58 • MEMOIR OF DR WRIGHT. 



the barben At the shops of the apothecaries Dr 

 Weight found the greatest difficulty in supplying 

 himself with the medicines he reo^ired. The pr«r 

 scriptions of the physicianslie found as tedious, and 

 their materia medica as complicated, as they had been 

 in Great Britain a century before. But, as the prin- 

 ciples of inductive reasoning had not* yet found their 

 way into the Spanish seats of learning, it was not to 

 be supposed that the simplicity of modern science 

 could be successfully applied to the practice of medi- 

 cine, until the light of knowledge was more generally 

 diffused. 



The simplicity,, the novelty, and success of Dr 

 Wright's practice among his brother officers, and 

 their families, soon attracted the attention of the gen- 

 tlemen of Arcos and its neighbourhood. In cases of 

 difficult labour, it was a recognised rule that the in- 

 fant should, if possible, be saved, although at the ex- 

 pence of the life of the mother ; and the reason as- 

 signed for it was, that another christian might be add- 

 ed to the church. A rule so abhorrent to the feelings 

 of humanity, was followed by its natural result. The 

 compulsory care of the physician was terminated by 

 the ceremony of baptism ; and from thenceforth the 

 young christian was consigned to the care of some ig- 

 norant domestic. 



Dr Wright's introduction to the native society 

 of Arcos, originated in a case of this kind Don An- 

 drea Cambrea, a man of considerable fortune, and 

 of high rank in the secular department of the priest- 

 hood, waited on Dr Wright, and represented to him 



