f 188 J 
occurred from that caufe. How eafily are the ge- 
nerality of mankind feduced into a belief of what 
they wifh to be true! 
Thus, by implicit faith in pretended fpecifics, and 
boafted cures that never exifted, is modern quackery 
fupported in luxury, at the expence of Britifh 
credulity; while fortune, health, and life are daily 
facrificed to the rapacity. of defperate and defign- 
ing impoftors! 
Prevention by External Means. 
The external means of prevention may be per- 
formed by ablution, by fuétion, by extirpation, and 
by the application of oleaginous fubftances. 
Ablution.—In the bite of a mad-dog, the firft care _ 
ought undoubtedly to be to remove as fpeedily as 
poflible every particle of the poifon. For whether 
it be acid, alkaline, or neutral, water is the univerfal 
folvent of all faline bodies, ‘Therefore, after the 
wound has bled freely, and been well wiped with a 
dry cloth, it ought to be diligently wathed for the 
full fpace of an hour, with a folution of foap in | 
tepid water. This may be done by a foft fponge, 
_ a watering-pot, or, perhaps, ftill better by a fyringe. 
In flight fuperficial wounds fuch a copious ablu- 
tion alone Might poflibly be fufficient to prevent 
future mifchief, yet ought not, I think, to be entirely 
depended upon, without the following precautions ; 
which may, it is prefumed, add confiderably to the 
patient’s fecurity. ift, Previous 
