Domestic medicine. Or, A treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases, by regimen and simple medicines; with observations on sea-bathing, and the use of the mineral waters to which is annexed, a dispensatory for the use of private practitioners / From the 22d English ed., with considerable additions and notes.

  • Buchan, William, 1729-1805
Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Domestic medicine. Or, A treatise on the prevention and cure of diseases, by regimen and simple medicines; with observations on sea-bathing, and the use of the mineral waters to which is annexed, a dispensatory for the use of private practitioners / From the 22d English ed., with considerable additions and notes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [x] INTRODUCTION, Dee ‘THe improvements in medicine, since the revival of learning, have by no means kept pace with those of the other arts. ‘The reason is obvious. Medicine has been studied by few, except those who in- tended to live by it as a business. Such, either from a mistaken zeal for the honour of medicine, or to raise their own importance, have endeavoured to disguise and conceal the art. Medical authors have generally written in a foreign language; and those who are unequal to this task, have even valued themselves upon couching, at least, their prescriptions, in terms and characters unintelligible te ihe rest of mankind. The contentions of the clergy, which happened soon after the restoration of learning, engaged the attention of mankind, and paved the way for that freedom of thought and inquiry, which has since prevailed in most parts of Europe with regard to religious . matters. Every man took a side in those bloody disputes; an¢ every gentleman, that he might distinguish himself on one side or other, was instructed in Divinity. This taught people to think and reason for themselves in matters of religion, and at last totally destroyed that complete and absolute dominion which the clergy had obtained over the minds of men. The study of law has likewise, in most civilized nations, been justly deemed a necessary part of the education of a gentleman. Every gentleman ought certainly to know at least the laws of his ys * by ers, it might be more than barely an ornament to him. The different branches of philosophy have also of late been very universally studied by all who pretended to a liberal education. The advantages of this are manifest. It frees the mind from preju- dice and superstition; fits it for the investigation of truth; indu- ces habits of reasoning and judging properly ; opens an inexhaust- ible source of entertainment; paves the way to the improvement of arts and agriculture; and qualifies men for acting with propriety in the most important stations of life. Natural History has likewise become an object of general atten- tion; and it well deserves to be so. It leads to discoveries of the greatest importance. Indeed agriculture, the most useful of all arts, is only a branch of Natural History, and can never arrive at a high degree of improvement where the study of that science is neglected. Medicine, however, has not, as far as I know, in any country, been reckoned a necessary part of the education of a gentleman. But surely no sufficient reason can be assigned for this omission. No science lays open a more extensive field uf useful knowledge, or affords more ample entertainment to an inquisitive mind. Anat-