10 



spasm. This is like a man mounting upon 

 a load he is going to lift. That there is a 

 power in nature which tends to correct 

 errors and remove diseases, there is no 

 doubt ; but this power never acts in oppo- 

 sition to itself. The spasm or constriction, 

 the dilatation, the accumulation of blood, 

 and the increased impetus, all exist in the 

 same place, at the same time. Perhaps the 

 teachers of this doctrine are of an opinion, 

 which some say is founded on experience, 

 that to make any thing generally believed, 

 it is necessary to make it as absurd as pos- 

 sible, and to dash beyond all human com- 

 prehension. For when any thing is simple, 

 men begin to reason, and when they begin 

 to reason, they may begin to doubt. Gar- 

 deners dung their trees to give them 

 nourishment, and they bend the branches, 

 &c. to deprive them of nourishment, what 



