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1IM4MJESX 
 
 
                         AN

                  INQUIRY

                      INTO THE


 MODUS   OPERANDI

                         OF

                 MEDICINES

                      UPON THE

             HUMAN  BODY.

                TO WHICH ARE ADDED,

          SOME  OBSERVATIONS

                      ON THE

ACTION  OF  THE  LYMPHATICS.
          By   WILLIAM  WYATT  BIBB,/;..,/
                      OF  GEORGIA;
Member of the Philadelphia Medical and Chemical Societies.
  " What mifchief have we done under the belief of falfe fafts (if I may
be allowed the expreffion) and falfe theories !—We have affifted in mul-
tiplying difeafes.—We have done more—we have  encreated their mor-
tality.  I fliall not paufe to beg pardon of the faculty for acknowledging
in this public manner the weaknefles of our profeffion.  I am purfuing
truth—and  while I keep my eye fixed upon my guide,  I am indifferent
whither I am led provided fhe is my leader."
                                    rush's inquiries, vol. 1 .
     PHILADELPHIA:

PRINTKD  BY CARR  &? SMITH.


            1801. 
 
                AN








INAUGURAL  DISSERTATION







           FOR THE DEGREE OF







    DOCTOR OF MEDICINE,







      SUBMITTED TO THE EXAMINATION





               OF THE





 REV. JOHN EWING, S.S. T.P. PROVOST;





                THE





    TRUSTEES AND MEDICAL FACULTY






               OF THE






  UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA,





               ON THE





        EIGHTH DAY OF  JUNE, 1801. 
 
TO
       DOCTOR  JOHN  MURRAY,
                         OF

              AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.
    DEAR SIR,
  TO pafs over in hlence the numerous advantages I have
derived from you, in the two-fold character of a friend and
learned preceptor, when I have an opportunity of making a
public acknowledgment, would be deviating too far from
that propriety, which juftice and gratitude prefcribe.
  Permit me to declare that under your care I commenced
my medical purfuits, and that your attention towards  me,
and exertions for my future profperity, have been far greater
than a pupil  had a right to expecL  Be affured, Sir, that the
many favours you have conferred upon me fhallever be held
in grateful remembrance.
   Pleafe accept a dedication of this myfirft effay as afmall,
but fincere mark of the high regard I  entertain for your
perfon and talents.
   Wifhing you  the conftant enjoyment of happinefs and
profperity through life,
                 I am  Sir,
                   Your  Sincere Friend,
                          And  former Pupil,
                       WILLIAM WYATT BIBB. 
 
TO
         BENJAMIN RUSH, M. D.

Professor of  the Institutes,  Practice, and of
                Clinical Medicine,

 IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF PENNSYLVANIA.

     DEAR SIR,
   IN dedicating to you this imperfec~l Effay, I am in-
fluenced  by a defire to exprefs the high efteem I entertain
for your  perfon and diftinguifhed talents ; to declare that
many of my medical principles I have the honour to derive
from you;  and,  to return  my fincere thanks  for the va-
luable inftrucYion you have afforded me.

   That your unrivalled abilities, and  your exertions in
the caufe of humanity, may elevate you above the reach
of the calumnies and unmerited perfecutions which you
have fo often fuftained,  and  that your  eminent fervices
mav obtain the permanent  remembrance of a  grateful
people, is the ardent with of

                Your friend
                     And fellow citizen,
WILLIAM WYATT BIBB. 
PREFACE.
   Apologies, by way  of preface, are so com-



mon, that it is with some reluctance I attempt



to offer one.  But duty  to  myself commands



me to premise, that the intricacy of my present



inquiry, the want of a, pilot, and the short time



allotted for writing an Inaugural Essay, com-



bine with my very early  youth and inexperi-



ence, to prevent the following pages from be-



ing so worthy  public inspection, as I could



wish.  I am, however, compelled to obtrude



them, claiming that indulgence which the pre-



ceding  considerations may be thought to merit. 
AN  INQUIRY,  &c.
   THE fubject, upon which I am about to
enter, is one of the moll comprehenfive, and
intricate, I believe,  in the fcience of medi-
cine.   It is one, than which, in many of its
effential relations, none can be of more im-
portance, and, I may add, none is more involv-
ed in doubt and obfcurity.
   In commencing this enquiry I am immedi-
ately met by a queflion, to folve which in a
fatisfa£lory manner, I confefs my inability—
This acknowledgment, I prefume, will accord
with that of every candid phyfician.  The
queflion to which  I allude is this—On what
do medicines a6l when applied to the human
body ?  We know they acl upon the vital prin-
ciple—but what is life, how formed, and how
attached to the animal body, are queftions, an
explanatory folution of which is either referv-
ed for a more enlightened age, or will forever
                     B 
C  io   ]
be united with the important myfteries of na-
ture.
   Without  then offering a difcuffion  of the
various opinions, relating to the form, aclion,
and obfcure laws of life,  I fhall content my-
felf with obferving that it is the principle upon
which impreifions  are  made, that it  is the
fource from which  actions are derived, and
that it is by it and  flimuli, all the  operations
of the animal body are performed.  I proceed
then to enquire into the operation of medicines
upon  the human fyftem.
   The human body is fo conflru6ted, that al-
though there is an intimate  connection be-
tween its various parts, although one found
part  often fympathifes  with  another that  is
difeafed, and although  medicines frequently
operate upon one part  through the  medium
of another, yet we  are  not to infer that one
of thefe parts cannot be affected by difeafe or
medicine without the whole: Such  an infe-
rence would be erroneous, as  I hope to prove
hereafter, inafmuch as it is contradicted by the
eftablifhed laws of difeafes, and the operation
of medicines employed for their cure.
   It  is my  intention in this  effay to evince
that all medicines act fpecifically* upon one
  *■ As the word specific is frequently  employed in the fol- 
                  C   11  ]
or more parts of the body—that they are all
ftimulantsf;  and  that their various  effects
which have induced writers to divide the ma-
teria medica in flimulants, tonics, aflringents,
8*c.  arife  entirely from  a flimulant  specific
operation, exerted upon their appropriate parts
of the  animal fyflem.
   Believing every difeafe, to which the body
is fubject, to have a particular feat, and every
medicine to exert a specific operation, I  think
myfelf fupported by the laws of nature, in di-
viding the general fyflem into feveral  leffer
ones.  Directed then by the effects of difeafes,
and the operation of medicines, I fhall divide
the body into fix fyflems, viz.  lit. the Vifce-
ral  Syflem,in which I include the flomach and
inteflines. 2d. The Sanguiferous Syflem. 3d.
The Nervous Syflem,  including  the  brain
 and nerves.  4th. The Mufcular.  5th. The
Abforbent, and 6th. The Glandular Syflem.

lowing pages, and as it has often been ufed indefinitely, it is
neceffary I fhould define what is meant by it.  I mean then,
that every medicine operates in away peculiar to itfelf, and
adls, in whatever manner applied, on particular parts chiefly.
  f  In afferting that all medicines are flimulants, I only in-
clude medicines properly fo called.  The abftradlion of
ftimuli from the  body, is not confidered as entitled to that
appellation. 
C  12   ]
   The relation which thefe different fyflems
bear to each other is  very unequal.   The
connection of the flomach with all of them is
far more intimate than that which fubfifls be-
tween any others.   The different parts of the
body, therefore, are very liable to be affected,
through the medium of this vifcus, both  by
difeafes and medicines, and vice  verfa.
   I am aware that the poffibility of any medi-
cine operating fpecifically on one part, with-
out exerting the fame  action in  other parts,
has been denied, and this  denial is grounded
upon the fuppofed famenefs in the operation
of all medicines, and the peculiar fympathy
which connects the different component parts
of the body.  I acknowledge that a fuperficial
view of the organization of the whole  fyflem,
and of the uniform order of its various actions
in a healthy ftate,  renders  fuch an  opinion
plaufible.  But a more minute  examination
into the caufes  of thofe actions, into the ope-
ration  of the various  ftimuli  which  fupport
life, and into the effects of difeafes and medi-
cines, upon this organized body, difupate at
once this feeming plaufibility, and eftablifh on
the firm bafis of fact and obfervation the pro-
priety of the doctrine I advocate. 
[  13   ]
   Such, indeed, is the independency of each
fyflem, and fuch the difference in the opera-
tion of the fame caufes upon them, that cer-
tain applications made to one, will be produc-
tive of fatal effects, which to another will be
attended with mild and falutary  confequen-
ces.   To exemplify this pofition it is only ne-
ceffary to adduce the action of the carbonic
acid.  This,  when inhaled into the lungs  in
form of gas, produces deleterious effects, yet
it may be taken into the flomach, combined
with water not only with fafety, but with plea-
fure.  In this way it is fo mild and agreeable,
that many perfons ufe it in the heat of fum-
mer as a pleafant diluting drink.    I know it
has been denied that carbonic acid gas, ope-
rates  pofitively upon the  lungs,  and on the
contrary afferted, that its  fatal effects arife
only by  depriving  them of atmofpheric air.
But this  affertion is unfupported by facts and
obfervation.   Hiflory informs us, fays Chap-
tal, that two  flaves whom Tiberius  caufed to
defcend  into  the Grotto  Del Cano  (which
abounds with this gas) immediately expired.
The fame fate attended two criminals, whom
Peter de Toledo  ordered to be fhut in there.
Many fimilar inftances are upon record,  of
immediate death from carbonic  acid in old 
                 C   14  ]
cellars and wells.   It is faid that the famous
lake of Averno, where Virgil placed the en-
trance of hell, prevents birds from flying over
it with impunity, owing to the exhalation of
this gas.   The experiments of chemifls fully
prove  its  pofitive action.  It is a notorious
fact, that  we can voluntarily flop breathing
without much  inconvenience, for  a  longer
time than is required for this poifon  to pro-
duce its baneful confequences.
   The matter of fiphilis which  has done fo
much injury to mankind has been taken into
the flomach without producing  any of thofe
affections  confequent upon its application to
its appropriate parts.
   Dr. Fontana informs us that the  poifon of
the viper is perfectly innocent when taken into
the flomach, but when infufed into  a wound,
produces the moft terrific confequences.
   The foregoing are certainly examples not
only of the fpecific operation of medicines
upon particular parts, but of their directly op-
pofite effects; evincing in a decifive manner
the diflinctnefs and independency of the dif-
ferent fyflems.
   As the inveftigation of this fubject is not
a matter of mere idle curiofity, but of the ut-
moft practical importance} I lhall purfue the 
                [   15  ]
operation of medicines, with a view to fhew
their specific action upon the different fyflems;
and firfl
      UPON THE VISCERAL SYSTEM.

