by any means, to diminish the sum of misery, be- fore we spurn from us, what has been discovered, tried, and found effectual. After bewailing the defects and disasters'of medical science,Dr. Rush consoled himself with the animating prospects of that hope, which he often proclaimed from his desk—that the day would ar- rive, when medical knowledge should have attained to that apex of perfection, that it would be able to remove all the diseases of man; and leave not for life a single outlet, a single door of retreat, but old age; for such is my confidence, said he, in the benevolence of the Deity, that he has placed on earth remedies for all the maladies of man. I remember still, with a thrill of love and gratitude, to that admired and venerable professor, with what enthusiasm and transport, and prophetic vehemence, he used to pronounce that sentiment at the close of his lectures. His confidence in the bene- volence of the Deity was boundless; and his own soul largely par- took of that divine character of the Almighty? We shall not, shortly, look upon his like again. Quam de invenientparem? The influence of this hope, so feelingly expressed and deeply felt, by every noble mind, that all diseases shall yet yield to the power of medicine, in its perfect state, ought to be abundantly sufficient to determine us to examine with candor, every new dis- covery, that is presented by the care and experie»ce of man, 3 18 whatever may be his state or condition in life. Great men are not always wise; and the very meanest is not beneath the care of a kind Providence, nor the influence of his holy spirit. "For thy kind heavenly father bends his eye, On the least wing that flits across the sky." And if, perchance, the grand Panacea shall be at last found— that Moly of the Egyptians, and Elixir of the Greeks—who would not deem himself more honored by contributing the smallest item to the great discovery for relieving the wretchedness of the human race, than if he had bestowed upon him the Empire of the world! I saw one fiver rage, and prostrate its victim, over which the phy- sician's skill had no influence. To have saved that life, to me so precious, 1 would have given the universe, had I possessed it, and would have considered it but as dust in the balance. No doubt others feel as I do. And if the period shall arriverwhen the heart strings shall no more be torn, and lacerated, who would not exult in the joyful anticipations of that coming day? And this dream of a universal medicine, which has pervaded the nations of the earth, since the days of Isis and Osiris, is not all a dream—for the days shall com*', saith Oie Lord, when there shall be nothing to hurt, or annoy, in my holy mountain. No pain to hurt, nor sickness to annoy. But whether diseases shall be banished from the globe, in that glorious period of the Millenium; or the grand catholicon be dis- covered, to remove them, the data do not determine. But this we know, the eiAh shall have health and peace; and Dr. Rush's hope will be fulfilled, even beyond the limits of his most sanguine expec- tations; for the child shall die an hundred years old. It is the purpose of this course of lectures, to lay before the people, a succinct account of Thomson's System of Medicine, that they may judge from the mode and the results of this new prac- tice, of its fair and honest claims to the public confidence and admiration. There is no design to gild over errors, nor to mislead the minds of the unwary. We shall submit it, simply, in its own merits, to the grand criterion of all new discoveries—the under- etanding and reason of man. Whatever is true and valuable, let it he retained; but if there be any thing false or pernicious, let it be 19 given to the winds; or discarded to that oblivion, where all havt perished that could not brook the light! And in thus submitting the "JYew Guide to Health" to the public ■scrutiny of their fellow citizens, the friends and followers of Dr. Thomson, have pursued the path marked out to them by many of the greatest men of antiquity; who often turned aside from the forms and dogmas of the schools, or submit their cause to the tri- bunal of public opinion. And they were never deceived: For God has lodged the fund of common sense in the mass of the assembled multitude. These assemblies were dear to every land of liberty; and it was on the appeal to that assembly, and its decisions, that the ancients established the maxim, so often in their mouth, Vox populi, vox Dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God. Dr. Thomson says, "It has long been a subject in which I have taken a deep interest, to publish something not only useful to the world, but also, that would convey to them my system of practice; in order that they might reap the advantage of curing disease, by a safe and simple