529 



GURRI E. 



Currie. trusting that he should experience the same refresh- 

 — — Y^"*" merit as the morning's bath had afforded ; but the re- 

 sult was exactly the reverse of what he had anticipated. 

 A feverish chill, accompanied by extreme prostration of 

 strength, painfully instructed him that an application 

 which, in one state of the system, is salutary, may be 

 noxious in another. This circumstance made a deep 

 impression on Ins mind, and seems to have suggested 

 that inquiry into " the effects of cold on the living 

 body," which formed the subject of some ingenious 

 speculations presented by him, soon after, to the Royal 

 Medical Society of Edinburgh, and recorded in their ma- 

 nuscript Transactions. The ideas elicited in the course 

 of the debate to which this paper gave rise, confirmed the 

 interest which the author had taken in the subject, and 

 induced him, from that time, to observe and note down 

 such facts as seemed to illustrate it, particularly with a 

 view to medical practice. 



Much about this period, Dr Wright communicated 

 to the Medical Society of London the result of his ex- 

 perience with regard to the efficacy of ablution with 

 cold water in some cases of fever ; but the paper con- 

 taining this valuable information was not published in 

 the London Medical Journal till 1 7S6. Dr Currie had 

 already learned how to appreciate the discrimination and 

 judgment of the acute and worthy author ; and find- 

 ing in the work a remarkable coincidence with his own 

 sentiments, he determined to adopt the system which it 

 recommended, especially Avhen he found that his col- 

 league, Dr Brandreth, had already put it to the test of 

 experience. In a practice so extensive as Dr Currie 

 had even then acquired, early opportunities occurred of 

 acting upon this resolution ; and personal observation 

 confirming the theoretical speculations of this accom- 

 plished physician, he was soon enabled to improve up- 

 on the suggestions of his predecessors, and to point out 

 the causes of apparent inconsistencies in the effects 

 which they recorded. He proved that cold water may 

 at all times be safely and efficaciously employed in fe- 

 vers, whether externally or internally, especially at 

 their commencement, when there is no sense of chilli- 

 ness present, when the heat of the surface is steadily 

 above what is natural, and when there is no general or 

 profuse perspiration. On the observance of these rules, 

 of which Dr Currie is universally acknowledged to be 

 the discoverer, the efficacy, and indeed the safety of 

 this powerful remedy, entirely depend ; for if they be 

 unfortunately overlooked, it may be converted into an 

 instrument of speedy and inevitable death. Dr Currie 

 enriches and supports his reasonings on the action of 

 cold upon the human frame, by scientific illustrations 

 from the works of the ancients, and by the detail of 

 numerous experiments made by himself, partly on the 

 healthy, and partly on the diseased subject, which are 

 evidently the suggestions of a great and comprehen- 

 sive mind. These experiments were varied, by com- 

 bining the water employed with various proportions of 

 caloric, and sometimes impregnating it with salt. That 

 he might proceed with greater accuracy, and state his 

 cases with more precision, he called in the thermometer 

 to his aid, and for the first time shewed the importance 

 of this useful instrument in the hands of the physi- 

 cian, as a measure of the patient's temperature. Ha- 

 ving once ascertained the general principles which 

 were to regulate the practitioner in the employment of 

 this remedy, he proceeded successfully to extend the 

 use of it to various diseases, in some of which it had 

 not previously been tried. He particularly established 

 its utility in the eruptive fever of scarlatina, a pestilent 



disorder, whose ravages were becoming every day more Currie 

 extensive, and more alarming all over Europe, until ■*■■"" ~V~- 

 checked, as we trust they now have been, by this happy 

 discovery. 



Following the excursive propensity of genius, our 

 author includes in his reports various interesting facts 

 and speculations not immediately but collaterally con- 

 nected with the principal object of his book. He fa- 

 vours us with his opinions on the nature of fever in ge- 

 neral ; on animal heat ; and on perspiration. He offers 

 us some valuable observations on insanity, and on con- 

 vulsive diseases. He discusses the effect, on the hu- 

 man system, of opium, of ardent spirits, of antimonials, 

 of digitalis, and of nitric acid. He investigates seve- 

 ral other curious questions in physiology, particularly 

 that which relates to the inhaling power alleged by 

 many ancient as well as modern observers, to be a pro- 

 perty of the cuticle ; and he everywhere captivates 

 the reader by the rich variety of knowledge with which 

 the exposition of his doctrines is enlivened. From the 

 public situation which he held in a commercial town of 

 very great resort, his name had previously been widely 

 circulated, and his character stood high in the public 

 opinion as a man of talents, candour, and benevolence. 

 His book, too, was written in a style at once popular 

 and luminous. In its subject every family was deeply 

 interested ; the evidences which he adduced in sup- 

 port of his positions were incontrovertible and conclu- 

 sive ; and the simple but powerful means by which he 

 proposed to effect the most important ends were already 

 in the hands of all, It can therefore be no matter of 

 wonder that the " Medical Pteports" were eagerly read 

 by men of all professions ; that they produced general 

 conviction of their accuracy ; that the principles which 

 they explained were instantaneously diffused over the 

 medical world ; and that they quickly effected so great 

 a change in the established modes of treating fevers 

 and febrile diseases, that they might fairly be said to 

 mark a new era in the history of medicine. 



Dr Currie's genius was of that comprehensive kind 

 which does not rest satisfied with attainments in one 

 department of science, and he had always mingled with 

 his professional pursuits a predilection for polite litera- 

 ture. The memoir of Dr Bell, which had been drawn 

 from him by the claims of friendship, sufficiently proved 

 the superiority of his biographical powers ; and, in the 

 year 1 800, he gave a new evidence of the accuracy of 

 his taste and judgment, as well as of the versatility of 

 his talents, and the goodness of his heart, by publish- 

 ing, in four volumes octavo, " The Works of Robert 

 Burns, with an Account of his Life, and Criticisms on his 

 Writings ; to which are prefixed some Observations on 

 the Character and Condition of the Scotish Peasantry." 

 To this undertaking Dr Currie was invited by mo- 

 tives of charity. Burns, after leading a life of greater 

 fame than prosperity, and displaying a character more 

 remarkable for genius than virtue, had died in circum- 

 stances of penury and wretchedness which would have 

 left an indelible stain on the reputation of his country- 

 men, had not the blame been more justly due to his 

 own imprudence and folly. Dr Currie had read the 

 works of this bard of nature with an enthusiasm height- 

 ened by an amiable feeling of nationality, which he in- 

 herited as the birthright of his countrymen ; and ha- 

 ving, in the year 1752, paid a visit to his native coun- 

 ty, he had become personally interested in the poet's 

 fate, by being introduced to him, and experiencing 

 the fascination of his social powers. On Burns's death, 

 therefore, the destitute situation of the family excited 



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