typi' o« coughs and colds, 119 



1 6th. May not the great care of the police of Spain 

 have extirpated coughs from that kingdom, as the 

 plague has been from that and the other kingdoms of 

 Eur^)pe ? Is it too late to try whether the sa ne care 

 would not produce the same eff.ct in our island? 



17th. Those who have lived' for these last fortj 

 years, have seen the sting drxwn out of many dis- 

 tempers, formerly considered as mortal. How many 

 fevers have been cured or prevented by the Jesuits 

 bark, Dr James's powders, and other antimonial pre- 

 parations I How many cholics have been cured by 

 laudanum I And how many lives have been saved 

 by innoculating for the small pox I What good has 

 not Goulard's extract of lead done in the cure of in- 

 veterate sores, and recent wounds, and strains, and 

 bruises ! Why despair of eradicating colds also ? 



1 8th. If we examine the bills of mortality, or re- 

 collect the events within our own circle, we Ihall find 

 there is no distemper more fatal to human life than 

 colds. With the young it is apt to degenerate into a 

 consumption. To the old and infirm, it is almost 

 certain death. For being attended with some degree 

 of fever, and occasioning great bodily concufsion, it 

 frequently proves too violent to be resisted by per- 

 sons infeebled either by age, or a weakly habit of 

 body, in so much that we consider it as an effort of 

 strength, and a piece of good fortune for such people 

 to turn the winter. 



I Qth.Every climate has its drawbacks. Many climates 

 arc more genial than that of Great Britain; yet, upon 

 the whole, few are more fit for the habitation of man- 

 jkind. Exempted from extremes of every kind, from 