method of my own invention." ''One other sub- ject, also, I have had in view; that is to lay before the public a fair statement of facts; that they may have a correct knowledge of the trials and persecutions which I had to endure, in bringing my sys- tem of medicine into use among the people." Dr. Thomson was not brought up in the schools and colleges of the learned. But he was trained in one far superior, for eliciting the powers of an original mind—the severe school of adversity— that perilous ordeal where the feeble minded perish; but the great of heart come out of the fires, purified and resplendent in tenfold brightness. They rebound by the very impulse and pressure of the blow, that was designed to crush them, and reach their eleva- - tion in the sky; to refute an objection made against the goodness of Divine Providence—that the virtuous were often, not only desti- tute of the blessings of fortune, but of nature, and even the neces- saries of life. To this objection St. Pierre returns the following beautiful and profound answer: To this, said he, I reply—The misfortunes of the virtuous often turn to their advantage. When the world persecutes rthem,they are generally driven into some illustrious career. Mi*- 20 fortunes are the road to great talents; or, at least, to great virtue*. which arc far preferable. It is not in your power, said Marcus Aurelius to a friend who was exhausting his breath upon the unequal distribution of the favors of the gods—it is not in your power to become a great natu- ral philosopher, a poet, a mathematician, an orator, or an historian; hut it is in your power to be an honest and a virtuous man, which is far superior to them all! Use well the gifts the gods have given thee, and leave off repining at the good they have denied. For the very talents thou sighest after are far from conferring happiness on their possessors. The splendor derived from successful studies, seldom repay the occupant for the lassitude and exhaustion of the mind; the feverish debility and throb of nervous excitement which thrill through all his frame. The peasant in his cot, perhaps has more real enjoyment—and certainly has more peace, and calm contentedness, than the philo- sopher, crushed to an untimely grave by the very magnitude of his studies. Inter silvas academi quccrere verum—as the poet says: To search out truth through academic groves may be a very pleasing, but often is a very unprofitable occupation. You may behold the scholar, pale, over his midnight lamp, and far distant the golden dreams of honor and applause, which he is never destined to realize. How disconsblate is the condition of an intellectual being, who thus suspends his happiness on the praise and glory of the world? The good Aurelius gave an advice, worthy of being inscribed in letters of gold. He who places his heart on material objects, or expects to draw the streams of consolation from the resources of the world, must be exposed, in every vicissitude, to the keen pangs of anguish. The slightest calamities will disquiet and trouble his soul. In adversity he is cast down, and every stay, on which he leaned for succor, like the infidelity of Egypt—as a broken reed— will pierce him to the heart. From the gay and lofty summit of his pride, and presumptive daring, he sinks to the deplorable level of his own weak and worthless presumption. Quantum mulatus ab illo—is that sunken, hopelec« condition. 21 This glory of the world, uncertain asitis,is not within the grasp of many minds. And even those who are able to seize the gay and gilded prize, it stings in the very embrace, and perishes in the enjoyment. But the path of virtue, that leads to happiness on high, lies open to every traveller; and he can neither be mistaken in his course, nor disappointed in his acquisition. He has with him, and around him, in the darkest hour, in the lone desert or the crowd- ed city, a Being who knows his pain, and hears every sigh of his complaints. He made the soul, and is able to delight and ravish its inmost faculties, with the communication of joys unspeakable. How noble was the sentiment expressed by Sir Isaac Newton: Speaking of infinite space, he said "it was the sensorium of the Deity;" as if a fibre touched, in the most minute, remote, or worthless of all his creatures, could move the spirit of the eternal Godhead. This view of his power and his providence, inspires the heart with a holy hope, and high dependence, far above the influ- ence of a troubled and a fleeting world. Queen Elizabeth, when her triumphant fleet had swept from the ocean the invincible armada of Spain, had medals struck, with this most beautiful and appropriate motto: Afflavit Deus, et dissipan- tur. "He blew with his wind, and they were scattered." How exalted the thought! The belief of a divine and superintending