14 Medicine. [Chap. IV. 



Ihc fiir-famed imposition concerning Animal Mag- 

 netism^ by Mesnier, and his followers; and more 

 recently, the claims of Perkinism, so denominated 

 from Dr. Perkins, late a citizen of the United 

 States. But it is worthy of remark, that, w^hile 

 these kinds of imposture have rather gained 

 ground, those which consist in Witchcraft, Spells^ 

 and Incantations, and all the supposed influence 

 of Demoniacal powers, in producing health or 

 disease, ha^e manifestly dechned within the period 

 under review. 



The cultivation and progress of medical science 

 in the United States deserves some attention be- 

 fore closing this chapter. It is to be lamented 

 that the want of suitable documents renders a full 

 and satisfactory view of this part of the retrospect 

 impossible : for though little was done in that 

 country, for the science of medicine, until within 

 the last forty years ; yet of a considerable portion 

 of that little the knowledge is either totally lost, 

 or preserved only in that vague and indistinct 

 mauntr in which traditional records are usually 

 presented. 



During the greater part of the century under 

 review, and especially the early periods of it, me- 

 chcid science was cultivated with most success in 

 the Middle and Southern States. This was, pro- 

 bably, among other circumstances, chiefly owing 

 to the following causes. In those states man}' ot* 

 the ])liysicians were Europeans, who had enjoyed 

 all the advantages of the best schools of physic. 



