PREFACE. 



SOMETIME since, I received a letter from a near 

 and dear relative ; in which he stated, that he had 

 been for a considerable time an invalid, labouring 

 under a combination of the most dissimilar sym- 

 ptoms ; all of which, he was assured, are repre- 

 sented by the term " indigestion." He complained 

 bitterly, that he could not obtain any satisfactory 

 information as to the real nature of this Protean 

 malady, nor as to the probability of his perfect and 

 permanent recovery. When he questioned his me- 

 dical attendants on the subject, they evinced every 

 disposition to satisfy him ; but they could not avoid 

 making use of phrases which were to him words 

 without meaning. These phrases were, nevertheless, 

 only such as are in common and daily use among 

 all classes phrases which he himself had frequently 

 used, and fully supposed he understood ; but which 



