INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 69 



Taplin learned both his complaints againft the 

 old and vulgar practice he fo vehemently 

 decries ; and alfo, in great meafure, his method 

 of curing the farcy. 



I mufl beg leave to refer the reader to my 

 23d page, in which the quotations materially 

 intereft the prefent bufinefs-, another reference 

 to Gibfon will place the whole in the cleared 

 light. " Thofe who ufe nothing but a decoc- 

 tion or juices of herbs, fuch as wormwood, 

 rue, alder, ragwort, horehound, and many 

 other fuch like fimples, with a mixture of wood- 

 foot, brandy, or aqua vitae, have a much better 

 chance to cure the farcy, if they begin in time, 

 and take care to make proper applications 

 outwardly, as there is nothing in fuch ingre- 

 dients but what is friendly to the animal con- 

 flitution ; and the foot is certainly of great ufe 

 in many cafes, &c. &c. — But in an inveterate 

 kind, or when the farcy has grown fo, by its 

 continuance, or by ill management, nothing 

 can come in competition with mercurial and 

 antimonial preparations, as I have often found 

 from experience." — Gibfon, vol. ii. p. 225. 



Mr. Taplin now commences his " new, im- 

 proved, and rational fyftem of cure," with 

 fome of the cautions of Dr. Bracken, and the 

 aloetic purge and antimonial alterative (very 

 little altered) by him recommended; proceed- 

 ing to patch up different forms of prefcription 



f 3 from 



