INFLUENCE IN THE FEVERS OF INDIA, &C. 17 



That the number of fevers should increase equal- 

 ly during the transition from cold to hot, as from 

 hot to cold, and under the two opposite ex- 

 tremes of permanent heat and permanent cold, 

 should equally diminish, are facts that are no 

 doubt curious. At present, however, I mean only 

 to suggest, that, if the theory of sol-lunar influ- 

 ence should ever be admitted in Europe, those 

 phenomena, apparently so very repugnant, may 

 all be reconciled and referred to one common cause, 

 without involving the smallest inconsistency or 

 contradiction. 



VI. Testimonies respecting the effects o/" Sol-Lunar 

 Influence in the Fevers of India. 



As it is impossible on this occasion to detail at 

 full length the various observations and arguments 

 from which I have been led to adopt this theory, 

 it is necessary to state, that it has not been taken 

 up rashly ; that it is now submitted to this Society 

 after the observation and reflection of thirty years; 

 and that it is confirmed, in its most essential points, 

 by the concurring observations of a large body of 

 respectable gentlemen, whose names are contained 

 in the following list. And it is flattering to me to 

 add, that Lord Teignmouth, who was then Go- 

 vernor General, conceiving that the correspon- 

 dence of those gentlemen on this subject promised 

 to be publicly useful, ordered my treatise, con- 

 taining their letters, to be printed^ and circulated 

 at the expense of government. 



Besides establishing unquestionable evidence of 

 the general influence of this law in Bengal, these 

 testimonies serve also to correct a very erroneous 

 notion advanced respecting sol-lunar influence by 

 Doctor LixD, by shewing that its effects in fever* 



C 



