45fi OBJECT OF 



of what it is, and of the laws by which it operates, 

 would do more to meliorate the condition of man- 

 kind, than all the systems that have been invented 

 from the age of Hippocrates to the present time ; 

 because it would lead, not only to a certain 

 method of curing diseases, but, what would be of 

 vastly greater consequence, the theory of life 

 would become intelligible to all ; and its chief 

 glory would be the prevention rather than the 

 cure of maladies. 



The whole object of medical science is to re- 

 gulate the forces of life to increase them when 

 and where they are deficient to restrain them 

 when excessive and to restore their natural 

 balance when deranged. But how can we know 

 the best means of maintaining the functions of 

 life in a healthy state, while ignorant of the phy- 

 sical cause on which they all depend ? How is it 

 possible to counteract with certainty, those invo- 

 luntary movements that constitute tetanus, hy- 

 drophobia, and other forms of convulsive disease, 

 without knowing the cause of muscular contrac- 

 tion in a state of health ? How can we adopt the 

 best treatment of fever, inflammation, and the 

 various species of malarious affections, without 

 comprehending the true theory of animal heat, 

 and the specific office which it performs in the 

 economy of life? Why are so many diseases 

 pronounced incurable, though attended with no 

 organic lesion, and ranked among the opprobria 



