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NATIONAL LIBRARY  OF MEDICINE




          Bethesda, Maryland 
 
 
                                      6 ™'
            DISCUSSIONS
        BfcTWEEN SEVERAL MEMBERS OF
   THE REGULAR MEDICAL FACULTY,
                    AND
THE THOMSONIAN BOTANIC PHYSICIANS,
                   ON  THE
 Comparative wpxite-eftlm'u iespecti<c&>S&8temt.
"Error is harmless, where truth is left free to combat it."
                                 Jefftrton.
   EDITED AND PUBLISHED
   BY DR. A. CURTIS.
Teacher of Botanico-Medical Science.
Printed at the Office of the Thomsonian Recorder,
         BY JONATHAN PHILLIPS.

            COLUMBUS, OHIO,
                    f836. 
\~?
V
•*Ht« 
PREFACE.
   Though I have copied the favorite motto of Jef-
 ferson,  "Error is harmless, where truth  is  left
 free to combat it," I must remark that, so nume-
 rous and powerful are the prejudices against truth,
 and 60 great is the unwillingness  of most mindd
 to embrace  it when  presented, that this  " wise
 saying" is subject to many exceptions and limita-
 tions which make it  exceedingly desirable that
 error should never be spread before the public mind,
 even under circumstances the most favorable for its
 counteraction.  Still, if it  must be disseminated,
 nothing  can be more  desirable than that truth
 should be " close at its heels."
  Though the following discussions, first publish-
 ed  in sundry political  newspapers,  in  different
 parts of the United States,  are now re-published
 in a more compact  and permanent form, at the ear-
 nest solicitation of the friends of the Thomsoniau
 System; yet, as they contain also, entire,  all  the
 arguments brought against it by its regular oppo-
 nents;  we  have reason to expect  that the latter
 will subscribe as largely to their  distribution, as
the former have done.
  We have further reason to expect the co-opera-
tion of " regular physicians" in the dissemination
ofthis work, in the fact that Dr. Deloney boasts of
having demolished our system,  which Dr. "Aledi-
cus" intimates is worse than the cholera, and that
Dr. Williams says, " All I would  ask, ia for it U 
4                PREFACE.

be placed in the  hands of the public."  Surely
these gentlemen will aid us with all their might.
  A Southern Correspondent  of the Boston Medi-
cal and SurgicalJournal, says, (vol. xi.  pa. 215,)
" Let  scientific  Physicians discountenance  this
(Thomsonian) quackery  through the medium of
Journals &c," and the editor of that paper says,
(vol. xii.  pa. 308,) " We perfectly agree in senti-
ment with the talented author of the review" [Dr.
Deloney's, of our lectures, page —.]  We expect
that the Journal will earnestly recommend to phy-
sicians to scatter our  book all over the United
States.
  Those gentlemen will  here see that  Drs. Wil-
liams, Medicus and Deloney have put a strong hand
to  this work, and of course we shall depend on
them for the gratuitous distribution of many hun-
dreds of copies. Dr. Miller of the Baltimore Alms-
house  too, will doubtless use his powerful influ-
ence, to aid us in our benevolent exertions to ex-
pose this destructive " Tkomsonalgia" to the "en-
lightened circle in which he moves."
  With the exception of the two  Baltimore Lec-
tures,  which contain something like a connected,
fair and full view of the two Medical  Systems,
their comparative merits, and the conduct of their
advocates, the  Botanic writers contented them-
selves with keeping, pretty generally, in the path
marked out by their regular opponents, satisfied
rather to  take them  in the  snares of  their own
eetting, than to dig new pits for their capture.
                                   EDITOR, 
DR. WILLIAMS'S  REMARKS,
                    IN  THE
HOUSE OF DELEGATES OF MARYLAND,
       ON THE BILL TO INCORPORATE THE
  THOMSONIAN NATIONAL INFIRMARY.
                 March,, 18:35.
  Mr. Speaker :—Being entirely unaccustomed
to public speaking,  and feeling inadequate to do
that justice to the subject under consideration,
which would have been done it by those whose seats
I am sorry to see unoccupied, it  is with great re-
luctance I rise on this floor, in the midst of those
who have so  often entertained, and who are so  able
to entertain this house with their eloquence, to pre-
sent, in my feeble manner, the views I entertain in
regard to it.  But,  as  one of the committee to
whom this bill was referred, and who concurred,
both in  the  conclusions  and details of the report
presented by the very  intelligent,  high-minded
and honorable chairman, I feel  bound in duty to
the majority of that committee, in duty to the  citi-
zens of my State, and in duty to my own opinion,
to say something, or attempt to  say something in
support of that report.  What, sir,  is the subject
now before this house!  It is the bill to incorporate
certain men,  their associates and successors, to
practise the healing art, on the  Thomsonian Sys-
tem.   Is this, sir, the real object, or is there not
something behind the curtain!   Is this merely in-
tended for the benefit of the few  individuals  whe 
G
come here and apply for this act of incorporation,
and to be confined within the limits of Baltimore?
Do not these men get paid for their medicine and
their cervices'!  I am sure they may sell as much
medicine as they  choose, and  obtain as much as
they can sell.  This, in my humble opinion, is not
the principal object.  It is, sir, to  obtain legisla-
tive  sanction; to obtain a character for their sys-
tem.  And what, sir, will  be the consequences of
passing this bill"?   This legislature will have said,
virtually, to the citizens of this State and to  the
world, we have examined  this  subject, and have
compared  this Thomsonian System  with  that
which is denominated the regular scientific sys-
tem, to practise which,  it is required by the laws
ofthis State, that all practitioners shall have pur-
sued a certain course of preparatory studies, and
have obtained from  competent judges such testi-
monials of their .acquirements  and qualifications
as will  afford  some security  to  the community
against imposition.  (And  here, sir, I wish to im-
press on the  minds  of the  members ofthis  house,
that this provision was not intended for the benefit
of any  privileged order of men, but to protect so-
ciety and advance the science of medicine.) And,
having thus  examined  and compared those sys-
tems, we are prepared to say that the Thomsonian
System is a distinct and perfect system, adequate
to meet all the varied indications  of disease, and
worthy of your confidence and patronage. Sir, un-
der the influence of this legislative recommenda-
tion, which  will be trumpeted forth  to  the world
as such, and  deluded by the boasting  and specious,
but false pretensions ofthis system,  hundreds of
our virtuous and really well disposed citizens will be
induced to leave those peaceful and innocent cm. 
7
ployments which they are now pursuing, and to
which they are better fitted both by nature and
education, to enter upon the practice of the heal-
ing art.   And, sir, not only these, but numbers
who care not what they do, whether evil or good,
for gain, men destitute of intelligence, good sense
or moral worth, who can raise twenty dollars for a
Thomsonian book, which is really all that is  ne-
cessary  to qualify  them, will  take advantage  of
that credulity  and misplaced confidence on the
part of a large portion of our  citizens,  which our
legislative proceedings  will have  produced, and
which will pre-eminently fit them for that awful
experiment which will certainly be made.  Pass
this law, or any such law, and you may pass such
a one for every county in the State; for what rea-
son or justice wouM there be in denyingthose ines-
timable advantages to some which have been  ex-
tended to others'!   Now, sir, what is this system
for  which we are  called upon  to say  so much; to
recommend so  strongly1!  Is  it  worthy  of such
commendation'!  How many of us know any thing
about it, either practically or theoretically'?
  Sir, I have this  system, if  a system it can be
called, and I believe I have spent as long a time,
perhaps a  longer  time  in studying it,  than  the
learned and no doubt, sir, very  skilful  and suc-
cessful agent from whom  I obtained it,  thought
necessary to qualify me to enter  upon the very
important and highly responsible duties of a phy-
sician—that was about a week.  And now, sir, as
a matter of course, having had this work a much
longer tinie, and previously possessed some know-
ledge of the human system, the diseases to which
it is subject, the principal remediate agents which
have been or are now used, and the history of their 
8
application and mode of operation, it will, I hope,
at least be conceded to me, that I ought to know
something of the merits of the system.  This sys-
tem originated with a man of the name of Thom-
son, who, according  to  his  own  narrative, waa
born in obscurity and bred in ignorance.
   It appears that his early life was characterized by
two very remarkable dispositions—one was a cu-
riosity to learn the qualities and names of plants,
the other an unconquerable repugnance to work;
and I very much suspect, sir, that it was to the lat-
ter ofthese remarkable dispositions, which has no
doubt been well cherished, the world is indebted
for his admirable system.   But, whatever may
have been the peculiarities of his early years, his
after life has proved him to be one of the most bold
and reckless experimenters with human  life and
happiness, that ever attempted the practice of the
healing art.
   Sir, I shall not attempt to expose all the  errors,
inconsistencies and preposterous absurdities of thi*
pretended system, for several reasons.  One  is,
they are entirely too numerous and the time ofthis
house  is too precious to be thus wasted; another
is, as a system, whatever claims some of the reme-
dies used may possess, it is too contemptible to re-
quire a general, or to be honored with a grave and se-
rious refutation.  But, for the information ofthis
house, I will  notice  some of its  principles and
practice, and expose some of its errors and absurd-
ities.
   It professes  to  be founded on  these  assumed
facts.  First, that  the human body is composed of
four elements—earth, water, fire  and air; that
earth  and water form the solids, and fire and air
give life and  motion.  Second, that heat is life, 
g
 ajid cold is death.   Third, that all constitutions
 are the same.  Fourth, that cold produces all dis-
 eases.  Fifth, that  obstruction produces all  dis-
 eases.  Sixth, that all diseases are to be cured by
 the same remedy.  Seventh, that fever is a friend
 of the human system, and not an enemy. I am well
 aware,  sir, how difficult  it is to  present these er-
 rors,  inconsistencies and absurdities, in their true
 light, even before this  intelligent assembly.  I
 know there are  but few of us who have directed
 our minds to the investigation of the subject under
 consideration,  who are acquainted  with all those
 established facts, and  possess  that information
 which would at once render those  errors, incon-
 sistencies* and absurdities  apparent.  I am well
 aware that the very name and pretension to simpli-
 city, possesses a talismaniccharm, which philosopy
 and logic do not possess over the minds and opinions
 of those who cannot understand.   To attempt to
 show the absurdities ofthis system by logical rea-
 soning,  would  be in many cases,  to  offer an insult
 to human understanding and intelligence.   As to
 the first fact or assumption, every  intelligent  or
 scientific individual knows that, instead of the hu-
 man  body  being  composed  of four elements, the
analyzing hand of science has proven to the  world
 that it is composed of almost four times four ele-
 ments; that some of those which were once believ-
ed elementary  principles,  are  compounds, and
 that others are only the phenomena of matter, or
the  mere result of life and organization.   As to
the  discovery that heat is life, and cold, death,  the
proposition of itself is absurd.  If it be meant that
heat is the primary cause of life, and if this be so,
it is only necessary to preserve health and to pro-
tract human existence to an indefinite length,tocoa- 
10
fine man in a warm and well regulated tempera-
ture, and give him No. 6  or  red  pepper.  That
cold produces all diseases,"is another fundamental
principle of this system.  Cold undoubtedly ia a
very fruitful source of disease, but it is not the
universal cause.  Heat also produces disease  of
the most threatening character; and I have  no
doubt, sir, that I  can kill a patient with heat  or
Bteam, as soon as a Thomsonian could destroy him
with cold, or freeze him to death.  It is also stated
that obstructions  occasion disease.  This is not
unfrequently the case.   But I should rather think
disease is  more frequently the cause of obstruc-
tions.  Every organ in the human body has a func-
tion or duty to perform, and as every organ is sub-
ject to disease, no rational  being can  suppose that
its ordinary function will not be suspended or im-
perfectly performed.   Sir,  the exciting and pre-
disposing causes of disease are too numerous to be
here detailed.  Every physical agent which ope-
rates upon us, as well as numerous others, as the
causes of small pox and  cholera, the  intimate na-
ture of which are inscrutable,  and which we only
know by their melancholy effects, produce dis-
ease.  And, sir, the cause  of disease  may exist in
the human system itself from constitutional de-
fects, and thus the germs of disease are often plant-
ed before the first breath of life  is drawn.  A blow
on the head, or the long continued influence of the
rays of the sun, may and will produce an  inflam-
mation of the brain.  Send for the  Thomsonian;
he tells you your disease is produced  by cold; and,
in the delirium  occasioned by a' violent  inflam-
mation, may  give  you a puke and steam you to
expel the cold.  Or, suppose you have taken pow-
dered glass,  or any other agent, which, from its 
11
physical or chemical qualities, has occasioned a
violent inflammation of the inner coats of the stom-
ach, and what is the remedy1!   Why, you are stuf-
fed with cayenne pepper, steamed  and  puked, to
dislodge imaginary canker and cold.  This system
tells us that all constitutions are the same,  and
that all diseases are to be  cured by the same re-
medy, and that fever is a friend of the human  sys-
tem,  and not an enemy,  and of course should be
promoted or encouraged, instead of resisted or op-
posed.  That all constitutions are  the same, is
what  no intelligent being can for one moment be-
lieve.  Sir, human constitutions are as various as
human forms and dispositions, and are as liable to
as great a variety of diseases, and require a treat-
ment  equally as various.   This doctrine of fevers,
like many  other  things  in this  system, is not
new.   It prevailed in the very infancy of medical
science, and gave rise to  practice  similar to this,
and which, in many diseases, produced the  most
fatal  consequences.  The influence of this  erro-
neous theory, and similar practices, was peculiar-
ly evident in the small pox; under a highly stimu-
lating treatment; scarcely one half of those who
were  attacked were saved.   But what is  the re-
Eult of the present systematic plan of cure!   Sir,
it as been  met by science and philosophy, and  not
one case in ten on an average is now lost.   Thus
we see, 6ir, that the very foundation is false, con-
trary  to established facts, and preposterously ab-
surd.   What are we to expect of  the superstruc-
ture?   Now, sir, let us notice the  materia medica
ofthis system, of the remediate agents used under
those monstrous views of human organization and
disease, which we have exposed.  The principal
are Lobelia or Indian Tobacco, which is an erne- 
14
is known or ever has been known of diseases.  It
includes in its expanded arms every remedy, whe-
ther of the animal, mineral or vegetable kingdom,
that a beneficent Providence  has been  pleased to
bestow on the  world,  and which experience has
proved capable of removing disease  or  mitigating
the sufferings of mankind. This, I contend, is the
only rational system of medicine.
  Now, then, compare the system, founded on es-
tablished facts, philosophic research, and the ex-
perience of two thousand years—each  successive
generation  improving on the attainments  of the
past, cultivated by  men  of the brightest  genius,
most brilliant  talents and  of moral worth, and
conscious of the high responsibilities under which
they acted, with the erroneously predieated, ab-
surdly  sustained,  imperfect system of Thomson;
originating with and perfected by one obscure in-
dividual who knew nothing of the organization of
the human body, who never saw one half of the dis-
eases which afflict our race, or one tenth of there-
mediate agents which have been found successful
in the relief and cure of disease, and  decide be-
tween  them.
  What, sir, has been the result  of the cultivation
and practice of the scientific system of medicine!
Diseases which once threatened to depopulate the
world, the very name of which produced horror in
the minds of men, under  the influence and science
of medicine, have been rendered far less fatal, and
some entirely, others almost entirely robbed of that
terror  by  which, with  more unerring  certain-
ty  they destroyed the trembling victim.   And,
notwithstanding civilization, with her concomi-
tants, luxury and refinement, has tended much to
weaken and render more delicate the human con- 
15
stitution, subjecting it to diseases which were for-
merly unknown, it is computed that human exist-
ence has been extended on an average  about five
years.   Sir, the regular system of medicine has
been denounced as founded  upon theory and specu-
lation.  This is a mistake.
  From settled facts and the known operation of
the laws of nature, every man has a right to form,
and will form some  notion  of the cause, intimate
nature,  and influence of what  is  brought under
his observation;  and other things being equal, the
man of intelligence, who is  acquainted with the
facts  and the experience  of others in  relation
to any subject, is more likely to be correct.  It is
true, sir, that many men, under mistaken  and en-
thusiastic notions, anxious to  advance the science,
or ambitious of fame, departing  from those settled
rules or laws for  the advancement of science,  phi-
losophic  investigation,  and sound  and  legitimate
deduction, have  wandered far into the  unproduc-
tive regions of speculation  and  hypothesis.  Yes,
6ir, those established principles and  settled facts
of the medical science, the application of those set-
tled rules under  which  it is cultivated, with the
touch-stone of cautious  experiment,in the hands of
scientificintelligent, conscientious men,like the re-
finer's furnace, have separated  the dross from the
mass presented, and if any pure gold has been found,
added it to  the stock previously possessed—and if
only the fact that all was error, that alone is valu-
able, as a warning to the theorist, a beacon to the
course  of the skilful practitioner, and one more
safeguard to secure  mankind.
   Sir, it has been attempted to repel the  imputa-
tion of quackery and empiricism contained in the
report.  I  think I have proved to the satisfaction 
16
 of every individual in this house; and if I have not,
 I here assert, on the responsibility of a member of
 this house, and on my own responsibility as a mem-
 ber of society, withoutthe fear of successful contra-
 diction, that this system is a boastful  pretention to
 what it Coas not possess; that  it affects to teach
 whatits author never understood, and is calculat-
 ed, under the specious pretension of simplicity and
 unerring certainty, to  impose on a large  portion
 of mankind.   And if this does not stamp it with
 the character of quackery,  the common  accepta-
 tion of the word is incorrect.   And, Kir, if the en-
 tire independence and ignorance of, and contempt
 for all past experience in  an author, and the estab-
 lishment of a system upon his own limited expe-
 rience, and  by mad experiments, entitles it  to the
 character or empirical, this pretended system rich-
 ly merits it, and I humbly conceive no  one can
 successfully dispute its claims.  It  is said that
 very intelligent  and correct men approve of this
 this system, subscribe to it and practise it;  and
 that  the  terms quacks and empirics are applied
 harshly to them.  Sir, there is no one less dispos-
 ed than I am to cast reflections and  imputations
 upon, or wound the feelings of individuals; but if
 they will connect themselves with, and stand forth
 to support this  system, they are liable to the same
 imputations to which the  system  itself is obnox-
 ious.  It is also said that learned physicianssanc-
 tion and approve  the Thomsonian  System, and
 have decided in its favor.  Sir, that any intelligent
 physician or scientific man, that is perfectly sane,
 however willing he may be  to  acknowledge that
 some of the remedies used and some of the means
employed are valuable, and may in many cases be
successfully applied, which I do not deny, can re- 
17
cognize this as a new and distinct system of medi-
cine, perfect in itself, and capable, as it professes
to be,  of answering all the various indications of
disease, and sanction its principles, its falsehoods,
abuses and absurdities, I hold to be utterly impos-
sible.
  Sir,  tell me of the man who is acquainted with
the advantages of civilized life, who  has felt the
genial  influence of the light  of science and tasted
the pleasures of truly refined  society, preferring
the destitute,  barbarous  and benighted condition
of the Hottentot, or a native of some of the South
Sea  Islands—tell  me of the skilful and experien-
ced mariner who has often seen the ocean wrought
into mountain waves by the tyrant storm, and who
knows that dangerous shoals and rocks lie hid be-
neath its surge, throwing away his  compass, his
quadrant and his chart, and committing himself to
the mercy of the waves and the winds, without  a
landmark or a beacon to  guide his course towards
the destined port, over the trackless sea—but tell
me  not of any learned physician recommending
this monstrous system to  the world.
  Mr.  Speaker, this system  professes  to be  per-
fectly simple and intelligible to all; to be reduced
to the  comprehension of the most humble  intel-
lect—and all, sir, I would ask is, for it to be placed
in the hands of the public.  I  feel no doubt  that
there is sufficient intelligence in this house, if it
can be  brought to bear on the subject, to compare
this system  with reason, established facts and ex-
perience, and to reject it, as false in its premises,
setting up claims and pretensions which cannot be
eustained, and  from obvious  imperfections, slan-
der, abuse and  indecencies, utterly disgusting.
  Sir,  in order  to give the  house some notion of
            2 
18
the nature of this system, and the mind and prin-
ciples of the author, I beg the indulgence of this
house to read some extracts ofthis celebrated work.
Sir, I am  going  to read some  of the  commence-
ment of his treatise on obstetrics, one of the most
important branches of medical science, on a proper
knowledge, of which not unfrequently  the life of
mother  and child depend.  Thomson says,  " This
is a very difficult subject to write upon, as I know
of no words  that would be proper to make use of,
to convey  the necessary information to enable a
person to practise with safety."
  Now, Mr.  Speaker, in conclusion,  I  ask  the
members of this house,  this grave and intelligent
assembly, whether they are prepared, by any act of
legislative sanction, to recommend to their fellow-
citizens and  the  world, this  pretended system of
medicine, with all its boasting pretensions, its im-
perfections and  preposterous absurdities,  and all
its  abuse and vile slander, intended to prejudice
the mind of the people against the regularly edu-
cated physicians, and which I  do contend, is aa
much a part ofthis system, as steaming  and red
pepper.                                   u
  Sir,  are we prepared  to  pronounce the expe-
rience   of all  those  who have devoted their lives
and talents to the study and practice of medicine,
forthe last five thousand years,  under a deep sense
of the responsibility under which they acted, en-
tirely worthless] Are we prepared to usher a host
of ignorant, boasting pretenders upon the commu-
nity, without the guaranty that they know even a
part of  that  imperfect  system,  and the diseases
which  affect it,  and  destitute  of every qualifica-
tion but the proof of having paid twenty dollars for
a Thomsonian book"? 
19
  Sir, let us pass this bill, or any similar one, and
we  do all this.   I am now willing to submit  this
subject to  the intelligence, justice and humanity
ofthis grave assembly, and take my seat.
  $^7=Having observed in the Boston Medical and
SurgicalJournal, the foregoing speech, I address-        i
ed the following reply to  the Editor:
  " Give us facts—We repeat the invitation—and be in readi-
ness to sustain them, and we care not how much medical iniqui-
ty is exposed, nor wko swings  upon Hainan's gallows.  When
fair statements are presented, with  an avowal of the authorship,
no willingness will he manifested to conceal abuses, or barricade
the falsely acquired reputation of a medical manobuverer.  *  *.
Our columns arc open to  whatever can promote merit, or better
the physical condition of mankind."—Boston Medical and Surgi-
cal Journal, Vol. 12, page 192.
  Mr.  Editor:  I deem the above, selected from
many excellent remarks, a  sufficient apology for
the following attempt to  correct some of the many
errors which Doctor Williams has committed, in        <
his zealous crusade  against what he  styles the
" false and preposterously  absurd system"  of Dr.
Samuel  Thomson.   I  remark,  in general,  that
his whole speech., to say the least of it, is a tissue
of assertions as " bold and  reckless" as he  would
have us believe are the " experiments" of Thom-
son.   I  shall not, like  the  Doctor, deal  in gene-        j
rals, and content myself with  making  proofless
assertions.   I shall expose his "medicaliniquity,"
by  giving you  "facts;" not merely on " the au-
thority of my  name;" they shall be  proved by-
evidence accessible to all,  and arguments  which
carry on their face the impress of truth.
   The Doctor begins  by asking,  " What is the
object"  of the petitioners,  as exhibited  in " the 
20
bill!"   [See Appendix.]  He  then answers the
question, by stating that  "it is to obtain legisla-
tive sanction—a character  for their system:"—
and then intimates that a charter is unnecessary
to secure to them the privileges due to every citi-
zen, viz: of employing whom they please to  cure
their diseases,  and of securing to the laborer the
reward of his services.  If the Doctor is worthy of
the seat he occupies in the hall of legislation, he
well knows that the laws of Maryland secure all
the pay for medical services, to his order of men
whom  they have heretofore privileged, as he says
the Thomsonians wish to be.   If, therefore, the
Thomsonians  " get paid for their services,"  it is
the gratitude of the patients, not the force of the
law, that produces this result.  The tendency of
the law is, to punish those who receive  this re-
ward.   But, let us admit what the Doctor seems
anxious to  prove, that the Thomsonians  wish to
obtain "legislative sanction for their system;" [a
character it has and will  maintain, in spite of all
the laws   that can  be made against it.]   Will
" the passage  of the bill, be saying to the citizens
of that State and to the world, ' We have exam-
ined the subject, and compared this Thomsonian
System with that  which is  denominated the  Sci-
entific System, and are prepared to say that it is a
distinct and perfect one, adequate to meet all the
varied indications  of disease, and  worthy of  your
confidence  and patronagel"   If this specious  flou-
rish of rhetoric proves any thing for the Doctor, it
proves too  much.   It proves that when the Legis-
lature  granted the charter of "the Baltimore Med-
ical College," and made  laws to encourage the
Scientific System of which he is an advocate, and
to exclude  from  the exercise of the healing art, all 
21
to whom the professors of this  system have not
given a diploma,  it said to the world, " We have
examined this subject ;  compared the theories and
practices of the present day, with  the thousand and
one that have preceded them, and are prepared to
Bay that the doctrines to be taught by this college,
and the practices to be pursued by its pupils, are a
perfect system, adequate to meet all the various in-
dications of disease, and worthy of your confidence
and patronage!!"  However ignorant any  of the
Maryland legislators  may be, they certainly all
know better than that. Yet, Dr. W. himself says,
" there are few of us  [legislators]  who have di-
rected our minds to the investigation ofthis sub-
ject, and who are acquainted with all the  estab-
lished facts" in  medicine.   He intimates (in a
part of his speech which you  have  not published)
that it would require  the study of an ordinary life,
to understand the scientific practice so well as to
be able to judge of its comparative merits; where-
as, he says,  "having had this work [ofThomson]
a much longer time, [than " about a week,"]  and
previously possessing some knowledge of the hu-
man system, the diseases  to which  it is liable, the
principal remediate agents which have been or are
now used, and the history of their application and
mode of operation, I ought to know something of
the merits ofthis system."   So indeed he ought.
But, if a knowledge of the systems they encourage
(or rather permit to stand or fall according to pub-
lic estimation of their merits; which is the princi-
pal thing the Thomsonians asked) be necessary in
the Maryland legislators, it is  much easier, ac-
cording to the Doctor's own statement, to obtain
what  the Thomsonian System  demanded, than
what  his system had professedly  required, and ob- 
22
   tained in the grant of the aforesaid charter.  But
   this the Doctor well knew  was not asked, (and we
   mention it only to show the sophistry  of his rea-
   soning.)  All that the  Thomsonians asked, was
   rights and privileges equal to those enjoyed by
   other men:—The right to employ and  pay whom
   they please, and to demand remuneration for per-
   sonal services voluntarily  engaged.   The merits
   of the two systems  will be determined by their
   fruits.
      To require the Thomsonian System to be "per-
   fect— capable of answering all the varied indica-
   tions of disease," before  it shall be treated with
   the  same civility that we accord to his "art of con-
   jecture," his " system of guessing," " learned
   quackery," &c, as Abercrombie, Waterhouse and
   other  eminent physicians, have  styled it, is ano-
   ther piece of medical chicanery which deserves to
   be  exposed.   The Thomsonians do not pretend
   that their system  is "perfect—adequate to all the
   varied  indications of disease."  They only say,
   and they  prove  it  by  their  practice, that it  is
   much  better than "what is denominated the regu-
   lar scientific system."
      Dr. W.  says, "Thomson's life has proved him
   to be one of the most bold and reckless experiment-
   ers with human life  and happiness,  that  ever at-
   tempted the practice of the healing art."
      Yet he well knows that the action  on the human
   system, of all the  20,000 "remedial" agents"  of
*  his own  favorite materia medica, was discovered
   either by accident or experiment—indeed the best
   philosophy of the present age, is at war with eve-
   ry theory that is  not based upon experience.  If
   it was wrong in  Dr. Thomson to experiment with
   a few articles, (he  mentions eight, and says "there 
23
are a few other domestic old woman remedies,")
what shall we say  of the  conduct of the whole
medical faculty,  who, for four  thousand years,
have experimented with more than 20,000]   If it
was "bold and reckless" in Dr. Thomson to ex-
periment on himself with some "eight or ten" inno-
cent articles,  "the mildest of their class," what
shall we think of their experimenting  on all the
generations of mankind, with all the rankest poi-
sons they could find in the animal, vegetable and
mineral kingdoms'!  "I find in medical writings,"
says Dr. William Cullen, "forty different reme-
dies recommended for  this disease; and yet I have
had forty patients on whom no one had the desired
effect."  40 X 40 = 1600 experiments by one head
man, on a single  disease!   What must be  the
number of the whole  faculty,  on 2500  diseases'?
But Thomson's experiments were neither "bold nor
reckless."  They were performed first  on himself.
("I learned, says he, the medical qualities of plants
[that were not know to be innocent and good] by
tasting") and next on  patients whom the medical
faculty  had given over to die—cases in which
they themselves admit that the most desperate ex-
periments (and fatal asthey often make them) are
allowable, if not commendable.  "Desperate ca^
6es," said a physician, "require a bold practice:"
so he threw a shovel  full of hot embers on a pa-
tient's breast!  Another, under the exercise of the
same faith, administered arsenic enough to  kill a
dozen rats!
   Dr.  Thomson's experiments were  performed
with modes and means that could do no harm, if
no good; and the result was almost always happy.
We challenge, any where and every where, a com-
parison of the good and evil results of the practice 
24
of the two  systems.   This is  the evidence on
which both the people and their representatives in
the legislative assemblies, will yet judge of their
merits.   Dr. W.'s attempt to smother an examina-
tion into these matters, is another piece of "medi-
cal iniquity," which I trust, Mr. Editor, you will
not be "unwilling to expose."
  He says that Dr. Thomson's System is founded
on the facts (among others that may be disputed)
that "heat is life and cold death; that all constitu-
tions are the same and all diseases the same; that
cold produces all  diseases, and that obstructions
produce all diseases; that ali diseases are to be cur-
ed by the same remedy, and that fever is a friend,
not an enemy to the system."  As the doctor does
not pretend to understand  what is meant  by some
of these positions,  I shall notice now, only his per-
versions of others, which  he  professed "to know
something about."
   We will thank him  to  prove, by honest quota-
tions, that Dr. Thomson attributes all diseases to
either cold  or obstructions,  while we maintain
what needs no proof, that  there is no life without
heat, or disease without obstructions. The "small
pox" is a canker which obstructs the circulation of
the fluids; the "cholera" is cold, (which contracts
the extreme vessels, and thus obstructs the circula-
tion of the blood and heat,) and occasional efforts
of nature to overcome which contraction, produce
spasmodic actions  of the muscular system,  parti-
cularly  the  coats of the stomach and intestines.—
The "blow on  the head" bruises the  vessels and
"obstructs" the circulation, and so does "the pow-
dered glass" affect the  lining  membrane of the
stomach.  Let us  go a little beyond the Doctor's
random  missiles.  The subject is too interesting
to be  dropped here. 
25
  Particles of undigested food are often found in
the lacteals  and secretory vessels, and, in their
passage through the pores of the system, so iritate
them  as to  cause contractions.  These contrac-
tions  are obstructions  to  the disengagement of
the morbific  matter  which arrests the  circula-
tion, produces swelling of the part, becomes can-
ker, and accumulates, till it forms what the Doctora
call boils, tumours, abscesses, &c.  Before this
takes place, however, the man is sick.  The natu-
ral heat  of the body being obstructed in its gene-
ral diffusion and discharge, accumulates at the sur-
face, and the effectxs called fever.  If now Dr. W.
be  called, he  will probably—[they  do  not all
practise alike, these "regulars"—their practice is
like an Indian fight, not at a general word of com-
mand, but each one  shoots arrows or hatchets,
dipped inpoison, from behind his suspended parch-
ment,  in  the best way he can]—I say, probably
he will bleed, give " sub mur. hydr."  [calomel]
and " ol. ricini" [caster oil,]  which  will reduce
the heat of the  system, increase the contraction,
and hold  the obstructions faster.  In the use of
these and other depletives, of refrigeratives  and
starvation, he will persevere,  till the patient has
in him neither blood  nor heat enough  to  make  a
fever.   If he  ever  recover, it will be only to wan-
der about, as Dr. Good says, "with stiff, incur-
vated limbs, a total loss of teeth, &c, till death,
with a friendly stroke, puts a  period to his suffer-
ings."—[Studies of Med.  vol. 1, page 179.]
  If a Thomsonian be called, he will give cayenne
or No. 2 enough to heat the  system  thoroughly,
[increasing the fever  to its crisis!] steam enough
to opem the  pores, No. 3 enough to disengage the
obstructions, and No.  1 enough to cast them out 
26
 of the system.  Then, with cold vinegar, or wa-
 ter, he will tone the surface, and with bitters, the
 digestive and secretive organs,  and the man is
 right again, without the danger of sometime hence
 requiring a surgeon to lance the boil or abscess,
 or extract the tumour.
   A gentleman afflicted much as above described,
 called a learned physician, who prescribed sixty
 grains of calomel, &c.  He took  it, and soon lost,
 not  only his general health, but almost all  sensa-
*tion in his limbs.  He called again on the Doctor,
 who said  "he did not know  what the devil ailed
 him."   He then called a Thomsonian, who raised
 the  heat, steamed out the cold, mercury and can-
 ker, and cast  out the phlegm,  gave him bitters,
 and restored  him to  sound health.  Three days
 ago, I  saw a  gentleman in a high fever, alterna-
 ting with cold chills, great soreness and weakness
 of the  limbs, rheumatic pains, ejecting bile,&c,
 from the stomach.   He was  immediately treated
 withcayenne, steamed, puked, fed, &c.,in  short,
 every thing was opposed  but the fever—that was
 aided!   In three hours he  went home  entirely
 free from all his bad symptoms but the weakness,
 and in two days was as strong as usual and per-
 fectly well. Was the fever a friend or an enemy'!
   "But," says Dr. W. "this System tells us that all
 constitutions are the same."  So it  does, but the
 plainest farmer, or the mere school boy, if he reads
 it in Thomson's work, will perceive that it means,
 not as Dr. W. would have it, that all constitutions
 are equally strong,  capable of enduring  the same
 amount  of fatigue, degree of exposure to disease,
 &c; but that the organic structure, the mode of
 eating and digesting food, of performing the se-
 cretion, imbibing disease, and casting it off, &c, 
27
are the same.   Let the Doctor disprove this if he
can.  It  was neither  the  fever  nor the  "highly
stimulating  treatment,"   but  some  of the  vile
drugs that  were combined  with them by art, that
destroyed,  formerly,  so many patients  afflicted
with the small pox; for the Thomsonians are still
far more successful than  their opponents, in the
treatment of that disease.
   Dr.  W.  says,  "Cayenne  enters  largely  into
most of those famous numbers, 1,  2,  3, 4, 5, and
6, as well as into almost every prescription."  Here
is another specimen of his accuracy in the statement
of facts.  "Strict veracity," says Dr. Francis, "is
above  all other things required in medical writ-
ings."  Except the yd  preparataion, a compound
rarely used, cayenne forms no part of No.  1.—
Cayenne itself is No. 2; of course it does not "en-
ter into" that No.  Cayenne does  not belong to
Nos.  3,  4  or 5,  as every  one who has studied
Thomson's books, even no longer than "a week,
ought to know."  Therefore, we  have here five
fibs to one truth; is not this "medical iniquity'!"
   Having thus puked up all the Thomsonian num-
bers at  once, the  Doctor feels  relieved of the
cephalic  neurosis, [the tendency to delirium,] and
commences an attack on Thomson for his "slander,
foul abuse, and misrepresentations of the regular
faculty and their  system,  his sentiments of athe-
ism and blasphemy, his attack on the priesthood
and  religion, and  foul  reflection on the female
character," &c.  As to the slander  and  abuse of
the regularly educated physicians, he has fallen far
short of their slander  and abuse of him, or of his
followers, or even of one another.  The severest
sentence against physicians, to  be found in hia
works, is the following quotation from the "amia- 
28
ble,  benevolent and pious Dr.  Hervey:"  "Can
tny one behold without scorn, such drones of phy-
sicians, and after the space of so many  hundred
years of experience and practice of their predeces-
sors, not one single medicine has been detected that
has the least force, directly to prevent, to oppose
and expel a continued feverl  Should any one, by
more sedulous observation, pretend to make the
least step towards  the  discovery  of such reme-
dies,  their  hatred and envy would swell against
him, as a  legion  of devils against virtue; [severe
enough,]  the whole society will dart their malice
at him, and torture  him with all the calumnies im-
aginable,  without sticking at any thing that should
destroy him, root and branch!   [Is not this a harsh
accusation'?]  For he who professes to be a reform-
er in the  art of  physic, must resolve to  run the
hazard of his  reputation, life and estate."
   Let Dr. Williams first pull the beam out of the
eye  of Dr.  Hervey, for writing the above, before
he undertakes to extract the mote out  of  Dr.
Thomson's, for copying it and pointing to its ful-
filment.   So it has been—they  have prosecuted
and  imprisoned Thomson, accused  him  and his
followers of insanity, and of murder, in the highest
degree, and declared that we are unworthy to live.
   As to "the attack on the priesthood, religion and
the female  character," we can no more  approve
of it than  Dr. Williams.  We deeply regret that
any  general  reflections  bearing this character,
should have been admitted into the work, and are
happy to  perceive that they have been omitted in
the late editiows.  But we do not goto Dr. Thorn-
eon to learn religion, any more than we would to
Dr. Williams, who tells us five fibs to one truth.
We cannot approve  of saying any thing derogato- 
29
ry from the good name of any man or class of men,
except to defend our own or that of others, against
abuse previously heaped upon ourselves or  them.
Hut, if we reject all the  medical works whose au-
thors were  tainted with  "blasphemy, atheism,
abuse of one another, or scandal against the priest-
hood  and  religion," there  would not  be medical
reading enough left to prevent Dr. W.'s head from
becoming " the Devil'6 workshop."   So great
was the tendency among medical students of the
last century to  become practical  atheists, that
the great  Dr.  Wm. Paley thought  he could  not
be  better  employed, than in calling to his aid the
evidences exhibited by the most minute anatomi-
cal  observations, to prove the existence of divine
wisdom and  goodness in the construction, preser-
vation and continuance  of the  material world.—
Thomson's "sentiments  of atheism," are nothing
in comparison to the splendid schemes for "crush-
ing the Christian religion in toto," which Dr. Pa-
ley  had to encounter, and in which schemes, Dr.
W.  knows "regularly  educated physicians" bore
a full share.
  The Doctor now gives us a peep at the "regular
scientific system."   He  says it is a sort of treasu-
ry of all that is valuable in the experience of all
who have  discovered any thing respecting the hu-
man system, the nature and progress  of disease,
or the action of external agents, "no matter wheth-
er discovered and  used  by the ignorant, daring
and desperate quack, or by the intelligent, cau-      \
tious  and  conscientious physician,  [of course it
includes all that is  good, and excludes all that ii
improper or dangerous in the Thomsonian quacke-
ry.]  It has been and  is still cultivated,  by such
men as Hippocrates, Galen,  Hervey, Sydenham, 
30
Cullen, Hunter, Bell, Broussais, Lsennec, Bou-
delocque,  and our own immortal Rush and Phy-
sic," &c.  &c.  All this is very pretty oratory; let
us see how well it will stand the test of facts and
logical deductions.  Though I delight to contem-
plate even the delicate flowers whose destinies are
suspended on the mercy of the  lingering frosts of
spring, yet,  I confess, I take more pleasure in re-
galing myself with the mature and mellow fruits
of autumn's bounty.
   If the scientific system possesses all the advan-
tages of the  Thomsonian, how  comes it that so
many cases, abandoned by the  advocates of the
former, are cured by the skill and means exercised
by those  ©f  the latter?  Dr. Eoff says, "for want
of* some such medicine, [as his quack nostrum,]
physicians have not been able to cure one case in
ten of confirmed dyspepsia."  But  I can give you
more than twenty  certificates of cures of this dis-
ease by the Botanic practice, after the patients had
been pronounced incurable by regular physicians;
and.so far from doing more harm in general, than
good in particular, the practitioner  has never lost
a case of dyspepsia yet.   More comparisons pre-
sently.  Was Hippocrates cultivating the science
of medicine as it is now understood, when he cured
the plague in Athens by sweating his patients with
herbs, and stimulating them  with the rich wines
of Naxos]   Did Galen sanction the poisoning sys-
tem of our  day, when he said, "Mercury is a poi-
son, and as such, ought not to be given to cure dis-
ease!"  Is  Hervey to be praised  for discovering
the  circulation of the blood, and Thomson abused
for  discovering   what will  not  only "directly
expel  a  continued  fever," but cure almost every
form of dieases to which the human frame is liable? 
31
 Must not Thomson even quote what Hervey dared
 to write'1.  Dr.  Waterhouse says  that Dr. Thom-
 son "is a reformer of the art of physic;" that "to
 him belongs the honor  of introducing the invalua-
 ble lobelia inflata, alias 'Thomsonia emetica,' to
 the notice of the medical  faculty."   Sydenham
 was called by his cotemporaries a quack.  Why
 is his authority more binding on the faculty at the
 present day, than Thomson's'!  Cullen, as I have
 said, performed 1600 fruitless experiments on one
 disease.   This seems to be the authority and ex-
 ample most followed  by some of the medical gentle-
 men  of our day.  When  Hunter declared "the
 stomach to be the great centre of sympathies," he
 had only a distant view,  through,  as it were,  a
 thick Indian summer mist, of the great, imperisha-
 ble, and  now  clearly revealed, Thomsonian Doc-
 trine, of the unity of disease.  The idea  of curing
 all diseases by cleansing the alvine canal and puri-
 fying the blood, recommended by so many eminent
 men, is not very favorable to the opponents ofthe
 unity system.  Do Broussais, Lsennec  and Bou-
 delocque encourage  the gluttonous calomel  eat-
 ing ofthe American school!  Does even Dr. Wil-
 liams justify the rejection  of nosological arrange-
 ments by Dr. Rush, or approve of the  atonic and
 entonic system of that good man, and more espe-
 cially ofthe excessive phlebotomy to which,  it is
 generally agreed, he fell a  martyr?  Do the deal-
 ers in blue pills for  dyspepsia, fall on the  semi-
 Thomsonian hickory ley prescriptions of the  cau-
tious, wise and prudent Dr. Physic?
  We do not pretend nor desire to say, that med-
 ical  men, generally, are not "devoted to the  beet
 interests, and studious  to  promote the happiness
of mankind."   We  cheerfully  grant it: but their 
32
good intentions do  not secure them,  infalliably,
against error.  Dr. W. will find that  he has pre-
sumed rather  too much upon our ignorance, when
he  would induce us to believe that the opinions
and practices of the great  men whose names have
just been  mentioned, were all on the  side of the
ordinary theories of the schools, and the practices
of the living profession, and opposed to the  Thom-
sonian.  Dr. Rash used to say he believed that
the vegetable  kingdom contained a remedy for ev-
ery form of disease; and  advised all his pupils  to
attempt the discovery of it.  In  his contempt for
nosologies, he was not  a whit  behind  Samuel
Thomson. That all diseases are to be cured by the
same remedy, does not  mean that  they are to be
cured by the same single article, but by a single
systematic  process, viz:  of relaxing the body,
throwing off obstructions, and toning up the sys-
tem.   This may  be done by any  means that are
calculated to effect it.  Thousands of vegetables
are adequte to the task, but the principle of appli-
cation must ever be the same.
  Dr. Williams would have  us believe that "the
scientific  system includes all that is, or ever  hai
been known of diseases"  and  their remedies.—
How then is it that the Thomsonians cure  a mul-
titude of patients whose diseases the regular facul-
ty  neither  understand nor can cure?  We will
give you  as many  certificates ofthis  fact as you
will publish, even to the filling of your year's Jour-
nal.  He says, "The  Thomsonian  System is er-
roneously  predicated and absurdly sustained."—
Please Mr. Editor, publish the  letter of your ven-
erable and learned neighbor, Dr. Waterhouse, con-
taining lihis opinion" of these positions. You will
find it  in  the  number  of the Recorder  which I 
33
 send you. This will "tell him (Dr. W.) of a learn-
 ed physician recommending this.monstrous system
 to the world."   If he wants more such evidence,
 he can  find it in the letters of Dr. Montgomery,
 and Drs Hersey and. Saunders who practised ma-
 ny years on the old  plan,  and were surgeons in
 the United States Army.   Dr.  Williams says,
 Thomsonism  is  "quackery."   Dr.  WaterhoUse
 says,"ifs9iitis'quacker:y ofa most singular kind."
  Dr. W.  says; "all that he. would? ask is, that
 the Thomsonian System.be. placed in the hands of
 th-e public." This is just what, and alt that, is de-
 sired by its most ardent friends. , They have no
 fears-or theresult.  It shuns not the light, nor the
 severest scrutiny.  But  why then does he labor
 to'throw the petition  under the.legislative table?
'". The Doctor undertakes to ridicule Thomson's
 instructions in obstetrics, and alludes with a sneer
 to the declaration that it was ehieflyderived from his
 own experience andthe hints of an old woman. &c.
 This reminds'me of the fact that, in youth I knew
 such a woman,(very properly called Roads,for she
 was always on the trot,)  and yet never .heard of
 her losing mother or child.  Doctor A. I. Coffin, of
 Troy, New York, informs us that he has attended
 200 cases of obstetrics, and lost neither woman
 nor child.  [T. K. vol. 1, page 158.]  Leta com-
 parison be drawn between these statements, (they
 are but fair sampler of what ordinarily occurs un-
 der the practice of Thomson and of skilful old wo-
 men who have  never aspired to ape the scientific,)
 and  what he has observed ofthe regular practice,
 and  he will be astonished at the superiority ofthe
 Botanic practice.  There are, of my acquaintance,
 nearly twenty  family vacancies that have occur-
 red under the scientific obstetrics, and not a few
 more patients that are ruined for life. 
34
  Dr. Estesof Petersburg, Va. eays be "cured
56 cases  of scarlet fever and lost not one."  The
Thomsonians of Mechlenburg say they "had about
100 cases, and  lost all but  99"" Messrs. Nash &
Tatem "received  into  their Infirmary last year
600 patients, and lost only 10, though the great ma-
jority were of  the most desperate -character."—
Can the  medical faculty any where boast of such
success?   I  have practised three years  on almost
all the diseases of our climate, and  mostly on  pa-
tients considered beyond the reach of medical aid,
aniyet,  I have never lost a single patient to whom
I had given any assurance  that a cure could be ef-
fected—>never one on whom I  was the first,  the
continued, and the only physician in the case.—
Though  I practised on  it during both its visits to
our city, I never lost a single case of cholera, that
I undertook to cure.  Many  were pulseless,  and
"Several  were collapsed in  their hands, arms, legs
and feet.  I have restored to comfortable health,
more  than  twenty  dyspeptics and  rheumatjes,
whpm physicians the most eminent could not cure.
It is disagreeable thus to  speak of one's own do-
ings; but, when we do so, we know that we speak
the  truth.   lean assure your correspondent,  Dr.
Gillespie, that the Botanic practice is the best ev-
er devised for the cure of "inveterate dyspepsia
and chronic aphthae."  I have cured many  cases
without  fail  in any.  By the  way,  why these in-
terrogatories, if the  scientific  practice  prescribes
the best course that ever was or now is known for
the  cure of those  diseases?  The truth is, physi-
cians, like Noah's dove, have  been flying about
four thousand years, every now and then alight-
ingupon  some buoyant chip which soon  sank,  and
left  them dependent on their wings  again.   But 
35
they have never, even  yet, found a piece of solid
earth (in the shape of a correct general theory and
treatment of disea-e) on which to re6t the sole of
their foot.  We cannot blame them for ill success
in a chase in which they have pursued so diligent-
ly; but we do feel sorry to see so many good men
wasting their energies to such a degree, in a mis-
chievous practice, based upon erroneous principles.
But, let me prove this assertion.  Two ladies  be-
came dyspeptic.  Being  well fed with mercury,
they grew worse, till they and their friends lost all
expectation of  their recovery.  They tried the
Botanic  practice.  When the heat was raised  to
the natural  pitch, the mercury  which, till  then,
had produced no other apparent effect than to dead-
en the energies of the patients, commenced "its
specific  action,"  swelled the limbs and produced
large ulcers on the tongue, mouth-and bowels, and
a profuse salivation.   One had  an ulcer on the
tongue, half an inch in depth and much larger in
diameter.  They were soon cured.  If it was  right
to give the mercury, then it was wrong to  drive
it from the 6y6tem.   But  the giving increased the
power of  the  disease ;  while  the disengage-
ment of  that and  the cold and canker, cured the
patient.   Again, I have treated, asa friend, almost
every form of fever in the nosological catalogues,
especially the  bilious, pleuritic, typhus,  scarlet,
&c.  I have aided the fever against disease, and
have not, in a constant  practice of almost two
years, lost a single  case of it.  If  fever  is an
enemy to health, this  course of pushing it  to its
extremity ought to have killed every patient.   In-
stead  of that, the fever was generally  cured in
two or three hours!  A few, particularly of the
eruptive class,  have  lingered a day or two, till  the 
3G
morbid matter  was expelled.  "Fever must be an
enemy to life," 6ay the doctors, "for we can't cure
it."   It is a friend, say  the Thomsonians,for, by
our aid, it cures disease.   Something more than
Dr. Williams's say so, is  necessary  to convince
us that we are  wrong.
  Mr. Editor,—I am aware  that  I  have drawn
largely upon your liberality, but Dr. Yv'.as well as
myself, is desirous that this subject should be ex-
hibited- to the  people.  Let it be done, and, if it
Gannot bear  the strictest  scrutiny—let  it sink!
Unless you request  it,  I shall  not  trouble you
again; but, if you proffer mean occasional heaving,
I will either ruin the Thomsonian cause forever,,
or prove, to the thinking andunprejudiced portion
ofthe profession, that it is based upon imperisha-
ble truth.
                         Yours &c.
                                A.  CURTIS.

  Note.—If you  publish,  please don't alter or
amend the text—(any comments you  choose.)  If
you reject, please inclose this in a wrapper direct-
ed to  me.  I am a  subscriber to  your Journal—I
take  it of one  w^o, though he does  not feel able
to pay for  it, is unwilling that you should lose a
subscriber.                            A. C.
  0^5=The Editor returned the manuscript, and in-
serted in his Journal the following note:
  To Correspondents.—To the writer of a vol-
uminous article, signed A. C, we feel compelled to
say that the subject of his paper is  at war with
the principles we labor to sustain.  To elevate the 
37
 profession is a duty, andis the object of this Jour-
 nal; but_to give currency through its pages to doc-
 trines which men of true science have  invariably
 reprobated on account of their destructive tenden-
 cy, would be inconsistent, impoliticand  dishonest.
 While we acknowledge, therefore, our esteem and
 personal respect for the writer, whom  we would
 willingly oblige in any  way not incompatible  with
 the best interests of society, we beg to decline the
 publication  of tho manuscript alluded to, from  a
 convietion that it would only provoke controversy,
 and. lessen the  dignity  of medical science.   The
 manuscript  will be returned.
  $^=The~ controversy was provoked by the inser-
 tion of Dr. W.'s speech; and it is a universal cus-
 tom among editors, as in courts of justiee, to allow
 an accused (whether person or principle) at least
 one  opportunity  for defence.   How Dr.  Smith
 evaded the rule,,especially after making the de-
 clarations at the  head ofthis article, we are  at  a
loss to determine.. That it would lessen the dig-
 nity of medical science, was well judged.  It. has
 done so to a fearful extent,.   And it will still scat-
 ter  to the  winds, so long  as it is read, all that
 falser dignity that has been accumulating for  ages
 and is still partially sustained by " medical  ma-
 noeuvering," such ashis refusal to allow the truth
to dissipate  the darkness of Dr. W.'s errors.
  In the foregoing  copy of Dr. Williams's ad-
dress, are several paragraphs  which were not in
the  Medical and Surgical Journal.  On those we
shall make a few  remarks in an Appendix.—Ed, 
38
CONTROVERSY  IN NORTH CAROLINA.
  In the summer of 1835, the following article ap-
peared in  the " Herald of the times," a weekly
political  and  miscellaneous  paper  published in
Elizabeth City, N.C.
  Mr. Albertson: Please publish  this  for the
benefit of others.
  " To do good and communicate forget not, for
with such sacrifices  God is well pleased."
  Were I to withhold from the public, as I am a
public man, the benefit I have witnessed lately by
resorting to the Thomsonian remedies, as  it re-
gards my own health, I should perhaps reject the
claim  ofthe above text; and,  as many of my nume-
rous acquaintances in different  States,  perhaps
may be prejudiced against Doctor Thomson's theo-
ry and practice as I have been, much to their dis-
advantage as it regards health and comfort, I hast-
en to make the following statement:
  In February,  1833, from taking violent cold, 1
was assailed  by diarrhoea,  dyspepsia,  inflamed
etomach, mouth and  tongue, with soreness in the
throat and rheumatism.   Thefir6t course  I pursu-
ed, as  in former cases of affliction, was to consult
our good physicians,  and take different medicines
at their discretion, none of which seemed to effect
a cure.  And I feel it my  duty here to say that
every attention was manifested by them that could
be, and all this gratis, for which I feel the  deep-
est gratitude, and  an abiding sense of their good-
ness will ever cause me to revere them as my dis-
tinguished friends.  Thev advised me to  visit the
Springs. This I did last summer, but all  failed to
give  relief.  I was frequently advised  to try the 
39
Thomsonian plan.  This I refused to do feeling
the strongest prejudice against it.  I pronounced
it quackery.  I however declined taking common
medicines, and resorted to simples, among which
I made a bitter of Barberry root in the  rye whis-
key, which gave  me some relief.   But the symp-
toms  again and  again returned.   At length my
son, who was reduced to  the margin  of the grave
the same summer by chill and fever, was again at-
tacked last summer.   He applied to Mr. William
Allen, who took him through a course of Thom-
sonian practice, which in twelve hours effectually
cured him, and he was able to attend to his school
the next day.  Soon after, Mr. Whittington j who
married my daughter, was taken with a species of
flux and violent vomiting, in which case there ap-
peared to be much danger.  He sentforMr. Allen
about midnight,  who, by the very  same course of
medicine, restored him in twelve hours.  Here are
two different diseases cured at once by the same
remedies.    This astonished me and  induced me
to the same course myself; and, to the everlasting
honor  of Dr. Thomson, his course  of practice ap-
plied by the same Mr. Allen, has,  in the hand of
God, perfectly restored me to the enjoyment of all
the sweets of  health that  I  ever enjoyed, except
those feelings  all men must  naturally witness in
the decline of life.  Moreover I do affirm, that no
medicine that I   took, or  operation I underwent,
produced  even the slightest degree of nausea on
the stomach, or fainty feeling, except the vomit of
lobelia, which made me a little sick for about fif-
teen minutes.  I vomited but once, and that with
less unpleasantness  than  in any  emetic before.
The offensive  matter discharged was at leastthree
pints in quantity, and astonishing in  its appear- 
40
ance.  This was immediately after I  had  takes
the steam bath; and I can truly pay that I feel per-
fectly  relieved from  all my complaints.  Thou-
sands of prayers have been offered in my  behalf,
that my life  might be preserved—that I  might
again visit the distant churches  and regions  of
country as before; and I have cause and hope I do
feel truly thankful to God for the restoration of nry
health.
                            R. T. DANIEL.
  In a succeeding paper was inserted the follow-
ing commentary :

  Rev.  Mr. DANIEL AND THOMSONISM.
  Mr. Editor: It too often happens that men com-
mit errors and do wrong, with the very best inten-
tions on their part, and that  they who think they
are called upon to communicate all they know, fre-
quently communicate more than they know.  In
common with a great many  ethers, we entertain
the greatest respect for Dr. Daniel, as an upright,
faithful and humble minister  ofthe Gospel, and re-
gret that he should compromise those feelings of
honorable regard, by presenting himself before the
public in any other  capacity than that ofthe cleri-
cal.   If a man is a good teacher  and guide in reli-
gion, it  does not follow  therefore that  he is a
judge of medicine, and competent to instruct the
world in every thing else.   When  such preten-
sions are advanced  by clergymen, with many,  it
injures  the  holy cause of religion itself, by weak-
ening the confidence "they ought to  have in  its
ministers.  The world is always ready to censure 
41
such conduct, because it is generally believed that
the subject of religion ia ample enough to occupy
all the powers, and all the efforts ofthe most enter-
prising minds.   Besides, we are not ambitious of
the honor of having Elizabeth City made the cen-
tral point for the diffusion ofthe absurd doctrines
of Thomsonism, when it is certain that the good
sense and intelligence of the community are deci-
dedly opposed to them.  1.
  Oh all subjects upon which we may desire in-
formation, we ought to go to those who are in pos-
session of it, and never be misled by the prejudices
and caprices of any individual whatever.  Instead
of heading his communication with  a. quotation
from Scripture,  had  the Rev.-Mr.-D.tniel .com-
menced  by'acknowledging himself, as he  is,  a
general agent and an interested party hi the distri-
bution of the Thomsonian Tracts, and the spread-
ing of that system of practice, some suspicion
might have attached to the motiyes and intentions
which he had in view.  We- do not however attri-
bute to him any mercenary designs, and in all that
we are going to say, we would wish to premise that
truth is our only object, and not personal opposi-
tion and crimination.   We intend to speak not so
much of Mr. Daniel and religion, as of Mr. Thom-
son and quackery, and doubt  not that the latter
gentleman is deserving of much harder blows than
we shall be able to inflict upon him.   2,
  If the reputation ofthe Thomsonian System is
to be  established upon the authority  and recom-
mendation of Mr. Daniel, we might observe that3
for the three cases of successful treatment which
he adduces, we could  easily bring  forward twice
the number of unsuccessful  ones,  when the  most
decided injury  was sustained by  this  practice. 
42
What family nursery is there that cannot furnish
instances ofthe successful application of domestic
remedies? yet who would think of going to nurses
and old women, to learn the  principles and the
rules of the science of medicine?   3.
  In regard to Mr. Daniel's own case, which he
describes as having commenced  "with diarrhoea,
dyspepsia, inflamed stomach, mouth  and tongue,
and with soreness ofthe throat and rheumatism;"
he informs us that he  applied for the attentions of
regularly bred physicians, who were unable  to give
him any  relief, notwithstanding he used their me-
dicines.  What views these  physicians took of his
case I know not.   To me it appears to have been,
though severe, yet very simple.   He undoubtedly
had inflammation ofthe stomach and bowels, which
extended as far as the mouth and fauces, and had
he confined himself patiently to a low diet, taken
little  or no  medicine, resorted to  mucilaginous
drinks, find had a few cups of leeches applied  oc-
casionally t > the abdomen, he would unquestiona-
bly have  ;.:en well in a very short time.   After
taking various medicines however,  he goes to  the
■prings, and still  finding himself not.  recovered,
he resorts, after the lapse of several months, to  tha
Thomsonian remedies, when the acute  inflamma-
tion of his  disease had time to  subside.  Had he
have used them at first, he would have endangered
the life which he is so thankful has been preserved.
We do not wish to be understood as condemning
the course of practice  which the physicians  recom-
mended to Mr. Daniel. We are not told what it was,
Perhaps  it  was  correct, but only  required time
and pei;severance to accomplish  its  object, espe-
cially at- the inflammation to be removed, was
very extensive, and also, since diseases  in  elderly 
43
\
persons, are  much more obstinate  than they are
in youth.  4.
  Of what use can communications like that of
the Rev. Mr. Daniel  be to the public?  Consult
the current papers of the  day,  and  see  how many
certificates they contain,  exalting  this system of
practice, and recommending this and that popular
remedy.   At one time the highest authority is en-
listed in behalf of electricity ; at another, in favor
ofsteaming,  Indian physick,  the  botanical and
hygeian practice.   All these methods are regard-
ed by some as infallible, while others invite our at-
tention to balsams, panaceas and catholicons.  5.
     " What tempting lures attract ua as we  pass ;
     Pills, powder?, piasters, galvanism, yas."
  Some are opposed to mineral  substances, and
trust to simples, while others  deem that there is
perfect safety  in roots  and -vegetables, and Mr,
Daniel announces to the world his confidence in
pepper and steam.  6.
  How these short-sighted  theorists and innova-
tors crowd upon each other; and who cannot disco-
ver, in their different creeds, either the proofs of a
misguided judgment, or  the  calculations of self-
interest, or that universal proneness to speculate
upon the foibles and imbecilities of  human nature,
or, what is worse, that culpable desire and thirst
after worldly influence,  and the passionate ambi-
tion  of placing ourselves at the head of some set of
opinions  and  doctrines.   7.
  Amidst all  these conflicting opinions and this
host of remedies, it is the business and the duty of
the intelligent physician, to select the materials
of a regular system.  He  commences  by investi-
gating the constitution of  man; by determining
the nature and properties of medicines3  and ascer> 
44
taining the nature of their action upon the human
6ystem, and in  every  thing that he does, he is, or
ought to be guided by  correct and established prin-
ciples.  Would  it be  new to Mr.  Daniel,  to  be
told  that  there are no remedies as such, in the
world, and  that medicines  must be  given from
their known properties and effects?  They are' em-
ployed as auxiliaries, and not because they of them-
selves  are able to accomplish cures.   8.
  Medicine, like religion, has advanced its W^ay in
the world, through opposition  and error; and like
religion, also, it has been  and will be sustained by
the principles of truth inherent in it.   It is estab-
lished  upon this basis, and would not  be the less
true, if a myriad of men were to disbelieve  it.—
When  Judge Marshall was  requested  to give his
opinion upon the subject of phrenology, as lie was
acquainted with that  study, he simply replied  by
saying "I have not examined it."  But hundreds
are ready to. judge and decide questions of medi-
cine, without any knowledge and without  any ex-
amination.  They hold up their little rush lights
in the face of the sun, and ask the world to look
and see how brightly  they burn.  They know the
name of one little star, and think they understand
every  constellation in  the heavens.   They have
skill enough to draught an almanack, and believe
therefore, that  they are most expert  and learned
astronomers.  Such  men  remind ine  of Seneca's-
wife, of whom it is said, that, being afflicted with
blindness, she thought that she could see perfectly
well, bufrthat every body else was blind.  9.
  It is safer to trust entirely to nature in any dis-
ease, than to confide in quackery. Who is not ac-
quainted with  deplorable  instances of mal-prac-
tice in the hands of  incompetent persons?  But 
45
how unimportant are a fewundividual cases, com-
pared with  what takes  place on a larger scale,
and in a wider sphere! The most frightful mortal-
ity among the  human species, at the present day,
is to  be found in those parts of the world  where
the  profession  of medicine is neglected or un-
known, or where some  such system  as that  of
Thomsonism prevails..  There are so many things
which  are  given in  medicine,  that  no skill  is
required in giving;  all the  skill and  penetration
are shown, in- not giving, or in withholding every
thing  that is improper.  That  there are some
things which are proper,  is not to be doubted; but
they are so because they are applicable, and their
suitability depends upon the correct principles  in
applying  them.  For im-tance, :if a man is sick,
especially with an inflim.matory disease, we would
not think  of giving him tincture of myrrh, or red
pepper, or any i-uch Thomsonian medicine. We
wo.uld-recommend on the  contrary, what would be
calculated to reduce and remove, not aggravate the
inflammation.   10.
  " It is believed by many persons  competent to
express an opinion, that the science of medicine
has done and is now doing more to meliorate the
condition  of man, than all the other sciences put
together.  It keeps constantly in view, the most
laudable and praisworthy objects, the  prevention
and the cure of diseases, the principles and the
prolongation  of human life.  Returns were made
last  year  from  St. George's  Hospital,  London,
contrasting  the results  obtained from practice,
among; the same number of patients and the same
descriptions  of diseases, for the last fifty years and
more.  They prove  that the  mortality has been
diminished more than  one  hundred per  cent,  in 
46
consequence ofthe improvements introduced in the
methods of treatment.  The same  results can be
shown  from the hospital  registers kept  in  this
country.   11.
   With  these  palpable  truths  before us, and in
full view of every one,  how it may be  asked is
there so much empiricism in the world?  To this
we reply, that  it is produced partly by the abuses
of medicine in the hands of incompetent physicians;
partly by the avarice, indolence  and cupidity of
man, and his instability in pursuing occupations
with which he  is acquainted; but that  it is chiefly
encouraged and fostered  by that spirit of delusion
and credulity,  found  wherever  the human family
exists.   Though man is  naturally prone to error,
yet we  believe  that he is  fond  of truth,  and that
nothi.' g is more acceptable to his  mind.  12.
   Let  us contrast for a moment, the science of
medicine witii the crudities of empiricism.  Med-
icine takes  a philosophical view  of man and his
diseases;  empiricism  looks  upon  medicine  as a
mystery, and diseases as something that must be
expelled violently from the body.   Medicine treas-
ures'up facts,  quackery overthrows them.   The
one moves in light, the other gropes in darkness.
Medicine is the daughter of reason and philosophy;
charlatanism, is the  offspring  of credulity  and
superstition.  The former is built  upon principles
and established by observation; the latter is oppos-
ed to all  principles,  and even denies those that
common ^ense would admit.   13.
  The Thom*onians object to the use ofthe lancet,
the indications  of the pulse, and the necessity of
any depletion whatever.  In cases of congestion
or fullness, or  violent inflammation  of some vi-
tal organ, how many persons have  been indebted 
47
for their lives, to timely and judicious depletion.__
That this depletion  however, must be used with
care and judgement, as well as all other things,
must be  admitted.   Empirics succeed not by the
merits of their own views, but by exciting preju-
dices against the more enlightend views of others.
When you attack them, they hide themselves un-
der the cover of these prejudices, and are like a
certain description of fish, which, when pursued,
eject a dark  substance from their bodies,  and ef-
fect their escape in  the  muddy and discolored wa-
ters.  Who envies the position  which the quack
holds in  society?  What honorable  mind  would
covet the gains of imposture, or pursue an employ-
ment which  thrives npon the weaknesses  and er-
rors of his fellow-man?   "I'd rather be a toad and
live upon the vapours of a dungeon."   14.
  Is there any thing connected with  Thomson-
ism, which looks like a  system, or is entitled to
that name?  They denounce cupping, leeching,
blistering and all depletion, often so indispensable
in practice, and depend upon a few  emetics, stim-
ulants and diaphoretics,  and all these ofthe most
kind in those large and extensive classes  of medi-
cines.  Those that  they use, the  properties of
which they so imperfectly comprehend, are all em-
ployed by the regular physician, as  well as a great
many others, according  to emergencies.   Is he a
competent mechanic, who knows how to  use only
a few tools of his trade, and is ignorant of all the
rest  which  are of daily  service?  Can  any one
transact any kind of business,  when  he  is unac-
quainted  with all  its rules  and regulations?  It is
noithe name or title which makes the physician, it
is knowledge, preparation, application, judgment.
Whoever practises  medicine,  and  is destitute of 
48
these things, whether invested with a diploma or
not, is a most dangerous and pernicious member of
the  community,  one whom every one  ought to
dread, and whom all should avoid.  15.         '
  O, presumption! what a foe art thou to humility
and knowledge.   How many men, says the adage,
had  been wise,  had they  not thought themselves
so already.  I could  suggest to the reverend gen-
tleman, that, to  be distrustful of ourselves and to
be lowly minded, is  not less essential in wisdom,
than it is grace.   16.
  We must have teachers in medicine, as well as in
religion, and there are times when we need the best
counsels of both.  He  has never perhaps witnessed a
severe and protracted case of illness,  where there
were a number of violent and conflicting symptoms,
which required the utmost skill to attend to, and
where  every  thing  connected  with Thomson-
ism, would only add  torment to torment, and  be
throwing oil upon the fire.   17.
  Who is ignorant of the fact, that the science  of
medicine is a standard and criterion ofthe state of
knowledge  in any community?   It keeps a regu-
lar inarch with the course  of human improvement,
and is found in the greatest perfection  where there
is the  greatest degree  of cultivation and intelli-
gence.  The profession  of medicine, makes itself
entitled to the respect and  gratitude  of mankind,
by the countless   benefits  which  it endeuvors to
confer upon the  human race.  It strives to con-
quer and remove those  numerous  diseases which
are the heavy penalties of our existence, and which
so much interfere with  our enterprise, our enjoy*
ments, our usefulness, and with all the noblest de-
■igr.K and pursuits of life.   18.
  It is the  bubines of medicine to point out the  ra» 
49
tional rules of living:  it searches for appropriate
remedies; it discovers antidotes to poisons; it en-
courages the pursuit and  investigation  of all the
physical sciences; it festers education; and, by the
establishment  of medical jurisprudence,  it secures
the ends of justice in the world.  19.
  Signal as  all these  distinguished benefits are,
who thinks of bei-towing  honor and eclat  upon
what is daily  accomplished in the usual course of
practice; whijethe least achievement of quackery,
the mere blunder of ignorance and the accident of
experiment, is emblazoned to all^the corners of
the earth, with the renown of a miracle.   20.
  Opinions on any subject ought never to be formed
from an imperfect knowledge of it.  Such opinions
are always to  be distrusted, and are almost always
wrong.   They occasion confusion  and misunder-
standing, and  are the  sole cause of so much error
and contention in  the  world.  What aDsurdity is
there, for instance,  in disbelieving in the practice
of medicine, as a  regular system, and crediting
that which is an obscure and imperfect part of that
system?  How preposterous  is it,  to reject that
which is the most clear and intelligent, and to re-
ceive in  its stead,  that which is the most mon-
strous  and  absurd?  For Thomsonism  is   the
most absurd of all systems ever yet devised by
the ingenuity or stupidity  of man. I would no
sooner believe in it, than I would in Boodhism or
Juggernaut.   21.
  Thomsonism requires no  preparation,  it  ex-
acts no qualifications.   "There's  magic  in  the
web of of it."   A little book and  a little money to
buy it, initiates  you at  once into  its mysteries,
and unlocks to you  the whole temple of medicine!
4 
50
 And who is its presiding deity?  Why a Mr.
 Thomson, a  man greater than the greatest hero
 ofthe Dunciad.  Behold him enveloped in steam,
 and stuffed  with pepper,  lobelia, and myrrh!—
 So easy and  rapid  is  this  installation and meta-
 morphosis, that  some of our  acquaintances, who
 have  hitherto been  following respectable, but
 humble occupations,  are  in an instant converted
 into doctors,  much to their own surprise, and more
 to that of every  one  else.  Were we  to enumer-
 ate not only the men, but the women  too, who
 have thus been"suddenly transfigured into medical
 rabbi, by this marvelous system, it would excite our
 greatest laughter.  22.
   But  the subject is too serious for laughter, too
 grave for ridicule.   The  greatest men who have
 adorned the  profession of medicine, and who have
 shed around  it the lustiare of their talents; who
 have devoted their lives to the establishment of its
 principles, and to the conferring of its benefits upon
 the world; these men  it seems have all  been labor-
 ing under error and delusion, and must  yield place
 to a man by the name of Thomson, who has made
 the wonderful discovery, that an emetic and a va-
 por bath are  infallible remedies for all diseases.
 23.
  What tyro in  medicine does not know, that  if
 you give anemetic, and excite copious perspiration
 in a consumptive patient,  that  you will endanger
 his life;  and  that if this practice is persevered in,
 you will certainly produce his death, and  that too
 in a very short time?  Have we recently witness-
ed no such cases as this among us;  and  must they
pass not only  without the expression of our sorrow
and surprise,  but without exciting the deepest pub- 
51
lie  indignation?  And is this the system, which
must be trumpeted to the world, and to establish
which, our ministers  of the Gospel must descend
from the sacred desk, and indite an epistle gene-
ral,  not  to the seven  churches, but to  several
whole  states,  in order to promulgate its  virtues
and its truth? "Shame where is thy blush?" reason
where  is  thy  apprehension?  If we heard such
things told of a foreign people, who would not think
them incredible?   24.
  There are a few  other things, Mr. Editor, which
f had wished to notice in Mr. Daniel's communi-
cation which the limits of a newspaper will' not per-
mit.  I had desired to show, that those medicines
which are used by  regular practitioners, have been
proved by  experience,  not only to be proper and
useful, but the  most proper and useful.  Among
these arc  included many chemical  and scientific
preparations, such  as  Quinine, Morphia, as well
as a variety of tinctures and extracts, which can-
not be dispensed with.  25.
  How easy would it be to expose the fallacy of
confiding entirely to vegstable medicines, which
are generally thought to be entirely  harmless?—
The most active poisons are obtained  from  the ve-
getable kingdom;  and the vegetable stimulants
are the most permanent in their effects, and likely
to prove the most injurious.  When the vegetable
and alcoholic stimulants and astringents are uni-
ted, they  ought to be used with care and cau-
tion.  The 'Barbary root' and whiskey, therefore,
which  the old gentleman drank during his sick-
ness, was highly,improper and injurious, and if he
wishes "to do good and communicate," he  ought 
52
not to  publish such prescriptions to his brethren.