   Although I have divided the body into fix
fyflems, yet there are fome medicines which
operate principally upon only a part  of a
fyflem; an example of which is afforded by
the flomach and bowels—thus the tartrite of
antimony acts upon the former and jalap on
the latter.
   The unufual fympathy which I have de-
clared to exifl between the flomach and every
part of the body; it being the medium through
which they are acted upon by medicines, and
often partaking of the difeafes of either fyf-
tem, neceffarily induces a belief that if medi-
cines can operate  fpecifically upon this im-
portant vifcus, the fame operation may attend
their  application to any  other parts.   That
there are specifics for the flomach is proved
by the action of emetics,  and that there are
the fame for the inteflines is equally evinced
by the operation of cathartics.  If thofe fub-
flances  which induce vomiting  or purging 
                [   16   ]
when applied to the flomach or bowels, be
applied even to diflant parts they will produce
the fame effects.  In proof of this  affertion
many facts may be collected.   Mr. Sherwin
rubbed four  grains of tartrite  of antimony
into the palms of his hands, which in a fhort
time produced  vomiting.  The  fame effect
has refulted  from injecting it into the blood
veffels.   Mr. Smith injected a laxative medi-
cine into the  median vein of a patient in the
hofpital of Dantzic, which in four hours com-
menced a'purgative operation continuing un-
til the next day; and the celebrated Borrichi-
us mentions that hellebore placed in an iffue
in the arm produced violent purging.
   Thofe  fubflances which  excite  fneezing
when fnuffed up the nofe, will produce the
fame  effect if taken into the flomach.   Pro-
feffor Barton  informs us, in his lectures, that
the honey which the bees prepare  from the
flowers of the  kalmia latifolia, when taken
into the flomach, caufes fneezing.
   The powder of jalap or  rhubarb when
fwallowed, paffes through the flomach with-
out much effect, but when they arrive to the
bowels their chofen parts, they commence a
powerful  cathartic  operation.  This is not
the cafe  with ipecacuanha or the tartrite of 
                 [  17  ]
antimony ,whieh acts on the flomach, caufing
that violent* ^exertion  we  term  vomiting.
How can this difference in the effects of thefe
different fubflances be explained ? and  how
fhall we account for certain medicines affect-
ing particular parts, although applied to dif-
tant ones?
   If all medicines are flimulants, and their
operation precifely the fame, varying only in
degree, as is  afferted by fome writers, their
effects on the fyflem fhould alfo be the fame,
varying only  in degree.  But we have feen
that different  medicines do operate  particu-
larly upon different parts, and produce effects
entirely different; therefore we mufl explain
the fact in fome other way.
   This is eafily and plainly done by admit-
ting the evidence of truth which indubitably
declares, that all  medicines have a specific
action  upon particular  parts  of the  animal
body.
   In compliance with the opinion which fup-
pofes the only difference in medicines to con-
lift" in the degree of ftimulant property, every
fubflance which would  excite  purging mufl
produce vomiting in its paffage through the
flomach ; becaufe this vifcus is endowed with
more excitability or a greater  aptitude to be
                    c 
                 [  18   ]
acted upon by  ftimuli than the  inteflines ;
therefore, thofe medicines which produce any
action in the latter, mufl excite much greater
action in the former.   The contrary of this,
experience teaches us to be true, confequently
a specific operation  mufl be acknowledged.
   Colombo,  gentian,  and bitters  in general
act fpecifically upon the  Vifceral Syflem—
With a  view to  afcertain  the propriety of
this pofition, I inftituted  the following expe-
riments.
              Experiment 1.

   To my friend Mr. Mitchell,  at 50 minutes
after 9 o'clock, his pulfe beating 70 flrokes in
a minute, I gave 20 grains of powdered gen-
tian, mixed in a little milk.   His  pulfe was
examined every five minutes attentively, for
half an hour, without any variation being per-
ceived.   The fame quantity was now repeat-
ed, and the examinations were continued with
the fame refult, until 15 minutes had expired,
when his pulfe beat only 67, in 5 minutes af-
ter  66, in 10—66, and in 15—64.  The dofe
was again repeated, in 5 minutes his pulfe
beat 64,  in 10—64, in  15—63, 20—63, 25—
62, 30—62,35—63, 40—64, 45—61, 50—
58, 55—58 and in 60—60.  The heat of his 
                L  19   ]
body was a little increafed, his pulfe appeared
to be fomewhat fuller, and  he complained of
a pain in his head.

               Experiment 2.

   To my friend Mr. Lockette, at 10 minutes
after 10 o'clock, I gave 20 grains of powdered
gentian as above,  his pulfe beating 82 flrokes
in a minute—in  5 minutes it beat 82, in 10
82, in 15—81, 20—78, 25—77, and in 30—76.
The  fame quantity  was  again exhibited,
in 5 minutes  his  pulfe beat  76,  in 10—77,
15—77,  20—77,   25—73,  30—71, 35—70,
40—71,  45—73,   50—73,  55—73, and in
60—73.  No  other  alteration in the pulfe
was obfervable. He felt fome degree of head-
ach.
               Experiment 3.
   At 45 minutes after 9 o'clock, my friend
Mr. Jackfon, his pulfe beating 78 flrokes in a
minute, took 30 grains of powdered columbo,
mixed in a little milk, fome degree of  naufea
enfued ;  in 5  minutes his pulfe beat only 68,
and very weak, in 10—73, in 15—74, 20—75,
25—75, and in 30—77.   The  fame  quantity
was now repeated, in 5 minutes his pulfe beat
73, in 10—73,  15—76, 20—76, 25—76, and 
                [  20   ]
in 30—76.   The fame dofe was again taken,
in 5 minutes it beat 73,  in 10—75,  15—77,
20—74,  25—70,  30—71,  35—72,  40—70,
45—70, and  in 50—70.   In the latter part of
the experiment, the pulfe was fomewhat in-
creafed in force and fullnefs.
              Experiment 4.
   At 20 minutes after 10 o'clock, my friend
Mr. Shepperdfon, took 30 grains of columbo
as above; his pulfe beating 68  flrokes  in  a
minute.  In  5 minutes  it beat  only 63  and
very  weak;  in 10—63,  15—61,   20—60
25—59, and  in 30—59.   The dofe was re-
peated.   In 5 minutes his pulfe beat 59—in
10—59, 15—58,20—57, 25—57, andin 30,
58.  The fame quantity was again taken ; in
five minutes  58, in 10—58, 15—58, 20—60,
25—57,  30—57,  35—56,  40—55,  45—55,
50—54,  55—53,  60—53,  65—53, 70—53,
75—53,  80—55, 85—55, 90—55,  95—55,
andin 100—55. His pulfe increafed a little in
fullnefs and force towards the latter part of
the experiment, and he complained of a pe-
culiar  fenfation in the flomach  which he
could not defcribe.
   The  foregoing  experiments  fully evince
lft. That columbo and gentian do not flimu- 
                C   21  ]
late the Sanguiferous Syflem; therefore, that
the  generally  received opinion  refpecting
their operation is highly erroneous, and  has
had an injurious tendency in the practice of
medicine.
   2d. That they  act specifically  upon  the
Vifceral Syflem, increafmg its action,  and
thereby leffening the action of the heart  and
arteries—and
   3d. That they may be exhibited with per-
fect  fafety in difeafes  of the flomach  and
bowels, without any regard to the flate of the
blood-veffels.
   From thefe facts  I am induced to believe
that beneficent nature has among her various
productions, remedies peculiarly adapted to
the cure of the difeafes of every fyflem of the
body ;  and that medical fcience has, and will
derive  its greatest  advantages from the  dif-
covery of them, and the proper application of
the principle of specific actions to the cure of
difeafes. 
[  22   ]
     II.  THE SANGUIFEROUS SYSTEM.
   Let us next examine whether there are not
 medicines which operate  particularly  upon
 this fyflem.
   That the peruvian bark is a specific  for
 this fyflem, is rendered evident by its fuccefs-
 ful application in the cure  of its difeafes.
   It may however be faid, that any medicine
 equally flimulating  with the  bark,  will be
 equally efficacious in the cure of fever, and
 that its effects do not prove a specific opera-
 tion.  This however, is  far from being true,
 for opium which ftands at  the head of flimu-
 lants in the  materia medica, is acknowledged
 by moft phyficians to be far  lefs fuccefsful.
 The bark may be employed in cafes with ad-
 vantage in which opium would be productive
 of the  worft confequences ;  the reafon of
 which  is,  that the ftimulant operation of the
 former is  principally  confined to the blood
 veffels, while the latter acts as a potent flimu-
 lus upon the whole fyflem.  It is by this ge-
 neral operation  upon  the whole body, pro-
 ducing that degree of debility in every part,
which  Doctor Rufh has called the lleeping
point,  that  opium fo  much more uniformly
induces fleep than other medicines.  The fol- 
                 [  23   ]
lowing experiment will evince the propriety
of my opinion as to the operation of the pe-
ruvian bark.
   To my obliging friend Mr. Little, at forty-
five  minutes  after eleven  o'clock,  having
breakfafled  at eight, I gave  half a drachm of
bell  red bark, mixed in a little milk, his pulfe
beat feventy flrokes in a minute.  I examined
it every five minutes attentively until  a quar-
ter  after  twelve, without perceiving  the
fmalleft  variation in  force  or frequency.  I
then gave him a drachm in the fame form, re-
peating my  examinations with the fame refult,
until thirty-five minutes after  the fame hour,
when it beat feventy one.  The dofe was now
repeated, in 5 minutes it  beat 73, in  10—74,
in 15—75, 20—76, 25—77, his face very much
flufhed,  and he  complained  of  pain in his
head.  I now gave him the  fame quantity as
before, in 10 minutes his  pulfe beat 78,  and
in 20__81.  He now took  the lafl dofe, in
10—8 5, and in 20_i#7, above which it  did not
rife.   There were no other perceptible effects
produced, except a fmall degree of naufea.
 The experiment now related  tends to prove,
ill.  That, the action of the  peruvian bark is
confined  principally to the blood-veffels,  and
that, for this fyflem it is  a  powerful  specific 
                [   24  ]
flimulant;  2dly. That, the human body is fo
conflructed, that one fyflem is capable of re-
ceiving  powerful  imprefiions  even through
the medium of other parts, without thofe im-
preffions being communicated to the whole ;
and 3dly. That, from the early commencement
of its operation, after it was exhibited, it may
produce its beneficial  effects in the cure  of
fever through  the medium of the flomach.
       III. THE NERVOUS  SYSTEM.

