Sect. III.] Theori) a?id Practice ofPlnjsic. 349 



ciently known to give any account of them in tla:> 

 review. 



Within a few years, Dr. lleich, of that country, 

 has presented to the pubhc a new theory of fcvtrs, 

 which seems, however, to have attracted l)ut little 

 attention, and it is believed is now failing into 

 neglect. His fundamental doctrine is, that fevers 

 are produced by destruction of the equilibrium bo 

 tween oxygen and the other principles which eutcr 

 into the composition of the animal body; and that 

 fevers may be most speedily cured by introducing 

 and restoring equally, to all parts of the body, 

 such a quantity of oxygen as is necessary to re- 

 establish the equilibrium between the ditferent con- 

 stituent parts. And hence he infers that aci(L«, 

 especially the mineral acids, and particularly tlie 

 muriatic acid, are better adapted than any other 

 remedies to the cure of fevers. 



Among the improvements which occurred to- 

 wards the close of the eighteenth century, Pneu- 

 matic MedicLJW holds a distinguished rank. I'he 

 knowledge of the gases in the last quarter of the 

 century assumed a regular and scientific form; 

 and the analysis of the atmosphere by Scheele and 

 Lavoisier, at that period, gave a new aspect to 

 many doctrines of the animal economy, both in its 

 healthy and diseased state. When the comi)osition 

 of the atmosphere, its intluence in the function of 

 . respiration, and the constitution of animal matter, 

 were ascertained, it was natural to suppose that 

 many of the gases received into the hini^s in breath- 

 ing might become powerful remediLis. M. Four« 

 croy took the lead in this incpiiry, and was soon 

 assisted by the exertions of Lr. Girtanncr. Dr. 