  One thing further only,  can we notice in  Mr.
Daniel's letter.   Who  would fail  to  remark the
covert blandishment, with  which  he  speaks of
those "good physicians," who attended him in his
illness and that*too without any compensation?—
In the name of those "good physicians" also styl-
ed his "distinguished friends,"  I  will inform the
reverend Divine, that every honorable man would
disdain to be kissed on the cheek  by an enemy in
disguise.  27.
  How much more had  Mr. Daniel recommended
himself to our  approbation  and esteem, had he
made aeommunication, rea ly useful in its charac-
ter and tendency; and,  had  he advised those  pre-
tended doctors  of his  acquaintance,  to  exercise
more modesty and discretion, and  not  to thurst
themselves  into  a profession which they do not
understand, and cannot practice  with  utility!—
Can  medicine, which requires the greatest appli-
cation  and  reflection,  of all studies, be compre-
hended without  any application and reflection at
all?  1 could  suggest to those Thomsonian physi-
cians, the propriety and necessity of reading a few
elementary works  on  anatomy,  pathology and
physiology.  But,  28.
 'Parfs like half sentences confound, the wl.ole, conveys the truth.
   If they decline, therefore, perusing any of these
productions, I hope  they  will  at least, allow me
the liberty of recommending to their notice, a little
poem written many  years ago bv Burns,  entitled
"Death and Di. Hornbook."  29.
                                   MEDICUS. 
53
  To the  foregoing  commentary, a writer over
the  signature of "Botanist," sent to the Editor
ofthe Herald, the following reply:
  3Ir. Editor:—In your Herald ofthe 17th inst.
I perceive an article headed, "Rev. Mr. Daniel
and  Thomsonism,"  in  which  the author  who
signs his piece "Medicus," labors through 29 par-
agraphs, to show the evils which he fears may re-
sult from Mr. Daniel's imprudence, in sending, for
a former number of your paper, two paragraphs
containing a statement of a few  simple facts.  If,
after 15 paragraphs  to 1, "Medicus"  finds "the
limits of a newspaper" too narrow to receive allthe
notice he could "wish"  to bestow on "Mr. D's
communication," [par. 25] he will surely excuse
me for not noticing, in  an  equal  space, all the
minutiae of his 29, especially when he knows that
nine-tenths ofall he has said is nothing to the pur-
pose—mere dust thrown into the  eyes  of the
reader to prevent him from discovering the truth.
  Medicus has noticed in his communication many
things that might  be turned with great force
against himself; but, as  truth is our object, we
will  endeavor to take no advantage.  His object
appears to be. to establish the folllowing  points:
"That the Rev. Mr.  Daniel has stepped  out of
his proper sphere." [See pars, land 2.] Answer.
If Mr. Daniel was out of his sphere in "recommend-
ing" the "pepper and steam," would he not have
been equally so, in "advisingthose pretended doc-
tors of his acquaintance not to thrust themselves
into a profession which they  do  not understand,"
&c, [see  par. 28] which "Medicus" would have
approved?  But, query.   Did the Rev. gentleman
step out of his sphere in  the case?  Let us see.—
What is his business?  To "go about doing good." 
54
Now suppose, in his travels, he should have  inad-
vertently been led  into a scene of danger, from
which  an act of Providence  alone rescued him.
Is he  stepping  out of his place when he warns
same his friend  whom  he  sees running into the
danger,  against  thus  risking  his  life  and use-
fulness?  But I  need not suppose.   May he not
warn  the young man  against  running the same
race that  has led the  drunkard to ruin and the
grave?  Is he to see the cause of physical educa-
tion languish as it does,  and not open his head
about the matter, for fear that  the rum-seller and
the pedagogue may call him to  order.1
   "That  the Rev. Gentleman has undertaken to
teach others what he himself does not know."—
With all due deference  to the finer optics of Med-
icus, I am unable to perceive that Mr.  D. under-
takes to  teach any thing, unless it be  that his dis-
ease was called  by certain  names, for  which he
has the  authority  of  the medici  who  attended
him—of course he was correct in that.  The fact is,
the gentleman did  not  attempt any didactics; he
only stated a few simple facts with  which he was
well acquainted, and left others to reason and learn
for themselves.
   Medicus says, [par. 3.] "we could  easily bring
forward twice as many cases (six for three) where
the most decided injury was sustained  by this prac-
tice." Here, we are at issue with the  Doctor. Let
the number of patients  treated  by any two practi-
tioners ofthe different schools, (say himselfand Dr.
Alienor Dr. Win. Elliott)  with the symptoms, cir-
cumstances and success, becareiully compared, and
if it be not found that the new practice has great-
ly the advantage, I have no doubt that the gene-
ral apprehension ofthe  fact will be amply sufficient 
55
to deprive "Elizabeth City ofthe  honor of being
the central  point  for  the  diffusion ofthe absurd
principles of Thomsonism."   We need not tell
Medicus th&tsuch  comparisons ofthe actual mat-
ters of fact that come under our own observation,
are making every day more Thomsonians than all
the theories and marvelous certificates that  were
ever printed.
  "That the treatment that  had been successful
in the chronic stage of Mr. Daniel's disease, would
have  been fatal in the acute."-—[par. 4.]   That
may be,  but we prefer, as the  basis of our faith,
our actual success in almost every case, both acute
and chronic, to any  theory  of the medici on the
subject, however plausible.
  That "communications like that of Mr. Daniel,"
will be of no "use to the  public." We answer,
they will induce others to "go and do likewise,"
and thus afford Medicus six more "fatal examples"
to oppose to the other "three that may be success-
ful;" and so  bring the career of these "absurd doc-
trines" and  this destructive practice the sooner to
a close!   True, Medicus says that this  system
comprises some of the "conflicting opinions and
host of remedies" out  of which "it is  the business
and the duty of the intelligent physician to select
the materials of a regular system," (of quackery of
course, for the  whole  must partake ofthe defects
of all the parts, every one of which, in turn, has
just been condemned by Medicus.) [See  pars. 5, 6,
7.]   "He commences," says  Medicus, "by inves-
tigating  the constitution of man; by determining
the nature and properties of medicines, and ascer-
taining the nature  of their action upon the human
system; and  in everything that he does, he is or
ought to be, guided  by correct and established 
56
principles."  [See  par. 8.]  Yes;  for  the  most
part the Doctor is right in this last assertion; and
we have only to determine whether Dr. Thomson
and his followers, or they  that have  gone before
him, or they that now despise him, have done this.
Let us examine.  Dr.  Abercrombie of Edinburg
says,  "The difficulties and sources of uncertainty
which meet us at every stage of such 'investiga-
tions,' are in fact  so  numerous  and  great, that
those  who have had the most extensive opportuni-
ties of observation,  will be the first to acknowledge
that our pretended  experience must, in general,
sink into analogy, and our  analogy too often into
conjecture."—[Fam.  Lib.  No.  XXXYII. page
299.]   Has any other M. D.  discovered  more
"correct" and "better established principles," as
to the "nature and properties of medicines?"—
Those most used by the schoolmen are poisonous,
and better calculated to kill than to  cure.  [See
the two charts of Toxicology at the end  of " The
Physician's Pocket  Synopsis."]  Of "the nature of
their  action on the human system," the same au-
thor says: "their action is fraught with the highest
degree of uncertainty."  [Page 295.]  How then
can any be "guided" in their use "by correct and
established principles?" See the articles, Hydrar-
gyrum, Hyoscyamus, &c. in theU. S. Dispensa-
tory,  where it  is said of the first, "Of the modus
operandi of mercury we [physicians] know noth-
ing," &c.  And of the second, "J/" the virtues of
Hyoscyamus, do, in fact,  reside in any  one prin-
ciple, it is highly  desirable that this  should be
isolated, as we might thus obtain a certain, instead
of a highly uncertain remedy.  [Page 350.]   But
the time and the paper would fail us to be partic-
ular.   This uncertainty does not accompany tho 
57
administration of the Thomsonian  remedies; for
Dr. Barton  says, "the United States do not pro-
duce a plant of more unequivocal action on the hu-
man  body,"  than Lobelia.   [Med.  Bot.]   The
Edinburgh Dispensatory says that "cayenne is the
purest stimulant  known."  The Boston Medical
and Surgical Journal says, that "no single article
can  surpass it for  stopping hemorrhage."   The
Russians, Turks, Persians and Italians, consider
steam the balm of health, and all doctors agree,'
as much as in any one thing, that  perspiration  is
the best of all cures for fevers, and that all they
know ofthe Thomsonian tonics are good for debil-
ity; while they acknowledge  that all their most
active medicines are poisonous!   That it requires
uncommon knowledge and  skill to prevent them
from killing the patients to when they are admin-
istered.
  "That Thomsonians judge the science of medi-
cine  without  examining it."   [Par.  9.] No, we
do not.  We contend that a tree is known by its
fruits.  We look at the design  of medicine, viz: to
heal the sick.  But we find  that many ofthe sick,
instead of being healed by "the scientific practice
of medicine," falsely  so called, are suffered to die;
and that an alarming number of those  who escape
death, are left to "linger  out  a miserable exist-
ence," under the deadly influence of those poison-
ous drugs  that had been scientifically administer-
ed to  them to cure disease.  This we well know,
because we find that when, in the exercise of our
regular profession, we drive those drugs from the
system, we  restore to the  patient a  comfortable
measure of health; thus discovering v/hat Dr. Rush
found out  by dissections, the "awful destruction
ofhuman life  that had been made, under  the  cov* 
58
er of false theories, respecting the animal economy,
and the action of external agents upon its various
organs!"  A vast proportion of all the patients at-
tended by Thomsonians, have tried "the scientific
practice" without relief.  Fully  believing  that
the faculty would, if they could, we are compelled
to believe they cannot relieve us; and that therefore
their  system if (they have any) is defective and
injurious.  I myself have  seen  a great numberof
patients cured by Thomsonians, of whom regu-
lar physicians had said, " they cannot live."  If
doctors would cure  all their patients, they may
rely on it, no man would risk his  reputation and
estate, by becoming or even employing a Thomso-
nian.
  Medicus says, [par. 10,]  "It is safer to trust en-
tirely to nature in any disease, than to confide in
quackery."   So say we: but what is quackery?  It
is  pretence  to  know and do what  one neither
knows nor can do.  Who then were the quacks
in the case of Mr. Daniel and  others?   We profess
to know what are  scarlet fever, measles and chole-
ra.   We have treated many cases, especially of
the latter, without a single failure in any.  Can
Medicus say as much for his practice?   He says,
"the  most frightful mortality among the human
species at the present day, is to be found in those
parts of the world where the profession of medicine
is neglected or unknown; or where some such sys-
tem as that of Thomson  prevails."  Surely the
Doctor must have had in his eye  the ill-fated town
of Maysville, where, on the approach ofthe Chole-
ra, in  1832, "the profession of Medicine," cast be-
hind them their  250 grains of calomel, took to
their heels, "neglected" the place, and left Thom-
sonism to "prevail" over  the disease without a 
59
rival!  "We," says Medicus, "would not think of
giving a tincture of myrrh or red pepper to a man
sick of an inflammatory disease." No; and that is
the reason why you suffer so many to die of inflam-
mation. But Thomsoniansthink of it and do it; and
thus often cure the patients whom the medici can-
not.   One of this description,  now at my elbow,
has been  nearly cured in three weeks, of a disease
that  had  baffled thean'iphlogistic treatment for as
many years.
  Medicus asks [in par. 12,]  "Why empiricism
exists?"   We answer again, because the regulars
do not cure disease.  See our answer to  par.  9.
Paragraph 13 contains an excellent description of
science and ofquackery. Compare it \vi hthe effects
ofthe regular and  ofthe Botanic practice, and
one will  easily see to which system and practice
each  term and description applies.   "How many
persons," says  Medicus,  [par. 14,] "have been
indebted  for their lives to timely and judicious de-
pletion?"  Possibly  one,  while a  hundred  have
been  injured, if not ruined by it.  See Professor
D. L. Terry on this subject.—T. R., vol. 3, p. 385.
  Medicus labors to convince us, that the  Thom-
sonian "emetics, stimulants and diaphoretics, the
most kind" of their class, are only a few  tools se-
lected out of the vast chest  of  the M. Ds. which
they  alone know  how  to use  with  discretion.—
What then is the reason ofthe notorious fact, that
with all their tools and skill, they so often destroy
or mar the beauty of the building; while, with the
few, "the kindest of their class," the most clumsy
Thomsonian  almost universally repairs and  beau-
tifies it?   We  agree with Medicus that "it is not
the name or title,  but knowledge,  application and
judgment that make the physician," and we repeat 
60
that,  with all the display of learning, the M. Ds.
exhibit; the  people will soon judge  who  possess
these, by  the  effects of their practice.  [Par. 15.
21.]   We rejoice as much as Medicus that "truth
is great and  will prevail."
   "ilow many men, says the adage, had been wise,
had they  not thought  themselves so  already."—
[Par.  15.]  Medicus is evidently one  of these,
for he say.", [par. ^1] "presumptuously" (his whole
communication showing that  he knows nothing
about it,) that "Thomsonism is the most absurd
of all  systems ever devised by the ingenuity or stu-
pidity of man;"  and adds, "I would no sooner be-
lieve  in it. than I would in  Boodhism or Jugger-
naut."  Here, reader,  is a specimen of that en-
largement of mind,  that  openness to conviction,
that love  of truth and desire to bow to it wherever
found, that respect to the opinions of others, and
that  hesitancy of premature  decision, which are
all indicated by  the term "liberal," as applied to
mind, heart or education.  I despair of enlighten-
ing such  a mind.
   "We must have, teachers in  medicine," izc—
So we must,  and we prefer those teachers  who
prove by their success, that they teach the truth.
[Par.  17.]
   " The science of medicine keeps a regular march
with  the  course  of human  improvement," &c—
Yes,  says Lord Bacon, "in a circle, but not in pro-
gression."  Theories  spring  up, are widely  dis-
seminated, receive the sacrifices of hecatombs, and
then retire like the waves  ofthe ocean to be suc-
ceeded by others of like character, effects and  des-
tiny!   [Par.  18.]
   '•Thomsonism requires no preparation—no qual-
ifications."  [Par. 22.]  Here Medicus thinks he
* 
61
has a wondrous argument  against us.  Does he
forget that Thomson spent forty years in prepar-
ing this system; and that he requires his follow-
ers to make themselves well acquainted  with the
important truths he has gathered from such a se-
ries of observations and experiments?   Of what
use would it be to them to know what he has proved
to be worthless?   Of what use would it be to Med-
ens, to know the rise, ravages  and destruction, of
those systems ofthe schools that have been explod-
ed,* if he had found, at last, a mode of arresting
disease sufficiently sure and  safe to deter him from
similar   experiments?  Hobbes, disgusted with
useless details, "wished all the books in the world
could be embarked in one ship, and he be permitted
to bore a hole in its  bottom." "Locke thought that,
"before the hole was  bored, some literary analysts
should select all the facts, recipes and prescriptions
useful to man, and  condense them into a portable
volume!"   [Locke  abridged.]   This  is just what
Thomson has done  in his "New Guide," so far as
they relate to medicine, and ';the volume" may be
committed to memory in a very short time.  Ex-
perience proves that a strict adherence to it, will
make a better practical physician, than a minute
acquaintance with all  the folios that the learned
have ever written  on the subject.   '  All the skill
necessary in the case," says Thomson, "is to know
what medicine is wanted'and how to administer
it."  The patient knows that  he is  sick—Thom-
son  directs  him  to remedies friendly to health,
and at war with every form of disease.  The ad-
ministrator's task is easily learned and speedily
executed.   Yet  Medicus would induce  us to be-
lieve  that, because  a knowledge and skill seldom

  »Se« Good's Nosology, Preliminary Dissertation. 
62
attained are necessary to teach us how to make one
poison counteract another without killing the pa-
tient,  [Par.  19,] the same  are necessary to'ena-
bie us  to expel all  poisons whatsoever  from the
system.
  The unfairness of Medfcus is still further obvi-
ous, in his  attempt to induce the public to believe
[par. 24,]  that Thomsonians kill all the patients
that die  under their hands  of the  consumption,
with  "emetics and  sudorifics, which,"  he says,
"produce death;" whereas, the  Editors ofthe Phy-
sician's Pocket Synopsis, say [page 512,]  that
"emetics may here  be used with great propriety,"
May we not decide when doctors disagree?  Also,
in  his insinuation  [par. 26]  that  Thomsonians
suppose all vegetables to be harmless, when he well
knows that such is not their opinion of his opium,
cicuta, hyoscyamus, and a thousand  others.   He
says, [par.  15,] "Thomsonians denounce depletion
often indispensible  in practice."   If it is "indis-
pensable in practice," how comes it that they cure
without this savage  practice, almost every case
similar to those in which the medici consider it in-
dispensable, and  of which they  loose so large a
portion.  In a practice  of two years, we have not
lost a single case of congestion  or of inflammatory
diathesis; and yet we have never depleted.
  But the time and  space are failing me—suffice it
to say that  Medicus is evidently a genuine son of
iEsculapius. He is so much accustomed to poring
over errors and contradictions,  that they have be-
come a part  of his  nature ; he  cannot even write
an article for a newspaper, without them.  In par.
1st, he condemns Mr. Daniel for going out ofthe
line of his duty in recommending the Botanic prac-
tice: yet he tells us, [par. 28,]  if Mr. D. had con- 
63
demned, instead of recommending Thomsonism, he
should have approved of the deed.  He censures
Mr. D. for teaching others any thing but divinity,
and in the  same paper undertakes to teach him
and the public  a little of almost every thing but
the art of curing disease!   He hints [par. 2,] that
Mr. D. may have been actuated by interested mo-
tives, when he had just finished the preceding by an
acknowledgement that such were  his own!  He
says,  opinions should never be formed  from im-
perfect knowledge, then states  what is  not true,
and therefore must have arisen from "imperfect
knowledge," that Thomsonism is  "an imperfect
part" of the  regular practice, stupidly "absurd"
in itself, yet being an  ingredient of that  whole
which is  "  clear and intelligent," [intelligible.]
All this confusion and contradiction and more, in
the same (21st)  paragraph!
  He  rails at the narrow-mindedness, illiberality
and prejudices of others, and yet says of himself,
"I would no sooner believe in it [Thomsonism] than
I would in Boodhism or Juggernaut!"-[ism!]—
Really the gentleman needs a  Thomsonian  course
or so, to regulate his nervous system.
  If, in this hasty notice of his communication, he
should suppose  that I have overlooked any topics
of importance, he will please to  point out the de-
fects and they shall receive all due respect from his
most obedient servant.
                               BOTANIST.
  The following is the rejoinder of Medicus.
       FOR THE HERALD OF  THE TIMES.
  Mr. Editor:  A letter appeared several weeks
ago in the Herald, with the signature of Rev. Mr. 
64
Daniel, recommending the Thomsonian practice.
It gave rise to not alittle discussion; and, as many
persons were disposed to censure Mr. Daniel, it is
proper to state that thatletter was published with-
out his authority, he merely having parted with it,
to one of his friends, expecting that it would only be
perused in private. Those who are acquainted with
Mr. Daniel, and know how sincere and exemplary
he is in all things, and who appreciate his remark-
able modesty and sensibility,  regretted the  un-
pleasant  situation in which he was placed.  Mr.
Daniel never was an authorized, but only a volun-
tary agent for the distribution ofthe Thomsonian1
Tracts, and  this self-assumed agency he has now
thought proper  to relinquish.   It would be well,
if others would imitate this laudable example and
manifest the same  regard  to reason  and propri-
ety.  1.
  It is somewhat strange, that while the improve-
ment in knowledge is always progressive, and the
amount of intelligence in the world is constantly
accumulating, there should  be so many behind the
age in which they live, and that they should be-
lieve  in doctrines  which are congenial only  with
the darkest and rudest times. Science thus keeps
in advance of mankind, and, like the pillar ofthe
cloud before  the camp of Israel, it is light to 6ome
and darkness to others.  2.
  The East and West, says  Lord Bacon,-have no
established  points in the heavens,  but the North
and South are fixed*   So it is with mankind; one
half are wrong and the other half right.   Truth is
constantly at war with error, and will never dis-
pel it  from the world, as long as tiie prejudices and
the interested passions of minkind are  as strong
and perverted as they are.   Many persons would 
65
rather adopt a weak argument in favor of ther own
views, than be convinced by a strong- one against
them.  3.
  It is curious to see what delusions and supersti-
tions have at all times been connected  with  the
practice of medicine.  In remote ages, calamitous
epidemics were supposed to proceed from the anger
ofthe gods;  and sacrifices, even human sacrifices,
were resorted to in times of Paganism, as propitia-
tory offerings, while processions  and other  reli-
gious observances were used  in the Christian
Church.  (Blane'sMed. Log.) Charms, exorcisms,
amulets, magic and sorcery, and  numberless fan-
tastic preparations from bats, dogs, moles, snakes,
worms,  animals  and various parts of the  human,
body, as well as  roots, vegetables, pepper and
steam have at various times  been looked upon as
undoubted remedies for diseases.  In the time  of
Geo. II. tar water was all the rage in England.  Sir
Horace Walpole relates an anecdote of a lady go-
ing to an apothecary, and asking him if he sold tar-
water?  His .reply was, "we dont sell any thing
else, madam."  4.
  New  systems and new doctors  rise up and fall
down, and soon sink into that great receptacle of
oblivion prepared for all such things.  These new
systems, as well as most or  all  new patent medi-
cines are brought into notice by the mystery and
novelty connected with  them, and die as soon as
those feelings are satisfied, or are no longer exci-
ted.  It is said that nostrums and panaceas never
sustain  a reputation beyond  the  life time of their
inventors. 'Ward's various remedies went entire-
ly out of vogue the moment they  were published
which was  done after his death,  by an injunction
in his last will.  (Sir Gil. Blane.)  Who does not 
66
recollect the anecdote of the shrewd quack in  Pa-
ris, who bottled up the water out of the river Seine,
and sold it as a valuable medicine, and with it too
accomplished astonishing cures?   All these reme-
dies, however, and all other  doctrines must give
place to the Thomsonians, whose system, a wonder-
ful writer under the name of "Botanist," says, its
founder, Dr. Thomson, was  40 years in  preparing.
He might have drawn  it up  in  forty minutes or
forty seconds, for Botanist searches into the mate-
ria medica, and quotes  authority for the virtues of
lobelia and pepper; and afterwards tells us that
the Persians, Italians, Russians and other nations,
as every one knows, have  from  time immemorial
been in the habit of using various kinds of baths. 5.
   What then is  there new in Thomsonism?  If
there is nothing new, there is at least something
remarkable.  For it is remarkable that  so many
doctors of that sect, should  spring up and flourish
for two or three weeks or months and then disap-
pear, and become  burrowed in retreats where it is
difficult to find them.  6.
   Botanist relates a story about all the doctors fly-
ing from Maysville before the  cholera, and leaving
the place unfortunately in possession ofthe Thom°-
sonians.  It  is a  small village,  and perhaps the
regular physician, at the time he alluded to, was
called away to see a patient, or to attend to some
other business.   The Thomsonians then,  who had
never been heard of or employed before, had an
opportunity of doing something.  The circum-
stance reminds us of an anecdote which occurred
during the convention for framing the new and
present Constitution for the  State of New  York.
It was proposed  in  case ofthe Govenor's death,
that the Lieutenant Governor should succeed, and 
67
if he should die too, that the President ofthe Sen-
ate should officiate. A member from Schoharie rose
up and said, "But,Mr. President, suppose the Gov-
ernor, the Lieutenant Governor, and the President
of the Senate all should die, what shall we  do?"
"Why, Mr.  President," replied another speaker,
"when all the people in the State are dead, we can
choose the gentleman from Schoharie to be Gover-
nor."   7.
   It wou!d  certainly be better to raise than to low-
er the standard of medical qualifications, and that
is  the very object which professional and scientific
men aim at,  and  the  purpose  for which  medical
schools  and colleges  are  established.  With all
these  wise precautions, however, the medical pro-
fession is still liable to abuse, and gets into the
hands of improper persons.  The argument, there-
fore,  that a  quack who uses only two or three
things, is as good  or  better than a regular but
incompetent physician, who uses more and  with
more  mischief, does not amount to any thing.—
We look upon both these characters as dangerous,
and not fit to be trusted.  It is safer to do without
a physician, than to have  any  such.  In the med-
ical profession, no matter how great the natural
abilities of an indiviual may bo, he cannot  dispense
with those  attainments which  are acquired only
by study and application.  8.
  The greatest  physicians have generally been
very able and learned  men, and their knowledge
and skill were acquired before they obtained their
reputation.  But the Thomsonians reverse all this;
they become  doctors  first, which  they do in the
course of afew hours, and then pick up a little schol-
arship afterwards.  To  get this  they go to the
works of scientific medical men, and affect to abuse 
68
the very authors and persons who assist  them in
enlighteniug their  minds.  It is amusing to  see
"Botanist" quoting medical authorities, like Satan
quoting Scripture.   He opens a medical book and
reads that emetics are good in consumption, with-
out enquiring in what stage ofthe disease.  They
might be useful in the first stage, where there was
a disordered stomach, but in the last stages of that
malady, they would be highly improper and fatal.
Cullen remarked long ago, that there were more
false facts than false theories in medicine; but the
theories that are predicated upon false principles
must be doubly fallacious.  9.
   To choose out ofthe whole list of articles in the
materia medica, two or three only, and depend upon
these entirely, to the exclusion of all others, which
a/e  often useful  and necessary, would be as judi-
cious and  rational, as to adopt two or three com-
mandments of the  decalogue,  and reject all the
rest, or to credit the Apocrypha alone, and discard
the Old and New Testaments.  10.
   It is said that when the Indian Chief called the
Turtle, had an interview with Kosciusko, in Phi-
ladelphia, at the close of the  last century,  the
Polish general related to  him the  wrongs of his
country and the tyranny of the Empress Catharine.
The Indian warrior replied, after the General had
finished. "Let  that woman take  care of herself"—
"this may yet  be a dangerous man."  So we say
of him who  is disposed  to try  the Thomsonian
practice, "let that man take care of himself"—
"this is a dangerous system."  For the Thomso-
nians, it is said, do not adapt their practice to the
constitutions of the patients, but the constitutions
of the patients must  be adapted  to the practice; if
not, they will sink under it.  11. 
69
  The Thomsonian  doctors  imagine that what
they do, cannot be done  by others.   We have al-
ready observed that there is nothing new in their
prescriptions.  The regular physician or  any one
else, can give them if required.  The physician
has all these resources and many others besides
in cases of emergency.  The Thomsonian practice
is no. more to be compared to  the established sys-
tem of medicine, than common cyphering is to the
system of astronomy, or a pigeon roost is to a pal-
ace.  It is no doubt got up to bring certain people
into ridicule, who will undoubtedly resent it, when
they discover the trick.   12.
  A wager was laid in England some years ago,
that nothing, however ridiculous and absurd, could
be proposed, but that the  multitude would believe
in it.  An advertisement was accordingly issued
that a gentleman on a certain evening at the thea-
tre, would introduce himself into a quart bottle.  A
throng of people assembled to witness the extraor-
dinary feat.   But when the time came,  the per-
former excused himself by declaring  that he could
not find a bottle which held exactly  a quart.  We
live now  in matter-of-fact-times and the world is
getting too shrewd to be hoaxed.  Mankind will
never give their confidence to any  thing that is
not consistent and stable, and capable of being test-
ed by experience  and truth.    We recommend to
the astonishing steam "Botanist" instead of count-
ing the paragraphs of a communication, to enumer-
ate and reflect upon some of the arguments.  13.
                                MEDICUS.
  The following second reply  of Botanist, closed
the controversy with "Medicus," 
70
  M.  Editor:  I have just received your 38th No.
by which 1  am happy to perceive that your cor-
respondent 'Medicus,' lately so severely "steamed
and puked," has "got about again," with at least
"the breath of life in him"
  Not seeing, in  the second production of Medi-
cus, any attempt either to defend the  positions
taken in his first, or to give me the trouble to de-
fend mine, I feel at liberty to take, in this number,
any course I please.  In order,  however, to  de-
prive him of a single "refuge  of lies"  against the
Botanic Practice, I shall follow him as before, and
"cut off his head with his own sword."  It is of-
ten said of Thomsonian patients, that, "if they had
taken one more course, it would have killed them;"
but I shall  run the  risk of completely murdering
the Doctor, by giving him this second, notwith-
standing the former  produced  the most distressing
prostration  of his  intellect,  as his  late effusion
clearly proves.  The relaxing effects of lobelia are
truly wonderful!
   In  paragraph 1st, Medicus says, Mr. Daniel's
"letter was published without his authority, he
merely having parted with it to one of his friends,
expecting that it would only be perused in  pri-
vate."  Now I should believe this statement, had
I not good reason to doubt it.  In the first place,
I have the testimony  of Medicus himself, in the
24th  paragraph of his former piece, that Mr. Dan-
iel "indited this  epistle general, not to the seven
churches, but to  several whole States."  Now, of
these contradictory  statements from the same gen-
tleman, I am  left to determine, in the best way I
can, which is correct.  I therefore refer,  1st, to
Mr. Daniel himself, who says, in his introductory
paragraph;—"Were I  to withhold from the public, 
71
 [not a few private friends!] the benefit I have lately
 witnessed by resorting to the Thomsonian remedies,
 I should perhaps reject the claim of the text ['To
 do good and communicate, forget not; for with such
 sacrifices God is well pleased,'] and, as many of
 my  numerous  acquaintances in different  States,
 perhaps may be prejudiced against Dr.  Thomson's
 theory and practice, as I have been, much to their
 disadvantage  as it regards health and comfort,  I
 hasten to make the following statement."  Will
 any one  believe, after perusing the above introduc-
 tion, that  the sequel was intended only to "be
 perused  in private?"  It must be, for the scientific
 Dr. Medicus says so, and we must not oppose our
 ignorance to his vast erudition—the reflected  ray
 of a bubble to  the glory of the sunbeams!  To ac-
 count further for the discrepancy  ofthe two testi-
 monies of Dr. Medicus, above quoted,  let us  see
 ifhe is capable of  committing errors in any other
 statements.  In  par. 2d, No. 1, he stated that Mr.
 Daniel  'fis  a general agent, and an  interested
 party in the  distribution of  Thomsonian tracts,
 and the spreading  of  that system of  practice."—
 In par. 1st No. 2, he says, "Mr. Daniel never was
 an authorized, but only a voluntary agent for  the
 distribution ofthe Thomsonian tracts, [of course
 he was not  paid and  "interested"] and this  self-
 assumed agency he has  now thought proper to
 relinquish.  Am I  any more certain that this last
 assertion  is correct, than I am of the correct-
 ness of any other assertion of Dr. Medicus? Again,
 he says,  par. 5th, that I "search into the materia
 medica, and quote authorities for the virtues of lo-
 belia, pepper,"  and  "various kinds* of baths;"
thereby intimating  that Thomsonians depend  on,
or are indebted to that authority for  their knowl- 
72
edge of those virtues, when he well knows my sole
object in quoting those authorities, was, to "judge
out of his own mouth," the "regular" slanderer
of these invaluable remedies.  For ourselves, we
cannot place the least dependence on what the M.
D's say of any of these articles—our every day's
experience proving  that those gentlemen  are al-
most totally  ignorant of their virtues.  He says,
(par.  9th,)  that "Thomsonians become  doctors
first, and then, to pick up a little scholarship, go to
the works of scientific, medical men, and affect to
abuse the very  authors and persons  who assist
them in  enlightening their minds;" whereas he
knows that all the use Thomsonians make of med-
ical authors,  is to get weapons for self-defence.—
To his intimation that this is the course I pursued,
I just reply, that the reverse was the case.  Hav-
ing wandered in  the mazes of medical uncertainty,
till, with Dr. Brown, I found myself "in the situ-
ation of a traveler in an  unknown country, who,
after losing every trace of his way, wanders in the
shades of night," without star or compass, [Rob.
p. 55.] glad  indeed was  I, to find, in the Thom-
sonian system, some sure  landmarks  to guide my
weary  steps, after a toil so long  and fruitless, in
search after them.  Imagine my mortification on
the discovery of almost  the only truth  I found,
that both the theories of disease and the action of
external agents  on the  body, either in causing or
arresting it, "are fraught with the highest degree
ofuncertainty."  (Dr. Abercrombie.)  In par, 10th,
Medicus says, "Thomsonians depend only on two
or three  articles ofthe materia medica, to the ex-
clusion of all others."   Now, if Medicus knows
any thing about  the Thomsonian System, he knows
that Dr, Thomson recommends,  in his works, the 
73
use of more  than seventy different articles;  and
has given a  rule for  finding, when these  are not
to be had, substitutes to an unlimited number.—
Of course he wilfully misrepresents.   If he does
not know the truth ofthe matter, then  I see not
with what sort of grace he could so  highly com-
mend,  in No. 1, par.  9, Judge Marshall for refus-
ing " to giye an opinion on  the subject of Phreno-
logy," for the trifling reason that "he had not ex-
amined it."   Medicus laughs at my assertion that
all "the  doctors fled  from  Maysville before  the
cholera;" and says,  "It is a small  village and
0^7=perhaps=Cf) the regular physician, at the time
he alluded to, was called  away to see  a patient, or
attend to some other-business.'" when the Thomso-
nians who had never been heard .of or  employed
before, had  an opportunity of doing something!"
I do not pretend to know how large the village is,
but Dr. Nathan Hixon ofthe place, a gentleman of
intelligence  and respectability  which none will
question,  informs us  that it contained  "eight or
ten physicians," (T.  R.  voL 1,  p. 428,) and  yet
that  "he had nearly three-fourths  of all the prac-
tice  in  cholera, scarlet  fever,  &c."  As to  the
"other  business" to which the doctors were at-
tending, the Editor ofthe Louisville Price Current
informs us, by a letter which he says "was written
by a highly respectable physician of Maysville!"
This letter says, "all that  have been taken have
died.  Almost^ very  body has left the city—Q^rall
the doctors are gone!"=CQ  Why? "We [doctors]
have no inducement  to stay!  We cannot control
the disease!"  But  I am tired of following  the
gentleman through his misrepresentations. Enough
has been done to prove that even his statements of
facts are not to be  relied upon.  Of course hia 
74
general principles must be well examined before
they be received as logical deductions.
  In par. 3d, Medicus says, "one half of the world
are wrong, and the other half right."  I dispute
this position, and defy any  man  to prove that
more  than one man in a hundred thinks for him-
self, or comes to the knowledge of the truth by se-
lecting the correct thoughts of others.  Humilia-
ting as the confession is,  experience, even in this
most highly favored country, bears us out in the de-
claration that "men, in the aggregate, are incapa-
ble of  governing  themselves according to the dic-
tates of their own best  interests."  Ninety-nine
out of a hundred, at the smallest ratio, depend on
the priest or minister for their religious creed, on
the lawyer for their jurisprudence, and on the doc-
tor for the safety of their  bodies—disprove it who
can.   Let me not  be understood to  advocate an
absolute government.   Badly as the people rule
themselves, I contend that no one else has a right to
rule them.   Medicus  intimates that the  people
will not always be hoaxed—true,  but their fault
and misfortune is, that they are ever prone when
they shake off one hoax, to take up another.  See
his 4th and 5th paragraphs.
  In par. 6, Medicus insinuates  that many, after
having practised  awhile, abandon the Thomsoni-
an system, as unworthy of their confidence.   It is
true that some practise  awhile and then quit it;
but it is because  they  never intended to do more
of that business  than  to  satisfy themselves and
their neighbors of its excellence.  Others quit, be-
cause  ofthe opposition that is raised against their
persons, properly, and employments on that ac-
count;  not feeling  it their duty  to suffer their
©wn ruin for the  benefit of others.   "For," says 
75
Dr. Hervey, "he who professess to be a reformer
in the  art of physic, must resolve to run the  haz-
ard of his reputation, life and  estate."   In  par.
24, No. 1, Medicus  says, "If you give an emitic
and excite copious perspiration  in a consumptive
patient, you will endangerhislife;" and that "if you
persevere you will certainly produce his death in a
very short time." But, after I had proved, from med-
ical authors whom he dared not dispute, that emet-
ics are good in this disease, he changes his  tune
and says they are good in  the  first stages.  The
gentleman takes as many tacks as a yankee smack
among the West Indian Islands.
   In  par. 12th,  Medicus says,  "the  Thomsonian
Doctors imagine that what they do, cannot be done
by others."  We do not imagine any thing about
it.  We know, that many things we do, are not
done by others, for Dr. Eoff says that  "for want
of medicine [like the Thomsonian] that will cleanse
the stomach  and intestines, of all offensive and
irritating matter, without debilitating them, phy-
sicians have not been able to perform a cure in one
case out often of confirmed dyspepsia," &c.  See
his advertisement of pills, in the papers.  Every
Thomsonian's experience tells  him, that  he can
cure nine cases in  ten.   I have cured more  than
twenty cases ofthis disease on  which the  doctors
had practised for years  in vain, and I have never
lost one yet.  The  same may be  said of rheuma-
tism, and a host of other forms of disease.  If, as
Medicus says, the faculty couWhave cured these,
the reason why they  did  not, is because  they
would  not.  Choose of the dilemma which horn
you please—Charity  inclines my choice to the
former.
  Finally,  instead of destroying the Botanic, and 
76
sustaining the "regular practice," Medicus gives
us a sketch, par. 4th, ofthe vast advantages to be
derived by the physician, from an  acquaintance
with the delusions and superstitions that have at
all times been connected with the practice of med-
icine," interspersing the whole with—not argu-
ments to  prove, but—anecdotes to  illustrate  his
views  of the  subject.  His  whole  essay  is just
about as applicable to the subject in question, as
Dr. Syndtchen's learned disquisitions were, to the
cure of neighbor Wymble's knee and ancle.  See
Thomsonian   Recorder, vol. 2, page 206-7-8,~-
(Please re-publish for the amusement of your rea-
ders.)   And the manner in which he quits the field,
reminds me ofthe conduct of Sawney, who, having
long contemplated with a covetous eye, the plen-
tiful harvest of his neighbor Jemmy's field, finally
having broken a hole in the hawthorn hedge, was
about entering the premises with the full expecta-
tion of returning unmolested, and  laden with the
spoils—when lo ! the voice of Jemmy saluted his
ears, "hoot, mun Sawney, wheer ar ye ganginl"
"Bock agen, Jemmy," was the laconic replyt
                               BOTANIST.

  P- S.—Having written every line  in the spi-
rit, of candor  and liberality, I will thank any man
who shall point out my errors, and show me the
truth.   Only  convince  me that  any  or  all  the
Thomsonian remedies are capable of producing,
even in the most unskilful hands, a hundredth part
ofthe mischiefs that daily result from the "scien-
tific" use of mercury alone, and I will discard them
forever.   Medicus  often  speaks  very correctly
about "quacks," "science," "matter offact times,"
'ignorance,"  "prejudice," &cc   But when I ask 
                      77

 him to prove what he intimates, that the quack-
 ery, ignorance and prejudice are all on the side of
 Thomsonians, he finds it more  convenient to en-
 tertain me with anecdotes  than what I desired,
 viz: a comparison between his practice and that of
 his Thomsonian neighbors. Why does he who pro-
 fesses to be so fond of "matters of fact" in medicine,
 content himself with displaying "the  delusions
 and superstitions that have at all  times been con-
 nected with the practice?" [See his 4th par.]   He
 says, par. 11th, "This  is a  dangerous system,"
 and he fathers the slander that "Thomsonians do
 not  adapt  their practice to  the constitutions of
 the patients, but those constitutions to their prac-
 tice."   Now, we challange him and all his breth-
 ren loprove that  there is one word of "matter of
 fact" in the above assertions, and  we assure him
 that, whenever he shall  make any think like a  de-
 cent attempt at it, we will prove, to the greatad-
 vantage of "this  system," and the no small con-
 sternation of its opponents, that the "matters of
 fact" are the very reverse; and, so far from indulg-
 ing  any  personal  ill feeling  towards any gentle-
 man who differs from us  in opinion, we would be
 glad of a free interchange of views, with Medicus
 or any one else, in a social conversation. We shall
 be governed by truth  and facts—-not indeed "false
 facts," such as those  which  inform us of the in-
 troduction  of "charms,  exorcisms,  amulets, ma-
 gic and sorcery"  to  medical practice; but those
 which  prove the superiority of one medicine and
 system over another; for, by "false facts"—-things
impossible  in the abstract—I suppose  Medicus
means  those which have no connection with, or
bearing on, the points to be proved.   See those he
has adduced, for example.
                               BOTANIST. 
78
  After the appearance of the preceding, Medicus
either quit the field, or changed  his signature.
(A  correspondent in Elizabeth  City  says; "It is
pretty generally believed here, that Medicus wrote
the piece signed Omar.")   At all events the next
we saw of the controversy was the following.

        FOR THE  HERALD OF THE TIMES.

  Mr. Editor: By giying the  following piece an
insertion into the columns of your much admired
and useful paper,  you will very  much, oblige
                 A subscriber from the country.
  In the great and important  discoveries  which
modern observation and experiment have ledto,
it is the generally received opinion that the peo-
ple ofthe present  day are possessed of much more
knowledge than the moderns ofthe two or three
last centuries, or their ancient predecessors.  And
although among  those who  think  thus, may  be
reckoned most of the original  and clear-sighted
geniuses of our time;  yet there are  not  want-
ing some, and those too, men of talent and high
respectabilty  in   the  literary  world,  who are
accustomed to think, if the  ancients knew not
quite so much as  ourselves, yet their works con-
tain the great outlines and leading hints  of all
those discoveries  and improvements which the de-
generate moderns have, with  great arrogance and
presumption, held forth to the world as original.
  Had these enthusiastic  admirers of antiquity
stopped at declaring the Iliad  of Homer and the
iEneid of Virgil  the best  possible of poems; and
the Philipics of Demosthenes and the Orations of
Tully, the most finished of oratorical productions,
I should not at this time have given myself the 
79
 trouble of contradicting the extravagant and un-
 warrantable assertions to which their literary su-
 perstition hasled them. But when they declare that
 in matters of science as well as of letters, the an-
 cients arrived at a flegree of eminence altogether
 superior to that which the moderns have attained,
 that the vast labors and researches of modern phi-
 losophers  have added nothing to the improvement
 of science, I confess that I  am disposed to believe
 that they have  founded  their  assertions  neither
 upon the  firm basis of truth nor of observation.
 To refute these absurd and ill grounded notions, it
 is only necessary briefly to call your attention to the
 science of medicine, which has, within these few
 years, been brought to such a degree of perfection
 by the exertions of one individual alone, as to sur-
 pass any thing ever before accomplished or even
 dreamt of by the boldest and most daring reform-
 er of any  science.   Indeed, I do not hesitate to
 affirm (and I believe you will most readily concur
 with  me,) that what Newton did for natural  phi-
 losophy, Buffon for natural history, Locke for ide-
 ology, Lavoisier, Priestly,  Black, and Davy, for
 chemistry; all this and more than this, has  the im
mortal, I  had. almost said  divine, Thomson  done
 for medicine!
  Physicians of the old school were  obliged to
spend four or five years in the most assiduous study
before they commenced the  practice of their pro-
fession; but the science has been so completely
simplified, and so thoroughly purged of its super-
fluous parts, that is, of Anatomy, Physiology, Ma-
 teria  Medica, Pathology etc. etc., by the above
 named illustrious reformer, that a  few hours or at
 least a few days are now sufficient to initiate the
the most  illiterate  or  humble  candidate into all 
80
the arcana of medicine!   Nothing, forsooth, is
more common than to see things strut forth to-day
armed wrth  a portable bath and a budget ofroots,
declaring themselves capable of curing the "thou-
sand ills to  which flesh is heir," wko  would yes-
terday have run to their grannies for some meant
to cure a belly  ache, as they would have termed
it.
  Who, then of all the philanthropists, that have
adorned human nature and been an honor to their
countries, shall, on the day of final doom, dare to
claim  precedence of the redoutable Thomson,
the modern conqueror of physicians?  Come forth,
ye admirers of Howard, and all those philanthro-
pists who have  spent their lives and fortunes in
ameliorating the  condition of their  fellow men,
come forth! and to give our hero his just meed of
praise!   Let his brow be encircled with  a wreath
of lobelia and wake robin, let his path be sprinkled
with pepper, and when the Almighty Disposer of
human events  shall  have summoned him  hence to
enjoy the society of his congenial spirits, the mod-
est and retiring Thesalus, and ever-glorious Para-
celsus, then let the incense of myrrh continually
smoke upon his altars!!
                                     OMAR.
        FOR THE  HERALD OF THE TIMES.

   Mr.  Editor: As many persons are not disposed
 to listen to arguments and reasoning upon the sub-
 ject of Thomsonism, you will  oblige some of your
 readers by  publishing the enclosed statement of
facts.  Perhaps they may be  of benefit to  some, 
81
 and  may teach  that  boasting  writer 'Botanist,'
 who has sometimes appeared  in your  columns,
 to exercise a little more judgment and humility.
           ONE  OF YOUR SUBSCRIBERS.

       FROM  THE PENNSYLVANIA  INQUIRER.

   Death by Quackery.—The following statement
 is published  on the authority of a highly respecta-
 ble physician of Kensington.
   A gentleman of the highest esteem, by the name
 of Jackson, from  one of the upper counties of New
 York, having closed the business which called him
 to Philadelphia, was induced, on the day  previous
 to his intended departure for home, to apply to one
 ofthe Thomsonians, on  account of a slight rheu-
 matic affection in one of his legs, being otherwise
 in perfect health. He was accordingly placed (from
 his account) under the usual course of steaming and
 high stimulation, for several hours, and when in
 the greatest degree of perspiration and excitement,
 was suddenly drenched with cold water, which in-
 duced a violent secession of blood from the surface,
 upon the vital organs, attended with excruciating
 headache,  oppression,  prostration and vertigo.—
 In this condition he  was  sent away, and with the
 utmost difficulty reached  his lodgings in Kensing-
 ton.   His  throat, stomach, and perhaps bowels,
 were literally scalded by the quantities of cayenne
 and lobelia (a rank poison) which he had swallowed
during  and  after steaming; requiring constant
 draughts of cold water and sugar to allay the vio-
 lent thirst and burning.   He became  worse and
 grew delirious, stupid, convulsed  and apoplectic,
 and died in a few days with evident symptoms of
 effusion on the  brain, in  spite ofthe efforts of two
                 6 
82
medical men of experience, and  the most assidu-
ous kindness of his friends.  The speedy removal
of his body to his family, after  death, precluded
an opportunity of examining it.
  This is the second case ofthe kind that has occur-
red to one of the attending physicians in the above
case, within a few weeks in the northern part of
the city.
  To the foregoing,  Botanist  sent the following
reply.
       FOR THE  HERALD OF THE TIMES.
  Mr: Editor:  I have just been amusing myself
with  looking over the efforts of the "small fry,"
that have volunteered their services  in aid ofthe
redoutable Dr. Medicus.    At first, I  thought
I would not notice them; but, perhaps itmaybeas
well to record a few ofthe reflections whichtheii
efforts have suggested.
  Though it may be said of "Omar" as of one of
old,"howbeit he meaneth not so," yet, abating a
little for his enthusiasm, he has scarcely exceeded
the sober truth.  He may confidently affirm that,
"What Newton did for Natural Philosophy, Buffon
for  Natural History, Locke for Metaphysics, La-
voisier. Priestly, Black, Davy"  and others,  for
Chemistry,  all this and more, the immortal Thom-
son  [though I doubt not his name will be remem-
bered with  veneration, while the art of healing
shall continue a special object of human attention,
yet  I cannot join Omar in  calling Dr. Thomson
"divine,"]  has accomplished for  medicine.  Do
not startle at the  assertion that he has done more! 
83
Those men improved on what had been partly done
before, or at most corrected certain errors; where-
as, he completely revolutionized, the whole  sci-
ence.
   As to  their motives, I leave  men to speak for
themselves.  I  believe that  Thomson's theory
and practice  of  medicine  will do  more  good to
mankind, than all the  improvements in arts, sci-
ences, civilization and metaphysics, introduced by
all the famous men that "Omar" has mentioned,
put together; though no man values the improve-
ments or the remembrance of these great men more
than I do.  Have a little patience, reader, before
you pronounce me quite mad.   Those men reform-
ed,  improved and  cultivated sciences and  arts
which are "only convenient and agreeable to man-
not  indispensable  to his happiness.  But  health,
conferred by  the means and modes that  Samuel
Thomson has devised, is that without which eve-
ry other blessing is wholly beyond our enjoyment.
I was many years afflicted with dyspepsia, which
completely  prostrated  the  best  energies of both
mind and body.
   A  thorough ft'jdy of the best treatises  that the
faculty had written.on the subject, ["Physicians,"
says  Dr. Eoff, an -eminent gentleman of that pro-
fession, "bave not Been able to  cure one case in
ten of confirmed dyspepsia,"] left  me  with little
to expect but a  morbid existence  while  I Jived,
and a speedy departure to a place  where  the sci-
ences (especially the boasted  science of medicine,)
are of little account.   I knew indeed, that there
were such things ; I delighted in their contempla-
tion,  and their application to the  prosperity and
advancement of social happiness.  But the want
of health to enjoy the blessings  they are  capable 
84
 of conferring, made them, to me, like loaves of
 bread to the tenant of the gibbet.  "I know you
 are 'good,' 'good,' " said the drunken Indian to his
 fast emptying bottle which had just fallen over the
 fence, "but I cannot save you."  /knew  that, in
 themselves, the sciences were 'good, good,'  but
 every attempt of mine to  derive pleasure from their
 contemplation,  only increased the "pain  in  my
 head," and mental  aberrations, and added to  my
 misery.   But the discovery of Thomson,  like  ths
 blessing asked by Solomon, brought along with it,
 not in its forehead, but in its train, the ability to
 enjoy the distinguished  blessings those great and
 good  men had conferred  on the world.
   "Omar"  insinuates that the Botanic  System
 renders useless the  study of Theories of Medicine,
 Anatomy, Physiology, Materia Medica, Patholo-
 gy, &c.   Thomsonians do not tell him so.  They
 reject  only the  parts  that have  been a thousand
 times proved to  be wrong, or useless if right, of
 what has been written and taught of these  branch-
 es, and require their followers to learn the simple,
 common  sense view of them, which enables us far
 to surpass, in the cure of disease, the great profess-
 ors of those branches of medical science.  We can-
 not believe them so necessary to the physician, as
 "Omar" would  have us to suppose, while it so of-
 ten happens (without any jest) that a person who,
 yesterday, was taking calomel, opium, nitre, &c,
 with much the same faith, feeling and profit as that
 with whicbthe votary of Juggernaut pays religious
 homage to the  wheel that is  about to crush him,
 finds his  eyes thrown wide open to  day, by the
simple application of a Thomsonian course.
  The placing of Thomson and Paracelsus side by
side in another world, as "kindred spirits," exhi- 
85
 bits both the profound learning and the discrimin-
 ating "judgment" of "Omar" in  a most enviable
 light.  Just look at the fitness of such an associa-
 tion!  "Paracelsus introduced mercury, antimo-
 ny and opium into the materia medica; but he was
 arrogant, vain and profligate; he lived a vagabond
 and died a  confirmed sot.  He studied  mystery,
 and  wrapped up his knowledge  in terms of his
 own invention, so as to keep it confined to himself
 and a few chosen followers.  The very reverse of
 Thomson,  who  performs  numberless cures and
 makes no secret of the means. The cant phrase
 of.Quack, belongs to the learned  Paracelsus, but
 not to the mystery-hating Thomson, who considers
 mystery and roguery offsprings of the same  man
 of sin, the  "lather of lies and deception."  [B.
 Waterhouse, M.  D., Th. Recorder, vol. 3d, page
 154.]  Let us hear these two kindred spirits salute
 each other, as the  latter passes the former to his
 higher  seat, as Omar would have it, in the man-
 sions of the blessed.
   Par. Good morning Dr. Thomson; I long enjoy-
 ed the happiness of seeing that my  name has been
 handed down to posterity with great veneration,
 inconsequence of my introducing  mercury, opium
 antimony, &c.~, into medical practice, and shroud-
 ing the whole art of healing in mystery, by the use
 of "terms of my  own invention."   But now I am
 overjoyed to see  the man who has exposed all my
 "pride,  arrogance"and false renown, disclosed to
 the gaze ofthe world, in its true  colors, my sys-
 tem of poisoning, "deception and mystery," and
 caused a large portion ofthe dwellers upon earth,
 to regard me as the  contriver of a  system of medi-
cal practice, which has destroyed  more lives and
human happiness  than the  sword, pestilence and
famine &c.  &c, 
86
  Th.—Nor can I be less delighted to see the man
whose  system had well nigh destroyed the life no
less than five  times, of some  one of  the beloved
inmates and members of my family, for my expo-
sure of which system, its advocates and frienda
have used every means in their power to 'destroy
me, root and branch'—to deprive me of my repu*
tation, estate, and even life itself.  I say, having
risked every thing dear to human nature, to liber-
ate my fellow creatures from the thraldom"of one
of the most oppressive  bondages under which they
labor, that which you  spent your ingenuity  and
"roguery" to  impose  upon them, it must be a
source ofthe  greatest  happiness to us both to en-
joy together  the blessings laid up in these delight-
ful regions for all such  kindred  spirits!  " Ever
 glorious Paracelsus" " who lived a vagabond and
died a sot!" a fit companion  for Thomson, who
has spent a long life in healing the sick, and war-
ring against intemperance!  Surely those illumi-
nati, who have cast such a halo of "glory" around
us, poor Thomsonians, must  either suppose  that
 we are too ignorant to detect  their arrogant assu-
 rance, or they are themselves the very ignorant
 and presumptous  beings whom  they would per-
 suade the public that we are.  Thus  much for
 "Omar."
   Next  comes "a death by  Quackery," among
 other objects, "to teach  that  boasted writer, Bo-
 tanist, to exercise a little more judgment and humil-
ity."  Well,  then, "judging" from the facts, 1st,
that the highly respectable physician of Kensing-
 ton, did not choose to sustain  the tale by the "au-
 thority" of his name ;  2nd, that he details what
he did not see, and of course could not know, viz:
"thatMr. Jackson had a  slight rheumatic affection 
87
in one of his legs, being otherwise in perfect health^
3d, " that the blood  from the surface  violently
seceded, upon  the  vital organs; 4th,  "  that  hie
throat and stomach were literally scalded, [an ef-
fect that never  could  be produced by  swallowing
a bushel of each,]  by the quantities  of cayenne
and  lobelia, (a rank poison,) which he had swal-
lowed  during  and  after steaming;" 5th, " that
he died with evident effusion on the brain," [the
Doctor  did not see  that organ;]  and  6th, that I
have never seen nor heard of such a series of suffer-
ings and of such a death  under the Thomsonian
treatment; I should "humbly" conceive  that this
tale were  false, from beginning to end—but, when
it is added—"in spite of the efforts of two medi-
cal men of experience," my mind fs entirely re-
lieved.  Two medical men  of experience have of-
ten been doubly sufficient, with their depletion,
freezing, sedatives  and starving, to  make a poor
Thomsonian patient "delirious, stupid, convulsed
and apoplectic," and even  to—let him die!  Inas-
much as these  dreadful' symptoms did not occur
till after the commencement of the "efforts of two
medical men of experience," (by which time the
terrible heat  and  excitement  produced  by  the
"steam, cayenne arid lobelia," were doubtless abat-
ed,)  how do those gentlemen (or their representa-
tive  "subscriber") know that the whole suffering
and death were not produced by these medical "ef-
forts," instead of those of the Thomsonian? Is not
the fict that the Thomsonian used  simple decoc-
tions of innocent herbs,whose direct effects, good or
bad, pass away in twenty-four hours at most,  and
that the Doctors, (if they went according to the di-
rections ofthe mineral schools,) used the rankest
poisons, strong circumstantial evidence that  the 
88
 latter was the case?   Calomel that had been taken
 twenty years before, produced, in a woman in  one
 ofthe hospitals of Paris, a salivation that destroy-
 ed the patient  "in spite ofthe efforts of" all  the
 "medical men  of experience" in that great nucleus
 of medical knowledge.  A thorough steaming &c.
 of one.of-my  patients, lately  produced a salivation
 and  ulcers that made holes in the mouth  and
 tongue,  some  of them large enough to introduce
 the end of your finger, and continued many weeks,
 though she had taken no mercury for more than
 twelve  months!  After these effects ceased, they
 could not  be renewed by the use of ten  times  the
 quantity of steam, lobelia, cayenne, &c.,by which,
 let it- be remembered., not the "literal  scalding,"
 but the rotting and fetor ofthe alimentary  canal,
 was purified and healed.  I have had patients that"
 had taken so  much  opium  that the moment the
 "steam, cayenne and lobelia" roused it into action,
 they  would be  so  "stupid"  and "delirious" as to
 make it very difficult to rouse them, and get them
 to take more medicine. These are rather puzzling
 facts, if the Pennsylvanian's  faith  be  correct.—
 Again, I have put so  many patients into a very
 great, if not "the highest degree of perspiration
 and excitement, and then suddenly drenched them
 with  cold water" without everjonce producing  the
 least secession of blood from the surface upon the
 vital  organs, (any other way  than as it should be,)
 with  sensible and permanent relieffrom "prostra-
 tion,  oppression,"  &c, that I cannot believe  the
 tale in question, till  my own head "turns round."
 I doubt  not  those doctors  may have seen  many
 such deaths as they describe—their system is cal-
 culated to produce  them—But  I do doubt if any
 one of those deaths occurred under the continued
practice of a Thomsonian, 
89
   Reflections.—What a.wonderful article this
 "poison" lobelia must be!   In the Columbia S. C.
 Herald, of August  12, 1834, we are told  that it
 poisoned to death.the Rev. Mr. Gray, "without
 [producing} a single groan or struggle,  or the
 least evidence of pain or distress in his features."
 But we learn that, in Pennsylvania, it  produced
 "delirium, stupor, convulsions and apoplexy."
   The non-descript of a "subscriber" to the Pa.
 Enquirer,  calls lobelia "a  rank poison."   When
 he can make me  believe that  I  have been often
 poisoned to death instead of being speedily reliev-
 ed of  disease, by taking a full half ounce of the
 bruised  seeds, then  (and probably not till then)
 shall I believe that Lobelia Inflata is poison.—
 When he can make me prefer twelve grains of cal-
 omel to  twenty of cayenne for  a cold, ''perhaps"
 he will make me fear that the latter will "literal-
 ly scald  my throat, stomach and bowels."  When
 he can make me prefer going to bed dirty, and ab-
 sorbing disease, to  taking  a seat in the steam
 bath, raising the heathighand then enjoying "the
 luxury"  of a  cold shower bath, that is,  of being
 suddenlly drenched with cold  water," then (and
 probably not  till then) will  he  convince me that
 there is  seriously a good foundation for the tale
 he has related.
  When  I hear Doctors .speak of "effusion on the
 brain," and "scalding  ofthe stomach," and other
 similar things which  they  can neither see  nor
 know,  and  find  those  who  pin their faith  on  the
 opinions  of others, taking all these assertions for
 law and gospel; it reminds me of a silly girl, cry-
 ing over  the  tragical death of a couple of lovers,
that took place in a cave where none but themselves
 beheld  it; a minute  description of all the circunx* 
90
stances attending which, she had just now perused
in—a novel.
                                BOTANIST.
  What  a stupid race of fellows you  Carolina
Thomsonians are, to suppose that Dr. Medicus has
suppressed or  destroyed  his  pamphlets?  He  is
only waiting to get "the whole controversy,"that
he  may  show how  skilfully he  has "taken the
farmer's  ox by  the horns."  What! publish a coa-
pie of rifle shots without showing the turkeys he
has killed?  That be far from  so shrewd a man as
Dr. Medicus.   Please ask him to send me one of
bis pamphlets.
                                BOTANIST,

  We understand that Omar made some sort of
reply to  this,  but we could never obtain it.   The
postscript was added, in consequence ofthe recep-
tion  of  information that Medidus had published
his first essay in pamphlet form; but had  suppress-
ed, if not destroyed  it.  The same letter says,
The Thomsonian practice has increased more than
double, in consequence of these discussions.
  In the progress ofthe discussion between Med-
icus and  Botanist, appeared an excellent  article
from another  hand.  As  the points it discussed
are all noted by Botanist, we extract only the fol-
lowing:
  "It  is true, as "Medicus" observes, that the
science pf medicine, at a very early  period, be-
came entangled with the absurd doctrines of super-
natural agencies,  incantations, charms,  amulets,
&c.  But I would ask if it is not equally true that 
91
it has been more or less shrouded in mystery down
to the present age?  and is it not a fact, that when
these superstitious disguises were laid aside,  oth-
ers were assumed scarcely less calculated to  ope-
rate upon the credulity of mankind?  It cannot bo
denied.  And even at the  present  moment, the
Bcience is disfigured by strange and frequently un-
meaning technicalities too numerous and foreign
to  be perfectly  understood by any but the most
profound in  medical learning.  And thus  it  waa
truly remarked  by a late eminent writer, that the
system of medicine "finds its security in the dark-
ness in which  it  is  surrounded."  Individuals
have, at different times,  appeared upon the medi-
cal arena, who were not only willing but compe-
tent to strip  the science of it abstruse incumbran-
ces, and exhibit it to the world in all its simplici-
ty.   But, in every instance, their honest and laud-
able efforts  in  behalf of the people, called down
upon them the vengeance of the  craft.  This was
peculiarly the case  with Buchan, Culpepper  and
others.
  The many  deceptions (of which "Medicus"
names a few) which for  ages have been practised
upon the people, under the specious cover  of rem-
edies, have excited in their minds a high degree
of veneration for the  medical character; hence  it
ceases to  be a matter of surprise that all innova-
tions upon the  science of medicine should be  met
by the firm and  united opposition, not only ofthe
medical faculty, but of the public; and we are free to
confess  that the only thing which excites our  won-
der and astonishment is, that, in defiance of the
violence of its persecution, the course ofthe Thom-
sonian practice is still rapidly onward.   How is
this to be accounted  for?  Why is it that in this 
92
enlightened age, in these "matter of fact times in
which we live," the  people  should suffer them-
selves  to  be thus  "hoaxed" by  these ignorant
pretenders, as they are called, who profess to cure
disease without ever having been taught in the
schools?   Why the fact is  just this;  having dis-
covered the proper remedies, they cure not only
all curable diseases, but often those that are said
to be incurable; and when  the people see  and ex-
perience these things, they are compelled to be-
Sieve.
  We cannot help  admiring the recommendation
of Medicus to  the  Steam Botanist, to reflect upon
arguments  instead of counting  paragraphs.  No
doubt he  would be glad  if Botanist would reflect
more and  write less.  Don't be frightened  Doctor,
perhaps he may not kill you, even though he should
carry you through a regular  course.  Be  encour-
aged; you have a great deal to hope-fro m the man-
ner in which your last communication  was receiv-
ed by the  public; two or three more as replete with
sound argument, may convince the world, for aught
you know, that  there is  as much efficacy in the
"water of the river Seine," as there is in steam,
pepper, and lobelia.
                               AGRICOLA.
LECTURES  DELIVERED IN BALTIMORE.
  Agreeably to a resolution of the Third United
States Botanic Convention, Dr. A. Curtis, then of
Richmond, Va., now of Columbus, Ohio, delivered,
October 16,  1834, to that Convention and the citi-
zens of Baltimore, the following 
93
                  LECTURE,

 On the origin, the nature, the progressive improve-
  ment, and the perfection of Reason ; with illus-
  trations'of Us popular application, in remarks
  on the Botanic System of Medicine.

  Looking upon this vast and enlightened assem-
 bly, I almost tremble  at  the  thought that  I  am
 about to occupy an hour of your precious time.—
 Yet I am in some degree relieved ofthe awful re-
 sponsibility, when I  reflect that, though I may not
 conduct your attention in the best manner through
 its details, I shall propose for your  own contem-
 plation, a subject which yields to few if any others,
 in its claims to your regard—a subject which you
 may follow up at  your leisure,  and  about which
 any  mistakes or errors  into which I may fall, may
 serve as beacons  to guard your surer and safeb
 passage through  the ocean of thought which it;
 opens to your view.
  Survey with the strictest scrutiny,  all the vast
 variety of human actions; ask every agent why
 he conducts thus or so,  and, though many will  ac-
 knowledge that their actions are wrong in the  ab-
stract, yet, all the circumstances considered, every
one will tell you he ha6 reasons sufficient to justify
his course.   So of their thoughts. All strenuously
 maintian that their peculiar opinions are based
 upon the most  substantial reasons.  Nothing is
 more universally  claimed than reason.  Each sup-
poses his own to be,  if not a perfect guide, at least
the very best he  can obtain, to conduct him to the
right or wrong  of human motives, words and  ac-
tions.  He looks to it for instruction in every case
of difficulty,  and, supposing it to be an inherent 
94
and almost infallible test, condemns, as unreasona-
ble and absurd, every thing that does not seem to
tally with its dictates.   Yet we find that different
persons give different reasons  for the same faith
or action.  One's reason approves of what ano-
ther's  condemns.  It is very probable that there
will be different opinions, in this  assembly, about
many ofthe positions and arguments in the sequel
of this address.  What  some of my auditors will
approve, others will condemn; and each will say he
has  reason for  his decision, while the positions
and arguments will be the same to all.
   All  reasons are, therefore, not  right reasons__
Of course the faculty termed reason, is not inher-
ent and infallible.
   Still,  as every  person's faith  and conduct are
based upon what he calls his reason, and, of course,
right or wrong according to the character of this
regulator; it is all-important to ascertain  what is
right reason, and how far it is capable of guiding
us in our search after truth.
   This  inquiry  will lead  us to  contemplate  its
origin, its  nature, its progressive  IMPROVE-
kent and its perfection.  First, then—

        ITS  ORIGIN  AND NATURE.

   Many have supposed that it is a principle, like
the  mind itself, innate,  implanted in  the head by
the  Author of our being, and  intended by him as
our best and safest guide to the rectitude of human
faith and conduct, especially in regard to the doc-
trines and duties of morality and religion.   To re-
fute this supposition, we need only give the accept-1
ed definition ofthe term, and  forbear even an al-
lusion  to  the almost infinite  variety of  opinion! 
                     95

that  prevail in relation  to  those  doctrines and
duties.
.  "Reason," says  Barclay, "is a faculty in man,
whereby he is  distinguished from beasts, consist-
ing in deducing one proposition from another, or
in finding out such intermediate ideas, as may con-
nect two distant ones."
   But what is a proposition?  It is an assertion or
a denial.
   What is an idea?  "The form under which any
thing appears  to the mind"—the image ofthe ob-
ject  contemplated.  Now,  assertions or denials
must have respect to  the existence, nature, form,
and use ofexternal objects,  or internal sensations.
But. until a human being has actualy examined,
by means of some one or more ofthe senses, the
nature and relations of external objects,.no idea or
form of those  objects  can be stamped  upon  the
mind.  Of course, there  can be no "finding out
such intermediate ideas as  may connect two dis-
tant ones."  There is,  therefore,no such innate
principle or faculty in man as that to which we
apply the term reason.
   Talk to a stranger  as long as you please, about
some new  invention,  and  give him the name ap-
plied by the inventor; but, so long as you do not
compare the  unknown  objeet with something fa-
miliar to him, he will  never form  any correct idea
of it.  Bring him near the object, and he will read-
ily determine  whether it is round or square, trans-
parent or opaque, &c.  But a still closer examin-
ation is  necessary to determine its qualities and
U6es.
   Wben a person first  comes in sight of your no- 
96
 ble Monument,* he  will pronounce it an immense
 elevation  of something,  he knows not  what, fit
 only to be gazed upon by the humble tenants of its
 footstool, to remind them ofthe Father of his coun-
 try, and the affection which his country bears him.
 On a nearer approach,  his vision tells  him it n
 an immense  pile of solid marble, accessible only
 to the top of its basement, to any but  the ten-
 ants  of  the air; but,  what  are  his astonishment
 and delight,  when he enters  that  basement, and
 finds himself, after taking 6ome  steps, elevated to
 a height from which he  can discover, at  a glance,
 the general appearance  and the  relative  situation
 of all the hills and  vales of your interesting city;
 beholding, as removed  above the  reach of good
 or evil  influence, the busy,  bustling scenes  in
 which the  never-tiring  sons  of earth delight to
 mingle!
   What must he now think  ofthe reasonof his old
 companion, who,  on entering the city with him,
 refused to take a closer view of  this  noble struc-
 ture, declaring it a smooth  column of marble, to-
 tally uninteresting, except to exhibit to the distant
 beholder the  noble image at its.summit!
   The human body  is provided, at its formation,
 with five  different  modes  or means  of receiving
 the forms  or images or qualities of external ob-
jects, and of transmitting them to the brain, where
 they  are safely fixed and long retained,  by  some
yet unknown, undefined and perhaps forever un-
definable power, called the mind:   For example—

  *This Monument is made of marble outside,  and brick  and
granite inside.  Its base is several arches.  A stair case of 223
steps, winds round a brick pillar, from  the bottom, to the base
of the capital on which stands  the  Monument of Washington.
From this platform the spectator has a beautiful prospect of tbl
whole City. 
97
  When you behold a fruit you never saw  before,
the eye immediately transfers its shape and color to
the brain ;  the tongue and palate carry its quali-
ties; these and the touch, its  hardness or softness;
the nose, its flavor, &c; and thus all that is inter-
esting in relation to it, is soon recorded, as  with a
pen  of iron, in that faithful register, and forms a
perfect image, called an  idea.  When another of
the same fruits is presented,  you receive and eat
it or not, according as you  were pleased or  dis-
pleased  with  the first.  Why sol
  You answer—I know, by  the shape and color,
that this is the same kind  of fruit, and has the
same qualities as that I eat before.  That was de-
lightful  to my taste and nourishing to my body:—
I conclude this will be bo too, and, therefore, an-
ticipate much pleasure and profit in eating it. The
comparison in the mind, of the second fruit with the
first, by which the pleasure of eating was ascertain-
ed and partly enjoyed beforehand,is called reasoning,
and the power by which the comparison  is made, is
termed the reasoning faculty.  The same  terms
are applied to the comparison and the power that
makes it, when the first fruit is unpalatable and
injurious, and the sight of the second  deters you
from a repitition of the offence against your pal-
ate and  system. Hence, reason, as  a judge,can-
not exist till the senses have been exercised.
   The  shape and  color of the  fruit, form one of
the 'distant' ideas mentioned in the definition quot-
ed; the  good or bad result of eating it, the other;
and the recollection ofthe first, and the compari-
son between the fruits throughout, the "interme-
diate ideas that connect the distant."
  Take another example.  So long as you give an
infant to eat, nothing but what is agreeable to its
7 
98
taste, it will eagerly seize any thing you offer it;
all its former experience testifying that this is the
object of it.  But,  after you give it a medicine
that is nauseous to the  taste and sickening to the
system, it will be very cautious about receiving
any thing again from the same vessel, or even the
same person.  1 have seen a child aged only a few
months, manifest great  apprehensions at the sight
of its physician, and willingly fly from his pres-
ence, even in the arms of a stranger.  It reasoned
thus: What I took from that veesel, cup, or spoon,
as the case may be, or from the hand of that man,
tasted  very disagreeable, and made me  very sick.
I will, therefore, take no  more from it or him,
lest a like thing return upon me.
  "The  burnt  child dreads the fire," but the in-
experienced will play with it.   The innocent child
will play  with  the adder, and  stoutly maintain
that it is reasonable to fondle  with an object so
beautiful.  That a grown person's conduct and his
reasons for for it, are the very reverse of this, is
owing, not to any different properties of the mind,
but to his acquired  knowledge of the nature  and
character of the  reptile,  and the consequences of
such imprudence.
  By these, and thousands of other examples that
will strike the minds of my intelligent audience,
it is clearly demonstrated that the origin of reason
is to be  set down precisely at the period  of life
when the reasoner first compared an idea or  im-
age of an  external object,  with another similar
idea or imago, which had previously been fixed
upon the  mind; that the  reason of a man is nothing
more nor less than this comparing faculty; that the
reason of an action  or thing, is the comparison of
one action, idea or image, with another, and  the 
99
 decision resulting from that comparison; and that
 reasoning is the art  of making that comparison,
 and drawing the conclusion.
   Let us now attend  to our second head:

       THE PROGRESS OF REASON.

