A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



was supposed to be a fertile cause of diseases, and such 

 diseases were supposed to arise mostly from " plethora" 

 an all-important element in Stahl's therapeutics. 

 By many this theory is regarded as an attempt on the 

 part of the pious Stahl to reconcile medicine and the- 

 ology in a way satisfactory to both physicians and 

 theologians, but, like many conciliatory attempts, it 

 was violently opposed by both doctors and ministers. 



A belief in such a theory would lead naturally to 

 simplicity in therapeutics, and in this respect at least 

 Stahl was consistent. Since the soul knew more about 

 the body than any physician could know, Stahl con- 

 ceived that it would be a hinderance rather than a help 

 for the physician to interfere with complicated doses 

 of medicine. As he advanced in age this view of the 

 administration of drugs grew upon him, until after re- 

 jecting quinine, and finally opium, he at last used only 

 salt and water in treating his patients. From this last 

 we may judge that his "system," if not doing much 

 good, was at least doing little harm. 



The theory of the Vitalists was closely allied to that 

 of the Animists, and its most important representa- 

 tive, Paul Joseph Barthez, was a cultured and eager 

 scientist. After an eventful and varied career as 

 physician, soldier, editor, lawyer, and philosopher in 

 turn, he finally returned to the field of medicine, was 

 made consulting physician by Napoleon in 1802, and 

 died in Paris four years later. 



The theory that he championed was based on the 

 assumption that there was a " vital principle," the 

 nature of which was unknown, but which differed from 

 the thinking mind, and was the cause of the phenom- 



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