PREFACE. Vv. 
Being more anxious to secure the judgment 
than catch the fancy of my readers, I have 
bestowed little decoration on the style, which has 
been sacrificed for the purpose of arraying truth 
in its simplest garb. There are other defects 
for which I ought, perhaps, to apologize; the 
difficulty of the subject claims some allowance, 
and Wisdom is rarely, like its presiding goddess, 
mature from its origin. 
At first it was my intention to have included 
the Irritability of the Glands ; but finding that the 
completion of this plan would have considerably 
enlarged the work, without adding much to its 
value, I thought it advisable to conclude with 
Visceral Irritability. 
In general I have mentioned those authors to 
whom I have been indebted for any particularly 
important idea, and observed as much as possible 
respect for literary property, individual as well 
as national. The writings of Sir Everard Home, 
Dr. Davy, and Mr. Brodie, have afforded me 
both facts and examples for deviating from the 
