1S05.] 



Memoir of the late Dr. Currie of Liverpool. 



S41 



Currie, in print, as the amhor, at the fame 

 time affefting the familiarity of an inti- 

 mate acquaintance, although no corref- 

 pondence between them had fubfifted for 

 a number of years. It can fcarcely be 

 doubted that this infringement of the rules 

 ot liberal controverfy was made with the 

 malignant purpofe of expofing Dr. Currie 

 to popular odium, and injuring him in his 

 proJeflion. He felt it as fuch ; but the 

 particular line of his principal connexions, 

 together with the folid bafis of the charac- 

 ter he had edablilhed, enabled him to de- 

 fpife the efforts of party malice. 



The greater ditiinffion a profefnuial 

 man acquires from purfuits not belonging 

 to his profeflion, the more necefltry it be- 

 comes for him to bring himfelf into no- 

 tice as a fuccefsful votary of the ait or 

 fcjence to which his primary attention is 

 due. Of this point Dr. Currie was very 

 far from being neglectful. To ihofc who 

 employed him he was abundantly known 

 as a flcilful and I'cduljus prs6tiii;incr, and 

 the medical papers be had already publifli- 

 ed gave him reputation among his bre- 

 thren. This reputation was widely ex- 

 tended and raifcd to an eminent degree by 

 a publication which fiift appeared in Oc- 

 tober 1797, inti'led " Medical Rep rts 

 on the Effefls of Water Cold and Warm 

 ?s a Remedy in Febrile Difcafes j with 

 Obfei vations on the Nature of Fever, and 

 on tlie Effeils of Opium, Alcohol, and 

 Inanition." The practice of affudon of 

 cold water in fevers, which is the leading 

 topic in this work, was fuggefted to the 

 author by Dr. Wright's narrative in the 

 London Medical Jomnul ot his fuccefsful 

 treatment of a fever in a homeward-bound 

 (hip fiom Jamaica. Dr. Currie copied and 

 greatly extended it, and inveftigated the 

 principles by which \U u(e (hould be di- 

 rected and regulated. He difcovered that 

 the fafety and advantage of the applica- 

 tion of cold was propoi tionate to the ex- 

 iiling augmentation of the animal heat, 

 and he found the thermometer a very va- 

 luable inltruiaent to direi^t the pia£lition. 

 er's judgment in febrile cafes. He may 

 therefore be ccniidered as the priiicipil 

 a(ith<'r of a practice which has already 

 been attended with extiaordinary fucccfs 

 in numerous inrtances, and bids fair to 

 prove one of the greaicft medical im- 

 provement:) in modem tunes. The 

 woik, whith contained many ingenious 

 ({HTCulations and valuable ol>lei vations, 

 was very generally read atjd admired. A 

 new volunie was added to ii in 1804, con- 



MoNfHLy Mag. No, 134., 



fitting of much intereftirg matter on dif- 

 ferent topics, efpecially in confirmation 

 of the doitrine and praftice of the former 

 volume refpefting cold afFufion, The 

 free and futceisful employment of this 

 remedy in the fcarlatina was one of its 

 mofl important articles. The author 

 had the fatisfaiStion of receiving numeioua 

 acknowledgments of the benefit deiived 

 from his inftruftions both in private and 

 in naval and military practice He him- 

 felf was fo much convinced of the utility 

 of the methods he recommended, tha' a re- 

 vifion of the whole work for a new e fition 

 was one of the lateft labours of his life. 



Dr. Currie might now, without danger 

 to his profeflion-il charaitei, indulge his 

 inclination for the ornamental parts of li- 

 terature; and anoccali^n offered in which 

 he had the happinei's of rendering his 

 talle and his benevolence equally confpi- 

 cuoiis. On a viiit to his native county 

 in 1791 he had become perfonally ac- 

 quainted with that rultic f.m of genius 

 Robert Burns. This extraordinary but 

 unfortunate man having athisdea'h left 

 his family in great indigence, a fubfcrip- 

 tion was made in Scotland for iheir imme- 

 diate relief, and at the fame time a tlelign 

 was formed of pubhfhing an td tion of his 

 printed works and remains for theii emo- 

 lument. Mr. Syme of Ryedale, an old 

 and intimate fiiend of Dr Cunie, 

 ftrongly urged hini to undertake the office 

 of editor } and to this requeft, in which 

 other friends of the pnet's memory con- 

 curred, he could not withhold his acqui- 

 eftence, notwithltanding his mul iplied 

 ecg.tgements. In 1800 hepubi.ftied in 4. 

 vols. 8vo. " The Works of Robert 

 Burns, with an Account of his Life and a 

 Criiicifm on his Writings : ti> «hich are 

 prefixed fome Obfc vations on theCnaiac- 

 ter and Condition of the Scoitifh Fcalan- 

 try." Thefe volumes were a rich tiear to 

 the lovers ot p letry and elegant litcra^ 

 ture, and Dr. Curne's part in them, as a 

 biographer rnd critic, was greatly admir- 

 ed, as well t^r bea-jiy ot liylc as fir libe- 

 rality of fcntiment and fagacity cf re- 

 mark. If any objeftion was m .de to him 

 as an editor on account of unncccfTary ex- 

 lenfion of the materials, the kind purp,;fe 

 for which the publication was undertaken 

 pleaifed his excu.e w-tii all who were ca- 

 pable of filing its force. Its lutccfs fully 

 equalled the nio(t fanguine cxpeft.itions.— 

 Repeated editions produced a balance of 

 profit whicl> formed a little f rtune for 

 the deftitiite family j and Dr. Currie 

 li h might 



