1809.] 
but in whose ,restorative energies a 
false and dangerous reliance has been 
too indiscriminately placed, The hu- 
man machine, has a constant tendency 
to go wrong; it requires frequently to be 
regulated and corrected; nor has it, as 
by some theorists has been supposed, 
an internal power of self-restoration 5 
it 1s continually dependent upon foreign 
aid. Pharmacy may be abused, but it 
ought not to be despised. Nature has 
provided physic for the ailments, as it 
has food for the nourishment and sup- 
port of man. There may be gorman- 
dizers of medicine, as well as of meat ; 
but the suitable and seasonable use of 
the one is as necessary, in order to rec- 
tify occasional deviations from health, 
as that of the other is for its ordinary 
maintenance and support. In the pre- 
scriptions of physicians, however, as 
well as in the preparations of cookery, a 
simplicity ought to be observed, which 
is too generally neglected. A mixture 
of dishes, each of which separately 
taken. might be wholesome and nutri- 
tious, must constitute a compound which 
cannot fail to have a bad effect upon 
the digestive organs. In like manner, 
a glass of Port wine, or a glass of Ma- 
deira, a draught of ale, or one of por- 
ter, might, in a state of debility or fa- 
tigue, for a: time, at least, invigorate or 
Report of Diseases, 
523 
verse ratio of apprehension. The Res 
porter has had, very recently, the pleas 
sure of healing the imagination of some 
refresh: but take the same draught in ~ 
quantity, composed of all these dif- 
ferent ingredients, and vou will find that, 
instead of enlivening, it will) nauseate 
and oppress. And yet, what is similar 
to this, is frequently done in the. for- 
ymulz of medical practitioners, A va- 
riety of drugs is combined im the 
same récipe, each of which might be 
good, but the whole of which cannot. 
A mixture of tonic or corroborating ar- 
ticles will not necessarily constitute a 
tonic or corroborating mixture Of a 
prescription, simplicity is a desirable, if 
not an essential, characteristic ; it sel- 
dom ought to contain more than one 
efficient ingredient: you thus give that 
ingredient fair play, and, by a competent 
repetition of trials, can unequivocally 
ascertain its efficacy upon the constitu- 
tion; whereas, from a group of arti- 
cles, you cannot discriminate the opera- 
tiun‘of any one of the individuals that 
compose it, 
« The Reporter has lately been applied 
to by several bypochrondriacs, who fan- 
cied themselves phthysical. Hypochon- 
driasis and phthysis are seldom united. 
Danger is, for the most part, inthe in- 
e 
fearful invalids, by demonstrating to 
them, that their lungs were in astate of 
integrity, The fancy is much more fre- 
quently disordered than the functions of 
respiration. The merit of the physician 
has, perhaps, never been exhibited in 
curing consumption, but may often be 
exercised to practical advantage, in dise 
criminating it from other complaints 
The Reporter’s patients have been, in 
a large proportion, amongst those who 
have had some tendency towards liter- 
ature. Unfortunately, a high degree of 
intellectual refinement and cultivation, 
is in general found unfavorable to a quiet 
acquiescence with the hostile circum. 
stances of life. In proportion as a man is” 
ignorant and insensible, he has a chance - 
of what the world calls happiness and 
prosperity. The most amiable are often, 
on, this account, the most miserable cf 
human beings. One striking instance 
is under ‘the professional superintend- 
ance of the Reporter, of an indivi« 
dual whose mind has had the richest 
culture, and possessed most exquisite 
irritability, that now is under a total 
eclipse of melancholy. The disease was 
of gradual, almost imperceptible growth. 
The crescent shadow slowly encroachee, 
until the orb of mental darkness was 
come to its full. 
So much are our mental, under the ,. 
influence of our physical feelings, that 
many have been inclined, by medical 
experience, towards the doctrine of Ma- 
terialism. Against the doctrine of Ma. 
terialism, whether right or erroneous, 
there can be no objection that is formi- 
dabie to a mind that believes in the ome 
nipotence and benevolence of the Deity s 
who ean undoubtedly renew that organi- 
zation which he originally created. But 
at anyrate, no enquirer ought, and a phi- 
losophical enquirer will not, be shackled 
in his researches by any fearful antici- 
pation of consequences. He admits a 
doctrine upon its proper evidence, with- 
out taking into account the results which 
may ensue or appear to follow from — 
its adoption.. He courageously follows 
trath, as Hamlet did his father’s ghost, 
wherever it may lead. At the same 
time it shonld be remembered, that 
intrepidity of every species is naturally 
allied to modesty. There is a chaste 
and sober seepticism, The man who 
asserted that the only thing he knew 
was, that he knew nothing, was guilty 
GF 
