27^ d'alembert. 



as appeared on the subject in the second volume of the Opuscules, 

 omitting the mathematical investigations, but expanding and 

 illustrating all the rest. 



D'Alembert's general position is that the arguments which 

 have hitherto been brought forward for Inoculation or against it 

 are almost all unsound. His own reflexions however lead to the 

 conclusion that Inoculation is advantageous, and that conclusion 

 seems more confidently maintained in the essay than in the 

 Opuscules. Some additional facts concerning the subject are re- 

 ferred to in the essay ; they had probably been published since 

 the second volume of the Opuscules. 



497. D'Alembert retains the opinion he had formerly held as 

 to the difficulty of an exact mathematical solution of the problem 

 respecting the advantages of Inoculation. He says in summing 

 up his remarks on this point : S'il est quelqu'un a qui la solution 

 de ce probl^me soit reservee, ce ne sera st\rement pas a ceux qui 

 la croiront facile. 



498. D'Alembert insists strongly on the want of ample col- 

 lections of observations on the subject. He wishes that medical 

 men would keep lists of all the cases of small-pox which come 

 under their notice. He sa3"s, 



...ces registres, donnes an public par les Facultes de medecine ou 

 par les particuliers, seraient certainement d'une utilite plus palpable 

 et plus prochaine, que les recueils d'observations meteorologiques pub- 

 lies avec tant de soin par nos Academies depuis 70 ans, et qui pour- 

 tant, ^ certains egards, ne sont pas eux-memes sans utilite. 



Combien ne serait-il pas a souhaiter que les medecins, au lieu de 

 se quereller, de s'injurier, de se dechirer mutuellement au sujet de 

 I'inoculation avec un aeharnement tlieologique, au lieu de supposer 

 ou de degniser les faits, voulussent bien se reunir, pour faire de bonne 

 foi toutes les experiences necessaires sur une matiere si interessante 

 pour la vie des homrnes ] 



499. We next proceed to the fourth volume of D'Alemherfs 

 Opuscules, in which the pages 73 — 105 and 283—341 are de- 

 voted to our subject. The remarks contained in these pages are 

 presented as extracts from letters. 



