616 
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 
elusion, that cattle practice was not simply tinctured with 
the same want of principle, but thoroughly imbued with it. 
I am credibly informed, that near Spilsby, in Lincoln- 
shire, a red herring dipped in tar, is given by one of the old 
school, as his “ cure” for red-water; and he considers it a never- 
failing one. Near Whitby, in Yorkshire, as a specific for 
hoven, they administer the white dung of a dog, collected in 
the month of March, mixing it with' an egg-ful of tar; 
and for what they are pleased to call u Grunting Evil,” the 
animal is directed to be given first a strong purge, then some 
tar and butter, with 2 ounces of the small quills from under a 
duck’s wing ; and this may be repeated if required. In the 
West of England they have a celebrated drench for the cure 
of spontaneous diarrhoea. It consists — for a portion of it was 
sent to me for inspection — of several pounds of the compound 
powders before spoken of, w ith the leaves of the Uva Ursi or 
wortleberry ; which are to be given in a pailful of warm 
milk. The farmers in Buckinghamshire, in 1849, gave to 
their cattle for pleuro-pneumonia, boiled bacon and cabbage in 
large quantities with goose-grease ! 
Gentlemen, is it not time for me to have done with such 
inconsistencies ? Are you not ready to exclaim, can such 
things really be ? Does it not disgust one to think that, in 
the boasted 19th century, there should be such agents as 
these still had recourse to ? And I doubt not, as I have before 
said, that most of you can add to the list. Mine, I assure 
you, has not been exhausted, many formulae having been 
withheld from their filthiness, and some from their impiety ; 
indeed, I have had a difficulty in selecting, and done violence to 
my feelings in entering upon such irrational and contemptible 
details. But I had an object in view, which, I think, is now 
fully accomplished, that of showing you, by a bold and 
striking antithesis, the difference in Therapeutics before 
and after schools were established for the inculcation of 
principles ; and further, how desirable it is for the well-being 
of the community, that these should be generally diffused ; 
for, although I have traced many of the foolish practices 
dow T n to the present day, they are only among those on whom 
science has not yet shed its enlightening and transforming rays. 
Let this take place, and all will be well, for it is not possible but 
that such deeds being brought to her light, must be reproved. 
The thereology of the moderns I have been almost contented 
to let you supply. 
It w r ould have been very easy for me to have referred to 
other, and equally as interesting changes that have taken 
place in the treatment of diseases, arising from an application 