Providence, taking care of us and our concerns, elevates and enno- bles the mind. It transports a mortal creature to the high and holy meditations of angelic beings, and fills the soul with the purity and peace of heaven. L.ECTURE II. HISTORICAL. VIEW OP ANCIENT THEORIES. That divine philosopher, Plato, said, light was the shadow of the Deity, and truth his soul. That the wise and good, as they approximated to the source of glory and intelligence, were clothed and animated by that heavenly essence, which he poured out from the fountain of his eternal being: That into the cup mixed for the formation of Man, he poured a portion of his own divinity: that 22 ihis divine principle, rational and immortal, resides in the brain, the seat of sublimity and great conceptions; but another soul, which dwells in the breast, formed by the inferior deities, was mortal, and destitute of reason; which contracts evil, pain and sor- ro:r, and involves all the woes of man, misery and death, and the despair of Hades! That the gods, not being under the influence of this mortal inferior soul, do good to man without selfish or in- terested views; and man, as he aspires to the divine life, acts upon *he same principle. The admirable saying of Bias, one of the seven sages, was great- ly esteemed by this philosopher, " Omnia mea mccum portov—I carry with me all my possessions: Being wholly occupied in pro- moting the public good, and haying up the treasures of the mind, of which ncitheryfl/f, nor foes, nor death could rob him, he accounted every else as nothing. Those who devote themselves to a new theory; who have to stand alone in the defence of an unknown truth, and to combat alone the triumphant pride of an established science, would require a large portion of the self-denying spirit of the Grecian sage. And Dr. Thomson seems to have been admirably endued with that supreme devotion to his object, which brings the martyr to the stake, and the patriot to pour out his blood on the field of battle. The Joss of five thousand dollars, to a poor man with a small family, imprisonment and chains, and the tribunal of death, are trials which might shake the fortitude of the firmest nerve. I cannot help uniting in bis own sentiment, that Providence must have pre- sided over his labors, with an especial care, for the good of society, or he never would have brought them to such a triumphant con- clusion. In order to unfold and display the system of Dr. Thomson more thoroughly, I will take a review of those theories which have ob- tained in the world, and triumphed in the schools, until they met the fate of all terrestrial thiugs. For the origin of medical science, we are indebted to Egypt. that profound and universal school of the ancient world. There, medical knowledge was famous in the days of Moses, and her physicians celebrated in his history. The aliment and ablutions 23 recorded in her books—so congenial to the health of an eastern clime—enforced on the observance of Israel—have been ascribed to his knowledge of the Egyptian science of medicine, by those who have denied to him the high prerogative of having acted under the inspiration of the Almighty. The invention of medicine, is generally ascribed to Toth, Taau- tus, or the first Hermes. He was regent or king of Egypt, of the second dynasty of Manetho, and the tutor of queen Isis. Julius Africanus, and Syncellus, make him the same as Sydic, brother to the Caberri. He published six books on physic; the first treated of anatomy. The name of Esculapius or Asclepeus, was given him, on account of his great skill in healing diseases, as the terms imports; being a compound of two Greek words, asclen and rpcos— Merciful healer! And this name he richly merited, according to all the history and tradition of these times. He taught the healing art to queen Isis; who, herself, was the inventor of several medi- cines, and is therefore called, by the Egyptians, the Goddess of Health. She taught medicine to her son Orus or Apollo, and communicated her knowledge in the writings of the Caberri. The distribution of medicine into distinct departments, gave rise to a vast number of physicians in Egypt, and would have been a source of great improvement in the science, had it not been for the restrictive laws of that ancient kingdom. Every physician confined himself to the cure of one disease only. One had the eyes, another the teeth, the head, the belly, the lungs, the reins, the viscera, surgery, anatomy, embalming. Such undivided attention to one object only, was defeated in all its beneficial results, by confining the physi- cians to fixed rules and recipes, set down in their sacred registers, collected from experiments and observations. So long as the phy- sician practiced according to those rules, he was safe, let the effect of his medicine on the