   The operation of medicines, upon this fyf-
tem, next merits our attention.
  That every  medicine has its appropriate
fyflem or fyflems, I  am clearly convinced.
I fay fyflems, becaufe fome remedies act only
on one, whilft others act upon more.   Among
thofe which  operate  upon  this fyflem, the
foetid gums hold an eminent ftation; affafcetida
is one,  the exhibition of which in nervous
difeafes, has ever been attended with the mofl
falutary effects.  But alas ! phyficians not de-
ducing proper conclufions from the experien-
ced  donations of nature—not  viewing with
propriety her beneficent operations, and for.-
o-etful that (he employs different means to ac- 
                [   23  ]
complifh her various purpofes, have been led
to conclude, that this medicine may be appli-
ed with equal advantage in the cure of the
difeafes of the blood-veffels—As well might
we attempt to cure  hypocondriafis by blood-
letting, becaufe it is  efficacious in the removal
of fever.  Affafoetida has been recommended
in the low flate of fever, when the molt potent
ftimuli are required.   And, thofe who ufe it
in thefe cafes, expect to obtain all the advan-
tages of a powerful flimulus.   That it is a
powerful  specific flimulus for the Nervous
Syflem, I agree, but that it has no perceptible
operation upon the blood-veffels, will be prov-
ed by the following experiment:
   To the fame  friend  on whom I performed
my former experiment, I  gave at half pail
eleven o'clock, fix grains of affafoetida, in the
form of a pill, his pulfe beat fixty flrokes in
a minute.  The fame  quantity was repeated
every half hour, until he had taken twenty-
four grains,  when  after the fame interval I
gave him  double the quantity.
   The  whole amounted to thirty-fix grains
in the fpace  of  two hours, which is more I
believe than  is ufually exhibited in cafes of
difeafe.    His pulfe  was examined every five
minutes attentively, but without perceiving
                      D 
                 [   26  ]
 the leafl variation either in force or frequen-
 cy.  The only perceptible effects were  the
 following:  he was much  more  lively than
 ufual, and felt his mind exhilirated,  which
 was fucceeded by naufea and flatulency. The
 fmell of the gum was evident in his urine  the
 next  morning.
    This  experiment  plainly  {hews the  ex-
 treme error into which phyficians have fallen
 who recommend the  foetid gum  for the cure
 of  the difeafes of the  Sanguiferous Syflem.
 Such a practice originating from the fuppof-
 ed famenefs in the operation of all flimulants,
 has certainly done much mifchief :  becaufe,
 as I have fhewn that  affafoetida does not pro-
 duce any  perceptible  effect upon the blood-
 veffels, furely to truft to it  in difeafes of this
 fyflem is almoft leaving the  patient to the ope-
 rations of nature.  Here  then we  difcover
 the immenfe advantage  which mufl refult to
 the fcience of medicine from invefligating the
 action of medicines upon the feparate fyflems
of the human body.  When that time arrives,
at which the fubject fhall be fo far developed,
that the difeafes of every fyflem fhall have
their appropriate remedies,  then will epilepfy
ceafe to be incurable,  then  will all thofe dif-
eafes which now elude the ikill of the medical 
                 C  27   ]
world, become curable,  and  then will the
fcience of medicine reign triumpant through-
out the civilized nations of the earth.
       IV.  THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM.

   This fyflem is fo nearly allied to the ner-
vous, that the majority of thofe medicines
which act particularly on  one, exert alfo a
specific operation upon  the  other.   I have,
however, thought proper to divide them, from
a belief that there are fome medicines whofe
action is more confined to one than the other.
The oil of amber, I confider a specific for the
Mufcular Syflem.  This confideration is cor-
roborated by its fuccefsful application in the
cure  of tetanus, and fimilar difeafes.   Dr.
Rufh obferves, that he  has ufed this medi-
cine  with obvious advantage in tetanus,  and
thinks it well adapted to the difeafes of the
Mufcular Syflem.  Dr. Cullen admits the fuc-
cefsful exhibition of the u foetids" in the cure
of fpafmodic difeafes,  but accounts for their
operation in the following manner: " The ope*
14 ration of  thefe I take to be in  this  way,—
" that as all  difagreeable fenfations  are feda-
" tive, or means of weakening  the energy of 
                 [  28   ]
 "the brain, fo I conceive that our foetid me-
 " dicines, by obviating or moderating the in-
 " creafed excitement which begins fpafmodic
 " affections,  may be the remedies of thefe."
 It will  be readily perceived, that the Doctor
 commences his explanation of the modus ope-
 randi of the  foetid medicines upon a founda-
 tion which has no  exiflence in truth ; confe-
 quently his conclufions mufl be  involved in
 error.  That mufcular difeafes  often  arife
 from, and are connected with morbid nervous
 affections, is true ; but that they are not al-
 ways the effect of morbid excitement in the
 brain, is proved by the fact, that tetanus and
 convulfions are almofl  always preceded by,
 and connected with, the proper exercife of all
 the functions of the brain, the operations of
 the mind being perfectly unimpaired.
   As to the  Doctor's opinion of the  fedative
 action of the " foetids," I deem it unneceffary
 to fpend any time in controverting it.   I fhall
 only obferve that my experiment with the af-
 fafoetida,  which  I have  related, evidently
 evinced a ftimulant action.  Our author has
 attributed the fame fedative operation to opi-
 um, and all the mofl potent flimulants in the
 materia medica ; and, although he does this,
we find him employing them in typhus fever, 
                C   29  ]
and in all cafes of great debility, where flimu-
lants are required ;  at  the fame time forbid-
ding their ufe  in  inflammatory  affections.
Here we have a fpecimen of the agreement
between the  theory and practice of the late
Edinburgh Profeffor.
   As I have fhewn that the foetid gum ope-
rates as a powerful ftimulant upon the Nerv-
ous Syflem, and as  I fhall relate an experi-
ment  immediately,  which  proves  the fame
operation of the oil  of amber upon the muf-
cles, we mufl offer an explanation of their mo-
dus operandi in the  cure of difeafes of thefe
fyflems, very different from that of Dr. Cullen.
I fuppofe then their good effects to arife from
a specific ftimulant operation of each, exerted
upon their appropriate fyflems,  overcoming
and deftroying the morbid action, and produc-
ing a new and healthy  one.  With a view of
afcertaining the action of the oleum fuccini
upon the human body, I made the following
experiment:
  To my friend Mr.  Jackfon, at eleven o'clock
(his pulfe beating feventy-five flrokes in a mi-
nute)  I gave ten drops of the rectified oil of
amber mixed with a little fugar.  This dofe
was repeated every fifteen minutes, until he
took four times that quantity.  His pulfe was 
                 C  30   ]
 examined every five minutes attentively, with-
out  perceiving the  fmalleft alteration until
 after the exhibition of the laft, when it appear-
 ed to be a little fuller, without, however, any
 increafe  in quicknefs  or frequency.  After
 the fame interval he took twenty drops, which
 were again repeated—his pulfe the fame.—
 In five minutes it beat 74 only, in  10—73, in
 15—73,  in 20—72, in 25—71,  in  35—71,
 40—71, 45—71, 50—72, and continued to rife
 from this time until it arrived to its original
 ftandard, Hut did not exceed it.   The opera-
 tion of  the medicine upon the mufcles  and
 brain was very perceptible.  His mind was
 exhilirated, and he complained of langour or
 a  painful difficulty  in exerting  his mufcles.
 At half paft two, he walked out but returned
 in a fhort time, finding the exercife  of  his
 mufcles unpleafant.
   I was affifted in the foregoing experiment
by a phyfician who  believed the only  differ-
ence in  medicines to confifl in their degree
of ftimulant property.   The refult was as I
have flated.  Why did the pulfe  diminifh in
frequency and increafe in fullnefs—and why
were  the  mufcles fo  debilitated ?   Thefe
queflions may be anfwered together,  as I be-
lieve one to be dependant upon the other.— 
                [   31  ]
The oil of amber exerted a powerful specific
ftimulant operation upon the Mufcular Syflem,
producing great indirect debility.   This ac-
counts for the painful exercife of the  mufcles.
The diminution in the frequency of the pulfe
was caufed by this ftimulant operation on the
Mufcular Syflem, increafmgaction there, and
thereby leffening the action of the heart and
arteries.  It may be  afked why increafmg ac-
tion in one part fhould diminifh it in another ?
I anfwer, I  know not, but fuch is the fact ;
we mufl therefore  admit it, and refer it to a
law of the animal economy.
      V.  THE ABSORBENT SYSTEM.