   Once,  the most  scientific and reasonable men
 that the world produced, supposed that the  earth
 stood  still, and the sun, moon and stars revolved
 about it every twenty-four hours;  that  the  plan-
 ets, except Mercury and Venu3, went around both,
 and that these  vibrated like the  pendulum of a
 clock, suspended from the earth,  and extending
 sometimes a little beyond, and sometimes a  little
 short of, the distance to the sun.   To sustain these
 opinions, the world was filled with rolls on  rolls
 of reasons that were deemed incontrovertible. In
 process of time, the  immortal Ptolemy made  cer-
 tain discoveries   which convinced him  that the
 sun was the centre ofthe system, about  which all
 the other heavenly bodies revolved.  But, though
 he too gave his reasons, yet, because the reasons
 ofthis  one man were opposed to the reasons  of all
 his  coternporaries, it  was  deemed reasonable to
 suppose that  his must be unreasonable; and  they
 were so considered  and treated,  till  the famous
 Copernicus flourished.  He revived this suppos-
 ed  unreasonable  system of Ptolemy,  and  was
 fortunate enough to prove  to all the world that
 he whom they had  hitherto deemed most unrea-
 sonable, was the most rational man ofthe age.
  The prince who was solicited to purchase a copy
 ofthe first printed edition ofthe Bible, deemed it
bo unreasonable  that  the book  could be sold for
some hundreds of dollars, that the bare offer to sell 
100
it so low,  was a  sufficient reason for subjecting
the seller to criminal process.   But the true facts
and reasons of astronomy, and the all-important
truths of the Bible, are  now printed and sold so
extensively, that  he who would  ask more than a
few  cents for  either, would be deemed as unrea-
sonable as  once  were the  philosopher  and  the
printer.
  On the subject  of number and measure, howe-
ver, reason has never been chargeable with fluctu-
ations.  The  reason  why  the  three  angles  of a
triangle are equal to a semi-circle, or to two right
angles; why twelve times twelve  make one hun-
hred and  forty-four, or why the area of  a square
is equal to the  sum of the areas of two other squares
based  upon the  legs of a right-angled  triangle
whose hypothenuse forms one side ofthe square,
are  precisely the same now that they were in the
days of Euclid or Diophantus.  True reason there-
fore, is immutably the same.   What is changea-
ble or progressive, is properly termed error.
   From the foregoing facts and arguments,  and
others of the  same nature, we are warranted in
the conclusion that—
   1. The reasons we offer for our opinions on any
Bubject, are correct or incorrect, according to the
extent  and accuracy, or the scantiness and  con-
fusion  of our examinations ofthe whole nature and
bearing of the subject.
   2. That, when we know  all that can be known
of a subject, and have examined it in all its possi-
ble  bearings,  (as in the  mathematical examples,)
oyr reason will be perfect and permanent.
   3. That we ought not to be satisfied  with our
conclusions on any subject, till our knowledge ie
as full and perfect as the  nature ofthe subject will
admit. 
101
  4.  That, whenever we pronounce unreasona-
ble any thing  about which  we  have not  (as in
the mathematical  cases) had all the  information
that can effect our conclusions, we injure oursalves
in two ways:  1st, we  prevent ourselves from
seeking or receiving more  correct  information;
s.nd, 2nd, we expose our want of knowledge, and
(what  is worse) of mental discipline,  to the pity,
if not the ridicule, of those who  are better educa-
ted.  The man A, who refused to examine minute-
ly the "marblepillar," as he called it, still believes
his reason a good one, while  B who ascended its
winding staircase, well  knows that this reason is
as void of foundation as  the interior of that noble
Monument is ofthe beautiful material that appears
upon its surface.   And, if B should at last be pro-
nounced superior to A, (as he certainly will,) it is
not because of any original difference in the struc-
ture of his mind,  but because  he has been more
patient and persevering in his search after truth,
and especially because he never closed his mind to
further information and the correction of his errors,
by pronouncing unreasonable, what he did not
know to be so.  So much for ourreason, as a guide
in physical inquiries.  Let us see whether it is any
better  director in moral researches.
  Many years ago, a gentleman was arraigned at
the bar of justice  in Trenton, New  Jersey, for
horse-stealing,  &c.   The witnesses were sum-
moned, their testimony was clear, united and sat-
isfactory, not only to the  court, but to the  multi-
tudes  that thronged the  halls of justice, to see
what would become  of the interesting culprit.—
Respect for his known virtues and his sacred office,
compassion for what all deemed  a good man fallen
in an unguarded  moment, and regret at the dis- 
102
grace which the  transaction might bring upon a
cause dear to the hearts of all good men—all were
in his favor: but,  alas! reason said, that, in a case
so clear, truth and juctice, as well as the interests
ofo-ood order and government, demanded the sa-
crifice; and the Judge, with a heavy heart and  a
swimmingeye, was about to drown a whole assem-
bly in tears, by merely speaking aloud the silent
convictions of every  conscience, when a man and
his wife, who had travelled on foot all the way from
Delaware, for the purpose of rescuing from infamy
and suffering their friend and benefactor, rushed
before the Judge, and declared that, as the prisoner
spent, at their house  in Delaware., the very day on
which he  was said to have  committed the  crime
in New Jersey, he could not be the proper object
of  that legal retribution.  I need not add  what
a joy beamed in  every  countenance,  when rea-
son, thus  enlightened, exclaimed,  "the prisoner's
free!"
   Before civilization dawned upon the inhabitants
of  India,  reason, (all the reason they  exercised,)
taught the Hindoos the  necessity of caste, (that is,
that every child should continue in the same rank
in society  that his father occupied,) of sacrifising
widows  on the funeral  pile prepared to consume
the dead bodies of their husbands, and of offering hu-
man  beings, even their  own  children, to their
wooden gods, to serpents, and  to fishes.
   As civilization advances, they abandon these
abominations, break the tyranny of caste, educate
and cherish their daughters, crumble their idols in
pieces, and render religious homage to Him only
to  whom it is due.  And  still, as before, they
think they have a good reason for all they do.
   The progressive improvement of our reason, then, 
1U«
 is always in exact  proportion to the degree  and
 accuracy of our practical knowledge of the subject
 about which we reason, and ofthe skill with which
 we detect the relations of resemblance, and of
 cause  and effect,  be these subjects what they
 may.
   The conclusions of our reason on physical,  lit-
 erary, and scientific  subjects, is called judgment;
 and no man is blamed for want of a good judgment!
 The deductions we draw from the consideration
 of moral and  religious  doctrines; and duties, con-
 stitute  what  we  call conscience;  and  we cen-
 sure no one, nay, we commend  every one, for act-
 ing according to the dictates of conscience!  And
 yet, who does not perceive that a wrong judgment
 and  an erring conscience, are  the effects of  im-
 perfect observation, are  premature decision; and,
 of course,just as reprehensible as laziness and rash-
 ness?
   From  what has been  said upon the origin,  the
 nature and the progressive improvement of reason,
 we shall scarcely be at a loss to  determine in what
 its perfection consists.  In the mathematical cases
 alluded to, this perfection has been already exhi-
 bited.  In many branches  of natural philosophy,
 chemistry, &c. we are  authorized to believe that
 it  has been nearly or quite attained—as illustrated
 in  the periodical revolutions  ofthe planets,  their
 relative distances, the number and character ofthe
 mechanical powers,  the  nature  and properties of
 various chemical substances, &c.
  To recapitulate, then, I observe—Theorigin of
 reason, in its common acceptation, is  the period
 when we first use the recollection  of our previous
experience to govern,  in any degree, our future
thoughts or actions.  Its very nature consists in 
104
the skill with whch we distinguish resemblances
in similar objects, the differences in dissimilar, and
the true relations between cause and effect; and its
perfection is the due consideration of every cir-
cumstance that can, in any conceivable degree, af-
fect the correctness of our decisions.
   It  will be found  to preside in our private con-
cerns, when it directs all our thoughts, words and
actions, into  that  train  which will best promote
our present and future happiness, and that of those
around us ; in our religious  duties, when it brings
us up to the golden rule of duty:—" To love the
Lord our God with  all our heart, and  our neigh-
bor as  ourselves;" in our literary pursuits, when
we devote  ourselves to  those arts  and  sciences,
and those only, which we can render the most use-
ful to ourselves and others  ; in government, when
the laws are made  and administered for the bene-
fit ofthe whole, uninfluenced by party considera-
 tions, and in medicine, when that science teaches
us to conquer every thing  that is properly called
disease.
   Let us now examine, in detail, some of the prom-
 inent notions in society, and see how far they who
 advance  or countenance them, are  entitled to the
 honorable appellation—rational beings.
    1st.  It  is thought impossible  for a man whose
 education had not  enabled  him to profit by the ex-
 perience of those who lived before him, to discover
 natural laws, and lay down rules of science which
 shall be worthy of the  attention of the  most pro-
 found scholars of the age.   But, is it more unrea-
 sonable than that Galileo should show the practi-
 cal navigator how  to traverse the ocean] that John
 Faust, the goldsmith, should teach the philosopher,
 the politician and the divine to multiply their tracts 
1Q5
and  books ten  thousand fold, and speak to all the
world  through  the  simple medium  ofthe  pressl
that Robert Fulton, the painter, should tell all the
mechanists of the world how  to navigate the ocean
by the power of steam!  that  Whitney, the school-
master,  should  discover to the  planter a simple
means of clearing out the seeds  of his cotton, and
thus to multiply  the value of that production^—
Are not the  store-houses of nature equally open to
alii  Cannot one  man  observe a plain matter of
fact nearly as well  as another]   And is it reason-
able to say  that any  thing is perfect, susceptible
of no  further improvement, so long as it does not
answer the end for which it was designed!
  It is said  that Dr. Thomson was and is  an igno-
rant man, and,  therefore, certainly unqualified to
teach  professors  their art.   Ignorant!  Of  what
was he ignorant!   Of Latin  and Greek,  and the
names applied to disease!  Grant it.  But of what
use is  Latin or  Greek,  in helping a man to dis-
cover the effect  of an external agent on the body!
Cannot a man  witness  the  operation of Lobelia,
without knowing that the Doctors call this pecul-
iar  effect ofthe system emesis?*   Is it not as easy

  Note.—In the sequel of this discourse, we shall  have frequent
occasion to use the term physicians. Eut we wish it distinctly
understood that our warfare is against errors and not men.  It
has been very  pleasant to us to be acquainted with many distin-
guished men of this profession; and though, as among all other
classes, there are many narrow and prejudiced minds, and somo
mean and groveling hearts; yet, as a body, we esteem them aa
laborious and faithful in their profession; as anxious as any otheij
to relieve  the sufferings of their fellow men, and as willing to
make or adopt any thing which, in their opinion, can be consider-
ed a real improvement in their art.  We hope, therefore, that no
expression of ours may  give  personal offence; for certainly no
such thing is  intended. We believe that the "science of medicine"
is constructed entirely upon a  false foundation, and our only ob-
jection to its supporters is, that they  will not open their eyes vj
die light that might enable them to disepver their error, 
106
to discover the effect ofthat which relieved a man
of disease, as ofthat which removed his hunger and
thirst!  And does it require a vast amount of Lat-
in and Greek, to describe, in English, these opera-
tions and their causes!  Can that man be called
ignorant of what will relieve hunger, who has used
bread, meat, &c, for this purpose, for twenty years,
and never known them to fail!   As  well may Dr.
Thomson be said to be ignorant of what will cleanse
the phlegm and canker from the stomach, overpow-
er the cold, remove obstructions, and reinstate the
system.   For he has been engaged  in  this  busi-
ness more than forty years, and with complete suc-
cess, wherever there were faithfulness  in the pa-
tient and a constitution  to recruit.  Can he not
tell to plain men, in a  plain way, how,  with what
means, and why he does this, without an acquaint-
ance with Latin or Greek, or even with the endless
and fruitless  speculations of the  learned on the
same subject, who, with all  their knowledge of
each  other's errors  in theory and  miscniefs in
practice, have never yet discovered how to accom-
plish this  desirable object!
  The notion that those who study the longest af-
ter a particular object, will be the most sure to find
it  in the end, reminds  us of the argument of a boy
that had  been  angling.   A and his brother went
on a fishing to the same brook.  A went directly
where the fish resorted, caught many and soon re-
turned home. B toiled hard and long to little pur-
pose,because he fished at random; and,when he came
home, was invited by A to partake of a dish of well
served fishes.   But he  strenuously refused, giving
it as a reason  that, as he had labored  long and
hard about the same stream, and caught nothing, it
was impossible that A should have  provided the 
107
dish" of which he was invited to partake.   A stran-
ger was informed that it was only fifteen minutes
walk to the place he wished to find.  "That can't
be true," said he,  "for I have already walked an
hour, and have not yet found it!"  Dr.  Thomson
tells physicians that, under their very feet grow
sure and safe remedies for all forms of disease.—
That can't be, say they, for we have searched four
thousand years  without finding them.  You have
searched afar for poisons, instead of antidotes,
says Thomson.   But we are numerous and learn-
ed, and, therefore,  must  know  better than you
where and for what  to search.  If you prefer your
blind sophistry to plain matters of fact, take your
own course, isthe reply.
  It is said,  "Grant that Dr. Thomson may have
discovered something that is good in certain forms
of disease, it  is  unreasonable to believe  that one
remedy can curs all  diseases."
  In the first  place,  we remark, that Dr. Thomson
does not pretend "to cure  all diseases with ons
remedy."  He has  pointed out more  than seven-
ty of the best articles of the materia medica, and
^iven his followers  certain plain rules for the dis-
covery of as many more as they please.  But, sup-
pose he had said  that all forms of disease might be
cured by the administration of a single  article; it
would not be unreasonable, because it is not im-
jossible.  Indeed,  analogy proves it quite possi-
ble.  We well  know that the  single article of
bread  will sustain the life  of man,  and promote
Lhe growth  of animals of  almost every  kind.   I
lave seen a  full grown  ox  that had never eaten
tny thing hut milk.  These articles of food will
produce, in man, nails and hair; in  horses, solid
loofs; in oxen, divided hoofs and horns; in cats, fur 
108
and  claws; in fowls,  feathers; in fishes, whole-
some food; in serpents, poison,&c. The cure of"all
 diseases" with one article, would not appear more
singular than this.  Is  it not therefore, not only
possible,  but  even probable that  one substanco
may yet be found that  will remove all the achea
and ills which flesh is heir to!  Would such a dis-
covery surprise the thinking and ingenious of the
present day, more than  the sight-of a locomotive
steam engine would have  surprised the dwellers
upon earth a century ago!   And would they n t
have been as  reasonable in  declaring impossible,
what our eyes now see,  as we  are in saying that
 "it  is impossible ever to discover a universal reme-
dy for all  diseases!"
   Again, it is said that  the vast variety of disea-
ses  to which the human frame is  subject, cannot
be traced to the same cause.  You are, therefore,
wrong in saying that disease is one.
   We answer, first—If, in this assertion, we en,
 we are  in company with not a few of the greatest
men  that ever devoted  their attention to the sci-
 ence of medicine.
   But how is this error  proved!   The Thomsoni-
 an believes in  the unity of disease; others believe
 in a great diversity of diseases—each acts accord-
ing to his faith.  He uses universal remedies; they
use  an  endless variety  of local.  What is the re-
sult!  He cures all that  are not constitutionally
 dead: they lose often the most robust and promis-
ing youth.
  To illustrate.—"I doubt not," says one, "thattbe
Thomsonian System is good  in many cases; but it
is unreasonable  to suppose that the icy  grasp of
cholera, and the scorching flame of a bilious fever,
should be met upon the same principles, or with toe
same remedies."  Let us see. 
109
  There is a cholera patient with the premonitory
Bymptoms fairly developed, surrounded  a by host
ofthe Regular Faculty.  A exclaims, Ah! this is
a bad case.   What shall be done!   Bleed freely,
eays B.   But this is too late for bleeding, 6ays A.
Bleed as long as the pulse can be felt, says B, and
then you may use blisters and other remedies with
some prospect of success.  Calomel is my  sheet
anchor, says C.  But the case is too far advanced;
the patient will  die  before calomel  will  take
effect.*   I have nothing better, says one, but let
us be cautious, and give ten grains every hour till
it operates.  Ten grains! says  another; violent
cases require a bold practice!  I give two hundred
and fifty  at  once!  Don't deal so rashly, says D.
Dip him  in a warm bath, and give him a drop or
so of camphor, and repeat.  Emetics are my chief
dependence, says E.  They'll da in the first stage,
says D, but I think this patient is too far gone.—
Friction, friction, says F; yes, with cayenne, says
one—no, with spirits of turpentine, says another.
Brandy or vinegar will  do, says a third.  Gastric
excitement, saysG; an emetic, and a blister to the
whole epigastrium.  Heat him, says H; give him
something hot, and put hot bricks to him, rub him
with hot liniments, bottles of hot water will be
good by his side; and, if you can't bring him to his
senses  without, sear his back with a hot poker!
(Done in Richmond, Va.)  Immerse him in a  hot
bath!  J think his stomach is hot enough now,
eays J;—I am for  giving him ice.  Just think of
that,saysJ.  / isfor cramming ice into hisstom-
ach; and  yet that is the only part about him that
is not already as cold as ice.  Judge whether any

  *Dr. Clary's letter—Thomsonian Recorder, Vol. 2, page 386, 
110
 thing else is wanting to kill him.   Kill him, sa, .-
 K; every  thing I have heard proposed yet, is bet-
 ter calculated to kill than to  cure  him.  Lauda-
 num, says L, will check the disease till something
 else can  be done.  Mustard  plasters should fee
 applied immediately, 6ays M.  Nitre will cool the
 internal fever, says N.  Opium  and camphor are
 my dependence, says O.   Precisely opposite, says
 P; a stimulant with a sedative!  Whatever is donet
 must be done quickly, says Q,.  Rub the extremi-
 ties, says  R.   This  can't  be wrong  if it should
 not relieve. I've some confidence in saline emet-
 ics, and even saline injections into the veins, says
 S.  I believe the serum ofthe blood must be re-
 stored.  That 's been often tried in vain, says T,
 and the operation  is tedious and  troublesome.-
 Venesection is doubtless proper sometimes, says V,
 but it is vain in this case.   If you wait much long-
 er, it will be, says  W.  Ten grains of calomel, eve-
 ry hour, till it  operates, can do no  harm, says X.
 Your theories and  your practices are all wrong,
 says Y.  Ycu may take your own courses. [Aside;
 I  shall imitate  the Thomsonians as closely as I
 can,  "without  appearing to countenance empiri-
 cism,"* or to acknowledge any obligations to that
 arrant system of quackery.  I shall give Eupatori- I
 um and "ipecac, and cover with blankets till I have
 cleansed  the stomach and promoted perspiration,
 and  finish with half a  grain of calomel, one and
 a half grain of camphor,  and ten  or  twenty of
 cream of tartar, just to appear scientific, and then,
 if my patient gets well, the fact will afford abun-
 dant evidence that emetics and sudorifics are good
 medicines  in skilful hands !]
  • Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 9,122.  Dr. Ctory'i
Letter, Thomsonian Recorder Vol. 2, page 386. 
Ill
  It is known  to  every one in this assembly, who
has seen any cholera treatment, that this is no pic-
ture of the fancy.  It is  a  very imperfect sketch,
falljng far behind  the  reality of what many of us
have seen and heard, of medical views and prac-
tices.
         "For, all the various notions to relate,
         Would tire ev'n Fabius with eternal prate."
  Could there  have been greater confusion even at
the foot of the Babylonian Tower!   Would any
one imagine that all these diverse and  opposito
opinions, and empirical modes and means of prac-
tice, were learned at the footstool of the "highly
cultivated  and progressively  improving scicenco
of medicine," which scorns to stoop in any respect
"to a  level with  mere charlatanism!"*   Would
lie  not rather  conclude with Z, the spectator  of
the above consultation, that all the learned have
yet disclosed in relation to this disease, is a "zeal
without knowledge!"—a zeal for success in the ex-
ercise oftheir  profession, without the knowledge
ofthe proper mode and  means by  which  it may
be obtained.
  But yonder is a different scene.   A miserable
victim of cholera, cramped in  the chest and bow-
els, pulseless,  cold and purple at the  extremities,
begging for water with an unearthly  voice, echo-
ing as it were from  the long, dark  vista to  the
valley of death!  But there come a dozen Thom-
sonians, who perhaps never saw a case of cholera
in their  lives.   The  first one  that  touches him,
:alls out, "he is cold."  With a united voice, they
zry, "raise the heat, throw out the obstructions,
tnd tone up the system."  One  asks, How is  all

 tSeeDr. M. Burton's letter to the citizens of Richmond, after
lis return from an  inspection ofthe cholera to N. York, m 1838. 
112
this to be done!  Do you  profess to be a Thomso-
nian, and start such  a question  as that!  Away
with  such a wolf in sheep's clothing.   A says,
I've No. 6; B, here's third preparation; C, I've
cholera syrup; D cries, Any thing thafs hot, and
he that gives U first is  the best physician in the rase,
There is no argument here; every one knows what
is to be done, and no one stands idle till all is ac-
complished.   Thus,  not  unfrequently, in three
hours, the man is in better health than he had en-
joyed for a long time.
  Take  another example.—
  Bring into  the first consultation  room a  vioi n!
case offever.  Dr. A says it proceeds from  cold;
the patient must be bled,  to reduce the inflamma-
tory diathesis.  B  says,  put a blister to the side,
to guard against pleurisy, and then give mild su-
dorifics, such as  spirits of Nitre, &c!   ButC de-
clares he is bilious,  and  must have fifteen  grains
of calomel, repeated  if necessary, (i. e. if this do ^
does not completely  subdue the  effort of nature w
throw off disease—and  so they go.)   We have
seen the above practice,  where  it  was afterwards
proved  that the  fever did not  proceed from any
ofthe causes  enumerated, and  of course all t!n>
 cruel treatment  was wrong upon their own prin-
 ciples.
   Carry a similar  case to  the Thomsonian club.
 "He has a fever," says one.  "There are obstruc-
tions some where," cry the rest—"Raise the heat,
 open the pores,  relax the  system, drive  out  t'm
 obstructions, and tone him up."
   No sooner said  than done.   Sometimes a cold
 chill is  driven to the surface, large quantities of
 phlegm  are thrown from  the stomach, a warm per-
 spiration succeeds, and the man  is well.  The pi 
113
 tent doctors  declare, 'twas only a severe cold, and
 patient and all rejoice  :n his escape from it, with
 something of the feeling with which the traveler
 reviews, in the morning, the dangerous precipice
 along whose brow he had unconsciously walked the
 dark evening before.
   In another case the skin would have been cover-
 ed with morbid secretions; acrid bile and rotten
 canker would have been thrown from the stom-
 ach, &c, without any of the chills, cold sweat or
 phlegm, exhibited in the first.  Indeed, say the
 doctors, yours was a real case of bilious obstruc-
 tion.   We hope the bile will be better employed
 hereafter, than in souring the stomach, or travel-
 ling through the pores to the skin.   Take your
 supper, tone the stomach, keep  up  the heat, and
 all will be  well.
   These comparisons are but the simple relations
 of matters of fact  that have  come under our own
 observation.
   Whether it is most reasonable to approve, be-
 cause it is fashionable, the course that lost the pa-
 tients, and to reject, because they who exercise it
 are said to be ignorant,  that  which  restores them
 to health; or to adopt that, wherever you find it,
 which is known by its fruits to be sure and safe, we
 leave every one to determine for  himself.
  But we are willing to  compare theory as well as
 practice. We proved, in the  beginning  ofthislec-
 ture, that  all sound reason is the  fruit of expe-
 rience,  Having examined the parent, we need not
 fear tocatechise  the child.  What then is the
 opinion  of physicians about  the origin, the  nature
and the proper treatment of Cholera!  We have al-
ready shown what every news-reader knows, that
                8 
114
there are few opinions on either of these points, in
which any two of the Faculty agree.
  To give reasons for their practice, then, we con-
fess we are altogether too ignorant.   But, igno-
rant as  we are, we  will give you  the  reasons on
which Thomsonians act.
  1.  In every case of cholera, they find the natu-
ral  quantity of vital heat diminished. Reason says
this lossBhould be restored.
  3.  All their experience tells them that, when-
ever the health is bad, there are proportionate ob-
structions in the system, or losses of power in the
digestive or  other  organs,  or both.   No known
case of cholera is exempt from these defects.
  3.  Reason, therefore, teaches them, whenever
they find a new case, to remove those obstructions
and strengthen the system. This done, the patient
is well.
  4.  But what is the  immediate cause!  An
swer.—Sudden cessation of powerful excitement
which carries off the heat faster than it is genera
ted, till the internal preponderance is lost. Hence
reason teaches us to restore the balance of power
and experience proves that reason right.
  What are the remote causes!
  Probably too  large  a  proportion  of  nitrogen
and Poisonous miasmata in the atmosphere, com-
£,7ththe l0SS ofvital power, occasioned by
obstructions in the stomach.

ineTriaHnT ?* BBVTl excitements! Crude food,
cinal  asTvit^' &nd S6Vere 6Xercise> are the P™!
upai, as every case proves.-

.nr^o'sZnr "^F}1**1?'1™ treat hi* case accord-
TrmsratworkCertain,y'  ^^"he way
  If*bev find the patient cold, they heat hi
im; 
115
   If feverish, they sweat him;
   If vomiting, they clear out the offensive matter;
   If weak, they strengthen him;
   If cramped, they relax his muscles;
   If obstructed, they remove the obstacles;
   Ifhungry, they feed him, &c. Is not this conduct
 reasonable!
   But, is it not unreasonable to.undertake to cure
 the man before  you tell him his disease!  As un-
 reasonable as it would be, to put an eyestone into
 the eye, before you explained the peculiar nature
 and form, of the mote it is designed to extract__
 There is no harm in telling him, if you know.  But
 the most important matter with him is, to get rid
 ofthe disease; then he will be more certain what
 it was, and converse about it with more satis-
 faction.
  "But you, Thomsonians, must  sometimes do
 great harm,  by  giving your medicines at random,
 without knowing what the disease is."  That
 would be true, if, like our opponents, we used what
 could do injury in  any case; but all our medicines
 are in harmony  with life, at war only with dis-
 ease; and hostile to that in all its Protean forms.
  "Now, we know that you are unreasonable; for
 that is as much as to say that all diseases are one,
 and that you have a universal remedy."
  We do say that all diseases are one, and we con-
fidently declare that the wisest men that  ever
ranged them under different  names, have never
 been able to distinguish between them, or to find
 a remedy that would infalliably cure one, (without
injury to the body,) that would not also cure others.
What  mean the  pretensions, for  example, that
Swaim's and Phillips's Panacea will cure a long
list of diseases, if not  that these diseases  have 
110
one  common origin!   We are  sure that we have
as good reason for believing that all natural disease
springs from  one cause, and  may be  cured by
one remedy, as you haye for believing that all the
moral  symptoms, as  exhibited by the inmates of
our prisons, proceed from one cause—the corrup-
tion ofthe human heart; and may be cured by one
medicine—the blood of Christ.  If the very hairs
of our heads are all numbered, and it is as easy
for Him who  provided  one universal remedy for
the sick soul, to provide another for the body, is it
unreasonable  in  us to suppose that He may have
done it!  Nay, is it not most reasonable to suppose
that he has?
   But, you say, if so, he would have  told us what
the remedy is.   As well might you undertake to
prove that there is no Gospel, beeuase it is not re-
vealed to every heathen.  It is not impossible that
one remedy may yet be  found which will contain
all the qualities which we find in  many, and be so
adapted to the human system, as to aid it success-
ively in a regular process against disease, and in
favor of life, till the desired object be fully accom-
plished.
  Dr. Thomson does not pretend to have discovered
such a single article, but he has discovered sundry
different articles which, used in due  succession,
will do more to remove disease  than all the reme-
dies that were ever discovered before, and that may
be so compounded, even by art, as to be given at the
same time with almost equal success.  He, there-
fore, that has put  the several remedial qualities
into a few different vegetable forms, can and may
have made one plant contain them all.  I dare not
say he has not, and I will add, some plough-boy is
as likely to discover that plant, as  a Hippocrates, 
                      117

a Galen, a Sydenham, a Cullen, a Rush, or a Wa-
terhouse.
  Of one thing we are certain.   The Thomsonian
remedies are not only the most valuable remedies
that have ever been discovered, but they may be
safely and successfully administered by the hand
of every man or woman who is worthy to be count-
ed the head of a family; and, though we have no
objection to the future discovery ofthe one reme-
dy, to which  we have  alluded, yet we  do  feel
it to be one ofthe most important duties  we owe
to our suffering fellow-beings, to use all our influ-
ence, that the knowledge  of the virtues and  uses
of those already discovered, should be universally
diffused.
   The next day, the Curators ofthe Philosophical,
Literary and Scientific Society, styled "The Bal-
timore Lyceum," sent Dr. C a resolution request-
ing that he would deliver to that Society, on the
22nd, "a lecture  on the Thomsonian System  of
Medical Practice," stating that, after the delivery
of the lecture,  the question, " Ought the Thom-
sonian Practice to be encouraged!"  would Tie de-
bated and dicided by the Society.  In compliance
with that  request, Dr. C. delivered the following

                 LECTURE,

On the intrinsic and the comparative merits of the
    Thomsonian System of Medical Practice.

  The Botanic System of Medical  Practice is al-
together the fruit of experience.  It had no part of
its origin  in hypothesis, nor has  it ever been the
least improved by mere  abstract  speculation. 
118
  In his youth, the author of this System Provi-
dentially discovered that a certain plant possessed
the powerto eject, in a short time, with very little
pain or inconvenience, and  with no  evil conse-
quence whatever,  any foreign or morbific matter
from the human stomach.  He afterwards observ-
ed that,  whenever this operation had been  tho-
roughly performed, sickness at the stomach, head-
aches, vertigo, fever,  pain over and in the  eyes,
morbid appetite, indigestion or dyspepsia, mental
abberrations, nightmare, and a host of other aches
and ills that flesh is heir to, took a speedy depar-
ture from the fortunate patient.   The experiment
was repeated on others  who suffered under the
same maladies, and the  result was uniformly the
same.
   It was observed, however, that, in  cases where
the patient was cold or the stomach acid, the ope-
ration, though in character the same, was more te-
dious and less thorough.  To  obviate these diffi-
culties, resort was  had to those warming stimu-
lants which experience, in their use for food &c,
had abundantly proved to be calculated to generate
heat in  the stomach and diffuse it over the body;
and to the use of pearlash, whose well known pro-
perty is no neutralize the acid.   In the mean time,
observation had disclosed the fact, that certain ve-
getable decoctions would  detach  the  cold phlegm
and morbific canker from the folds of the mucous
membrane of the stomach, and thus greatly facili-
tate, as well as enhance the value of the operation.
These same medicines were found to  produce the
same effect upon the bowels, whenever they were
disordered.
  Experience has ever taught that no man suffers
under the influence of a scorching fever, while  in 
a state of free perspiration.  The same experience
teaches that the most favorable situation to induce
that condition of the body, is immersion in some
kind of warm vapor.  The boy that  6tows  away
the new made hay, or he that explores the tobacco
sweat-house, always returns under the  influence
of a free perspiration.  It only remained  then for
art to  devise the most   convenient  and  effectual
means of imitating nature's own plan, of throwing
all  obstructions  from the pores  of the external
surface, to complete  the process of discharging
morbid matter of every character and description,
from every  portion of the system.  The  various
modes by which steam, either simple of medicated,
is applied to the surface of the body, sufficiently
answer this  purpose.
   In  cases  where disease or improper  medical
treatment had debilitated the system, it was ob-
served that something  more was necessary to
complete a cure, than merely to rid the patient of
disease.
  It was observed that the debilitated system was
unable, without assistance, to maintain an amount
of vital heat  sufficient to sustain a free circulation;
and that the digestive organs needed the aid of
tonics  to regain their elasticity.  For the former
of these purposes, the most pure and wholesome
stimulants were applied; and,for the latter, bitters
in various forms were added to the most nutritious
diet and beverage.
  So far as it regarded the removal of disease from
the body, and the restoration of debilitated organs
to a healthy state,  experience had now completed
her work.   I purposely omit, in this place, any
special notice of the branch of medical  practice
called surgery, though I should do injustice to the 
120
process already disclosed, did I not state that, by
expelling all morbific matter from every portion of
the system, it prevents the formation of those ab-
scesses, tumors &c, which, under other circum-
stances, afford the principal subjects for surgical
operations.
  It now remains only to explain, for the  benefit
of those who have not discovered  them for them-
selves, the nature of the human system, the prin-
ciple of life, the nature and the character of disease,
the manner in which  it invades the body, the  pro-
per mode and means of expelling  it from the sys-
tem, and of restoring to a healthy  state the debili-
tated organs.
  Correct observation will show that the  human
body is an organized structure, containing an out-
er and an inner surface, every  portion of which is
a network, composed of the ends or mouths of an
innumerable  multitude of tubes-, whose main bo-
dies and ramifications extend  through every por-
tion of the system, and whose office is to absorb or
discharge the various fluids that are  received into,
or formed in it.   Into this body is  implanted,  at
its formation, a  principle called  life, a principle
which, whatever be  its nature, is accompanied,
when in health, with an amount or a degree of heat
always considerably  above that of the atmosphere
in which the man is  destined to dwell; and,  with
the  power to bring all the digestive, absorbent,
circulatory and secretive organs into action  upon
the food  that is received for the nourishment ofthe
body.  Experience  shows that any  obstruction
lodged in any one or more of these  absorbent  or
secretive organs,  is a cause of disease, i.e. a hin-
drance to the full and free exercise of the princi-
ple of life, in its processes of digestion and nourish* 
121
i
ment.  Should the stomach, the head and prince
of all the digestive organs, be the seat of obstruc-
tions, the amount of vital heat is proportionally
lessened  at the fountain, the extremities  become
cold, the  whole system is languid and full  of pain,
and tormented with alternate chills arid fevers, till
the obstructions are removed and the heat regains
its empire.
  Whenever obstructions clog the  operations of
life at the fountain, the vital heat diminishes,  the
arteries and veins ofthe extremities become par-
tially collapsed for want of heat  in  the blood to
keep them expanded, a smaller quantity of blood
than usual flows through them; and, of course, the
vibrations must become more frequent, to pass the
whole through the heart in a given time.   Ano-
ther consequence  is, an  undue accumulation of
bipod and heat in the heart, lungs and brain, which
heat presently finds its way to the contracted skin,
where it  accumulates, looks angry,  and produces
the peculiar effect denominated fever.
  To expel this fever, we supply the fountain with
additional heat, apply warmth and moisture to the
surface to relax the pores, and then excite to  ac-
tion the secretory vessels,  by  means of diffusive
stimulants.   When  all the  proper evacuations
from the pores ofthe surface, the stomach, &c,
are effected; that is, when the obstructions are re-
moved, the cause ofthe fever is gone, the arteries
and veins being warmed and expanded, the blood
returns through them  in its usual quantity; the di-
gestive organs being relieved, are  enabled to re-
sume their duty; there  is no more occasion for fe-
ver; the man is well.
  In regard to its porosity, and the fluids it con-
tains, the human system very closely resembles a 
122
sponge saturated with water.  Every one  knows
that an undue  pressure upon any  part of this
sponge, collapses the pores in that part, and forces
the water which was contained in it towards the
centre of the sponge.   To make room for this, that
which is near some other portion of the surface
must necessarily be discharged. It is evident that,
if the pressure be increased and extended, the dis-
charge will continue till no fluid remains.  So of
the human  system.   While there  is  no undue
local pressure upon it, all the natural fluids remain
in it, in  hydrostatic equilibrium, till  they have
undergone their accustomed changes, and then are
discharged through their proper  channels, in the
manner prescribed by the laws of healthy action.
But, whenever any undue pressure collapses  the
vessels of any one portion of the system, and ex-
tends itself towards  other portions, the fluids are
forced from these to the tenderest places of egress,
where they rush with violence  from the body.—
This is the true cause  of all hemorrhages, and
every other unnatural and  excessive  discharge.
To  illustrate:
   A patient was threatened with hemorrhage; a
Botanic Physician was immediately called; the
process of  raising the heat, relieving  the local  I
pressure and discharging  the  obstructions, was  ;
strictly followed, and no hemorrhage occurred. A
 second person was threatened with the same dis-
ease, from the same cause.   A learned Physician
 ofthe old school was called; he prescribed ice tQ
 be eaten (and applied to the body if necessary) and
 a quantity of pills  of acetate of  lead, sulphate^of
 morphia, with other minor articles; one to be taken
 every six hours, till  a dozen should be taken; pro-  <
 raising the patient that there would be some check 
123
:o the hemorrhage after the reception of the third
pill.  The pills were taken and the ice eaten, as
directed;  but, instead of diminishing, the hemor-
rhage increased  to  an alarming extent.   After
twenty-four hours, a Botanic Physician was called.
He used heat instead of ice, and relaxing fluids in-
stead of astringent metals.   In fifteen minutes the
hemorrhage was evidently controlled, and in nine-
ty minutes it entirely disappeared, no more to re-
turn.  In a few days the patient was as well as
usual.  A third patient was threatened  with the
same disease, from the  same  cause; the regular
practice was pursued  under the direction of seve-
ral eminent physicians,  and in three weeks the
patient was—dead !
 The first patient followed the new practicefrom
the beginning, and no bad consequences ensued.
fhe  second commenced with the  old  practice,
grew worse, resorted to the  new, and was soon
cured.   The third took the old course from first
to last, when death closed the  scene!   We leave
you to comment.
  Another patient was laboring under an unnatu-
ral discharge of a different fluid.   The prescrip-
tions ofthe physician, for  three weeks, seemed
only to aggravate the disease.   A Botanic Physi-
cian stepped in one evening, raised the-heat, threw
off the pressure, discharged the obstructions, and
left the patient entirely free from trouble.
  We do  not pretend to any skill in surgery, but
letus take a bird's-eye  view of blood-letting, the
extraction of tumors from the  flesh, the discharge
)f abscesses and of morbific matter from the deep
••ecesses ofthe body,  the reduction of calculi, &c.
  It has already been proved  that bleeding is not
 eouired in any kind of fevers; it being  necessary 
                      124

in these cases only to warm and expand the col-
lapsed veins and arteries, and remove  the undue
pressure.
  A young wan  was thrown from his horse and
taken up senseless.   He was carried into a house,
where he immediately fainted.  A surgeon would
undoubtedly have bled him after his recoveryfrom   .
syncope, but a Botanic Physician entered the in-   J
stant  he  fainted, and poured into his mouth some
very hot medicine; he instantly revived, complain-
ed of cold, and was laid upon a sofa  and covered
with blankets.  The hot medicine was repeated, a
chill  succeeded, the man  talked at random for
about half an hour, when a free perspiration broke
out, his  reason  returned, and all was right.   In
another half hour he rose and walked a mile to his
lodgings, as though nothing had happened.
  A young lady fell from a carriage upon her face,
where she lay speechless for ten minutes. A Bo-
tanic Doctor poured into her mouth a strong stim-
ulus and an  emetic; she  immediately opened her
eyes, (and her mouth which had been set,) and ask-   ^
ed what he was  doing!  He assisted her into the
carriage, drove  three miles, giving occasionally,
as she appeared  to droop, a little more of the med-
icine; when she was carried into a house, she
vomitted, and. in a few minutes, became rational;
she was carried three miles  further,  where  she
passed the night, and where her friends strongly   *
insisted that she should be bled by a surgeon pre-
sent.  The Botanist objected,  and she was well
the next  day.
  Tumors.—Mr. W. had a  rising just below his
knee, of more than twelve  months growth.  A
surgeon made an incision one inch and a half long,
and down to the bone; but nothing was discharged
i 
125
save a little blood.   A Botanist was called.  He
cleansed the general system, applied poultices to
the tumor, and, in less  than a week the surgeon's
incision was entirely healed, while a natural open-
ing was made about an inch  below, which  dis-
charged a large quantity of pus—and from which,
in a few days, he drew a white core an inch long
and half an inch thick.
  A gentleman had the rheumatism, and it settled
in his leg and made it very painful.   A physician
poulticed it and gave him  medicine  till he became
tired of the process, and quitted the patient, say-
ing that the flesh must be laid open and the bone
scraped.  Not  much liking the scraping, he appli-
ed  to a Botanic Doctor, who soon restored hisgen-
eral health, drove out his rheumatic pains, and, in
a few months entirely  healed the sore leg, without
any scraping.
   Abscess.—A  young man had an abscess formed
on the lungs.   After a  few courses of medicine, a
half pint or more of morbid matter was discharged,
the sore soon  healed, and the pain  in  the breast
that had been endured  for  years, departed.
   Calculi.—Two gentlemen were much afflicted
with calculi:  One went to Dr. Physick, and un-
derwent the operation of  lithotomy.  The other
had been confined to  his  bed  many  months,  and
was told by his physician he could never be cured.
He called a Botanic Doctor who cured  him in a
single evening.  His teas had the  power to dis-
solve the calculi, and carry off the solution.
    Reduction  of  Dislocations.—Experience  had
abundantly tested  the fact that dislocations  may
be easily  reduced after the relaxation that may be
produced  by a  judicious use of steam and lobelia,
&c, and fractured limbs, after being splintered 
126
up, are  easily preserved  from mortification and
soreness, and  healed in a very short time, by a
course of treatment  which every one who under-
stands the Botanic principles can easily apply.
  But, let us net b<? satisfied  with the arguments
and testimony of friends only, especially as we can
find the best authority for almost all we believe
and teach,  among the writings of the most emi-
nent for learning and experience in the old-school
theory and practice.
   In the first place, it was the opinion ofthe cele-
brated medico-electrician, Dr. Graham, of London;
of Dr. Brown, of Edinburgh, and  of Dr. Rush, of
Philadelphia, as well as Dr. Thomson, that dis-
ease is  a unit.
   2nd.   The most important writers on the med-
ical properties ofthe herb called  Lobelia Inflata,
are,Drs. Thacher, of Massachusetts, and Barton
and Eberle, of Philadelphia. Dr.  Thacher highly
recommends Lobelia for  croup, whooping-cough
and hydrophobia.  Dr. Barton  recommends it  in
croup, instead ofthe antimonials, on account of its
" more certain action;" and Dr. Eberle speaks  of
its excellence in  croup,  hernia &c.  It  is true
these  physicians caution us against the empirical
use of the article, telling  us  that,  in unskilful
hands, and in over-doses, it has been supposed to
have produced alarming  and even fatal effects.
But, in every case in which they used it themselves,
they declare  that it produced  the desired effect.
The only objection to it, drawn from their own ex-
perience, is its speedy and violent action.  We
have no objection to its speedy and violent action,
because experience has assured  us that this action
is altogether in favor of life.   Dr. Barton states,
that " the United States do not contain a plant of 
127
more unequivocal action on the system."   Une-
quivocal, that is, uniformly the same on the same
persons at different times, and different persons at
the same time.   In this high commendation of
Dr. Barton, we can cordially unite.  It is surpris-
ing with what accuracy experienced practitioners
will predict the.time and mode of the  operation
of lobelia, in  a given case.   I have known them,
before they began, to predict the time within from
three to five minutes, when a full course  should be
completed.
   3d. In the Edinburgh Dispensatory, we are told
that Capsicum Annuum is  the purest  stimulant
known, and, in the Boston Medical and  Surgical
Journal, it is stated that there is no other single
article equal  to  it for  the suppression of hemor-
rhage.
   4th.  In Dr. Barton's Medical Botany, the Hy-
drastis  Canadensis, or Bitter Golden Seal of the
Bjtanic  System, is pronounced one  of  the  very
best of all vegetable tonics.   Myrrh is considered,
by medical writers, a valuable antiseptic, and sun-
dry other articles, very important in  the System,
we expect will be as highly commended whenever
their value shall become known to the Faculty.
   5.  A word  of commendation for steam.—An
eminent medical  writer remarks—" It has been
generally thought that one constant effect ofthe
warm bath is, to relax and debilitate  the body;
but this idea is now admitted to befounded in mis-
take.  It is an error to suppose that persons who
have been immersed in the warm  bath, are more
liable to take cold; for  the body is better able to
resist cold after warm  and vapor bathing, than at
any other time."  " The vapor bath used in this
country [England] is simple in construction and 
128
effectual in application.   It is  an apparatus to
which the steam of boiling water, either simple or
medicated, is conveyed through pipes from a com-
mon steam boiler.   In this apparatus the stimu-
lant power ofheat is tempered and modified by the
moisture diffused through the air, and, as the elas-
tic  vapor, like air, is a less powerful conductor of
heat than a watery fluid, the effect of vapor in rais-
ingthe temperature of the body, is much less than
that ofthe hot bath.  Its heating effects are alsD
further  diminished  by the  copious  perspiration
which ensues; so that, on every account, the vapor
bath-is  safer, in most cases  more effectual than
the hot water bath,  and may be employed  with
success, when the iatter would  be  attended with
danger.  It may be applied also to the whole, or
to any part of the body.  To effect this, the steam
is conveyed into a wagon-roof frame, under a blan-
ket or other covering, to confine  the steam.  The
temperature of the vapor bath is from one hundred
and ten to one hundred and twenty degrees; and,
though from ten to fifteen minutes is generally suf-
ficient, there may be cases where an hour may be
necessary.
  Whenever the cold bath  is deemed proper, the
warm  bath should first be used as a preparative.
The bather should always go into a cold bath when
warm, and seldom exceed one plunge, which pro-
duces a glowing and  healthful appearance of the
countenance, and an additional flow of spirits.—
"After the body is properly dried and rubbed,the
cool air is grateful  and perfectly safe-  There is
no danger whatever from cold—we  are less liable
to take cold after warm and vapor bathing, than at
any other time.  When the bath is used for clean-
liness, refreshment, or a luxury, the above rule ad-
mits of no exceptions." 
129
   " The vapor bath is to be used in all' cases of
fever, when perspiration is particularly desirable.
The more immediate and general effects ot this
bath in fever, are, that it disposes to a calm and
sound sleep^ and regulates the discharge from the
skin; the increase  ofthe symptoms is lessened, if
not prevented ; the head  is prevented from deli-
rium, and the symptoms are moderated until the
disease terminates.  It has also been found bene-
ficial in inflammation ofthe bowels, complaints of
the liver, dropsy, water  in  the head, glandular
swellings of the neck, calculus complaints, gout,
leprosy, white swelling, strangulated  hernia, af-
fections ofthe skin, &c."  Our author then gives
a long list of diseases,  in which he snys the cold
bath is injurious, and adds—" On the other.hand,
the warm and vapor bath, properly regulated, will
be fonnd principal agents in curing most of the
foregoiflg disorders."
   " In eruptions  of every kind, in oedematous
[doughlike] swellings ofthe limbs; in stiffness and
contraction  or'the joints; in all those diseases call-
ed nervous; in every case requiring a course  of
mercury—[I.should  rather  say, that  has had a
course of mercury—I know of none that requires
it:] in  early infancy; in the  decline of life to the
last stage of existence, the warm and vapor bath
may be used with advantage and safety."
  Let it be remembered that, by our author, steam
is  considered the principal  agent in curing, not
only the diseases enumerated, but, nobody knows
how many others, represented  by the significant
&c, and that the Thomsonians use internal rem-
edies so much more  active against disease, and in
favor of life, as to throw steam, valuable as it is,
jnto the character of a mere  auxiliary—a faithful
                  9 
130
nurse only  that waits  on the doctor.  If steam
alone, then, merits the high commendations I have
quoted, what shall be the  meed of praise awarded
to a full Thomsonian course!  Could even the au-
thor of the Botanic System himself, have desired a
more particular or accurate description of hissteam
bath, or a more commendatory account of its use-
fulness and safety, than what is given in the above
quotations!   How  completely does this author
sweep  away  the  objections of  " weakening,"
'■' rendering liable to take cold," " causing inflam-
mations,"   " congestions,"  " delirium,"  " en-
gorgements," " hemorrhages,"  and a  thousand
other bugbear evils!
   But, it may be said, this is only his opinion; he
does not give the proof.  Very well—let us draw
the proof from other testimony.
   " Facts.—Dr. Willich says,  [Domestic  Ency-
clopedia, vol. 1, page 160,]—The sweating or va-
por bath is used in Russia, by  persons of every
rank and age, in almost every disorder, before and
after a journey, hard work, &c.  These are fre-
quented at least once a week, or as often as possi-
ble, whether in a state of health or sickness.
   The extraordinary degree of heat produced by
the evaporation of water  thrown upon red hot
stones, in  a close room, raises the thermometer to
146 or 168 degrees—a degree of heat considerably
above that which melts wax, and only twelve de-
grees below that for boiling spirit of wine.  In such
a bath the Russians lie  naked on a bench, not-
withstanding a profuse perspiration, sometimes for
two hours, occasionally pouring  hot water over
their bodies, and at length plunge over head into
a large tub of water.  Many rush out almost dis-
solved in sweat, and either throw themselves into 
131
 the adjoiningriver, or roll themselves in snow dur-
 ing the most piercing cold,  without suffering any
 inconvenience, and probably with advantage;  for
 we understand  that rheumatisms are  scarcely
 known in Russia, and there is great reason to  at-
 tribute this exemption to the vapor bath."
   Dr. Charleton, who used the warm bath freely,
 says, " Of 996 paralytics, most of whom had  re-
 sisted the power of medicine, 813 were benefited
 by the proper application ofthe warm  bath.—lb.
   In his views ofthe Russian Empire, the Rev.
 W. Tooke says, " It is not to be doubted that the
 Russians owe their longevity, their robust state of
 health, their little  disposition  to  certain mortal
 diseases, and their happy, cheerful temper, mostly
 to their baths.
   This remedy of nature's own invention, was em-
 ployed with so much success that, for five hundred
 years, Rome had no other physicians."
   M. Sarvay,inhis letters on Egypt, says, "The
 Egyptians employ the vapor bath, for the purpose
 of  procuring delightful sensations and removing
 that irksomeness and apathy  which is the concomi-
 tant of an idle and sensual life," &c.
   Remark.—The Turks, Egyptians and Russians
 bathe; the Persians and Hindoos champoon; the
 Russians plunge from the steam-room into rivers,
 or wallow in snow, and all for  " pleasure," "lux-
 ury," "delightful sensations,"dec.   And shall we
 be told that a Thomsonian steam-bath, with all its
 concomitant circumstances, which  would immea-
 surably enhance the value of the above mentioned
 vapor baths, is almost as much to  be  dreaded  as
 death itself?   Be assured,  my friends, that they
 who speak any evil of such a bath, are either very
ignorant themselves, or else they presume on  an 
132
ignorance in you, that is, to say the least of it,
disgraceful to a free and enlightened community.
  Dr. Cooper,  of South Carolina,  recommends a
steam apparatus much like those used by Botanic
Practitioners, and says he has often used it with a
happy effect.  Can the steam that is sanative and
luxurious in South Carolina and Russia, that pro-
cures delightful sensations and a beautiful glow in
the countenance in Egypt, Turkey and Persia, de-
stroy all the health and beauty ofthe robust sons
and fair daughters of this enlightened city!  For
myself, I can  safely declare that, in all my obser-
vations ofthe practice on persons  of all ages, of
both sexes, in a  great variety of conditions and
diseases, I have never known steam to do the least
harm.  On the contrary, I agree  most cordially
with the authors quoted, " that, when properly re-
gulated, the steam bath will  always be  attended
with advantage and safety."
   Here, perhaps, I  ought to close.  But the sim-
plicity,efficacy.and valueof the new mode oftreat-
ing diseases,  appear so much more evident, when
contrasted with the old, that I  feel it my duty to
present a  sketch of what a young  man has to do,
before lie is prepared to exercise the healing art in
 what is called the regular mode.  First—He must
learn the situation, figure,  proportion of—accord-
 ing to some authors, 210; according to others, 248
 bones in the  human system.   To  this knowledge
 he must  add a  similar acquaintance  with one
 hundred  and  ninety-eight pairs and nine  sepa-
 rate muscles, a vast number and variety ofarteries
 and veins; of nerves and their ramifications, and
 latt, but not  least, he  must  become  thoroughly
 acquainted with the structure, uses, position, &c.
 ofthe organs of respiration, of digestion, abeorp- 
133
tion, circulation and secretion.  These being all
tangible objects, time, patience and diligence, may
enable the student to  fasten their images on  his
mind.  But  his labor is just begun.   He  has now
to learn the  classes, orders, genera and species of
diseases, with a compound definition  to each, es-
pecially the latter, which amount,  according to
different nosologists, to from  eighteen to twenty-
five hundred.   In  one work he will  find different
species of disease ranged under the  same genus,
while in another, these species will not be deemed
worthy of a  place in the same class, and in a  third,
they will be considered anomalous, and thrown into
an appendix, as unworthy of a place in any  parti-
cular class.
  An  eminent medical writer remarks,  that  the
acquisition  and retention of  the specific descrip-
tions of diseases is utterly impossible, even to the
most tenacious mind; and Doctor Rush, in the ex-
ercise of the same feeling, scattered all nosologies
to the four  winds of heaven, directing his follow-
ers  to notice  only whether the symptoms  were
atonic or entonic, and  to stimulate or deplete ac-
cordingly.  But there are yet to be  learned  the
history, description and properties of 20,000 rem-
edies, and their association with the several disea-
ses which they are supposed to counteract.  And,
lastly,  he must learn  his  lesson in  Toxicology,
that is, how to counteract the influence of these
medicines, when they act as poisons instead of
remedies!   Thus caparisoned, he offers his  servi-
ces as a practitioner of medicine. But, just before
he is called  to a violent case of fever, he takes up
a book, entitled " The Application of the Princi-
ples of Philosophical Investigation to the Theory
and  Practice of Medicine."—By John Abercrom- 
134
 bie, M. D., F. R. S. E., and First Physician to
 his Slajesty in Scotland, and reads as follows:
   "A writer of high eminence has even hazarded
 the assertion that those persons are most confident
 in  regard to the characters of  disease, whose
 knowledge is most limited; and that extended ob-
 servation generally leads to doubt.  When, in the
 the  practice of medicine, we apply to new cases
 the knowledge acquired from others which we be-
 lieve to have been ofthe same nature, the difficul-
 ties are so great, that it is  doubtful whether, in
 any case, we can be said to act upon experience, as
 we do in other departments of science. For we have
 not the means of determining with certainty that
 the condition ofthe disease, the habit ofthe patient,
 and all the  circumstances which  enter  into the
 character ofthe affection, are in any  two cases,
 precisely  the same:  and if they differ in any one
 particular, we  cannot be said to aet from experi-
 ence, but only from analogy.  The difficulties and
 sources of uncertainty which meet us at  every
 stage of such investigations,  are in fact so numer-
 ous  and great, that those who have had the most
 extensive opportunities for observation,  will be
 the first to acknowledge that our pretended expe-
 rience must, in general, sink into analogy, and
 even our analogy too often into conjecture."
  "The following apologue," says D'Alembert,
 " made by a physician, a man of wit and of philo-
 sophy, represents very  well the state of that sci-
 ence."  "Nature," says he, "is fighting with dis-
 ease; a blind man armed with a  club; that is, the
 physician, comes to settle the difference.  He first
 tries  to make peace; when he cannot accomplish
this, he lifts his club and strikes at random; if he
strikes the disease, he kills it; if he strikes nature, 
135
he slays her."  "An eminent physician," says the
same writer, "renouncing a practice which he had
exercised  for thirty years, said"—"I am wearied
of guessing."
  "But,"  continues the  author,  "even after we
have  ascertained the  true relations and tenden-
cies  of things, we are constantly liable to disap-
pointment in medicine, when we endeavor to pro-
duce certain results by bringing these tendencies
into action.  This arises from the silent operation of
a new order of causes, by which the phenomena of
diseases are varied and modified, and by which the
action of external agents is aided, modified or coun-
teracted, in  a manner  which altogether eludes our
researches.   The causes which thus operate are,
certain powers in the  living  body  itself, the action
of which is entirely beyond our control; and others
arising out  of the peculiarities of age, sex, tem-
perament  of body or  mind, and mental emotions;
constituting a class of agents of  a most powerful
kind, of which it is impossible to estimate the  com-
bined operation.  It is farther to be kept in view,
that these various agents may be acting together,
or in opposition to each other, or under a variety
of combinations; and that, in reference to our  at-
tempts to act upon  the body  by remedies, they
may  be operating in concert  with, or in opposition
to, those attempts.  Hence arises a most extensive
source of  uncertainty, in  all our investigations, of
which it  is impossible to calculate the effect ox
the extent.   Hence arises also that apparent want
of uniformity in the phenomenaof disease, by which
we are so  much-impeded  in our researches, and in
the action of remedies,  by  which our efforts in
their use are so often  frustrated."   Indeed, "why
one medicine acts upon the stomach, another upon 
138
the bowels, a third upon the kidneys, a fourth upon
the skin,  we have not the smallest  conception.
We know only the uniformity ofthe facts."
  In  his Dispensatory, he reads—"Of the modus
operandi of mercury, we know nothing.  It seems
to subvert diseased action, by substituting its own
peculiar action for that of the  disease."  Well,
then, says the student, what is the peculiar action
ofthis remedy!   He turns to his manual of Toxi-
cology, and  is  there informed that mercury is a
poison,  which, if the constitution of the patient
should be unable  to shake it off, as the Apostle
did the viper, "without injuriry," " acts through
the medium ofthe circulation, promotessalivation,
rots the gums, loosens and destroys the teeth, and
often the bones ofthe face, produces stiffand incur-
vated limbs, cedematous swelling, with loss of ap-
petite, till death, in a few years, with a friendly
stroke, puts  a period to their sufferings."
  To a benevolent heart, such as wedelight to ac-
cord to every student of medicine, already bound-
ing with the desire, and high in the ecstacy ofthe
hope of soon being able to relieve the suffering of
its fellow creatures, the perusal of such paragraphs
as I have  just  now  quoted, must prove what in
common language  would be styled a real damper.
And so it appears to our young friend.  What, says
he, dropping the book on the table, and leisurely
raising his spectacles from his eyes, after all my
labor and expense, am I now to be assured  that I
cannot determine  with  certainty, the characters
ofthe most common  diseases, and whether I can
or not, are my  exertions to cure them, limited to
the use  of those means which, if they should fail
to produce the  desired effect, will most certainly
undermine and ruin the constitution of my patient! 
137
 For he had just now read as follows:—"The action
 of external agents on the body,, demands our atten-
 tion in two respects—as causes of disease and as
 remedies, in both  which respects their  action is
 fraught with the highest degree of uncertainty."
 Ah! says  he, medicines  then are to be considered
 both our poison and our antidote; our bane and  our
 blessing!   I almost  wish  I had never put up  my
 sign.—"Doctor,"  cries  a messenger at the door,
 "Mr. A. is very sick and requests your  presence
 immediately."   Though he would gladly be  ex-
 cused, yet for  consistency's sake he  must go.—
 He musters his lancet, his opium and calomel, and
 waits on the patient.   Here is a sick man to be
 sure, but the symptoms do not enable him to  de-
 termine to which of all the 2500 descriptions of dis-
 ease in  his  Nosology he ought to refer the case
 before him, and he feels the full force ofthe pas-
 sage in Dr. Abercrombie's work which he had
just read.   It  being  impossible to determine  the
exact state ofthe case,  he determines to treat it
on general principles.  The fever rages—he bleeds;
the head is delirious, opium is administered.  The
 tongue is rough and the skin sallow—so, though
 with much reluctance, and many misgivings, yet,
 because no substitute is known, down goes a dose
 of calomel, with orders to  clear it out with a ca-
thartic as speedily as possible, and the physician
departs with a trembling step  and a  heavy heart.
  With what different views and feelings the Bo-
tanic Physician approaches a  similar case, they
only can tell who have enjoyed  them.  He enters
the room—ho!j my friend you have a fever.  I  am
glad of that.   It shows that  you have some  life
in you.  We have only to add a little more to it and
you will soon be able to put your disease to flight, 
138
 He feels none  of the responsibility of destroying
 the  constitution of the patient, for he intends to
 give him nothing that would hurt him if well.  He
 does not fear being unable to reduce the inflamma-
 tory action, because he knows that all such effects
 are  produced by obstructions, and that the reme-
 dies he uses, in the language of Dr.  Barton, "act
 most unequivocally on the system;" and, if given in
 sufficient quantities, under proper circumstances,
 will infallibly disengage the o bstructions, expand
 the arteries  and veins and restore regularity to
 the action of the blood  and heat.  In the course
 of three hours all this  work is completed, and a
 few after tonics, with nutritious diet, restore the
 patient to his wonted health and activity.
   In addition to the testimony of Dr. Abercrom-
 bie and others adduced, I may state that instances
 not a few, have come under my own observation,
 in which experienced physicians have totally mis-
 understood the character ofthe diseases and prac-
 tised improperly according to their own principles.
 In not a few of these cases, after  the physicians
 had exhausted their  skill,,  the Botanist  speedily
 restored the patient to  health.  Our  time forbids
 me to give the particulars.
  Finally, friends,  I have given you a history of
 the discovery of trie Botanic remedies, and ofthe
 arrangement into a system  ofthe principles  they
 developed.  I have given you the  most flattering
 testimony of the most eminent medical  men, to
 the correctness  ofthe system and the value of the
 principal remedies.
  I have contrasted the simplicity ofthis system.,
 the ease and  expedition  with which it maybe ac-
quired, and the  safety and success  with which it
may be practised by  any man or vyoman of coiJi-< 
139
rnofl sense and decent education, with the vast la-
bor, expense, time, &c, of acquiring even a mod-
erate acquaintance with the  regular  practice, and
the great  danger and uncertainty in its exhibition
when acquired.  I hope, therefore, I shall  not be
criticised  harshly,  or  judged  uncharitably, if  I
conclude  this address by stating that, for simpli-
city of theory, facility  of attainment, certainty,
safety, and  efficacy  of  remedial  action, and last
but  not least,   the accommodation ofthe practice
to the capacity ofthe heads  of every family, thus
enabling them to afford instant relief, often, when,
ifthey were obliged to send  for a physician, the
disease would  accomplish the work of death before
he could  arrive, the Botanic  System of Medical
Practice,  in the opinion of your humble speaker, is
worthy of all acceptation.
      CONTROVERSY IN GEORGIA.

   If we are correctly informed, the State of Geor-
gia has a statute, imposing, on all medical practi-
tioners who cannot exhibit a diploma from  some
medical  college, a fine of five hundred dollars for
each  and every offence of saving the people from
death, or what is nearly or quite as bad, the poisons
and depletions  of "the regular medical practice."
One half of this fine goes to the support ofthe med-
ical aristocracy,  and the other, to him who, after
having been snatched, as it were, from  the very
jaws of death,  or seen his neighbor thus rescued,
is base enough  to make the practitioner suffer for
his benevolence, instead  of endeavoring to secure
to hira a suitable reward for his labor of love. 
140
  Notwithstanding the existence of such a statute,
an intelligent citizen informs us that there  are, in
that State, more than 20,000 Thomsonians who ut-
terly  refuse  to  bow the knee to  this "image of
Baal, which" the medical "Nebuchadnezzars have
set up."  Their influence  long ago rendered the
law a dead letter as to its  penalties; but, as they
were  unable to collect by law, the reward due them
for faithful services  solicited by others,  they last
year  (1834) began to talk of sending petitions for
a repeal of  the  old medical law, or rather  uncon-
stitutional act,  and the restitution to the people,
of the usurped right of employing whom they pleas-
ed  for a doctor, as well as a butcher, a cook or a
nurse, and to the practitioner thus  solicited, the
right to collect,  by law, remuneration for services
faithfully rendered.
   This proposition excited much talk in the land,
and elicited no little slander against the Thomso-
nian Practice.   Desirous to see "fair play" in the
contest, a gentleman of high standing for talents,
attainments  and influence, sent  to  the Editor of
the "Federal Union," the two  lectures preceed-
ing this note, with the following introduction, ex-
pressing his reasons for the request that they might
be published.

    BOTANIC SYSTEM OF MEDICINE.

    TO THE  EDITORS OF  THE FEDERAL UNION.

  Gentlemen—The attempt made, during the last
session of our Legislature, to tolerate, in Geor-
gia, the practice  of the Botanic System of Medi-
cine, has, I believe, excited a strong desire, in the
people generally of the State, to know something 
141
definite of that system, and  learn the amount of
its pretensions.   As it has, like most innovations,
been preceded by  an  evil name, justice requires
that its enemies should not be its only expositors.
Its friends ought to have a hearing, subject  to cor-
rection, and  the whole matter, untrammeled by
legislative shackles, should -be  committed  to  the
judgment of the public, whose award  would, what-
ever might be  advanced  to the reverse, be influ-
enced alone by utility.  Can  science ask a nobler
inquest, or justice more equitable terms!
  To further this object, I have to solicit that you
print the enclosed two Lectures, delivered, last au-
tumn, in the city of Baltimore.  They bear internal
evidence of emanating from no ordinary mind. Nei-
ther may the author, with reason, be  accused of ig-
norance,  being intimately acquainted  with  the
theory and practice ofthe regular school, while he
hashad ample opportunites of ascertaining the ten-
dencies of the new—nor can his sincerity in rela-
tion to facts, be suspected, his veracity and mor-
als standing unimpeached in the arena ofthe great-
est opposition to him, and the position taken by
him being in direct conflict with what would 'be his
personal interest, could  wealth seduce  him into
the  advocacy of  long-established opinions.   His
evidence  may not, however, be conclusive.   En-
thusiasm may have warped his judgment.   But, if
so,  it is the  aberrancy of cultivated  genius, bene-
ficently engaged in a  problem dear to the head and
sacred to the heart.
   Be that as it may, the  insertion, in your paper,
ofthe two Lectures, cannot be otherwise than de-
sirable, as a matter of information; and,  as the
knowledge and talent of the faculty are sufficient
to detect and expose any misrepresentations they 
142
may contain, you ought not, from apprehension of
consequent mischief, to  exclude them.  Indeed,
as the subject is one of "life and death," I feel as-
sured that you will,  with alacrity and  pleasure,
yield to the  wish of                EQUITY.
  April 14, 1835.
   The Editor of the Federal Union published the
 lectures with the following remarks.
   Botanic system of medicine.—At the request
 of a highly valued friend,  we publish, from the
 Thomsonian Recorder, two lectures on the Botan-
 ic  System of Medicine, which were delivered in
 Baltimore, by Dr. A. Curtis, of Richmond Virgi-
 nia. Dr, Curtis is a religious man, of good stand-
 ing in Richmond; and, so far as he narrates facts
 within his own knowledge, the fairness of his mor-
 al character is a voucher for the correctness of his
 statements.  (1)  In this controversy, almost all
 the talent and learning are confined to the ranks of
 the regular faculty;  and we invite any of them
 who are disposed to vindicate the ancient theories
 against this modern  innovation,  to  make  use of
 the columns of the  Federal Union  for that pur-
 pose.
   (1)   [This, we  afterwards accidentally  disco-
 vered that, somebody learned, by inquiry by letters
of prominent individuals living in Richmond.]
  In  answer to this invitation of the Editor, Dr.
Edward Deloney of Talbotton, Georgia, 6ent him
the following 
143
                 REMARKS,*

   Suggested  from reading  two Lectures on the
 Botanic system of Practice, delivered by  Dr. A.
 Curtis, of Richmond, Virginia, before the  Botanic
 Convention in Baltimore, October  16,  1834, and
 published in the Federal Union of the 14th. ult.
 at the instance of a writer over the signature of
 "Equity."
   Mr.  Editor—A writer, over the signature of
 "Equity," has  furnished the  public, through the
 columns of your paper, with two lectures, on the
 Botanic System of Practice, so called, by a Dr. A.
 Curtis, of Richmond,  Virginia; and,  as you very
 liberally offer your columns to a free discussion of
 this subject, I propose only to make a few remarks.
 In doing so, I am fully aware that I am bestowing
 on that subject  far more  attention than it merits.
 Perhaps silence, on a  subject which has  so little
 importance attached to it, would be the  better po-
 licy, and the best argument against a system which
 has no foundation in truth or common sense, and
 contrary to  all  enlightened reason.  In vain  has
 medical genius plodded the  wearisome, intricate
 and rugged path of medical science, if it is now to
 be thrown twenty-five hundred or three thousand
 years back  to find truth  among the long  cast off
 rubbish of the darkest ages of superstition, but
 such  cannot be the case.  We rejoice that  the
 days of witchcraft and conjuration have long since
 passed by, and the days of quackery will soon fol-

  *Hitherto we have corrected the orthography, manifest slips of
 the pen, and the typography, in the articles of our opponents, as
 we would wish they should do to ours under like circumstan-
ces. But we forbear such corrections in Dr. D's. articles, for rea-
sons which will  be giv£n hereafter.—Ed. 
144
low in their wake, and, although it may now seem
to be in the sunshine of its glory, it is indeed grat-
ifying to know that enlightened society wails its
momentary triumph.
   From the tenor ofthe remarks ofthe writer, in
your paper, who requested the publication  ofthe
two lectures referred to, it appears that he is desi-
rous for this system of practice to  be dubbed with
legislative  authority.   When the  legislature of
Georgia shall so far descend from its  high dignity,
as to licence a system of practice, if it may be so re-
spectfully called, which embraces  quackery in its
fullest perfection, we may well shudder for the safe-
ty ofthe human family in the management of human
disease—when life  shall thus  be  committed, by
lawful authority, into the hands of such  a charge.
Is not the writer, in your paper, aware ofthe char*
acter ofthe persons, as regards intellect, among
whom these steam  books are circulated, and who
it is that presumes to linker, in this daring man-
ner, with  the lives of their fellow  beings!  The
Bhocking results of such presumption, are already
too numerous, without giving  legislative  authority
for their tenfold  increase.  We trust that the en-
lightened lawmakers of Georgia will have more re-
spect for science in general, and  especially the
medical science,  in  the great perfection to  which
it has  attained  by the constant  and unwearied
labours of men ofthe most splendid genius that has
ever lived,  than thus shamefully  to mock  at the
glorious results of  medical research and  truthi
that now beams upon the world, by licencing a sys-
tem of ignorance that  can never   rise above the
most groveling superstition,  and whose motto is
havoc and dessolation.
   But to the subject-matter of the lectures.  The 
                      145

