PREFACE. vii 



comes to the honest conclusion that I have recom- 

 mended any agent in the treatment of disease, which 

 is known, or shall ultimately prove, inimical to the 

 physiological action of any function or organ of the 

 animated creature, then ihe fault is on my side, yet is 

 purely accidental, in consequence of my lack of expe- 

 rience in being able to select suitable substitutes ; but 

 such do exist ; and so soon as they shall be discovered 

 they are to be marshalled in the list of physiological 

 agents. 



Husbandmen and others, who shall treat disease 

 according to the principles recommended in the follow- 

 ing pages, will have the satisfaction of knowing that, 

 if their patients die, their deaths are not occasioned by 

 a medicinal disease ; and as the remedies are of a san- 

 ative character, a slight mistake in either quantity or 

 kind will not prove injurious, unless it be recklessly 

 administered. 



There is nothing good in medicine, except that 

 which is congenial to nature, or acts in harmony with 

 the laws of life ; and the same proposition is proverbi- 

 ally and experimentally true, both as regards food and 

 fluids ; neither the one nor the other are of any value, 

 unless they contain elements of nutrition. 



In the early history of medical science, or rather at 

 the period when Hippocrates flourished, simple and 

 safe medicines were prescribed, and. the wonderful suc- 

 cess which attended his mode of treatment, was due 

 to the fact that he was skilled in the use of medicines 



