HISTORY OF MEDICINE. 36^ 



by experience and observation almost alone ; and the first revolu_ 

 tion therefore to be marked, is, from the joining of philosophy and 

 theory to experience. The persons who produced this change, 

 from the speculative opinions on which they founded their sys- 

 tem, were called Dogmatists, and their sect the Dogmatic. The 

 second period of our history extends from the time that practi- 

 cal physicians attempted to lay the foundation of their art in 

 reasoning on the human body ; that is, from the rise of a Dog- 

 matic sect, to the time when a sect of physicians arose, who pro- 

 fessedly opposed all reasoning in physic, declared against phi- 

 losophy and anatomy, the foundations of such reasoning, and 

 maintained that experience alone was the only proper guide. 

 The method of these physicians was called Empiricism ; and the 

 followers of it formed a sect which was called the Empiric. The 

 third period of our history extends from the rise of the Empiric 

 to the rise of the Methodic sect, which, as we shall afterwards 

 explain, was distinguished by a particular modification of Dog- 

 matism. The fourth period extends from the rise of the Me- 

 thodic sect to the time of Galen, by whom both the Empiric and 

 Methodic sects were in a great measure suppressed, and the an- 

 cient Dogmatism restored. The fifth period extends from the 

 time of Galen to the time that Chemistry was introduced into 

 the schools of physic, during which long period, the system of 

 Galen had alone prevailed ; but, by the introduction of chemis- 

 try, not only a new mode of Dogmatism was introduced, but 

 also an occasion given to a return of much Empiricism. The 

 sixth period extends from the time of the introduction of chem- 

 istry to the discovery of the Circulation of the Blood, which 

 promised a more solid and durable foundation of Dogmatism, 

 than had been laid before. During this period physicians were 

 divided into the two sects of Chemists and Galenists ; the first, 

 pretendedly Dogmatists, but for the most part truly Empirics ; 

 and the others not rejecting experience, but making little use of 

 it. The seventh and last period of our history of physic ex- 

 tends from the time of the discovery of the circulation of the 

 blood to the present day. During this last period, physic has 

 been constantly taught upon a Dogmatic plan, and most generally 

 practised upon an Empiric one. But a more particular explan- 

 ation of this will be given afterwards, 



