Observations on morbid poisons, phagedaena, and cancer : containing a comparative view of the theories of Dr. Swediaur, John Hunter, Messrs. Foot, Moore and Bell, on the laws of the venereal virus. And also some preliminary remarks on the language and mode of reasoning adopted by medical writers / By Joseph Adams.
- Joseph Adams
- Date:
- MDCCXCV
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on morbid poisons, phagedaena, and cancer : containing a comparative view of the theories of Dr. Swediaur, John Hunter, Messrs. Foot, Moore and Bell, on the laws of the venereal virus. And also some preliminary remarks on the language and mode of reasoning adopted by medical writers / By Joseph Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
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![r ^9 ] CHAP. XL ADVANTAGES OF MORE CORRECT LANGUAGE AND REASONING, ILLUSTRATED IN OTHER. SCIENCES, AND IN PHYSIC. It may feem ftrange that a fcience fo impor- tant mould (till labour under difadvantages, from which others of more remote application to hu- man happinefs, have in great meafure been ref- cued. But authors do not always write with a view 10 the improvement of knowledge. Hence their works are often addrcffed to thofc who are but in- competent judges. Readers, incapable of afcer- taining the validity of a firft principle, readily give the writer credit for its truth ; and when this is got over, all fubFeqaent reafoning appears fo demon- ftrative, as often to make us forget where we fct off. Nothing is more flattering to the vanity, or fa- vourable to the indolence of the human mind, than that language which feems to teach us the refult of a propofition, without the neceflity of attending to the demonstration. For ftrange as it may feem, the more fimple a propofition is, the greater diffi- culty oftentimes the mind feels in attending to its demonftration, or comprehending its folution. How many ages did men reft fatisfied with what they fancied a folution of mereury rifing in the Torricel-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2151060x_0047.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
