{ a4.) 
than in fome other countries, and that one caufe of this may be 
the conftant and liberal ufe of this infufion? Perhaps, if we take 
a view of the ftate of difeafes, as exactly defcribed a century 
ago, and compare it with what we may obferve at prefent, we 
may have a collateral fupport for this fuggeftion. If we confider 
the frequency of inflammatory difeafes in Sydenham’s time, who 
was both a confummate judge of thefe difeafes, and defcribed 
them faithfully, I believe we fhall find they were then much 
more frequent than they are prefent ; at leaft, if any deference 
is due to the obfervations of judicious perfons, who moftly 
agree, that genuine inflammatory difeafes are much more rare 
at prefent, than they were at the time when Sydenham wrote. 
It is true, this difpofition, admitting it be fact, may arife from 
various caufes; amongft the reft, it is not oo Tea may 
have #2 Stare, 
SECTION 
