IV INTRODUCTION. 



we ought not entirely to disregard old works, but to 

 select, as I have done, such portions as appear useful. 

 I have tested some of the simple remedies mentioned 

 in their books, which, having been injudiciously 

 administered, had fallen into disuse (their real utility 

 being misunderstood, or, overlooked) and, in some 

 cases, I found them very efficacious. In prosecuting 

 my experiments, I principally consulted the Persian 

 .works, Tohfct Kliany^ and Tohfet al Mominin. And 

 to these 1 shall refer, as often as the special cases 1 

 relate, may require. 



At present, there are two different systems of 

 medical treatment practised in Europe, viz.^ Allceo- 

 pathia and IIom(£Opathia ; both of which have been 

 contending for supremacy, during the last half- 

 century. The former is the ancient method, and is 

 universally recognised and taught in all the univer- 

 sities of Europe ; but, as both of these systems 

 have their /ro. and con. I shall, for the sake of the 

 general reader, give a concise account of each ; 

 which accounts may, at the same time, serve as an in- 

 troduction to the medium-system I have adopted. 



Alloeopathia contains remedies which operate so 

 violently, that, if the doses administered are not very 

 nicely adjusted to the disease, or, if a mistake occur 

 (which too often happens) the effect, instead of being 

 salutary, proves injurious, if not fatal ; and the 

 patient then dies, not of disease, but, from the im- 

 proper means used for its removal. In such cases, it 

 would have been better to have left the patient to 

 the fostering care of nature. The number of 

 those who are sent (some of them in the prime of 

 life)- prematurely to their graves, through injudi- 

 cious treatment, is by no means inconsiderable ; 