   This is fo very important in the animal bo-
dy, and a conflant exercife of its functions fo
effential to health, that, to deny the exiftence
of specific remedies for its difeafes, would be
accufmg nature of improper partiality.
   The  preparations of mercury and iron act
powerfully upon this fyflem.   Digitalis and
fquills may likewife be faid,  with propriety,
to operate upon  the  abforbents.  The jufl-
nefs of this opinion is fully evinced by their
fuccefsful application in the cure of anafarca. 
                 [  32  ]
The great difcharge  of urine, accompanied
with a fudden diminution  of the fize of the
abdomen, which fometimes occurs in afcites
from the exhibition of digitalis, cannot be ex-
plained in any other way, but by admitting a
specific operation upon the abforbents, cauf-
ing them to abforb the effufed fluid, and upon
the kidnies producing an increafed fecretion
of urine.
   It is well known that digitalis will leffen
the action of the pulfe, the conclufion from
thence has been, that it operates powerfully
upon the blood-veffels; hence fome have fup-
pofed it a fedative, whilfl others declare that
it proftrates the action of the arteries by its
powerful ftimulant action upon them.
  Both of thefe opinions I believe to be erro-
neous, as this medicine produces no action in
the Sanguiferous Syflem, but what arifesfrom
its specific operation  upon  other parts.  It
acts fpecifically upon the abforbents and kid-
nies, increafmg their action, thereby leffening
the action of the blood-veffels.  Thus, mor-
bid action in the ligaments may be overcome
by  exciting action in the fkin by cantharides,
or  any other  irritating application ; mania
and confumption often cure  each other.  If
nux vomica be  given to a dog,  and he  be 
C  33   ]
whipped, it will not affect him.  Many fimi-
lar inftances, of action in one part deflroying
it in another, might be adduced, but I deem it
unneceffary.
   It may with truth be obferved, that thofe
fyflems of the body, the proper specific medi-
cines for which have been difcovered, are far
more eafily  cured of their difeafes, than thofe
the important remedies for which are yet un-
fortunately  concealed.   Thus,  intermittent
fever  is nearly uniformly  curable—Why?
Becaufe, peruvian bark, a powerful specific for
the Sanguiferous Syflem is difcovered.  Sy-
philis,  alfo, is nearly always to be cured—
and why?  Becaufe,  mercury, the deftined
specific for the Glandular Syflem, happily for
mankind, is generally known.  Nothing is
wanting to render  difeafes of  the other fyf-
tems equally curable, but equal progrefs in
the difcovery of their specifics.
E 
[  34   ]
      VI.  THE GLANDULAR SYSTEM.

