PREFACE. 



A PORTION of the materials of which this volume is 

 composed has appeared from time to time in the pages 

 of the " Homoeopathic World," and from the flattering 

 communications which I have received from some of 

 of my colleagues in England, as well as in the United 

 States of America, relative to the practical bearing of 

 the subject on which it treats, has induced me to pub- 

 lish it in the form now presented to the reader. 



In undertaking this task I have kept prominently in 

 view that familiar phrase " brevity is the soul of wit," 

 consequently I have endeavoured to concentrate into 

 the smallest possible compass, compatible with the scope 

 and usefulness of the work, the history, anatomy, 

 chemistry, pathology, physiology, and treatment, both 

 allopathic and homoeopathic, of each disease. 



The sections referring to allopathy, or the so-called 

 " orthodox doctrine of medicine," are simply introduced 

 by way of contrast, from which it is hoped the general 

 reader may derive food for thought, and weapons for fair 

 arguments and well balanced comparisons. 



