SPLANCHNOLOGIA. 



OF THE VISCERA. 



"The best means of avoiding the errors which have now been referred to, 

 (viz., the construction of hypothetical theories, or the assumption of principles 

 which are altogether gratuitous and imaginary, and the deduction of general 

 principles or conclusions from a limited number of facts,) will probably be, 

 to keep in mind the important principle, that the object of physical science is, 

 ' to ascertain the universality of a fact.' A considerable number of medical 

 doctrines, there is reason to apprehend, will come out of the examination in 

 rather an unsatisfactory manner, if we apply to them the tests which this rule 

 would furnish, namely are they facts, and are these facts universal ?" ABER- 

 CROMBIE. Path, and Pract. Researches on the Diseases of the Stomachy <fc., 

 Preface. 



13 