   This has alfo its specific remedies.  The
 Glandular Syflem, however, is more frequent-
 ly acted upon partially, by different  ftimuli,
 than any other of the body.  It is fo exten-
 five, and the different glands  which compofe
 it fo diftantly related,  that  many of  them
 which are nearly connected by contiguity, or
 fimilarity of flructure,  are alone affected by
 particular  medicines.   Thus, digitalis  and
 nitre operate upon the kidnies, yet they have
 no fenfible effect upon the falivary glands or
 the liver.
   Some of the preparations of antimony and
 fulphur act upon the glands of the fkin, yet
 they do not operate upon many other parts of
 this fyflem.  The specific  operation  of can-
 tharides upon the glands, on the internal fur-
 face of the neck of the bladder,  is fully e-
 vinced by the fact that they will often aifect
them,  although applied to the  mofl  diftant
parts of the body.—Marfh miafmata exerts
a specific operation upon the liver, though not
upon other glands. Even mercury whofe ope-
 ration upon the  glands is more general than
 any  other medicine with  which  I am  ac- 
                 C  35   ]
 quainted, acts far more powerfully upon the
 falivary glands and liver,  than upon the other
 parts of this fyflem.  That, mercury operates
 fpecifically  upon the  falivary  glands,  al-
 though it acts upon other parts of the  body,
 cannot  confiflently with truth,  be  denied.
 I know there  are cafes upon record of  other
 medicines falivating,  but in thefe inftances
 the action of the glands which fecrete the fa-
 liva,  is very  different from  that which mer-
 cury  excites.   Tobacco, and  many  other
 acrid flimulants when held  in the mouth in-
 creafe the falivary difcharge, but this  is  not
 attended  with  that  peculiar  fcetor,  fore
 mouth, &tc. which uniformly  diflinguifhes  the
 operation of mercury from that of every other
 medicine.
   Ever fince  the difcovery of the falutary ef-
 fects  of this mineral in the cure of fyphilis,
 which is  a difeafe  of  the Glandular Syflem,
 phyficians have been in conflant controverfy
relative to its  modus operandi.   To enume-
rate the  various  opinions which have  been
entertained  upon the fubject, and the  argu-
ments by which  they have been  fupported,
would require far greater limits than I  have
prefixed to this effay.  And I confefs I am by
no  means anxious to prefent fuch a  collec- 
                 [  36  ]
 tion,  as it  would be  only exhibiting a pic-
 ture of the  late  degraded ftate  of medical
 fcience.   I therefore  proceed to offer  the
 opinion I have adopted upon the fubject.
   The matter of fyphilis when taken into the
 human body, acts as  a powerful ftimulant,
 particularly upon the Glandular Syflem, pro-
 ducing there its peculiar effects.  That, mer-
 cury  operates fpecifically  upon the  fame
 fyflem, cannot reafonably be denied.   Now,
 as no two actions can  exifl at one and  the
 fame  time,  in the fame part, when mercury
 and  fyphilitic matter are both applied, one
 mufl  fucceed in deflroying the action of the
 other.  Experience teaches, that the former
 is mofl  powerful, therefore  eradicates  the
 venereal action, by a fuperior specific ftimu-
 lant  power,  and either eflablifhes  its own
 action which fpeedily terminates in health,
vor immediately produces a new and healthy
 one.
   It  has been afked why opium, flramonium
 and  other medicines,   generally confidered
 far more ftimulating than mercury, are not
 equally  fuccefsful in  the cure of fyphilis.
 To this I would reply, that although the ope-
 ration of thefe medicines upon  the  whole
 body, is more powerful than that of mercury, 
                [   37  ]
yet I am fupported by the experience of phy-
ficians in afferting, that this latter has a more
potent ftimulant specific action upon the  in-
dividual Glandular Syflem, which is the feat
of difeafe, than any other medicine in the ma-
teria medica.   I fuppofe its fuperior efficacy,
then, to confifl in the fuperior property now
mentioned.
   That almoft incurable difeafe called cancer
is feated in  this fyflem.  Although mercury
and  cicuta operate fo flrongly upon it, yet the
cancerous action in molt cafes is fo great, that
they  cannot overcome it.   It  is,  however,
certain, that the mofl  advantage  is derived
from  the  application  of  thofe  medicines,
which act fpecifically  upon the  Glandular
Syflem.   Is there not a specific fufficiently
powerful to overcome this fatal action? There
certainly is  : but until it is difcovered, many
of our unfortunate fellow-creatures mufl fall
victims to its ravages.
   I  am fupported then by truth, in deducing
the following conclufions.
   lft. The  different difeafes of each fyflem
are curable, or incurable,  according to the
progrefs which has been made in difcovering
their specifics. 
C  38   ]
    2d. The only method by which we  can
 arrive at certainty, in curing difeafes, is, by
 attentively inveftigating the operation of  me-
 dicines upon the feparate fyflems of the body.
    The doctrine of specifics which I have de-
 livered leads to the moft important objects in
 the practice  of medicine,   lft. To  a proper
 felection of remedies for curing the difeafes
 of every  fyftem, whereby we are capable of
 acting upon the difeafed part, without much
 affecting the healthy ones.  2dly. To a proper
 felection of medicines, to excite new  action in
 parts lefs effential to life, thereby, abftracting
 morbid action from vital ones.   Thefe then
 being  objects  of the  greateft magnitude,
 it is our  duty to adopt every  confideration
 which  may,  in  the  fmalleft   degree  pro-
 mote their accomplifhment.   Nothing, in  my
 opinion, will fo certainly produce this effect
 as a well directed attention to the partial ope-
 ration of medicines, and a judicious arrange-
 ment of the different articles of the materia
 medica according to the fyftems, or parts of
 fyftems,  upon which they are found to ope-
 rate.  The advantages that would refult from
fuch an arrangement,  over  every other  hi-
therto  propofed, are many and important. 
L  39   ]
   lft. According to the hitherto adopted di-
vifion into flimulants, aftringents, tonics, &c.
we are incapable of felecting with any degree
of certainty  fuch medicines  as  are  adapted
to the cure of the difeafes of a particular fyf-
tem.  Is a patient labouring under tetanus ?
It is* a common, and I believe a proper prac-
tice,  to  employ  flimulants  in   moft  cafes.
Now, by what are we to be governed in our
felection from this numerous  clafs ?   By no-
thing, as far as I  know,  but the  peculiar
whim of the phyfician ; hence has arifen the
exhibition of fuch a vaft variety of unappro-
priate medicines for the cure of every difeafe.
   But, according to the arrangement I have
propofed, we have fixed laws to direct us.
The firft circumftance to be  afcertained, be-
fore we prefcribe for a patient,  is the fyftem
or fyftems difeafed, and the nature and grade
of  morbid  action;   then  by referring  to
that clafs of medicines which is appropriated
for the difeafes of thofe parts, which are now
affected, we  can at once felect the proper re-
medies.
   2d. A proper  examination of the opera-
tion of medicines, upon the feparate  fyftems,
is the only proper  method  of afcertaining
their properties.  If, in exhibiting them, we 
C  40   j
 direct our attention only to their effects upon
 the whole fyftem as one indivifible machine,
 their operation upon the different parts may
 eafily pafs unnoticed,  but by minutely ob-
 ferving their action upon the feparate  fyf-
 tems, we fhall difcover the parts upon which
 they  act fpecifically, and  profit accordingly.
   Having finifhed my intended obfervations
 upon the specific action of medicines particu-
 larly, it is neceffary I fhould next enquire how
 they operate, whether through the  medium
 of the flomach or the circulating  blood.
   That all medicines act through the medium
 of  the flomach alone,  has never, I believe,
 been afferted by any writer, but this opinion
 is now entertained by fome phyficians of emi-
 nence.  It is my  opinion that they operate
 moft frequently in this way, but that they are
 fometimes abforbed in  their active ftate, and
 produce their peculiar effects through  the
 medium of the circulating blood.   I fhall at-
 tempt to prove the  propriety of my opinion,
 by  the introduction of pofitive facts, which
theoretical fpeculations cannot controvert.—
 I have heard them  denied, although derived
 from the firft  authority;  becaufe, fimilar fads
 have  not  occurred  to many other writers.
 But, the  man who offers this denial, acts as 
                [   11  ]
unpnilofophically as I fhould, were I to deny
the exiftence of any thing, becaufe I never
faw it.  It is an ancient, and true axiom that
negative proof is no proof,  when oppofed by
pofitive;  therefore, one  pofitive  fact will
overbalance a  thoufand negative  ones.  If
then the opinion I hold, is fupported by pofi-
tive  proof, and oppofed only by negative,  I
fhall confider myfelf certainly fupporting that
fide  of the  queflion  in  which  propriety
refides.
  It is now my  object to prove that medicines
have been found in different parts  of the
body,  after having  been  taken into the flo-
mach and paffed through the circulation.
   The great quantity of blood which circu-
lates through the human body, and the fmai!
proportionate quantity of medicines which is
exhibited, render  an attempt  to detect them
in this fluid difficult, and even impoffible  I
believe, in common cafes.  The only inftances
in which they can be found here, are when
they  poffefs much  colouring principle,  or
when they have been ufed for a great length
of time.   Madder tinges  the ferum  of the
blood of a red colour,  and Doctor Preftwich
fpeaks of  a cafe, in which globules of  mer-
cury were found in this fluid.  As it is much
                      F 
                [   42  ]
more eafy to detect the prefence of medicines
in the fecretions, than in the whole mafs of
blood, fo we have  a greater number of in-
ftances of their being detected here.
   Doctor Hamilton of Edinburgh,  detected
globules  of mercury in the milk of a nurfe
under falivation, by flow evaporation.  The
milk of women frequently poffeffes the entire
properties of the medicines they have taken.
Thus we are credibly informed, that the milk
of a nurfe in a ftate  of  falivation will falivate
the child, and every old woman knows  that
cabbage eaten by the mother, will gripe the
infant.  Profeffor Barton,  mentions feveral
inftances of opium, ardent fpirits, and cathar-
tic  medicines, producing  their  ufual  opera-
tion upon children, through the medium of
the mother's milk, although in fome the  mo-
ther was not the leaft affected.   Doctor Per-
cival alfo obferves,  that a purgative given to
one who fuckles, will fometimes produce no