patient be what it would; but the moment he dared to depart, and follow his own judgment, it was at the hazard of his life; which he most assuredly lost if the patient died! Physicians had a provision made them by law, which required them to practice in the army, and on strangers travelling in the country, without fee or reward. Their medicines were very sim- ple prescriptions, prepared from herbs; and were generally eva 24 cuents—which they effected by injections, potations, emetics, fasting, and the waters of the JS'ilc. These they repeated every day, or every third day, as the case might be, until the patient was re- lieved. The physicians, in addition to their science, joined the studies of astronomy, magic, and ritual mysteries; believing that the influence of a god, a star, or planet, or tutelar demon, gave powerful influ- ence and efficacy to their prescription?, and secured the recovery of their patients.— Religion mingled with all their operations.— Their books were filled with recipes founded on experiments and observations. But their grand discovery—their Moly—a chimical preparation, made by the aid of the philosopher's stone, or as others say, a vegetable remedy—an immortal catholicon, which not only cured all diseases, but restored the aged to youth, and the dead to life: this grand elixir, their priests carefully concealed from the Greeks. Their kings cr.used bodies to be dissected, for the purpose of perfecting them in the art of physic. In anatomy, they have left us two curious observations. 1.—A particular nerve proceeds di- rectly from the heart to the little finger of the left hand. On this finger the Egyptians always wore rings; and the priests dipped that finger in the perfumed ointments, to sprinkle the victim and the worshippers. 2.—That a man cannot live more than an hun- dred years; because they found by experiments, that the heart of a child of one year old, weighed two drachms; that it increased by the ratio of two every second year, till fifty; when it decreased in the same proportion till one hundred; when the aged actually died for want of heart. Chiron.—Medicine was brought from Egypt to Greece, by the gage Chiron, the centaur, and son of Saturn. He accompanied the Argonautic expedition, and was the most learned genius of his time. He taught Apollo music, Esculapius medicine, and Hercules astronomy. He was also the tutor of Achilles, the instructor of Jason, Peleus, and jEneas; and all the heroes of that celebrated expedition. His knowledge of simples, reduction of fractures, and luxations of the bones, prescribed by rule, after the Egyptian fashion, is all we have left us of his theory of medicine. 25 Jle was shot in the heel by a poi oned arrow, and prayed Jupiter to take away his life. The god heard his prayer, and translated him to the heavens, where he shines in the constellation Sagit- tarius. Esculapius, the Greek, and scholar of Chiron, was the son of Apollo and Coronis. He flourished before the Trojan war. In his infancy he was exposed on a mountain of Thessaly, and way suckled by a goat, and defended by a dcg. The shepherd, having for some time missed his goat and dog, went to seek them on the mountains, and found the child possessed of extraordinary beauty. The shepherd brought it up with the greatest care; and when a boy, he placed him in the hands of the sage Chiron, by whose in- structions he so largely profitted, that his fame far surpassed his master. He taught his two sons his own divine art—Machaon and Podalirius, -who were afterwards celebrated in the war of Troy. He dedicated his days to the relief of the unhappy, and added his own experience and observations to those of his master Chiron. The most dangerous wounds, diseases, and maladies, yielded to his operations, his remedies, his harmonious songs, and his magical words. The gods would have pardoned all this glory* and fame of superior skill; but his great success and daring mind' induced him to recall the dead to life. Pluto was so enraged at this inroad on his dominions, that he struck him dead with a thun- derbolt! He was deified by the Greeks, who showed the most unbounded love to his memory. Forty stadia from Epidaurus, you will find his temple, his statue, and his sacred grove, to which the sick resort from every place, to seek a cure for their various mala- dies. The inscription over the entrance of his temple, is at once solemn - and affecting—"Procul este prophani—far hence ye prophane-— none shall enter here but the pure in soul." The secrets of his art, he communicated to his children; and tbey were retained in his family, until they burst forth, with peculiar splendor, and shone out io the possession of the world, in the writings and the character of - the divine Hippocrates. HtPPOcRATus.