lecturer sets out with a great deal to say about
reason, its progress, improvement, perfection, &c;
 and, in his discusions on this head, he overthrows
completely the ground work of his whole system, at
least, 60 far as he attributes the discovery of Thom-
son's  steam-practice to the result  of enligHtened
reason; reason, he says is  an improvable faculty,
and all reasons are not right reasons.  If then rea-
son is an improvable faculty, the  longer the  exer-
cise of this faculty is employed in the investigation
of any one  subject,  the nearer to perfection and
truth, the results ofthis investigation must lead us.
Science is ever on the march, and continually open-
ing to our  senses new fields in which the  mind
may rove,  without control, gathering the fresh and
most beautiful flowers.   And, if we are behind the
age of improvement in which we live, we often be-
come perplexed and entangled in a labyrinth of maz-
es, destitute of the power or  means of extricating
ourselves from the difficulties which seem to sur-
round us; and this is because we have not kept pace
with the march of improvement. Our reason and un-
derstanding is not sufficiently enlightened to enable
us to behold the beauties and excellence ofthe sub-
ject which seem to mistify our ideas, and perplex
and mortify cur feelings.  Many persons, in this
situation, call smarter men than themselves, 'fools;'
because they have not sense  enough to understand
them; and thus we may account why it is that Thom-
son has so frequently  taken it  upon himself to
dub the  members of the medical profession with
the very polite and genteel appellation of "learned
fools."
  But to return: the march of enlightened reason,
truth and science, as we have said, is onward, not
like the generations  of men, which pass  into the
                   10 
146
shades of oblivion and is forgotten; but they stand
as beacon-lights to the  rising genius, are grasped
with avidity and investigated with  care and dili-
gence—the  impurities  and rubbish loped off, and
the truths which  are  sifted from the chaff, are
treasured up in sacred keeping.  Thus fortified,
the young mind, vigorous and in the prime of its
youthful  strength,  like a tender vine,  towering
from limb to limb, securing firmly, in its winding
grasp, the  sturdy  branches that is to support it
in its more mature and fruitful age, seeks after
increasing light and truth.  Thus it  is, the little
boy often years old, may learn his younger brother
the A. B. C.  So reason,  truth and science, wends
their way, opening, to our enchanted view, vaster
and brighter fields.
  But says the lecturer, "all reasons are not right
reasons."  This may be very true, and easily ac-
counted  for: men frequently  reason  wrongfully
from wrong impressions;  they  are completely in
the dark as  regards the subject-matter of a thing,
on which they attempt to  reason; their minds have
never been  enlightened by the bright  beams of
truth and experience, flowing from the investiga-
tions and researches of men who have lived  before
them, and they must draw their own conclusions
in the dark, of course, crude and erroneous, hap-
hazzard and at a venture, just as the rude imagina-
tion may suggest.    Here then is man, in his
primitive and unenlightened condition, with no
guide but chance, and no reason but instinct; and
this  is the  situation in which  we find  Thomson
and his Practice.  Without the aid ofthe smallest
axperience or literary  attainment,  a mind of the
most ordinary  capacity,  his  dwelling  obscurity,
with the presumption of a philosophic fop, he  comes 
147
forward, by his deluded followers  with a theory,
as old as the hills and a practice as dangerous as
it is ridiculous and nonsensical, in  bold opposition
to the experience and investigations of the great-
est men of genius in the different ages ofthe world,
from the days of Hypocrates, yea, from the days
of Adam down to the present period.   Surely the
lecturer could not have the presumption to speak
of the progress and improvement of reason  as hav-
ing attained to perfection  during the natural life
of one  single individual in the person of  Samuel
Thomson, if he would  reflect for  a moment, how
many hundreds of years  have passed  in  the im-
provement of reason and science and  the investi-
gation of truth, without yet having attained to the
perfection of either.  If then we would wish to be
guided by right reason, we must look to the expe-
rimental and common sense proofs of science, which
result from the investigations of minds and genius
guided and directed by  the light of truth and plain
facts, and not to new fangled doctrines or hypothe-
sis, which have their origin  alone in ignorance
and superstition, disappointed ambition or derang-
ed imagination, as dangerous in their consequen-
ces as they are unnatural and subversive of  all
principle.
   We will proceed.  The lecturer observes, "it is
thought impossible for a man, whose education has
not enabled him to profit by the experience of those
who have lived before him, to discover natural laws
and lay down rules  of science which shall be wor-
thy ofthe attention ofthe most profound scholars
ofthe age."   From the very tenor ofthe remarks
of this quotation, the lecturer evidently disbelieves
the position  himself,  and any man, according to
his views, who may just have emerged from obscu- 
148
rity, without reason, experience or common sense,
is as capable of laying down rules of science worthy
of the attention of the  most profound scholars of
the age, as any other man, though he may possess
all the light a.nd knowledge which the progress and
improvement  of reason has shed upon the human
race, from its earliest existence; and, in this posi-
tion ofthe lecturer, he controverts and completely
overthrows all his previous arguments: for says he,
"it is said that Dr. Thomson was and is an  igno-
rant man, and therefore unqualified  to teach pro-
fessors their art, (and so say we if reason is an im-
provable faculty ■) Ignorant! of what was he  igno-
rant! of Latin, Greek and the names applied to dis-
ease.   Grant it.  But of what use are Latin and
Greek  in helping a man to discover the effect of
an  external  agent on the body!  Cannot a man
witness the operation of lobelia, without knowing
that the doctors  call this peculiar  effect ofthe sys-
tem emesis?"  What, we ask, could be a more per-
fect and contemptable ridicule  of the improvement
of reason, of right reason, and the march of sci-
ence and knowledge, than is contained in the above
short quotation  from the lecture!   He asks, of
what use  is Latin and Greek in helping a man to
discover the effect of an external agent on the body!
We answer  by  a  knowledge of the  Latin and
Greek languages we are enabled to understand the
the  improvements  which were made in the arts
and sciences and the progress  of enlightened rea-
son, in the days  when those languages were used
among learned   men in  writing  down the re-
sults of their  researches  and  experiments.   Did
Dr. Thomson know there was such a thing as med-
icine before he heard some person say  so!  It is
well known  that he did  not create such a word;
and  is not the lecturer aware that the  Bible, which 
149
has shed such blessings and benefits upon the world
was originally written in the Hebrew  and Greek
languages; and does he suppose that Samuel Thom-
son or  himself would have ever known any thing
about the glorious promises that are contained in
the lids of that  precious volume, if some of the
learned fools, as  he is pleased to call them, had
not been able to translate that book into plain
English!  Thus  much have we gained by a knowl-
edge ofthe Latin and Greek in the progress of re-
ligious science and the improvement  ofreason.—
By understanding the Latin and Greek languages,
we are enabled to understand the theory and the
mode of treatment and  remedies used  by the an-
cients  in the cure of diseases.  Thus understand-
ing, our reason becomes enlightened and "improv-
ed" by their experience, and we may be enabled
to profit by the results of that experience.  Does
the lecturer suppose that a Frenchman, who knows
nothing ofthe English language, could derive any
benefit from  Thomson's book  or his own lectures.
But he says  "cannot a man witness the operation
of Lobelia,  without knowing that the doctors call
this peculiar operation emesis?"  Granted: so, in
ancient days, did  the people know that winter
came,  spring, summer and autumn  followed and
winter came again, that day and nigbt in regular
rotation, went on their unwearied course,  but
they knew not the cause ofthis regular routine of
season, and light and darkness.  What now has
enlightened  us in this sublime and grand organiza-
tion of nature, but the improvement ofreason and
the march of science!   Thomson,  or any other
man of common sense, might see the peculiar ac-
tion of any agent on the human system, so did the
first Physician in the world mark these peculiar ef-
fects of plants or medicines on the human system, 
150
  but he knew not the mode of operation by which
  these effects were produced, and it was left for other
  men who were to succeed him, to improve by his ob-
  servations and by the lights, which his experience
  had thrown on this subject. So reason progressed and
  the arts and sciences improved, but it now seems to
  be the opinion of some that medical science shall a-
  gain go back to those rude & uncultivated ages, that
  we shall throw away the lights of [yes;Dr.Lieutaud,
  Synopsis, page  1st, and most ofthe French and
  marry of the English writers ofthe present day, are
  ofthis opinion] experience and science, and again
  start anew, or in  other words shall throw away
  the correct principle of medical theory and prac-
  tice  which now  prevail  and is  founded in truth,
  and  take up Samuel Thomson's lobelia and steam
  practice and all will be well.
     As we proceed onward with the Lectures, we
  get deeper and deeper into the nonsensical jargon
  ofthe  champion of steam.  The Leeturer says;
  " Dr. Thomson  tells physicians that undertheir
  very feet grow  sure and  safe  remedies for  all
1 'diseases.   That cannot be, say they; for we have
  searched four thousand  years  without finding
  them.  You have  searched  after poisons instead
  of antidotes, says  Thomson."  Now this con-
  fab of the champion of steam no doubt was thought
  wonderfully sagacious and edyfying, by the learn-
  ed Lecturer, we  suppose then that Dr. Thomson
  was the first to discover, from the numerous plants
  which  grow out  of the earth, the only sure and
  safe remedies for all diseases, and when we come
  to  find out the true  nature of these sure and safe
  remedies—they all settle down into the famous Lo-
  belia, the remedy of remedies.  [Thomsonians use
  from fifty to one  hundred articles.  Dr.  Thomson 
151
describes more  than seventy.—Ed.]  I  wonder
what the physicians done for sure and safe reme-
dies  before Dr. Thomson was born!  But the  in-
consistencies, which are contained in  the above
short quotation  are actually so glaring, that they
are  absolutely  provoking.  [It is always very
" provoking" to  a contentious man, to find some-
thing that he  is totally unable  to  answer.—Ed.]
First, he tells you that diseases are all one : and,
in the very next breath, he says, that Dr. Thorn-
son  tells you  that under  your  feet sure and safe
remedies for all diseases; [yes, all that you, doc-
tors call diseases.   We consider them only symp-
toms of disease.—Ed.]  again he says, "you have
searched after poisons instead of antidotes." Won-
derful indeed ! and is not Lobelia a poison, a very
deleterious poison!   Are not all medicines, which
have a decided impression on the system, contra-
ry to a natural and  healthy action, decidedly poi-
son, which, if used without judgment, and in suf-
ficient quantities, will destroy life !   And yet Dr.
Thomson, through  his agent Dr. Curtis, charges
the medical profession with hunting after poisons,
when, at the same time, the  very champion-medi-
cine of their quack  system, I mean Lobelia, is one
among the most violent drastic and deleterious poi-
sons in the whole materia Medica, or of which the
vegetable kingdom can boast.   [Alas for Dr. D.'s
experience!—Ed.]
  We have now come to the very quintessence of
the first lecture:  and the Lecturer takes a cholera
patient  to illustrate the unbounded and universal-
ly good  effects of steam.  It must, indeed, be a
misfortune with  the  Thomsonians, that all disea-
ses are  not the  cholera.  He says, " there is a
cholera  patient,  surrounded with a host of the re- 
152
gular faculty.   A exclaims, ah ! this is a  bad
case; what shall be done!  Bleed freely, says B.
Calomel is my remedy, says C.  Give him the
warm bath and camphor, says D. Emetics are my
chief dependence, says  E."—and so he goes on
through the whole alphabet with this  imaginary
Blang, until he makes the patient in imagination
of his  hearers or  readers, in the last  agonies of
death, when, lo and behold !  in comes a Thom-
sonian by chance, at this fortunate moment,  and
steams the dying patient into life and activity at
once; [We did not say this.—Ed.] we must con-
fess that we are stumped here, and are compelled
for the first time,  and we promise it  shall be the
last, to resort to the Lecturer's own mode of rea-
soning to confute his very forcible imaginary argu-
ments.   We will then say also, there is a cholera
patient  who  has unfortunately fallen  into  the
hands ofthe Thomsonians, and a caravan of them
has now surrounded  him.  One says, ah! this is a
dreadful case; what shall be done, says another?
Steam him! steam him!! one  and all cry out in a
most stentorian voice, that  reaches  even to  the
dark abodes of death.    On to the fire  the kettles
go, and a general-rustling for blankets now ensues,
and the poor fellow  is wrapped up like a mummy
and hoisted over pot or steam tub, as the case may
be. The unfortunate patient bears the intolerable
suffocation for awhile—nature at length becomes
exhausted, and life is fled—the head of the patient
falls upon  his shoulder, and  his  eyes are fixed in
ghastly death; and this is the first discovery they
make ofthe result of their remedy. All hands now
drop him simultaneously, and scamper off as fast
as they can, like  frightened rats from a barn on
fire.  The poor fellow, thus left, of course tumbles 
*                153
into the tub ; and,  if he is not quite dead from
Bteam, he is soon scalded to death.
  After a good deal of such reasoning as the sam-
ple we have given in the above quotation, in praise
of the steam practice,  the  Lecturer brings  the
whole sum  and substance ofthe treatment of their
patients, by the Thomsonians to this; He says:
  " If they find the patient cold, they heat him;
  If feverish, they sweat him;
  If vomiting, they clear out the offensive matter;
  If weak, they strengthen him;
  If cramped, they relax his muscles;
  If obstructed, they  remove the  obstructacles;
[This word, which the  Doctor appears to use as if
he had copied it from our lectures,  is one  of his
own coining.  We never wrote it.—Ed.]
  And if hungry, they feed him."
  Are all these different situations of their patient,
all to  be relieved by one plan of treatment?  The
remedy, however, for the last condition ofthe pa-
tient, hunger, if no other, we should rather  feel
disposed to doubt, at least, from some of the sam-
ples we have seen of these Thomsonians; and we
will give a case in point, to illustrate their ability
for applying  this remedy.   One of  them happen-
ing to pass  through this county not very long
since, introduced himself to a medical friend  and
acquaintance of ours; and proposed  to sell  him a
little  mutilated  book,  having the appearance of
being handled in no very decent manner, for  the
round sum  of twenty dollars.  The  physician not
feeling much disposed to give so large a price for
so small a  book, at once refused.  The Thomson-
ian, no ways disheartened, began to describe its
great worth and value, went on along rigmarole of
scientific jabber, and ended  at last with offering 
154
his book for fifteen  dollars.  Meeting with the
same success as before, he offered it again for ten
dollars; and here he was again disappointed. Still
not wishing to fail,  he proposed to sell it for five
dollars.  Still he was unsuccessful.   He resolved
to make one last and  powerful effort.  He appeal-
ed to the generosity  of the  physician, related his
distresses, and again offered his  book  for two dol-
lars and a half.   The physician, for  the sake of
charity, gave him some small amount,  with the
advice not  to offer his book  again for sale.  The
next news  he heard ofthe Thomsonian, he was not
very far off, lying drunk in the side ofthe road.
Having applied  the steam too freely, he keeled
up.  Whether the boiler bursted  or  not, we did
not learn, but presume however, that  he remained
until the obstructacles were removed and the offen-
sive matter cleared out.
   But  with regard to the plans ofthe regular phy-
sician's.  If they find their patient cold, feverish,
vomiting, cramped,  &c.  &c,  they  endeavor to
search out  the cause which has produced this un-
healthy condition of  the system, and  apply  those
remedies, which in their own judgment and by the
experience of others, seem most proper and best
calculated to remove  this offending cause and res-
tore the health ofthe patient—and,  if they find
him hungry, they  advise  him to labor for his
bread—if unable to labor, they are always ready to
feed him.            r
   The lecturer goes  on, in his remarks, by endea-
voring to establish the idea  that all  diseases are
one and the same, and therefore, that there is one
remedy capable of curing all diseases, steam we
presume he alludes to.  [No such thing is in the
lectures.—Ed.]   To substantiate this position, ha 
155
has  thought proper  to refer us to the various
crimes committed by  the  inmates of a  prison as
proceeding from one  cause,  the " corruption of
the human heart," and says, " it is as easy for
him  (alluding to our Creator) to provide one uni-
versal remedy for  the cure of the diseases of the
body, as it is for  the  cure ofthe sin sick soul,"
meaning the blood of Christ.   What an  example
of piety does he here set in making use of such re-
marks as these, in a controversial lecture.   And
has he not found out yet  the great difference be-
tween the organized human system of material mat-
ter,  and  the immaterial soul!  What a manifesta-
tion of consummate  ignorance is here  displayed!
We believe as fully in the  powers ofthe Almighty,
as Dr. Curtis or any other man; and we believe
too  that he  has the power  to  create a remedy,
whose virtues would be  fully competent for the
cure of all diseases, to which the human  system is
liable.   [This is all we said on the subject.—Ed.]
But the question is, has such an individual remedy
been  created!  We think not.   Why!   Because
we now have among those already created, medi-
cines which are capable of producing almost every
effect on the  human  system that can be desired.
The creation of all those remedies would therefore
have been entirely unnecessary, if there existed
one single one, which possessed all their virtues.
We have emetics and cathartics, medicines which
promote  the flow of urine  and the secretion of per-
spiration, medicines which cool the system  and
stimulate it, medicines which check pain, which
compose the system, and make us sleep, medicines
which  will check the flow  of blood, purify and heal
the wounds  of our flesh,   and  a  host of others.—
What  more  could we have  asked  of a bountiful 
156
creator!  The disease of death we expect not to
relieve, even the blood of Christ has not exempted
us from this dreadful disease.
  But  the  Steam Doctors will tell you; we can
cure all diseases.  Nothing to do but to heat you
when you is cold, sweat you, when you have fever,
clear out the offensive matter, strengthen you when
weak, relax your muscles when cramped, remove
the obstructacles, and feed you when you is hungry,
and all these different diseased conditions ofthe sys-
tem flow from one precious cause, called KAKER,
this is the source of all  disease, like sin it is the
source of all the varied crimes, and this kanker is to
be removed from the system by steam and Lobelia
and disease ceases. Just like the blood ofChristin
removing sin from the  heart,  and crimes cease.
Wonderful indeed! What a world of people we shall
have after  awhile; just let us have a  few more
steam doctors in the country, and there will be no
chance for  dying.  Bless me! what an age we shall
all live to be.  What happy fellows!  Oh! how de-
lightful the idea, to think that we shall live as
long as the old patriarchs, even Mathuselah him-
self.
   We come to the second Lecture.   At the very
outset, in  the very first sentence of this lecture,
the gentleman has made a precious confession.—
He says  "the  Botanic system of medical practice
is altogether the fruit of experience."  Thus it is,
that he endeavors to set up the few short years
experience of one man and his deluded followers
in opposition to ages and even centuries of expe-
rience that are  past and gone; and this is the esti-
mation in which he holds the advantages to be  de-
rived from  the  "progress, improvement and per-
fection ofreason."  The very language ofthe fol- 
157
lowing quotation is enough, if there was nothing
else, to condemn this practice as rude, full of er-
rors, superstitious and dangerous in the extreme.
He says, "in his youth, the author ofthis system
(Thomson) providentially discovered that a certain
plant (the Lobelia) possessed the power to eject in
a short time, with very little pain  or inconveni-
ence and with no evil consequences whatever, any
foreign or morbid (I wonder where he found what
morbid  meant) [just where he found what/ather,
mother,  or son, means;  viz: in  the speech of his
parents, and  the populace about  him, as well as in
the  English dictionaries—Ed.]  matter from the
human stomach," thus placing the whole  system
on the ground of accident, and the result  of luck
and on the same footing with the state of medical
knowledge some  four or  five thousand years ago,
and at the very same time urging it upon the peo-
ple of the present civilized and enlightened age,
in  opposition to  all  experience and  enlightened
reason,  as  the only correct and safe principle
of medical practice, what impudent presumption.
   But the assertion which he has made, as to the
discovery of Lobelia and its properties, is not true.
 [He did not assert that Dr. Thomson discovered the
plant.—Ed.]   The discovery of this plant was
made long  before the fortunate birth of Samuel
Thomson, and its properties were well known.—
When he asserts,  then, that this plant is harmless
in its consequences, he assumes a position contrary
to truth, as established by positive facts.  [These
are mere assertions  that  Dr.  Deloney has not
proved and  cannot prove.—Ed.]
   Again: in his first lecture, he labors to prove that
his system of practice, was the result of the pro-
gress, improvement and perfection of reason,  as 
158
operating on Samuel Thomson.  In the first sen-
tence of the second Lecture, he says that the Bo-
tanic system of practice is altogether the fruit of
Samuel  Thomsons' experience;  and in the very
next breath, he  says  it was the providential dis-
covery of Samuel Thomson.   [It—the emetic pro-
perty of lobelia. The Doctor, notwithstanding his
flourish  about Latin and Greek, is so ignorant of
grammar that he cannot perceive to what the pro-
nouns refer.—Ed.]   What beautiful logic, how ad-
mirably  consistent", a mere accident, the fruits of
chance, yet in this accidental,hap-hazzard, chance-
work, how many of our fellow-citizens do we find,
ready to risk their  lives,  plunging heedlessly and
headlong into the most iminent dangers.
   But to proceed.  The Lecturer  makes an at-
tempt to give his theoratical views ofthe cause of
disease  and its cure, and then goes on to relate the
great and good effects  of steam  in several cases,
which cases, we believe from good reasons, never
occured: first, because he is vague and  indefinite
in the  relation of every case; second, he neither
gives the name or  residence of the patient; third,
he does not state who the physician was that attend-
ed these patients and failed in their efforts to cure.
Thus leaving no clue by which the facts, which he
presumes to relate, may be investigated and the
truth of them ascertained; and fourth, the  advo-
cates of a system or doctrine which is so important
to the welfare ofthe human family, and on the suc-
cess of which they must feel a lively and excited
interest, would not hesitate, yea would grasp with
avidity, to lay before the  public eye, every tangi-
blefactthaX might tend to establish those doctrines.
But such is not the case.  We hear ofthe wonderi
which haye been effected by these Thomsonians, in 
                     159

the cure of disease, but they are always at a dis-
tance, and  nobody  else knows any thing about
them, and so they go.
  But to the theory, and it is only necessary to
make a  quotation of two short paragraphs, which
contains the whole of it.  He says, "whenever ob-
structions clog the operations of life at the fountain,
the vital heat diminishes, the arteries and veins
of the extremities become  partially collapsed for
want of heat  in the blood to keep them expanded,
a smaller quantity of blood than usual -passes
through them, and  of course the  vibrations must
become more frequent to pass the whole through
them [through the heart]  in a given time.   Ano-
ther consequence is an undue accumulation of blood
and heat in the heart, lungs and brain,  which heat
presently  finds its  way to the  contracted  skin
where it accumulates,  looks angry, and produces
the peculiar effect denomiated fever."  So much
for the the theory of disease, and now to the theory
ofthe cure.  "To expel this fever, we supply the
fountain with  additional  heat, apply warmth and
moisture to the surface to relax the  pores, and
then  exercise to action  the secretory vessels by
means of diffusible stimulants, (I wonder what kind
of heat he supplies the fountain with before he uses
the diffusible  stimulants.)   [We  did not say that
we supply it with any kind "before;"  that which
we add is partly artificial, as heat in the teas,
and  partly natural,  as produced  by the action of
the  living  principle on   the  stimulants.—Ed.]
When  all the proper evacuations from the pores
ofthe surface; the stomach, &c.  are effected, that
is, when the obstructions are removed, the cause of
fever is gone, the arteries and veins being warmed
and  expanded, the  blood  returns  through them 
160
(whoever heard  of blood  returning through the
arteries) in its usual quantity, the digestive organs
being  relieved are enabled to resume their duty,
there is no more occasion for  fever, the man is
well."   Easier said than done we think.   [To re-
turn, is to go again in the same path trod before;
thus, a man goes out and returns home; and then
he returns to the spot to  which he first went; so
the blood goes in the veins to the heart and returns
by the surface, by the arteries, &c.—Ed.]
  In the first paragraph, where he has couched his
theory of diseased action, he is contradictory and
vague from beginning to  end.  Let us see. "When
obstructions clog the operations of life at the foun-
tain."   W'la-t kind  of  obstructions does  he here
allude to!   Will he inform us!  And where does
he conceive the fountain  of life to  be situated)—
It cannot be in the heart, lungs or brain; for, says
he in  the latter part ofthe paragraph, "an undue
accumulation of blood and heatv in these organs
is the mere consequence  ofthe obstructions, which
clog the operations of life at the fountain.   Then
where shall we find this precious "fountain," which
it seems, is so necessary and essential to be kept
purified ofthe obstructions, of which he speaks.—
Again, he says,  "when  obstructions clog the ope-
rations of life  at the fountain, the vital heat ''; ;.?'/;•
ishes," the arteries and veins become coliao;. •> :"<.;."
want of heat in the blood to keen them e>.     ■?>.'•
and yet another consequence cf<hese same; ■:;,
lions is an undue accumulation of blood and Ik:;::'.11
the heart, which finds its way to the extremeUeH
and causes fever. Again, he sayv, from these "ob-
structions which clog the operations of life," &c.
a smaller quantity of blood  than  usual  passes
through the arteries  and  veins.   Of course the vi' 
161
brations  must become more  frequent to pass  the
whole through in a given time," whilst these same
"obstructions" causes a greater quantity of blood
and heat than usual around the heart, which blood
finds its  way in greater quantities through  the
artereal  system to  the surface  and extremities,
distends the vessels ofthe skin and  produces heat
ovre the  whole body, which  heat is denominated
fever.  Again, we repeat, so much  for this theory
of disease.
  We will now proceed to examine his plan ofthe
cure of diseases, and very little is necessary to be
said, under this head.   All  diseases then he con-
siders as  an  unit—all proceeding  from the same
cause, viz: "the obstructions which clog the ope-
rations of life at the fountain."   [Not always at
the fountain, Doctor.   We said when they clog at
the fountain;  not they always  do it at the fountain,
&c.—Ed.]  Than this, he has given no other cause
of diseased action;  consequently according to his
theory, all diseases must be one and the same.—
Now, in the practice of the regular physician, they
conceive it  a most essential circumstance in  the
cure of diseases, to find out first, the seat and char-
acter of the disease, and the nature of particular
organ  or part ofthe system  diseased, and this is
one of the first and main points in the succssful
treatment of disease.  But the  Lecturer  has  left
us entirely in  the dark in this  important point.
In his theory of treatment,  he  has only  told us,
in general terms, that the "obstructions which clog
the operations of life at the fountain," are the sourca
or cause  of all disease.   He has not told  us [we
did tell him in the preceding paragraph—"should
the stomach,"  &c.   " The  stoamach is the cen
tre of sympathies."—Hunter.} where be conceives
               11 
162
the fountain of life to be seated, or which particu-
lar organ, if any  one, he considers to be this foun-
tain, nor has  he informed us through what chan-
nel we may be enabled to direct our remedies so as
to reach and remove those obstructions which so
materially clog the operations of life.  He has not
told us  even the nature of those obstructions,  nor
by what peculiar manner or agency they approach
and operate on the human system, so as to clog so
effectually all the healthy operations of life.  How
then does he expect us to remove a disease, unless
we are  fully acquainted with the peculiar charac-
ter ofthat disease, in what part ofthe system it is
located and the character  of the organ diseased—
whereby we may be  enabled to understand  the
proper plan of treatment  and the peculiar means
which are best adapted to carry out  this  plan to a
successful issue.  But he  leaps  over entirely, all
this important information which is so necessary
for us to know in the removal of diseases, and is
content to recommend means for the removal only
of what is the mere effect of the cause; for says he,
whenever obstructions clog the "operations of life
at the fountain," the effect of these obstructions "is
an undue  accumulation of blood and heat in  the
heart,  lungs and brain, which  [heat]  presently
finds its way to  the contracted skin where it  ac-
cumulates,  looks  angry and produces fever."—
And he says, to  expel  this fever (not the caust,
mind you,) "we supply the  fountain (here again
we should like to know where and what the foun-
tain is and how to supply  it) with additional heat,
apply warmth and moisture  (meaning  steam) to
the surface to relax the pores,"  &cc. and thus he
effects his cures: so whatever causes  an effect, you
have only to increase that cause to remove its effect. 
1G3
 [We said the cause was obstruction, and we in-
 creased the fever;  but  Dr. Deloney, will  not or
 cannot understand English; he is too much wrapped
 up in Latin  and Greek—Ed.]  Wonderful  rea-
 soning indeed!   If  then an undue accumulation of
 blood and heat in the heart, lungs and brain, finds
 its way to the skin and causes fever, you have only
 to increase this heat, to remove the fever which it
 has caused.   If you would extinguish the burning
 flame  you have only to add to it fresh fuel.   Ifyou
 would  rest the jaded steed, you have only to apply
 the whip  and spur.
   We have followed our Lecturer, and pointed out
 the glaring inconsistencies through which he has
 travelled until our patience is wearied.  We have
 gone through his unreasonable reasoning as regads
 the application of the progress, improvement and
 perfection of reason, with his system  of practice,
 and we have pointed out his inconsistencies there.
 We have  gone through his theory of disease and
 his  cure, the  ground work of his hopes  and the
 fabrick of his  system—there we find him vague and
 erroneous without consistency and without princi-
 ple—as the work of chance and  accident, indis-
 tinct and  confused, without foundation in truth or
 matter of fact  Consequently the whole superstruc-
 ture tumbles to the ground, a mouldering monu-
 ment of the perfection of human ignorance  soon
 destined to pass into utter annihilation and obiiv-
 ion.   [Thus you reject sound medical philosophy,
 because you have not talent and education enough
 to understand the  plain English  in  which it if
conveyed.—Ed.]
  We have perused the balance ofthe lecture.   It
contains nothing of importance—in good keeping
however as regards  matter  and reasoning with 
164
the former part—an attempted eulogy only on the
great virtues ofthe system, and a list of imaginary
cases in which its results were so glorious.   Hol-
low vessels sound the loudest and this is all we can
say in reply to the conclusion  of the lecture.
  We will now draw our remarks to a conclusion
with only a few more observations. There are many
of these Thomsonians who remind us of some disap-
pointed physician, who, from want of talents and
skill, fails  of success with his patients, and looses
his practice.  Vexed at his  fate, he  is ready to
grasp at  any system of quackery by which be may
impose on the credulity ofthe people and gratify a
weak and  grovelling ambition, rather than go to
work and earn his bread by honest labor—of asim-
pleheaded  lawyer, who,  because he has not talents
to support the dignity  of his profession beyond
the sphere of a district court, is ready to vilify  and
abuse his smarter brethren—of a disappointed pol-
itician, who, not having talents enough to raise
him in the estimation of the people, or virtue and
patriotism to sustain him, you  find him shifting
from one side to the other, eagerly seizing upon
and  advocating  every  new-fangled doctrine  that
is introduced into the country,  in order that he
may swim an hour or two on the current, and at
last sink down disrespected and despised, a victim
to his own folly.
   From what reason or authority, we would  ask,
have these Thomsonians for assuming  the name
of  "botanical"  for their system of practice!  Do
they not rely as much or more in "steam" than any
other means! and why  not  at once call it by iti
proper name "the steam system!"   Do  these men
make use of a greater number of botanical or vege-
table remedies than the medical profession.  Let 
165
us see.   In the American Dispensatory of the reg-
ular physicians,  we find six or eight hundred or
more of botanical remedies, all exercising a spe-
cific action, and among them the famous lobelia,
while the Thomsonians it appears only makes use
of some two or three dozen?   [Oh no, Dr. Deloney.
They all resolve themselves into the famous lobe-
lia, the remedy of remedies."—Ed.]  Which sys-
tem then is most entitled to the name of botanic?-^-
that which has  assumed it without reasonable
ground or authority, or that which neither has nor
wishes to do so!  VVas it for the purpose of adding
popularity  to their system by a name which might
be calculated to induce a belief that they excluded
from their system the use of all mineral remedies,
that they were thus induced to assume  the name
of "botanic?"—and is the name and effect  of min-
al medicine so odious to the feelings and dangerous
in their  operations on  the  human  system as to
frighten  these  Thomsonians into  convulsions at
the very sound  of their name!  Are they so simple
as not to believe that our benificent Creator could
provide as good and effectual remedies*for the cure
of disease, in the bowels of the earth, as on its
surface, which  would operate as beneficially and
with as little danger as even the renowned lobe-
belia itself!   Nothing  but  shear  ignorance  and
perfect stupidity could induce a belief otherwise
than this.
  Let us then proceed to examine into the virtues
of some of these  mineral remedies, which appear
so frightful to these Thomsonians.   First then we
will name  the much abused and despised article
called Calomel.  And  what of calomel.  In  the
first place,  it will purge your stomach and bowels
of all "obstructions" and  [There  must be some 
166
misprint here; but, as we know not what the Doc-
tor wrote, we dare not supply what  appears to ua
to be wanted.—Ed.] rations of Copper, of Antimo-
ny, of Tin, of Lead, acrid collections, and that ef-
fectually and salutary—it will control the excited
and  unequal action, of the system and produce  a
general equilibrium in all the  secretions—it  will
"open the pores  of the skin" and remove fever__
it will give strength and tone to the general sys-
tem—it will  control  the inordinate action of the
liver, and regulate the  secretion of bile—it  will
curb and  reduce  the inflammatory  action in thfr
circulating system, and it will stimulate this same
system and add impetus to its circulation—it  will
promote digestion, because it has the power of re-
moving  indigestion—in short,  it has  the power
of curing more diseases than one half ofthe whole
list  of  botanic remedies all put  together, with
lobelia and steam  to help them.  We have many
other superior remedies of the  mineral  kingdom;
 but  it will assume too much time and space to de-
scribe their virtues, there are various preparations
of Iron, of Silver, and a host of others, amounting
in all to more  than three  hundred mineral reme-
dies; and  then there  are  remedies ofthe animal
kingdom.  What  physician can be  found  who
would consent to  exclude from his practice the
use of Spanish flies, musk or even the simple ar-
ticle of hogs lard!  And  yet  says these Thomso-
nians, all these excellent remedies ofthe mineral
and animal kingdoms,  the  blessings  of a providen-
tial creation, are nothing but so  many poispns  and
unfit for the  uses  of man.  What  an attempted
reproach on the wisdom  of our heavenly Benefac-
tor,  is this bold  audacity  and  presumption  in a
frail and deluded set of men, the mere creatures of
a breath! 
167
   But to  conclude,  and we  trust it will not be
 thought presumption in us to do so by an admoni-
 tion to our fellow-citizens  to  beware  how they
 suffer  themselves tinkered upon by these botanic
 system quacks.  Dangers unperceived follow their
 daily footsteps, and  lurk  around them  wherever
 they move.  They  are deceived and deluded into
 error,  and they  will rush headlong  and thought-
 lessly into their experiments  and practice on a
 system or machinery the delicate construction and
 principles  of which they know nothing about.—
 Ask yourselves this simple question, why cannot
 I make a watch!  The answer is plain; because
 you have not studied or investigated the principles,
 organization and structure of a  watch.   Suppose
 the  machinery of this watch becomes  deranged
 and it will not  keep the regular  time, why can't
 your repair it and restore its regular  action!  Be-
 cause  you know nothing about the  principles on
 which it is constructed.  You cannot even mend
 a single broken wheel.   How much more intricate
 and delicate then is the machinery  of  man, and
 how much  more  incapable we are and what more
 responsibility we ought to feel, when we approach
 the bedside of a fellow being, in whom the func-
 tions of life are deranged, to repair those derange-
 ments, when on our ability and skill to  do so, de-
 pends  his precious life.
  We rejoice that the days of witchcraft and con-
juration, have long  since passed by,  and the days
 of quackery will  soon  follow in their wake.  Al-
 though it may now be in the sunshine of its  glory,
 its triumph is but momentary.  Soon it will, with
all its  evil consequences, sink quietly down to the
 shades of night to be remembered no  more.
                      EDWARD DELONY.
  Talbotton, Ga. April 20, 1835. 
168
  On a careful perusal, we thought the foregoing
"remarks" scarcely worthy of a serious answer.—
We considered them evidently the production of an
ignorant, prejudiced  and reckless  declaimer, in-
capable  of making  correct  observations, using
sound logic,  or writing plain English.  We could
discover in them, little else than misunderstand-
ing and misquotation of our lectures, baseless rea-
soning and mere declamation, consisting of proof-
less assertions against the new practice and its
friends, and in favor ofthe old and its advocates;
mere "hollow vessels  that sound  the loudest."
At the request, however of several distinguished
gentlemen in Georgia, in whose judgment we had
reason  to confide, and  their intimation that these
"hollow vessels" and their discharge of merepow- i
der, if not exposed in  their true character, might
pass, with many,  for  evidences  of well  charged
cannon and deadly shots; we  sent  to the  Federal
Union the following reply.—Ed.

            FOR  THE FEDERAL UNION.
Dr. Edward Deloney:

  Sir—Permit me, in my turn, to  make a few re-
marks on those from  your pen, published in the
Georgia Federal Union of May 2Q. ' I  address
you, sir, instead ofthe Editor or the public, because
I wish continually to realize your presence, in or-
der to deter me from using any epithets, or unfair
modes of reasoning, which  I  would not use were
you  sitting by my side. As  I 6aid, publicly, in
the Baltimore Lyceum, so say I now; "if any  gen-
tleman, friend or foe, will point  out  and  prove a
single error in the positions advanced in  my lec-
tures, I will thank him for the  correction.   Truth 
109
 is my object; I care not from what source it comes."
 You seem to write as though I were your enemy,
 disposed to find fault with, and abuse you; and
 hence you treat me with such phrases as "learned
 lecturer," "champion of steam," &c. which I con-
 sider rather unpolite.  I  neither professed  to be
 very learned,  nor to  stand up, as the Goliah, to
 fight alone, all the battles ofthe Thomsonian army.
 I  was respectfully requested by "the Convention,"
 to  say  what  I did in the first lecture, and by the
 Baltimore  Lyceum to say what  I did in the  se-
 cond.   In the former, I was left to my  choice of
 subjects; in the latter, the question,"Is the Thom-
 sonian System of Medical Practice worthy of  en-
 couragement!" was proposed, by the Lyceum,  for
 my discussion.  I trust this explanation will sub-
 tract some ofthe odium of the "presumption" and
 "learning" and "ignorance" with which you have
 favored me.   You will please to take notice that
 I did not call physicians by any reproachful term,
 (see note, page 105,) nor do I approve of such con-
 duct in  Dr. Thomson  or any one else.  You will
 not, therefore, construe my neglecting to notice
 such expressions or epithets as the above, used by
 yourself or others; or  to use them of others in  my
 turn, into  an admission  that they  are  properly
 used against me or others.
  The answer to your first paragraph, I may safe-
ly leave in the hands  of "Equity," against whom
you have offended, noticing only what you have
directed  against  the  common cause.  You say
that, in penning an article against it for publication,
you are  "bestowing on that subject,  [the Botania
System,] far  more  attention than it merits."—
Now, sir, if this system is what, in the  sequel of
your remarks, you strive to make it, a system of 
170
"deception,  devastation  and death," not only to
the people of an isolated spot, but to those ofthe
whole length  and breadth of these United States,
I see not with what propriety you can treat it"so
lightly.   It is generally considered noble for any
man to make himself the instrument ofsaving the
lifeof a single fellow mortal; how much more noble
to save a whole community!  Is there so "little im-
portance" attached to what you call a system of
ilhavoc and desolation."  that you hesitate about
the propriety of making a single effort to stop such
fearful ravages!   If I could think, as you appear
to do,  "that Thomsonism is  doing more mischief
than all the diseases ofthe land united," I should
Bay that  its  arrest and suppression  were objects
worthy ofthe united exertions of all the physicians
in America—yes, in the  civilized world; and that,
at their  own expense and  during  their natural
lives.   That dreadful  scourge the cholera,enlisted
the mental and physical exertions of all the bene-
volent physicians whose regions.it visited, in every
part of the globe.  Who  can read  the interesting
essays of Kirk,  Broussais,  Boisseau, Smith, the
Massachusetts Medical  Society,  Dr. Brown of
Sunderland,  and others, without  admiring the
zeal and  philanthrophy ofthe  authors,  as well as
deploring the ravages of the pestilence which so
haughtily defied so largea portion of their efforts!
Is a single physician in a remote part of an Ameri-
can State, so far elevated above the common de-
mands of suffering humanity, that he cannot even
stoop to pen a paragraph for a newspaper, for the
purpose of arresting a scourge which many of his
brethren have pronounced "more to be  dreaded
than the cholera,"  on account of the  traces of
"horrid devastation" which it every where "leavei 
171
 ere it has commenced!"  (See Med. and  Surg.
 Joar., vol.  11, page  214.)  Surely, sir, if "en-
 lightened society wails its momentary triumph,"
 the physicians  who are or ouirht to be the guard-
 ians of our health,should make every laudable effort
 to suppress it.
  You say, "the  system has no  foundation in
 truth or  common sense, and is contrary to all en-
 lightened reason."   Dr.  B. Waterhouse whose
 reason is not alittle enlightened, says, "I should
 place Samuel Thomson among the reformers of
 the healing art." (T. R., vol. 3, page 154.)   That
 "he," Thomson, "acquuired his knowledge ofthe
 hitherto unknown virtues of certain plants, by  ex-
periment,  first  on  himself, and  then  on  those
 around  him.  In  the course of twenty or thirty
 years, he  arranged  his experimental knowledge
 into a system, as  did the Father of Physic before
 him." (T. R., vol. 1, page 109.)  Dr. \V., contin-
 ues, "It  is not beneath the  dignity of any physi-
 cian, divine or philosopher, to inquire into the truth
 of a series  of experiments  published with so  much
 confidence, and purporting to be for the  benefit of
 mankind."  (ib.)  '-When learned doctors  disa-
 gree, who shall decide!  We answer, experience;
 whether through Samuel  Thomson  or  Manassah
 Cutler, matters not, though neither of them was
 bred to physic."  (T. It., vol.  1, page 384.)   The
public experience, then, must judge between you
 and Dr.  W., as it certainly  will do, by the effects
 of exercising the  different  modes and  means of
practice.  Be not displeased  if I prefer to yours,
the opinion of'the venerable and learned Dr. Wa-
terhouse.  Surely, having  been many years lec-
turer  on the Theory and  Practice of Physic, in
 the oldest university in the United States, his opin- 
172
 ion is worthy of respect.   You say again, "in vain
 has medical genius plodded the  wearisome, intri-
 cate  and rugged path of medical science," &c.  I
 answer, yes, sir, and this was proved in the hitter
 part  of my last  lecture,  by quotations from Dr.
 Abercrombie and  others, and arguments founded
 on them  and  other matters  of fact, which ycu
 thought it  convenient to  style "nothing of  impor-
 tance," and "hollow vessels," that "sound the
 loudest," as "all you  can  say in reply" to them,
 Were, indeed, the startling  assertions of Aber-
 combie, that "those who have had the most exten-
 sive opportunities of observation, will be the first
 to  acknowledge that  your  pretended experience
 must, in general, sink into analogy, and even your
 analogy too often into conjecture;" that, "almost
 the only resource  of medicine, is the art of con-
 jecturing;" of D'Alembert, that  a  physician at a
 patient's bed side, resembles  a  blind man  armed
 with a  club," and "striking at random,  not  know-
 ing whether he shall kill the disease  or the pa-
 tient!" of others, that is "the science of guessing"
 "learned quackery,"  &c*   I  say, were  these
 startling assertions ofthe  very heads ofthe prin-
 cipal medical schools in the world, which, if true,
 completely overset  all "your pretended experi-
ence" in relation to the nature  and character of
disease, unworthy of even a passing notice!   Add
to this  the sweeping declaration of Dr. Abercrom-
  * "I am indeed so disgusted with learned quackery,'" says Dr,
VVaterhouse to Dr. Mitchell, (T. R., vol. 1,  page 104,) "that 1
take some interest, in honest, humane, and strong-minded empyr-
icism.  It has  done more for oar art, in all ages and countriis,
than all the aniversities since the days of Charli°:iagne."  "Where,
for goodness'sake, did Hippocrates study? * *  He read dili-
gently and sagaciously the great book of nature, as Thomson bas,
instead ofthe little books of man."  [il>.] 
173
bie; "the action of external agents on the body, de-
mands  our attention in two respects, as causes of
disease and as remedies; in both which respects their
action is fraught with the highest degree of uncer-
tainty," and what a melancholy picture have we,
of the  vanity of all your three thousand years ex-
perience!*    What do you think ofthis testimony,
Dr. Deloney!   Dared  you not touch even the han-
dle ofthis broad axe laid at the very root of your
boasted system!  Again, was not all  the medical
testimony I adduced in favor  of steam and our ma-
teria  medica,  their   effects  on  paralysis,   &c,
and the difficulty  and even  impossibility of getting
a correct knowledge ofthe names and descriptions
of disease,  their worthlessness, if you could, &c.
worthy of a single paragraph!  Is  all you can say
in reply to  them, they are "hollow  vessels," that
"sound the  loudest!"  Surely this is treating your
venerable instructors with  quite  as little  respect
as I have ever treated that thing of no feeling, cal-
led "three thousand years of medical experience."
But, sir, "silence" on points  which, though they
embrace almost the whole "subject matter" of dis-
pute between  us, was and will be your "better
policy." Here we might confidently rest the whole
  » Dr. Lieutaud, in his Synopsis of Medical Practice, says, page
first, the genuine nature of fever, lies in great obscurity; * * in-
somuch that it is difficult to disentangle certainty from uncertain-
ty, useful from trivial.  Hence many of no mean rank havedouht-
ed whether it would not be better to give up the undertaking, and
confine themselves to new observations, out of which, when well
investigated and arranged, there might be produced a soundtr
theory. I will leave this to the more learned, and will only can-
didly and briefly publish what I have collected from a practice of
thirty years." The very thing that Thomson thought and did, for
which he was scandalized and abused without measure, while re-
ferring to the  learning and medical accumen of Dr.  Lieuteaud,
bis translator says,"/ am not worthy to hold a candle to him.'IJ 
174
argument against the boasted antiquity and conse-
quent superiority of your practice, as founded on
an experience of three  thousand years; but, aa
you insist on a multitude of theories, diseases and
specific remedies, we will follow you out.
   If, then,  your "enlightened society" includes
only persons ignorant of facts, and whose interests
oppose its  diffusion, I doubt not that society be-
"wails the triumph" of the Botanic practice. But,
if enlightened society means persons  who are in-
dependent in  principle,  acquainted  with  facts,
and lovers of truth, I would respectfully ask proof
of your assertion.   (See Dr. Waterhouse's opinion
on this subject, T.  It.,  vol. 3, page 104-5.)
   You appear to think that "Equity" is  "desirous
for this  subject to be dubbed  with legislative au-
thority."  I do  not so understand him.  To give
any class of men exclusive authority to rights and
privileges  of  which others  are equally worthy,
is not equity; therefore that gentleman cannot ask
EUch a grant.' The Thomsonians of Georgia, if
they are like those of other places, ask  only per-
mission  to do that which they prove themselves aa
able to do, as any other  men are.  All who  prove
themselves equally skilful in any art or profession,
ought to be  permitted to exercise it on  the same
terms.   The object  of medical  science  is to pre-
serve and restore to health; or, in other words, to
prevent and cure disease.  The Thomsoniansclaim
the privilege of exercising, untrammeled, the heal-
ing art, on the ground that they can  do it as suc-
cessfully as  their opponents.  Let the honest le-
gislators of Georgia compare the results of  these
two kinds of practice, and if the Botanists substan-
tiate their claim, grant it; if not, refuse it.  I guar-
anty that "Equity," whether literal or figurative, 
175
 shall ask no more.  For a further consideration of
 this subject of medical jurisprudence, I refer you
 to  my answer  to Dr. Williams, of the Maryland
 Legislature, sent to the Boston Medical and Sur-
 gicalJournaljtfl/iere.orin the Thomsonian Record-
 er, it will shortly  be  published; simply  remark-
 ing here, that the "law-makers of Georgia" will
 be compelled, soon or late, to license whatever their
 masters, the people, approve.
   To your assertion that the Thomsonian System of
 Practice, "embraces quackery in its full perfec-
 tion," I oppose that of  the venerable Dr.  Water-
 house, (T. R. vol.  3, page 154,) "Paracelsus first
 introduced mercury, antimony, and opium into the
 materia medica. But he was arrogant, vain  and
 profligate; he studied mystery  and  wrapped up his
 knowledge in terms of his own invention, 60 as  to
 keep it confined, to himself and  a few chosen follow-
 ers.  The very reverse of Thomson who performs
 numberless cures, and makes no secret ofthe means.
 The cant phrase of'Q,uack' belongs to the learned
 Paracelsus, but not to  the mystery-hating Thom-
 son, who considers mystery and roguery offsprings
 of the same man of sin, the old father of lies and
 deception."  Who  shall decide between you  and
 the learned professor of the theory and practice of
 physic!  I answer experience!  As to the "havoc
 and desolation" which you say is our motto, I am
 acquainted with no Thomsonian who wears it.—
 I fear you have indulged a little in  hyperbole in
 this matter.  We do., indeed, make wonderful hav-
 oc with lobelia, cayenne, composition, bitters, No.
 6, &c. &c.  &c, aye, and with what you call "in-
 curable diseases," too.  But we are ready at all
 times to,compare the "havoc-and desolation" pro-
 duced by the two systems, on human life and health,
wherever and by whomsoever  applied. 
17G
  When you come to the "subject matter of the
lectures," you labor to  show that I had endeavor-
ed to prove, in the  first place, that the Thomson-
ian System is the result ofthe improved and perfect-
ed experience of mankind in general; whereas, all
my object in that part of the lecture, was to show
the impropriety in condemning or approving  any
proposition, system, or any thing else, till we have
a thorough  and accurate knowledge  of it.  The
anecdote of the legal process in Trenton, teaches
us to be cautious, even  when we think  we know
all about the matter; and the whole lecture, so far
as  it treated on the origin, nature, progressive
improvement, and perfection ofreason, was intend-
ed to divest the minds of my hearers of prejudice,
open them  to conviction, and show them how to
distinguish truth and reason,  from falsehood and
sophistry, in what might be presented for  their
consideration, by myself or others.   I am happy
to learn that, both in their delivery and their pub-
lication, this object has been attained in numerous
instances.  A gentleman in Georgia, whose letter
indicates that he is not deficient in talent or learn-
ing, says "your lectures have done much to softa
the prejudices,  and conciliate  the favor of monj
ofthe  more intelligent  portions of community."—
Another of the same State, intimates that those
lectures were the first writings on the subject, t>
which  he listened with respect himself,  or  could
fasten  the  attention of another gentleman for
talents  and  influence "second  to none  in the
State."  Testimonies from other quarters are too
numerous to be mentioned here.
   "Reason is an improvable faculy, and the long-
er it is exercised in the investigation of any sub-
ject, the nearer to  trftth that investigation mini 
177
lead us."  I grant it, in general, if used with the
right means and in the right manner; but, sir, may
we not reason and investigate on wrong premises!
Suppose the most scientific philosopher ofthe pre-
sent age, were  to  say, "because the  alchymists
who first supposed that all metals might be turned
into gold, reasoned and experimented, for hundreds
of years, to prove their supposition true; therefore,
if they had continued to reason and experiment in
the same way, they would finally have found the
gold;  and that the story ofthe Europeans who first
visited South America, about the untutored sava-
ges having abundance ofthat precious metal suspen-
ded to their ears and noses, must have  been a  tale
of fancy, because those barbarians did  not know
how  to discover  it scientifically, what would you
think- of such reasoning!  But I need not suppose
a case—you have given me several striking exam-
ples.   Take  the  following from paragraph twen-
tieth.  You begin to criticise before you have at-
tentively read the paragraph in which  I  "couched
my theory ofdiseased  action."  Hence,  you quote
wrong, and  then  reason on your wrong quotations,
which is the cause of all the inconsistency  you
find in your conclusions.   You say, "these obstruc-
tions  cause a greater quantity, of blood  and  heat,
than  usual, around the heart, which blood finds its
way in greater quantities," &c.   In the Recorder
whence the article was copied, (I have not the Fed-
eral Union by me,) you  will find it printed as I
wrote it, "which heat finds its way,"  &c.   A due
attention to this expression,  and  some  others,
would have saved you  the trouble and  exposure of
a  blundering  criticism upon it.  A moment's re-
flection might  have convinced you also,  that  it
would have  been improper in me to teach all the
                     12* 
178
 minutiee ofthe science in a single lecture, before a
 mixed audience, when I had been invited only t
 present a general view ofthe subject.   Thus you
 might have saved yourself the trouble of asking so
 many questions, and  the mortification of finding
 yourself still ignorant, where  plainer  men than
 yourself,  who attended to the  text, had found no
 difficulty in comprehending the meaning.  If, how-
 ever, you insist on being thus minutely instructed,
 come  to  the Richmond Infirmary, and you shall
 be taught both the Theory  and  Practice.
   In paragraph fifth, you intimate that "the impu-
 rities and rubbish" of past investigations and re-
 searches, "have been lopped off," and "the truths
 sifted from the chaff and treasured up  in  sacred
 keeping."   Why then did Hobbes, the philosopher,
 "wishthat all the books in the world were em-
 barked in one ship, and that he might  be permit-
 ted to bore a hole in the bottom!" Why did Locke
 say that "the Disquisitions  and Treatises with
 which our libraries are filled, are often merely the
 husks and shells of knowledge—it were to be wish-
 ed that some literary analysts should select [yon
 say they are "sifted"] all the facts, recipes and
 prescriptions, useful  to  man, and condense them
 into & portable volume."   What follows would be
 pretty enough, if it were cored.
   In  paragraph sixth, you say, "men  frequently
 reason wrongfully from wrong impressions," as I
 have just proved that you  did from the impression
 that I had sent the blood to the  surface instead of
 the heat, and that I attempted, by the exhibition
 ofthe origin, nature,  progressive improvement aBd
 perfection ofreason, to prove that Thomson's Sys-
 tem was  the result of general and misguided ex-
perience, instead of his own individual; founded, 
179
 not on  specious hypothesis,  but on unprejudiced
 and careful observation of unquestionable matters
 of fact.   I  believe that you committed these and
 other similar errors, partly in consequence of read-
 ing with a greater anxiety to answer and  refute,
 than to think and profit.  You make many bold asser-
 tions which  you may find it difficult  to prove.—
 You say, "we find  Thomson and his practice, in
 his primitive and  unenlightened condition, with
 no guide but chance, no reason but instinct,draw-
 ing their own conclusions in the dark,  crude,erro-
 neous, haphazard, and at a venture,just as the rude
 imagination may suggest."   [Thomson's practice
 drawing conclusions!  Is  the practice as well as
 the author, intelligent!  but,]  can you be serious!
 Has Thomson, whom Dr. Waterhouse  pronounces
 "equal to. John Hunter, with (had he possesed  the
 same advantages,) a wider range of thought;" "who
 read diligently and sagaciously the great book of na-
 ture, instead ofthe little books of man;" has this man
 "no reason  but  instinct," not reason at all, no ex-
perience  or literary  attainment, "no guide  but
chance?" «
   Again, you say, "he comes forward with a the-
 ory as old as the hills."   Do you allude to that of
 Hippocrates, that "nature is heat!"—and  "fever
a friend!"  Very well so far, but did this "Father
of Physic" agree with  Thomson, that "most fe-
vers may be cured in a few hours," or "two days
at the farthest!" or did he invent  the famous sys-
tem of odd day  "courses" for fevers to "run," at
their pleasure!  Did Hippocrates  steam,  puke,
and "drench with cold water," bis fever patients!
Why does Dr. Waterhouse, who knows all the
"theories" that are as "old as the hills," say that
Dr. Thomson is "a reformer of  the healing art," 
180
if the  reformation consisted only in reviving one
of those  "old theories!" a  theory, too, that is
"dangerous, ridiculous and nonsensical!"  I fear,
Doctor, that you  use adjectives more freely than
carefully.
   You  say, "surely the lecturer could not have
presumed to speak of the  progress and improve-
ment of reason, as having attained to  perfection
during the  natural life of one single individual, in
the  person of Samuel Thomson," &c.   Surely I
have the presumption to say that a single reasonfor
a single conclusion, may have its origin, progrm
and perfection in a single second.  Age after age
of philosophers asserted, reasoned,  concluded and
still believe, that "the earth  stands on a great tur-
tle," but a single observation  of a single individual,
proved that reasoningfalse, and corrected the error,
But according to your reasoning, the Chinese, like
the alchymists, have only to  reason on, every year
bringing them  nearer and nearer, till they-will
 finally arrive at perfection?  Do you not perceive,
 that "the progress and perfection of our reasoning"
 depends, on our experimenting, not in accordaace
 with  any  preconceived  theories,  but  with our
 minds entirely  untrammeled  by  any theory, freei"
 observe and account for, things  as we find them!—
 Such was the experience of Thomson—such is th!
 of all congenial  spirits.  You  say that ixu'La
 Cayenne, steam &c. in the hands of Thomson:^
 are destructive to  human life.  We use them i'rrc-
 ly,  and  are speedily cured  of disease.   We prefer
 our experience of an hour, to  your theory oftwenty
years.  We are therefore better qualified " to lay
down rules for your instruction,"  (in this matter)
than you are "to guide our experience."
   You make  a great parade  about the nrM/ortanct 
181
of Latin  and Greek.  When you prove  that the
ancients  understood the true nature of disease,
and were more able than the moderns, to control
it in  any  one form; or that you now practise or
believe as they did,  I also,  will allow those Ian-        *
guages some importance.  But, please to tell me,
what other nation imitates the example ofthe Eng-        i,
lish, in  " couching  their theory" of disease, and      -  ;:'
their materia medica in  the terms  of Greek and
Latin, and a hundred barbarous dialects!  Surely
not the  French, nor the German,  the  principal
foreign lights in the still dark horizon of the medi-
cal world.  When we find  the knowledge ofthe
languages of othernations, and the errors in theo-
ry and mischiefs in practice recorded therein, equal
to that of the  true causes and proper  modes of
curing disease  in  our  own, we  will  pay more
attention to  that subject.   We are  thankful for
Hebrew  and Greek and  Latin  scholars  to make
translations, &c; but we do say, that these are
not indispensible in the  ordinary business of life.
A gentleman just now told me, that some time ago
his child was attacked with croup,  and so likely
to die, that he thought it usless to send some miles
for a doctor; so, though an enemy to the practice,
he  called in his Botanic neighbor from  the next
door, and in a  few hours the child was as well as
usual.   He  prescribed neither Latin nor Greek.__
This short  experience overcame  the deep rooted
medical reasoning of many years, and he has since
cured,  without  losing one,  fourteen  cases of mea-
sles in  his own family.  Such circumstances as
these are making Thomsonians every day, in spite
of all your reasonings and warnings to the contrary.        i
These men too, will take and give the medicines,
in spite of all your law-makers, laws andjivehun- 
182
 dred dollar fines, imposed to prevent freemen from
 eating and drinking what they please, and selling
 to  their neighbors  any  articles of medicine, or
 rendering  any personal services desired.  "Did Dr.
 Thomson  know,"  say you, "that there  was such
 a thing  as medicine  before he heard some poison
 say so!"   As well as he did that there was such a
 thing  as food, I presume.   Names of things, in
 English as in all other languages, are applied as
 fast as the things themselves are discovered or in-
 vented.   Thomson does not call men  " learned
fools" for  translating books of medicine  or divini-
 ty from Greek or Latin into English; but for main-
 taining that a knowledge of those languages must
 necessarily make them  superior  physicians, when
 the most  illiterate Thomsonians  actually excel
 them  every  day; and for reasoning  so stupidly as
 they do, on the ground that  they  who search long-
 est after a thing must  necessarily  be the first to
 find it.
   You say that  "Thomson or the first physician
 in the world,  might see the peculiar action of any
 agent on the human system, but they know not the
 mode of operation by  which these effects are pro-
 duced."  To this I answer,  that even the most sci-
 entific of the most jnodern schools, have not moved
 a single step farther.  Dr. Abercrombie, ofthe
 Edinburgh school, says, "why one medicine acts
 upon  the  stomach,another  on the bowels, a third
on the kindneys,  a fourth on the  skin, we [physi-
cians] have not the smallest conception;  wfiknow
only the uniformity of the facts."—(Intel.  Pow. pa.
23.)  To this  I will add, that if Thomsonians had
no surer means of producing emesis than antimo-
ny or tartar, of exciting catharsis than sub.miiri.
hydrarg. [calomel] and ol. ricini, [caster oil,] ' i' 
183
 promoting the renal secernance, than potash, nitre,
 squill, colchibum, &c,  or  of ensuring perspira-
 tion than nitre, cantharides, &c, they would rich-
 ly deserve to be fined five hundred dollars for eve-
 ry  failure in their professed attempts to  produce
 any one  of these effects.  The learned editors of
 the United States'  Dispensatory do  not appear to
 be any wiser than Dr. Abercrombie.   Of your very
 "Samson," (as Dr. Rush called it) mercury, which
 may answer to the Thomsonian steam, cayenne
 and lobelia united,  they honestly confess, (pages
 345 and '6,)  "Of the modus operandi of mercury,
 we can say nothing further than that it seems to act
 [we cannot be  sure of it,] through the medium of
 the circulation, and  that it possesses a peculiar
 [we know not what kind of] alterative power over
 the vital functions, which enables it, in many ca-
 ses, [not a majority,]  to subvert diseased actions
 by  substituting its own in their place."  Well
 would it be  for the human race, if the cases in
 which it  substitutes its own specific action  for that
 ofthe disease,  were far fewer  than they are—
 What brazen impudence, to pretend to know the
 "mode of  operation" of your medicines, with all
 this evidence against you.   The way.it subverts
 diseased actions is, in my opinion, pretty well de-
 scribed in the Toxicology, where "it  is contempla-
 ted only as a source of disease."  (Good 1.  p. 80
 and  78-9.)  There, it is said that those who get
 much of it into their systems, "drag out a  misera-
 ble existence, in extreme debility and emaciation,
 with stiff incurvated  limbs,  and total loss  of teeth
 and appetite, till death, with ^.friendly stroke, puts
 a period to their sufferings."  This, I humbly con-
 ceive, is  a pretty correct description ofthe general
modus operandi ofmercury  on the human system., 
184
when left to "its peculiar action;" and I believe
that one who understands nothing but English or
French, can observe it as accurately, as he who
can read Horace and Homer in the original.
  You ask, paragraph  eighth,  "what the physi-
cians done for sure and safe remedies, before Dr,
Thomson was born!"  I answer, they "did with-
out them," as most of them do still. You say that
our remedies "all settle down into the famous Lo-
belia, the remedy of remedies," notwithsandingl
had told you that Dr. Thomson had described
more than  seventy different articles, and given ua
rules for the  discovery  of  as many  more  as we
please. ■ And here  I  am bold  to say, that more
scientific, therapeutic principles "to guide  our re-
search after remedies"  such as we need, than
those  of Samuel  Thomson, "for the benefit of
others," were never  disclosed  by any lectureron
the materia medica, since the world began.  On
the subject of Lobelia  Inflata being  poison, or of
its medical qualities being known to the  faculty
before Thomson taught them, I  am ready to break
a lance with you at any time; meanwhile,  as you
have asserted both,  I  challenge you to prove either.
An article  in the Thomsonian Recorder, page 3to
8,3d volume, may aid you a little in this research.
In,more than  a thousand "experiments" with it,
I have never known  it to produce a single "dras-
tic" effect.  Yet you say it is among the most to-
lentdrastic and deleterious poisons in the whole mo
teria medica, or  of which the vegetable kingdom
can boast.  I know not how  you can  prove tha'
there is  a  shade of truth in this assertion, unlef;
you show  that you have placed it in your vs'ilia.
fr^r-among^CO your colchicums, your savins, you:
croton oils, &c &c. 
185
  In paragraph ninth, you have represented me as
saying that the cholera patient, so alphabetically
treated by the Doctors, was cured  by Thomson-
ians.  I said  no such thing, as you  will readily
perceive by a re-perusal.   If you ever knew a pa-
tient to be treated by Thomsonians as described in
the latter part of this paragraph, you will oblige
me by giving the name and residence ofthe prac-
titioners and  patient, and I assure you the-former
shall, if found guilty, beflebarred from all the pri-
vileges of the society.  In  paragraph eighth, you
accuse me of inconsistency in using the phrases
" all diseases" and "safe remedies," when I had
intimated that all forms of disease have a common
origin,  and  are  "to be relieved by  one  plan of
treatment."   To this, I reply, that  I  used these
terms before  my audience out of courtesy to their
customary modes of thinking and speaking;  that
it  might require no effort in them  to understand
me.  But I now tell you that all forms of disease,
proceed from obstructions, and the loss  of vital
heat, (which I  believe,  is always  an effect of
obstructions)  and are to be cured by the  same
plan of treatment, viz: to raise the heat, relax the
affected parts, throw out the obstacles (not obstruc-
tacles, as you have misquoted it,) and tone up the
system.   I challenge you, and all the learned  phy-
sicians in the universe, to give- a more rational,
philosophical or correct theory of disease, or  of
the true plan of treatment.  What and of how ma-
ny kinds are  these obstacles to the healthy action
ofthe vital power, and how they are to be remov-
ed, are  subjects which shall be made  clear to
you, when you come  to the Infirmary for instruc-
tion.
  In answer to your twelfth paragraph, I observe 
186
that, according to your own  aceount, "the regular
physicians"  only "endeavor  to search out the
cause," and to apply the remedies that seem most
proper and best calculated to remove "this offend-
ing cause," &c.  What, therefore, you only "en-
deavor" to do, the Thomsonians  actually accom-
plish.   We well know the cause of "all diseasej,"
and  we have "remedies" that are exceedingly, if
not  "the  most proper" to remove them..  We fear
no comparison with the wisest ofthe regular facul-
ty on these subjects, though in anatomy and physi-
ology, and acquaintance with the  fluctuations of
medical opinions and practices, we readily yield
them the  palm.
  Do you  seriously intimate, in paragraph thir-
teenth, that I "allude to steam," as the one princi-
pal  remedy  for  "all  diseases!"  You charge me
with impiety and consummate ignorance, for "com-
paring  things  temporal with  things  spiritual,"
seeming to forget that the parables and similes in
the New  Testament, by the Divine Founder and
and  his inspired followers, are  almost all ofthe
same character.  Does the acknowledged "differ-
ence between the human system  and the immate-
rial soul," subject the Saviour of  the world to the
charge of exhibiting "impiety or consummate igno-
rance," in  his comparisons!   If so, I am guilty.
You object to a universal  remedy, on the ground
that it would render useless those which you deem
specific; and say  "you have remedies which are
capable of producing on the system, almost every
effect that can be desired." I  ask,  what is the
reason then that you  do not use them,  and cure
those diseases!   Old age is notdisease; it is "wear-
ing out."   Now as the period of  this wearing of
the machine, is fixed  at one hundred  and twenty 
187
  years, we never can attain to the "age of Mathu-
  selah."
   In paragraph fifteenth, you first exhibit a melan-
  choly  want of either ability  or inclination to un-
  derstand English, however much  you may know
  of Latin and Greek.   You say, I "made a precious
  confession  that   the  Botanic System of medical
  practice is altogether the  fruit of experience."—
  And so I still say, just as  the finding of gold was,
  in South America and Mexico.  Samuel Thomson
  is little more indebted to the boasted "wisdom and
  experience" ofthe Medical Schools, (except that
  their  errors, blunders and "havoc and desolation,"
  taught him to  beware  of  them,)  than the native
  Indians of America were to the alchymists of Eu-
  rope for the discovery of gold and silver.   "Thus,"
 you say, "it is, that I endeavor  to set up the few
 short years' experience of one man and his deluded
 followers, in apposition to ages, and even centuries
 of experience  that are passed."  So I do.  The
 momentary experience of the  Virginia  servant,
 who found a wedge of gold  on his master's planta-
 tion, not even "by the guide of" geologic "princi-
 ples," but when in pursuit ofthe cows, was worth
 more,  so far as  their prime object of obtaining
 gold was concerned, than the "ages of experience"
 of all  the alchymists  that  ever lived.   "Thus it
 is," that Hervey when he  discovered the circula-
 tion  ofthe blood,  put the experience of  that mo-
 ment against that of all the physicians in the world
 before  him,,  Thus it is, that the discoverers and
 inventors of any thing not known before their time,
set the moment's experience of that  discovery
against the united experience of all their  predeces-
sors, and they boldly "set up" that short experi-
ence, in defiance of all other, just as you, sir, "en- 
188
deavor to set up the few short years of you own ex-
perience,"  against that of  all your venerable in-
structors of ancient and modern times, in prri; n,i.
ing to know the modus operandi of your poisonous
drugs, when they all declare they "know nothing"
about it, and when you pretend to practise medi-
cine on a scientific, beautiful, consistent, harmo-
nious and adequate system, when  those venerable
and learned professors assure you, that all the ex-
perience of past ages can say of it is, that "almost
its  only resource is the art of conjecture."  They
call it very  appropriately, the "science of guess-
ing," of "striking in the dark," "learned quacke-
ry," "a temple unroofed and cracked at the foun-
dation," &c. &c; and Lord Bacon says, that "the
progress of [the] reason" employed in its cultiva-
tion and improvement,  was  "in  a circle, not in
progression."   Now, if the most enlightened;.:  ■
fessors  of the  Botanic School, were to speak -1
contemptuously of their science,  I should ahuM
doubt its accuracy, even though it seemed to agree
with my own experience.  But, sir, as you seen
to think it no harm to doubt the existence of Th<> m-
son's discoveries  and improvements, so you  v.il
not think hard of me, if I suspend my admissi in;
yours, till I see the proof.  If "the  progress, im-
provement and perfection of reason," in yourself.
has led to the discovery and perfection of a system
of medical  practice,  and to a knowledge ofthe
"modus  operandi" of its remedies  of which all its
most renowned cultivators hitherto,, confess them-
selves ignorant, be not  angry  with  me for raying
that it is possible for  Samuel Thomson to  have
discovered something of which the same gentlemen
Were ignorant.  It appears to  me,  Doctor, that
in all your reasonings, you  look only on one  side, 
189
and that even then, you let your imagination de-
scribe, before your judgment has measured.  ThuB,
you remind  me of the framer of that famous rule
in Grammai, which says "Two or more nouns in
the singular  number, joined by one or more copu-
lative corijuctions, must have plural verbs, nouns
and pronouns to agree with them."   A sweeping
rule to be sure; but when we apply  it in practice,
we find it adapted  to the use only of the single
particle "and," and that even to this application,
there are many exceptions; as, "every man and wo-
man was taken," that scholar and cirtic has written
Eolecisms; every form and color has its peculiar
advantages, &c. &c.   In paragraph  sixteenth,
you quote my  " assertion," that Lobelia is harm-
less, and say "it is not true."   Will you give me
the "positive facts," en the evidence of which you
charge me with error!   You make me say, Thom-
son discovered  "this plant" Lobelia,  whereas, I
only said he discovered its value in  medicine.   In
paragraph seventeenth, you undertake to prove
that a providential  observation is not a part of a
man's  experience.   1  do  not envy  you  the
"beauiful  and  admirably  consistent logic" and
philology, thus exhibited.   I  suppose, then, if
you were  to be severely poisoned, by thoughtless-
ly chewing the  twigs of a plant with whose pro-
perties you  were unacquainted, and your friend
who knew nothing of your misfortune, should ask
you if he might cat the same twigs with impunity,
you would answer; " I  cannot advise you; I have
no experience in the matter; all my knowledge is
mere  hap-hazard  chance-work:"   Deliver me
from such logic.
 Pardon me, Doctor: I would not trouble you about
your " literary attainments," (rather exhibitions,) 
190
 had  you  given  me any thing else to do.  But,
 when  all you have to say, " with regard  to the
 plans of the regular  physicians," is, that  when
 they find  their  patient  sick,  " they endeavor to
 search out the cause which has produced this un-
 healthy condition of the system,  and  apply those
 remedies which, in their own judgment [guessing]
 and  the experience [empiricism] of  others, seem
 most proper and best calculated to remove this of-
 fending cause,  and restore the health of the pa-
 tient."*  And all you can do  towards answering
 my arguments in favor ofthe Botanic practice, i6,
 first, to misunderstand; second, to misquote; third,
 to misrepresent them; and then, fourthly,  to turn,
 as the printer would say, " into pi," (one common
 jumble,) these  misunderstandings, misquotations,
 and  misrepresentations, by  a  sort of one-sided.
 blind  logic, for your skill in  which  no  thinking
 man can envy you.  I hope you-will excuse me for
 taking notice of such things as I  find, instead of
 such as I want.
   In paragraph  eighteenth, you   say, I  give my
 " theoreticalviews" of the  causes of disease and
 its cure.  I assure you, sir, that  not one of  those
 views  was  taken  upon  trust, no, not even from
 Samuel Thomson, (who,  you would have  the pub-
 lic believe, is our dictator,) but from reflection on
 my own  personal  observations  and deinonstra-

  • Any person, the most untutored, can "endeavor"  to findoul
 die cause of a symptom of disease, and apply "the remedies that
 90e?n to him best calculated" to cure the patient; hut, if this is not
 arrant "quackery," I know not what is.  The fact that "regular
 physicians" so often fail in removing "causes" of diseaso, which,
 when the Thomsonian applies his remedies,  " scamper off as fast
 as they can, like frightened rats from a barn on fire," as  well al
the confession just quoted, proves to my satisfaction, at least, that
physicians are still very ignorant of either the causes  of dietatt,
or the means and mode of removing them, or of all together. 
191
 lions, and on the cases which " you believe never
 occurred," the  " clue  to  which,"  if it can serve
 any good purpose,  shall be given you in the form
 of certificates,  from the  patients themselves—
 more, I will give you an account of all the patients
 I have lost in the last 3 years, the forms of disease of
 which, and the circumstances under which  they
 died;?/ you will make the same exhibition of the re-
 sults of your practice.   You  intimate that, if my
 report of cases were true and the evidence tangi-
 ble, physicians "would not  hesitate, nay, would
 grasp with avidity, to lay them  before the public
 eye,  in order to establish those doctrines."   So,
 reasoning abstractly, / would suppose.  But I find
 the facts the very reverse; for, when I state facts
 and give my name and character  as a  voucher,
 you (who preach the doctrine that  you  ought to)
 will not believe them.   I have certificates, nume-
 rous enough,  ofthe  very kind  of cures that you
 discredit, wrought  by  the instrumentality of my
 own hand.  If I were to send a copy of each, to
 each  ofthe "scientific medical  journals"  in the
 Union, do you think they would be published, with
 the recommendation of the editors to all the physi-
 cians in their  vicinity, to  examine and profit by
 these wonderful exhibitions  of  medical skill  and
 means!*  So far from it, sir,  it is but a short  pe-
 riod since the miscellaneous press dared to publish,
 in relation to these matters, any thing but scandal
against them,  for fear of proscription! while  the
scientific editors were and still are advised "not to
  * I have just received back again, without note or comment, a
review of Dr. Williams's speech in the  Maryland Legislature,
heretofore alluded to, which I had sent to the editor ofthe Boston
Medical and Surgical Journal, though it contained  not a few ©f
the facta to which you allude- 
192
sully the pages of  their excellent journals," by
"noticing professionally," " the steam quackeries
of the Thomsons and others."—[Boston. Medical
and Surgical  Journal, volume XI, page., 117.—
The reason why you " do not see,"  as well as
hear ofthe wonders effected by  the Thomsonians,
i6, you so cordially  despise, that you will not suffer
yourselves to look at this unceremonious leveling
to thedust, by the rude hands of plain men, of all
your boasted system  of learning apd experience!
On your nineteenth and  twentieth paragraphs, I
have  already  commented.   I remark,  however,
that I cannot  mysell'understand all the principles
you have here "presented,  Y°u bave  made just
about the same  havoc of my  "theory  of disease"
and "plan  of cure," that [the little dog] "Dia-
mond did of Newton's mathematical calculations,"
evincing that  you understood them  very little bet-
ter; though I  doubt not your capacity to compre-
hend and profit by them, if  you would not, as 1
have said, make such haste to answer and refute
them.   But I wish not to provoke you.
   "All  diseases" then,  proceed from  the 6ame
cause—"hindrances—obstructions" to the free ex-
ercise ofthe  power  called life.  On the truth of
this position,  I  rest my  medical, literary, logical
and physiological reputation.  When you will give
me a correct definition of life, I will tell you «Aer<
it is seated.  ["Located, perhaps,  in a higher de-
gree, among  the digestive organs."—Chapman,
Ther.,  vol. 1, pa. —.]   The nature ofthe  ob-
structions, their  mode of opposing the free opera-
tions of life,  the modes and means by which you
are to remove them, and the "fountain" at which
life dwells, &c. are the subjects that engage my
attention in the daily exercise of my profession as 
193
instructor of medical students, and clinical lectu-
rer, in the "Richmond Infirmary."   I did not con-
sider them suitable subjects for a public lecture,
even could they  have  been embraced  in it; but
your perversions  of what I did  write,  are so nu-
merous and gross, that it is no wonder your "pa-
tience is wearied" by looking at "the glaring in-
consistencies" you have introduced.   I  entreat
both you and the reader to compare, throughout,
your "remarks"  with the lectures, and I need say
no more on this head.
  You ask, why  we  take "the name of Botanical,
when we rely as much on steam as any thing else,"
and when "the American Dispensatory"  contains
"six or eight hundred or more of botanical remedies,
all  exercising a  specific action, and  among them
the famous Lobelia?"*   I answer, our  system  is
called botanical, because it is exclusively such.—
Steam indeed, aids our operations very much; but
a Thomsonian never steams a person without giv-
ing remedies internally.  We see not  how our
taking the name "Botanic,"  can  interfere  with
you, who draw your resources from  all the depots
of nature's secrets, and of course cannot limit your
grand title to  a single kingdom.
  You ask, "is the name of mineral medicines, so
odious to the feelings, and dangerous in their ope-
rations on the human system,  as to frighten these
Thomsonians into  convulsions at the very sound
  * Ahl  "I have it now!" this is the place you must have alluded
to, when you said, (paragraph eighth) "Lobelia is amongthe most
violent, drastic and deleterious poisons in the Materia Medica"
tfc.  Y.mu meant, as I before suspected, that it had fallen into the
gvil company of mercury, antimony,  arsenic, opium, savin, co!o-
cynth, croton oil, fyc. ij-c.  What upon earth do you want of a
"deleterious"drug,when you have already so many? and how can
it be so praiseworthy in you to use it, and so worthy ofthe gallows
in me?  Perhaps your singular logic can explain this. 
194
of theirname!"  Surely not, the name is agreeable
enough.   When, for example, you speak of mer-
cury  for selecting gold  from sand, facing look-
ing glasses, filling thermometers and barometers,
&c. &c,  we are well enough pleased; but, when
you speak of calomel, blue pills and precipitates,
Fowler's solution,&c, we are insensibly  led, by
the association of idWs,  to think ofthe salivation,
mercurial ulcers, sore gums, loose and rotten teeth
and bones, dropsy of the extremeties," "stiff incur-
vated limbs," once suffered by many of us, and even
ofthe 'friendly stroke of death' (which appeared but
just before us,) till we imagine that we are almost
in reach of his dart—Who would not be "frighten-
ed into convulsions" at'such a train of thought!—
We certainly never have  argued, from the bene-
volence  ofthe Creator, nor the names  nor appear-
 ance of minerals, nor any other data, that'' He could
not provide as good and effectual remedies, for the
cure of disease, in the bowels of the earth, as on
its surface,'.' &c, nor do we believe that he coukl
not.  We only state  what  we know  to be true,
that  if He has done  so, we  have not discovered
thnv.
  In paragraph twenty-sixth, you tell us something
about what calomel will do, but you must not take
offence if we prefer the past "experience" of our
senses, to your prophetic  opinion.  You say "it
will purge our stomach  and bowels of all obstruc-
tions."  We have seen many patients with sever-
al large  doses in their "stomach" or "bowels,""!
both, who were nevertheless said, by those scien-
tific gentlemen who gave  it, to be "in great dan-
ger of dying for the want of something to pur^
the bowels!"   "It will open the pores ofthe sk'fi
and remove  fever."  Why then do so many p?r- 
195
 sons die of fever with plenty of calomel in them!—
 "It will give strength and tone to the general sys-
 tem."  Why then do you use it to reduce the in-
 flammatory  action in a  general acute fever!  "It
 will control  the inordinate action  of the liver, and
 regulate the secretion ofthe bile."  Why then do
 you suffer people to die of "liver  complaints!"—
 "It will curb and reduce inflammatory action, [just
 now you said it would  give strength and tone to
 the general system,] a.ndit will stimulate this same
 system and add impetus  [no! curb  and  reduce!] to
 its circulation."  This  looks very mucli like con-
 tradiction, but I will not say it is, lest I prove that
 I understand your assertions ~no  better than you
 did mine.   The principle however, "seems to me,"
 to accord with the practice of giving calomel to re-
 duce the patient laboring under inflammatory dia-
 thesis, and then giving more calomel to stre>»gthen
 him  again!  "It will promote  digest;**1, because
 it has the power of removing the u^ose of indiges-
 tion."  Why then does Dr. JEOff say that, "for
 want of some  Medicine• w^ich  would operate in
 such  a manner  as to c^anse the stomach and in-
 testines ofalloffen^e and irritating matter; phy-
 sicians [they al) Aave calomel I  believe] have not
 been able to perform a cure in o^e  case out of ten,
 of  confirmed dyspepsia  or  indigestion!!"  Just
 hear him out (he is an M.  D., and of course tells the
 tr«th—no Thomsonian slander  here—well, then,)
"And therefore, they [physicians] satisfy them-
selves by producing a temporary relief by emetic and
purgative medicines; but so much debility of the
stomach is produced by this course, that before it
has regained its  former  tone, the same offensive
matter is accumulated, and with it, all the distress-
ing symptoms return, even aggravated."  "To re- 
196
lieve  this  obstinate  disease,  the whole materia
medica has been tried,  [no quackery,] from the
most  powerful  articles  down  to charcoal  and
wheat bran; but, for the  want of such medicine,
[as the Thomsonian] nothing but  a temporary re-
lief has been procured,  and often the remedy has
been worse on the constitution, than the disease!"
Rather a tough yarn from a learned 31. D. on the
quackish experiments of his brethren on "the whole
materia medica,  for the cure of dyspepsial" They
must have forgotten  to "try" " calomel!" for you
say "it will  promote  digestion by  removing the
cause of indigestion."   If "it has the  power of
curing more diseases than one half ofthe wholt
list of Botanic  remedies, all put together," [what
proportion is that!*] why do you  abuse us  poor
Thomsonians, forpofessing to cure, with (not a sin-
gle -article but,)  "one plan of treatment," all the
diseases «s you call them, which we can cure at alll
   You speak ©i your remedies from the mineral and
animal kingdoms, and make us Thomsonians say,
that all these "blesses of a providential creation,
are nothing but  so many poisons, and unfit for the
uses  of man."   What a  sto»vi  We say no such
thing.  Zinc is  very useful for W-,use_t0ps, coppei
for money, and various kinds  of ve»**>isS) bismuth
for printing types, arsenic for ornamenting glass,
killing rats, &c, iron and steel for almost every
purpose but to eat,  phosphorus for  matches,  4r,c.
&c, but does it therefore follow, that steel is to be
eaten instead of bread, that ratsbane and corrosive
sublimate are to  kill vermin, and cure the sick,&c.1
  *We are not very learned: but this proportion appears to vita
be (omitting the algebra ofthe original note, for want of characters)
one half and the whole all put together, or the whole and ahalfsf
the Botanic materia medical 
197
 A sad "reproach indeed, upon a beneficent Provi-
 dence," to apply his blessings as he intended we
 should—metals and minerals in the arts, animals
 mostly for food and clothing, and vegetables chiefly
 for food and medicines.
   In paragraph twenty-ninth, you "admonish your
 fellow citizens  to beware  how they suffer them-
 selves to be tinkered upon by these botanic system
 quacks." This is playing the dog in the manger with
 a vengeance.  You are "unable to cure one casein
 ten of confirmed dyspepsia," and yet you advise
 the public not to suffer the Thomsonians to doit!
 Because "dangers, deceptions, delusions, and error
 await" you at every step of your practice, you im-
 agine that ours is equally liable to them.  You tell
 me a pretty tale about making or mending a watch;
 thereby striving to prove that a man must be inti-
 mately acquainted with anatomy, in order to cure
 disease. A lady lately wrote me all the symptoms she
 could recollect,  and all the hard names (not a
 few) that her physicians had applied to her disease,
 and then asked  me if / could  do her  any good!
 I replied that they who knew so well the charac-
 ter and seat of her morbid affections, ought surely,
 as you say they do, to know how  to remove them;
 but as she  assured  me  they  had long "tinkered
 upon" her in vain with  all the articles in the ma-
 teria medica, "that seemed to them best calcula-
 ted" to cure her, I sent a prescription, in obedience
 to which,  she soon  recovered her health.  Yet, I
confess, I could not have "made" a single organ
 which I taught her how to heal.  I rejoice with
 you, Doctor, that the days of "quackery, will soon
follow those of witchcraft and conjuration,"  and
 am happy to believe that, ere long, in medicine as
 in other things, "mystery  will be stripped of all 
198
pretence, and  practice be confined to  common
sense."
  Finally, in my first Lecture,  I showed that,
what the world  calls reason, is a faculty acquired,
improved and perfected,  by our  observations of,
reflections on, and deductions from, matters of fact;
and is correct or erroneous, in proportion to the
extent and  accuracy of our observations and com-
parisons; that,  to acquire, improve and perfect it,
in relation  to.every  branch ofknowledge attaina-
ble by man, is not required to makea man a phy-
sician;  that its  perfection in relation to anyone
subject,  is   often attained  in  a  few  minutes—
"I have it," said Des Cartes, who discovered the
reason  of Euclid's famous forty.-.seyenth problem,
(just as his father entered the garret in which he
had shut him up, to see if he would "quit poring
over that geometry.")  "I  have it," and sure
enough,  he had  it, as perfectly as it. ever will be
"had," "while the sun and the moon endure."—
 But you labor  to prove that I require the gather-
ing  up of all the experience  of all the world  on
every subject, in order to convince a man that he
has"scalded his foot,  and that cold water, raw cot-
 ton, Irish  potatoes or whiskey, will take out the
 inflammation, and elder salve or  almost any other
 oleaginous substance  will heal it.—(Stop, I beg.
 pardon, "every  cure, must be made by steam and
 Lobelia!  The   remedy of remedies!")  Perhaps
now you will imagine that the excessive .heat and
the  lesion ofthe. circulatory and secretoiy vessels,
that constitute this form of disease, are not "ob-
structions  to the free operation  ofthe powers of
life," and therefore do not admit of "the same plan
of cure!"
   I  showed the propriety of judging with caution, 
199
even where we suppose  that our observations and
comparisons are  complete and perfect.  But you
pronounce me a bad, an "absurd," a "nonsensical"
reasoner, when your own careless misconceptions,
misquotations  and ignorance, had  been tbe sole
causes of all the absurdity  and nonsense  which
you exhibited to the reader.  I  showed the folly
of condemning any proposition before we have all
the knowledge necessary to enable us to do it ad-
visedly and correctly,.  Hence,  rather than give
my  convictions, as  you have done  the  most of
yours, in the form of assertions; I quoted the prin-
cipal facts on which those convictions were  based.
You deny these  things, without  giving proof that
they  are false, and make bold assertions that you
cannot prove,  because  you cannot  obtain the
means.  I showed that  the Botanic System has
been condemned without reason; and you turn all
this showing (in a manner that would have  aston-
ished me, had I  seen less of such misrepresenta-
tion in controversial writings,) into an attempt to
prove that the experience of all ag-cs on every sub-
ject, is necessary to the perfection of the reason of
one age on any, and yot, that this perfection has been
attained in the life and experience of Samuel
Thomson!   I gave a history ofthe origin  ofthe
syste*»r and some ofthe evidences of its correct-
ness.  These last, you have completely demolish-
ed, rendered null and  void, by the simple sen-
tence—"which cases we believe, from good reasons,
never occurred."  I  contrasted  this system and
remedies, with the old,  and showed their superi-
ority.  This you have  set aside, by pronouncing
it "nothing of importance!"  Quotations from the
most  learned  authors of your own side, showing
the fruitlessness of all their experience, the errors 
                     200

of their  theories and the midnight  darkness  in
which their minds  are  still involved in regard to
the healing art, you are pleased to answer, by cal-
ling them "hollow vessels" that "sound the loud-
est."  You make  no attempt  to disprove the
charge that the regular  system has not in it, truth
and  consistency enough to entitle it to the name:
but is more properly  termed, "a source of uncer-
tainty,"  "the  art of conjecture," "the science of
guessing,"  "learned quackery," "striking in the
dark," &c. &c.   And your are wise to hold your
peace, when your answer must be folly. Had you
been silent in many instances where  you have at-
tempted  an argument, I forone should have thought
more highly, of your sagacity as a reasoner, if I
had  less of your purity of intention.  Thus, you
perceive, that you have misunderstood, misquoted
and  misrepresented me;  most furiously attacked
and  condemned what  you did not  understand, and
labored with great zeal and  boldness, to make a
beautiful science  out of what the very heads ofthe
schools that teach it,  have very justly styled "the
source of uncertainty," "the  art of conjecturing,"
"the science  of guessing," "learned  quackery,"
"striking in the dark,"  "a temple unroofed and
cracked  at  the  foundation," &c. &c.   I have
pointed out some of these errors of yours, and show-
ed that you have not so much as touched the prin-
cipal ' subject matter of the Lectures;'and now, sir,
if you will disprove any one ofthe prominent points
therein touched,  you  will deserve as much honor
and  glory, and a present of as much silver plate, as
the citizens ofNatchez bestowed on Dr. S. A. Cart-
wright, for curing "a great many cases of Chole-
ra," with the "much despised" Thomsonian "remi
edy," Cayenne Pepper.   Yours.
                                 A, CURTIS. 
201
  After sundry skirmishes with certain very trou-
blesome   " near neighbors,"  calling  themselves
" Equity" and " Warden," to the latter of whom
he declared that Dr. Curtis and the Steam System
were the  only  objects  worthy of his notice,  and
those against  which he planted  his  staff, (which
skirmishes we shall notice more particularly here-
after,) Dr. Delony turned  his batteries  against
us again, as follows :