operation upon her bowels, but a powerful
one on the child at the breaft.   I am aware
it may be  urged that  the effects  produced
upon  children in the preceding inftances by
the mother's milk, do not arife from the pre-
fence  of medicines in it, but from their action
upon  the mother through the medium  of  the 
                 C   43  ]
flomach, producing difordered actions in her
fyftem,  and thereby creating a morbid fecre-
tion.  In fupport of this idea may be adduced
the fact, that, if an angry mother fuckles her
child, it will be often violently affected.  To
this I would reply, that the fact is no argu-
ment againft the opinion, which fuppofes the
prefence of medicines in  the milk, that were
taken into the flomach ; becaufe in the cafes
related by Drs. Barton and Percival, the me-
dicines  had no operation upon the  mothers,
therefore there could be no caufe for  a mor-
bid fecretion.   Befides, the milk of an angry
mother  has no determinate effect upon the
infant,  whereas that of  a  woman who has
taken medicine produces  the fame  effects
precifely as the  medicine itfelf.   Thus, has
the mother taken jalap? her child is purged ;
has fhe  taken  opium ? her infant  is  put  to
fleep—and if ardent fpirits,  it is intoxicated.
   Profeffor Thunburg, having ufed lead for
fome time internally, perceived it in his faliva.
Mr. John Hunter, whofe authority is equal to
that of any writer, found all the preparations
of mercury  foluble  in the faliva, and  with a
view  to afcertain,  whether  the fame tafte
would be produced in his mouth  by applying
them  to diftant parts which he perceived by 
                 [   44  ]
holding them there, he made  the  following
experiments.   He  rubbed mercurial oint-
ment into  the internal part of his thighs,
until his  mouth  became affected,  when he
plainly tailed the mercury.  After recovery
from the operation  of the ointment, he took
calomel 'till it produced a falivation ; precife-
ly the fame tafle was perceived, as when mer-
cury was held in the mouth.
  Thefe experiments plainly prove, that the
mercury entered the circulation, and was con-
veyed to the falivary glands.
   Mercury has been found in the bones  of
perfons who had taken it in large  quantity,
by Drs. Haller, Mead, Boerhaave, Brodbelt,
Boyle, and many others.
   Dr. Darwin detected the prefence of nitre
in the urine of a perfon to whom he  had given
it.   He however attempts to fhew,  that it ar-
rived there without entering the circulation,
by a retrogade motion in the abforbents.   I
fhall endeavour to combat this opinion in  a
fubfequent part of this effay. I might now go
on, and fill a  volume with the enumeration
of facts fimilar to the preceding; but, believ-
ing they are fufficient to prove  that medicines
are fometimes abforbed into the circulation
in their active ftate, I fhall omit them. 
                 [  45   ]
   I know it has been faid that the difcovery
of medicines in the fecretions, does not prove
that they entered the circulation in their ac-
tive ftate, but that they were fo changed by
the abforbent veffels as not to be abforbed as
medicines, but as the common matter of food,
and were recompofed after leaving the circu-
lation.
   This affertion, in my opinion, has nothing
to recommend it but the  fpeculations of its
patrons.   It cannot poflibly be true; becaufe,
it is impoffible to diminifh the active proper-
ties of fome medicines which have been found
in the fecretions, by any change we are capa-
ble of making from their original ftate.  Is
it not notorious  that mercury is leaft active
in its fluid form, and is it not a fact that every
change from this ftate encreafes its activity?
If then,  every alteration in this mineral tends
to render it  more powerful, furely if the ab-
forbents  undertake to change it, they  muft
produce  a more active medicine. The theo-
ry, therefore, of the abforbent veffels poffefs-
ing a power of  changing and deflroying the
properties of medicines,  is here directly op-
pofed by an impoflibility.
   It has often been objected to the opinion I
advocate, that,  if medicines were taken into 
                 [   46  ]
the  circulation  in  their  active  ftate,  they
would produce death; becaufe, the moft Am-
ple ones injected into  the  blood-veffels will
caufe this effect.   Even admitting  that they
do  produce  death  when  injected into the
blood-veffels (which, however, is contradict-
ed by many late experiments) yet it  only
proves what is already known,  that the inter-
nal furface of the blood-veffels is very exci-
table ; that  medicines  fuddenly introduced
are too powerful for their  excitability, and
that to  be  beneficial, they  muft be  carried
there by the abforbents, and thus gradually
introduced; by which means, the flimulus is
proportioned to the quantity of excitability.
No more occurs here than, caterus paribus,
will happen when medicines are applied   to
other parts of the body.   Thus, opium, if
taken into the flomach  in quantity fuited  to
the degree of excitability, is an excellent me-
dicine, but if over-proportioned is a deadly
poifon.   So  it  is with injecting  medicines
into the blood-veffels; if adapted to the quan-
tity of excitability, they may be beneficial, as
I have before {hewn, but if too powerful they
will proftrate all action. It. is therefore plain,
that their operation is governed by the  fame
laws, whether they be injected into the blood- 
[  47   ]
veffels, or whether they be applied to the flo-
mach ; in either way, they may be rendered
falutary remedies or fatal poifons.
   Although I have attempted to prove, that
medicines are  fometimes abforbed into the
circulation in their active ftate, and there pro-
duce their peculiar effects;  yet, as I have be-
fore obferved, I believe they moft frequently
operate through the medium of the flomach.
I fliall, therefore, make a few remarks on this
procefs.
   The flomach, I confider as the moft im-
portant part of the animal body.   This is e-
vinced by its almoft univerfal prefence in all
animals.  Many are found to want brain,
heart, and other parts effential to human ex-
iftence, but very few are without ftomachs.
The great excitability of this vifcus, the une-
qual fympathy which it poffeffes with every
other part of the body, and the  fervile depen-
dence of the  whole  fyftem upon it, has in-
duced an eminent author to call it the feat of
the foul.  Doctor Rufh, with his ufual inge-
nuity, compares it to the houfe of reprefen-
tatives.  It  is certainly the fpot where the
fyftems  meet,  or  are  all  reprefented—the
truth of  which is evinced,  by different medi-
cines producing their specific operation upon 
                [   48  ]
each fyftem, through the medium of this or-
gan.—Every part of the body however, is
not equally reprefented; but,  I believe, ac-
cording to their  importance in the animal ce-
conomy.  Dr. Cullen afferts, that " there is
a fpecial confent  between  the  flomach and
the veffels on the furface of the body, fo that
the feveral flates of thefe are mutually  com-
municated to one another."
   By this " fpecial confent" and mutual  com-
munication of flates, he explains the fweating
which attends vomiting.  That  the fympathy
between the  flomach  and fkin  is  great  I
agree, but that their  flates are not always
alike, is proved by the fact, that  fweating does
not always attend vomiting, and that it de-
pends entirely upon the medicine exhibited.
Thus, if the vomiting is produced by fquills
or digitalis, it is accompanied  by a  copious
flow of urine : if by the fulphate of mercury,
with an increafed fecretion of  faliva, and if
by  ipecacuanha  or  the tartrite  of  antimony,
fweating.  Here we plainly fee  that the Doc-
tor's opinion will not hold good,  and that what
he fuppofed to be the confequence  of a " fpe-
cial confent," is only the effect of the specific
operation of medicines.
   That medicines often operate through the 
                [   49  ]
medium of the flomach is proved by the fact,
that they have been vomited perfectly entire
many days after having produced their falu-
tary effects.   The  operation of the bark, in
my experiment with it,  was over before it
could  poflibly have been  abforbed.   The
effects of medicines are then, often  fo quick-
ly produced  in different parts, after being
taken into the flomach, that no other way is
left to account for their fudden  manner of re-
lieving, but on the principle of the reprefenta-
tion of every part of the body in this import-
ant organ, and of the specific  operation of
medicines.   It is in this way,  we muft  fup-
pofe the  peruvian bark  exerts  its beneficial
influence, in preventing  the acceflion of an
intermittent paroxyfm.   It is in this  way, that
opium flops the paroxyfm although the cold
flage  has commenced; and it  is upon  this
principle that moft medicines produce their
falutary effects upon the  human body.
   In   compliance  with my promife, I fhall
now take up the confideration of Dr. Dar-
win's  opinion which  fuppofes,  that, the ab-
forbent veffels are  capable of taking on a
retrogade action, whereby their contents are
regurgitated,  and that, fluids  often pafs in
this way from the flomach to the bladder.
                    G 
                 [   so  ]
   Believing no fuch action or communica-
 tion from one part to another ever to  take
 place, I fhall  endeavour to fhew,  that the
 Doctor's  theory has nothing to  recommend
 it but his vifionary fpeculations.   In doing
 this, I fhall briefly  confider fome facts which
 have been offered by other writers, and which
 would feem to evince its  propriety ; without
 being  able  to derive affiftance  from  any
 perfon.
   Dr. Darwin commences  his obfervations
 by defcribing the Abforbent Syflem; his  def-
 cription however is  not  an  accurate   one.
 Every reader muft plainly perceive that  his
 peculiar partiality for his favourite doctrine,
 leads him to attribute to thefe veffels,  fewer
 valves than they really poffefs.  This difpo-
 fition is fully exemplified by his quoting au-
 thors,  who  wrote  when little  was  known
 about this fyftem,  (becaufe their affertions
were  more  coincident with his  theory) al-
 though they have been contradicted by  late
experiments.   He  obferves, that " many of
" the abforbent veffels, like fome of the veins,
•' are replete with valves—" " Thefe valves
" however, do not appear to be neceffary to
" all the abforbents, any more than to all the
" veins, fince they  are not found to exift in 
                 L   51  ]
" the abforbent fyftem of fifh,  according to
" the difcoveries of the late ingenious and
" much lamented Mr. Hewfon!"  Our au-
thor difcovers here  what I am forry to fee—
an improper conftruction of a writer's words
for the fake of eftablifhing a favourite  doc-
trine.  His anxious with to bring the abfor-
bents on a level with the veins as to the num-
ber  and uniformity  of valves,  that he  may
