ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE. 653 
faith in his patient ; not that thereby he would cheat, but that 
he may stir up the imagination of the patient to believe he will 
recover This philosophic monk also believed in an invisible 
fluid which gave men power over other persons — the mesmeric 
force of the present day. 
To prevent diseases, a pretender in Germany has been very 
lately advocating a diet of bread and water, going barefooted, 
and letting the hair and beard grow. Furthermore, he recom- 
mends making a nearer approach to man’s original state in 
costume than the decencies of modern society will altogether 
permit. It is said the bread and water regimen conjoined, to 
nudity, is not much approved of. Another system, we are 
told, is just now coming into vogue in Prussia; — it is the cure 
of diseases by muscular exercise. Thus cripples from rheuma- 
tism are to go through a course of gymnastic exercises, and 
dancing is the remedy prescribed for the gout ! Where and 
when will the absurdity of extremes end 1 “ The uncertainty 
of cures,” says John Hunter, “ both of physic and surgery, 
gives the hardy and ignorant empiric frequent opportunities of 
exulting over science. Ignorance is rash and fearless ; know- 
ledge is always cautious and circumspect. The first, amidst 
much mischief, now and then boasts a random cure ; the other, 
though active where there is a prospect of success, is frequently 
restrained by the fear of doing harm. At the same time, by 
this caution, and a proper view of the bounds of the art, the 
rational practitioner enjoys much secret satisfaction, and has 
frequently in his turn ample cause of triumph over empiricism.” 
Reference was next made to the adulterations of drugs, and 
how this could alone be demonstrated by chemistry. At the 
same time, the practitioner was advised to use only the genuine 
or pure article, discarding all the trashy compounds of the far- 
riers. Speaking of the combination of medicinal substances, 
the Lecturer said he feared that this was too little thought of, 
since an ignorance of chemical principles here might be attended 
with the most serious consequences, or, the compound obtained 
would be a perfectly inert one. Thus it is not consistent to 
combine alkalies and acids together, nor the alkaline carbonates 
with the acid salts, as alum and the sulphates generally. 
Equally injudicious is it to mix soap with the chlorides of mer- 
cury ; opium with the salts of lead or the alkalies; the potassio 
tartrate of antimony and the salts of iron with the astringent 
barks; the acetate of lead with the sulphate of zinc; all these 
being what are designated incompatibles, because, on admixture, 
decomposition takes place. On the other hand, we may often 
advantageously combine therapeutic agents. Thus, calomel pro- 
motes the action of many of our purgative, diuretic, and dia- 