            FOR THE FEDERAL  UNION.*

  Mr. Editor: I must  continue  to  address you,
Bit, as I am discussing a subject  through  the me-
dium of  your columns, and of course should feel
that I was gtoilty of a  want  of courtesy and good
breeding  to single out any one individual name to di-
rect my remarks to, especially if I should fall so far
short of-apromise solemnly made,  not to " use any
epithets or unfair modes of reasoning" as Dr. Cur-
tis  has proved himself to have  done  in  his last
communication directed to myself.  1.
  I  must confess  Mr. Editor  that I was greatly
disappointed in the reply which Dr. Curtis thought
proper to make  to my remarks,  instead of argu-
ment fraught with  reason and good sense, and con-
fined to an illustration  ofthe " manutiae" and the
  * Before tho reception ofthis, we had learned that the compo-
sitor had taken the liberty to correct  some of the errors of the
Doctor's former piece, that were so "glaring that they were ab-
solutely provoking;" but that, as the  Doctor considered himself,
unaided, an over-match for all the " champions of steam" in the
land, in literature as well as in medical science, he determined to
print each piece as he found it, and let the public judge. This
will account for the  difference in the  orthography and punctua-
tion especially, between  the Doctor's  " Remarks," and the pre-
sent article.   We print the copy as  we  find it  in the-Federal
Union.—Editor. 
202
defence ofthe principles of his system, the fallacy
of which was so successfully exposed in my review
of his two lectures, he has blundered over all the
important points which ware introduced into that
review, and .hitched upon incidental  expression^
the least connected with the subject matter under
consideration, against these, he has affected to di-
rect his whole batteries of frauthy abuse and gram-
matical spattering with the restlessness of a mad
Buffalo, wraped up in  his own vain and presump-
tive egotism, he-.rattles along like a  shuck  in a
whirlwind creating a  great  noise in the bushes
without any father effect.  2.
  The Doctor seems to  take  great  ■umbrage be-
cause I complimented him with the title of "learn-
ed  Lecturer," in doing this, I did -not*know  that I
was casting any-" reproach" on the gentleman, I
thought he so considered himself or  he would not
have  attempted  to deliver lectures or " teach'-' a
congregation of " enlightened gentlemen,'' but if
the Doctor does not consider himself learned in his
art, we must conclude that he treated his audience
with as much impoliteness at least in attemptingto
" lecture" th,em  on a subject in which he was not
learned as he seems to think that we have treated
him with, in calling him, what he actually acknow-
ledges he was not, very likely however the doctor
concluded that he  was lecturing an audience not
very learned itself, and that he  would just dash
along in all the splendour of his eloquence, say any
thing on  "general heads," the " manutiae," of
his system was not worth " teaching," the  "big-
ger the fool the belter the luck" and this was  all the
Doctor cared to rest his system upon.  The Doc-
tor charges us also with calling him the "cham-
pion of steam" we presume nothing  but his great 
203
desire to be  thought  the  " champion of steam"
could have-so blinded him to the correct allusion of
our remark we will not say that his misconception
in this particular, proceeded from  a deficiency  of
his knowledge of English  Grammar, for we pre-
sume, from his frequent refference to its rules in
reply to our remarks, that he understands allabout
it.   We will here give the sentence which  we
penned  and see if any other person who was not
expecting or  anxious for some such compliment,
will say that, that " epithet" was applied to Dr.
Curtis,  here  it is "as we proceed  onward with
the lectures,  we get  deeper and  deeper into the
nonsensical jargon ofthe champion of steam, the
Lecturer  says "Dr. Thomson  tells physicians
th^X under their very feet grow sure and safe reme-
dies for  all diseases" &c. &c.   Now who Will say
that we here  alluded to Dr. Curtis as the cham-
pion of steam! we intended no such-high compli-
ment to the  Doctor,  we made a  quotation  ofthe
nonsensical jargon which  we alluded to, and this
was Dr. Thomsons and not Dr.  Curtis', for says
Doctor  Curtis, " Doctor  Thomson  tells  physi-
cians" &c.   But ware we to continue  the cor-
rection  of all his  misstatements, such as the
above and the delusive cast which he attempts  to
give to the true sense and meaning of our remarks,
we should find neither time or room  for  anything
else, but a continued correction of his wilful misre-
presentations, he operates on the " DECEPTIVE
SYSTEM" and studies harder-to delude than to
convince his readers.   3.
  The Doctor says " he calls physicians  by no
reproachful terms nor does he approve of such eon-
duct in Dr. Thomson or any one else," indeed, then
the Doctor does not advocate the system of Thom- 
201
eon, for three-fourths of his system is made up of
abusive terms and coarse vulgar language towards
the medical profession; It is not a little surprising
that the Doctor should condemn any part of Thom-
son's system and hold the balance to be all perfec-
tion, for we presume the same "reason" and "ex-
perience" and the same spirit and genius pervaded
and dictated the whole.   Thus sir you are drop-
piiig o^from the " champion" Thomson, will not
claim his  reason and experience  and his immortal
genius as  your light and guide, and is vain enough
to  substitute your own " reason and experience"
in the place of his,  although  you  once  asserted
that his was  perfect, dont cringe Doctor,  if the
lash is top keen for you, stand up to it like a horo,
although it may be as hot as steam itself,  4.
   The Doctor seems to think we write as though
we considered him our enemy, indeed we should
consider him but a feeble enemy at best, men fre-
quently judge others by their own feelings, and
Dr. Curtis feeling himself to be our enemy, it was
nothing but poor human nature in him to conclude
that we ware his enemy—  5.
   The Doctor says "the answer to your first pa-
ragraph I may safely leave in the hands of Equi-
ty," and yet he  has thought proper to  go on in  a
lengthy misrepresentation ofthat paragraph, We
alluded, as plainly as the english language could
allow  us, [why didn't you try Latin or  Greek,
Doctor, seeing the english failed you.—Ed.] to the
system  of practice' and not its  unfortunate effects
among  the human family, hence our assertion that
" silence  would be the better policy  and the best
argument against a system which has no foundation
in  truth or common  sense and contrary to all en-
lightened  reason," the shocking effects of his 6ys- 
205
tem, which the Doctor  have pourtrayed  in their
true colors, while commenting on this paragraph
will we dare say  "arrest and suppress its deplora-
ble ravages"  much sooner than  any paragraph
which we might "stop to pen" against it, so much
for the Doctors comments on this part  of our re-
marks, but such is his " unfair mode"  of reason-
ing throughout,  and it becomes our disagreeable
and disgusting task to correct this unfair reason-
ing (if reasoning  it can  be called) and the  many
misrepresentations which he has resorted to, main-
ly the sum and substance of his lengthy tirade of
nonsense.   6.
   He labors hard to prove that a Physician at the
bed side of his patient, knows no more of what he
is going to do, than a blind man striking at random
with a club,  We presume  he knows as much at
least as a steam doctor does, when "he is standing
by a Kettle* of boiling  water with his patient
fainting over it, gaspingfor breath.  7.
   I am really fearful that the name of Dr. Water-
house will superceed that of the renowned  Thom-
son, I am somewhat astonished that Dr. Cur-
tis should pin his faith so strongly to the skirts of
Dr. Waterhouse as to leave the great Thomson in
the shade, the father and discoverer orinventer of a
system so wonderfully perfect, surely ought to be
best light and authority  on that system,  8.
   The assertion by Dr.  Waterhouse that Q,uack-
ry has done more for the medical art than all the
Universities since the time  of Charlemagne, will
be believed only by those whose interest it is to en-
tertain such  belief, but how, pray, has it done
more for the medical art!  did he tell us!  has he
proved this fact!  he has  not,  whose  evidence
then is mostly to be relied upon, the bare aster- 
20G
 tion of Dr. Waterhouse or the whole medical facu1
 ty to the contrary. [Where is your proof that "the
 whole medical faculty" have asserted the "contra-
 ry!"_ED.]   The boldness of the Quack, his utter
 carelessness of consequences, leads him to the.ui-
 ministration of medicines and  the application of
 means whose qualities and effects are unknown to
 him, in such inexperienced hands, ignorant as he
 is of the parts, principles and peculiarities of the
 human system,  these medicines arid means have
 too often proved fatal to human life,  The medical
 profession, aware of their own responsibility to
 their fellow being, and setting  a higher value on
 human life, they avoid giving medicines whose
 qualities they kniw not of,  or knowing they  are
 prepared to~give them in such portions,  the consti-
 tution, habit &c ofthe patient considered, and at
 such times as are most favorable  to a. safe and ef-
 fectual operation, not indiscriminate^ry and at all
 times  as, the steam and Lobelia are applied and ad-
 ministered, without the least attention to the na-
 ture seat or stage ofthe disease.   9.
  The Doctor grants what I said " that reason is
 an improvable faculty" but asks at the  same time
 " may we not reason  and investigate from wrong
 premises" did I not state  that fact!  when  I said
 " men frequently reason wrongfully  from wrong
 impressions"  Why does  the Doctor seek to  as-
 sume my own ground  and attempt to place me in
 the same situation into which he has unfortunate-
 ly reasoned himself, this however  is one of his de-
 ceptive modes of argument.   10.
  The Doctor charges me with misquoting him in
the paragraph in which  he couches his theory of
diseased action,  that I said  " these  obstructions
caused a greater quantity  of blood and heat than 
207
usual around the heart which blood (the  doctor
said " which heal") finds its way to the'contract-
ed skin, whare  it accumulates, looks  angry and
produces the peculiar effect denominated  fever"
It makes not  the  slightest difference Doctor—
wheather you said  blood or heat, they are bothe
coequal  and coextensive, and we will condemn you
ether way,   Which sir do you suppose causes the
"angry" or red appearance of an inflamed surface,
or the ruddy glow ofthe cheek! the heat or blood
of the system, of course  the blood, whare it " ac-
cumulates" and causes heat, so it appears thatt-he
blood must first find its  way  to the surface  in
"greater quantities" before the  " angry appear
ance" of which you speak or the "peculiar effect"
(Heat) denominated " fever" can take place.  11.
   If the Doctor believes that  heat could be restor-
ed or made  to " find its way"  to  the cold and
clammy extremities of a patient who is prostrate,
without a reaction is produced  in the circulating
system  by which a " greater quantity of blood" is
sent to the extreme vessels of the surface whare it
produces warmth—heat, he greatly  deceives him-
self—then  of course his  theory is founded  on
"wrono- premises"—This bare allusion to his theo-
ry of diseased action is all the notice which the
Doctor  seemes  desirous to pay  to our successful
refutation of the principles of his  unfounded sys-
tem  and  common  sense  will teach  my  readers
wheather or not he  has gained any thing by this
feeble  attempt to  disprove my  position  and
6treangthen  his—Thus has he abandoned the
main ground of his system, the theory of diseases,
consequently the plan of cure must be equally ab-
surd  and untenable, Then the  whole mass must
fall to the ground and nothing but an obstinacy 
208
equal to his ignorance could induce any individual
to cling to a superstructure destitute of order or
architecture and already tumbling to the'kdust for
the want of a solid foundation.  12.
  We might here stop  with the  full  confidence
that every  sensible man  has already  passed his
condemnatory sentence  on the absurd  reasonings
and the skipping-and-jumping arguments, which
the Doctor has thought  proper to introduce, evad-
ing altogether the  main points  of discussion, but
as his strange ideas affoard more matter of curios-
ity and amusement, than reflection, we will  pro-
ceed to notice a few of them.  13.
  The Doctor says " that a moments reflection
might have convinced us, that it would havebeen
improper in him to teach  all the  manutiae of the
science in a single Lecture before a mixed audience
when he had been invited only to present a gene-
ral view ofthe subject."  Indeed Doctor, and do
you not think that you had time and room  enough
in the long article which  you had  the politeness
to direct to us, to " teach" us something  ofthe
"manutiae" of your science,  we  do not  believe
that you ware " invited" to give us, in that arti-
cle, " a general view  ofthe subject" nor ware you
addressing a "mixed  audience," surely then you
might have condescended to  " teach" us  some-
thing ofthe " manutiae"  of your valuable system,
That is what  we ask for sir—and, it appears to us,
is what a  " mixed audience" would have mostly
desired, in order to understand your system, you
say that the principles of your system  can  be un-
derstood by men ofthe most ordinary capacities,
if so, we think it would have been no  very great
task for you,  to " teach" us its  "manutiae" and
then sir we should not "have the mortification of 
209
still finding ourselves ignorant" of the principles
of your plain system, but say you, "If however you
insist on being  thus minutely informed, come to
the Richmond Infirmary, and you shall be taught
both the Theory and Practice" a shrewd plan in-
deed to slip out of a matter you cannot explain or
"teach,"  If I will " come" to the Richmond In-
firmary  you will "teach" me, aflat acknowledge-
ment  that you have nothing to  "teach,"—again
you say " it is improper to teach the  manutiae of
your science to a 'mixed' congregation,"  Impro-
per is it sir! for our part, Doctor we think it very
proper that the "manutiae" ofthe medical science
should be taught, we can have but little confidence
in a system whose manute principles are so impro-
per or unnecessary to  be  taught  or  understood,
What strange ideas  for  a man to advance who sets
himself up as an instructor in a  science in which
human life  is involved, We  can draw no other
conclusion from your assertions  Doctor, than this
that your system, either has no principles at all, or
if it has any, that you are incapable of" "teaching"
them, do you not conclude with us, " acknowledge
the truth and shame the devil."   14.
  To our inquiry, " what physicians done for sure
andsafe remedies before Dr. Thomson was born!"
he  answers, "they did without them," here he
denies that lobelia is a  safe and  sure remedy for it
is well known that  this article  of medicine, was
known  to the profession  long  before  Thomson
knew any thing about it, and so was cayenne and
myrrh also,  [Who knows  it!  Not Dr. Deloney.—
Ed.]  Take care Doctor or you will not do your
famous system much credit if you continue to make
many such blunders.  15.
  Again the  doctor resorts to a discription  of
                14 
                      210

the great and numerous cures that have been ef-
fected by his system of practice, and  in this puff-
ing &ni boasting argument he relates fifteen cases
of measles in one family which ware cured without
losing one single one,  Wonderful indeed!   What
will the Doctor think when we tell him that we
have seen twice fifteen cases ofthe same disease,
all in  one family, get well without, the adminis-
tration of any medicine at all, will he believe us!
But to be candid we confess that we have heard of
the good effects of the steam and  Lobelia in two
instances in which  they  acted like a charm, and
are worthy to be related  here in addition to those
which the Doctor has already described, the first
was a case  in one of the western states in which
the virtues  of the Lobelia ware  manifested in a
most astonishing, and no less gratifying, manner—
a gentleman who was out on a hunting excursion
on one of those noble rivers  of  the west whare
game is abundant,  happened unfortunately to be
bitten by a Rattle Snake, as soon as the accident
occurred he  turned for home, but  did not get far
before he fell to the  ground, here  in  an agony of
pain and distress indiscribable and with no  help-
ing hand near him,  he roled about on the earth in
all the horrid and excruciating torment which his
situation was calculated to inspire—All at once he
felt ease from his pain and sickness, calmness and
composure took the  place of restlessness, anxiety
and despair, reflecting on his situation but a mo-
ment ago, he could but wonder what divine and
providential aid had ministered to his  relief,  so ef-
fectually and suddenly, when accidentally he  cast
his eyes on a bunch of lobelia, over which he had
fortunately  rolled, straitway he was healed, rose
on his feet rejoicing and continued on  his hunting 
211
 excursion as though  nothing  had happened and
 was ever after this a healthier heartier man than
 he ever was before in his life before!!!   16.
  The second is a case in which the virtues ofthe
 Steam  ware no less remarkable and occurred  in
 one of the northern states—An emigrant French-
 man who was engaged  at  his work in a powder
 magazine was most  shockingly  mangled by the
 explosion ofthe whole building from some  acci-
 dental cause, one of his legs and an arm were torn
 from his body,the bleeding and dying man was found
 among the fragments, writhing in great agony and
 crying out  for help, about this  time a steam Doc-
 tor (no doubt a special  messenger) happened to
 come to the spot he examined the man and declar-
 ed that he could relieve  him and restore his limbs
 if they could  be  found,  they  ware immediately
 hunted up, the steam was  raised apace and the
 Frenchman hoisted over it, as soon as he was rais-
 ed to a good welding heat the limbs ware placed in
 their former position and soon became firmly unit-
 ed, he  was then taken off and tempered down, and
 every one present avered after the  most  minute
 examination that they  could  not discover  even
 whare they ware joined together, so  completely
 was the reunion of the parts effected, and the
 Frenchman declared that he had  more strength  in
 these two limbs than  he ever had before, a sad
 misfortune  however occurred  in  this case,—but
not to be attributed to the steam, in the hurry and
bustle ofthe moment when the  limbs ware about
to be welded, the leg was placed on hind part be-
fore and was not discovered untill too late in con-
sequence of which the  Frenchman is at times
most prodigiously harrassed and vexed  in conse-
quence of one leg's wanting to go the oposit course
ofthe other.  17. 
212
  But we think we can make a fair set off to all
the great and wonderful cures the Doctor has ef-
fected, and the two above in^o the bargain, if not
greatly overbalance them, with the horrid and
shocking consequences of these two agents (steam
and lobelia) of human destruction.  If after read-
ing the cases which shall follow and which rest on
authority of indisputable veracity, the community
shall persist in giving countenance to a  species of
destruction of human life  calculated to  shock the
stoutest nerves, then they will not be  convinced
though death may stare them full in the  face.  18.
   A young medical frieud  of fine talents, and who
bids fair to occupy no ordinary stand  in his pro-
fession, sends usthetwo following cases—  19.
   " A negro man belonging to  Mr. S.—was at-
tacked last winter with Dropsy ofthe Thorax and
abdomen, the phenomena of which differed in no
respect with the routine of cases ofthe  like kind,
the boy was sent to our shop fot examination with
a request that we should give him such remedies
as his case might  seem to demand, we  gave him
pills   composed  of calomel,  squills  and clijetalis
 as a deobstruent and diurectic—the usual  dydra-
 gogues and directed extensive counter irritation to
 the thorax and abdomen,  The good effects of this
 course was soon manifest, the gums became a lit-
 tle sore  and  every  vestage  of the disease dis-
 appeared.  To  prevent a reaccumulation of wa-
 ter however we directed a free use of Bals. Co-
 paiva which I will here take the liberty to observe
 is a most superior remedy.  The pills  wcre^dis-
 continued and every thing appeared to be doing
 well, as soon however as his mouth got well, the
disease reappeared, he was subjected again to the
same  treatment with the same good  effects, he 
213
continued to mend slowly  but  surely—The op-
pression  about  the Precordia and  dyspnea had
pretty  much subsided,  and the  pausity of Urine
and thirst had entirely  disappeared,  his  master
about this time set  him to work in the new ground
whare  it was his ill fortune to encounter, a few
days subsequently, the man who  was to send him
to a premature grave, a Thomsonian passed by the
new ground and happening to  find the  master
thare,  persuaded him to  have his boy subjected to
the operation of steaming, it was applied  accord-
ingly and the Doctor after promising to  return in
a few days to repeat the process, took his leave,
This promise however  he  never fulfilled  for the
boy died some few hours after  the Doctor left!!
Such sir was the ultimatum ofthis case, that the
boy died of a species of murder  the most  scrupu-
lous will not pretend to deny."   20.
   2d "Mrs. M,  the wife of a  steam Doctor was
attacked in April last with Peripneumonia, for the
relief of which  her kind and affectionate  consort
applied the steam and  nos 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. for
aught  I know to the contrary, most liberally, but
to his. discomfiture—"his wife did not get any relief
from his remedies, and having ascended  to the top
round  ofthe ladder of his learning, he was easily
persuaded  by the friends of the patient to  call in  a
physician, Dr. J. was sent  for, who found  his wife
very sick, she was bled  copiously and placed under
the effects ofthe antimonial solution, she got bet-
ter immediately and mended apace until  entirely
well.  21.
   A case given  by the lady herself, last spring
" she  was unwell  but  was going about,  having
Been a relation  who  persuaded her she could be
cured  by the steam and lobelia,   Mrs D.  prevail- 
214
 ed on her  husband to let her try it, with reluc-
 tance he consented, the Lobelia was given and she
 was placed over the steam, she soon fainted howe-
 ver,  and her husband caught her before she fell,
 one of her feet slipped into the  boiling water and
 was considerably scalded, she was lifted to her bed
 and after a while revived, the steam Doctor still
 insisted to have  her  steamed in the bed, but she
 told him she believed she was fully satisfied,"—22.
   " Mrs C. of M. County was taken sick this sum-
 mer, her husband sent  for  a steam Doctor, he
 came, gave the lobelia, left more to  be given if it
 did not operate,  with directions if the whole did
 not operate to give warm salt  and water and if
 that did not cause the medicine to operate to give
 the woman a portion of ambear!!  The lobelia did
 not operate, the salt and water  was given yet no
 operation and the woman was very sick, the  am-
 bear next  was given  and the poor  woman soon
 sunk into death!!! 23.
   Case given by  my friend Dr. H.  W.  D. of F.
 county laboring under dropsy  of the chest,  had
 been somewhat unwell, he was prevailed  upon to
 call in a steam  Doctor, accordingly sent, the Doc-
 tor arrived and commenced with the lobelia which
 operated very powerfully—the steam was then ap-
 plied which weakened Mr. D. considerably and he
 was lifted to his bed in a very exhausted condition,
 when the administration of  no. 6. was commenc-
 ed under this treatment  he grew worse very  fast
 and finding his situation a very  critical  one he
 immediately sent for a physician, after  sometime
 with strict attention  and good  nursing  Mr. D.
found himself on the mend and at length recover-
ed;"  What would another day, with the   steam,
Lobelia and Cayenne, have produced in this case!
24. 
215
  Case given by the attending physician.
  Mr. S. of T. County, was attacked last summer
 with ague and fever had  been  sick four or five
 days, the fourth or fifth day sent for Dr.------ in
 great haste,  he arrived about the middle  ofthe
 evening found the patient prostrated, countenance
 livid and sunken, extremities  cold, profuse  clamy
 sweat over the whole surface, great internal heat
 and excessive thirst, pulse quick and  small, great
 restlessness and hurried respiration, died in three
 or four hours—The lobelia and cayenne  combined
 had been given to this man today, and he was
 steamed, the medicine operated but  partially and
 while over the steam he requested to be  taken off,
 stating that he was getting very week,"   25.
  The following case was given by a brother and
 sister of the lady who ware present  during the
 whole time—and protested against such treatment
 "Mrs. L. of M. County was attacked last fall with a
 mild bilious fever and walked home one and  a half
 miles  after the attack with but  little inconve-
 nience, that evening red pepper  was rubbed all
 over her body, which produced  considerable irri-
 tation and she complained heavily ofthe severity
 of the application, second day, commenced with
 what they called diophoretic powders, strong with
 cayenne, the fever increased, the heat and  thirst
 became very great,  continued  this practice with
 steaming four or  five days, no operation from the
 bowels,—fifth day, another steam doctor was call-
 ed in, commenced the  administration of Lobelia
 and  cayenne,  puked small portions of phlegm,
complained'of continued and excessive heat in the
 stomach and  bowels, yet the cayenne and lobelia
 continued nearly  every hour  during  the day and
night for 4 or 5 days longer, still continued to get 
216
worse, and grow weaker during this time, fever in-
creased, bottles  of hot water and hot rocks  ware
kept around the patient under a thick  covering,
curtains drawn closely around and the bed placed'
near a hot fire, the complaints of the poor woman
now became more heavy and distressing, but to no
purpose, although she  repeatedly exclaimed that
she must die soon without better treatment, par-
tial spasms now came on, and when attacked with
one of these, the remedy was a jerking or tossing
of the bed to  keep the patient in commotion and
she was directed to keep her eyes  moving or turn-
ing about for the purpose, they said, of preventing
them from becoming^zedor set, she became more
exceedingly exhausted and was evidently sinking,
at her urgent request and the solicitations of her
friends a physician  was now, the 10 or 12 day,
called in, when he arrived there was every appear-
ance of approaching dissolution and he pronounced
her case a  hopeless one, she lingered  but a  short
time longer and  died a victim to this unmerciful
butchery, the quantity of medicine taken during the
day and night,  was about three  quarts of a fluid
mixture made strong with red pepper or cayenne,
and during the treatment of the case a portion of
this same mixture, by  order of the steam Doctor
was frequently injected into the vagina, what this
most cruel part of all her treatment, was designed
for, no one can possibly imagine—, It was also ob-
served  by  some one present that  she ought to be
bled, the Doctor observed  that " no  person had
any more blood than they should have," so the doc-
tor persisted in his course untill he had exhausted
all his skill, and observed to his patient " I have
done every thing that can  be done for you  and
you are obliged to dje, all skill has failed and vou 
217
must submit yourself to death, this  observation
raised the poor woman nearly on  her  feet in bed
and convulsions were the consequence.  26.
  Statement given to me, by the physician called
in,
  " I received a message between midnight and
day, arriving at the house whare the poor woman
was I found her quite delirious, tongue much  in-
flamed and  almost swollen out of  her mouth, diffi-
culty of breathing, excruciating pain in the bron-
chiae,  pulse one hundred and thirty in a minute,
language cannot express the feeling I had at this
time, for this unfortunate individual, after inquir-
ing into her disease and the treatment she had re-
ceived from the steam Doctors—"  27.

  The following letter was received  by us a few
days ago,

                  JV------ August 27, 16S5.

  Dear Sir—Yours ofthe 11th  came to hand by
due course of mail requesting a statement of  the
case of Mrs. P. my daughter  It  was a subject of
so much delicacy that I have delayed giving  you
an  answer untill I could see Mr. P. and learn the
particulars from him—•  28.
  Mrs. P. was  not in good  health for some time
previous to her death laboring under a disposition
to dropsy,  but had been partially relieved by the
usual remedies several times but had concluded
she would not enjoy good health, and having been
Bteamed by C. II. S. for rheumatism, and thinking
she received some benefit from the operation, she
was induced to try the Thomsonian plan of treat-
ment in her then existing case, S.  having per- 
218
suaded her that he could relieve her entirely!  29.
  He visited her onmonday or tuesday and admin-
istered some lobelia, he then went off and  staied
untill friday night at which time he came  to my
house and on the next morning went to see her
but returned in a short time.  I asked him  if he
had given any medicine he stated he had not but
should as soon as he returned, which was in a few
minutes, when about to  begin the operation Mr.
P. stated  to him that he did not think his wife
able to undergo  the operation and  was afraid for
her to undertake it, but he persisted  in his  asser-
tions that he could cure her, but would not begin
until Mr. P. would pay hirn twenty.dollars for the
right to use the  remedy! he then gave  her the lo-
belia—which seemed to operate very  violently, so
much so, that the friends  of Mrs. P.  expressed
their fears of her death, but he stated that the me-
dicine was operating just as he wished  and  would
produce the desired effect—  30.
  The family becoming still more  alarmed  some
other observation was made relative to her death,
when he stated that if Mrs. P. died  that day he
would  agree to be hung the  next day and  that
there was no danger and still persisted in like as-
sertions untill death relieved her from the  opera-
tions of lobelia and the hands of E. H. S.
  As soon as the breath  had left the body  he ran
to the horse lot, caught his own horse and started
it is  said in a gallop through the woods leaving his
saddle bags and martingales hanging  on the fence,
and  the  next  account we had of him he  was in
Greenville district S. C. he wrote  several  letters
back one to myself and some to others, from which
I  inferred he  never intended  visiting Georgia
again.   The matter passed off however and after 
219
a lapse Of time he returned and was considered by
the mass of community as the destroyer of my
daughter,—
                             R.------"  31.

  The above cases requires no comment they speak
for themselves in a most warning voice, we have
others on hand, but surely the community will be
convinced from what we  have already given,  If
any person doubts them, let him call on us and we
will satisfy him, of their whole truth, for humani-
ty's sake we could wish that they ware not cor-
rect, but let  us proceed with the Doctors article,
He  seemes to be surprised  that calomel  should
have so many different effects on the human sys-
tem, he is not aware I presume that Tartar Eme-
tic will also puke, purge, and sweat and that lo-
belia will puke or kill, or kill even if it pukes.  32.
  The Doctor endeavors to disprove my argument
in favor  of the progress and improvement  ofrea-
son, and substitutes the word " experience" alto-
gether in order to  carry  out  successfully his  de-
ceptive system, thus he says "the momentary expe-
rience of the Virginia servant who found a wedge
of gold on his master's plantation, not even  " by
the guide of" geologic " principles," but when in
pursuit  of the cows, was worth  more than the
"ages  of experience  of all the alchymists  that
ever lived."  indeed Doctor, suppose it had been a
wooden wedge could it have been worth the same,
then of  course it must have been an  accident and
only happened to be a gold instead  of a wooden
wedge, but did the " momentary experience" ex-
ist before he found the wedge of gold or after! af-
ter of course,  then the discovery ofthe wedge was
chance work altogether and not the result of "&r- 
220
jicrience," but we will carry this idea a little fur-
ther Doctor how did the servant know the wedge
to be a gold one! and how did he know any thing
of the value of this precious  metal!  probably his
master  told him, well, how did his master know
it! why  Doctor I recon  " the ages of experience
of all the alchymists" must  have taught him this
useful information, so sir we are still  willing  to
rest the science  of medicine on the immutable ba-
sis of truth, as resulting  from the  investigation,
experience and improvement of ages, such expe-
rience sir as taught the master of this servant to
know that the " wedge" which  he  accidentally
discovered, was gold and of great value,  had  he
not known this fact, the wedge  would have been
of no more value to him than  a stone,  Thus it is
Doctor that you boldly  set up the  " momentary
experience" of an accidental  discovery of a prize,
against the truth of that  experience  which taught
you the value of such a prize, and  thus it  is also,
that you  set  up  the  "  momentary"  haphazzard
"experience" of Samuel  Thomson against the val-
uable truths and matters of fact which  result from
the progress and  improvement  of reason and the
experience of ages,  The Doctor says that  1 un-
dertake to prove that "providential observation"
 cr chance  is not the part of a mans  experience,
not so Doctor, we contend that accidental  discove-
 ries are not  the results of experience or the im-
provement of reason,  but when a accidental cir-
cumstance does take  place, its effects then be-
comes a matter of experience—  33.
   At last we have come  to something of a theory
 again, the Doctor says " all diseases then proceed
from the same cause hinderances  obstructions, to
 the free exercise ofthe  power called  life"  at the 
221
" fountain" we presume, then says " when"  I
" will give him a definition of life he will tell me
whare it is seated"   I thought the Doctor would
invent some  slipry plan  in order to endeavor  to
creep out ofthe difficulties into which he has un-
expectedly fallen, he tells us  in his theory that
"when obstructions clog  the operations  of life at
the fountain,  in orderto remove these obstructions,
he adds additional heat to the fountain" now we
thought the Doctor understood whare this "foun-
tain" was seated, and we only asked him  to in-
form us whare it was seated in order that we might
know how to cure diseases also, by supplying this
" fountain" as the Doctor does,  with "additional
heat"   The Doctor  surely ought to know whare
life  was  seated, from the ease, with which  he
speaks, of supplying its  "fountain" with  "addi-
tional heat."   34.
  If all diseases then proceed from the same cause,
why are not all diseases alike!  the same  causes
always produce the same  effects, and the same re-
medy, if all  diseases proceeded  from  the same
cause, would  cure all diseases, tharefore Thomson
nor  the Doctor have as yet discovered this great
and sovereign remedy for all diseases, for says the
Doctor,  "I had  told you that  Dr Thomson de-
scribed more  than seventy different remedies and
given us rules for the discovery of as many more as
we please" what a convenient system of practice
and easy  science this must be, Dr Thomson has
just made it a matter of pleasure with his deluded
disciples  to discover a good  remedy when they
pleased to do  so, that is, if they find one wont do,
try another, if that wont  do, keep trying untill you
hit upon the right one, and then you may cure your
patient if he is not too nigh dead from trying, this 
222
is the only way left to us to conjecture, by which,
they  discover their remedies, for if they have any
other rules by which they may discover as "-many
more" remedies as  they please, they have failed
to give them to us, probably these rules  belong to
the "manutiae" of  their science,—But  " the na-
ture of these obstructions" says the Doctor "their
mode of opposing the free  operations of  life, the
modes and means by  which you are to remove them,
and the fountain at which life dwells &c, aresw6-
jects which engage my attention in the daily ex-
ercise of my profession" and yet he did not consi-
der them suitable subjects for a public lecture, nor
has he ever attempted to explain or discus them in
his long address directed to me, from which the
above quotation is made, " the fountain at which
life dwells" is a subject which has engaged his
daily attention, and yet  he cannot  tell us whare
it is 'seated,' so the very life blood principles of his
system he does not consider suitable subjects for
discussion,  the  nature  of  these 'obstructions'
which cause all diseases, is not worth explaining
in a public  lecture,   Nor does  the  'modes  and
means' by which we are to remove those 'obstruc-
tions' seem  to be at all essential for us to know,
nor the seat ofthe 'fountain' 'at which life dwells'
and to which all these 'modes  and  means' are to
be directed,  worthy of explanation, either  in 'a
public Lecture' or a paper discussion, although his
system is boldly charged as unfounded and without
principle, yet he cannot prove such charges erro-
neous, defend his system against them, nor estab-
lish it on even reasonable grounds—  35.
  The Doctor requests us to give  him 'a correct
definition of life'and he will then tell us 'whare it
is seated' a  question which we  never asked him, 
223
 but for his gratification we  will say to him, that
 we believe life to be, the divine spirit of our crea-
 tor, man  was made perfect  in  all his parts—yet
 was he  like a stock or stone, he  moved not, but
 God breathed into his nostrils the breathoflife, and
 he became a living soul, this living animating spi-
 rit pervades universal nature, the  spangled  hea-
 vens, the verdant  fields, the mountains and  the
 sea, the lightenings flash and the thunders awful
 roar, with peal on peal reverberating through this
 vast universe, the wind that gently wafts the laden
 ship to her destined port, the busy bustling hum of
 man, the labouring ant, all  proclaim this divinely
 animating principle, and this is life its 'fountain' is
 God.   36.
  Says the immortal Watts, alluding to the sys-
 tem of man,

    " Strange that a harp of a thousand strings
    Should keep so long in tune."

  The 'operations of life' then cannot be 'obstruct-
 ed' especially  at its 'fountain' some ofthe 'strings'
 may become untuned and for this reason we hum-
 bly approach  this delicate and .complicated  ma-
 chinery of man and endeavour to retune those ten-
 der discordant strings or refit the deranged wheel
 which seems to interrupt the smoothe  and regular
 action ofthe whole machinery,  and how shall we
 do this  unless we  know what chord is untuned or
 wheel deranged, wheather it be the brain, lungs,
stomach or intestines, liver,  spleen, Kidnias,  Ute-
rus  &c &c. and how shall we know which  of these
important parts is deranged^structural or function-
al, unless  we  mark the symptoms which attend the
derangement  of each and  every one  of them,— 
224
 would a watchmaker, if his machinery is dull in
 its action from the collection of dust or dirt, make
 his main spring stronger in order to  propell his
 machinery and  clear out these 'obstructions,' by
 increased action!   No.  he would clear away the
 dust and add oil to the wheels,   Would a  miller
 because the  cogs  of his wheels  ware deranged,
 'add  an additional' quantity of water, in order to
 force his machinery to run more smothe!  No. for
 he never would by this  means  effect  his desired
 object, he would ruin his machinery, but if he was
 wise he would refit his cogs and the  machinery
 would again run as smoothly as ever,—so it is not
 the'obstructions which  clog the operations of life
 at the  fountain' that causes  disease, the 'opera-
 tions of life at the fountain^cannot be 'clogged,'
 but it is a derangement  of some of the parts ofthe
 machinery  itself which constitutes  disease, and
 nbt the  'fountain' which moves it, and  the Doctor
 might continue  to ' add  all the additional heat' he.
 could possibly raise by  steam, cayenne or lobelia
 to the fountain  of which he speaks and he never
 will remove his  'obstructions,' but if he will apply
 the proper remedies to the wheel itself which may
 be deranged  and which causes irregularity in the
 balance ofthe machinery, he will have no need of
 •additional' power  or force at the 'fountain' and
 this is what  the physician  would endeavour to do.
 conscious, as he is of his frail and feeble  ability
 and means when compared with the power of his
 maker, he would humbly approach the bed side of
 his suffering  fellow man and through the favor  of
 Providence, endeavour to give him relief from his
 pain, endeavour to restore the deranged part of
this delicate  machinery to  its accustomed healthy
action,  for seemingly  the  most  simple of theBe 
225
 wheels may be  deranged and  death  will ensue
 from its consequences, the most extreme branches
 instead ofthe 'fountain' may be  injured and cause
 deatfij the smallest link in the chain of this deli-
 cate structure may be broken and the  loss of life
 will ensue in the whole, how necessary then  to
 direct our attention to the injured part and not to
 the fountain whare all  is perfect,—But  Dr. Curtis
 endeavours  to do nothing about the matter,  he
 cures his patients right oft'at hand, and nothing but
 old age shall waste away and destroy them, hear
 what he says 'what the medical profession endea-
 vours to do. the Thomsonians actually accomplish,'
 how  vain  and presumptive, this bold   assertion.
 what a defi-nce ofthe will and power of his maker,
 is here inadvertently expressed by this conceited
 puff,  we say inadvertently, for we cannot believe
 that any  man  in his  common  s«nses would use
 such loose expressions  in connection with  so se-
 rious a matter.   38.
   We have gone through the Doctors article, and
 have made corrections ofthe most important mis-
 statements and misrepresentations  which he has
 made of our remarks, our arguments in those re-
 marks stand as they ware, he has not refuted one
 single one and he will have to try it again.   Of his
 Theory and  plan of cure, which we upset entirely,
 he has not  'stoped to pen' a single  remark, but
gets out ofthe 6crapeby telling me, if I will ride
 seven hundred miles to the Richmond   Infirmary
 he will then teach me  his  Theory and practice
 too, has the  Dqcjtor not the conscience to save me
from this long ride,  Nor has he although his arti-
 cle was exceedingly lengthy, given us the least in-
formation ofthe 'manutiae' of his science, but he
has kept entirely aloof from the  subject of discus- 
226
eion,   there can be no better evidence of the un-
tenable nature ofthe grounds, on which he pre-
sumes to rest his system, hence bis disposition to
keep  off from the main question and  his fondness
for railing about 'epithets'and 'terms'—   39.
  We ask for light Doctor, we ask for the ' manu-
tiae' of your science, the 'nature of those obstruc-
tions,' 'their mode of opposing  the free operations,
of life' 'the mode andmeansby which  we are to re-
move them and the fountain at  which life dwells,'
all these 'important subjects' which 'engage  your
attention, in the daily exercise of your profession'
we ask information upon,  give us light, give us a
system of principle established  on truth, and not
one of falsehood and speculation,—   40.
                       EDWARD DELONY.
   Talbotton, Sept. 15,1835.
  Totally disgusted  with his want of talent and
learning, as well as with the reckless impudence of
hie bold assertions, we should have left Dr. Deloney
to 'flounder' on, 'like a shuck in a whirlwind'—ex-
cellent, [scarcely derived from Hebrew, Greek ot
Latin, however; the  Indians or negroes must have
taught the Doctor this classic figure,]  but for the
intimation, from  some of his intelligent readers,
that we might prevent him from deluding many that
were not quite so intelligent, by showing up still
farther his folly and  recklessness.   Let it  be  re-
membered, however, that the review of Dr. Delo-
ney derived consequence from the assertion ofthe
editor of the Boston  Medical  and Surgical Journal
(see our preface,) that he "perfectly agreed with
the talented author ofthe review." 
227
  We therefore sent to the  Editor of the Federal
Union the following

                   REPLY.

           FOR THE FEDERAL UNION.

  Mr. Editor: If you agree in opinion with Dr.
Deloney,  that my  address to him, very politely
admitted into your columns, exhibited a want  of
courtesy to yourself; I trust you will pardon that
offence, when I assure you that  no disrespect was
intended.  Whether the Doctor  or myself has used
the most "epithets or unfair modes of reasoning,"
I am perfectly willing to leave  to the decision of
yourself and your numerous and intelligent read-
ers.
  The Doctor promised "Warden" that he would
not be drawn from the main subject, "the theory
ofthe  steam system, and the practice founded  on
that theory."  But, I am sorry  to find so little in
his answer to me, that appears  to bear very heav-
ily upon either.  He complains that  I have "blun-
dered  over  all the  important  points introduced
into his  review," in which he had "successfully
exposed the fallacy" of the Thomsonian principles,
or my defence of those principles. I dare not ven-
ture to say which he means, since my sad misap-
prehension ofthe meaning ofthe words, 'champion
of steam!'  'As we proceed with the lectures, says
he, we get still deeper and  deeper  into the non-
sensical jargon of the champion of steam.'   Who,
reader, would you suppose is here  meant  by  the
champion of steam!  Dr. Deloney says it is Dr.
Thomson,  not the lecturer!  I suppose, therefore,
that I  must believe  Dr. Thomson, not myself, the 
228
author of the lectures I delivered in Baltimore__
This, however, is not more difficult for me, than to
believe that  poison is good to cure disease, that
taking halfthe blood will either purify the remain-
der or promote the health ,or that the fever whichGod
ordained to life,  should make itself an instrument
of death.  The Doctor says, that I sent him little
else than 'frauthy abuse  and grammatical spatter-
ing.'  It is evident that these sent to Dr. Deloney,
were as ill applied as 'coals sent to New Castle.'
For my own part, I should be perfectly willing to
leave the controversy as it  is, with the 'intelligent
people,' Dr. Ds.  jury; but, in obedience to the re-
quest of several  of them,  for the benefit  of those
that are not so intelligent, I speak once more.—
Though I do not think myself an article of so much
importance to  the  good people of Georgia, that
they would be either  profited or amused by an ex-
posure of my personal consequence,  or my ambi-
tious designs in the delivery of a lecture to  a.Bal-
timore audience; I beg leave to protest that I have
never authorized  Dr. Deloney to explain my mo-
tives for action or argument.   He will give no cre-
dit  to the favorable testimonies respecting lobelia,
of Drs.  Waterhouse, Hersey,  Montgomery, and
others who have  taken the article themselves, and
witnessed its effects perhaps a thousand times on
others; but, he says, 'no one will question the au-
thority of Dr. Coxe,'  who says from mere hearsay,
he does  not say that he ever  witnessed such a re-
sult, that, 'if it does not puke or evacuate power-
fully, it frequently destroys the patient.' I can be-
lieve the former testimony, because it accords with
my  own experience; but I  cannot the  latter, be-
cause, in three years constant use ofthe article, in
doses varying from five grains to half an ounce and 
229
more, I have never seen any  such effect  as Dr.
Coxe describes.  Dr. Deloney  says, the quack ad-
ministers medicines of whose  properties  and  ef-
fects he  is  ignorant, without knowledge of the
character, location or stage of the disease, thus
producing great mischief; but, that the medical
profession, knowing all these things, 'are  prepar-
ed to give them in such portions, the constitution
and habit of the patient  considered, and at  such
times as are most favorable to a safe and  effectu-
al operation.'  I  had proved  from the history of
medicine and the testimony ofthe heads of its prin-
cipal schools, and of other gentlemen  eminent in
the  profession, that the  above description of a
quack  well fitted the  man who slavishly followed
the authorities of standard authors, and I new add
that the sequent character of the physician is bet-
ter illustrated-in the botanic  practitioner, than
in any  other class ofthe medical profession.
  The Doctor says that I assume his ground when
I admit that reason is an improvable faculty. I cer-
tainly did not know, when, in the Baltimore Lyce-
um, I maintained the doctrines ofthe improvement
and perfection ofreason, I was  trespassing  on the
rights of Dr. Deloney.  He admits that he  misquo-
ted me; but says 'it makes not the  slightest differ-
ence!'   He  seems determined to  condemn me at
all hazards.  He says he successfully refuted  my
'theory of diseased action,'  in his review.  I beg
his pardon, but I understood  him  to say that he
did not comprehend  it, and merely to ask a few
questions relative to the meaning, which I  answer-
ed, by showing him that his hasty perusal and mis-
quotations had led him into  misconception.  This,
he  calls, 'abandoning my main ground.'   He pro-
nounces the Thomsonian theory destitute of truth, 
230
opposed to reason, and absurd; but, until he brings
at least one fact to prove these statements, I prefer
his  other statements, that 'bare assertions of men,
without reason or argument, carry but little  con-
viction to the understanding,' and I choose this, be-
cause  it accords  with facts and my own observa-
tion, to which the others are directly opposed.  If
my theory of disease, true or false, has been yet
refuted or even  understood by the Doctor, I am
ignorant ofthe fact.
  I now come to  the 'curious and amusing portion
of his reply.  He seems- somewhat displeased at
my not giving him the 'manutiae' ofthe system.
It  is useless to teach  minutiae to one  who cannot
understand a  plain general principle.   To his re-
quest  to be released  from the long ride to Rich-
mond to learn these things at the Infirmary, I most
cheerfully answer, yes; I am glad  of any excuse
to  get rid of the obligation to  instruct  in  the
science of medicine, one whom I should first be
obliged  to follow through Webster's Spelling
Book, Murray's  Grammar, [he could not compre-
hend Home Tooke, Cardell, Webster, Smith, &g.,]
composition and  punctuation; enough  of arithme-
tic to know what proportion 'one half of the whole
all put together' makes; 'manutiae' which would
cost me three years labor at least, before I could
begin  to teach him the grand principles ofthe unity
of  disease, and the beautiful science of curing it,
by  removing obstructions and restoring the healthy
actions ofthe vital organs.  The  Doctor says, I
related fifteen cases of measles in one family, which
were cured without loosing one, (I did not say they
were in one family,) and  then  asks  whether I
would  believe that he had seen twice that num-
ber in one  family, cured without any medicine'— 
231
 I  answer,  it is quite probable, for the vis medica-
 trix natural, or healing power of the system alone,
 is generally sufficient to cure the measles. I should
 be much more disposed to doubt it,  had he told me
 they were all treated secundum artem, by 'learned
 doctors,' as it is a very rare thing that so many es-
 cape the fatal effects ofthat kind of treatment.—
 Dr. Bigelow of Boston says, (and I agree with him)
 the principal business ofthe doctor in measles,  is
 to prevent officious quacks from doing mischief.
   After stating two cases by way of carricature,
 Dr. D. goes more seriously into the report of others
 which he says 'rest on authority of indisputable ve-
 racity.'  The first two are cases 'sent by a young
 medical friend.'  The third was a negro  belonging
 to  Mr. S.; another was Mrs. M.,  the wife of a
 steam doctor,  and the physician was Dr. J.; a case
 was related by herself, Mrs. D. Another was Mrs.
 C.  of M. County.   These are followed  by a  case
 furnished by Dr. II. W. D., of F.  County; another
 Mrs.  S., of T. County, was given  by the attend-
 ing physician. Then comes Mrs. L., of M. County.
 Another is  given by Mr. R., whose daughter, Mrs.
 P., had been killed by the steam Doctor,  C. H. S.
 [Doubtless every man in Georgia  knows all these
 characters!]   Now, I might have put  some con-
 fidence in the  above statements, had not the same
 Doctor who made  them  [they all rest solely on
 Dr. Deloney's authority,] said to 'Warden' that
 'the bare assertions of men,  without  reason  or
 argument, carries but little conviction to the under-
 standing;' and second, that  'a cause whose advo-
cates  are ashamed to subscribe  to, is  not worth
notice.'  That these reports are without'reason,'
 I prove by  the fact that  they are given by persons
who were not present to behold the scenes, symp- 
232
toms and effects which they describe; they depend?
ed on Thomsonian patients and  their friends, to
describe things of which at other times they de-
clare such persons wholly ignorant and incapable.
They will not allow that the most skilful Thomson-
ian practitioner knows any thing about the diseases,
symptoms  or effects of medicines in  the cases
which he cures; but any testimony from any sim-
pleton who,  after commencing  the  practice and
feeling a little strange, is frightened at the recol-
lection  of the horrid tales about the  burning of
cayenne and  steam and the poisoning of lobelia,
and returns to the regular practice, 'like a dog to
his vomit &c.,' 'rests on authority  of indisputable
veracity.'  Again; that the above cases are'with-
out argument' against Thomsonism, is proved by
the  fact that the treatment there described is not
according to  Dr.  T.,  nor are the effects such as
are observed in his practice.
  But I am  compelled to use another argument
against Dr. Deloney in his review  of the cases I
cited in  my lectures, viz: 'which cases we believe
from good  reasons never occurred.  1st, because
he is vague and indefinite in the relation of every
case: 2d. he neither gives  the name nor residence
ofthe patient, 3d.  He does not  state who the
physician  was [s were]  that  attended these pa-
tients and  failed in their efforts to cure; thus leav-
ing no clue by which the facts which he presumes
to relate,  may  be investigated and  the truth of
them ascertained!'  If Dr. D. will not accord to
me the capacity to frame an argument for myself,
I hope  he will admit that I have turned to good
account those which he made to my hand.
  Having  finished his reports  of cases, the Doc-
tor returns, [perhaps unconsciously from the force
of habit] to his  calornel and  tartar emetic,  He 
                     233

says I 'seem surprised  that calomel should  have
so many different effects upon  the human system,
and not aware that tartar emetic will also puke
purge  and sweat.'  The Doctor maybe sure that
none of these things surprise me; lam fully aware
that the exertions the system  makes to get rid of        .*
those poisonous drugs, often do cause puking,purg-
ing, sweating,rand many other effects. I am aware
of at least two other facts; first, that these exer-        fi
tions in strong constitutions, sometimes throw off
both the morbific matter that  caused the disease,
and the poison which the Doctor gave with intent
to cure; and, second, that when the  dose is rather
too large, or loo small, or the constitution too
weak to combat more than the disease, multitudes
sink under the double influence of disease and por-
6on, who might easily have conquered the former,
had not the latter been added.   If Doctor Deloney
understood the modus operandi of sub. mur. hy~-
drarg. [calomel] and tart, antim. [tartar emetic]
as well as I do, I should almost as soon expect to
see him administer the contents of a pistol or the
blade of a sword, as these deadly drugs to his pa-
tient.   That' lobelia will puke or kill or kill if it
pukes' I cannot be 'aware' until it is proved, to be
true.
  After some ' floundering'  like ' a shuck  in  a
whirlwind,'  (a beautiful figure,) the  Doctor ap-
pears delighted to have  ' come to something of a
theory again,' and he enquires for the seat of life.
Having excused him from coming to the Infirmary,
I will just gratify him a little.  While the  heart
and the ribs  expand and contract, there  is life in
the body.   It is  by means of the process of di-
gestion, absorption, circulation and secretion that
life is supported; or, which is the same thing, that 
234
 the heart continues to contract and  expand, and
 the lungs to inhale and exhale.  This process of
 digestion &c, is commenced in the stomach. Any
 derangement in this organ is soon felt through the
 whole system.   ' The stomach,' said  Dr. Hunter,
 ' is  the centre of sympathies.'  Such derange-
 ment, therefore,  may be properly called an ob-
 struction to the free operations of life  at the foun-
 tain.  But, says the Doctor, 'what is life!'   I an-
 swer, it is the impulse given to the organized body
 at its creation, by which means it is enabled to di-
 gest,  absorb, circulate and secrete the substances
 exhibited  for  its sustenance ; this Dr. D. calls
 the 'spirit and breath.of the Almighty!' As well
 might he say that a life-preserver, inflated by him-
 self, possessed a human soul,  being  animated by
 the 'spirit and breath of Dr. Deloney.'  True the
 power-of  God effected it; but, as we do not say
 that a Watch is propelled by elasticity, or a mill by
 gravitation; so we have no right so say .that taste,
 mastication, deglutition,digestion, absorption, cir-
 culation and secretion, are carried on by the spirit
 of the Almighty!   When  Dr.  Deloney's philoso-
 phy supplants  all  other, the  springs  and wells
 will no longer be the fountains of water, nor will
 even the the sun be the source  of light and heat.—
 Indeed there will he no fountain in  the universe
 but the " spirit and breath ofthe Almighty."
  But he says my ' system is boldly charged as
 unfounded, and  without principle,  yet I  eannot
 prove such charges erroneous' &c. This is putting
 the onus probandi, (the burden of proof,)  on the
 wrong party.   I thought the laws of honorable po-
 lemics, required the author of the charges to pro-
 duce the proof, and should  have waited in  silence
for the Doctortoproduce his, hadlnotbeen aware 
235
that he has none to produce.  That day will be
glorious to liberty,  to truth,  to the saeredness  of
a good name, when the bold charges of an ignorant
and reckless  accuser, are received as correct, till
the  accused shall   prove  himself innocent.   It
would be  hard indeed if all  the  good people of
Georgia were to believe me to be 'a deceiver,' a
writer of  ' tirades'of nonsense, studious to delude
rather than to convince! an advocate of a system
of medical practice which I know to be destructive
to the health and life of its victims, merely because
Dr. Deloney says  so.  How  could  I prove  these
charges false,  were  I  to try!  Two  witnesses,
Equity and Warden, have  declared  them un-
founded; yet  Dr. D. obstinately persists in them.
When I made charges against the old practice, I
proved them out ofthe mouths of its be6t authori-
ties, and their own (not false  and caricatured) ac-
counts of the results of their practice. Let Dr. D.
do  the same with his charges against the Thom-
sonian, and I will admit their force.
  The Doctor says to ' Warden,'  lobelia has been
used long  before Thomson was ever heard of; and
to me, ' it is well  known that  this  article  was
known  to  the profession long before Thomson
knew any thing  about it.'   Now, what I  said
about the medical use of lobelia,  I proved by Dr.
Waterhouse who says that ' Dr. Thomson has the
honor of introducing the invaluable lobelia to the
notice ofthe profession.'  Dr. Deloney says, 'it
was used (by the profession) long  before Thomson
was ever heard of.'   If so, let him point us to the
dispensatory  in which it" was recommended—this
will close  my mouth.   He says,  I  acknowledged
it to be poison,  by  saying that  the  Doctors did
without 6ure and safe remedies  before  Thomson 
236
was born; though  I had not admitted  that they
knew any thing, good or bad, ofthe qualities of lo-
belia.   Yet he never uses any unfair modes of rea-
soning.
 ' The Doctor calls this system ' fallacious, decep-
tive, unfounded  in  truth and  common sense, and
contrary to enlightened reason."  He says ' it is
made up of abusive terms and coarse, vulgar  lan-
guage towards the medical profession;' that I am 'a
conceited puff,' and that my reply to him is 'a
lengthy tirade of nonsense, in which I study harder
to delude than to  convince  my readers.'  (I did
not know before that anyone can be deluded till he
is  convinced,) and  attempt to give a delusive cast
to the true sense and meaning of his remarks; that
the opinions of Drs.  Waterhouse,  Hersey,  and
Montgomery, who took lobelia themselves and pre-
scribed it to others for years without measure or
ill consequence, are of no value in its  favor; but
that the opinion of Dr. Coxe who tells of it what is
not true, that if it does not vomit  powerfully,  it
frequently  destroys the patient, no one will dis-
pute!   Now, that the Doctor may be fully satisfied
with my answer to all these  ■ bold charges,' I will
give it in his own words.  ' The bare assertions of
men without reason or argument  carries [carry]
little  conviction  to the understanding.'  These
must, then, be sustained by facts, arguments or
reason, before the ' enlightened society' of Geor-
gia, of which I know there is no small share, not-
withstanding the dark specimen before  me,' will
give them credence.  I fear  that  the  intelligent
physicians of Georgia, will  hardly acknowledge
the Doctor  as the  champion  of their principles,
even though Dr. Smith of Boston has done it.  I
think  he is in duty  bound to excuse any miscon- 
237
constructions  which this reply may contain;  for
his punctuation is such that it is to me often very
doubtful to which part of a  compound sentence a
given clause belongs.  He has inserted but few
periods, and most of them are between words con-
nected by  the closest tie6  of grammatical con-
struction, as between the antecedent ami its rela-
tive, the adjective and its noun, the nominative and
its verb!  while different paragraphs, and even  re-
ports of different cases of  disease  by  different
hands, are separated only by a comma, if by any
pause at all !  Though his bad spelling is not im-
portant to  me, I hope he is more careful in writing
his prescriptions; for Murray says, " In the use of
drugs and  medicines, the mistake of a letter may
endanger life."
   But why should I waste arguments with a phy-
sician who disregards all medical history, and the
authority of the  most  celebrated schools in the
world; who lays down  no fixed course of disputa-
tion, and who considers'bold charges' on his own
side, conclusive arguments against history, philo-
sophy, science and fact!   He says,
  The testimony ofthe Edinburgh, London, Paris-
ian, German, Philadelphian and Cambridge schools
which I adduced to prove that the art of physic is a
'science of conjecture,'is contradicted by the expe-
rience ofthe whole medical profession, though that
testimony professed to be the result of its best ex-
perience!   He declares that lobeliais ' a poison of
the rankest dye," though there are in the United
States, a million of the most  respectable witness-
es, among  whom  are physicians ofthe first emi-
nence, that it has been  taken a million of times, in
doses of from five grains to half an ounce, without
once producing the specific effect of poison! but, 
238
on the contrary,  with the most speedy and hap;v
results in the cure of disease!   I wonder he is n<it
ashamed thus to expose his ignorance as a citizen,
not to say his incapacity as a physician who ought
to know of a medicine which he says he uses when-
ever there is occasion, at least whether it will puke
or evacuate, kill or cure!
  In  his last paragraph,  the Doctor " asks for
light."   I  would cheerfully grant his request, but
I am sorry to perceive that what I  have  already
given him, has placed him in the condition of cer-
tainnocturnal birds, exposed to the meridian splen-
dor of the 6Uti. The brighter the light, the greater
their confusion and terror.   I gave him light from
Drs. Abercrombie,  Waterhouse,  Rush,  Lintaud,
Good, and a host of other eminent heads ofthe pro-
fession;  but he "puts down all this light for dark-
ness" and brings forward the darkness of error for
light.
  The truth is, experience proves the Thomsonian
practice the best that has ever been devised; that
the rapidity of its dissemination is surpassed only
by  its happy results in  the cure of disease, and
that the mass of the most  intelligent physicians
refuse to contend  against it; either because they
know that such contention would  no more arrest
its  progress than Dr. D's "shuck" would stop "a
whirlwind," or else they rejoice to see something
started at last, on which the benevolent and sym-
pathetic physician can place some confidence,  as
an important aid in his exertions to arrest the pro-
gress of disease, and the destruction ofthe consti-
tution by poisonous drugs; and they are only wait-
ing to have full  development of its excellence, to
justify them in coming out boldly in its favor.
  Many of my personal acquaintance are using the 
239
remedies themselves with this intent. But I would
respectfully inform them that the use of Thomson-
ian medicines, on the false principles of the schools,
can never develope the excellence  ofthe full, un-
adulterated Botanic practice.  Come  out  boldly,
and witness the results of the practice in the hands
of a skilful Thomsanian; and you  will soon have
all the evidence you can desire, to justify you in
the most strenuous advocacy ofthe new Practice.
  Mr. Editor, I thank you for the politeness you
have extended to me in this discussion.  The course
taken by my opponent has rendered it far less in-
teresting and profitable than it might have been;
still I am not without the hope  that  it  will do
much good.   As Dr.  D. says he  has  demolished
all my arguments, I presume he will consider ano-
ther attempt at the same service an act of supere-
rogation; and, as I am perfectly willing, without
further argument, to turn the cause over to  the
jury, " the inteJligent citizens,"  I suppose  you
will be troubled no further.
        Verv respectfully, yours,
                               A. CURTIS.
   Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 30, 1835.

  P.  S.   I have just  received the 17th number of
the Federal Union,  in which "Equity" has so used
up Dr. D.thatyou will perhaps think further notice
unnecessary.  While I thank Equity for his facts
and arguments in favor ofthe Botanic System and
against poison and phlebotomy, I will just remind
him that, considering this  kind of work in the
Baltimore Lectures still untouched, I  have  con-
tented myself with merely exposing the ignorance,
impudence,  and recklessness  of Dr. D. whose
" shucks  in a whirlwind" it is quite unnecessary 
240
for me further to notice.  Had a pupil of ten yean
given me for correction a piece of composition vio-
lating so flagrantly the laws of orthography, ety-
mology, syntax, prosody, rhetoric,  logic, natural^
and  all other philosophy, I should have  required'
her to correct and  copy it,  before I would have
condescended to read it.  But, as elegance of com-
position is not always indispensable  to conclusive
argument, I have not said much againsthis "gram-
mar. "
   During the progress ofthe discussions between
 Dr. Deloney and  ourself,  certain 'sharp shots'
 passed  between  the Doctor and  'Equity'  and
 'Warden.'   'Warden' introduced a communication
 from 'The National Intelligencer,' containing the
 opinion  of Professor Waterhouse, and others, in
 regard to Samuel Thomson, steaming, lobelia &c,
 in which lobelia is considered not only not-poison-
 ous, nor steam, pepper &c,  any way injurious to
 the  sick, but that  all are absolutely the greatest
 friends to health, and enemies to disease that the
 world has  ever known.   'Against  the opinion of
 Professor Waterhouse,  based on experiences the
 inconsiderate  assertions  of Dr.  Deloney [says
 Warden,]  will  weigh but little, especially as he
 has developed too mueh of his own material. I re-
 gret  to  say  that he has presumed too greatly on
 the ignorance of his readers, and the incapacity of
 the friends ofthe Botanic System; but I shall be
 disappointed if, before the controversy closes, he
 repent not his disregard of authority and lament
 not his choice of an antagonist,' as well as a sub-
ject.' 
241
   To this, the Doctor sent  the following furious
 reply:
   Mr.  Editor—A writer  over the signature of
 "Warden"  in your last paper has  arraigned me
 before the bar of Thomson for the remarks which
 I have thought proper to make on the steam sys-
 tem; but as the intelligent people are the jury to
 decide  this  question, I  do not fear the result.—
 "Warden" is very  much deceived if he really be-
 lieves that I shall "repent" before this controversy
 closes.   He  will do well not to feed his hopes with
 60 pleasing  an idea.   He  perhaps may be disap-
 pointed and mortified too, and if his hopes has been
 highly wrought,  that  mortification  will of course
 be more humiliating.
   I discover  in the tenor of his few remarks, that
 "Warden" has contracted that disposition to abuse,
 which seems to characterise the whole tribe ofthe
 Thomsonian  deciples as well as the author; and
 this in fact is one of the main weapons of their ar-
 gument,  the  centre prop  of their system.  It is
 easily to be discovered that all who become delud-
 ed with steam, seem to contract this very necessa-
 ry accomplishment, ofthat system, very speedily.
 [Dr. D. never abuses! oh no, he and his brethren
 and their adherents, are all very polite and mild in
 their language and charges:  They only say now
 audthen, that  "steamers are all murderers;" that
 we " scald or poison  our patients to death;" that
 our "only motto is havoc and desolation," that we
 "all ought to be hanged  without judge or jury or
 benefit of clergy;" that "they would ride one hun-
 dred miles to see us hanged, and give fifty dollars
to see us dissected;" and, as one did,  that we shall
 be "tormented  in hell" for our "murderous practi-
 ces," these are small matters in comparison toi
our abuse of them  in saying that the means and
               16 
242
modes they use have a direct tendency to induce
disease and destroy life.  See note, page 105__
Ed.]
  "Warden" wishes to disabuse the public of my
assertion, that  Lobelia is one ofthe most drastic
poisons in the materia medica.   What is said ofthe
history ofthe article!  Dr. Cox, whose authority
no one,unless it may be "Warden," will presume
to question, says, "the effects ofthis medicine are
extreme nausea and vomiting.  It is probably one
of the most powerful vegetable substances ofwhich
we are acquainted.   If this medicine does not puke
or evacuate powerfully, it frequently destroys the
patient."  XThese  well  known fibs were copied
by'Dr. Coxe from Dr. Thacher,who took them from
the common report that Dr. Thomson poisoned his
patients with it; when, in fact,  no person died un-
der his practice—Ed.]   If "Warden"  is any  bet-
ter authority than the above, he may probably  suc-
ceed  in disabusing the public of what I thought
proper to assert on this head,  but the gentlemen
need not be uneasy.  The public, before very long
will have other facts and proofs  placed before it, of
the deleterious effects  of lobelia and steam, which
"Warden"  may not like so  well  to encounter.
   I am not desirous that lobelia shall be discarded
from  the materia  medica, nor do I  intend for
Thomson or his deciples to filch it from its right-
ful discoverers  and proper place.   [Dr. D. must
be very thoroughly acquainted with medical histo-
ry—will he please to point us to the medical work
printed previous to Dr. Thomson's "Directions,"
in which Lobelia is recommended as a puke!—Ed.]
This medicine has been used long before Thomson
was ever heard of, and Drs.  Cutler, Drury and
others speak favourably of it in some cases  of dis- 
243
ease.  So far as lobelia is in question, I desire only
to caution my fellow citizens against its use in the
hands of those who know nothing of it  or ofthe
human system-   [Amen, say we.—Ed.]
   "Warden" is deceived if he calculates to draw
me from the main  subject.  He no doubt would
desire to do  so.  Q^7=The theory of the steam sys-
tem and the practice founded an that theory, as laid
down by Dr. Curtis, of Richmond, Va., is my text,
and here  I plant my staff.=CQ  [Well you may,
Doctor; for it is the only medical theory and prac-
tice whose line of direction is far enough on amy
side, from the  extreme of its base, to sustain the
lateral pressure of even a doctor's staff.—Ed.]—
His few remarks  and letters of eulogy which he
has been pleased  to append to them does not refute
in the least any part of my arguments heretofore.
The bare asset iions of men, without reason or ar-
gument, in these  enlightened times,  carries but
little conviction  to  the  understanding.   [True,
Doctor.  The reason why Thomsonians do not be-
lieve that lobeliais poison, thatcayenne will burn,
or that any of their practice is murderous, is be-
cause it is a "bare assertion of men,"  not only
"without reason or argument;" but, contrary to all
"enlightened experience."—Ed.]   Drs.  Water-
house, Montgomery and Hersey have made mere
assertions without  the  proof, and of course have
produced no argument of the correctness of steam-
system further  than their say so.   [They all had
taken lobelia  themselves and used it in their prac-
tice on others:  But neither Dr. Deloney nor Dr.
Coxe speaks form experience; for that would have
taught them  that what they have  asserted  is a
downright libel on the properties ofthe article.—
Ed.] Their extravagant praise partakes ofthe nar 
214
ture ofthe steam infatuation, and easily placed in
its proper light.  We may, at some future period,
notice these flighty aberrations, if nothing else is
produced more weighty and more applicable to the
text.
  We have extended these remarks further than we
intended.  We should not have noticed 'Warden'
at all,  He has  said nothing worth notice, and we
should not have said thus much, but to inform the
advocates of the steam system, that we cannot in
future notice any communication which they may
make anonymously.   Men, who are, from the very
nature of their principles, generally with steam up,
are too much disposed to abuse, as instances, here-
tofore,  shows, for me to undertake to keep up this
discussion in the manner which  "Warden" seems
disposed to direct; and moreover, a  cause, whose
advocates are ashamed to subscribe to, is not worth
further notice.   I fear not my antagonist if I know
him: and am ready to meet him on any ground he
may take in this discussion.  I will go further and
Bay that I am willing to meet not only his own ar-
guments, but all the letters and  sayings  of others
which he may  introduce,  but we must  both keep to
the text.  [Excellent advice, Doctor,  for, if they
were only to observe  it, your  arguments would
forever remain unanswered.  What, for example,
has the story  of the drunkard's sale of a medical
book, or that  about  the  mistake in joining the
Frenchman's leg; what have the innumerable proof-
less assertions  in favor  of "science," and against
"steam" and "lobelia," and especially what has
the assertion, so often repeated, that you have "suc-
cessfully exposed" our deception, and demolished
our system, to  do, in a discussion where facts and
arguments, truth and reason, are professedly sub- 
245
mitted to the decision ofthe "enlightened public!"
Is the Doctor  so stupid as to believe that the des-
cendants of one who said, "poor as I am, the kingof
England has not wealth  enough to buy me," will
be bribed! or  does he fear, notwithstanding what
he  has said  in their favor,  that his "intelligent
Jury" are not sufficiently enlightened to make up
the verdict  without his assistance!—Ed.]
  In  conclusion I  must  beg of you, Mr. Editor,
for  the  accommodation  of "Warden"  to  ap-
pend to these remarks the following speech of Dr.
Williams, delivered in the  House of Representa-
tives  of Maryland.   He  will  no  doubt  allow me
the same  liberty which he has taken, and I prom-
ise  if he  is  willing also, not  to trouble you with
more  than what we can  say on the  subject  in fu-
ture,  unless it may be something to the purpose,
argument and not assertion.  [Good.  Now for the
argument that lobelia  was used as  an emetic, by
regular physicians, before Dr. Thomson was  born.
The fact exhibited that it was so recommended in
a printed book, would take the scales from our eyes.
Ed.]   For our own part we feel fully competent,
be our "own material" what it may, to refute all
their  doctrine, answer all  their arguments, and
overturn their whole system, if such  it may be
called.  Then let these  men come out openly, in
propria persona; and we  shall then  see who gets
"tired ofthe controversy" first.
                      EDWARD  DELONY.
  To this was appended Dr. Williams's speech,
see the first article in this book, page 5.
  * Warden" replies. 
246
    to the editor  of the federal union.

  Appended to the last piece of Dr. Edward Delo-
ney, of Talbotton, Georgia, against the Botanic
Practice of Medicine,  including practitioners,.lo-
belia, cayenne, steam-vapor, &c, appeared an ex-
tract  of a  speech made by a Dr. Williams, in the
Legislature of Maryland.  In reply to that extract,
I must beg you to insert,  in  your paper, the ac-
companying rejoinder, from the pen of Dr. A. Cur-
tis, of Richmond, Virginia, that those not conver-
sant with  the subject  may have some  means of
judging.  In consequence ofthe appearance of Dr.
Williams's speech in  the Boston Medical and Sur-
gical  Journal, and the profession, by the editor, of
being anxious to promote utility in the healing art,
regardless of partisan  results,  Dr. Curtis sent it
to that periodical for publication.  But it was re-
jected by the editor,  who thus proved that liberal-
ity and independence in promises are no test of sin-
cerity.   Subsequently it was  forwarded  to the
Thomsonian Recorder, from which I have extract-
ed it.
  Dr. Deloney complains that I, in my former ar-
ticle, was abusive of  him; that in general Thomso-
nians substitute abuse for argument; and  that here-
after  he will respond to no production appearing
anonymously.  As to the charge in relation  to my-
self, he must  pardon me for contending, until he
shall  have shown the reverse,  that in that article
not a sentence  can  be singled out to support the
allegation; and, as respects Thomsonians, decend-
ing to the most captious and ignorant that can be
found, it may be truly  said that, as to abuse, they
dwindle into novices when contrasted with him,
and that aptitude for  it is the only  semblance of 
                     247

ability evinced by him in his two vapid, petulent
and vulgar tirades.  His determination not in fu-
ture to notice anonymous articles, is to me a mat-
ter of no regret; for advantage over him in contro-
versy could administer nothing to my vanity, had
I any to gratify.  It is, however, after all, just the
course  that aspiring imbecility, under like circum-
stances, might be expected to tread. Having as-
serted  that  we owe our  knowledge of the Scrip-
tures to the Faculty's  intimacy with Hebrew  and
Greek, that  Thomsonians consider hogs'lard poi-
son, that Thomson's theory is "as old as the hills,"
i. e. older than Adam! and many other absurdities
in relief, it is not surprising that from so ponderous
a load  he should be desirous to escape—especially
after furnishing conclusive evidence of his  entire
ignorance  of one of the  best authenticated facts
connected with  anatomy, and his divulging to
schoolboy  as well as pedagogue, that notwithstand-
ing his spluttering about the importance of Hebrew
and Greek, he is  incompetent to apply the  first
rule of English syntax.  But whether  one anony-        r
mous writer, "Equity," on whom he uncerimoni-
ously  fastened, will quietly  allow him to skulk
from a  controversy of his own seeking, time must
determine.
                                 WARDEN.
  To the foregoing, was  attached our answer to
Dr. Williams, see page  19.
  Dr. Deloney answers:

           FOR THE FEDERAL UNION.