hereafter derive fome affiftance from analogy,
is very  obvious—and, although he  places
them upon the fame footing, yet he has no-
thing to fupport  him in fo doing, but deduc-
ing conclufions from the " difcoveries" of Mr.
Hewfon, which this writer's own words will
not warrant.   The  following  are Mr. Hew-
fon's words on this  fubject:  " Thefe veffels
(meaning lymphatics)  in fifh. either have no
" valves or the valves readily give way, for
" it  is an eafy matter to  fill  them  contrary
" to the courfe of the lymph."  Thefe are the
words from which  Doctor Darwin fo confi-
dently concludes that the abforbents, like the
veins are not always fupplied  with valves.
Even fuppofing  the abforbents in fifh to be
without valves,  are we to infer that the  lym-
phatics  in the human  body alfo want them ?
Surely not—fuch an inference  would be in 
                [   52  ]
the higheft degree abfurd—becaufe many ex-
periments made before Doctor Darwin wrote,
and with which he muft have been acquaint-
ed, pofitively prove  that every abforbent vef-
fel in the human body is amply fupplied with
valves.   But every impartial  reader will a-
gree with me in faying, that Mr. Hewfon was
not certain whether the valves were wanting,
or whether they eafily gave way, as he him-
felf expreffes.
   Although this  gentleman after his expe-
riments could not determine whether there
were valves or  not,  yet our author who did
not fee the  experiments  affures us,  thefe
u difcoveries" prove that the abforbents like
fome of the veins are without valves!!!   The
plain and fimple  conclufion however,  from
Mr. Hewfon's own words is directly oppofed
to that which Doctor Darwin has unwarrant-
ably drawn.   The tender fabric of fifh, necef-
farily kmplies the fame ftructure of lympa-
thics—this plainly accounts for the eafe with
which the veffels were filled contrary to their
valves.   This conclufion is pofitively proved
by the  fact  related by  the ingenious Mr.
Cruikfhank, that the lymphatic veffels of all
animals in which they have been found, are
plentifully fupplied with valves.—This  au- 
                 L   53  ]
thor alfo remarks, that he fhould not eafily
believe any veffel to  be a lymphatic, where
the characteriftic of valves was wanting ; and
he further adds, " The vaft number of valves
" not only diftinguifh  and characterife the ab-
" forbent veffels from all others in the human
" body, but alfo in quadrupeds, birds, amphi-
" bious animals, fifh  of warm blood, as they
" are ftyled,  and even in fifh of cold blood."
From experiments he fays, that only fome of
the veins are fupplied with valves, and even
in thofe they  are not near  fo numerous as in
the abforbent veffels.
   As thefe veffels are then diftinguifhed from
all others in  feveral important particulars,
no  conclufions drawn from any appearances
in other parts bear any relation to what may
take place in them.  If therefore Doctor Dar-
win brings forward (as we fhall fee) nothing
but what he calls analogy in fupport of this
doctrine, it muft fall unfupported, as  there is
no analogy to the abforbents  in the human
body.
   After finifhing the anatomical  part,  the
Doctor goes  on to fhew that " the valves of
" the abforbent fyftem may fuffer their fluids
" to regurgitate infome difeafes."  Upon the
authority of  Doctor  Haller, he flates that 
                 [  54   j
mercury,  fuet,  or water, injected into  the
lymphatics, or air blown into them pafs eafily
in a contrary direction to their valves,  if the
veffels are a little forcibly dilated.
   Admitting the fact related by Doctor Hal-
ler,  what does it  prove ? Certainly nothing
in relation to the action of the abforbents in
a living ftate.   The ftriking  difference be-
tween  animals in a living and dead ftate is
well known to Doctor Darwin, and that this
fact relates only to the latter, is equally plain.
To infer from it that fluids may regurgitate in
a living ftate is equally unphilofophical, as to
fuppofe the human fyftem devoid of fenfibi-
lity and excitability when alive, becaufe it is
fo when dead.   It only proves then what
every man knows,  that if the projectile force
with which fluids are thrown into an  inani-
mate tube be  greater than the refiftance of-
fered by the inequality of its furface,  they
will pafs through it.
   I would  here  however afk  the Doctor,
how this quotation accords with his inference
from Mr.  Hewfon's " difcoveries" ? Becaufe
injections  paffed through  the  lymphatics  of
fifh, he concludes that they have no valves,
and now attempts to Ihow that they may ea-
fily pafs through abforbents which are plen- 
                 C   55  ]
tifully fupplied with valves.   The caufe of
thefe peculiar affertions is obvious.   By  Mr.
Hewfon he wilhed to prove that the lympha-
tics are not  always fupplied with valves, bv
which means he would place the veins  and
abforbents on a level.  This would very well
fuit  his purpofe—and  by Doctor Haller he
attempts to fhew that valves are no great ob-
flacles to the regurgitation of fluids.  Yet to
accomplifh this, he is obliged to draw conclu-
fions from the fame facts which  contradict
each other!!!
   Our author then relates  an experiment
which proves, that a bladder when inverted
and filled with water, allows it rapidly to pafs
out; and from thence infers, " That there is
" no obftacle, at the mouths of thefe veffels
" (lymphatics) to  prevent the  regurgitation
" of their fluids."  The fame objection which
were  offered to the laft experiment, apply
with equal force  to this, as well  as to all
others, upon dead parts.  At any rate  the
conclufion which is drawn from it, muft be
viewed with aftonilhment, by all who have
heard  of Dr. Darwin's  fame.   Mr. Cruik-
fhank's experiments plainly prove,  that all
abforbents are plentifully fupplied with valves 
C  3G   ]
to prevent a regurgitation of their  contents.
   Befides, in feparating the bladder from the
dead animal, a great number of blood-veffels
are neceffarily ruptured—the reafonable con-
clufion therefore is, that the water paffed out
through them.
   The Doctor proceeds in his retrogade ac-
tion, by offering what he calls analogies.  He
fays the upper and lower orifices of the  flo-
mach are clofed with valves,  yet a regurgita-
tion of its contents fometimes occurs.   The
colon is  fupplied with valves,  which  fome-
times allows the fame action—the like takes
place in the lachrymal fack.  And he quotes
Dr. Haller who fays, that  a  retrograde mo-
tion of the blood is obfervable in the veins of
animals in the act of dying,  from the very
heart, to the extremity of the limbs.
   I  have already fhewn that what may take
place in  any other part is no  proof of the
fame occuring in the abforbent veffels, as they
are characterifed  and diftinguifhed from all
others  in  the body.  The orifices of the flo-
mach have no valves although  circular muf-
cular fibres perform  their  functions by con-
traction and relaxation.   As to the valve of
the colon it is only one and that differs fo 
                 L   57  ]
materially from the valves of the lymphatics
that it is a matter of difpute whether it be a
valve or only a fphincter.
   The lachrymal fack has no valves, there-
fore a regurgitation of its fluid is by no means
furprifing.
   I am forry Dr. Haller does  not mention
the animal in which this retrograde  motion
of the blood  is obfervable.   I  am however,
induced to believe  he has been entirely de-
ceived.  The deception arofe I fuppofe from
the following circumftance :
   It is well known that the veins of animals
in the act of dying become turgid with blood ;
this appeared to the Doctor I fufpect, to  be
the effect of a retrograde motion : but the fact
is eftablifhed that the  heart and arteries  re-
tain life longer than  any other parts of the
body, and continue to contract until they be-
come nearly empty, thereby filling the veins.
As the heart  and arteries then continue to
act after the  death of the veins, it is impoffi-
ble for a regurgitation to take place in them
as long as life remains.  But even admitting
the fact, it does not prove in the fmalleft de-
gree that a retrograde motion ever takes place
in the  abforbents, becaufe they are uniform-
                    H 
                 C   58  ]
 ly and plentifully fupplied with valves, and
 many of the veins have none.
    After flating the  foregoing  arguments in
 favour of a retrograde motion in the lympha-
 tics,  the Doctor goes on to prove a commu-
 nication from the flomach to the bladder by
 means of abforbent  veffels, and that it is by
 this retrogade motion that fluids pafs  from
 the former  to the latter.   In fupport of this
 opinion, he firft adduces the expedition with
 which cold water and other fluids when drank
 pafs from the flomach to the bladder, and the
 fimilarity of the urine when produced in this
 hafty manner to the  material that was drank.
 That, urine is very quickly  formed after
 drinking, and that, it does  refemble the  fluid
 taken  into the flomach is true ; but does this
 prove that it gets there by a retrograde motion
 of  the  abforbents ?  By no means—the cer-
 tainty  of fuch a communication of veffels is
 far from being eftablifhed,  therefore conclu-
 fions  drawn from thence are built only upon
 a fuppofed foundation.
   No communication of lymphatics from the
 flomach  to the  bladder has ever been difco-
vered in the human  body.   The only fact
which would feem to favour this  fuppofition
is  derived from Mr. Hewfon who fays,  that 
                 C   59  ]
fome  fmall  branches of lymphatics would
" seem" to join thofe from the duodenum in
birds.   But Dr. Darwin has  inferred  from
this obfervation,  " anaftomofes  to  be  very
" frequent between the inteftinal and urinary
" lymphatics as mentioned by Mr. Hewfon."
How far the Doctor's inference accords with
Mr. Hewfon's remark  I leave the reader to
determine.
   Even fuppofing the  lymphatics of the fto-
mach to join with thofe from the bladder, flill
fluids could not pafs from one to the other in
a retrograde direction ; becaufe the fluids in
leaving the  ftomach muft go  in the natural
direction of  the abforbents until they arrive to
the communication  with thofe from the blad-
der, when they muft turn back and go in a re-
trograde way to get to this organ. That fuch
a procefs never can take place in the human
body muft be obvious to every impartial read-
er ; for if there is  a  communication by  means
of lymphatic veffels between the ftomach and
the bladder, there muft be the fame between
the  ftomach  and many other parts  of the
body ; confequently fluids would as frequent-
ly pafs to other parts as to the bladder.
   The great  quantity  of blood which is fent
to the  kidneys in a given time, readily ex- 
[  60  ]
plains  the early difcharge  of fluids  after
drinking.    Doctor Monro  obferves  " the
" largenefs of the renal veffels demonftrates
