^2CXIV INTRODUCTION. 



I say, with Cicero — Tacere prcestat philosoplih^ 

 qiiam loqiii. To those who may ingenuously desire 

 to correct errors, and who possess manliness suffi- 

 cient to offer judicious advice, i shall give my 

 cordial thanks, knowing how to appreciate an im- 

 partial critique. Palmam qui meruit fer at. — "Be 

 'his the palm who merits it." 



If my work meets with a favorable reception, and 

 is considered useful, I shall feel happy in having at- 

 tained my most ardent wishes ; I shall forget the toils, 

 dangers, and sacrifices I have undergone, and, more- 

 over, escape the lot of many, who, after having spent 

 the greater portion of their lives and fortune, and, 

 not unfrequently, ruined their health, in rendering 

 themselves useful to mankind, have too often met 

 with ingratitude, and, sometimes, with persecution. 

 Many benefactors of the human species have ex- 

 perienced such treatment, and analogy almost pre- 

 pares us to expect it. If we turn to the histories of 

 important discoveries and inventions, we shall find, 

 that, on their first announcement, they were con- 

 temned and ridiculed, while the inventors and dis- 

 coverers were laughed at, misrepresented, and vilified. 

 Sydenham, whose memory we must revere, was, by 

 several of his contemporaries, stigmatized with the 

 name of quack^ and murderer. Many now celebrated 

 men, who, in the fourteenth century distinguished 

 themselves by their knowledge of physical science, 

 were burned as sorcerers, Galileo was imprisoned I j^ 

 in his seventieth year, for maintaining the rotation of I ^^ 

 the earth ; and posterity may, perhaps, admire some I i 

 of our cotemporaries, who having done much for the 

 advancement of arts and sciences, have not enjoyed I ^^ 

 the esteem they merit. 



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