—He was born in the island of Cos, 80th Olympiad, 461 A. C. of the family of the Asclepiadj;: for his father was the 4 26 17th in lineal decent from Esculapius, and loth from Podalirius, who dressed the wounded before the walls of Troy, and afterwards reigned over a small city in Tbessaly. He studied medicine under his grandfather Nebrus, and his father Heraclides—to which he added the reading of the tablets hung up in the temples, describing the nature of diseases, and the mode of their cure. This was a custom among the ancient Greeks, and is still practised in the East; a custom of great utility and long standing. The family of the Asclepiadje had carefully preserved the doc- trines of their progenitor Esculapius, and had established three Medical Schools, in Cos, Cnidus, and Rhodes. Their fame began co spread, when this master spirit of the healing art—the Homer of medicine, as he has been called—appeared, to contend for the prize of victory, on the great arena of public effort and emulation. His mighty mind soon perceived the defects in the system of his progenitors, and he grappled with its difficulties, and set himself to find out and apply a remedy, equal to its vast importance. As the grand sum of all medical skill consists in reason and expe- rience; and as the union of these forms the accomplished and the successful practitioner, he prepared himself to add reason and argument to the rules of Greece and Egypt; and at once exalt medicine to the dignity of a science! And this he accomplished, (notwithstanding he has been denounced an empiric,) with a per- severance and success, which, perhaps, have never since been equalled; nor so lionored and distinguished the labors of any single man. Practice and theory were so remarkably combined and blended in the character of this profound original sage, that his decisions in medicine were received like the oracles of Apollo; not only with confidence, but with veneration. The improvement of medicine, at this period, depended on two classes of philosophers, unknown to each other; the Sophoi—rthe students of natural philosophy, who comprehended the human body as a part of their science—and the Asclepiada;, who studied the history and cures of disease; the descendants and disciples of Esculapius. The former examined the functions of the human body, according to the laws of their own science; while the latter 27 prescribed for diseases, according to fixed rules, established and confirmed by numerous cures and experiments. The philosophers reasoned—the Asclepiadas acted. Hippocrates, educated in the art of physic, found at once the vast advantage that would be gained, by obtaining the knowledge of philosophy, and thus enrich medicine by a union of both sciences. He applied himself with the utmost vigor and industry to philo- sophy—to penetrate the essences of bodies—and endeavored to ascend to the constituent principles and powers of the universe. He thus conceived one of those grand and original ideas, which serves as a new erea, in the history of genius. This was to en- lighten experience by reasoning, and to rectify theory by practice. In his theory, however, he only admitted principles which may explain the phenomena observable in the human body, considered with respect to sickness or health. Improved and exalted by this new method, the science of physic made a more sure and certain progress in the path opened before it. Hippocrates silently ef- fected a revolution, which has changed the face of Medicine, and caused it to rank with the sublimest parts of human science. It would be equally useless and prolix, to enlarge on the happy experiments he made, of the new remedies he discovered, or the prodigies he wrought, in all the places honored with his presence; especially in Thessaly, where, after a long residence, he died, at the advanced, age of ninety-nine. From all that has been related concerning him, you can perceive in his soul but one sentiment— the love of doing good—and in his long life, but one single act—re- lieving of the sick! His remarks on the various stages of disease, and signs of their critical events, are the foundation on which physicians act and reason, to the present hour. He also takes notice of the motion and circulation of the blood. This discovery has been attributed to Dr. Harvey; but we have the testimony of his own works, of his disciples Galen, of Riolan, Drelincourt, Van Swieten, &e. that Hippocrates understood the circulation of the blood, and the na- ture of the sanguiferous system. His works are contained in eight folio volumes. 1, Journal of the maladies which he followed through their different stages. 2, •-»* Observations on his own experience, and the experience of pre cediii"- ages. 3, Reasonings on the causes, cwc«, and symptoms of diseases. 