  Mr. Editor—With my due respects to "War-
den" I must again renew  to him, my  settled de- 
248
termination not to enter into a discussion  with
anonymous writers, but the  spirit of his last re-
marks, alone, fraught with such bitterness of feel-
ings as they are, would  deter any  civil disposed
man from a notice of them, "Warden" has surely
been using the Cayenne and steam too freely  since
he first  made  his appearance, which, instead of
calming  the already  existing irritation  and ex-
citement of his system, have  heated it into a fe-
verish frenzy that may unless he is speedily cooled
down to a natural temperament, cause a perma-
nent  derangement of his intellect.  We do not
wonder  then, under the present state of his senses,
that he  has quit the subject of steam and turned
into a discussion of  the rules of grammar; nor are
we supprised at the dimness of his  vision, when
he made us to say—"that we owed our knowledge
of the scriptures to the Facultys intimacy with
the Latin and Greek languages,"  if he will make
his quotations from our  remarks  as they are, he
will find them hard to answer.
  As we understand that a part of the steaming
process  is as soon as the patient is  heated up al-
most to  the point of bursting-the-boiler, a flood of
cold water is showered down upon him untill he
is well dreanceed, we would advise "Warden" to
take a little cooling, himself, but not too suddenly,
however, as it might throw him into the situation
of a fellow which we heard of not very long since,
who became so  hard and stiff by this process that
he had to be laid on a fixment, something  like a
hag  over a barbacue pit in  order to soften him
down to a more soople or moveable temper—
  It may not be amiss to state here that Dr. Cur-
tis' last  article  addressed to myself,  is under re- 
249
view and 6hall be answered shortly and effectually.
Respeclv &c.
                         EDWD DELONY.
   Reply  of Equity to Dr. Deloney's remarks, in
 pages 143—'4.

            FOR THE  FEDERAL  UNION.

           To Dr. Edward Deloney.

   In introducing  to  the  readers of the Federal
 Union, the two Lectures of Dr. A. Curtis, deliver-
 ed at  Baltimore, last autumn,  I  expected to take
 no part in  the  discussion which,  I  anticipated,
 they would produce,  but looked for the develop-
 ment  of information  that might be useful to the
 people of our State as well as myself: for I was
 well aware that to the faculty belong many men
 wielding powerful pens who would scorn to distort
 facts  whether auxiliary or hostile, and who are
 too  magnanimous to desire the continuance of pe-
 nal sanctions to exclude innovation from, and pun-
 ish  competition in, the profession  they follow.—
 Unfortunately, such  men, chiefly from  delicacy,
 have maintained silence, and left the  controversy
 to a  member, who  though  his fate  in the matter
 cannot  affect  them individually, is too  light in
 intellect and deficient  in knowledge to be entrusted
 with the defence of almost any cause.  Indeed, sir,
 your appearance  was a presage of defeat to the
 old school, and of easy triumph to the new.   Your
imprudent grappling  with a powerful adversary
has done more in adding  to the popularity ofthe
Botanic System,  than any  impartial  man  wish- 
250
ed—than I was willing should be; for you have, in
effect, left it presumptively ascendant in all its pre-
tensions, while my  object was limited to  the re-
moval from it of legal prohibition, that, without
factitious aid, it, in the hands ofthe people, might
rise or fall on its own merits.
  Such epitome of facts being disagreeable to van-
ity, you  would be apt to denominate it 6lander,
were I to omit evidence.  To preclude complaint,
I proceed with the proof,
  Deficiency  in  education you prefer  against the
Botanic doctors as adequate to disqualify them to
manage  disease.  Yet you, a "regular scientific
doctor," have placed beyond discussion your igno-
rance of even the first rules of English syntax. [1]
Therefore, sir, by your own  logic, you are incom-
petent to exhibit medicine—are a quack—or have
attached  importance  to  frivolous accusation.—
Let which will be true, your testimony yields to
demurrer.
  You object to their ignorance of Hebrew and
Greek, and to illustrate the utility of these lan-
guages in removing sickness, contend that,  to the
labors of regular doctors [2] the community  owes
its knowledge ofthe Scriptures.  Really, sir, such
a compound of religion  and physic contains too
much  of the  grotesque  for  even the unblushing
front of charlatanism to  father.  The impostures
of the age afford no parallel, except the Mormon
bible of Joe Smith.  I am at a loss to imagine the
quantity of impudence required to enable any man
to give it  the sanction of his name.    That ability
to read the Scriptures in the original  is  essential
to the successful administration of drugs,  is the
superlative of nonsense; and that the Scriptures
were rendered into Latin or English by physicane, 
251
is  in  conflict with history—whether reference be
had to the Vulgates, or the allusion be intended
for the version of Wickliffe, or of Tindal, Cover-
dale and Rogers, that called the Bishops' bible or
the one known by the  name  of James  I.   Yet,
were Hebrew and Greek necessary to the removal
of disease, how comes it that  you, who,  so far
from being a classic scholar,  are  ignorant  ofthe
rudiments  of English—how comes  it, I repeat,
that you dare tinker with the lives of your fellow
beings, and by  what right are you entitled to a
license or diploma!  If Hebrew and Greek be es-
sential, you risk manslaughter as  often as your
practice exceeds the dieta aqua anil surgical limits
of Catalan barbers, drawing teeth and handling the
lancet, for which,  as you are not a classical opera-
tor, you ought never to charge more than half price.
In relation to Hebrew and Greek you are most as-
suredly insincere or criminal—morally criminal, if
they  be requisite—if not requisite, you have at-
tempted deception.  To the one horn or the ©ther
of the dilemma, you must hang,  as the arc is no
place of repose.  Your insincerity, however, is no
problem.   You  have not to  learn the fact,  that
many ofthe most  successful  regular physicans  in
Georgia affect no  acquaintance with the classics.
One of the most  distinguished   members  of the
Medical Board  ofthe State, instead of pretending
intimacy with  the writings of Moses and Galen
and the posthumous works of  Paracelsus, in the
original, is wont to boast of having been raised  at
the stilts of the plough; and well  may he be proud
ofthe  avowal,  his general pactice suffering noth-
ing in comparison with that of  any other regular
doctor in the country, and having, as surgeon, suc-
cessfully operated in bronchotomy and in taking up 
                      252

 the carotid artery.  You cannot mistake the indi-
 vidual to whom I allude, nor will he or any other
 man with  whom I am  acquainted suspect me of
 intending to flatter him.   Here, then is evidence
 that  a "regular doctor," without Hebrew, Greek
 or Latin, may,  by dint of observation  and judg-
 ment, raise himself to the head of his profession;
 while you, sir, furnish in your own person, a liv-
 ing monument of our Medical law's solicitude  for
 life, and its fostering care of science, that a man
 without a schoolboy's proficiency in English, may
 stuff the sick with  mineral and vegetable poisons,
 and coerce payment for the work of destruction.
   Against the  Botanic Physicians you urge their
 being unacquainted with  the  structure of  the hu-
 man  body, intimating, that on the locality of dis-
 ease depends the selection ofthe remedy; and ask,
 "whoever heard of blood  returning through  the
 arteries?"  The sanguineous system being  in fact
 a compound circle, it may, so far as the  course of
 the blood is concerned, be said to be without be-
 ginning or end, and that  every vessel engaged in
 the process is relatively an abductor and a restorer
 as it returns and withdraws.  To press this view
 would however be triturating your dullness in the
 mortar of metaphysics, a species of cruelty  which
 lam, on the  present occasion, unwilling to prac-
 tise.   The words returning  and departing, used
 in connection with the red circulation, every tyro
 knows, refer to the lungs, unless some other parts
 be designated; because, in these viscera, the blood,
 after having become laden with noxious particles,
parts  with its carbon  and azote and  receives oxy-
 gen; and, thus revivified, leaves them to repair the
 waste of parts  continually going on.   Now, sir,
no one fact in physiology, rests on surer  evidence 
253
than that the blood immediately returned to these
viscera, is  returned by  the pulmonic  arteries.—
The "regular doctor," who, through the columns of
a newspaper, has to learn this fact,  is assuredly
in no  wise  superior to the most  ignorant "steam
quack," and ought to blush at the mention of phy-
siology or the Medical law of Georgia, remember-
ing that he is inhibited  by the  spirit, if not the
letter, of that  statute, and that consistency  and
honor demand  his immediate relinquishment of
bolus and lancet.
  You also represent the Botanic Doctors as being
prone to abuse, and leave your readers to infer
that this failing  is a  defect occasioned by cere-
bral action, and incapacities them for the remov
al of sickness.  If true, then you too are put under
the ban by your own  showing—unless "botanic
system quacks," "a system of practice  embracing
quackery in its fullest perfection,"  "a system of
ignorance that can never rise above the  most grov-
eling  superstition and whose motto is  havoc  and
desolation," "philosophic fop," "nonsensical jar-
gon of the champions  of steam," "confab ofthe
champion of steam," "champion  medicine of their
quack system," "we are stumped  here," "a cara-
van of them," [Botanists,] "he keeled up," "boil-
er burstED," "obstructacles," and  more than fif-
ty such like expressions,  be intended as specimens
of your materia medica.
  But scurrility and abuse are not the worst symp-
toms betrayed  by  you as a writer.   Your  con-
tempt of truth  protrudes itself glaringly and die
gustingly  through its cobweb apparel.   I  shall
not urge against you the assertion that  Thomson's
theory is "as old as the hills," though false, wheth-
er the creation of the  hills be deemed as preced- 
254
ing Adam or to  be concurrent with the flood; for
the phrase, as one of comparison, is indulged  hy-
perbolically  by the illiterate and vulgar,  and  I
have no  inclination to censure  you for using the
license of your caste.   But, sir, you have no  apolo-
gy to offer for affirming that hogs' lard is  by the
Botanic doctors pronounced a poison—for that de-
claration  you have no authority direct  or mediate,
and your  motive  for the fabrication is  to be  traced
to the malicious  intention  of injuring those with
whom you  are professionally enabled to compete
only by the penal sanctions of an oppressive and  a
slavish law.  To the same feeling is also to be as-
 cribed your denial that Professer Waterhouse has
given any testimony as  to the  innocuousness of
Lobelia administered  as  an emetic, though you
had  before you his letter, in which he declares  it
to be "more agreeable and efficacious" than ipe-
cac, and  that "he  not only prescribes  it to others,
but he takes it himself whenever he has any occa-
sion for an emetic."  After effrontery  so unblush-
ing, and utter recklessness of truth, the public cer-
tainly cannot attach credit to your statements nor
award goodness to your purpose.
   Having thus established, that, from paucity of
knowledge, frailness of judgment and perversity of
disposition, you are incompetent to testify in any
case in which the reputation of the  old or new
school of medicine is involved, I  should, were you
not incorrigible, leave you hereto gather prudence
and modesty from  your reverses, and a modicum
of civility foryour public intercourse with mankind.
But  you  have evinced so  much apathy for  the
personal liberty of our citizens, so much coarseness
towards myself in making me a party to this contro-
versy, and so much Hottentotism in regard  to the 
255
feeling of those who differ from you in profession-
al matters, (though they are to be found in every
station,) that justice  demands and your own wel-
fare requires that I should drive you into a position
which permits no pervarication.
   You declare, to  use your tautological  verbiage,
that "Lobelia is one among the most violent drastic
and deleterious poisons  in the whole Materia Medi-
ca."  Without obtending the direct  and positive
evidence of Waterhouse against  the  hearsay and
contradictory  testimony  of Bigelow, Coxe and
Thacher, I propose that you and I test the charac-
ter of lobelia injlata in a manner that will exclude
the  suspicion of insincerity  from us both.  I am
the father of a  male child that has not yet com-
pleted his fifteenth month.  Now, sir, for the for-
feit of five thousand dollars, he shall take internal-
ly, during six consecutive hours,  an amount of lo-
belia injlata greater in weight than you dare take
in like manner  during the  same time,  of white
hellebore,  oxymuriate  of quicksilver, nitrate of
silver,  or  white oxyde of arenic, or  of  croton
oil (each mirtim of which  to be rated  as a grain)
the  kind being determined  by  lot,  and precau-
tions adopted  to  ensure the  purity  of the  ar-
ticle and prevent  the  use of incompatibles,  and
at the end of nine  hours he shall be more free
from preternatural action than you—or,sir, should
the fear of death from the articles I have designa-
ted overpower your sense ofshame, I, substituting
myself for my child., agree that you resort  to  tar-
trate of antimony, sulphate of copper, kermes min-
eral, scammony, gamboge, nitrate of mercury, red
oyde of quicksilver or elaterium, the kind to be se-
lected by lot, and exhibited under such restrictions
as shall prevent fraud.  To obviate all excuses and 
256
quibbling, it is right toadviseyou of five thousand
dollars, for the purpose on my part, being now in
the hands ofthe editor oftbe Federal Union, who
is authorised  by me to perfect the arrangements;
so that nothing intervenes to  establish your sin-
cerity  in relation to the poisonous nature of lobelia
injlata, except the dread of your  own medicines
and  an unwillingness to  risk  an equal  6um of
money.  This is making a disposition of one part
of the  altercation, that cannot  be misunderstood,
nor with any semblance of honor or  truth be re-
jected.
  In thus offering to prove at the risk of my life
or that of my  infant, that you have misrepresent-
ed  and slandered the character of lobelia inflata,
I intend it to  be well  understood that  I have not
witnessed enough  ofthe Botanic Practice to vouch
that it controls one tenth of the forms  of disease
that Botanic  Doctors  affirm;  but I  have  seen
enough ofit to know that lobelia inflata is not poi-
son; that the articles used in  the new practice act
speedily without leaving any morbid sequence; and
that in some shapes of disease, nothing, in current
use by the faculty, is half so efficacious.   On this
account I am of opinion that the importance of
life requires for it an impartial trial, and that it is
a duty, which every  man, possessing the means,
owes to the community to rebut falsehoods calcu-
lated or intended to frustrate a fair investigation
involving so much of human happiness and human
misery, and also to assist in cancelling the Medi-
cal law in our statute-book, which, besides being
oppressive and anti-republican in spirt, is the chief*
obstacle to ajust conclusion.
  I shall, therefore, 6ir, not on your account, but
from respect  for the people, scrutinize the only 
257
 question  in  reserve—whether  the  toleration by
 law of the Botanic Practice be consistent with the
 welfare of the community!  The results, as to per-
 sonal right and general health, as well as science
 and public liberty, are criteria.   As by the repealof
 the  medical law, no man, against his inclination,
 would be  obligated to employ a  Botanic Doctor or
 discard a  regular physician, but be left untrammel-
 ed to the  dictates of his judgment, the  private
 right of no person would be abridged nor aught ex-
 clusive conferred on the  new practice, while sci-
 ence, whicli is only truth  demonstrated, instead of
 being jeoparded, would be advanced; for investiga-
 tion is  both  her  parent and her  pabulum.   Nor
 could the  gross of public freedom be lessened by it;
 because, in strictness, public freedom is the aggre-
 gate of personal liberty.  Neither could health in
 general suffer by it: because our citizens,  though
 mostly unacquainted  with the modus operandi of
 drugs, are competent judges of the relative success
 of those who administer them, and would, in a
 short time, exclusively rely upon the services of
 that medical order affording relief the most speedy
 and durable.   Instead of being detrimental in any
 of these respects, the abrogation  of the  medical
 statute  must prove highly serviceable.   It would
 be removing from our code a  law furnishing a
 most mischievous precedent for  the invasionofour
 liberties—a law  as obnoxious to the spirit of our
 constitution and as monopolizing in its  tendency
 as would be  the  establishment of a national  reli-
 gion and the extirpation of all  dissenters—a law
 denying to the citizen the privilege of using the
 means he may believe the  best calculated to snatch
 himself, his spouse or his  little ones from the with-
ering touch and   putrescent grasp of death,  and 
258
compelling  his or their surrender, without resist-
ance, to the natural assault of the grim messenger,
or by eating poison,  present  themselves suicides
before their Maker—a law irreconcilable with sci-
ence and liberty, and disgraceful to the legislative
action of a free people.  With the pencil of hyper-
bole I touch not the picture.  The right of collect-
ing  being withheld from the Botanic  Practitioner
and the reception of fees by  him made  penal, no
poor man of mind, skill and experience can devote
himself to the Botanic Practice, and wealthy ones
will not follow a pursuit at once so unprofitable
and legally infamous.  The patient, whatever be
his  opinion,  has therefore  only the alternative to
either submit to  his  malady or call in a doctor of
the order  prescribed by legislators, nine tenthBof
 whom are conversant with medicine no more than
himself, and consequently no better qualified to se-
lect.  This is a flagrant  reduction of natural lib-
erty, without producing any  countervailing bene-
fit to the community.  It is  therefore adverse to
equity, hostile to justice, and in conflict with the
genius of republican government, and is in harmo-
ny only with the iron-despotism of Asia and the
bill  of rights of central Africa.
   The existence  of the medical act  operates on
the  public mir.d most perniciously against the fac-
ulty.  Rapidly extending is the opinion, that they
are legalized  charlatans, who, without the ability
to do good, a!re firmly intent on sitting, like an in-
cubus,  on the health and pockets of the people,
producing extensive poverty and artificial disease,
otherwise they would not be  opposed to competi-
tion by men  whom they represent to be  impostors
and whose practice they denounce as the offspring
of ignorance and  stupidity; and Jet me admonish 
259
 you, sir, that your pen has given it a fearful impe-
 tus.  That the imputation justly embraces not a
 few, 1 apprehend  is  no slander; but it were gross
 injustice in me not to bear witness against its ap-
 plicability to many.  Many, / know, revolt at the
 thought of prescribing  for a  patient who is either
 distrustful of their ability to relieve, or who pre-
 fers other physicians.   They understand the pros-
 trating effects of  distrust on the system through
 the imagination, and have too much honor and self-
 respect to relish the bread procured though the  ope-
 ration &f a law forcing  under their care reluctant
 patients. .  That legislative provision they view as
 derogatory to their independence as men and their
 skill as practitioners, and they desire its annulment
 that they  may even-handedly encounter the  new
 practice, the  legislative  proscription  of which,
 they are aware, has secured for it much of the pub-
 lic sympathy.  Their silence, in relation to the  able
 productions of Dr. Curtis, is, in fairness, not ascrib-
 able to any sense  of incapacity, but to a disincli-
 nation to enter  into the controversy at a juncture
 which would imputatively make them, as auxilia-
 ries, accountable for your ignorance and slanders,
 and from a  consciousness that, as they cannot ap-
 pear in the light of disinterested debators or  wit-
 nesses, the  reasons  and  facts they might adduce
 would  be suspected as  slanderous ebullitions in-
 tended  to  prejudice  a  rival  order. Hence their
 anxiety for the repeal of the medical law—which
 would place the two schools  on something like an
 equal footing, and bring the  contest fairly to the
 minds and  senses  of the people.  This is all  the
 friends ofthe Botanic Practice ask—a consumma-
 tion urged  by reason, claimed by justice, and re-
quired  by private  right  and public liberty, andes- 
260
ecntial, let me add, to the sacred tenure by which
life is held.
                                  EQUITY.
  August 17, 1835.

  [1]  That you may net reproach me with  the
neglect of citing evidence, I present a few of your
literary beauties:—"the  Thomsonians it appears
only makes use," [Vide Murray's Syntax,  rule
1;]—"is  the name and  effect  of mineral  medi-
cines,"—"theprogress and improvement ofreason
has"—"our reason and understanding is not suffi-
ciently enlightened,"  [vide Murray's Syntax, rule
2;]—"men ofthe most splendid genius that  has
ever lived"—"glorious results of medical research
and truth, that  now bea?ns"—"generations of men,
whichpass into the shadesofoblivion and is forgot-
ten"—'■'branches  that is  to  support"—"correct
principle of medical theory and practice which now
prevail and is found," [vide 31urray's Syntax, rules
1,2 and 5.]  Can't you bribe the printer to shel-
ter your literary fame by fathering your blunders!
If not, would expedience not suggest that you pro-
ceed in an action of assumpsit against your alma
mater, not from any  sordid feeling, but to cause
her to be  hereafter more attentive to her alumni!
A literary mountebank is no enviable character.
   [2]  "Our reason and understanding  is (you say,
speaking of the regular practice)  not  sufficiently
enlightened to  enable us to behold the beauties
and excellence  ofthe subject, which seem to mys-
tify our  ideas,  and perplex and mortify our  feel-
ings.  Many men in  this situation, call smarter
men than themselves 'fools;' because they  have
not sense enough to understand them; and thus we
may account why it is  that Thomson has so fre- 
201
 quently taken it upon himself to dub  [to  knight,
 to confer dignity] the MEMBERS of the MED-
 ICAL PROFESSION  with the very polite and
 genteel appellation of 'LEARNED  FOOLS.' "
 After floundering through three-fourths ofa column
 of turgid assertion, metaphysics and aspersion, to
 establish the intimate  connection  of Latin and
 Greek with the removal of morbid action, you pur-
 sue  the  illustration in reference  to  Hebrew and
 Greek by  enquiring, "is  not the lecturer aware
 that the Bible, which has shed such blessings and
 benefits upon the world, was originally written in
 the HEBREW and GREEK languages; and does
 he suppose  that  Samuel Thomson  or  himself
 would have ever known any thing about the glo-
 rious promises that are contained in [not between!]
 the lids of that precious volume, if some of the
 LEARNED FOOLS, ["members of the medical
 profession" be it recollected,] as  he  is pleased to
 call them, had not been able to translate that book
 into plain  English!"  Though the verbosity  be
 irksome, your meaning  is sufficiently intelligible.
 In consequence of many ofthe regular practitioners
 having insisted  on  the  inseparability of a know-
 ledge of the learned languages from the successful
 practice of medicine, Samuel Thomson calls them
 "learned fools."  Now you assert that if  these
 "learned fools" had not been qualified  to render
 Hebrew  and Greek into  plain  English,  neither
 Thomson nor Curtis would ever have known aught
 of the blessings of  revelation,  or in  other words
that the English Bible  is  a translation from the
 original by the regular doctors—and as this infor-
 mation is given in illustration of the necessity of
 knowing the learned  languages in the manage-
 ment of disease, it is equivalent to assuming the 
2G2
position or rather demonstrating the fact that dis-
ease cannot be cured without Hebrew and Greek.
What  naked impudence in a  man unacquainted
with the rudiments of his vernacular tongue—and
to be addressed too, in the presence ofthe public,
to an individual deeply versed in the ancient lan-
guages and familiar with the sciences  moral and
physical!
                                   EQUITY.
   To the foregoing Dr. Deloney replies:
   Since penning the above I have seen  a commu-
 nication over the signature of " Equity," this en-
 raged  writer appears to be  entirely destitute of
 reason, refined sensibility, he  never heard of, his fu-
 rious spattering essay reminds me ofthe ferocity
 of a bengal Tiger, or the Hyena, an animal which
 feeds on human flesh, no wonder such a man would
 offer to set an estimate of five thousand dollars on
 the life of his only child, I should take him to be
 a lusus naturae, void of heart or soul, a steam doc-
 tor extra refined,
   Only one assertion in his piece is worthy of no-
 tice, so far as gross ignorance and a feeble attempt
 at perversion, deserves  notice,  he wishes to in-
 duce a belief that I am  ignorant of a physiological
 fact, which  he says, every  Tyro  in  medicine
 ought  to know—and this  fact is, that the blood
 does return through  the arteries, I deny it again,
 the blood in no part of the system returns through
 the arteries,  The heart is the centre and soul of
 the circulating system, and although the circula-
tion  is  a " compound" one, yet it is the action of
the heart which propells the blood through the ar- 
263
 teries to the extreme parts ofthe system whence it
 returns again to the heart through the veins, from
 thence it is again propelled by the same action to
 the Lungs, through the  pulmonary artery,  whare
 its vital principle  is renewed by the oxygen with
 which it thare comes in contact, and again returns
 to  the heart  through the pulmonic  vein, thence
 again to be driven out through the whole system,—
 the blood does not return t® the lungs,  it is driven
 thare by the action ofthe heart, and it never would
 get thare, ware it not for this peculiar and essential
 action which propells it,
   Thus much, without going into a history ofthe
 circulation ofthe blood, I have thought it proper
 to 6tate, not for any respect  which  I  considered
 due to "Equity" but to show his utter ignorance or
 his disposition to false reasoning—Thus it is seen
 that  " Equity"   is as  ignorant  of physiological
facts  as any other man would likely desire to be—
 With regard to that part of his remarks, relative
 to the action ofthe Legislature with regard to li-
 cencing the practitioners of his system, I deem it
 unnecessary to reply, abler hands than myself will
 scan that matter, and do it full justice.
  I find nothing more in his article  worth notice,
 like his coworkers he deals out fury  and nonsense
 by the wholesale, keeps off from  the  subject,  has
 never once said a word about the theory of his sys-
 tem or his plan  of curing diseases,  we wish  our
 readers to  mark this fact and if this controversy is
 coniinued by persons in their proper names, we in-
 tend to " keep them to the test," "Equity" or
 "Warden" or any other fictitious  writer will never
 receive further notice from us.
                      EDWARD DELONY.
  Talbotton, Ga. Sept.  15th 1835. 
264
  The following is Equity's Farewell.

    TO THE EDITOR OF THE FEDERAL UNION.

  In appearing again before the public, allow me,
sir, to express my  approbation  ofthe  course you
have recently  adopted in permitting the articles
elicited by the Medico-Botanic  Practice to issue
from your press as they are written, letter for let-
ter and point  for  point.  Impartiality  and justice
require it. Nor can Dr. Delony complain, although
by  its adoption, his literary pretensions have .been
sunk below the level  of pupils'in infant schools.
Having urged its being put into operation against
his opponents to  fix upon them his charge of igno-
rance, he cannot object to be adjudicated  by his
own rules of evidence.  The test receives my hearty
concurrence;  and that all from my  pen, presented
for publication, be rigidly submitted to its action,
harmonizes with  my wish and expectation.  I ask
no favorfrom  my publisher, except the use  of his
columns,  when such indulgence accords with his
convenience—a boon that  1  should neither seek
nor accept, were his corrective  skill or that of his
youngest apprentice essential to the accuracy of
my language.
   Dr. Delony is extremely anxious that the names
ofthe friends of the new practice be  attached to
their  writings.  I have several motives  for de-
clining.  Having altogether relied either on  rea-
son or well-known facts, my name is unessential as
authority.  Nor am I  covetous  of the character of
a scribbling gladiator.   Besides, the kind of noto-
riety following an  advantage over any person  of
his capacity and  feelings, I should esteem as a dis-
grace.  Moreover,  having found  me  anonymous 
265'
and dragged me into the lists against my inclina-
tion, the melee is not the time for him to be indulg-
ed with the raising of my visor.  And, last of all,
from courtesy he is severed by his coarseness, ma-
lice, arrogance and deliberate slander.   But he
may iest assured that I have a name, and for what
I 6ay or write my person is responsible.
  To the  part of my last publication relating to
the policy  of licensing or tolerating the Botanic
Practice, he reluctantly  confesses his inability to
reply, vaunting that it shall  however be consigned
for refutation to abler hands than his.   Into weak-
er it cannot, fall—into abler it must,  should any
advocate be found.   But I cannot anticipate that
any  man of talents will risk his reputation, in de-
bate, by espousing the affirmative ofthe question,
Ought the citizens of afree country to be restricted
by statute  for aid, in sickness, to physicians whose
chief remedial agentsare known and acknowledged
to be poisons!  Genius and sophistry may achieve
much;  but so weighty a load they cannot carry. It
would  be as easy  to  maintain  that the tenets pe-
culiar to some religious  sect should be legislated
into our code  to the exclusion of all others  from
our country.
  The subject will probably attract the attention
of our  Legislature  at  the ensuing session.  On
it, should action be had, I hope that body will keep
in rememberance  that the faculty  insist on  what
may be accepted as an axiom, that great skill  is
necessary  in  administering poisons for the remo-
val of disease, while the Botanic doctors disclaim
 all knowledge of the management of such arti-
 cles.  To secure, therefore, to the former, the mo-
noply  of such remedies, and to shield our citizens
from the mischief they would unavoidably produce 
266
 in  the hands ofthe latter, I respectfully suggest
 to the General Assembly to prohibit the exhibition
 of any metal or mineral, even iron or sulphur, or of
 any vegetable poison, by a  Botanic physician, not
 barely under penalty of forfeiture of collection, but
 of confinement and  hard labor in the penitentiary
 during a period not less than seven years.
   But whilst thus sedulously  preserving from in-
 vasion what properly  belongs to  the faculty, the
 rights of those indisposed to depend on instruments
 of  destruction for the  lengthening of life,  should
 receive at least some respect.  This cannot be ac-
 complished  by submitting the  Botanic practice
 or  the qualifications of those who pursue, it to the
 control or inspection  or caprice  of any board of
 regular doctors.  It would  be the same as con-
 signing a man's life and reputation to a jury com-
 posed of prejudiced and interested enemies. Should
 legislative wisdom deem expedient the institution
 of a board for  the examination  of applicants to
 practise, such body  ought to consist of and  be se-
 lected by those who rely on and have experience
 in the Medico-Botanic remedies.    They only  are
 competent to decide as to the attributes insepa-
 rable from the  management of their agents; and a
 convention of such citizens, under sanction of law,
 would be adequate to maturing all needful arrange-
 ments.
  I  would likewise  remark  that further delay by
 the Legislature, in the settlement of this momen-
 tous subject, is contraindicated by prudence as well
 as justice.   More than three  thousand  "Family
 Rights" (as the patent-rights to prepare  and  use
the Botanic remedies have been named) are held in
the State of Georgia, and the demand for more is
rapidly  advancing.  Allowing each right to em- 
2(57
 brace  a  family  of five members, the number of
 whites relying on Botanic remedies would amount
 to  fifteen thousand; but as several Botanic doctors
 prescribe for more than five hundred patients, and
 many for from fifty to one hundred, it is a moderate
 calculation to rate at  twenty thousand the white
 citizens, in our State, wedded rightfully or wrong-
 fully to the practice.   Estimating one fifth ofthat
 number to be male adults, four thousand votes are
 shown, and the balance of power between our two
 political parties  ascertained to reside in  the be-
 lievers in  Medical Botany.  I  should deprecate
 the subject's being made a political question; and
 I am satisfied that many would, under no circum-
 stances, assent to its becoming such.   But  I would
 be  recreant to candor  and truth, did I not express
 it as my conviction, that, unless they be emanci-
 pated  during the  approaching  session, at least  a
 moiety of them will vent their indignation  at  the
 polls.  They are disgusted with that nominalfree-
 dom which leaves them  disfranchized and denies
 them the  supervision of their  lives.  Nor  will
 their strength diminish.   Independent of the sim-
 plicity and safety of their remedies, the  very
 legal persecution under which  they labor will ac-
 quire for  them friends and converts.  Wo to the
 party on  whom their vengeance shall alight.
                 With esteem, I remain
                                   EQUITY.

   To Dr. Edward Delony, of Talbotton, Ga.

  It is with surprise, sir,  I perceive your egotism
quailing before the legal part of my last communi-
cation, and consigning the answer to abler hands
than your own, which is equivalent to saying  that 
208
the labor shall devolve on any individual fancying
the undertaking.   More  credit would be duo you,
had you observed the same  prudence with regard
to the  other items of discussion.   The public
would have construed  your taciturnity  into  a re-
cantation of your errors, and your ridiculous pre-
tensions to science and  literature  would, on the
withdrawal of your publisher's orthographical aid,
not have shrunk  into an ignorance  rendering you
a fit subject for an  infant-school, in the lowest ta-
bles of monosyllables.   But  your evasions, inalig-
nity, fabrications ar.d arrogance exclude you from
the  indulgence  that  charity is  wont  to extend
to the aberrations ofthe  simple and illiterate, and
morality and justice require  the exposition of your
frauds,  for the sake of example.  I obey.
   To the faculty's knowledge ofthe dead langua-
ges, you declared, we  owe our English versions of
the  Bible.  "Warden" denied  it.   By affecting
that  you had not  advanced  the statement,  you^
pleaded not guilty.  I established the charge by ad9
ducing your  own words.   Yet you  have not dared m
to challenge or invalidate the evidence, but conti-
nue mute, probably hoping that the subject would
not again be agitated.
   As prerequisites to the exercise of the healing
art, you affirmed, the learned languages to be need-
ful.   By  quotations from your own pen, I incon-
testibly proved, that so far from being conversant,
with the classics, you  are  even unacquinted with
the plainest rules of English syntax.  The dilem-
ma followed that either you are a quack or your
assertion is untrue.  I did  not however, in the al-
ternative,  leave  you  an option, but  selected the
horn, by alluding to one of the most distinguished
members of the  Medical  Board of Georgia that, 
269
   without  owing aught to Greek  or Latin, follows
   a practice, if success be a criterion, surpassed by
   that of no regular  doctor in the State.  Yet you
   have not  the candor to acknowledge nor the bold-
   ness to maintain your error.
    The Botanic doctors you accused of considering
   hogs' lard as poison. I pronounced the statement to
   be false,  and  demanded evidence.  Yet the only
   defence you offer is that of a skulking mute.
    You gravely averred that Professor Wa'.erhouse
   has given no evidence in favor ofthe innocuousnees
   of Lobelia Inflata.  Makingcitationsfrom his let-
   ter,  (which I knew had recently been before you,)
   I charged you with deliberate misrepresentation.
   Still you deem a charge so serious as being unwor-
   thy of notice.
    Not satisfied with the conflicting slander of Lo-
   belia Inflata  by Bigelow, Coxe and Thacher, you
   thought it  meritorious to transcend them, and, in
   your  tautological rant, to declare it to be "one
   among the most violent drastic and deleterious poi-
^  sons in the whole materia medica."  Knowing the
   assertion to be false, I  so  pronounced it; and, to
   expose your insincerity, to convince the public you
   had  uttered that which you did  not believe,  ten-
   dered to you the forfeiture of five thousand dollars
   that one of my children, a male not quite fifteen
   months old, could take, in a given period, of lobe-
   lia inflata a quantity greater than you durst swallow
   of certain drastic medicines in the same time, un-
   der restrictions to prevent deception, and that, at
   the end of a certain  number of hours, he would be
   freer from preternatural action   than you—or, in
   the event of your recoiling from the articles speci-
   fied, I, substituting myself for my  child, was wil-
   ling you  should, under  a particular mode ofele«- 
270
tion, take, one of certain articles named, which
are  daily exhibited by the faculty both in Ameri-
ca and Europe.  If lobelia inflata be, as you have
averred, one ofthe greatest, poisons in the materia
medica, any  one  of  the  first class of articles, if
taken by you, would be in your favor at least ten
to one against my child, considering  his age; and
the  second class taken against myself would give
you a yet greater advantage.   But this to you ad-
vantageous offer, with the  pecuniary inducement of
five thousand  dollars, has been  rejected by you,
under the pitiful excu.se that I have set  a price ou
the  life of my ONLY child.   The  price of life is,
in common and legal  parlance,  the consideration
received or to be  received for the  destruction of
life.  Now, by my proposal, I  could  receive no
consideration  or price in  the event  of my child
dying or even if he should  be as disordered as you
at the expiration  ofthe time mentioned,  but you
were to get five thousand dollars.  Therefore, I
was setting no price on the life of my son; but, liklM
the  declaration of  his being my  only child, it (fl
another instance of your indulging a constitution^P
propensity.   Nor  was his life involved in the or-
deal.   Repeatedly has he  (and always with indubi-
table benefit) taken of lobelia  inflata an  amount
the equal of which of any  article in the class first
mentioned would, under the precaurions to be stip-
ulated, destroy the stoutest man on earth.   Your
accusation of my wishing to violate the sacred obli-
gations of a father for a sum of money,  therefore,
resolves itself into the  base excuse  of a craven
spirit, for declining a trial that would expose his
want of truth and consign his carcase to the grave.
   After furnishing  such  conclusiye testimony
against your respect for truth, and particularly in 
271
  relation to lobelia  inflata, it is singular that you
  should be so tenacious in claiming the knowledge
  of its medical qualities for the faculty,  before the
  birth of Samuel Thomson.   How the confirmation
  of this assertion should detract from the  utility of
  the Botanic practice, I am at a loss to conceive;
  but can very easily understand how the  neglect of
  a remedial agent so potent ought, if known, to ope-
  rate against the  benevolence, candor and justice of
  the old school practitioners.  I however apprehend
  that they are not responsible for the omission with
  which your indiscrete zeal would saddle them.—
  Had you authority, it would be paraded; and the ab-
  sence of quotations  indicates that in this,  as  in
  most other matters, you have consulted  your nat-
  ural encyclopedia.  The earliest mention  by  a
  regular physician that I have been able to find  of
  any  remedial property being ascribed to lobelia
  inflata, is said to be in an essay of Dr. B. S. Bar-
  ton, written in 1798 and published in 1800, recom-
  mending its infusion  for  the cure of Leucorrhcea;
f-and, in 1802, Coxe, apparently on Barton's author-
ity, advises the same preparation to be  exhibited
  in the same form of disease.  It  was not until af-
  ter the trial of Thomson, in 1809, that its violent
  and baneful  effects, with  its empirical  use, were
  trumpeted in the  American Dispensatories, nor
  was it until  after the  commencement ofthat trial
  that the Rev. Dr. Cutler's knowledge of its power
  in controlling asthma was made public—seven
  years subsequent to the commencement  of Thom-
  son's administration ofthe plant in most shapes of
  disease incident to the climate of New  England,
  during part of which time Thomson practised with
  it in the immediate neighborhood ofthe Rev. Doc-
  tor.  Whether Thomson's knowledge  of its vir- 
272
tues was derived from the aborigines, or, by acci-
dent, he, in 1778,  discovered  it to be emetic, is a
question that chiefly relates to the person of Sam-
uel Thomson, and cannot affect the results of the
plant as to good or evil, in relation to its power
over derangements of the human  system—which
question I leave to the research ofthose more inter-
ested than I am in  itssolution. Upwardsoftwo mil-
lions of whites in theU.Stat.es, of whom more than
fifteen thousand reside in Georgia, use no other em-
 etic than this slandered plant, and the increasing
 demand for " rights" and Uotanic remedies, bears
 ample testimony that the practice is not retrograd-
 ing.   I will conclude this point of the controver-
 sy by reciting the evidence of Dr.  Beach, of New
 York.   "Lobelia is a very valuable plant, contain-
 ing many active medicinal properties.  It is stat-
 ed that it was first used by the aborigines of our
 country; but we are indebted more especially to Dr.
 Samuel Thomson for bringing it into use.  ****♦
 The charge brought against it by many physician^}
 is totally false.  I have used it for many years 9
 various diseases,  both of men, women and chfl-^
 dren, in which I have never seen a single unpleas-
 ant symptom arise from its administration."
    In relation to red  pepper,  as  I am satisfied of j
 your limited  research, I shall not refer to its gen-j
 eral use in sickness and  in health throughout the
 Ex-Spanish  colonies, of  inter-tropical America, j
 nor yet to its antiseptic  and  alexipharmic reputa- I
 tion in-the English Antilles,  but to the portion of
 our country bounded  by the Sabine and Sivannah j
rivers.   In this extensive tract,  it is, among the
laboring people, the common remedy for catarrhal j
affections.  Now,  if the acute  form of this disorder j
be, as the  faculty  insist, of an  inflammatory na- 
273
 ture,  the sequence is, that red pepper is not con-
 traindicated in  inflammation—unless, indeed, you
 contend that, in consequence of being ignorant of
 the medical experience of three thousand years,
 the most valuable part of our populition have no
 right to credit  the evidence  of  their own senses,
 nor be allowed the guardianship of their own lives.
 Again,  sir, it is presumable  that you hnve  heard
 of yellow fever, the  typhus iclerodes of nosology,
 and that, at Savannah,  it raged,  with fearful mor-
 tality, in the year 1820. Dr. Wm.C.  Daniell, who
 was then and is now a resident of Chatham county,
 practised extensively during  its continuance.  If
 his  evidence (which he shortly afterwards gave to
 the  world) may be relied  on, he found the mercu-
 rial treatment wholly unavailing, his patients dying
 before calomel would act.   Suiting his practice to
 the  emergency, he exhibited  cayenne and serpen-
 taria,  applying  to the surface sinapisms  at the
 same time; and, under that change, he states, suc-
• cessattended. Here, then, is proof of its utility, not
 only in ardent  diathesis but also in direct debili-
 ty:—and, let me add that a member ofthe Medical
 Board of Georgia, whose general practice  yields
 to none in the   State, has,  if I  am not deceived
 by individuals the least likely  to misrepresent him,
 administered it, with no sparing hand, during the
 present season, and has not failed to  raise one pa-
 tient for whom  he prescribed  it.  So the Botanic
 doctors are not  alone sinful of giving red pepper.
 But  what avail any facts, when opposed by the ipse
 dixit of Dr.  Delony!
   It may  now  not  be out of place to enquire
 whether the application of the steam vapor bath
 be not sanctioned by the usages of several nations,
 as well  as  distinguished physicians ancient and
                   18 
274
modern, and if the use of cold affusion, immedi-
ately after such bath, be  not practised  with im-
punity, and also whether principles, recognized by
the  most distinguished practitioners, do not au-
thorize the immediate but temporary application
of cold to the human body  after  its exposure to
caloric combined with moisture.   In his third lec-
ture, [" Treatment of Inflammation."] Sir Ashley
Cooper, after illustrating the sedative effect of con-
tinued cold, states  that sudden but transient expos-
ure  to severe cold is highly stimulating. By plung-
 ing his bare arm up to the shoulder into snow, his
 pulse, which was  before eighty, immediately rose
 to one hundred and nine.  After having closed the
 consideration of the cold bath, he proceeds,
   "The next mode  of relieving  inflammation by
 local remedies,  is  by the application of heat  with
 moisture; this appearslike contradiction; apparent-
 ly opposite  causes are  used  to produce the same
 effect, and  it seems  to  be blowing  hot  and cold
 with the same breath; but it  is so.   The applica-
 tion of heat alone would be injurious, by increasing
 action;  but, when combined  with moisture,  it is
 beneficial, by producing relaxation, opening the
 cutaneous  pores, and giving rise to perspiration;
 thereby removing congestion, and producing effects
 nearly similar to  those  which arise from the ap-
plication of blisters.  The effects ofheat and mois-
ture combined,  are well exemplified by what hap-
pens when a person takes  the warm bath; for in-
stance, a person whose pulse  is at 75, places him-
self in a bath, the water of which is heated to 100;
his pulse soon rises to 100; presently Jie perspires
freely; his pulse becomes less frequent, but  soft;
great relaxation follows, and, if he were not re-
moved he would faint, so great is  the exhaustion 
275
it occasions.  Here then is  direct proof of what
heat and moisture produce, when applied gener-
ally; and when used locally, the effect on the part
is precisely the same."
   If then heat and moisture, combined, open the
cutaneous pores and force perspiration, the expe-
diency of  applying heat with  moisture, in  even
inflammatory forms of disease, is manifest; and, as
the process is  followed by  great relaxation, the
stimulant effects ofthe sudden and short applica-
tion of cold are called for by common sense and
sound  philosophy.  Hence  it is evident that the
principles laid  down by one of the  most eminent
men of his  age fully sustain the use of the hot
vapor bath  and cold affusion as applied by the Bo-
tanic Doctors.
   Indeed, that distinguished character seems not
to be altogether unacquainted  with the benign ef-
fects of aqueous  vapor.   In his  second lecture,
speaking of what he calls  ^irritable  inflamma-
tion,"  in which "the blood vessels are much less
affected than  the nerves," he observes, "some
time ago I was consulted by a lady who had this
painful affection in the foot,  and I employed  vari-
ous remedies without her being relieved; finding
no improvement, and suffering in health, she  went
to the  coast,  and there used a steam  bath; and,
without any further means,  the pain quickly sub-
Bided."
  But the efficacy of steam vapor does not, among
the members ofthe faculty, depend on the princi-
ples or evidence of Sir Ashley Cooper alone.   If
you could, as you most ridiculously wish the public
to think you can,  read Greek, you would find that
Hippocrates sometimes  recommends the vapor of
hot water; and, were you as attentive  to medical 
276
history  as you are to pasquin and low jest,  have
ere now learnt  that  Aretreus  and  Gabius  were
deeply  impressed with  the utility  of the steam
vapor bathing; that Boerhaave, Mudge and Peter
Frank  were its advocates;  and  that,  during the
lapse of the last twenty-live years, it has found
zealous  supporters  and panegyrists  in  Andria,
Assalini, Blegborough,Chaussier, Clark,Cochran,
Curzio,  Gales,  Gibney, Jurine, Macartney,  Mar-
card, and Murray.
   Such authority might, one would think, be  suffi-
cient to calm the apprehensions ofa scribbler, who
believes in  the infallibility ofthe three-thousand-
years fraternity, as to the  consequences of steam
vapor.   But, sir, its  character rests  not on the
opinion of isolated individuals, however blest with
genius  and  versed  in science.  The  Neapolitan
government, with a benificence that  somewhat re-
deems  its  despotic structure and onerous action,
provides indigent invalids with the means of trans-
portation to, and  maintainance at, the  natural
steam vapor baths on the island of Ischia; and al-
most every schoolboy  has heard that, in Muscovy,
not only each hospital but every prison is furnish-
ed with baths of steam vapor, in whicli the bath-
ers are exposed to a heat of from 122 to 133 de-
grees, and,  at the expiration of half an hour or of
an hour, uniformly undergo the  operation of the
cold affiibion.   In  Lapland, Norway,  Sweden and
Findland, as well as  in  Russia, it is indulged  in
freely and almost daily by all ranks of  people. In
the narrative of'his journey to the North  Cape, Acer-
bi states, that the  Fins not unfrequently remain
a whole hour in  it with the heat raised to 176 of
Fahrenheit,  and, naked, walk out into the  open
air as low as 24 below zero, in which condition, 
277
without the least inconvenience, they assist travel-
lers in harnessing and unharnessing, and fetching
provender for horses.  I might  also refer to the
high estimation in  which the 6team  vapor bath
was and  is still held for the recovery and preser-
vation  of health in Persia, Egypt and Turkey; but
shall  restrict myself to citing the reasons, ad-
vanced by Dr. John Bell, lecturer on the  Institutes
of Medicine and Medical  Jurisprudence in Phila-
delphia,  why exposure to cold, immediately  after
being  in  the steam vapor bath, is  attended  with
impunity,  thinking it appropos to  inform you, at
the same time,  that he is no admirer of  Botanic
doctors.
  "The higher  the animal heat, the greater is the
power of resisting cold;  and hence  in the present
case the highly excited state ofthe skin,  it being
both red and hot, enables it to bear  with impunity
the sudden application of eold water and  snow: just
enough of its heat is lose by the change to establish
a  pleasant medium  temperature.  It  would fol-
low, therefore,  that the naked Russian  is  enabled
to roll in the snow without  injury, precisely be-
cause he  has just come out ofthe excessively hot
medium ofthe vapor  bath; for, had his skin been of
the common temperature and ordinary sensibility;
or had  he  waited  until this part had become  cool,
and in that state of indirect debility following ex-
cessive excitement,  it could not, any more  than
the internal organs with which it so closely  sym-
pathizes,  have  tolerated the great reduction of
temperature  and  sedative operation effected  by
cold.   An inhabitant ofthe north makes, by a slay
in hot vapor, a sudden indeed, and excessive, but
not less real  preparation for meeting without inju-
ry intense cold,  similar to that which he has  more 
278
gradually and  habitually made in keeping up his
animal heat by means of hot stove rooms, a cloth-
ing  Of furs and woollens, and full diet."
   Now, sir, the only corollary, deducible from the
foregoing in connexion  with your positive asser-
tions, if supposed to be true, is, that, in the hands
of English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, German,  Trench
and Italian doctors, the steam vapor bath is a
powerful  agent in  the  removal of disease—that
when applied  by semi-barbarous Persians, Turks
and Egyptians, it  is productive of good results—
and, when followed  by cold, whether inoistordry,
 among the rude Laps, Norse, Fins  and Russians,
 or the more polished Swedes, it acts in harmony
 with life and philosophy—but,  when used  by Bo-
tanic physicians, it becomes  a fell implement of
 death, and  ought to consign the operators to the
gallows.
   But it is not perhaps against the separate use of
lobelia and  pepper and steam vapor, but  their re-
sults  in combination, that you are  anxious to di-
rect the prejudice and abhorrence of society.   This
inference derives probability from the tenor ofthe
statements  or certificates or vouchers (I know not
to what class they properly belong)  which you
have chosen to array against the Botanic practice.
Not  one  of them particularizing the  agent that
did  the mischief, the conclusion arises  that it is
attributable to the aggregation.  But unfortunate-
ly your evidence is rather defective.  None of
your witnesses gives his own name  or that ofthe
patient or that ofthe Botanist  or that ofthe reg-
ular physician—not even the name ofthe neigh-
borhood or county is developed, so that  the very
occurrence ofthe circumstances  detailed depends
on the uncertain veracity of Dr. Delony.  Nor is 
279
 that the  only  suspicious characteristic.   One  of
 the cases is entirely irrelevant, and two at  least,
 so far as the Botanic practice is  concerned, bear
 prima facia marks of falsehood.  One ofthe pa-
 tients you  represent as a female, who becoming
 (as many at first do) alarmed whilst over the  vapor
 bath, unintentionally thrust her foot into the hot
 water,  and therefore declined  the  completion  of
 the process.   Were you endeavoring to bleed in
 the toe, and, by the involuntary  starting ofthe pa-
 tient, your lancet  to be  brought in contact  with
 the thigh,  and the  femoral artery  were divided,
 would the accident prove that venesection gener-
 ally endangers life, or that you intended to operate
 on an improper part!  If not,  how then can the
 scalding  ofthe lady's foot  affect the standing of
 the Botanic practice!  In another  case, mention
 is made of muriate of soda being administered. No
 individual,  that has  attentively read the  books of
 the Botanic Practice or  even of Botanic  periodi-
 cals, can believe the story; for, with the exception
 of water and caloric, every article allowed in the
 practice consists of organic matter or preparations
 from  it.   In yet another case trumpeted by you, a
 something which you call "Ambear"  was exhibited
 by a Botanic Doctor.  Having charged my memo-
 ry with the several species of Bears which I  have
 seen or of which I  have read, without recollecting
 any Bear with the  prefix "Am," I surmise that al-
 lusion is had to the provincialism amber, which
 means,  in rustic parlance, the decoction of tobacco,
 decoctum nicotiana, probably on  account of the co-
 lor.   But unluckily for your credit and that of your
 informant, if he exist, tobacco is placed by Thom-
son in his list of vegetablt poisons, all of which he
PROSCRIBES, and the violation of this prescript 
280
would procure the expulsion of a member from any
Medico-Botanic society in the United States.   To-
bacco is a  narcotic, emetic, cathartic, diuretic,
expectorant, sialagogue and  errhine, in the old
school practice, but finds no  favor  in the new.—
Muriate of soda, ifl your  materia medica, is de-
signated as a cathartic, and, if accounts  be  true,
has, in cholera asphyxia, been tested as an emet-
ic, by members ofthe faculty, but has as yet been,
and will very probably be, neglected by their ri-
vals.  These considerations must cause your tales
of horror, until authenticated, to be viewed as the
sublime  creations of your beneficent fancy.
   The testimony of Waterhouse and of some other
 respectable regular physicians (which has already
 been  laid  before you and  the people of Georgia)
 would, were  you influenced by common sense or
 common decorum,  have deterred you from traffick-
 ing in contemptible  and invidious slander;  but
 your propensities are too deeply rooted to be alter-
 ed by reason or repressed by  shame.  For the at-
 tention ofthe public, and not to benefit you, I ex-
 tract, from an article published in the Transylva-
 nia Journal  of Jlcdicinc, and  written by   Drs.
 Brown and Saunders, the following passage as
 bearing on the subject referred to by your name-
less witnesses.
   "Many ofthe followers of Dr. Hamilton, trans-
cending his instructions, tolerate only one kind of
critical discharge,  and aim to force  a monopoly of
such evacuations to the bowels; continued mercu-
rial  purging produces a preternatural determina-
tion ofthe  fluids to  theliverand bowels, which,
by long  continuance, become congested.  Long
continued purging of any kind produces  preterna-
tural centripetal determination, and indirect debil- 
281
 ity ofthe bowels.   Under such treatment, the pa-
 tient's stomach and tongue are parched and dry; he
 is unable to sleep; extreme irritability and a train
 of nervous symptoms supervene.   He is worse af-
 ter each  successive purging, until  at length (un-
 less Providence should send a  steam doctor to the
 rescue) the case terminates under the name of bilia-
 ry congestive fever; the biliary evacuations, the
 nervous  symptoms, and the congestion  being all
 manifestly the effects of excessive  purging."
  This is saying much.  In prostration, produced
 by cathartics, the patient dies—unless, not a regu-
 lar physician, but a steam doctor comes to the res-
 cue.   But evidence  more to  the  point,  may be
 had  less remote.  The Charleston  Courier ofthe
 28th ult. contains the following notification:
  "To the public.—Having for some time  past
 turned my attention  to the Botanic or  Thomsonian
 System of Practice, and having had an opportuni-'
 ty of witnessing its efficacy and promptness, in re-
 moving disease, I  have no hesitation in avowing
 my conviction that  it is  a practice safe,  simple,
 certain and expeditious in  all curable cases, and
 therefore promising the most lasting benefit to the
 human family.  Under this solemn  conviction,
 I deem it my  duty to adopt it asMYpractice here-
 after, and  I  hereby notify  my friends,  and all
 others who may*be disposed to  rely upon the judg-
 ment which I  have thus deliberately formed, that
 they may  command  my services, at any time, by
 applying  at  my residence, southeast  corner  of
 Smith and Montague streets.
             THOMAS EVELEIGH, M.  D.
  Charleston, September 24, l»-35."

  Believing the opinion of Drs.  Brown, Saun-
ders and  Eveleigh, to be, with the unprejudiced, 
282
of more importance than your ignorant and rancor-
ous accusations,  backed by perhaps spurious and
at all events anonymous evidence, I shall proceed
to contrast the sentiments of several distinguish-
ed men belonging to the faculty in relation to calo-
mel, (submurias hydrargyri mitis,) with your pane*
gyric of it.   You say,
  "In  the first place,  it will purge your stomach
and bowels  of all  'obstructions' and acrid collec-
tions,  and that "effectually and salutary [!]—it will
control the excited and unequal action ofthe sys-
tem  and produce a general equilibrium in all the
secretions—it will  'open  the pores of the skin' and
remove fever—it will  give strength and tone to
the general system—it  will control the inordinate
action ofthe liver, and regulate the secretion of
the bile—it will curb and reduce inflammatory ac-
tion in the circulating system, and it will stimulate
this  same system and  add impetus to its circula-
tion—it will  promote digestion, because it has the
power of removing the cause of indigestion."
  If I  understand the compound sentence "it will
control the excited and unequal action ofthe system
and produce a general equilibrium in all the secre-
tions;" it  comprehends every disorder to  which
mankind have been, are, or can be subject.   Con-
sequently calomel is indicated in and  adequate to
every case, and nothing,  not even a knowledge of
the alphabet, is  requisite to constitute a regular
doctor except possession of a large stock of cal-
omel.   But ofthis catholicon Dr. Cheyne express-
es some  distrust,  when he says, "it does not ap-
pear to be generally known that mercurials actual-
ly produce jaundice;" and Chapman of Philadel-
phia concurs with him.  "For several years I have
[eays the latter gentleman) taught in my lectures, 
283
 that the  extravagant employment of mercury by
 many of our practitioners, in autumnal fever, and
 other diseases, must be assigned as one of the
 causes for the general prevalence of chronic hepa-
 tic affections in some portions of the country."__
 Speaking of yellow fever,  Dr. Chatard  observes,
 "I cannot believe that this remedy [calomel] pos-
 sesses any specific power in this disease, as mercu-
 ry;  for,  by dissolving  the  fluids,  it co-operates
 with the deleterious and decomposing cause ofthe
 disease, to destroy the principle of life."  Hamil-
 ton, of Edinburgh, remarks, "among the numer-
 ous poisons which have  been used for the cure of
 diseases, there are few that possess more active,
 and  of course more dangerous powers  than mercu-
 ry."  In  relation to  the effects of mercury on the
 nerves, Benjamin Bell states, "in some, temporary
 delirium takes place;  in others, palsy or epilepsy
 supervenes; and  iH many, the memory and judg-
 ment are more or less permanently impaired.   In-
 stances,  too, have  OGCured, where sudden death
 has supervened,  apparently  in consequence  of a
 very trifling exertion or agitation."  Sir Ashley
 Cooper affirms  that  "mercury will  inflame  the
 periosteum to a  greater degree than the venereal
 disease itself."   To it Pearson attributes erythe-
 ma,  an opinion  corroborated by Coxe and others;
 and  few persons are  to be found who have  not
 heard of mercurial nodes.    The Parisian school
 have  discarded  it from  their practice—Chapman
 asserts that it  can be dispensed with even in the
 removal of syphilis—and John Bell of Philadel-
 phia endorses  the fact, remarking, "experience
now  satisfiies us that for the cure  of syphilis in
its various stages, we  may rely on these adjuvants
[sulphurous fumigations and the vapor of hot wa- 
284
ter] to the entire exclusion of mercury."  Is such
authority  to be rejected  at  your  bidding!  But
Bichat,  in behalf of the faculty,  exclaims, "at
present  we are all groping in the dark ;" and you
are haply  willing to have  the expression pass
as a truism, except in relation to Dr. Edward De-
lony.
  You deny that the  blood returns to the lungs by
the branches of the pulmonic artery;  because the
momentum ofthat fluid is derived from the heart.
You forget however that the action  ofthe latter is
mechanical, but that of the pneumatic viscera,  vi-
tal; and that if a point of departure more important
than another exists in the circle, it,  must be that
at which the  blood becomes lit for nutrition, the
lungs, and  tjiat it cannot return any other way
than by vessels  that bring it  immediately back to
that point of departure.  Every tyro in physiology
knows that the blood departs from the lungs by  the
pulmonic veins  and returns to them through  the
branches ofthe pulmonic artery,   fide Bell, Rich-
erand and Majendie.
  You affect,  sir,  to be superlatively elate that /
have not obtruded my theory on  the public, and
are rapturous  in my not attempting to defend  the
doctrine of heat being life.  My  theory, if its  ex-
pression may be  pardoned to gratify the craving
of a mendicant wrangler, is, that disease is debil-
ity direct or  mediate, and  that, in all cases, it is
attended by a diminution ofthe aggregate of vital
heat.   Consequently I cannot rely on antiphlogis-
tic remedies.   Yet I  do  not sanction the opinion
that "heat is life," if for no other reason than that
roasted  potatoes never  vegetate,  and that boiled
eggs cannot be hatched.  True it is that Samuel
Thomson has  said "that life is  heat;" but it is 
285
 equally  certain  that  he has  contended,  to  use
 his  homely language,  that  "perfect health arises
 from a due balance of temperature from the four
 elements," which indicates only that a certain
 amount of caloric is essential  to the healthy ope-
 ration ofthe animal machine, and leaves it a le-
 gitimate  inference that heat's being,life is  a figu-
 rative expression conveying the same meaning.—
 In fact, it appears to be no more than equivalent
 to Sir Ashley Cooper's assertion, that "all the  ac-
 tions of the body are excited and sustained by in-
 ternal and external impressions; as the blood is  the
 stimulus to the blood vessels, the  bile to the intes-
 tines, and heat, in a certain degree, to the whole
 system."  But if  Thomson, presumptuous from
 the  success of his  practice, attaches to the sen-
 tence  a literal signification, and so confounds life
 with heat, as Baglivi did the former with the dura
 mater, Haller with the medulla, Hoffman with the
 nervous fluid, Darwin with  the sensorium, Brown
 with the excitability, and Richerand With the re-
 sult of organization;  know  then  that I reject the
 sentiment with contempt, and that, so far  as my
 information goes, no intelligent Botanic  practi-
 tioner, unless  it be Samuel  Thomson,  believes  it.
 In him, as the people ofthis country, during the
 Revolution, did  with respect to  Thomas  Paine,
 the Botanic doctors value what they have found to
 be useful, but nothing more.  Had you, sir, been
 half as industrious after truth as you  have been
 zealous to collect and concoct  slander, and, with
 the orthographical aid of the Printer's devil, to im-
 pose yourself as a man  of science on  the people,
 against the Botanic  physicians, a charge so pre-
posterous you  would not have ventured.   In his
reply to your rude assault, Dr. A. Curtis was, on 
286
this point, sufficiently explicit; and, in the Thom-
sonian Recorder of the 29th  of August last, he
took occasion to  say, "while a  man" is alive, the
application and accumulation ofheat will increase
the vitality of his body, till the proportion  becomes
too great, when life will  as  certainly recede and
finally depart, as if the heat were altogether with-
drawn, *******.  Life, then, is something differ-
ent from heat or moisture, or both united."
  Yet, sir, did the  Thomsonian doctors  indulge
the belief that "heat is life," would their theory be
more irrational than  yours, or amount to the centi-
simal part in repulsive arrogance and loathsome
blasphemy!  What man that respects  the under-
standing of his species or that reveres his Maker,
would, under his own signature, venture  to assert
that " life IS  the  divine spirit of our Creator,"
the Almighty God, not in a figurative but literal
sense!  If God  is a  spirit, and that spirit be  ani-
mal life, thenyou are a divinity or part ofthe Di-
vinity, and, as such, may  indefeasibly claim divine
honors; and, by parity of  reason, the vilest reptile
that crawls is entitled to the same reverence.  On
the same  principle, you may  demand for your
cook  wench  the worship of not only the inhabi-
tants of Talbotton, but ofthe universe.   Your de-
finition is not however limited to animals, but em-
braces vegetables:  for  life, you tell us, is the di-
vine spirit of our Creator; and every thing that ve-
getates, we know, has  life.  Hence the destruc-
tive  exhalations  of the  m ichineel  and the perni-
cious touch ofthe rhus vernix  are emanations of
God, and demand our gratitude and  love.   Again:
if life be literally the  spirit ofthe Creator, as you
have it, in what an imbecile and inconsistent light
does the very existence of the medical profession 
287
pourtray theBeing whose will is might and truth and
immutability!   D^-. Delony, bleeding and nausea-
ting and purging a patient laboring under synocha,
is, according to your explication, nothing more nor
less, than one  part of the Omniscient and Omnipo-
tent Spirit, aided by  the  lancet, antimony, and
quicksilver, endeavoring to assist another part of
the same all-wise and  all-powerful Spirit, in re-
taining its precarious possession of a temporary ten-
ement  against the  assault of a something called
inflammatory fever.  Such  area few ofthe direct
and unavoidable consequences of your favorite the-
ory—a theory transcending  Hindooism and Shama-
ism in abomination, and, to the letter, covering all
the arrogance, blasphemy  and wickedness of the
Pantheism of  Orpheus, John Toland, Vanini and
Spinosa.  A victim to  what fatuity must  be the
man (if it be  not a libel on  human nature  so to
class him) who, to glut  his vengeance on his rivals
in his  own profession,  plunges himself into the
gulf of heartless and hopeless atheism!  Does his
testimony merit credenee!   By  what  cord  is he
bound to truth and justice!   It shall be my pro-
vince to note  his aberrations  and apply the rem-
edy.                              EQUITY,
  The following is supposed to be Dr. Deloney'a
" final bow" to the Thomsonians and  the  steam
system:
           FOR THE FEDERAL UNION.

  Mr. Editor—As  the Legislature ofthe state of
Georgia, isnow on the verge of its assemblage and
asthare will be many measures of importance and 
2S8
many no doubt of frivolous import brought before
that honorable body, I deem it not unimportant
to make a  few remarks on One which 1 presume
will be  forced upon  its consideration,
   For the safety  of human life, so  far  as human
means guided by science, experience and correct
principle ean make  it safe, and  to prevent or coun-
teract the baneful influence of Q,uackerv—the Le-
gislature ofthe, state of-Georgia, and I believe of
almost every  other State, has enacted- (and most
wisely too) laws for the purpose of regulating the
practice of medicine, so far as to confine it to men,
who shall  be found  competent, by  a  sufficient
board, of enlightened medical  gentlemen to prac-
tice in  the healing  aTt, this is a wise policy, and
is well  calculated to prevent the destructive effects
which would  be  entailed on  the human family,
ware such superstitious and murderous pretensions,
as  those of the  celebrated  ignoramus, Samuel
Thomson and his deluded followers, suffered  to
stalk at large without legal  restraint—we find
from History hundreds of years  back, that the sci-
ence of medicine was frequently  annoyed with the
pretensions of mountebanks, Q,uacks &c,  but  as
often has the good sense of the enlightened class of
community frowned  it down and it soon recoiled
back to the degraded source from whence it ema-
nated, sometimes  however, not without leaving
behind  it marks of its horrid effects  among that
class of community  which its bold audacity was
calculated to delude.
  Among a certain class of society, far below that
ofthe industrious labouring yuomanry ol the coun-
try, hundred may be found who, too lazy to earn
their bread  by honest labor, too ignorant to pretend
to the  investigation of scientific principles and 
289
the truths resulting tharefrom and  too degraded in
their character to care ought for the risk of sink-
ing it still lower if possible, by any effects which
might result from an ignorant tampering with hu-
man life, ready and  willingly grasp at any thing,
no matter what the consequences may  be, how-
ever shocking to humanity, that may seem to af-
foard them the least prospect  of a  scanty gain, so
it is gotten without labour, no matter  how illy
done, it is all well with them, and this  may fully
account why all such pretentions  in all  parts  of
the world,  so  readily meet with advocates,  as
reckless of character as  their cause is of truth,
  But ware the effects of such impostures confined
to the class of society among which they generally
originated there would likely ba not much cause
of regreat, but many honest and industrous people
are unthoughtedly lead into the distructive snares
ofthe bold aid audacious Quack ere they are aware
ofthe dangeroftheir situation, they feel the severe
smart of their easy credulity.
  Let the Legislature of Georgia mark the shock-
ing results which have already transpired, the ef-
fects of steam quackery, the perfect laberinth of ig-
norance with which this system is involved, founded
in falsehoods as it is and perfectly destitute of the
least vestao-e ofreason or common sence,  is enough
to induce any enlightened  man to  withhold from
it the least countenance, and tofrovyn indignantly
on its deluded advocates—
  But we need not express  any fears on this head,
the assembled wisdom  of Georgia—Knows too
well the interest of her people, value too highly,
the lives of her citizens, and set too high an esti-
mate on the benefits of science—for us  to under-
take to point out to her the path she should pursue.
       P                         MEDICUS.
                     19 
290
  The following closed the Georgia controversy:

           FOR THE FEDERAL UNION.

           STEAM QUACKERY.

To the  General Assembly of Georgia.
    You have already  seen, gentlemen, what my
hopeful son, Dr.  Ned of Talbotton, whom you all
know by his "thare," "whare," "ware," "thare-
fore," "wharefore," "boath," and other orthogra-
phical  eccentricities—has,  both under his  own
name and thnt of " Medicus," advanced against
this detestable innovation.  Aware  that some of
you not only employ steam quacks in  your fami-
lies, hut also steam yourselves, and eat lobelia, as-
tringents and red pepper, it follows that I  cannot
expect that you swallow his fibs as truths, or cre-
dit the  conclusi ms he  draws from  them; nor is it
to be anticipated that  the public will  confide in
them while  thousands of suoh certificates of per-
sons in esse as these are ready for the press.

   " Georgia, Walton County.—This is to certify
that my negro boy was afflicted with asthma, from
infancy; on  account of which I applied to physi-
cians of various parts, but to no purpose.  I then
applied to the Thomsoniau System of Medicine; and
lobelia has so far  cured him, that he has had but
one attack of the  disease in two years.  This I
consider sufficient to convince any reasonable man
ofthe efficacy of the Botanic Medicine;  for I had
offered liberal sums of money to several members
ofthe faculty to  cure ray slave ; but  they said he
could not  be cured.   He  is  now  twenty-thre«
years of age.   October 23, 1835.
                   JAMES  M'GAUGHEY." 
291
  "Georgia, Walton County.—This is to certify
that, in the spring of 18:31, I received a wound in
my leg, which I did not get cured until fodder-
pulling time.  I re-hurt it, and it inflamed great-
ly, and appeared to threaten my life; on acco°unt of
which my father called in Dr. Johnston,  of Mon-
roe, Walton County, who attended me seven  days
and nights; but still my leg appeared to  be  in a
mortifying state.   On this account my father call-
ed in two Botanic  Physicians, to wit.  William
Coleman  and M'Ray of Walton county.   Accord-
ingly they commenced a  course  of Thomsonian
treatment, in which they  used lobelia and steam,
and raised me in a few days; for which I was thank-
ful.  October 26, 1835.
             ANDREW  J. M'GAUGHEY."

  " Georgia, Clark County.—This is to certify to
all whom it may concern, that my son,  Nathan
Cook, was taken with the  bilious fever on the 1st
of November, 18:33; and, on account  of  the vio-
lence ofthe disease, I sent for Dr. William  Wil-
liamson,  a mineral practitioner.  He  accordingly
commenced a course of mineral practice on the
said  Nathan, and continued it for about 2 or 3
weeks; in the course of which time the said. Dr.
Williamson  said the disease was typhus fever. He
took me out, and told me  that  my son could not
live, and  that we might prepare for the loss of him;
but he left some medicine to be given  him.  I de-
termined., however, not to give it to him, as he had
given him out. Therefore,  Dr. Thos. J. M'Gaugh-
ey, a Botanic Physician, was called in- to attend
his case, and miserable it was.  Dr.  M'Gaughey
immediately commenced with  the Botanic Medi-
cine, as directed by Howard and Thomson, to wit. 
292
Cayenne pepper, composition powder, No. fl, lobe-
lia injlata and steam; and, in thirty minutes, there
was  an improvement beyond my expectation, and
which was followed by  a speedy recovery to good
health.   October 24, 1835.
                         Z. COOK, Senior."

  " I do certify  that the above certificate  is cor-
rect  according to the best of my recollection in my
infirm state of body and mind at that time; and also
think it right to add that others of my family suf-
fered by the same epidemic, and were cured in a
short time by the Botanic Medicine administered
by Dr. Thomas J. M'Gaughey.
                         NATHAN COOK."

