68 
toner's address. 
the intellect is so little developed that it can hardly be 
distinguished from what we call instinct in animals. 
Either faculty suggests repose in a recumbent position 
in sickness, and the non-use of diseased and injured 
parts, for relief as well as for cure. It is evident, 
therefore, that to secure rest and administer to the few 
natural wants of a disabled or suffering fellow-being 
makes but a slight demand upon human intelligence 
and sympathy. Among the earliest remedies or 
methods of treatment or cure, and almost universally 
practiced by all the lower savage races, were those of 
sucking with the mouth, licking with the tongue, and 
breathing or blowing upon the diseased or painful 
part. Instinct leads children and many animals to 
do practically the same thing. There are many ex- 
amples of animals eating herbs, clay, etc., when sick, 
which they do not when well; and it is reasonable to 
presume that they do so for their remedial effects. 
After making a distinction between the suggestions 
of a depraved appetite and the craving for some un- 
usual though really suitable article of food or drink 
originating with the patient, which might benefit indi- 
vidual cases, the fact is undeniable that observation 
had led primitive physicians to administer and apply 
remedies for the cure of disease, showing a capacity to 
acquire medical knowledge, as well as an ability to 
observe and reason from cause to effect. Follovv^ing 
close upon this advancement in medical practice, spec- 
culation as to the cause of disease seems to have next 
engaged attention and influenced popular feeling, and 
modified or controlled the notions and practices of 
physicians. 
