1804.] Trip from Bayonne in France, to St. Seboftian in Spain. 209 
and medical information, which the in- 
genuity and indultry of the pre‘ent day 
are co'leéting ; and which, ere long, it is 
to be hoped, will defy the attempts of fo- 
-phiftical cavilliag, and difarm {cepticifm 
of all its power. 
My object, however, in the prefent in- 
ftance, is not to ftand forward as the eu- 
Jogift of. Dr. Reid; but to aim at the dif- 
covery of truth, by pointing out, in a ge- 
neral way, what I conceive to be objec- 
tionable in the ingenious obfervations. of 
his opponent. 
The divifion which M. D. propofes of 
general {ciences into ** the pure and mix 
éd,”” although fpecious, will not, I ima- 
gine, bear the teft of fevere examination. 
The principles of induétive philofophy 
teach us the impofibility of making any 
diftin&tion in the nature of demonftrative 
evidence; and the term, ‘* abfolute,’’ 
which M. D. empioys as applied to de- 
moaftration, is erroneous and unphilofo- 
phical; being, at the l-aft, a fuperfluous 
ep.thet. Science is either demonttrable, 
or merely conjeStural. And, indeed, it 
is only thofe principles which are formed 
from the generalizition of fats, and 
which’ are incontrovertible, that have a 
legitimate claim to the appellation of 
{cience. Phyfical principia and mathe- 
matical demonfirations are, therefore, with 
refpect to evidence, of a nature entirely 
fimilar, and have an equal claim to uni- 
verfal affent. Science, then, or rather all 
‘objects of intellectual purfuit and enquiry, 
would be more properly divided into the 
demonftrative and fpeculative: in the one, 
a certain point of perfection, with refpeét 
to axioms, is to be fought for and ob. 
tained ; while, on the contrary, the {pe. 
culative {ciences are fufceptible of bound. 
Jefs improvements and never-ending al- 
terations: and, in thefe latter, it is im- 
pollible to proceed, with refpect to their 
advancement, in any other mode than 
that of comparifon and analogy. De. 
monftration and certain'y it will be in vain 
to enquire for. Upon thefe principles it 
will, perhaps, be found, that M. D. has 
‘been fomewhat unfortunate in his com- 
parative illuttration of the undemonitrable 
nature of the {cience of medicine, by ftating 
its analogy to political and legiflative en- 
quiries. 
I am, Sir, equally difpofed with your 
Correfpondent to acknowledge and -la- 
ment, that the medical has, in common 
with all other {ciences, ‘* laboured under a 
great multiplicity of theories, contradic- 
tory to each other and to themfelves;’' 
but I imagine, that fuch theories are to 
Monruty Mac. Na 120, 
be traced to other fources than the 
-* mixed,’” and partially demonftrable na- 
ture of the fcience in queftion. How nu- 
merous have been the abfurdities and con- 
tradictions in the fyftems of natural philo. 
fophy ! yet, no one, it is imagined, will 
have the hardinefs to maintain, that the 
laws which regulate and govern the uni- 
verfe, are equally contradictory with the 
fanciful hypothefes which have been form. 
ed by thole who have engaged themfelves 
in enquiries into the philotophy of inani- 
mate nature. - eet 
Now, Sir, the theories and fyftems of 
the fthoals of medicine appear to bear 
nearly the fame relatien to Brunonian 
principles, (which, I perceive, Dr. Reid 
has taken frequent occafion to maintain 
and fupport,) that the erroneous fyftems 
of natural fcience do to the Principia of 
Newton ; or the vifionary fpeculations of 
the alchemifts to the chemifiry ef La- 
voifier: and, if this opinion -be well 
founded, it will be needlefs to affert, that 
the objections of M. D. to the remark 
which occafioned his criticifm, muft fall 
to the ground. It muft alfo, as a necef- 
fary confequence, be acknowledged, “ that 
{cepticifm in phyfic betrays, either a de- 
fect of knowledge, or an obicurity and in. 
accuracy of inteiieétual conception*.** 
I am, Sir, your’s, &c. 
Davin UwiNs, M.D, 
ee 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
A TRIP from BAYONNE 72 FRANCE, 2@ 
ST. SEBASTIAN, 7# SPAIN. 
(Continued from Page 113, No. 119.) 
Haas met with fome acquain- 
tances from Bayonne, who had come 
to Pamplona to witnefs the bull-fights. and 
the other enteriainments of the town dur- 
ing the fair of St. Firmin, in the begin- 
ing of July, we were induced to accom. 
pany: them back to Bayonne, as_ they 
meant to take the road acrofs the Pyrenees, 
Sept. 3, 1394. 
* The Editors of the Medical and Phyfical 
Journal have done me the honour to ace 
Iknowiedge the receipt of a communication 
of mine, in which f have endeavoured to en- 
quire into the caufes obftruétive to the pro- 
grefs of the fcience of medicine. This en- 
guiry I purpofe to continue, and fhall ven. 
ture, in my next communication, a few obs 
fervations on the Brunonian fyflem: if, 
therefore, M. D. feel any difpofition to et 
quire into the grounds of my confidence in 
the principles alluded to, I beg leave to 
refer him to this publication, as a more ap- 
propriate vehicle for difcuffions of this nae 
ture, 
2F by 