  I will, gentlemen, be candid, and give you th«
truth without reservation.  The Medical Faculty
in Georgia consists in strictness of three sections.
The first may be called the southern cross of med-
icine; because they are dreaming theorists, unfit
for action in our climate, and are seen  as doctors
only in the  high southern latitudes of Greek  and
Latin.   The second  consists of men who,  setting
theories at defiance,  depend on observation  as  a
guide, and though successful  in  practice  and in
high repute  with the public,  are in strictness
downright  empirics—I shall term them the Ursa
 Major of Medicine.   The third section, the larg-
est of all, is composed of persons who, without
much  learning  or mind, have studied Bell, Rich-
erand  and  Thomas from one year to two years off
 ftnd on, and finally passed an examination by memo-
 rizing some medical catechism.  They very justly
dispense with surgery, because few cases occur in
our  state; and with obstetrics, because old women 
293
 are the most successful  accouchers; and with che-
 mistry, because not one physician in ten thousand
 ever thinks of testing his mineral salts either by
 analysis or synthesis before administering them to
 his patients—and with Botany,  because acquaint-
 ance  with class, order  and genus,  can enable no
 man to distinguish the pulverized  bark of cincho-
 na  from  powdered  strychnos ; and  every body
 knows that the faculty rely on the good faith ofthe
 importer and  apothecary for the purity of their
 vegetable agents.   In fact, gentlemen, the third
 section,  guided by  " scientific principles,"  are
 careful to simplify the practice, and confine them-
 selves to a few remedies.  The lancet, opium, an-
 timony, Dover's powders, ipecac, jalap, nitrate of
 silver, blue stone,  arsenic,, corrosive sublimate,
 cream of tartar, purple fox-glove, spurred rye and
 calomel they find equal to thefulhlment of every in-
 tention; and, as calomel is never  omitted, they
 may be called Ursa Minor, revolving round, and
 being attached by the tail to the polar star of me-
 dicine,  the submuriate  of quicksilver.  Though
 large as to number, their practice is not exten-
 sive, except in seasons ofepidetnic, when they  are
 sent for by such as the empirics cannot attend, just
 as the jackalls are represented picking bones after
 the lion is gorged.  They are in bad odour with
 the first and second sections—the first denominat-
 ingthem, for not being  acquainted with the dead
 languages and the sciences, the  opprobria of  the
 profession, and the second denouncing them  as
 charlatans alike ignorant of nosology,  aetiology,
 symptomatology,  semeiotics, and therapeia.   In-
deed, the first section, having  no practice to lose,
hold them  in  more contempt than  they do the
steam-quacks; and the empirics frequently express 
294
the hope of seeing them supplanted by the steam-
ers, pretending that the event would not abridge
their own practice, but relieve the profession from
the charge of ignorance and destruction now often
brought against it.  To you  this will be apparent
when informed that, while the steam-quacks were,
with their pepper and  lobelia, forcing my dear son
Dr. Ned of Talbotton, to disgorge his fib.*-, not one
of them came to his  rescue, but would utter a
horse-laugh, and remark that  his vanity,  arrogance
and disregard of truth merited castigation.
   1 have told you, gentlemen, that I will be can-
did; and I am determined to keep my word, know-
ing, as I do, that  any falsification  ofthe  record
would be  detected by  not a few  of your honorable
body, and subject me to the cow-whips  of Curtis,
Warden,  and Equity.  Well then, my  son,  Dr.
Ned, and I belong to  the third section of the Fa-
culty, that honorable and  consistent and numerous
portion whom I have  designated as the  Ursa  Mi-
nor of Medicine, on account  of  their .hanging by
the tail to the polar star'of medicine,calomel,  and
 in many diseases depending on it per se.   Since,
therefore, the pedantic  dreamers have no prac-
tice  to lose by the steamers being tolerated,  and
empirics anticipate no evil to themselves from such
an event, and my son, Dr. Ned, is, though  his or-
gans of coloring and language are excessively de-
veloped, inadequate to appear before you as  a logi-
cian, on account ofthe smallness of the bumps of
 individuality, comparison and causality, in hiscra-
 nium, I must tell  you plainly that,  if you  remove
 the penalty against steaming, I, son Ned, and the
 whole  of our constellation must beg,  dig  or do
worse, and that the abrogation of such penal sanc-
tions would in strictness  be a  gross violation of 
295
our State Constitution, which must, at all hazards,
be preserved unimpaired.  Let me  illustrate.
  By the Medical law of 1825, perfected by amend-
ment in 1833, the management and  cure of disease
in our State were exclusively  confined to and in-
vested in the medical faculty, and consequently be-
came their  private property as fully and perfect-
ly as a deed conveys the propriety of land to the
purchaser.   But the Constitution  declares that the
Legislature shall pass no law invading the right of
private property.   Therefore you cannot, by licen-
sing steam-quackery, invade our  rights;  because
6uch power has been  denied to you; and the  exer-
cise of it would be usurpation, and  justify revolu-
tion by recourse to arms.
  Should it be objected that the exclusion of com-
petition and innovation from any profession must
arrest its  improvement,  and  necessarily keep it
stationary, if not  allow  it to  retrograde; I rejoin
that we, ursa  minorities, have  already reached
the utmost limits of useful  discovery, revolving
round, and bearing on our  tail, the polar star of
medical perfection, argentum vivuin.
  To the consideration that security of  life is the
prime motive of human congregation, especially in
those of a republican character,  and that, as the
physical part of man is powerfully influenced by the
mental, individuals of opinion that mineral and ve-
getable poisons act in all  cases  deleteriously on
the tissues, are apt to sink under the treatment of
the most skilful regular practitioner; it is sufficient
to remark that they have no  right to  indulge in
idle whims to our prejudice, and if they  be resolv-
ed to cherish such fantasies, it is better they should
perish than we be deprived  of our  personal  pro-
perty given to us by their  representatives and 
                     296

guarantied by  our constitution; that it is better
they should moulder in the dust and their children
become homeless, naked and  starving orphans,
than  we lose the right  to their pockets, and be
compelled to labor or beg or do worse.
  If you urge that persons harboring such senti-
ments would not take our medicine nor receive our
attendance, and  consequently  would  die, unless
restored by the reaction of their constitution; I re-
ply that, as you have given us property in  every
man, woman and child, while sick, it is your duty,
by  your oath,  to maintain  the  constitution, by
passing a law securing to us our fees in all cases
of sickness, whether  our services be requested or
not; for, by the medical law of 1825, perfected in
1833, the people  of Georgia explicitly and solemn-
ly parted with the right of judging for themselves
in such cases, and made the guardianship of their
lives our private property, with the condition im-
plied and well understood that  it was to afford us
revenue.   Consequently we have a perfect right
to  attend every case of sickness, and  it is impe-
riously incumbent on you to  see that the laws be
constructed so that we  can  secure  our rights
against  all infringement either by malfaisance or
evasion.
  If humanity be pleaded—I obtend that it is more
humane that clodhoppers should  become the vic-
tims of their own  stubborn  ignorance, and their
children outcasts and beggars, than we be stripped
ofthe means of living an easy and a luxurious and
a fashionable life, with which you have invested us
by law, and which is secured to us by the constitu-
tion.  I can conceive nothing connected with hu-
manity that ought to influence us to voluntarily re-
linquish our ease and happiness and extravagance, 
297
 to merely gratify the caprice or even to advance
 the  happiness  of ignorant and vulgar people  who
 labor with their own hands forthe bread they eat.
 No, no, gentlemen; your casuistry is out of place.
 It is, to speak  candidly,  the duty of the mecha-
 nics, and the bumpkin farmers, and of you too, to
 swallow  whatever we, in our judgment, may  pre-
 scribe, and whether life or death follow, our bill
 ought to  be paid promptly without  reluctance or
 grumbling, though enough should not remain in
 their or your pockets to buy potatoes or corn-dodg-
 ers for the children.  Such is the spirit of our  me-
 dical law. which is based upon the Constitution,
 and which you have sworn to maintain inviolable.
   Should you suggest that, if steam-quackery be
 a pernicious fallacy, tolerating it by  law would be
 the  speediest and  surest method of destroying it,
 and  of elevating the faculty; I must be permitted
 to remark, that  you have no  right to  jeopard  our
 private  property and expose  us  to indigence  and
 degrading manual labor, for the sake of enabling
 the  public to test the relative utility of the steam
 practice and poisonous  system.  We are not to be
 seduced by such sophistry  to  our own destruction,
 self-preservation being the first law of nature.—
 Not  a few of you know that  our assent to such a
 proposition would hefelo de se.  We are apprized
 that  the regular practice has  gotten the galloping
 consumption in De Kalb, and that  in  Walton  and
 Henry it is in the throes of death.  If steam quack-
 ry, with penal sanctions hanging over it, be so  po-
 tent  in those counties, to legalize it by law, would
 be bringing the  faculty throughout Georgia, with
 the exception of perhaps the empirical part, to  the
 forlorn condition in which, it  would  be useless to
deny, they now  are in many  parts of Tennessee, 
298
Alabama and Ohio, hucksters, pedlers and country
schoolmasters.   We fancy no  such experiments,
but the retention of our rights,  nolens volens, our
private property, the supervision of your lives and
familiarity with your pockets.
  If you take the  ground that, in  relation to the
exclusive privileges conferred upon us by the law
of 1825, we are but tenants at  will, and that your
constituents, through you, have a right to open the
trade, as the English Parliament  have recently
done in the intercourse with the Anglo-Indian de-
pendencies, it will suffice to respond, that our mo-
nopoly was given  without condition or limit of
time; and therefore was equivalent in nature and
amounted in  fact to a fee simple title.  Consequent-
ly, it is our private property, and to your lives and
pockets our right is as undoubted as yours is to your
homesteads,  horses and cattle.   If you cancel the
one, we will  cancel the other—because  it would,
on  your part, be an abrogation ofthe social  com-
pact, by usurpation, robbery and perjury.  Try it,
ifyou dare.
  Disdaining petty fibbing and  low misrepresenta-
tion, I have been explicit and  candid with you on
this mementous subject; and I admonish you to re-
collect that you have been sent to Milledgeville,
not to destroy, but to  conserve  the rights of indivi-
duals; and that you are under no obligation,  in a
moral or political sense, and have  no authority in
equity or by the Constitution, to plunder and rob
one part of the community to gratify the avidity or
prejudice ofthe other; that you are bound by hon-
or, honesty and oath  to preserve the rights of all;
that the steam-quacks  and their  ignorant  dupea
have no right to practise under the Constitution;
that the faculty have without termination the ex- 
299
elusive monepyly of the management of all disea-
ses, and that every attempt to divest them of it, is
virtually  an attempt at land-piracy, and ought to
be declared felony without benefit of clergy.
                       MEDICUS SENIOR. 
 
APPENDIX.
  (£J7* The preceding article closes the main Dis-
cussions which  we proposed to publish.  On exa-
mining the review by the Baltimore Thomsonians,
of Dr. Williams's Speech, (page 5,) we see so little
of general interest, that has not been also answer-
ed by us, that we shall doubtless perform a greater
service for the Marylanders, by quoting O. P. Q.'s
review of late trials  of Thomsonian Practitioners
in Washington County,  than we could by citing,
in aid of our answer, any notes from their review
of Dr. Williams.
  In page 6th ofthis work,  Dr.  Williams  says,
" Do not these Thomsonians get paid for their me-
dicine and their  services!"  Let the fact that Dr.
Sterling, of Baltimore, was defeated in a late at-
tempt to collect a considerable sum for hard-earned
and well-merited services,  (he cured the patient,)
and for no  inconsiderable quantity  of medicines,
answer this question.
  Again he says: "  I am sure they may sell as
much medicine as they choose and obtain as much
as they can Sell."
  Well,  doctor, they of Washington County  did
obtain and sell medicine, and perform important
services to the sick,  who were not only thankful,
but willing to pay for them; but, it seems that your
declaration  that " they may sell,"  proves you
either ignorant ofthe laws of your State, even re-
specting your own craft, and of course unworthy to
be a  legislator ; or a  downright deceiver, who
would induce the " ignorant" Thomsonians  to be- 
302
lieve  that " they may get  pay  for  their prac-
tice," till they  should  render themselves liable;
when, for want of a certificate, to state that they
had  been in the Baltimore  College  for  several
years, paying their fees, and trying, as Dr. Chap-
man, Professor of the Institutes of Medicine in the
University of Pennsylvania, says, " to harmonize
the contrarieties of medical doctrines, a  task in-
deed as  impracticable as to arrange the fleeting va-
pors around us,  [put the fog and  the clouds in or-
der,] or to reconcile the fixed and  repulsive anti-
pathies of nature:" [that is, to make  oil  and wa-
ter combine  without the use of an alkali,  or to
make the north  pole of a magnet, attract the south
pole of the needle;]  some  of your craft, liberal
souls, called them before the court, according to the
letter and the medical intent, but against the popu-
lar understanding and just spirit ofthe law, to suf-
fer persecution  and pay a fine of twenty-five dol-
lars for the support of the craft, and their scienti-
fic antipathetic  contrarieties; and as much more to
the miscreant who  is  mean enough  to  complain
that a good deed has been done
   The  following excellent article bears abundant
evidence of having been dictated by a mind of supe-
rior order. The author is not only a correct observer
and judicious collator of facts, but a close and sound
reasoner, well  skilled in the great principles of
common  law and  equity.   The  positions I13 lays
down, are true, an! the arguments he adduces in
proof, are irrefutable.  We  express  this opinion
the  more freely, as we know not who he is, and
because we would bespeak for his article an atten-
tive perusal, from  friends  and foes  of Thomson-
ism.  The Editor of the  Mail  too, not  only de-
serves our thanks, for this proof of his liberality; 
303
but, by scattering this article far and wide, regard-
less of the  displeasure of the privileged  order,
has laid the whole community under lasting obli-
gations to him.   Let the  political press continue
to give a hearing to this System, anil soon its ene-
mies  though diligently sought,  will  seldom be
found.

   From the Hagerstown (Md.)Mail, May  27.

a brief  review of the thomsonian trials at
           our  late county court.

  The Practice of the Thomsonian System  of Me-
dicine, appears to be  very much in the  ascendency,
since  the  trials and  punishment of Grosh,  Jacobs
and Tchudy.  Like the rebel flower,  it flourishes
most  when  the pressure against it  is severest.—
But  a question  of some consequence  arises:   Is
the "system" one which derives its importance only
from persecution, to last so long  as, and no long-
er than that persecution itself may last, or has it
really truth and merit to recommend it!   The
writer of this attended  with some  interest to the
trials of the first  ramed persons, at our last  county
court, and has satisfied himself, as farasthese tri-
als are concerned, of the justness of three conclu-
sions:  1st.  That there is great merit in this new
"system;"  2d.   That the  Thomsonian  practi-
tioners have met with an illiberal and persecuting
opposition; and 3d.  That these trials, by  expos-
ing publicly, in  a Court of Justice, under the sanc-
tion of an oath, the manner of treatment, and num-
ber of extraordinary  cures effected by Thomsonian
Doctors,  have evidently  redounded  to the great
advantage of  the "system," and no small benefit 
304
ofthe  suffering community.  Though under the
indictments in these cases, the merits or demerits
ofthe  Thomsonian Practice were not strictly pro-
per matters  of legal testimony; for the true point
was, whether its  practitioners  were entitled, by
patentorlaw  of Maryland, to practise atall with-
out a license or diploma from the Medical College;
yet, by consent of counsel on both sides, witnesses
were called to testify to the practical effects ofthis
"system."  The first  witness called, on the part
of the State, was a regular doctor of standing and
respectability in his profession, who stited  that
he believed that a certain Mr. B., of Williamsport,
fell a victim to the Thomsonian System.   Yetthe
doctor, upon  being asked if he knew any thing of
the "system," candidly acknowledged that all he
knew of it was from hearsay.  Now here was a
great  foundation for  so  serious a  charge, mere
"hearsay."  And from the "same veritable source,
several other physicians who were examined on
the part of the State, say they obtained  theirin-
formation, and thereupon decidedly denounced the
system, though none other  than the first named
M. D.  knew  of any  "victims."  It is certainly
not worth the while, to  stop and enquire the va-
lue of an opinion based upon so flimsy a foundation.
When  men acknowledge that they are totally un-
acquainted with  the  principles of any science or
art, their opinions in  relation to that particular
science or art, pass for nothing, and that deserved-
ly too, for  the  simple  reason, the want of a pro-
per and reasonable foundation  for their opinions.
The opinions  therefore ofthe regular doctors, ex-
pressed in this trial, as to the merit ofthe "sys-
tem," are entitled to no influence whatever.  Be-
sides  the  whole testimony  of the  State, on thii 
305
point, viz: the merit of the Thomsonian  System
of Practice, was derived from the certificated and
diplomatised practitioners ofthe healingart, who,
as far as interest is concerned,  may be said, with-
out the least disparagement to a liberal profession,
to have given  the evidence under a very consider-
able biasf.  This certainly might have been the
case, though,  at the time, those  gentlemen were
entirely unconscious of its influence.  Therefore,
these two facts plainly  destroy the weight of their
testimony.   Let us now take a hasty view of the
testimony on the part of the traversers, in relation
to the same point.  This testimony was given by
many gentlemen ofthe highest respectability, per-
sons who had tried the system,  and experienced
the  effects of it, in diseases of different natures,
both of short and long standing; and they  all, to a
man, testified to the great  merit of  the "system."
The evidence of 3lr.  S. of Baltimore,  was full,
clear and positive upon  the point.  In the course
of his practice,  he had met with, and cured, the
most of the diseases common to the city. 'The
writer recollects distinctly an astonishing  case of
the gout, which  had been of about ten years stand-
ing, and at the time he undertook it, was pro-
nounced incurable by other  physicians. This case
he cured by treating it after the Thomsonian Sys-
tem; and, if required, could  produce a certificate to
that effect.  But as it regards Mr. S., it may be
urged against  his testimony, that he too also gave
in his testimony under the  strong bias of interest,
as he is the agent of Thomson.   Allow something
for that, yet still he was in the  possession of many
facts connected with its practice,  and professed,
as  he  clearly proved  himself, to be  acquainted
with the "system" in its theory.  While under ex-
                 20 
306
amination, the very learned and legitimate heir
of ^Esculapius, who assisted in the prosecution,
did attempt, and  probably  succeeded, to perplex
Mr.  S. by asking him questions relating to the
theory and practice of medicine as it  is taught in
the Medical College.  But he should have known
that such questions were as foreign  to  the point
under examination, as he himself was, at that time,
from his appropriate sphere of action; because, in
the  first  place, Mr. S.  utterly disclaimed  any
knowledge of those great arcana, known only to
those who have  access to sybiline books; and, in
the second place, that Mr. S., as a Thomsonian,
was not required by his system, to know anything
about it.   There is  no connexion between the two
systems;  they are  antipodes  to each other; they
are founded on different principles;  the practice
under each is different, and  their results, in many
instances, are  opposed  to each other as much as
sickness is to health, and life to death.  Take ano-
ther witness; Mr. Jacob Adams stated that he had
been afflicted a long while with the rheumatic pains,
could  get no  relief,  was induced to apply  to  a
Thom6onian,went through one course ofthe system,
and  in one half day, was rid of them.   Mr. Em-
inert also proved that he had got. essential relief
in a case of a  similar nature, by one course.   Mr.
Rowland  proved that he  had been  troubled  with
pains in his back  for seven years—had  applied to
regular doctors repeatedly,  but  found  no benefit
from their prescriptions—took one  course ofthe
new system, and pronounced himself entirely re-
lieved.  Mr. Curry stated that he had been unwell
for years  from a general debility, and what  was
thought to be an affection of the liver—was in the
constant habit of taking medicine, but without per« 
307
 manent relief—went through  three  courses  of
 Thomson's system, and now asserted that he felt
 better than he did for fifteen years before.   Mr.
 Johnston testified to  the happy effects  ofthe "sys-
 tem" upon himself in an obstinate case of dyspep-
 sia.  Mr.  Steinmetz  proved its good  effects in a
 case of polypus.   Mr. Ringer said that a case  of
 abortion was cured by this "system," in  his own
 family.  Mr. Witmer proved that the Thomsonian
 medicine  was an effectual  remedy for the sick
 headache.   Mr. Freaner stated  that he had been
 cured of a lingering bilious fever by the same
 means.  Other gentlemen testified favorably to
 the same point; and many more, standing by, in
 the court hall, were present, ready and willing to
 be called to the stand  as witnesses in its favor, had
 not the Court thought that already sufficient evi-
 dence of the merits of the system had been adduced.
 The first  conclusion  is  therefore most apparent,
 that, as far as these trials show any thing,  they
 have, by  bringing  before the  community  the
 facts above stated, under oath, most  clearly de-
 monstrated the very great merit of  the Thomson-
 ian System.
   They also show that its practitioners have met
 with an illiberal and unjust opposition.  The mere
 idea  of a  criminal prosecution always  involves
 another idea, viz: the violation of some law to the
 detriment of community  and consequent injury to
 society.  In no just government can a law prohi-
 biting a  good  action  have existence.  And if,
 through inadvertence, in framing  a law,  words
 should be  used which might embrace particular
 cases not contemplated by the Legislature, those
cases are  not to be considered as the  objects of
that  law, though coming  within the  letter, yet 
308
not within the spirit of the law.  As in the case
often  cited by legal  writers, of a law passed in
an ancient State, inflicting a severe penalty upon
those persons  who should draw blood from a citi-
zen in the public  street.   A  man  was struck by
apoplexy; a doctor, passing by, immediately bled
him upon thei-pot.  The Doctor of course was not
held amenable under the law, for he did a good ac-
tion; yet no case could possibly come more within
the words and very letter ofthe law.  The spirit
ofthe  law controlled its construction.  Now, the
evidence in these trials shows, beyond all question,
that the Thomsonian practitioners have done great
service to particular  members of society.  Their
patients and their  patiensts'friends were  not there
to complain.   On the contrary, the witnesses all
declared that they were  perfectly  satisfied  with
them, and still were in favor of the "system."—
None of them who suffered either  in health  or
pocket by the treatment  of Grosh  & Co., were
the informers against them.  The informers them-
selves, though entitled to twenty-five dollars,half
the penalty  in each case, have not  come forward
to claim the reward.  In truth they are not known
in the cases, but who they are, any person, though
the most cautious, may venture to "guess."  One
thing at least may be said of them;  that they are
persons who are either so far removed from a 6ordid
love of lucre,  as to disdain to apply for the petty
pittance of twenty-five dollars,  or  else are mo6t
heartily ashamed ofthe inglorious part they have
taken in these prosecutions.   The latter alterna-
tive is most probably the  case.   It is then most
evident that  thete prosecutions were not got up
to prevent mal-practice, or improper practice, by
which  the lives  ofthe  people were in jeopardy— 
209
the only true and proper cause of such a prosecu-
tion.   What then!   Let us examine.   Nearly for.
ty years ago,  a law was passed  by the Legisla-
ture, giving to certain persons therein named, and
to their successors who came within its provisions,
the exclusive privilege of practising  the  "heal-
ing art" in Maryland; and  excluding all others
from the exercise of that  privilege who were not
licensed by the Faculty. At the trial, a distinction
was taken between the practice of  medicine as
contemnla*0^  '-r *4-~* "■•■'<• "<*  "ooraWj-i =.n<i tho
ihomsonian Practice  as  a  "new system,"  and
consequently not embraced in its provisions.   We
understood the Court to overrule this distinction.
However, it was nevertheless pressed upon the
jury, as they were the judges ofthe law as well as
ofthe facts in these prosecutions. If we look at
the preamble ofthe  act of 1798, chap. 105, we find
the moving cause of its passage to  be "for the pro-
moting medical and chirurgical knowledge through-
out the State," and  "to  prevent the citizens there-
of from  risking  their lives, in the hands of ignor-
ant practitioners, and pretenders  to the  healing
art."   Now, according to evidence adduced upon
their trials,  are these Thomsonians  "ignorant
practitioners and pretenders to the  healing art!"—■
No.  If the witnesses spoke the truth, and who
can doubt it, knowing them to be as respectable as
any in this county,  so far from being "ignorant"
in the healing art, they are indeed most skilful—
that many lives, instead of beingjeopardized, have
actually  been  rescued  from jeopardy, by  their
practice.  There can be no doubt then, that  the
law of '98 never intended to meet their case.  But
the different supplements,  it is said,  do.   These
supplements  indeed  speak  another language.— 
310
Not, as in the original act,  the public good, but
the emolument ofthe profession is the  grand ob-
ject.  There is  no mention  of the  very trifling
words "knowledge" and "skill;" oh no, "License"
and "Diploma," and the "Medical Faculty," are
the golden terms.   These  are  the important con-
siderations of them.  The only proper qualifica-
tion of a practitioner is the possession of a Diplo-
ma or license; not, as formerly,  skill and know-
ledge.   How does this happen'? Booause a  prac-
Vlkiuillsl , t\l <^U<ram .» Jlflu...,,,  -^..1 6,ct qq thrOUf/h
a regular course of studies at the Medical College,
by which large sums of money are annually thrown
into its coffers.  "There's the rub."   The faculty
well know that a  man might become a  good and
skilful  doctor,  without  their  aid extraordinary;
that  he might,  self-taught, draw upon his own
internal resources, assisted  by lights,  shed upon
the subject from  the  volumes of ages; that he
might,  untrammelled by  their regulations, consult
the great book  of nature, and extract  wholesome
medicine from the poisonous herb;  [that is, doubt-
less, separate wholesome medicines from  herbs
among which are some that are poisonous;] the fa-
culty knew all this, and they  knew also that they
would not  be the  better of it  by one farthing.—
Hence, the passage of these supplements.   But,
if a proper  construction is put  upon them, in con-
nexion with the act to which they are supplements,
it does  appear that Grosh & Co., were not pro-
per subjects for a criminal prosecution.  All sup-
plementary laws are parts  of the original, confin-
ing, adding to, or enlarging the provisions of the
original; so that,  taken together,  they, with the
original law, are to be considered as but one law.
And if in any supplement there  should be found a 
311
provision contrary to, or conflicting with, the spirit
ofthe law or the general intention ofthe Legisla-
ture, that provision  is to be rejected, in the con-
struction.  The question then results, what is the
intention of the Legislature  in passing these laws!
This is easily answered by referring to the pream-
ble ofthe act of'98, chap. 105.   And this pream-
ble, according to our construction, equally attaches
itself to all the suplements.  It is there stated that
the object ofthe Legislature, in granting an act of
incorporation to the Faculty of Maryland, have in
view  " the  promoting medical  and chirurgical
knowledge throughout the  State, and preventing
the citizens thereof from risking their lives in the
hands of ignorant practitioners  or pretenders to
the 'healing  art.' "   This is the true test,  to try
not only the  original law, but also all its supple-
ments; they being but one act  of the  Legislature,
in the eye of a proper and legal construction.   And
this is the great use of a preamble to  a law.  It is
said to be the key by which  a law is unlocked, and
its  true meaning made  manifest.   The supple-
ments, here considered, are  the actsof 1801, chap.
55; 1821, chap. 217; whicli, though they embrace
the cases of  Grosh & Co., in  their letter, do not,
any more than  the  act of '98, chap. 55, embrace
them, in their  spirit.   We  thus come to our se-
cond conclusion, that these Thomsonian practition-
ers have  met, in Washington  County, with an un-
just and  illiberal opposition; that they have, in-
stead  of being  prosecuted, been  actually persecu-
ted; for  they  were  indicted  for doing good, not
evil; convicted by the letter  ofthe law, and plainly
acquitted by its  spirit.  The writer may be per-
mitted to disclaim all  intention of  reflecting on
the Court or Jury  who tried these  cases.   The 
312
Jury, to whom the cases with the law and the facta
were committed,  doubtless acted conscientiously.
But, owing to the great length and tediousnessof
the trials,  the great excitement ofthe crowd, and
the rather dry and  uninteresting discussion of the
proper construction of the  law, they could not
have given that attention to the subject which its
importance demanded.
  Since the trials,  many who were before oppos-
ed to the system, are become its  friends.   They
have been induced to try it solely in consequence of
such a current of  unimpeachable testimony  in its
favor.   They also approve  of it.  Public senti-
ment is in its favor.   Surely this fact proves our
third conclusion; and much more need not be said.
It is not our intention to claim  any thing in ad-
vance for this "new system," but only to bespeak
for it and  its practitioners a fair and candid trial.
If, upon the unerring test  of time and experience,
it comes out  good, it will  be pronounced the very
first of the  improvements of  this improving age; if
bad, it will  sink,  in a short time, of its specific
gravity, and be looked upon only as the well-intend-
ed and  benevolent speculation of a philanthopic
mind; and the name of Thomson will be associated
with that  of John Howard, in all after genera-
tions, when they speak ofthe benefactors of man-
kind.
  There is another question  suggested  by   those
trials;  Ought not the Legislature of Maryland, in
order to put this matter to rest, and do away  all
doubt upon the subject, to repeal the law incorpo-
rating  the  Medical College  and its supplements
altogether, or enact another, giving the Thomson-
ian Practitioners,  duly authorized  by  Thomson
himself or  his Agents, to practise, with the same 
313
privileges as the doctors according to law!   The
examination of this question does not  properly
come within the scope ofour present subject.  We
may at some future time take it up ; for we be-
lieve it is worthy of public attention.   And, if we
do so, we shall endeavor to establish the affirma-
tive of it.                           O. P. Q.
                   NOTES,

 On Dr.   Williams's  Speech,  page  5.—See our
         JVote, last paragraph, page 37.

  Dr. Williams  says, page 6, the medical law
 "was not intended for the benefit of any privileged
 order of men,  but to protect society and advance
 the science of medicine."
  In the prosecutions just reported, it is shown,
  1st.   That half the money goes  to the Medical
 College,  and half to the  learned doctor or his tool
 who complains.
  2.  That the law secures all the honor andpro-
 fit to the " privileged order of men," self-styled
 "regular physicians," of whom Dr. Williams is
 one.
  But Dr. Williams says, it was " to protect so-
 ciety." We ask from what! On page 15, he says,
 from "Quackery."   Good, say we;  but what  is
 quackery!  All will agree that it  is pretence  to
 know and do what  one neither knows nor can do,
 and a concealment of medical principles and the
 nature of remedial agents from the knowledge of
 the patient. Now,  who were guilty in the cases
cited in  evidence   in the court of Washington 
314
County, Maryland, the Thomsonians or the Regu-
lars?   Let us see.  The regulars professed to be
able to cure  the patients.   They  kept the prin-
ciples on  which, and the nature  of the  remedies
with which  they operated, a profound  secret,—
They held out the idea that their science was too
profound for  the comprehension of  their patients,
and they wrote their prescriptions for remedies in
an unknown tongue.  Had they told their patients,
in plain English, we are going to  draw your life
blood, which will be sure to weaken you, and give
you calomel which  will  most probably  rot your
teeth and deaden your limbs, and very likely pro-
duce dropsy  not long hence, we shall  give you
more opium than  is frequently  found to produce
death; we shall blister you with flies whose acrid
salts are frequently so absorbed as to increase the
disease and produce distressing strangury, without
certainly knowing that all these evils may notbefal
you in consequence of our scientifically-prescribed
guess-work; those patients would  have exclaimed,
with astonishment, Doctor, I sent for you to cure
me; and, it seems, you intend to take the most ef-
fectual  plans  and means to  kill me! begone! I
would rather die of disease  than be  thus tortured
to death!  Yet such is the solemn truth, and we
are prepared  to prove it.   By their "scientific"
pretensions, their Greek and Latin names  of dis-
ease, and their abbreviated prescriptions, they de-
ceive the  people, and this  is what makes Thom-
sonians so severe upon  them when they discover
their "scientific" quackery!
  But Dr. Williams says, also, the "provision was
made to advance the science of medicine."
  Let us prove this.   Dr. Hays, Dr. Gregory  and
others say, " the object of medicine  is to prevent 
315
and cure disease;" of course the science of medi-
cine must  be  the knowledge of the nature of dis-
ease, and the art of preventing and curing it. Very
well.   When those " scientific  conjecturers" of
Maryland, had  guessed and experimented a long
time on their patients, and nearly ruined  their con-
stitutions, the  Thomsonians  went  directly at
them, honestly telling them, you are full ofphlegm,
cold and canker, and the poisonous drugs of the
doctors; we will give you  cayenne and  bay berry,
and 6team and puke you till we get those poison-
sonous  and deadly drugs out of you; then we will
gtv^y-au bitters of poplar, such as grows in your
yard (or you  may get it yourself if you choose)
and other such like things, with good nourishing
food,  and soon your debilitated  frame will be
strong, yOi« canker-eaten flesh will be sound, and
your now  poisoner blood purified!  They  did it,
and. cured the patients ~hom  scientific  quackery
had long treated in vain—nay ,n-«rse than in vain!
Thomsonism, quackery; and the regular practice,
scientific!   Oh  shame, where is thy blusnv  it is
evident, therefore, that the court ought to m*ve
turned  round  and indicted and  punished the scien-
tific quacks, and encouraged the Thomsonian "art
of curing  disease,"  by setting its practitioners
free, according to the spirit of the law, as inter-
preted by Dr. Williams.
 ' Dr. Williams asks,-page 18th, if we are prepar-
ed to  cast off the experience  of  ages,  and usher
forth ignorant pretenders  who  give no evidence of
their skill in the healing  art,  but that they  have
bought a twenty dollar book, &c!
  We answer, by no means on this ground.   We
are prepared, by our personal knowledge of the
destructive effects  of the  "scientific"  practice, 
316
the comparison ofthe  fate of the sick where it ia
and where it is not administered, to  pronounce it
not only  "entirely  worchless," but fearfully de-
structive to human life and happiness; and to call
upon the  Thomsonians to cure us of disease on the
strength ofthe well  known fact that  they cure all
the patients whose constitutions  are  good,  and a
multitude  whom  the  " scientific practice"  had
well nigh ruined.  We, the people, can see these
things, Doctor, without the aid of Latin or Greek;
and you may rely  upon it, we are too deeply inter-
ested in the matter not to make a wise election.
The light that now beams over this land.  in  \"e
success ofthe Thomsonian practice, will soon dis-
sipate the popular reverence  for your  scientific
mysticism and imposture, and  wo to  those whom
the people shall believe  to have kn^ingly  *nd
wilfully deceived them!
   Science is a system0"'0 arrangement of facts.
The frequent fail»<^s of t,ie " regular plan" [it al-
most choke*  as—even the  attempt  to  use this
word " regular,"  in connexion with  the class of
n%cn styled " the  medical faculty,"]  to cure a pa-
tient who has a fever, proves  that their  "scienti-
fic" notion that fever is a disease, is not a fact; of
course nothing that they have written on this im-
portant subject, can  be properly termed science.
But, by uniformly  curing every fever patient, the
Thomsonian proves that  the principle on which he
operates, viz. that  fever  is an  effect of a salutary
effort of life,  to rid the body of disease, is  a facti
Of course what Dr.  Thomson  says of its nature,
operations and  intentions,  and  the mode  and
means of removing its cause, is true medical  sci-
ence, and that he and  his followers ought  at least
to be protected;—to  be  " advanced"  they do not 
317
ask; only permit them to  use steam and cayenne
freely, and they can advance themselves far ahead
ofthe regular faculty, with all their "wise" legal
"provisions" to help them.
 The Boston Medical and Surgical  Journal, and
  " The  Principles it  labors to sustain."—See
  page 36.

  Dr. Smith, the Editor, says in this note, which,
 on account of the  miscarriage ofthe number ofthe
 Journal containing it,  we did not receive till  late-
 ly, that the subject of our answer to Dr. Williams
 is " at  war with the principles he labors to sus-
 tain."
  Let us examine the truth ofthis declaration.
  In our answer,  we taught the doctrine that dis-
 ease is a unit, an obstruction to the equal and uni-
 versal operations  of the vital energies; that fever
 is the vis medicalrix natural, the repulsive action
 of nature, to throw off  disease;  that medicines are
 only the instruments  nature  makes  use of,  to
 strengthen her efforts against disease, and that all
 our efforts to aid her, should be in harmony  with
 her operations.  These truths, Dr. Smith  says,
 " are at war with the  principles he labors to  sus-
 tain;" but, on page 289 of his 9th volume, he  had
 quoted the same doctrines from  Hufeland, and said
of them, page 290, "though it is exceedingly doubt-
ful whether this view can be maintained  with re-
 ?;ard to diseases generally, yet, of some, itcertain-
 y affords a convenient and plausable explanation."
 His chief fear of it seems to  be, that they who be-
 lieve it will not bleed, blister, physic,  starve  and 
318
poison their patients quite so much as he would re-
commend.  He says,  "it is little calculated to
lead to any  very energetic practice,"  which  he
proves  by quoting  further  from Hufeland, that
"Nature," not the remedy,  " performs the cure.
If you assist her too  much, or disturb her healthy
operations with heroic means and violent methods,
especially poisons and  immoderate  blood-letting,
you hinder, by your remedies, the  sanatory pro-
cess, instead of furthering it."   These doctrines
we suppose are in harmony with " the principles
the editor labors to sustain."
   We taught the doctrine that poisons were cal-
culated to injure the  constitution,  and of course
ought  never to be given to cure disease.  This was
opposed to Dr. Smith's principles, he could not ad-
mit it  into his paper; but, on page  43  of his 9th
volume, he  had suffered  one  of his diplomatized
correspondents to say  that poisons  " all agree in
one point, the sudden  and rapid extinction of a
great proportion of the vitality of the system;"
and, on page 44, that  they should be removed  by
the exhibition  of " some  powerful, uniform and
steady diffusible  stimulant—an exciting and sup-
porting course;" but he would not permit us to use,
in  the removal of poisons, what the Edinburgh
Encyclopedia says i« the strongest and purest sti-
mulant known, and produces no narcotic or inju-
rious effect, viz. cayenne pepper.
  He would not permit us to teach the doctrine
that "the science" of medicine had  not improved
by age, bat he  would suffer Dr.  Bigelow  to say
that it had not advanced even in the last fifty years
ofthis  age of improvement; that measles, scarlet
fever, and many other forms of disease would run
their full course, in their full power,  in spite of all 
319
 rn^niTt?1"8 T^ d° t0 Preventthem, and he com-
 mended the doctor, tKo^h he iritirna'ted thatthe
 exertions of a physician were toWly useless  ex
 cept to prevent others from  doing mischief. ' Hc
 would not let us  say that the "science of medi-
 cine" was based on error and of no value; but, in
 his 14th  volume, page 181 and onward, he could'al-
 low Dr. L. M. Whiting to call all the medical the-
 ories of past ages  " incomprehensible mysticisms
 and  absurd speculations;"  and nosologies, " con-
 fusion worse confounded ;"" to say that " disease
 never has, till quite recently, been investigated;"
 that  Hippocrates knew no more about the diseased
 condition of the body than many a  diplomatized
 quack of the present day; that " as a pathologist,
 he was nothing;"  and that "the same observations
 will  apply equally well to a great share of his suc-
 cessors, even down to  our own  time."  " With
 respect to the study  of disease," he  continues,
 " they have all gone out ofthe way."  "The very
 principles on which their theories were based have
 never been  established;"  "they  are  false;  and,
 consequently, the   superstructures built  thereon,
 are as the baseless fabric of a  vision."   Men " as-
 sume certain elements as the  materials ofthe hu-
 man  body, which  were  never proved to exist."
 Because they do not exist."
   Even "Cullen knew nothing or next to nothing
 about the  organs in their physiological condition ;
 much less did he know of their condition in a  pa-
 thological state, [much less than  nothing or  next
 to nothing—perhaps this  is scientific]   " From
 him then, we get no more light on the grand ques-
 tion  What constitutes disease? than we  do from
 old Hippocrates, Galen,  Boerhaave,  Brown, Dar-
 win, and all indeed who either preceded or follow-
ed him, until within the last  half century,  and 
320
that amounts to just nothing at all that is satisfac-
toryto the enquiring m^d:"  " Their efforts have
proveH a tatai tailure!"  Alas for  Dr. Delony's
4,000 years of medical experience, and Dr. Smith's
" perfect agreement with  this talented author!"
Dr. Whiting handles them both with  gloves  off,
yet Dr. S. does not complain of Dr. W. for saying
things "at war with the principles  he labors to
sustain," though  calculated  greatly  to depress
" the profession, and lessen the dignity of medi-
cal science!"  Indeed, if one  of our Thomsonian
brethren, should be so severe as Dr. W. on " the
profession," or guilty of such an abuse of language
and science as to talk about " much less than no-
thing at all;" We, as Editor,  should  feel it  our
duty to score him a little for it; instead of feeding
his vanity  with the complimentary appellation of
"original thinker," possessed of "power to acquire
distinction in the  pursuit of science," and  by tho-
rough  investigation, to diffuse light in regions of
darkness."   [Of 4,U00  years  of experience  we
suppose.]  But after all,  what has the gentleman
done!   Why really he has discovered by "investi-
gation" what hundreds and thousands  have told
him in  so  many  words,  that  the  famous  4,000
years of medical experience, though some  part of
it  may be good, is, all taken together, far more
pernicious  than  useful.   It is striking  at random
or in the dark, says D'Alembert.    It is the high-
est degree  of uncertainty, says Abercrombie.  It
is  learned quackery,  says Waterhouse.  It is so
impossible  to separate from it the useful from the
trivial, says Lieutaud, that it were better to reject
it  all.   It has thrown no new light on the form of
disease (fever) that the physician must  always be
prepared to meet,  says Gregory.  It has not ad- 
321
 vancedthe knowledge ofthe art of preventing and
 curing disease, say  Thacher  and Bigelow.  It
 were a task as impracticable to reconcile the con-
 trarieties of medical doctrines, as to arrange the
 fleeting vapors around us, or to reconcile the fixed
 and  repulsive  antipathies of nature, says  Chap-
 man, far "within the last half century" too, mind
 ye, Dr. Whiting.  But where shall we stop!
   Aftera.ll this condemnation even to " anathema
 maranatha, [very severe we think, but perhaps the
 Doctor did not know the meaning ofthe words,]
 we might expect that his theory would  be  some-
 thing more substantial than " the baseless  fabric
 of a vision;" but alas! he reminds us ofthe remark of
 poor Darwin,  whom he has so  severely handled,
 viz. "1 beg what I have done to be  considered as  a
 foundation and scaffolding which  may enable fu-
 ture industry to erect a solid and beautiful edifice,
 eminent for its simplicity and utility:—which may
 not moulder like the structures already erected, into
 the sand of which they were composed; but which
 may stand unimpaired, like the Newtonian philoso-
 phy, a  rock  amidst the waste  of ages."   " Oh
 blindness to the future, kindly given," &c.
  What think you reader, is  Dr. Whiting's plan
 for finding out the nature and character of disease
 and establishing just  principles  of therapeutics!
 He says "the pestiferous mists" of medical error,
 are "to be dispersed,"  the errors of ignorance ex-
 posed, and the clouds of hypothesis swept from the
 horizon of medical science, by—listen  attentively,
 it is coming—by that all-potent wand, the scalpel of
 the pathologist!"—the knife with which alearned
doctor cuts up dead bodies,to see how disease ope-
rated in them when they were alive.   He appears
to suppose that the disclosures to be made by this
                 21 
322
wonderful instrument,  " will form the basis of a
theory of disease which shall  stand, a tower of
strength, unharmed by the rude shock of opposi-
tion's bursting wave, through all succeeding time."
What will he do with the declaration of Morgagni,
that " they who have inspected the greatest num-
ber of bodies, are the most inclined to doubt the
accuracy  of their knowledge of the characters of
disease!"
  The Doctor dares not deny that  the variations
in the structures  of the different portions  of dif-
ferent human bodies, even in a  healthy state, aTe
so numerous and great, that the most accurate de-
scriptions of the  most perfect forms,  have  never
been a guide sufficient to enable more than one per-
son in a hundred to ascertain,  by inspection of
another body, without a living  teacher, the parts
and portions indicated by the descriptions.  How
much greater must  be  the disparity,  where the
lawlessly directed energies of chemical decompo-
sition, have been committing depredations on that
body, Morgagni has correctly stated.
   But Dr. Whiting does not suppose that,  even
by this new method, we are coming with certainty
at the concealed or  essential  cause of disease; or
that it will ever afford even a glimpse  of its nature
or composition.  "These may forever remain in-
volved in the  deepest  obscurity.''  " He knows
not that any benefit would be  derived from such
knowledge.  If the obvious causes be detected and
removed, it is enough; the concealed causes may
take care of themselves; they  are  of no conse-
quence to us."  ["The secret causes  of diseaseof
no consequence to  a physician," indeed,  when it
is solely for want ofthe knowledge of these causes,
that the faculty have never learned how  to  cure 
323
 disease!]   So it seems that after all, the doctor in-
 tends to follow the beaten track of error, which he
 but just now severely abused ;  that of working on
 the effects of disease, instead of its causes.  Vc
 imagine that while he "assumes" this ancient and
 universal medical error, as  the basis of his theo-
 ries, he will not be more successful than "smarter
 men  than  he" have been  in "raising- a temple
 which shall  be as impregnable to the attacks of vi-
 sionary schemers, as the  rock of Gibraltar to the
 6urge which harmlessly lashes its adamantine pil-
 lars;—that is, in discovering and setting forth the
 laws which will continue to govern diseased ac-
 tion  as long as organization  remains organiza-
 tion."
   It  would be  really amusing if it were  less
 painful, to  follow up the doctor's singular notions
 about the ground-work of his new  pathology,  or
 theory of disease.  Suffice it to say that it is to be
 built upon the proportion  of  certain symptoms
 known  to have been observed in other cases only
 as the results of circumstances  in which the  pa-
 tients were placed—a system of "medical guess-
 work" that has scarcely its parallel in the whole
 bundle of theories he affects so  cordially to  des-
 pise.                           .
  Dr. Abercrombie says, so great is the difference
 in the appearances of diseases supposed to resem-
 ble each other, arising out of the operation of a
 train of causes that so completely elude our obser-
 vation, that we can scarcely  be said, in the treat-
 ment of any case of disease, to act  from  expe-
 rience.  Indeed the difficulties and  sources of un-
 certainty are so numerous and great, that our pre-
tended experience must generally sink into analo-
gy  and our analogy  too  often into  conjecture. 
324
But Dr. Whiting is about to make, of what most led
Morgagni to doubt, a foundation on  which to build
an imperishable temple of medical science!
  But to return to Dr. Smith.  He would not al-
low us to pronounce medical experience of little
value, but he commends Dr. Whiting as a rnan of
talents, original thinking, and power to  discover
and diffuse .light, [among  doctors,] for  saying,
" System after system has arisen, flourished, fall-
en and been  forgotten,  in rapid  and melancholy
succession, until the whole field is  strewed with
the disjointed  materials—a perfect  chaos; and,
amongst the rubbish the  philosophic mind may
search for ages without being able to glean from it
hardly one solitary well established fact."
  Though Dr. Smith would  not allow us to "less-
en the dignity of medical science,"  by  proving
that the regular therapeutics or art of applying rc°-
medies to disease, was, on the whole, more dan-
gerous than useful; he allows Dr. Whiting to say
" that it is a perfect, chaos;" that the "day dream-
ers   of past  ages "have  entirely  mistaken the
mode  of coming at what they wished to remove by
those  [their remedial] agent*.»  Dr. S. would not
allow us to  say that the true causes of  disease
might be known, and the effectual  remedy be  di-
rected with physical certainty; but Dr. Whitinff
may say, "the laws which govern disease or mor-
bid action [he does not know what it is] are inva-
riable in their operation, and the relation of cer-
tain agents to those morbid conditions ofthe  or-
ganization are always the same, and may be  made
out with certainty; forming a iheory of therapeu-
tics as immutable as any other natural law  rThis
is a scientific flourish, which means a great deal
more than our few unpretending words ]  Dr  S 
325
would not allow us to " lessen the dignity of med-
ical science" by calling it guess-work;" but  Dr.
Whiting may say, ofthe whole business,  [Jour-
nal, 190 vol. xiv,] "Were we to see a sportsman
standing beside a grove  continually loadino-  and
discharging  his  piece without aim  among  the
trees, and at the same time declaring his intention
to destroy a bird whose song he heard somewhere
within it, we should without hesitation pronounce
him not only non compos, but also a dangerous in-
dividual and fit  only for  the strait "jacket or
the  mad house.  Yet 6uch, if we mistake not, is
the course pursued by many a routine practitioner
in the treatment  of morbid conditions of the hu-
man body. "Shoot away! is the motto, perchance
we may hit the mark; if not,  the law is our safe-
guard," &c; and he adds at least one truth,  that
" the day in coming and now is, when the names of
men who, while the sun of science is shedding o'er
the land its flood  of living light, still prefer the
darkness and  persist in quackery, will be scathed
with the lightnings of public indignation."  Surely
our answer  to Dr. Williams contained nothing half
so well calculated as this (if  it were true)  to de-
press  " the profession, or to lessen  the dignity of
medical seience."
  We wish it to be understood that our object in
quoting from  this  "original  thinker," so  much
commonplace slang against the "science of medi-
cine, (we could copy almost the same words from
fifty printed books with which Dr. Whiting is or
professes to be acquainted,)  is  to show that any
thing and every thing may find access to the pages
ofthe  Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, how-
ever much it  "lessens the dignity of medical  sci-
ence," provided  it comes from  a  member  of the 
326
 Massachusetts Medical Socuty.   We do  not our-
 selves believe half the declarations he has made.
 Did we not believe that the "medical guess-work"
 they are calculated  to check, had  better, on  the
 whole, be  destroyed than sustained, we would re-
 view his article and prove him not  only not "an
 original thinker," but a most loose and  reckless
 declaimer  against many well-grounded opinions
 and worthy personages—a slanderer and abuser of
 medicine and its advocates, whose  equal canmit
 be found in  all the  Thomsonian ranks—no  not
 even in hhn whom the facnity  once bound  in irons.
 Dr. Smith permits  Dr. Whiting to declare that
 the faculty have not found one solitary  truth res-
 pecting the theory of life, of health, of the causes
 of disease,  or diseased conditions ofthe body, or of
 the means  or modes of curing  or  removing them.
 Whereas, the fact is, they have, among them all,
 found out  the truth  on every  one of these points;
 and  the only reason why they have not a beautiful,
 simple, consistent, harmonious system of medicine,
 based upon "a foundation as firm as the rock of Gib-
 raltar," is, all their correct theories are only inci-
 dental remarks so smothered amidst the more fas-
 cinating exhibitions  of error,  that  no  one doctor
 has ever been able to distinguish between truth
 and  falsehood  and separate  the gold  from the
 dross.   For example, Dr. Smith allows Dr. Phi-
 lip to talk about the excellence of minute  doses of
 mercury,   and Dr.  Yandell to  recommend  250
 grains at a time, and  (in vol. ix., page 85,) Dr.
 Henry George to say that in  any quantity it is a
 most pernicious drug, and that, "at an early age,
 no circumstances would justify its  use," because
 he had seen many a  child killed—nay, had killed
several himself,  by its administration; while he 
327
perfectly agrees with the talented Dr. Delony that
it will cure more than one-half of the whole list
Of Botanic remedies all put together! Not seeming
at last, to care whether Hanuemann gives the ten-
millionth  part of a grain,  or Yandell gives 250
grains, or others half a pound, as some have done.
He allows Doctors to recommend the tincture of
cantharides in dropsy  &c,  and the substance in.
blisters for fever, pain, delirium, &c.;  yet he per-
mits  Bagilvi, through his reporter,  to abuse can-
tharides with an unsparing hand for their " mis-
chievous,  dangerous, gangrenous or mortifying ef-
fects," from the absorption and circulation of their
sharp, poisonous salt; and to declare that it is ab-
surd to suppose that blisters can draw out the ve-
nom of malignant fevers." He allows Hippocrates
and others to say that  fever is a sanative effort of
the system to expel morbific causes, and Gregory
and others to say that it is itself a disease more to
be dreaded than all others  put together; Sydenham
to declare that nine-tenths  of all the human race
die of it, either as  a primary or a secondary affec-
tion; Barton to say that the most  active poisons
are, in general good medicines,  and  Senex to as-
sert that, however different  in other respects, all
poisons agree in the sudden and rapid extinction
of a great  proportion ofthe vitality ofthe system;
Dr. Williams and Dr.  Delony to declare  that the
science of medicine in tetolality is a splendid  tem-
ple, a monument ofthe genius, industry and united
wisdom of 4,000 years of philosophical investiga-
tion; Dr. Bigelow to assert that it fails to present,
among its archives, the knowledge of  the art of
curing disease; and last but not least,  he allows
and  " encourages" that  " industrious,  original
and scientific  thinker," Dr. L. M. Whiting, to 
328
 "exert his mental energies,"  his "power to ac-
 quire distinction-in the pursuits of science," in the
 effort to diffuse " through the dark regions"  of a
 college ©f doctors, the light ofthe  glorious truth,
 that, " till  within  the  last  half century,  the
 whole medical world had learned and taught just
 nothing at all that is satisfactory to the enquiring
 mind;" or, to keep up the figure, that Drs. Wil-
 liams, Delony and Smith's  beautiful and well-pro-
 portioned temple and all its archives, its univer-
 sal panacea, calomel, and all "are a perfect chaos"
 strewing the whole field with rubbish and disjoint-
 ed  materials,  amongst  which,  the philosophic
 mind may search for  ages  without beino- able to
 glean from  it hardly " one solitary well established

   Let  us  now ask the  question why Dr. Smith
 could not admit into his Journal, our answer to Dr.
 Williams, or how, if he had done it, he would have
 tailed " to elevate the profession,"  or have "less-
 ened the dignity of medical science," or  how it
 could be " at war with the  principles he labors to
 sustain."
   H appears  then, that,  " to elevate the profes-
 sion is to  advocate every thing they do  or  say,
 however absurd and  contradictory, and more es-
 pecially to  suppress every  investigation of their
 conduct and  principles, by any person who is not
 of their own number:  That, as the principles they
 labor to sustain, are all the contradictory and ab-
 surd notions.of all their "scientific order; and that
 the introduction " among this chaos of rubbish,"
of even one clear, connected and consistent arti-
cle,  developing principles founded on facts and es-
tabhshed by  sound reason  and conclusive argu-
ment, would lessen the dignity of both the  guess- 
329
ers  and their medical guess-work,"  by showing,
notwithstanding all their declarations to the con-
trary, that, there is such a thing in the world as a
simple, clear and truly scientific medical  theory,
on which is based a safe and certain practice "that
will stand, as Dr. Whiting says, unharmed by the
rude shock of opposition's bursting wave  through
all succeeding time."
  DISCUSSIONS IN NORTH  CAROLINA.

  In the first paragraph, page 78, it is  stated
that " Medicus probably wrote the piece  signed
'Omar.'?'
  In page  90, we stated that we had never receiv-
ed Omar's  last.  In answer to a request for this
piece, with the names of the several persons en-
gaged in the  Discussion, we lately received the
following,  dated Elizabeth City, N. C, April 6,
1836.

  Dear Sir: Dr. Bettner wrote over the signature
of Medicus.  Time was when he was almost wor-
shipped  by a certain class in town.  His first piece
was thought by his admirers  unanswerable; and
the cry of  victory was every  where raised  by the
enemies of pepper and steam; but, in an hour when
they looked not  for it, Botanist broke in upon
them, and their joy was turned to mourning.—
Dr. Bettner left town  for Europe soon  after you
carried him through the last course. I don't know
that he has been heard of since.   [What has be-
come of his pamphlets!  See page  90.—Editor.]
"Omar;" we are not absolutely certain who he was; 
330
(but  if we know him, he has very little to do.)—
"Botanist:" almost every person knows who he
was.  I revealed it to the editor  and a friend or
two, enjoining secrecy of course; but so much the
more it spread.   The names of "Botanist" and Dr.
Curtis are synonymous here;  but, as the  Discus-
sions will have  a wide circulation, perhaps it will
be better to put your own name to your articles.
  Our practice is doing every thing here.  I have
for the last three months been engagedin attending
small pox, and with a success that has astonished
friends and foes.
           Your much obliged friend,
                       WILLIAM ELLIOT.

  I send  you Omar's farewell,  copied carefully
from the Herald of the Times.           W. E.

  Omar.   I have been reading with no small  de-
gree of amusement, the  communication of "Bota-
nist," in your paper of the 20th ultimo.  In this,
as in the rest of his abortive efforts—
  Editor.  Abortive efforts  are  those that  were
never made, truly scientific for a learned doctor!
  Omar.  Every thing is  assumed and  nothing
proved—every thing taken for granted, and nothing
confirmed.  It is, in fine, " voces inanes, etprete-
rea nihil.
  Editor.  Empty sounds,  and after them noth-
ing.  This  decision is  " assumed,  but not prov-
ed"
  Omar.   As to the " small fry volunteering their
services in aid of Medicus," permit me to assure
your  very  modest correspondent that  Medicus
needs assistance from  no  one, in defending the
science of medicine against  the puny efforts of 
                      331

 quackery;  and that the  assertion was not made
 with a good grace  by  him, after the severe drub-
 bing given him by that gentleman.
   Editor.  All assumed, but not proved.
   Omar.   "Botanist"  does not hesitate  to say,
 that he believes the System  of Thomson will do
 more good than all  the  improvements made  by
 those illustrious philsophers,  Buffon, Locke,  La-
 voisier, Priestly, Black and Davy!   This declara-
 tion speaks volumes for  the" " profound learning
 and discriminating judgment of  "Botanist."
   Editor.  Yes, because, as we proved that Thom-
 son devised the  means of preserving health, with-
 out which, all other temporal blessings are vain.
   Omar.   The names of those great men will con-
 tinue to be remembered with admiration and gra-
 titude  by every lover of science,  when that of
 Thomson shall have been swallowed up in the vor-
 tex of oblivion.
   Editor.  Assumed, but not proved.
   Omar.   "Botanist," with a degree of arrogance
 and impudence, of which  no parallel is can found
 except in the history of modern quackery, tells  us
 that he and his brother Thomsonians " are  ena-
 bled far to surpass"  the  greatest physicians that
 have spent years in studying  and teaching medi-
 cine.   Oh, modesty, how art thou fallen!
  Editor.   Omar should remember the rule " al-
 ways to except present  company," when he speaks
 of parallels.  In proof that we can excel them, we
 inform Omar that v/e cured a  patient on whom
 Doctor Physick  of  Philadelphia,  and another on
 whom Professor Mott of  N. York, had exhausted
their skill in vain, though they "have spent years
in teaching medicine." We have done such things
for many other eminent physicians,  as our breth- 
332
    ren did in the case of Mr. Daniel, and many more.
       Omar.   "Botanist" would have us believe there
    is great absurdity in placing Paracelsus and Thom-
    son side by side in another world, as kindred spi-
    rits.
       Editor.   So there is. Paracelsus contrived and
    introduced  the poison chemico-mineral  practice;
    Thomson explodes it, and substitutes the innocent
    Botanic practice.  Paracelsus^ was a sot and a de-
    bauchee.   Thomson is temperate and moral.
       Omar.   Let us  see if there is not some similari-
    ty in their characters to justify such  an associa-
    tion.  Paracelsus  decried  all regularly  educated
    physicians; so does Thomson.
       Editor.  So did Rush, Brown and Lieutaud; and
    so does every one who denounces the  " scientific
    practice."
       Omar.   Paracelsus rejected as frivolous, all the
    opinions of his predecessors, and declaimed vehe-
t   mently against all the learned works  written by
    the great masters  ofthe healing art.
       Editor.   So  did Brown  and  Rush, and so does
    Dr.  L. M. Whiting, and Dr.  Smith "encourages"
    him in this " industrious exercise of his original
    thinking."   See our last article.
       Omar.   Paracelsus was a vain, arrogant fool,
    destitute  of sound sense and solid acquirements;
    so is Thomson.
       Editor.   Assumed, but not proven.  Still it is
    a pity the regulars don't carry out the  comparison
    and elect Thomson professor of medicine in Bos-
    ton, New York,  Philadelphia,  or  Baltimore,  as
    they did Paracelsus at Basle.
       Omar.   Paracelsus, it is true, died a beggar and
    a sot; but Thomson is not yet  dead, and 1 cannot
    say he will not die a beggar, a sot, or even by the
    gallows. 
333
  Editor.   It is not best to prophesy  things fu-
ture, after exhibiting so much  ignorance or wilful
misrepresentation of what have been and are.
  Omar.  The dialogue between the two kindred
spirits, in another world, is a rare morceau of wit.
It reminds me of  Shakspeare's Knight in the
Twelfth Night, or  What you  Will.  "Botanist"
can say  with great truth, in the  words  of Sir An-
drew,
  " Methinks sometimes I have no more  wit than
a Christian or an ordinary man has."
  Editor.  What  has this to do  in proof that Pa-
racelsus and Thomson are kindred spirits!
  Omar.  Paracelsus "has long enjoyed  the hap-
piness of  seeing that his name  has been  handed
down to posterity with great  veneratidn."   For
what, I  would ask this  witty  "Botanist," is the
name of Paracelsus venerated!   Is  it for his arro-
gance pray! or for his vanity!
  Editor.   On these accounts chiefly (as  you say
he had no  learning or science)  he was  made Pro-
fessor of Medicine at Basle, "where he was honora-
bly received and became eminent by the  number,
respectability and attachment of his pupils, and by
the many extraordinary cures he performed by the
prudent use of  mercury and opium,  &c; whose
powers, till then, were little known or  unskilfully
applied."   But chiefly he has been venerated as
the father ofthe poisonous mineral practice, which
Omar and Medicus  profess  still  to follow, as obe-
dient children.
  Omar.   Or is his name venerated  because he
lived a vagabond and died a sot!
  Editor.   Vox inanis—a foolish question.
  Omar.   I shall now take leave of"  Botanist,"
the indefatigable, but  unfortunate  Knight of the
bath. 
334
   Editor.   Assumed, but not proved.
   Omar.  It was not my intention or wish to draw
 him or any of his breed into a controversy.
   Editor.  Then you must be as 6tupid aa a certain
 animal with long ears ; for you did  what was cal-
 culated to effect it.
   Omar. This alone has given them notoriety and
 lengthened out the brief span of their ephemeral
 existence.
   Editor.   Assumed  again.
   Omar.  In the  language of Junius, the  gentle
 breath of peace will leave them on the surface ne-
 glected and unremoved.
   Editor.   Was Junius a learned doctor, that you
 cite him as medical authority!  Your declaration
 is only assumed.
   Omar.  It is only  the tempest that  lifts them
 from their place.
   Editor.   Assumed.
   Omar.   I  wish your correepodent "Botanist"
 a long good night.
   Editor.  Good night, Omar.
   Omar.  May he  awake from a profound sleep,
 relieved from the " pain in his head and his  men-
 tal aberrations."
   Editor.  Thank  you, Omar,  same to you ; and
 from pain in the  heart too.
             Signed,                  OMAR.

   Remark.  What has  all the above—nay  any
 single sentence of it to do with proving that Thom-
 sonism is quackery, or that there is, among diplo-
 matized  physicians,  such a thing as  " medical
science!"  We confess  we  can see nothing, nor
are we able to see any thing more to. the purpose
in  any ofthe other slang of the M. Ds. against the 
335
steam practice.   One thing  seems very  strange
to us, which is, that, if Medicus  and Omar were
able to defend the science of medicine, and root up
quackery  why they did not do it, instead of relin-
quishing the field and  their practice to  the  steam
doctors, as we are credibly  informed by Dr. El-
liott they have done.—Editor or  "Botanist."
                   A REVIEW

                     OF THE

     REPORT  OF DR. J.  H. MILLER,

Attending physician  at the  Baltimore Almshouse,
  to the Trustees  of that Institution; dated May 1,
  1835.                                       *


  Dr.  M. says-. "In such establishments the mor-
tality must always be great  'much greater than in
private practice, because such  are  the resorts  of
worn out  lives;  they  are  humanity's  commons,
where the useless and incurable are 'turned out
to die;' and they  are  also  known as the portals
of oblivion into which are  thrown many of the
"victims  of mal-practice."*   Though "such are
  *Portal3 of Oblivion.—The attending physician at the Balti-
timore Almshouse, for 1834—5, says,  that institution is  one of
"the portals of oblivion into which are thrown many of the vic-
tims of mal-practice."  Such are Thomsonian Infirmaries for all
that are cured in them: hut, if one in a hundred should die there,
he is held up in everlasting remembrance, as an evidence of the
murderous tendency of Thompsonalgia. Such are the prejudices
against our system, created by the lies fabricated in the manufac-
tories of " Demetrius and the craftsmen," that, to become first
"useless or incurable," or "the victims of mal-practice," is  the si- 
33P.
the common and inevitable reasons why almshouse
practice  is shaded  with  darker results; yet there
are, perhaps, some  others which have been  pecu-
liar to the last year and to thi& place.   Greater fa-
cilities than usual have been afforded to the tans-
fer of hopeless  cases  from  our own  hospitals  and
infirmaries, of  patients who have exhausted both
their funds and the skill of their physicians, and in
this  forlorn predicament are  sent here to  obtain
quiet graves."
   On reading this paragraph, we could not repress
our deep sympathy with the  Doctor, nor forbear
to assure  him  of that  ofthe  whole  Thomsonian
Fraternity, especially of  those who  live in cities
and keep infirmaries.   These  Infirmaries are em-
phatically "humanity's commons, where  the use-
less  and incurable  are  turned out-to die."  And
they are  also  well  known as the "portals of obli-
vion into which are thrown many o'f the victims of
mal-practice."
   " Many other causes  might be advanced," says
the Doctor, "as tributary  to the amount and se-
most indispensable requisite to constitute either  a Thomsonian
Practitioner or a faithful and persevering patient of this order.
In fact, there  is scarcely a Thomsonian in the United States
worthy ofthe name, who has not been made such, by this " fire-
trying process," either in his own person or that of some near
and dear relative or connexion.  In proof ofthis statement, suf-
fice it to refer the reader to the testimonies every where scattered
over the pages of the Thomsonian Recorder.  Take the 9th num-   *
ber for example. In these Infirmaries, however, " the mortality
is [less instead of] greater than in private practice; because," here
the patient is carefully watched and obliged to mind his prescrip-
tions; whereas, "in private practice," he is not only careless and
neglectful in these respects; but so generally beset between the
doctor's visits, by the clamors about "burning, scalding and poi-
soning," [a most terrible thing in the  eyes of doctors! aided by
some Demetrius or craftsman, or more commonly woman that
more mischief is done by these kind friends, than good bv the doe-
tor's remedies.                           6    '  "'u"v 
337
verity ofthe diseases  we have treated; but the
most  prolific  source is  the too  prevalent vul-
gar practice of over stimulation, by  the  steam
apd scalding portions [potions]  of a now popular
empiricism."
  We thought he was about  to say, "by  ardent
spirits," when  we  should have heartily agreed
with him;  but no, the greatest curse this  nation
suffers, is not equal to that which follows the sin
of teaching men to take care of their own health,
and thus depriving the Doctors ofthat false vene-
ration which  has  enabled them for ages,  to rule
men as they pleased, and fill their own pockets with
the wealth  of those  who might, had they known
the "mischiefs"  ofthe "scientific practice," have
retained and enjoyed  it.  But no, this "over stimu-
lation" was "by the steam  and scalding portions
of a now popular empiricism."
  Hitherto the Doctor has had our deep sympathy;
but he begins to  touch  us  in a tender place.  We
must feel out our bump of combativeness.
  "The bare mention ofthis latter cause, may,  to
Bome, seem invidious; but I trust I shall be shield-
ed from all such imputations  by you  and those
who know me, and are acquainted with the sphere
of private practice in which I move; a society  far
elevated above the influence of vulgar infatuation,
both by intelligence and moral  worth; yet, in ad-
dressing you, the guardians  ofthe class which re-
quires  protection from  the arts of designing o r
misguided impostors, acting upon their native  or
acquired imbecility, I feel officially bound to ren-
der the  outlines of the reasoning and facts upon
which my declaration is founded."
  Baltimore  Thomsonians, how do you  relish the
charges, that yours is the influence of vulgar infat- 
338
uation; that you are  designing or misguided  im-
postors, acting upon native or acquired imbecility;
[acquired imbecility!] that your patients are ofthe
class which requires the guardian protection ofthe
society  far elevated above the vulgar infatuation,
"by both intelligence and moral worth," in which
it is the honor, the pride and the profit of Dr. Mil-
ler to move!  We know not what you have done
with yourselves of late; but we are  well assured
that he once thought not a  few of you sufficiently
intelligent and moral, to be deemed honorable and
profitable members of his society.  We shrewdly
suspect  that is only because  your intelligence is ri-
sen above the "misguidance" of believing that  the
artful concealment ofthe rankest poisons under the
"deceptious"  cloak of dead  Latin, Greek, and
high-sounding medical  science, can render  them
not only harmless to the human body, but suitable
to restore that impaired vitality to  which, in its
best estate, they are most deadly hostile, that you
are not as blindly and obediently as ever attached
to his train and receiving his blessing.
   " The cases enumerated  in the accompanying
tabular  view, under  the  head of Thompsonalgia,
(pardon the new  coined term,) are such «nly as
were traceable to the  effects ofthis system of mal-
practice, upon the most trival indisposition; those
that have been injured  or rendered incurable by
the same means,  were they segregated, would
constitute  a most  appalling amount, but they  are
diffused  through the table and  not particularly
marked."
   The "artful" structure of this paragraph, would
lead the unsuspecting reader to suppose that more
than half of the  Doctor's business  was to cure
" Thompsonalgia."  But his " art"  is easily  de-
tected. 
339
    One ofthe prominent doctrines of "the science
  of medicine"  is. with a few exceptions, that two
  distinct diseases cannot exist and be in force in the
  system at  the same time.  On this doctrine are
  based  the  well known  practice of salivation, and
  the whole  system  of "alteratives," "counter ir-
  ritants,"  " counter poisons,"  " depletions,"  in
  short,  we  had  almost  said the entire  remedial
  practice; "for," says Dr. Barton, "all our  most
  valuable  remedies are  poisons."  Now, since, in
  his table of cases, Dr. Miller has given other names
  to all the cases but eleven, which he says were
  "traceable  to  the effects"  of "Thompsonalgia,"
  we have proved  [secundum  artem  medicinse] ac-
  cording to the medical art, that only eleven cases
  were properly referable to the effects of Thompson-
  algia.  The fact is,  doubtless, that he particularly
  marked  with this term, all the cases of disease on
  patients who had ever  taken a dose of that  vile
  0^="powder called No. 6, discovered by the sci-
 entific  Dr.  Cole, in 1832.   [Palmam qui meruit
 6fc.~\   Give the palm to  whom it is due.   The
 Doctor here cites the following Case of  Quack-
 ery.-
   In order  to illustrate the " mischiefs" of  the
 Thomsonian Practice, he says,
   "A young, athletic, and  generally healthy jour-
 neyman mechanic, from the land of'steady habits,
 on a Saturday evening, after quitting work, men-
 tioned his intention  of taking a dose of salts to
 obviate a slight inconvenience he experienced,  but
 his employer being one ofthe Thomsonian enthu-
 siasts, who are determined to let slip no opportu-
 nity of practice, insisted that in lieu of salts, he
must take a  course  of their treatment; to this he
objected, but at last being  made to understand 
340
most unequivocally, that he must either submit or
lose employment, lie most reluctantly yielded con-
sent, under the belief that it would be unwise to
lose  his place for the difference  between  two
doses of medicine;  accordingly he swallowed their
No.  6; after a  very  restless night, he was really
unwell, hot stuffs were repeated until his mouth
and throat became  so parched he could swallow no
more; he was  then subjected to the steam-bath,
until he became so emaciated and  debilitated, that
fearing his immediate dissolution he was informed
that all his pecuniary resources were exhausted,
and he must be sent to the Almshouse.  On admit-
tance here, he was excessively  attenuated; his lips,
mouth and  fauces, were inflated  to a red flannel
aspect, and he complained at every breath he
drew, felt as if he  were inhaling  flames; his pulse
was small and frequent; his  tongue was small,
painted and blood-red; the glands of his mouth,
jaws and  neck  were tumid; his stomach could re-
ceive or retain nothing;  he had a colliquative di-
arrhoea, and complained  of the  most agonizing
pains throughout the whole frame, and especially
along the alimentary canal.   Every  thing we
could devise for his relief was unavailing, he ra-
pidly sunk,  and as long as he  was able to arti-
culate, cursed the Thomsonians  and their prac-
tice.
   On post mortem examination, the only thing
 worthy of particular remark  was the alimentary
 tube, which was  greatly injected,  and in many
 places  sphacilated  [mortified] from the  lower to
 the upper extremity;  proving incontestibly, that
 death had  been the result  of the entire arrest of
 the sources of nutrition, in consequence ofthe ali-
 mentary  organs being thrown into a condition in-
 capable of retaining or digesting food." 
341
  It must be  admitted that this is a most agoniz-
ing account.  But it were easy to show that the
"injected state ofthe alimentary tube, and the ar-
rest ofthe sources of nutrition," were the effects,
ofthe  "devices for his relief," after he entered the
Almshouse.   For the sake of driving the Doctor
to his  extremity, however, we will let it stand as it
is, and oppose to it examples of the regular scien-
tific practice."
  A robust, healthy lady who had never been sick
a week in her life, took a violent cold.  The first
Doctor, A, gave her calomel and its concomitants
nine times, when  she  was so weak she could not
stand  alone.  He then told her that the violence of
the"disease was subdued, she must take a little light,
nourishing food and she would  soon  recover her
strength.  Not finding  this  declaration true, she
applied to Doctor B, who said her disease was dys-
pepsia, and  he furnished her plentifully with blue
pills and ordered a cracker and milk diet.  After
this course Dr. C prescribed  Hickory lye and pe/?-
perlea, (monstrous! buthewas an M.D. of the first
water, so Doctor M.  must suppress his indignation
or go by himself to vent it.)  This did some good,
but the Doctor became sick hi mself and Dr. D was
called. By this-time the vital power was so reduced
that the heat  and the circulation were chiefly confin-
ed to the chest and brain, where much pain was felt.
As she was  to weak too be bled, blisters were ap-
plied  to the  head, neck and chest and repeated in
the same  places, till, in some  of them, the frame
work  began to  appear!   In this condition she  ap-
plied  to us.   We gave  her no encouragement, but
she had heard so much of oursuccess in such cases,
that she begged us to 'try,' especially as she had
just  learned  that the  Doctor who was so kindly 
342
 soothing her path  to the "quiet grave," with blis-
 ter upon blister, had said that "she  must shortly
 die:—nothing  could save her!"   We  gave her
 preparatory medicine that night, the next day a
 course, and called the third morning.  With tears
 in her eyes she said she felt much better, but that
 the Doctor  had  called [he had not been therefor
 three days before  we went,] and was very angry
 at her for "calling in a quack."   About a dozen of
 her kindest friends, on whom (after spending a de-
 cent  living  upon  doctors) she  was dependent for
 support,  (her  business  was  sewing  which  her
 daughters and apprentices carried on  during her
 illness,) had called and  told her that, if she did
 not quit the steaming system,  which the blister
 doctor had said would kill her,  (after saying she
 would die of his blisters,) "they would  withdraw
 all their patronage and personalkindness!" (Here,
 Dr. Miller,  was humanity for  you, with a ven-
 geance!)   But that,  if she would quit the steam,
 they  would  send her  immediately "a doctor that
 would cure  her."  She, therefore, hoped that we
 would not be offended if she asked us to withdraw
 a while, that this new doctor might have an op-
 portunity for experiment; but requested us to prom-
 ise, in case of his failure, to come again, as she
 would then have a sufficient excuse for employing
 us!  We told her that we should never be offended
 at the exercise of a patient's right to  choose his
 own physician; but we could not promise to attend
 again.  We gathered our medicines  and quit.  It
i s but just, to say that those benevolent individuals
 never sent their  physician, nor  manifested any
great concern for the patient.   How she recovered
we know not, but we saw her a year afterwards in
comfortable health.   We give this as a specimen 
343
 of "regular practice,"  and also  ofthe manner in
 which Thomsonian patients "abandon  their quack-
 ery too late for benefit by scientific prescriptions."
 No doubt Dr. Miller's cases of "Thompsonalgia,"
 were mostly traceable to the effects ofthis system
 of mal-practice.''  [Traceable to effects!  What a
 scientific and logical expression!  But Doctors al-
 ways aim at  the effects—the cause is not under-
 stood.]
  2d.  Till the age of eighteen, our oldest brother
 was as "athletic and healthy" as any young man
 that was ever bred in "the land of steady  habits."
 He caught the  measles.  Being 100  miles from
 his mother, he called the Doctor, who gave him
 calomel and  drew the  disease inward.  Further
 prescriptions produced a great tumor on his neck
 which called for a surgical operation.  He was now
 suspected of  scrofula, though that disease had ne-
 ver been heard of among his ancesters, time imme-
 morial.   During the eight years succeeding the
 first attack,  he  was attended by  about twenty
 doctors, no two of whom exactly agreed respecting
 the nature of the disease or the propriety of the
 preceding treatment!   No doubt,  however, that
 he had the scrofula, for the bones of his fingers and
 thumb rotted  and came  out, and his whole system
 smelled strong  of the mercury with which he had
 been often  salivated!  Learning that  he "had the
 consumption  and must die," we repaired to him,
with a determination to render his  last days as
comfortable as the nature of the case would admit.
While the  skin did  not want marks to show the
kind attentions ofthe doctors,  the hip  and shoul-
der bone  had uncovered their heads,  to  speak. ot
the neglect of the nurse.  He could scarcely walk,
was  so poor that, though upwards of six feet high, 
344
we  (weighing 130 lbs.,) could easily carry him
across the room  on  our extended arms.  Among
other symptoms of his disease, we remarked that
his  food, especially if solid,  gave him exceeding
pain through the whole " alimentary tube."  The
phlegm blocked  up  the bronchia? and rendered
"respiration short and labored."  The paroxysms
of pain in the alimentary canal, being frequent and
severe, he remarked—"I shall go off in some  of
these turns"—what if you do!   "I  want you to
have me opened and a certificate  given of my dis-
ease; for my physicians have never understood it!
His request was regarded.   Slight inflammation
of the lungs about the insertion of the  bronchia?;
adhesion  of the pericardium to the sternum; the
mucus membrane of the stomach—yes, the whole
alimentary  canal destroyed, and the whole extent
of the intestines lined with  nodes or lumps, from
the size of a pullet's egg, down to the smallest,  in
many places almost  preventing  the  passage  of
the food which had caused for years all the agoniz-
ing pains in these viscera!  It was the opinion of
the operator, a surgeon  of  no mean  rank,  that
these nodes were caused by the injudicious exhibi-
tion of strong medicines!
   Here the reader may learn the commencement
of our aversion to the 'scientific practice of medi-
cine,' and the fact that our present opposition to  it,
is not chargeable to the 'misrepresentations' of Dr.
Thomson, or any one else.  All that we have ever
seen of it since, has only served to convince us more
and more, that "destruction  and misery are in  its
path."
   "Mankind never grow wiser by the impositions
practised upon them by pretenders in medicine; de-
ception follows deception upon vulgar credulity so 
345
rapidly, that it seems to generate  a kind of mor-
bid appetite for imposition, which forms a habit of
being duped, which, like all other habits, becomes
incurable."
   Mankind grow wise enough by the  impositions
practised upon them by pretenders in medicine, to
abandon  their  errors, as  is  abundantly evid'ent
from their  successive rejection ofthe various false
theories  and mischievous  practices,  which  at
different periods, have obtained among the "regu-
lar faculty;" but, in order to prevent "deception
from  following deception,"  and the "generation
of that morbid appetite for imposition," which has
become "so habitual" in the United States, as to
present the strongest fortress for the protection of
the medical faculty, and barrier against the uni-
versal  diffusion of  the Thomsonian Practice, the
mirror of  truth must be presented  to the eyes of
the mind.   In  the  accomplishment of this  last
great object, the Thomsonians are so industriously
engaged, that the Doctor will soon have as little
reason to complain   that "the (people's) habits of
being duped, have  become  incurable, as he will
that  his  "self-limited diseases," and the chronic
effects of his "mal-practice," till  the "patients
have exhausted their funds and the skill of their
physicians," and "turned out as hopeless," have
become 60.
  Yes,  Doctor, ' deception  has followed  decep-
tion,' because your  profession never exhibited the
truth.  ' The morbid appetite' was  formed by eat-
ing sources of disease, instead of  remedies, and
the 'habit' was the hopeless despair of ever find-
ing any thing better.
  • If the whole learned, diligent and  benevolent
medical faculty, (said  and still  say many  of the 
346
 people,) have determined that their various theo-
 ries and practices, are the  best  that  ever have
 been devised, it is useless foros, ignorant as we
 are ofthe human system  and the  nature and pro-
 perties of remedies, to think of finding a better.-—
 we must take this or none.'  But  many infer, from
 the general benevolence  of  the Great Author of
 their being, and the liberal provision  he has made
 for all their other wants,  that  he  could not have,
 and has not, forgotten that without which all his
 other favors are but as loaves suspended before a
 man  upon a gibbet—viz.  a simple, sure, safe  and
 universal remedy for all the vast varieties of pain.
 In this opinion, they are sustained by the concur-
 rence of some of  the  greatest and best men that
 ever  adorned the medical  profession.   This belief
 and the notorious fact that nature generally gets
 along better with her  diseases, alone, than when
 the majority of your craft interrupt her operations,
 have  led to those trials of simple remedies by the
 people  themselves, which, in the exaltation  of
 your professional dignity,  you are  pleased to style
 ' empiricism,' and 'quackery.'  But lastly, Doc-
 tor, and your 'Report'  affords the most conclusive
 evidence that you believe it  as firmly as we, the
 prevalence and success ofthe Thomsonian System
 of Medical Practice, encourage us  in  the full and
 firm belief that this System, unlike all the foaming
 and crested billows of former times, to burst with
 a crash and  remand us to  the  tumult of opposite
 currents, just as they flattered us with a hope that
they were nearing us to the  shore, is the silent
but broad  and deeply rolling surge, that shall land
us safe above  the reach forever  of reaction and de-
lusion.
  ' But, among the innumerable schemes of medi- 
347
 cal abuse which have disgraced the annals of hu-
 manity, we have rarely  been presented with any
 more mischievous in itself, or widely destructive in
 its tendencies, than that  which is now so indus-
 triously and  enthusiastically propagating in this
 country, under the  name ofthe Thomsonian.'
   Here the Doctor wakes us up to something like
 a serious inquiry.  We must examine the results
 of his practice, and compare  them with what we
 have seen  of the Thomsonian,  and if there be
 found the shadow of truth in the above charge, we
 must drop the quill, the pepper and steam, and go
 at a more humane, if not a more honorable calling.
   On inspection ofthe report, we perceive that it
 contains a table ofthe medical and surgical  cases
 treated within the preceding year, with the names
 ofthe diseases, the cures, reliefs, deaths, and re-
 tentions for further prescriptions or operations.
 We have not room for the whole table. The total
 admissions to  medical  practice  are  2571;  total
 cures 2076; relieved 111; died 244; on hand 130.
 Thus we see that, ofthe whole number received to
 medical treatment,  four-fifths were cured, and a
 little less than one out of ten died.  Of the remain-
 der, one in every twenty-one  was 'relieved,'  [to a
 few this was all  that was wanted,]  and  one in
 every seventeen yet remains.   But, as another ta-
 ble informs us that only 1154 persons were receiv-
 ed into the Almshouse during the  year, and that
 there were only 447 in the house at the beginning,
 that 48 died without medical aid, the true slate of the
 medical  department stands thus:—1154  less  48
 leaves 1106 persons on whom the doctor operated,
 and out  of whom he lost 244.   This leaves a death
for less than ever five persons under his care. But
it is not reasonable to  suppose that more  than 
348
three-fourths ofthe persons admitted to the  Alms-
house, were placed under the  care of the  physi-
cian; all the poor are not always sick.  Probably,
then, one-third, certainly one-fourth of all the per-
sons that were subjected to medical treatment, ac-
tually  died; and, of the  130  persons remaining
sick,  doubtless  a large proportion  would after-
wards die.  But the fourth, in all conscience, is
enough.
   We may here be asked how  the  ' attending
physician,'  managed  to  have  so many ' cases'
and 'diseases,' among  so  small a  number of per-
sons—only  1156 persons admitted, and  six more
left than found!   2571  cases among 1154 persons,
(add 447 in  the house at first, would  be 1601; but,
as 453 were still left  for the next  year's opera-
tions, and  48 died without  medical aid, these
ought not to be counted at all.)  Ofthe 1106, pro-
bably  not more than three-fourths  or 830 were doc-
tored at all.  This makes more than three cures to
each patient; yet many staid so short a time that
the total average in the house per month, was only
508.
   We answer, he did it secundum artenL, as is man-
ifest from several items in the table.  For exam-
 ple, there are 27 cases of dropsy.  These no doubt
 commenced with acute fevers which were subdu-
 ed by bleeding, starving, cooling  and physicking,
 till the patient was 'relieved,' when he was left
 to nature and the nurse.   As these refreshed him
 a little, he  began to go about, when he was mark-
 ed 'cured.'  Presently the fluids of the body  be-
 gan to increase; but, for want ofthat warmth and
 action in the  secretory vessels, which  had been
 destroyed by the cooling process, they remained in
 cysts or the cellular substance, and received anew 
319
name, by which process the fever was cured and a
new 'case' was added to the list under the proper
head!    In like manner eruptive  diseases  were
changed to 'abscesses,' dysentery or cholera mor-
bus, to'enteritis,'or inflammation of the bowels
&c.  Hence we see why it appears, by the table,
that so large a proportion ef the acute  attacks are
marked 'cured,' while  most ofthe 'deaths,' 're-
liefs,' and 'remainings,' are chronic.  The violent
efforts  of nature  against the sudden invasions of
disease, are subdued by the club of depletion &c;
she rests awhile in insensibility, and then her fee-
ble and inefficient efforts are called chronic,  and
receive some other hard name which fully screens
the doctor from all blame for  not curing them.
 Ofthis class we have 11 cases of "arachnitis"—
 inflammation ofthe spider web membrane, of which
 only three were cured and  eight  died; "cancer,"
 three cases,all died; cholera, 7 cases, 6 died; dropsy,
 27 cases,  12 died; "chronic  enteritis," inflamma-
 tion of the  bowels,  23 cases,  14 died.  Fevers,
 puerperal, 7 cases, 4 died;  typhoid, 18  cases, 11
 died; gangrene of the lungs, 2 cases, both died;
 chronic liver complaint, 5 cases, 2 died;  dropsy in
 the brain, 2 cases, both died;  marasmus,  decline
 or gradual wasting away without  fever  or appa-
 rent disease, 16 cases, 8  died.  Ptyalism, saliva-
 lion, 1 case, died; scrofula, 9 cases, 3 died; not one
 cured.   We  have here  mentioned some of "the
 most mischievous," widely destructive and prolific
 "sources" of death,  indicated  in  the  table; some
 were universally fatal; of others, though not aH
 died, few or none were  cured: the average is, of
 131 cases, not persons, remember; some of them
 may have been marked  "cured"  before, but  now
 taken ao-ain with the same disease;  or, as an honest, 
                       350

 simple Thomsonian, one who had not "science"
 enough to contrive the "art" of averaging three
 "cures" out of one patient, would say, "relaps-
 ed and died."  Of these 131 "cases," thus "artful-
 ly" made out, 74, or more than half died, and many
 ofthe rest are not cured.
   Now let us prove the Doctor's assertion that
 "Thompsonalgia" should beranked"among" these
 " prolific sources" of death.
   Of all the "2571 cases" of disease, it seems only
 eleven "were traceable,"  to the effects of this
 system of mal-practice [of taking Dr. Cole's "cele-
 brated  powder called No. 6,"] all  the rest being
 "particularly marked"  with some  other name.—
 Of these eleven desperate cases the Doctor found
 himself able  to kill  only 2, (less than one-fifth)
 though he declares that "every thing he could de-
 vise," was done for them.   No man in his  senses
 will doubt for a moment that the  patient who can
 survive all the bleeding, poisoning, physicking,
 blistering,  cooling and  starving that a learned
 doctor "can devise," deserves (like the witches of
 olden  time who   could  not be drowned)  to  be
 instantly and unceremoniously hanged! 3 in eve-
 ry 10 of all those diseases, in favor of Thompson-
 algia!
   As the  Trustees  of the  Baltimore Almshouse
 will perceive that this famous "powder No. 6"
 renders patients so invulnerable  to the mischiefs
 of "mal-practice,"that less than one-fifth of those
 who had taken it  died under the "device" ofthe
 "attending physician," while at  least one-third
 died in the whole amount, and more than one-half
of the worst cases, we respectfully suggest to them
the propriety  of  employing, next year, a skilful
Thomsonian for an  "attending physician."  If 
351
they should not find  it "popular"  to do this, we
hope they will at least require the addition to the
medical report of two columns,  containing the
number of persons  treated, and  the number of
times each person was "cured."   Thus the whole
will present to the inspection ofthe public, less of
"designing art," and more of honest truth, than
the present.
  Now let us compare this scientific asylum prac-
tice, with that of Thomsonian  Infirmaries,  and
show which is the most worthy of confidence.
  It will be admitted that while such fibs are told
about the practice by those who ought to know bet-
ter, as those of which the report before us is chief-
ly composed, few will resort to them till they have
"exhausted the skill of (the fashionable) physi-
cians"  and lost all  hope of relief from any other
source.

