368 INTRODUCTORY LECTURES. 



I have thus divided the history of physic into seven periods 

 by marking the several revolutions which have given occasion 

 to that division ; and, if I mistake not, these are the revolutions 

 which chiefly, perhaps those which only, deserve to be taken no- 

 tice of. I shall, in the next place, mark the same periods by 

 the persons who gave occasion to, or were the authors of the 

 several revolutions mentioned ; and who have thereby been, as 

 they deserved to be, the most remarkable persons in the history 

 of physic. Our several periods of the history of physic may be 

 distinguished by the persons concerned in them as follows : 



Thejirst period is from the beginning of the art, or if you 

 please, for the sake of a name, from the time of JEsculapius, to 

 the time of Hippocrates, who is supposed to have been the first 

 who united in himself the philosophical and practical physician, 

 and therefore to have been the first founder of a Dogmatic system. 

 The second period is from the time of Hippocrates to the time of 

 Serapion, most commonly supposed to have been the author of the 

 Empiric sect. The third period is from the time of Serapion to that 

 of Themison, the undoubted author of the Methodic sect. The 

 fourth period is from the time of Themison to that of Galen, 

 who, as we have said, contributed a great deal to the suppres- 

 sion of the Empiric and Methodic sects, and to the restoring of 

 the ancient Dogmatism of Hippocrates. Thejlfth period is from 

 the time of Galen to that of Paracelsus, who first introduced 

 Chemistry into the schools of physic. The sixth period is from 

 the time of Paracelsus to that of Harvey, undoubtedly the first 

 who established the knowledge of the circulation of the blood. 

 The seventh and last period is from the time of Harvey down 

 to the present, or, if you will, to the time of Dr. Boerhaave, for 

 though his system seems to be passing away, there is still no 

 other name by which we can so properly distinguish the present 

 age. Observe, therefore, that if you can but remember these 

 eight names of ^Esculapius, Hippocrates, Serapion, Themison, 

 Galen, Paracelsus, Harvey, and Boerhaave, you will easily re- 

 collect our division of the History of Physic. 



But still it is not quite enough to remember these divisions 

 thus generally, either by the revolutions produced, or by the 

 persons producing them. It is further necessary to mark their 

 relation to time more exactly, to mark the date and durations 