" that they cannot receive much lefs than an
" eighth part of the blood of the whole body
" at a time, and confequently above one thou-
44 fand ounces of blood are conveyed through
44 the kidneys in an hour, and it will appear
44 but a moderate  allowance for  twenty or
44 even fifty  ounces of water to diftill from
44 that  quantity  of blood in the fame  time.
44 Finally it is certain that both men and brute
44 animals perifh if the ureters are obftructed
44 by a  ligature  or otherwife—we then ob-
44 ferve  alfo, that  no urine  can be found in
44 the bladder.
   The fhorteft time in which Doctor Darwin
difcovered the fluid in the urine  after being
taken into the ftomach,  was half an hour,
and the  quantity eighteen ounces.  Now as
five hundred  ounces  of  blood pafs through
the kidneys in that fpace of time in common
cafes, as we know  this may be increafed by
taking certain fluids into  the  ftomach,  and
that the fecerning  action of the kidneys may
alfo be much accelerated ; that fome  fluids
which Doctor Darwin mentions, require very
little elaboration to be  changed  into  urine, 
                 [   61  ]
and that, part of the eighteen ounces was fe-
creted before the fluid entered the circulation
—the procefs of the fpeedy production  of
urine after drinking, which the Doctor thinks
cannot be explained in any other way but by
retrograde motion in the abforbents, is eafily
difcovered.
   As to the  fubftances detected in the urine
by Doctor Darwin,  it accords perfectly with
the opinion I have endeavoured to eftablifh,
which is,  that medicines  are fometimes ab-
forbed into the circulation in their active ftate,
and confequently may be found in the fecre-
tions.
   The  Doctor  then quotes the  following
facts from Doctor Haller, which however he
did not fee himfelf, but were obferved by pre-
ceding  writers.    Doctor  Haller  mentions
that Doctor Kratzenftein fays he put ligatures
upon the ureters of  a dog,  and  yet  he dif-
charged urine.  How  much ?   The quantity
is not mentioned; we may therefore conclude
that it was very fmall, and that what was eva-
cuated  came its ufual way, the ureters not
being well fecured.  This conclufion is ren-
dered undeniable by later experiments, where-
in the ureters have been tied and  no urine
difcharged. 
                 [  62   ]
   I have already  related what Doctor Mon-
ro, (whofe  authority is far more to be de-
pended upon than that of fuch ancient wri-
ters)  fays upon  this fubject.  Doctor  Dar-
win takes care only to felect fuch  facts  from
Doctor Haller's collection,  as  bear the face
of probability, but when they leap the bounds
of poffibility as many of them  do,  he paffes
over them in filence.  To fhew how far thefe
facts are to be depended upon,  I beg leave to
introduce the following quotation from Doc-
tor Haller.  In doing this,  I do not mean to
infmuate that the Doctor himfelf is not to be
believed, but that the facts which he has col-
lected from writers who wrote when medical
fcience confifted in witchcraft,  charms,  and
the like, are not  entitled  to the leaft credit.
He fays upon the  authority  of  others, when
fpeaking of fubftances pafling unchanged into
the bladder, 44 Aliqui etiam ad corpora varia
44 refpexerunt,  quae deglituta in veficam de-
44 fcendiffent,  hordei fpicas,   petrofelinum,
44 herbasvarias, braficam rubram, anififemen,
44 pilulas, prunae,  aciculas, officula  pilos,
44 glandes  plumbeas,  vitri fruftum,   lolii
44 fpica."  It is alfo faid in the fame book,
that urine has continued to be difcharged af- 
                L  63   ]
ter the fuppuration or total deftruction  of
the kidneys.
   Knowing how common it is  for unufual
occurrences to be exaggerated by thofe who
difcover them,  (and particularly fo if often
communicated by different perfons) and  re-
collecting the fource from which this fact is
derived, we may fafely conclude  that the kid-
nies were only in a ftate of fuppuration or
partial deftruction. Now that the urine fhould
be difcharged in this inftance is nothing very
ftrange or uncommon.
   It only fhews what may be feen every day,
the tranfcendant wifdom of nature.   Do we
not often fee the circulation of the blood in a
limb almoft entirely  obftructed by the def-
truction of the principal artery,  and yet this
function performed by the fmall anaftomofmg
veffels ?  Are  there  not  cafes wherein  the
brain has been nearly  deftroyed and  yet  its
functions performed ? Yes there are fuch in-
ftances upon record,  and a  friend of mine
alfo informs me, he  once faw a cafe where a
patient was difeafed for a long time, but the
operation of his mind remained perfectly en-
tire, at length he died, when upon opening the
brain,at leaft three-fourths of it was deftroyed.
How  often  in  confumptive patients are the 
                [  64   ]
lungs found almoft  totally deftroyed ?  And
laftly, is it not a law of the animal ceconomy
that the gradual removal of a part of an or-
gan fhould increafe  the power of the remain-
der.   Thefe confiderations plainly evince
that a part of the kidnies muft have remain-
ed entire, which continued the fecretion of
urine.
   As yet then we are furnifhed with no proof
of a retrograde motion ever taking place in
the abforbent fyftem.   Dr. Darwin however
fuppofing the fact to be eftablifhed, proceeds
to account for many phenomena of difeafes,
by means of it.  He afferts that the fudden
diminution of the  fize  of the  abdomen in
afcites attended with an increafed difcharge
of urine proceeds from this retrograde action
in the abforbents, and accounts for the abforp-
tion of fluids by the  fkin from the atmofphere
in the fame way !!—Now as  there  are ab-
forbent veffels which arife from the fkin and
cavity of the abdomen, and which take up flu-
ids from thofe parts and carry them into the
circulation in their natural direction, to af-
fert that they pafs in a contrary way is offer-
ing violence to all human underftanding.
   The Doctor mentions feveral inftances of
what he calls tranflation of matter from one 
                C   65   ]
part to another  which he fays is performed
by  a  retrograde action  in  the  lymphatics.
Even fuppofing matter to be  carried from one
part to another by the abforbents, furely the
rational conclufion would be, that it paffed in
the proper direction of the valves, and not in a
contrary way.  But the fact is, that what he
fuppofed  to be the  tranflation of matter, was
nothing more than a morbid fecretion of one
gland, from the obftruction of another.  This
I fhall render at leaft probable by anfwering
the following queflion propofed by him: 44 Is
44 it not an immutable law in animal bodies
44 that each gland can fecrete no other than its
44 own proper fluids ?" I anfwerno—it is not—
and I can prove it by facts and obfervations.
There are many inftances of a ftoppage of
the gonorrhceal difcharge from  the urethra
producing the fame fecretion from the glands
about the eyes.   There is a woman in this
city who has had her menftrual fecretion per-
formed by her ftomach for feveral years, and
I  have known  a cafe,  where this fluid has
been fecreted by the breaft for two  years.
Thefe  are plain facts which  evince that a
gland may not only fecrete a fluid in difeafe
entirely different  from what it fecretes in
health, but may take on the fecretion of ano-
 ther  gland. 
C  66  ]
   Having now noticed the  principal argu-
ments offered by Dr. Darwin in favour of the
retrograde action of the  abforbents, I fhall
very briefly confider a cafe related by  Dr.
Senter of Rhode Ifland*  which would feem
to eftablifh that theory.   This cafe  was
in a young woman who was  attacked with
cough, difficulty of breathing and fever, which
was fucceededby a fuppreffion  of urine and a
difcharge  of pus from the ftomach.  This
continued for three years during which time,
if her urine was not drawn off by the catheter
fhe frequently difcharged a fimilar fluid from
her ftomach.
   This with fome fimilar cafes  would feem
to evince a direct communication between the
ftomach and the bladder,  but upon a minute
examination we  fhall find, that the circum-
ftance  may be  eafily explained upon the
known laws of the animal ceconomy.
   The explanation  of the fact I fuppofe to
be in this way;  as the urine could not be
difcharged through the natural outlet from
the bladder, the abforbents which arife from
its internal furface were excited into action,
whereby it was  taken up and conveyed by
them into the circulation.   As it is neceffary
  * See Tranfaclions of Coll. Phys. of Phil. 
                 [   67  ]
for the continuance of human life, that this
fluid fhould be difcharged from the blood, as
it is a fact that if the action of one gland be
obftructed,  another by fympathifmg with it
will often perform its functions,  and as the
ftomach is the great fympathifer in the body,
the plain and proper inference  is, that the
fluid difcharged from the  ftomach was a mor-
bid fecretion  of that vifcus.   That  the lym-
phatics of the bladder fhould abforb the urine
in this  cafe, is not an unufual circumftance,
this  takes  place  more or  lefs always when
the urine is long retained.  If the duct which
conveys the  bile from the liver  to the duo-
denum becomes  obftructed, the  bile is  ab-
forbed  and jaundice produced.—That,  the
fecretions of  a patient labouring under jaun-
dice, all partake of the nature of the bile can-
not be denied, and that the fame thing fhould
occur when urine is  abforbed in  large quan-
tities is the natural confequence.
   I now conclude this imperfect Effay, and
although I believe Doctor Darwin* has theo-

  * The fpeculations which I have attempted to controvert,
appeared originally under the fignature of Charles Darwin,
but as they are  introduced into the Zoonomia, and are
there adopted and fupported, I  have addreffed myfelf par-
 ticularly to the author of that work. 
C  68   ]
rized too far without the fupport of facts, yet
I perfectly agree  with  him in the following
obfervations: 44 There are fome modern prac-
a titioners who  declaim  againft medical
44 theory in general, not confidering that to
44 think is to theorife ; and that no one can
44 direct a method of cure to a perfon labour-
44 ing under difeafe, without thinking, that is,
44 without theorizing: and happy therefore is
44 the patient, whofe phyfician pofeffes  the
44 beft theory."
   It remains now that I return my thanks to
the Medical Profeffors of this Univerfity for
the valuable inftruction I have received from
them.   To Profeffor Barton,  the  American
Linnaeus, I beg leave in a particular  manner
to addrefs myfelf, and to folicit an acceptance
of my grateful acknowledgements.
   Wifhing each of you, Gentlemen, that ho-
nour and happinefs  which your indefatigable
exertions  in  the  diffufion of  knowledge fo
juftly claim, I bid you Adieu.
FINIS. 
 
 
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