4, On airs, u.itcrs, and places, b. The four last, treat of the duties and qualifications of a physician, of various parts of medicine, and natural philosophy. Ilis rules for the education of a physician, are the most admirable that were ever penned. Per- haps we have no essay on education to qualify for any profession, equal to the rules of Hippocratks. "1. Because our life is short and our art very long, a boy must be taken in early youth. '?. Examine whether his genius be adapted to the art. 3. Has he received from nature an exquisite discernment, a sound judgment, a character in which mildness and firmness are combined—that lie may sympathise and suffer with the sufferings of others—that he may naturally feel the tenderest commiseration for the woes incident to hi? fellow mortals. . 4. He must combine the love of labor, with the desire and emulation of all that is amiable and praiseworthy. 5. Let him practice the man- ual operations of surgery. C. Let him study the whole circle of science. 7. Let him travel and extend his knowledge through different countries and cities—let him observe the difference of air?, and waters which are drank. 8. The eatables which are the principal food of the inhabitants! and in one word, all the causes which may occasion disorders in the animal economy. He must know by what preceding signs maladies may be known, by what regimen they may be avoided, by what remedies cured. Experience alone, is less dangerous than theory without expe- rience—for it is not in the du-i of the schools, nor works of the philosophers, that we can learn the art of interrogating nature— and the still more difficult art. of awaiting her answer. You must conduct him to the abodes of pain, already veiled with the shades of death; when nature, exposed to the violent attacks of the enemy, falling, and rising only to sink again—^displays to the attentive eye her waits and her resources. The disciple, as he witnesses this terrible combat, shall observe you watch and seize the instant which may decide the victory, and ,-avc the life of the patient." In this description of a student's qualifications, he has drawn a portrait of him«r>!? 29 His style is concise and beautiful; but requires attentive study to comprehend his force—as he scatters the seeds of his doctrine with a rapid hand, over the vast volume of his works, after the manner of the ancients; who were ever prone to disregard trivial difficulties, while they hastened forward to some grand conclusion. They were more anxious to strike out new, than to dwell on trite and trivial ideas. And this fact will, no doubt, account for the sublime and grand, in the style and compositions of antiquity—so rare in modern works. His death was greatly deplored by the Greeks, and his memory cherished; and his name has been revered and venerated by all nations. The divine Hippocrates—the father of medicine—are the common appellations by which he is distin- guished to this hour. Celsus was born at Rome or Venice, and flourished under the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius C-esar. He was a profound admirer of Hippocrates, and leaves this strong testimony to his memory, and the fame of his works. His doctrine, said Cel- sus, has spread over every land; and when thousands of years shall have passed away, it shall perform thousands of cures, and carry relief and consolation to the afflicted race of man! He seems to have practised on the system of his great predecessor; and to have gained from his discoveries great skill in inflammatory and malig. nant fevers, especially the plague. He wrote eight books on medi- cine; the four first on internal diseases, the fifth and sixth on external diseases, and the two last on the cases which properly belong to surgery. He was much beloved at Rome, and held in high consideration by the Emperors. Galen was born at Pergamus—was a most diligent and labori- ous student. He closely followed his great leader, Hippocrates ; and wrote a commentary on his works. He confesses, with grati- tude, the vast obligations he owed to that father of medicine- mentions his knowledge of the motion and circulation of the blood, and great skill in anatomy. Galen travelled through many coun- tries to improve his knowledge. He visited the different schools of Greece and Egypt, and the islands of Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes; made two voyages to Lemnos to examine the Lemnean earth, at that time celebrated as a medicine: travelled to Palestine, and the 30 Lower Tyrus, to examine the properties of the Opobalsamum, or balm of Gilead. He at last arrived at Rome, in the reign of Marcus Antoninus, and was at first graciously received as a distin- guished stranger. But his great success and skill in practice, soon excited the envy of the Roman physicians. They branded him with the name of Theorist, and affirmed that he used magical words in his practice. He retorted upon them the name of Me- thodic*. His situation was rendered unpleasant; he found the opposition was too strong for him. After a residence of five years he returned to Pergamus. The Dogmatists, says Dr. Ray, are certainly so far right, that a knowledge of the animal structure is necessary, in order to know how to repair it; though this belongs more properly to surgical operations. Yet the empirics, who rely on experience and prac- tice exclusively, and are therefore called quacks, can retort, with equal justice, upon their opponents, that there is no relation be- tween the animal economy and functions, in a living, sound, and healthful state—and a diseased or dead body, destitute of these. After Galen had remained some time at Pergamus, the plague made its appearance at Aquilia and Rome, during the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verres. The fame of Galen, and his skill in curing that disease, induced the Emperors to send for him. He arrived; and had the felicity to cure the two sons of Aurelius, Commodus and Sextus, who had been smitten with the infection. This event so established his name, that all hostility against him ceased. After the death of Aurelius, he returned finally to Pergamus, where he died at the advanced age of ninety years. lie was of a delicate and sickly constitution of body; yet from his great skill in medicine, and the temperate mode of his life, he reached a happy and useful old age, when he slept with his fathers in hig native city, A. D. 200. His fame was very great; and he ranks next to Hippocrates on the roll of great and splendid men. He wrote five hundred volumes on philosophy and medicine. They were deposited in the temple of Peace at Rome; and destroyed when that City was burned by the Goths. The scattered volumes which still remained in the hands of his friends and followers, have been collected and 31 published in five folio volumes; when his works and Hipocrates' were published together, they amounted to thirteen folio volumes; a monument of splendor to those distinguished men, which covers the Egyptian pyramids with contempt and shame. A pleasing melancholy pervades the soul, as we trace the memorials of those devoted and magnanimous benefactors of the human race. They seem to redeem the very character of man from all the vile aspersions, that have been cast upon it. They shine as splendid beacons, on the solitudes of time, to point the traveller the road to glory, and the haven of immortality and peace! If we were disposed to hesitate cr linger in the pursuits of humanity, those bright examples would spur us on to industry and exertion. For a long period after the days of Hippocrates, no eminent physician of Greece, at least none of known date, was found worthy to bear the torch of that distinguished mind into the temple of Hygeia. The pursuits of the healing art might languish, but did not slumber. We have sufficient testimony on the historic page, to medical studies in the East, in Egypt and in Greece, through the long period that elapsed between Hippocrates and Galrn. In Greece the votive tablets suspended in the temple of the gods, displayed to the eyes of the student of medicine, the disease, its history, and the nature of its cure. In India, the sick were laid in beds by the way side, that every passenger might be consulted on the means of their recovery. These cures were also registered on the pillars and monuments of Eastern magnificence. for the benefit of the public. If any discovered a poison, he was obliged to conceal it, till he had also found out its antidote, and then they were published together. This was a part of the code of wise maxims, which still distinguish the primitive regions of the human race. In Egypt, medical science progressed according to the prescribed forms, until Nectanebus, the last of the race of Misraim, was expelled his throne and kingdom, by Ochus, the tyrant of Persia, a few years before Alexander conquered the East. Erasistratus was celebrated for his skill and wisdom in the mode of cure; his medicines were mild and simple, administered 32 with judgment and success. He was opposed to mixed and com- plicated medicines. Heraphilus the anatomist, held a distinguished rank amongst the physicians of Greece. He was so much devoted to the discovery of specifics, that it gave occasion to his disciple PHiLNius,of Cos, to attach himself wholly to the practice of empiricism. The honor of having founded thesedof empirics, has been contended by their followers, between Philinus and Serapion, of Alexandria. It is however certain, that it arose immediately after the time of Hera- philus. And this period may be regarded as one of the most remarkable in the history of general physic. Heraclides of Tarentum, was of the empiric sect; a person of