         INFIRMARY  PRACTICE.

  During the first sixteen months of Dr. Benjamin
Thomson's practice  in Boston,  he gave  "more
than 1500 courses to  more than 1000 patients, and
lost but one—T. R., vol.  2, page240.   In Con-
cord, N. H.,  he has since been more  successful,
having done more business and lost none.—Vol. 4,
pa. 113—14.
  Dr. N. P. Tatem, of Norfolk, Va., says, August
29, 1834:  Of more than one hundred cases of va-
rious diseases, he has  lost but one, an infant.—
Vol.  3, pa. 58.
  Dr. Hiram Piatt, of Hartford, Conn., says, Oct.
9, 1834, that he has administered 173 full courses
to 49 patients, and lost but one, a chronic Bron-
chitis, incurable by the M. D's.  Vol. 3, page 78. 
352
  Messrs. Nash & Tatem, of the Norfolk,  Va.,
Infirmary,  say, Jan. 9, 1635, "During the year,
we have received  more than 600 patients, exhi-
biting the greatest variety of disease; except about
30, all  had previously tried the mineral practice.
Ten have  died out of the 600,  of consumption,
dropsy  and cholera."—Vol.  3, page 129, see also
163.
   Dr.  Metcalf, of  South  Hadley, Mass., says,
(Feb. 18,  1835,) during the year he has had 200
patients, mostly given over  to  die, or  abandoned
as incurable.   Only  three died, two  of consump-
tion, one of fever; all considered incurable__Vol.
3, pa. 181; see also pas. 231—3.
   Dr.  Benjamin  Thompson, of Boston, Mass.,
says, (May 9,  1834,) of all  the cases  of Asiatic
Cholera which have occurred in Boston, I have at-
tended  about one-half  without the loss of a single
patient, though I have not heard  of a single patient
saved who was  atttended by the  Cholera Hospital
Doctors.—Vol. 2, pa.  287—8.   Q^-Dr. Miller
did'nt lose but 6 out of 7 cases of this disease..=£Q
  Dr.  Wesley T. Newman, of Mount  Crawford,
Rockingham County, Va., says, (May 1, 1835,)
"The cases  of sickness attended by  the mem-
bers of  our Society,  amount to upwards of  1000,
and but one death  in that number.—Vol. 3, pap-e
282.                                       e
  The Thomsonian Society of Mecklenburg Coun-
ty, Va., state that of 100 cases of scarlet  fever; they .
lost all but—99! while the M. D's. cured 66 out of
about as many.
  Dr. Thos. Neill, of Xenia, Ohio, now at our el-
bow, states that he has had more than 600 patients,
and not yet lost one.
  But we are tired of quoting.  Where we have i 
353
 spoken of Infirmaries, we have not included the
 " private practice-"   We will give that when Dr.
 Miller gives his.  We hope the reader will turn to
 the places above quoted, and read the full reports,
 as we have generally taken the substance without
 giving the  language,  and the details of cases are
 deeply interesting.
   We should scarcely know how to believe the
 above reports, had notjust such things come under
 our own obseuvation.   In all our practice since
 September 29, 1832, we have never lost a patient
 on whom we were the first, the continued and the
 only practitioner in  the  case.   We have  never
 lost a case at all in our Infirmary, either in Rich-
 mond oi  Columbus.  Since our arival here (though
 we wish to practise only enough to illustrate our
 instructions  to  students,) we and  our  assistant
 have given upwards of 120 courses of medicine,
 besides effecting many cures by more simple pre-
 scriptions.  Two patients tef'whom we have been
 called in consultation  hatfe  died, but  we  have
 saved  several others that were supposed  to be dy-
 ing.  If the failure of their attendants to cure the
 two, be attributed to the inefficacy ofthe System,
 we remark that,  as the  mineral practice had previ-
 ously destroyed the firmest portions of their bodies,
 (the teeth, of which there was not a sound one in
 either head) we  have no reason to supposethat the
 more delicate, digestive, respiratory and  secretive
 organs were less  injured or more  capable  of re-
 newal; especially  as the 'mercurial fetor  fully
 confirmed our suspicions.  While we exhibit these
 failures here, and confess that we failed  to cure a
 number of worn out and abandoned cases in Vir-
ginia, it is but justice to ourselves to remark that
our object, from the  beginning,  being rather to
                     2o 
                     354

test the full  power ofthe medicines, than to gain
credit or  money for wonderful cures, we took hold
of all  sorts of cases, even those that  we  had
good reason  to  suppose were in the  very jaws of
death.  But we positively declare, and can easily
prove,  that,for one case that we lost even of these,
we have cured ten that were  either said to be dy-
ing or  abandoned as incurable, by the regular M.
D's.  We have cured cases that had  defied the
skill ofthe most eminent physicians from Maine to
Georgia, and we can do it again.
   It is  somewhat remarkable that, though we
have treated almost all  the  ises, oses,  copuses,
odynes, agras, algias, isms [ptyal-] alises, [mecu-
ri-] dyses,cacos, catas, &c, with which the "high-
ly cultivated and progressively improving science
of medicine" is encumbered,  we have never met
with  a single  case  of  the  new disease called
"Thompsonalgia."
  Dr. Miller states that the Thomsonian  practice
leads to intemperance.  How this new and strange
charge may be sustained  we  know  not; but we
know that Dr.  Thomson, both in principle and
practice,  is an  uncompromising enemy of intem-
perance;   and we  find neither  in his system nor
the practice of any of its ablest supporters, any
imitation ofthe regular practice of prescribing to
dyspeptics "weak brandy toddy to create an appe-
tite."  At all events this comes with a bad grace
from a doctor whq had required the trustees to
furnish the Almshouse averaging only 508 persons
a month,  with  more  tb«,n  170 gallons of ardent
spirits per  annum.   See Report.   The Doctor
says, "these Thomsonians insist that heat is life,
and that the mote heat the more life;  and, in  their
zeal to generate he^t, they often times sublime life 
355
 into  immortality."  We  answer, those regulars
 insist that  heat  is  death,  and in their zeal  to
 cool it, they reduce the temperature of the body
 to  a level with  that of the earth, six feet below
 the surface, in the  proportion of fifty to one  that
 the 1 homsonians sublime.  He says that the regu-
 lars "in the exuberance of human sensibility and
 virtue, forego the pleasurable and  the  profitable
 paths of life, for no other reward than the pleasure
 arising from the consciousness  of alleviating the
 miseries and woes  of suffering fellow beings."
 Not to mention  the notorious fact that doctors
 have hitherto generally acquired vast fortunes in
 a short  time, we are constrained to ask  what Dr.
 M. means by his other remarks,  about "the sphere
 of  intelligence  and  moral  worth  in  which he
 moves," the "patients  who have exhausted their
funds and the skill of their physicians, and in this
forlorn  predicament, are sent here to obtain quiet
 graves."   Where  was the  'property' of these,
 and the 'humanity' oftheir physicians, the 'exuber-
 ance ©f their sensibility and virtue!'  The former is
 doubtless in the coffers ofthe compassionate and be-
 nevolent doctors,and the latter is evidently all pour-
 ed out in wrath against the man from whose prac-
 with  all  his  'designing  -.-,-----------,  «^
 Doctor has let out  the  true  secret.  He says,
 "This Thomsonian  delusion  [of imitating  and
 aiding nature in curing disease, and thus avoiding
 lingering sufferings, and the devices  and expense
 of doctors,] has been  but too common and detri-
mental to the science and practice of medicines" he
is afraid that it "will destroy the science that al-
ready exists, and  arrest all further  inquiry into, 
356
and improvement of it; throw the the most refined
and beuevolent profession [that foregoes all plea-
sure and profit, and sends its rifled and 'forlorn pa-
tients to the Almshouse'] into the hands of illiter-
ate and unscientific men, who are so  ignorant as
not to know their own incompetency, and so reck-
less as to jeopardize human  life for the sake of a
compensation, no  greater than they could  obtain
by  cobbling old shoes."  Here  is the rub.;—The
Thomsonians are  about to  destroy so  much of our
superstitious advantages of Greek, Latin, Chemis-
try, and post mortem examinations, and  to dis-
seminate so generally,  their  vulgar  notion that
there, is no more  mystery  or skill or expense, re-
quired for curing all their diseases, than for fitting
a shoe to every foot; that all the pleasure hitherto
derived from the respect paid us, for  our superior
attainments and our medical infallibility, together
with the enormous tax we have levied on the peo-
ple as a punishment for their blind adherence to our
dicta,  are about to vanish, when  we must "be dif-
fused through the" great "table" of society "and
NOT PARTICULARLY MARKED."
   When the Doctor discovers how we have "used
him up," he will doubtless avail  himself of a little
more of his "designing art."  He will  declare it
 beneath his dignity and that of "the sphere of prac-
 tice in which he  moves" to condescend to notice
us inpublic.  He will declare that we  have made
"mistakes  in the items," and that, therefore, our
"general conclusions are incorrect and  unworthy
of credit."   (He  will not say we went beyond the
truth; he knows better.)   But  these  disclaimers
 will not suitws; the only correction we will admit
is an "artless" table, containing  the additional co-
 lumns, showing the number ofpersons as well as ca- 
357
ses and diseases, and the number of times each per-
son was 'cured,' during his stay in the Asylum.—
We should be glad also  to know how long  each
patient staid in the institution; but, as this would
require much room, we dispense with it.  If such
a table prove us wide ofthe mark, we will cheer-
fully make the proper correction.
  With our best respects Dr. Miller, will please
to accept  the assurance that  the above is only a
little "powder of No. 6," intended to arrest the
gangrene that has commenced about the "tongue,"
if not  the "fauces;" that, whenever  he thinks
proper again to meddle with our "popular empiri-
cism," we intend to turn the key, and let out upon
him " the steam and  scalding portions," in  their
perfection and power, with "all their mischievous
and most destructive  tendencies."
  Intemperance.—In answer to Dr. Miller's Phil-
ipic  against  their intemperance, the  Baltimore
Thomsonians say,
   "That  the  Thomsonian remedies  gratify  the
'strongest propensities of the imbecile and unin-
formed""  is a  daring and  reckless libel upon the
truth.  No intemperate person drinks No. 6, from
choice—whiskey is too plenty and much cheaper;
and if Thomsonians desire a stimulant they resort
to Cayenne."
  "So far as  the occasional  use of No. 6  is con-^
cerned  in "inducing  confirmed  intemperance,"*
(and ardent spirits or Alcohol, are used more spar-
ingly by Thomsonians than the regular fuculty) we
are  perfectly willing, as  a body, to be compared
with our  opponents, without any  apprehension 
358
that, in point of temperance,  in all things, they
will  bear  the palm.  Let Dr. Miller muster the
regulars, and  we will muster  the  irregulars, or
law-denounced.   We  are  willing  to  abide the
decision of honest judges of his own appointment."
  "How could the medical treatment in the Alms-
house  be successfully prosecuted, if pepper and
whiskey, alcohol and wine, (the latter we presume
is for the dinner table ofthe  Doctor and his aids,)
were prohibited: for the trustees' statement shows,
that  during twelve months, ending on the 30th of
April,  1835, there were used, as hospital stores, or-
dered by said Dr. Miller,

334 gallons Alcohol; equaling in first proof spirits,
  gallons     ..-..-     R->
 7   do.   Brandy, (4th proof we presume,)   7
44i  do.   Whiskey,                       44i
31   do.   Port Wine,                     31
 6   do.   Teneriffe,   ....     <;
Gallons      170i
 Besides the following thirst-creating stimulants:

  521  lbs. Tobacco
  200  lbs. Snuff
    10  bottles Cayenne Pepper
    77  lbs. black Pepper
  This we dedicate to  the  Temperance Society
without further comment."
  The Baltimore Thomsonians argued very justly,
that, on account ofthe superior cleanliness ofthe
Almshouse, and the abundant  comforts provided
for its  inmates, the practice there ought to have
been far more successful than theirs,  among the 
359
same class in the city, whereas it was, in fact, in-
comparably less so.
  To exhibit the  comparative merits ofthe regu-
lar practice and their own, they give the following
table, which sets the matter forever at rest.
  "The Thomsonian right-holders in this city, con-
siderably exceed the  number of the regular fa-
culty, and their  families generally are greater in
number. Wrhen any ofthe members ofthe regular
faculty are sick, no doubt exists that their utmost
skill and care are called in requisition to save them.
Yet the deaths in their families greatly outnum-
ber those ofthe system "so widely destructive" of
life, as may be seen by  the following statement,
ofthe correctness  of which we can fully satisfy the
regulars."

 Deaths in families of Regulars.   In families of Thomsonians.
  1834,          23                   5
  1835,          18                   3
  1836, Jan. 30,   2                   0

    Total,        43                   8
  This requires no further comment."
     BOTANICO-MEDICAL SCHOOLS.

  Arguments in, favor of Their Establishment.

  As a member of the committee apppointed by
the Convention of T. B.  Physicians, lately  held
in Cincinnati, to draft a preamble and resolution,
setting forth the reasons for the establishment of a
Botanlco-Medical College we presented the fol-
lowing: SeeT. R., vol. IV, pa. 225. 
360
     PREAMBLE AND RESOLUTION.

  Whereas, the continual fluctuations in the theo-
ries and practices ofthe  healing art, and the uni-
form destruction of the human race,that has, in all
ages and  countries, attended the practice of the
experimenting advocates of those theories, clearly
demonstrate that, whatever  be the preventive or
the curative principles and processes designed by
a benevolent  Creator for the  government  of the
medical practitioner, in the  exercise of the heal-
ing art, the class of men styled the  "Regular Med-
ical Faculty,"  have not discovered  them;  and
whereas, the.Thomsonian System of Medical Prac-
tice is more consistent with reason and common
sense, more accordant in its simplicity and adap-
tation to the condition and wants of the whole hu-
man family,  with the wisdom  and benevolence of
design, evident in all the other works of the great
Architect and Governor of the universe; Whereas,
we have the most abundant and satisfactory moral
evidence that this  system of practice is far more
efficacious in the  prevention and  cure of disease,
even when administered by the illiterate and inex-
perienced, and incomparably more so, in the hands
ofthe intelligent, judicious  and experienced, than
any other, exercised at other times or in other
places; and the most convincing occular demon-
stration, that its  success immeasurably surpasses
that of any and every other system practised with-
in the compass of our observation:'  Whereas, this
System  is daily  suffering  unmerited  neglect or
shameless scandal and abuse, where thousands are
perishing  for want of its application,  in conse-
quence of its adulteration by the admixture of hy-,
potheses totally adverse to the true principles ofthe 
361
curative art, and of agents and means either ineffi-
ciently aiding or  diametrically opposing the sana-
ative operations ofthe vital powers:  And whereas
we, the friends of this System, in convention assem-
bled, are fully and firmly convinced that one ofthe
best, if not the  very best means  to  disseminate
through the community all the  inestimable bles-
sings which it is capable of imparting, is to es-
tablish,  somewhere on or  near the Ohio River, a
School or College in which may be stationed men
of talents,  science, experience and moral  worth,
capable ofteaching  and illustrating the true prin-
ciples of the healing art—of  pointing out the de-
ficiencies and errors of their ordinary application,
and guarding the young practitioner and the peo-
ple against the adoption of medical theories, and
the use of medical agents or  means that are ruin-
ous to the human constitution and destructive -to
he vital energies, and to connect with it an Infirm-
ary inwrlich the afflicted may receive the best pos-
sible attention, and the student may be taught the
practical details of the healing art;  Therefore,
  Resolved, That it is of the first importance and
altogether expedient, to establish, on or near the
Ohio River, at Marietta or Louisville, or some in-
termediate point to  be selected by the committee
chosen for  that  purpose, a Thomsonian Medical
School and Infirmary, for the purposes to which  al-
lusion is mt.de in the latter part ofthe above pre-
amble.


  At the request ofthe Convention, we presented
the following 
362
         FACTS  AND  ARGUMENTS,

 To sustain the foregoing Preamble and Resolution.

   Perhaps some may ask, Why all this zeal  and
 effort  for the  dissemination of new principles  and
 modes of practie in the science of Medicine!  Has
 not this science been cultivated with untiring di-
 ligence by men of the most  splendid  talents  and
 extensive acquirements, in all ages and countries
 since the world began!
   We promptly and cheerfully admit  that this is
 unquestionable; but,  If it be  therefore contended
 that the science is brought  to perfection and sus-
 ceptible of no further improvement, or even that
 it is founded  on an  imperishable basis, we  beg
 leave respectfully to enter our protest against such
 conclusions.
   Would it have been reasonable for acotemporary
 of Robert Fulton to contend that, because the pres-
 sure of oars in  the water, and of wind upon a sail,
 had been the only modes of propelling vessels upon
 the seas, lakes and rivers, from the commencement
 of the world to that hour,  therefore, these were the
 only modes in which it could be done thereafter,and
 that the idea of moving floating houses with great
 velocity,  by the power of vapor or steam, was a
 mere Utopian dream, that could never  have fulfil-
 ment!   Not to  multiply comparisons which are in-
 numerable, but to present a striking analogy close-
 ly interwoven with the subject  under considera-
 tion, might not the same objectors, with equal
 propriety, ask why the zeal and effort lately man-
 ifested in our capital, to  establish throughout  our
 whole country, institutions for the express purpose
of teaching the very  art of  teaching?  If, after 
363
 having taught themselves and one  another for
 nearly six thousand years, the literary world have,
 at this late  day, to learn the very art of teaching
 and learning, is  it  at  all to be wondered at, if
 some of the sciences which they have been so long
 and assiduously  cultivating, should be found de-
 fective or even absurd!   Nay, is not this conduct
 a tacit admission that their former notions of both
 moral and  intellectual  philosophy, are essential-
 ly and radically wrong!  Whether they  admit it or
 not, it would require little time, labor or talent to
 prove the fact; but we  will not attempt it till we
 find some one willing to exhibit the  obtuseness of
 his perceptive faculties, on render himself an ob-
 ject of compassion to  an  enlightened public, by
 making a speech in opposition  to the benevolent
 views and praiseworthy exertions of the society of
 teachers  and friends of  improvement in education,
 lately formed in the State of Ohio.  Dr.  Bigelow,
 a professor in Cambridge, Mass., lately remarked,
 in an address to the Massachusetts Medical Socie-
 ty, that, whatever had been the changes or imprve-
 ments in medical theories, the  art of curing dis-
 ease  had made  few advances  for  the  last  fifty
 years.
  In submitting this preamble  and  resolution  to
 the Convention, Mr. President, and endeavoring
 to sustain every proposition in them  by facts and
 arguments that cannot be set aside, I remark—
  1.  That Medical Theories and Practices have
 ever been in fluctuation, may be proved by quota-
 tions from every standard work on medical history.
 Take Dr. Thacher for example.
  "The Egyptian medicine," says Thacher, "ap-
 pears to have  been  little else than a collection of
absurd superstitions."—3.—"Hippocrates studied 
304
and followed nature."—4.—"Galen introduced false
and  chimerical theories, and indulged in the mosi
extravagant disputations respecting medical sub-
jects; yet, for about fourteen centuries, his doctrines
and systems  were most sacredly adhered  to,  and
reverenced  by all descriptions of men."—4—5.—
Though he rejected the use of all medical  poisons,
yet so surprising  were some of the cures he per-
formed, that his skill was ascribed  to "magic."—
"Paracelsus laid the foundation of a chemical sys-
tem directly  opposed to that of Galen, which he
resolved to subvert."   "His  principal remedies
were antimony, mercury, and opium."—5.  Her-
vey's splendid discovery of the circulation of the
blood, subverted the fallacious doctrines of the an-
cients and  at once effected a total revolution in the
theory  and practice  of medicine."—7.   "From
the commencement of medical history, revolutions
in the Theories  of physic  have  been exceedingly
numerous and fleeting." "Every age has teeim  I
with the controversies of the learned; and, wh.lc
ambitious projectors, imagined they had  attained
to  perfection, their  cotemporaries or  immedi U;
successors contested their principles and triumph-
ed over their  errors; hence, we see theories which
scarce survive their  authors give  place  to other-
as unsubstantial and transient as themselves."—
Pages 7, 8.   Here the charge of fluctuation is ful-
ly sustained.
   II.  The preamble states that great destruction
to human life, has been the result of practices foun-
ded upon  these fluctating  theories.   In  the view
of facts  disclosed by dissections,  Dr. Rush  ex-
claims, "What destruction to human life, has not
been made under the influence of  false theorieS!"
Many eminent physicians have declared that <;>;pe- 
4
                     365

riments in obedience to false theories have destroy-
ed  more  lives  than  the sword,  pestilence and
famine.  During the reign of the  cholera  in this
fertile valley, a physician remarked, "We have
drawn  blood  enough  to float a  steamboat and
given calomel enough to freight her."  Was there
any other need ofthe presence of disease than simply
to afford an excuse for these  "experimenters un-
der false theories," in  order to effect the destruc-
tion of the thousands that died under the combined
influence of this disease, and the scientific practice
of medicine!
   III.  The preamble states that the medical fa-
culty  have not even yet, discovered any thing
worthy to  be  considered the curative principles
and processes designed by the benevolent Creator
and Governor ofthe universe, for the direction of
the medical practitioner in the exercise of the heal-
ing art.
   To  prove  this  position, we must first enquire
what we have a right to expect as the ultimatum
of perfection in the prevention and cure of disease.
This point we must settle by  analogy.  We must
consider the nature and  extent of the provisions
made by the same benevolent  being, for the other
wants of his frail, needy creatures, and  thus, by
comparison,  draw our conclusions respecting the
provisions made for the  preservation of life and
health.
   The three great wants of man are food, raiment
and medicine.
   As to food and raiment, though milk, bread and
meat, are  sufficient for  the former, and flax and
wool and skins for the latter, yet nothing can ex-
eeed,even in imagination, the actual provision made
for the full supply of every real want, of every in- 
366
habitant ofthe earth.   Not content with providing
the mere necessaries of food and raiment, the Di-
vine benevolence, with a most profuse and lavish
hand, has scattered in the richest abundance, all
over the habitable earth, every luxury in either of
these respects, that can  gratify the  taste or give
pleasure to the eye; and which, in the most en-
ticing manner, invite the needy wanderer to strech
forth  the hand and pluck them.  The most de-
lightful fruits  and  viands and  vegetables, are su-
peradded to  the  necessary  food,  and all  the va-
rious  forms  of cotton,  silks,  furs  &c.  to  the
clothing, till the heart can scarcely desire or the im-
agination  conceive, any gratification  that  is not
provided.   When we  consider the  fact that the
simplest form of any one  of this infinite variety of
provisions, is all that is indispensable, we are con-
strained to ask, Can it be possible that so extensive
a provision is made for the ordinary sustenance of
the body, that no one of all the human family need
starve or  freeze  to death, and  yet that so  poor a
provision is made for the prevention and  cure of
disease, that one half  of the whole number mu6t
die under the age of five years, that the average
of all  is only  thirty, and not one in a hundred ar-
rives  at the period when the machine wears out
with  age!   Are food and clothing so  much more
important to  man than life  and health, as to jus-
tify so great a disproportion in the  provision by
Him,

        Who seeg with equal eye, as God of all,
        A hero perish and a sparrow fall?"

  It cannot be.  There  must be somewhere; yes,
every where, scattered over the  face ofthis wide
world ,re me dies simple and harmless in their nature, 
367
and as easily obtained by all the suffering sons and
daughters of  affliction, and  as effectual to remove
disease,  as bread,  meat  and  vegetables  are  to
remove hunger; and/flax, wool, cotton, silks,  &c,
are to protect us from the inclemencies ofthe sea-
sons.
  As, in  the  providence of God,  then, over his
creatures, it is an axiom that the minutest super-
vision and benevolent provision, presupposes the
greater, and, in his power  to  confer favors, the
gift of the greater blessing includes and guaran-
ties  that  of the less, so it is  morally as well as
rationally demonstrated, that the provision for
the prevention and cure of disease, without which,
those for  food  and  raiment were  worse than use-
less, {death itself being preferable to a lingering
and painful disease,) is as abundant, as extensive,
as simple, as efficacious, as those for food and rai-
ment.
  Let us  now enquire  what is the testimony of
physicians respecting their discovery of such a pro-
vision!
  "The melancholy triumphs of disease over its
victims," says Dr.  Thacher,  "and the numerous
reproachful examples  of medical impotency, clear-
ly evince that the combined stock of ancient and
modern learning is  greatly  insufficient to perfect
our science."  "Far indeed beneath the standard
of perfection, it  is  still fraught with deficiencies,
and altogether inadequate  to  our desires." Dr.
Bigelow  says, "The records of mortality attest
its frequent failures, and the inability to control the
event of diseases, is at times felt by the most gift-
ed and experienced practitioners."  To many of
our most common  diseases; as,  measles,  scarlet
fever, whooping cough,  rheumatism &c.  &c, 
368
 "there is due," says this Doctor, "a certain suc-
 cession of processes  * *  which may tend to death
 or recovery, but which are not known to be short-
 ened, or greatly changed by medical treatment."
 But, while every intelligent and candid physician,
 thus freely admits  and bitterly laments the ineffi-
 ciency ofthis art, the more powerful in intellect
 and  independent in principle and moral courage,
 such as Abercrombie, Linteaud, Rush, Morgagni,
 Waterhouse, &c. &c, are bold to confess that the
 whole  " pretended science" resolves itself  into.
 "the art of conjecture," "the science of guessing,"
 "striking in the  dark," a scheme of "learned
 quackery," "a temple unroofed and cracked at the
 foundation," &c. &c.
   These are only specimens ofthe heart-sickening
 confessions respecting the  inadequacy and perni-
 cious effects of  the "regular practice," that may
 be found  on almost  every page of every  candid
 author  on the  history of medicine.  But what
 wonder if  their improvements are worthless, see-
 ing they  are made,  as Lord Bacon says, "in a
 circle and  not in progression!"  We contend that
 the regular systems, from the days  of Paracelsus,
 have been  errors themselves, built upon the quick-
 sands of error; the more men have  heaped or may
 heap  upon them, the deeper have they sunken,
 and will sink, till they be supplanted by correct de-
 ductions,  founded on the rock of truth.   These
 may be superimposed, without depression, till the
 structure reach the  very circle ofthe heavens, the
 perfection of beauty and strength.
  It may be  objected that disease  may often pre-
vail over life, for want ofthe requisite remedies
or their  seasonable and judicious  application.—
So we answer, may  it for want of food and raiment, 
369
 or their seasonable and judicious application.—
 The man who will not obtain and use  food or rai-
 ment, may starve or freeze to death;  so  may  he
 who will not gather and apply the remedies, fall a
 victim to disease;  but  we  have proved that the
 supplies for protection against the ravages of dis-
 ease, are as abundant, simple, and easily applied,
 as those  to guard us against hunger and  cold,
 while the want is far less frequent.   The chance
 then, for  long  life, is as good as  the security  for
 satisfying  hunger and  preserving a  comfortable
 temperature  ofthe body.  If, therefore, the sci-
 ence of  medicine does not  elevate the  security
 against  disease,  to  an equality, at  least, with
 what we know ourselves to  possess against cold
 and  hunger, (and we have adduced the most sat-
 isfactory  evidence to prove  that  it  does not,) it
■ must be conceded  that the medical faculty have
 not discovered the plan and the means devised by
 a wise and benevolent Providence, for  the preven-
 tion and cure ofdisease.
   IV.   The  preamble states that the Thomson-
 ian System and Practice are  more consistent with
 reason and common sense than those ofthe regu-
 lar faculty.
   A few comparisons will serve to prove  this po-
 sition.   A patient takes cold  or loses  the inward
 heat, which disturbs the  equilibrium  of vital ac-
 tion.   The repeated  efforts of the vital power to
 regain its full dominion,  produces hot  flashes,  al-
 ternating with cold chills, caused by  the further
 encroachments of the disease.   The  appetite  is
 destroyed, and  great debility of the whole system
 is the  consequence.  The regular plan is to  in-
 crease the debility by the compound powers of
 bleeding, physicking, cooling with nitre  and  of-
                  24 
370
ten  ice, stupifying  with opium,  irritating with
blisters and requiring general starvation, till there
is not power enough in the system to produce any
of those "alarming symptoms," which  nature,
undisturbed,  ever exhibits in her defence  against
the encroachments of disease.  Then this unnatu-
ral and senseless  conduct is abandoned,  and the
patient is allowed alittle indulgence in the use of
light and nourishing diet, which indeed gradually
raises the fever again;  but, as the patient  is, not-
withstanding, evidently gaining  strength  and ap-
petite,  this second trespass of Nature  is  winked
at, doubtless because it is never known to be en-
tirely subdued  without killing the patient.  The
fact that  many recover, in spite of  such  cruel
treatment, is proof positive that the vis medicatrix
naiura:, is strongly inclined and often able to guard
her much loved citadel, against  the combined in-
fluence ofdisease, and of mal-treatment to cure
it.   Whether the patient, unaided,  shall  recover
from this depressed state, depends on the answer
to the question, whether  there is still  in the sys-
tem more power to oppose disease,  or disease to
oppose the sanative operations of the living prin-
ciple.   Whether he  can be cured  by art,  depends
on the answer to  the question, whether any  reme-
dies can be  found and applied  that will  restore
the lost balance,  so as  to leave the living princi-
ple nothing  to do but  repair damages.   But, in-
stead of using remedies in harmony with her ef-
forts, the faculty deal out to her the rankest poi-
sons, which,  according to their own  testimony,
"suddenly and rapidly extinguish a great propor-
tion of the vitality of the system."
  The  Thomsonian finds the  patient cold, he
raises the heat.  There is a disturbed unequal vi- 
371
tal  action; he relaxes the channels, removes  the
local obstructions and restores equilibrium to  the
temperature and circulation; then, with tonics and
nourishment, he brings up the vital action to  the
healthy standard.   Is there local inflammation!—
The regular, by  depletion, reduces the propelling
power of the circulation, so as to prevent it from
forcing the arrested morbific  matter through its
course.   Putrefaction succeeds to stagnation,  the
animal  fibre  is soon  destroyed,  and the natural
tendency outwards  generally  forces the morbific
matter to the surface,  where it produces an ulcer.
If nature  is not  too much opposed in  her opera-
tions, she commences her healing  process in  the
deep recesses of the injury,  and continues it to
the surface where she finishes her work.   When,
hewever,  the cooling and sedative  process is car-
ried so far as to overcome the repellent force of the
living principle, the morbific matter is drawn in-
wards, as in wliite swellings, chalk deposites,  and
internal  abscesses, &c. &c,  which often attend,
in the character of seconds or followers, the "reg-
ular,  scientific  practice   of medicine."   But the
Botanic  practice relaxes, by warmth  and mois-
ture,  the part  obstructed to  its greatest extent,
then adds to, instead of subtracting from, the cir-
culating momentum, till the obstructions are soft-
ened, broken, moved  in  their  natural channels,
and discharged  through their appropriate organs.
In  short, while  the  scientific practice considers
the efforts ofthe system called fevers, the great-
est enemies  of life, and does  all it can to destroy
those efforts, the Botanic deems these  efforts of
all things most salutary,  and counts it the highest
honor ofthe  science, and the  ultimatum of medi-
cal  skill, to  discover and aid them where they ex- 
872
ist, and to  imitate  or  supply  them  where they
are wanting.   It is, therefore, more consistent
with reason  and common sense, than any other yet
devised.
  V.  The  Botanic Practice  is based upon the
principle that all forms of disease proceed from
one cause, viz. obstruction; and of course may be
removed by  the judicious application of any reme-
dies that  experience has  taught  will remove ob-
structions.  The scientific theorists would  have
us believe that diseases are numberless; that each
requires a separate treatment  and different reme-
dies;  that the remedies which  would  cure  one
would be injurious in another; that of course, so
much skill is  necessary to distinguish one discate
from another, and to apply the  proper treatment,
as to exclude from the mass of mankind the priv-
ilege of removing their diseases as  they do hunger
and  cold  or thirst,  and  to confine this care to a
favored few who will not  fail to render it subser-
vient to their pecuniary and honorary advantage.
Therefore, the former or Botanic System, by re-
quiring the  practitioner to  know little  more of
disease than simply  that the patient is sick, or of
remedies than the fact that a few  innocent vege-
tables that may  be obtained any and every where,
will, if used in a certain way, relax the collapsed
vessels, eject the obstructions, and strengthen the
debilitated  organs, proves itself better adapted to
the condition and wants ofthe whole human fami-
ly, than any other system.  All men  are liable to
be sick.   If none but a scientific physician, with
his hundreds of hair-splitting theories of  healthy
and  unhealthy  acvion,  his  twenty-five  hundred
distinctions  of diseases, and his twenty thousand
remedies  can  administer relief,  millions must 
373
perish!   But, if every one can cure  disease, ac-
cording  to the Botanic  doctrine, not more need
perish of that than  of hunger,  and the wisdom
and benevolence  of  Providence  are as conspicu-
ous in providing for  the preservation of health and
the removal of disease, as in furnishing food and
raiment.
  VI.  We have  the most abundant and satisfac-
tory moral evidence  that the Botanic or Thomson-
ian System of Practice is far more efficacious  in
the hands of intelligent, experienced and judicious
men, than  any  that ever preceded it.   To save
space and time, we refer, on this head, to the tes-
timonies every where dispersed through the pages
and volumes of the Thomsonian Recorder, remark-
ing only here that the harmony of testimony on
this subject, from  persons of all ranks in society,
degrees of talent or education, and peculiar loca-
tions and prejudices, differing as widely as the di-
rections of the poles  on othei subjects, as morals,
religion, politics, or  intellectual philosophy, is  one
of the strongest proofs of the truth of the whole,
that can be adduced in favor of any testimony.—
Historians rely so much upon this for  confirma-
tion of the  details of past events, that they reject,
almost in toto, all such details which it does  not
corroborate.  This harmony of testimony among
all the writers ofthe Scriptures, so unlike in other
respects  as the fisherman and the publican must
have been to  the heir of Egypt's learning and the
disciple of  Gamaliel, is unquestionably one of the
strongest external evidences of the truth of  the
Christian religion.
  VII.   That the Botanic System is by far the
most efficacious even in the hands of the most ig-
norant,  the testimonies in the Recorder above al-
luded to, will abundantly prove. 
374
  VIII.  "This system is daily  suffering unmer-
ited neglect or shameless scandal and abuse." &c.
  It  is neglected or abused because  few men of
talents, education,  address, experience, leisure,
means, moral principle and courage, are found to
explain and defend it in the presence ofthe talent,
learning and  influence of tlte multitudes whose
interest is to  arrest  its progress.  It is neglected
because men know not its value.   It is abused be-
cause its enemies, by perverting  its doctrines and
belying the effects of their application, have spread
a bad name in advance of its progress.  It is also
abused for effects produced by its application upon
false principles, and  in connection  with other
means  and modes totally hostile to its principles
and modes of operation, and often sufficient to coun-
teract its salutary tendencies.  Hence, multitudes
who suffer for its application, refuse to receive  it,
for want ofthat evidence of its value which a clear
and correct exhibition of its  principles and an
unmixed and skilful practice would have afforded
them.
  IX.  The friends ofthis system, aware of the
above facts, desire to establish a school and infirm-
ary—for the purposes,
  1st, Of instructing young men  in the pure  prin-
ciples of the system, and making them acquainted
with the nature and character of its  remedies in
scientific order.
  2nd,  Of rendering them  skilful in the applica-
tion of these principles and means, in the active,
constant and  ever-varying business of  an exten-
sive Infirmary.
  3d, Of teaching them the fallacy  of all  false
doctrines  in medical theories, and the  mischiefs of
the corresponding errors in practice. 
375
  4th. Of enabling them to go forth and clearly
exhibit to the intelligence ofthe community,  the
correctness of our doctrines and the  vast superi-
ority of our practice; and to hurl back with merit-
ed vengeance, upon the heads of their authors, the
libels on truth,  and the scandal  and abuse  that
have been so long and  successfully  heaped upon
her lovers and followers; and thus to  raise this al-
ways smothered  and often suppressed system of
medicine, to  that rank and respectability in soci-
ety to which  its merits entitle it; and to confer on
the class of individuals who approve and defend it,
who use and exhibit it, that character for  benevo-
lence,  intelligence  and trustworthiness to which
they will, then at least, have a paramount claim.
  5. Into this institution they  expect to gather
the most talented, scientific,  intelligent and skil-
ful of the now few prominent advocates of their
system of medicine,  and afford them a  support
which  will enable them to withdraw their atten-
tion from  their present incessant  and necessary
engagements, and apply those talents and that sci-
ence and  experience to the objects above sketched,
thus enlarging their sphere of action and influence,
and conferring on community, by their instructions
and writings, blessings  which,  instead of being
confined, as now, to a few individuals and a small
space of country, may be commensurate with pos-
terity and the habitable globe.
  The  resolution says that such an establishment
is  of the first importance.  This point has been
proved by showing that it will expose and  explode
error, and teach the true art of maintaining or re-
storing health, without  which all other blessings
may be compared to the loaves of bread hung be-
fore a man upon a gibbet. 
376
  It says" further, that this measure is altogether
expedientor feasible.  This is true, because all that
is wanting to effect it, is money,  and no exorbi-
tant portion ofthat.   Let a judicious plan be pro-
posed; let it be presented by men of talents, sci-
ence, intelligence, polite address and moral worth,
and there are, in  this community, ten thousand
purses whose clasps  are ready to fly open at the
gentle pressure of such hands.  Men will not in-
deed give their money where they can see that no
good shall result from  the donation; but, let them
see our object in  its true light, as some men are
able to  present it, and the means to accomplish it
will flow as freely and as plentifully as the mighty
torrents of your noble rivers, in their pressure to-
wards the ocean.  I, therefore,  Mr.  President,
move the acceptance of the preamble and resolu-
tion which I have  presented and read, and on which
I have commented.
   FURTHER  REMARKS ON  MEDICAL
                  SHOOLS.

  Dr. Thomson has been often said to be an enemy
to improvement. But, since our first acquaintance
with  him, we have  been well satisfied that he
would rejoice at either the detection  and correc-
tion of any real error in his System  or Practice,
Qr the discovery of any remedial means more safe,
simple and effectual  in  the  removal of disease,
than any  article or compound  which he  recom-
mends.   The  fact is,  that his  views  on this sub-
ject are not understood.
  I have  discovered means and devised modes  of
curing disease, says the Doctor, far surpassing all 
377
former example, both for simplicity and effect.—
If any man will discover a better antispasmodic
and emetic than No. 1, a better lever than No. 2,
a better  scourer than No. 3, or better restorers
than Nos. 4, 5 and 6, of my System; or better aids
to their operations than steam, nervine &cc, I will
cheerfully give place to  them.   But their superi-
ority must be proved, by their producing a  better'
effect when used by themselves, than mine do when
used without the improvements.   I cannot consent
to give to improvements incorporated or combined
with my remedies and means, the credit of  effect-
ing cures which mine are fully able to effect with-
out aid; nor am  I willing that my system  should
be charged with failures which have attended any
practice in which other articles and means  under
the name of aids  or improvements, have been in-
troduced.
  We do not say the above are the Doctor's words;
but as they are in perfect accordance with his prin-
ciples, with what we have ourselves  heard him
say, and with what he has sanctioned in the Man-
ual, page 125, which says, he would "encourage"
real improvers and "adopt their discoveries with
pleasure," we are sure  of his  sanction.   If such
are his sentiments,  who can object!
  The Medical  School will preserve sound theory
and promote purity of practice in a great  varie-
ty of ways.
  1.   It will gather together several gentlemen of
talents and experience, and  furnish them  with a
regular salary  for their  support; so that they can
devote all their attention to teaching young men
and disseminating,  through them and the public
journals, correct principles, and the most approved
remedial means. 
378
  2.  We have already hinted above, that a want
of confidence  in  the  Thomsoniam  System,  and
the introduction of imaginary  aids and  improve-
ments, have  been the means  of casting  discre-
dit upon the practice where it has been introduced,
and of retarding  its progress  to places where it
has not.
  Those  medical professors will point  out these
errors, guard their pupils against them, and teach
the public to discriminate between the true prac-
tice and the spurious.
  3.  The reason why the practice is sometimes
adulterated and  even  abandoned for another, by
those who profess, on the  whole,,to be its strong
advocates, is, that they, being entirely ignorant
of the principles  of the mineral practice, are not
aware ofthe danger of mingling  the two.  They
know not that the  action  produced  by  the Bo-
tanic Practice, is calculated to give a fearful in-
crease to the power of the deadly mineral drugs,
beyond what  they exert  in  the  cold,  inactive
state in which they are ordinarily given—making
what the doctors call "a safe dose," prove a dead-
ly potion  if given with, or immediately after the
Thomsonian  remedies.  By giving their pupils a
condensed view of the  old-school principles and
remedies, and contrasting them with those ofthe
new, the professors of the Botanic School  will do
much to destroy a mixed practice, and to induce a
firm "reliance  on the pure Thomsonian Practice to
the end.
  4.  The pupils ofthe Medical School will se-
cure the confidence and patronage of the multitu-
des who now  reject the Botanic Practice only be-
cause of the  ignorance and inexperience of many
who exercise  it. 
379
  5.   The possession of science and general intel-
ligence, will enable the practitioner to exhibit the
truth, simplicity and beauty ofthe Thomsoniau Sys-
tem and Practice in their proper light, and thus re-
move the objections of educated persons against the
ignorance  of steam doctors, and to induce them to
give it a candid and careful examination.   This is
all that  is wanted to  its universal adoption.  It
will soon prove itself to be profitable, that is, cal-
culated to  increase the wealth, not of a privileged
order, but of the  whole community, by saving  a
vast amount of  suffering, time and money to the
sick.  Like temperance, it increases the  wealth of
its possessor, not so much by gathering more, as
by saving what he has.
  There are wealth and humanity enough among
the Thomsonian Fratertnity, to establish a dozen
medical schools, which need only a judicious  plan
and a  resolute beginning, to call them into action.
Whatever  fears some  good  friends of the cause
may entertain ofthe tendency of medical schools,
we are confident they will more thoroughly estab-
lish and extensively disseminate the  pure  Thom-
sonian System and Practice, than all other means
which have yet been adopted.
  We hope  therefore, that all  our  Thomsonian
friends will soon turn their attention  to these sub-
jects, and stand ready to build up schools and in-
firmaries,  and  supply  them  with pupils and pa-
tients,  wherever they are  needed.   As we have
no doubt that its friends east ofthe mountains will
soon subscribe  more money  than will be wanted
for the Baltimore  school and Infirmary, and send
it more pupils and patients than can  be accommo-
dated; we trust the Thomsonians in the West, will
consider the difficulty and expense of sending pu- 
380
pils across the Alleghanies, and contribute liberal-
ly to the encouragement of a similar institution in
some ofthe cities or towns in the great Western
Valley.
  Infirmaries and their appendages are as necessary
parts ofthe institution, as a well cultivated farm
and  ploughs, hoes &c, would be to a school for
teaching the  science of agriculture, or as an ac-
quaintance with natural scenery, is, to give skill
in landscape painting.
  But, it may be asked, why  the  necessity of
schools!   Are not the Botanic papers and the Uni-
ted States and State Conventions, and especially
the Branch Societies, able to preserve the purity
of the  practice, and  to  secure  to the venerable
founder, the just honor and reward that are due him
for  all his invaluable discoveries and for  his phi-
lanthropic endeavors to bring these blessings with-
in the reach of every suffering son and daughter of
affliction!  We answer,
  As to the  Botanic papers, we arc sorry to say
that, through a misguided spirit of  liberality, to-
wards  every medical scheme that  bears  the
name of "Botanic," the most of them are  so much
in the habit of recommending other "vegetable"
systems and nostrums, that it were very unsafe to
rely upon them as oracles of the Thomsonian faith
and practice. But were they all  what they should
be, how few even ofthe Thomsonians read them!
  To the  United States Botanic Convention we
did  look for something of this sort, but  we were
sorry to find that they  had adopted, on the recom-
mendation  of a committee of their number, with-
out  examination ofthe evidences of their correct-
ness, grave charges against some  persons who
stand high in  the  Thomsonian ranks,  together 
381
with resolutions to pronounce Dr. Thomson's re-
medies inferior to some modern discoveries of cer-
tain  "improvers upon his" system, and to express
their approbation of Thomsonian students resort-
ing to the "Reform Medical College at Worthing-
ton," whose "principles are the same as those  of
the mineral school;" whose practice includes the
lancet, physic, and narcotic poisons, blisters and
mercurial friction; and whose professors consider-
ed it a disgrace  to their noble and scientific prin-
ciples, to  be mentioned  in connexion with "the
steam quackeries of the Thomsons and others."
  The N. Y.  State Convention abolishes the pri-
mary rule that one Thomsonian shall give advice to
any and every other without fee or reward, and it
cannot be supposed that  county societies will be
more vigilant than these.
  The most intelligent and honest  practitioners
are too much  engaged to spend time in correcting
these abuses with their pens, and hence we must
look to the professors  in medical schools for the
talents, knowledge, leisure and independence, ne-
cessary to correct all abuses and preserve the prac-
tice in its purity and power.
  Dr. Thomson  has expressed fears that schools
would mystify the Theory ofMedicine and destroy
the simplicity of his practice and take it out ofthe
hands  ofthe people; but  we assure him and all
who entertain  such fears, that we would be the last
in the world to smother practical truth, under the
rubbish of science, falsely so called; or to confine
to a few the blessings suited to and designed for
the many.                         ,       r
  We devote our chief attention to  the art of pre-
serving health and curing disease.  We neither
teach nor  propose to teach " sciences that have 
382
nothing to do with medicine."   All we teach  of
chemistry, as relating to medical  poisons, is in-
tended only  to show the folly and  wickedness of
using the human body, as a crucible  in which to
perform experiments to show that one poison may
be made to counterbalance or neutralize another.
We teach the science of Botany, because it  is the
shortest and the most sure and certain way of be-
coming acquainted with your materia medica. We
teach Anatomy,  Physiology and Surgery, as se-
condary matters,  because, as the Doctor says,
[Guide, page If),] they are " pleasing and useful,"
and  there is no objection  to this,  " however mi-
nute and critical, if it  is not to the  neglect  of first
principles  and  the weightier matters of know-
ledge."  He may rely  upon it, we shall  never
teach a student to wait till  he knows the scientific
name, shape and uses  of the obstructed, debilitated
or injured  organ, before he applies  remedies that
are well known  to raise the vital energies, disen-
gage all offending causes, and restore strength and
integrity to the whole  system.
  But Dr. Thomson must not object to our teach-
ing the " science  of  medicine"  contained  in his
books, for  he may  rest assured that  the editor of
the Thomsonian Recorder, and proprietor of the
Infirmary  and School  at Columbus, Ohio, is pre-
pared to demonstrate, to the full satisfaction of any
unprejudiced audience, literary, scientific or illite-
rate, that  the system of medicine taught by Dr.
Samuel Thomson, is by far the most scientific that
has ever yet appeared in the world.  This  is what
he does to his pupils, both in the Infirmary  and
Lecture Room.
  Infirmaries and Schools will qualify men to ap-
ply the practice with effect, to defend it against the 
383
assaults of its enemies, and to spread it among the
intelligent portions of the community.   We need
not fear that they will shroud it in mystery, or en-
cumber it  with useless technicalities.   There will
always be  among their and  its advocates, discern-
ing and honest men, in numbers and influence am-
ply sufficient to preserve its simplicity and purity.
We add only what we have said before, that these
institutions  will  contribute more  than all other
means, to perpetuate the practice, and the memory
of its illustrious founder.
  Botanico-Medical School at Columbus, Ohio.
  To many inquiries respecting our School,  we
would make the following general Rfply:
  On the first of April we commenced the systema-
tic and  constant instruction  of a class  of  young
gentlemen, in  the true Theory  and Practice of
Medicine. The principles of the science are clear-
ly explained and illustrated,  in so great a variety
of ways as to fix them permanently in the  mind.
The  practice in the house affords ample means of
exhibiting to students the  symptoms of disease,
the modus operandi of medicines, and the various
and most convenient and proper ways and  means
of rendering the remedial agents and the curative
processes effectual.
  The science of Botany is familiarly and practi-
cally taught in such a manner as not only  to  ac-
quaint the student with the Botanic Materia Med-
ica; but  to enable him to examine the whole vege-
table kingdom with pleasure  and profit.  It is il-
lustrated, not merely by books and plates,  but by
anatomical  examinations of the  natural subjects,
and by oral instructions in the field,  as  well as in
the lecture room.  Each student is taught to label
and preserve plants for his future benefit. 
384
   Instructions are given and lectures delivered on
Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.  The Princi-
ples of Anatomy and Physiology are also taught,
and comparisons drawn between the old school of
medicine and the new.  Much attention is devoted
to Midwifery, and  the Diseases of Women  and
Children.
  Anatomy  and Surgery receive all desirable at-
tention, and the old theories  and practices meet
their just due, in a thorough examination, and com-
parison with the Botanic.
  The Botanic Text Books,  are, Dr. Thomson's
Narrative and New Guide to  Health, Dr. Robin-
Eon's Lectures, the Thomsonian Recorder, from
the beginning; the Discussions between the Mine-
ral and Botanic Faculties;  A. C.'s  Manuscript
Lectures on the Science of Medicine, on Midwife-
ry and the diseases peculiar to Women  and Chil-
dren; Eaton's Botany,  Rafinesque's, &c.
  Comstock's Natural  Philosophy and Chemistry•
  The best text  books on Anatomy,Surgery, Phy-
siology, Pathology, Therapeutics, and every other
branch of" Medical Science,"  falsely  so called,
are contained in our library, to which the student
may have reference; but he must purchase for his
own use, at least one standard work on each ofthe
subjects to which he devotes  particular attention.
                   TERMS.
  We have a select and valuable Library, pnd a
room in which lectures and instructions are given.
For the use of these and the  regular  tuition, one
dollar per week,  or fifty  dollars per  year, are
charged.  Students are boarded at the School for
three dollars per week, at other places in the city
for $2 50 and $2 and*  perhaps, for less.  Payable
quarterly  in advance, with cash  or good security. 
385
  From 6 to 18 months are desirable to acquire a
thorough knowledge of the Botanic Practice.   A
minute acquaintance with Anatomy, Surgery, and
other branches of the old theories  and  practices,
demand a longer period.
   Dr.  Bigelow,  of the  Harvard University,  a
 Thomsonian!—Not exactly so yet, reader, but we
 expect that he soon  will be, for he has taken an
 important step this  way.  See his address lately
 delivered to the Massachusetts  Medical Society.
 We have not  the address itself before us; our re-
 marks are predicated on extracts from it, which
 we find in the Boston Medical and Surgical Jour-
 nal.  The editor of that paper says, this discourse
 "is manifestly a  departure from the  common or-
 der of addresses,  containing something practically
 useful to the physician."  This is a sort of declara-
 tion that,  in  most medical  discourses,  there  is
 little, if any thing, useful to a physician;  perhaps
 it is so, but,  in what,  reader, do you think this
 practical usefulness consists! Simply in  acknow-
 ledging that, though "the structure and functions
 of the human  body,  the laws which govern the
 progress of  its diseases, and more especially the
 diagnosis of its morbid conditions, are better un-
 derstood now than they were at the beginning of
 the present  century;" yet "the science of thera-
 peutics, or the branch of knowledge by the appli-
 cation of which physicians are expected to remove
 diseases, has  not, seemingly, attained to a much
 more elevated standing than it formerly possessed.
 The records of mortality attest its frequent fail-
 ures  and the  inability to control the event of
diseases which at times is felt  by the most gifted
and experienced practitioners, give evidence that 
386
in many cases,  disease is more easily understood
than  cured."
   The  Editor of the Journal says, "this is a plain
statement of facts, however mortifying it must be
to those who boast of their skilful application of
remedies; and it is  honest too."  The Doctorcon-
tinues:  "This deficiency ofthe healing art, is not
justly attributable to any want of sagacity or  dili-
gence on the part ofthe medical profession,   [No,
they cannot be wrong.]   It  belongs rather to the
inherent difficulties of the case, and is, after abating
the effects of errors and accidents, to  be ascribed
to the apparent fact that certain morbid processes
in the human body, have a definite and necessary
coreer,from which they are  not to be diverted by
any known agents  with which it is in our power
to oppose them."   These "morbid processes," the
Doctor calls "self-limited diseases."
   Now, Doctor, before we proceed farther, permit
us very respectfully to reason  a little with  you.
We say, very respectfully, for  we highly respect
your  talents, attainments and moral worth, though
we presume to  question the soundness  of  your
logic.
   We are sure you will agree  with us  that  the
first  step to improvement is to discover and un-
learn our errors; and the next is to predicate all
our reasoning upon correct postulates, or unques-
tionable bases.   For  example,  were we  to say
that no cause is designed to produce any particu-
lar effect, and thereupon undertake to prove  that
any  given  effect may be attributed to one cause
as well  as another,  the conclusion would  be mani-
festly wrong, while the reasoning  would  be lo-
gical.  To correct the  error, therefore, we must
return to the postulate.  But, Doctor, the above
ia  exactly your  mode of reasonino-.   You lay it 
387
down  as a position not to be controverted, that
you know all about the human body and the nature
and progress of disease, and thereupon argue that
you ought to know and do know how to cure all
curable diseases; and  that, what you do not cure,
are not to be cured by any known process.  Yet
you are compelled to acknowledge the fact, that
many  of those diseases which you can neither cure
nor check by all your  art,  are often easily and en-
tirely  removed by  the sanative operations ofthe
syBtem alone.  (And you might have added, with
truth, that many  others  which the faculty have
considered liinitable only  by death, have been en-
tirely eradicated by the renovating energies of the
Botanic Practice.)
   In the  Prospectus of the Cyclopedia of Practi-
cal Medicine,  Dr.  Hays  6ays, and we presume
you will endorse it, "the main object of medicine
is the preventing and curing of diseases."   You
.say, in  substance, we know all about the human
frame, the  nature  and progress of disease, the
medical properties  of remedies, what effects they
are calculated to aid,  and  what to counteract; and
yet it is mere'luck and chance, depending on some
secret states or operations of the system, that we
cure disease  at all.   (For it is a melancholy fact
that some patients  die under your practice, of al-
most every form ofdisease to which the ingenuity
of man  has given a name, while others  recover
from the  most deadly  attacks of the most danger-
ous forms ofdisease in the whole dread catalogue,
with all the artificial bleeding,blistering, physick-
ing, probing and starving which the most savage
barbarity could inflict.)  We know how to give a
poison to counteract a poison; and yet, in practice,
we must "abate" our numerous "errors  of giving
the one when the other is not present, and there- 
388
by killing the patient which the uninterrupted ope-
rations of the vis medicalrix naturce might have
healed!
  That we do not misrepresent you in stating your
argument to be predicated on the strange postu-
late that "a given effect may be the product of one
cause as well as another," we appeal to your prac-
tice.   When the remedies you first apply do not
produce  the desired effect, you try others, and
others (almost ad  infinitum) of character  and
effects very  different from,  and often directly the
reverse of those you tried at  first, though  you ad-
mit that the disease is  the same.  For example,
(excuse  our plainness  for the benefit of our less
scientific readers,)you  first bleed, blister, physick
and starve afever,and when you find that this process
is likely to  kill the patient  instead of  the fever,
you  turn about and use food and stimuli.  Does
not the use, in the same disease,  of so many reme-
dies of opposite nature and effects, prove inconjtes-
tibly, whether you  acknowledge it or not, that
you consider it as likely to have proceeded from
one cause as  another!  What  would  your old
Greek friend Aristotle think ofthe logic which you
have exhibited in the above quotation!
  But, sir, you have no doubt perceived ere this,
not only that your logic is unsound, but that  its
rottenness lies in the position which you have as-
sumed in the beginning, viz. that you are acquaint-
ed with "the functions of the  human body and
the laws which govern  the  progress  of  its dis-
eases."   On this subject, we  contend that the
medical faculty are more in the dark than they are
in therapeutics or the art of  removing diseases—
where they  sometimes  do  hit the  mark, though
they know not  why; whereas,  in  their theory of
the  nature and progress of disease, they  are sys- 
389
 tematically and  always wrong.   This is a grave
 charge, but we are prepared  to prove it.  Be-
 fore  we  do  so,  however,  it will be  convenient
 to take notice of succeeding positions in your "Dis-
 course."
   "By a self-limited disease,"  you  mean "one
 which receives  limits from its  own  nature, and
 not from  foreign influences; one which, after it has
 obtained  foothold  in the  system, cannot, in the
 present state of  our  knowledge,  be eradicatedox
 abridged by art, but  to which there is due a cer-
 tain succession of processes, to be completed in a
 certain time;  which  processes  may   vary  with
 the constitution  and condition of  the patient, and
 may tend to death or recovery, but are not known
 to be shortened or greatly changed  by medical
 treatment."
   This is a very  fair and candid acknowledgment,
 Doctor, but it  contains only one truth, viz. that
 "there is due to  these diseases a certain success-
 ion of processes, to be completed in a  time which
 varies with the constitution  and  condition of the
 patient."  All the rest is folly; else all your know-
 ledge,  experience and  services, are  vain—yea
 worse than vain, in almost every case ofdisease:
 for, you well know, that all the argument the fa-
 culty can offer  to justify the use of "substances
 whose tendency  is fatal to vitality," and which,
 if any thing, they are sure  to use,  is, that they
 counteract the  deadly virus and stimulate the sys-
 tem to the rejection ofthat which would otherwise
 prove fatal to the  patient.  Thus, they give tartar
 emetic,to  expel  the  suicidal dose of laudanum;
 arsenic to cure the ague and the cancer, mercury
for dyspepsia  &c.  &c.  Now, if these "cannot
abridge nor eradicate" the  disease, we know they
do most seriously injure  the constitution, and, 
390
therefore, it is our bounden duty, as it is our high-
est interest, (as you have the candor virtually to
acknowledge,) to beware of all interference with
the medical  faculty!  But  stop, we will not go
quite  so far  yet.  We  will  wait till  we ascer-
tain what  the diseases are which you call self-
limited.
   "It is difficult to select a  perfectly satisfactory
or convincing example of a self-limited disease
from among the  graver morbid affections,  because,
in these -affections, the solicitude of the practition-
er usually  leads  him  to the employment of remedies,
in consequence of which the- effect of remedies is
mixed up  with  the phenomena  ofdisease, so that
the mind has  difficulty in separating them."  This
is a solemn truth,  Doctor,  and  the mind  that haa
had the sagacity to discern, and the courage to
confess it, will not stop here.  It is this mixture
ofthe effects of  your remedies with the phenome-
na ofthe disease,  that makes the symptoms, un-
der your treatment,  appear  so  different, and con-
tinue  so much longer than they do under the Bo-
tanic, and it is this diseased knowledge, if we may
so speak, ofthe  indications of disease, and the evi-
dences of returning  health, which you obtain from
watching  the patient  through the several stages
of your process from  the  commencement of the
attack to  final recovery, that renders you so inca-
pable of judging ofthe real nature and  character
of the progress  ofdisease  and  of recovery under
the Thomsonian treatment; the  speedy  and pow-
erful effects  of  which you attribute to  improper
causes and pronounce injurious; and hence all the
odium and calumny popularly attached  to steam,
lobelia and cayenne pepper; articles so valuable in
themselves that the 6inall quantities you use  in
your practice, with all your abuse of them, do more 
391
good than all  your other remedial agents put to-
gether.   But to return to the quotation.
  "We must, therefore, seek for our most striking
or decisive examples among those  diseases which
are sufficiently mild not to be thought to require
ordinarily the use of remedies, and in which the
natural history of the disease may be  observed,
divested of foreign influences.  Such examples are
found in the Vaccine disease, the  chicken pox, and
the salivation produced by mercury.
  These are strictly self-limited diseases, having
their own rise, climax and decline, and I know of
no  medical practice, which is able, were  it deemed
necessary, to  divert them from their  appropriate
course, or to hasten their termination."
  This last declaration, the editor of the Journal
says  is "bold but  nevertheless  true; and  yet he
(DrT  Bigelow) is  the only eminent  practitioner
who has had the boldness to assert it in this coun-
try!"  As much as to say, we and perhaps a thou-
sand  others have long known the fact—(it is never-
theless true) but we had neither the independence
of spirit nor the moral honesty to confess it, nor
even  print it  in our journal till it came from an
eminent practitioner whose popularity is able to
sustain both himself and us!  The French Physi-
cians have long been  aware ofthe danger of med-
dling with diseases  whose nature and progress
they5 do not  understand,  and hence they  reject
almost toto  celo our  heroic remedies and content
themselves with recommending light  and nourish-
 ing diet, which, giving the digestive organs little
to°do, allow and aid  them to exert all their ener-
gies  against  the  disease  which generally soon
 yields totheir salutary action.  We dared not at-
tempt to stir this ponderous rock from its bed, for
fear ofthe vengeance of 6ome ofthe  big ones; but 
392
now,  one of their number has started it,  we are
safe in lending him our aid to keep it in motion.
"The closing remark," says the editor, "in which ■
the idea is advanced that the services of a physi-
cian are useless, is quite as startling to us as it
would be to a patient in the last stages ofdisease,
to be  told that he must trust entirely to luck fpr
recovery."
  Startling as it  may  be to you, Mr.  Editor, pa-
tients treated as  they generally  are, begin  with
good  reason to believe the fact, whether they are
told it or not; and  not a few, fully persuaded that
the luck  is altogether  against them, refuse all
aid from the wisdom ofthe schools, trusting entire -
ly to the salutary operations of nature and the little
aid which they know how to give.   But to the Doc-
tor again.
  You have given the names of several diseases
which you call self-limited.  If, now, you would
be so good as  to tell us what is the minimum or
shortest period of their limit, we should have the
means of testing  the correctness of ypurconclu--
sions.  You say the "hooping cough has its  regu-
lar increase, height and  decline,  occupying ordi-
narily from one to six months.  During this peri-
od medical  treatment  is for the most part of no
avail."
   Now,  Doctor,  we venture the  assertion that,
had you possessed the independence and candor, as
well as  "sagacity"  to examine  impartially the
merits ofthe Thomsonian practice, and to  apply
it skilfully and perseveringly to this disease, you
would have been able,  ere  this,  to  reduce your
months to weeks  if not to days.
   The whooping  cough is caused  by cold  phlegm
adhering  to the  bronchiae and their  dependents,
which phlegm, unaided by art, the system finds it 
393
a tedious and difficult task to disengage.  A judi-
cious application of steam  and cayenne will heat
and  dissolve that phlegm; lobelia will relax and
expand the vessels in which  it is lodged, and all
these and some others will  stimulate the whole
system to an action sufficient to disengage entire-
ly the offending cause.  The time required  will,
as you very justly remark, still  depend  "on the
condition of the patient;" that is,  the degree  of
temperature to which the system is raised and con-
tinued, and on "the constitution,"  which always
aids the process in proportion to its strength.—
The idea that the termination of this disease can-
not be hastened by medical treatment, is certainly
not less astonishing to us than to the Editor of the
Journal. •
  "Most ofthe class  of diseases usually denom-
inated eruptive  fevers, are seif-limited.  Measles,
for example,  is never known to be cut short by
art,  or abridged of its natural character.  Scarlet
fever, a disease of which we have had much and
fatal experience during the three last years, is em-
inently of this  character.   Small pox is  another
example.  It  may,  at  first view, appear that
innoculation has placed artificial iimits  on this
disease.  But it must be recollected that  innocu-
lated small  pox is  itself only a milder variety of
the same disease, having its own customary limits
of extent and duration which  are  fixed quite as
much as those  of the distinct and confluent forms
ofthe natural disease.
  Erysipelas  is an eruptive  fever, having strong
analogies with those which have  been detail-
ed.  It is not certain that  art can very materi-
ally  affect either the  duration or extent of this
malady."                                  .   .
   Perhaps, Doctor,  you  have  not  determined 
394
the shortest  time  that  these maladies require
to finish their course.   We will aid you a little in
this matter.
  During the past winter we cured from twenty-
five to thirty  cases of measles, none of which ex-
cept three or four in patients afflicted with other
diseases, required more than four days  to effect a
perfect cure; and in many the disease was com-
pletely disengaged in two days, no trace but the
desquamation remaining.   The only cases we lo6t,
were patient  also  in the  last stage of consump-
tion, and an infant to which we  were called after
a week's relapse, and which was then sinking in
the arms of death.  We have treated many cases
of scarlet  fever without  ever losing a patient.—
In  several instances  we  have  thrown out the
virus and entirely cured the patient  in the short
space of twelve hours.  In one instance, the pa-
lost  but a  single meal of  victuals, and not  one
hour  from  her labor, though she had both the
scarlet  fever and  the sore throat!  We have no
doubt, Doctor, that "this  form  of disease  has a
certain course to run," but we  assure you,  that
the  steam practice will  drive   it through  that
course, as  much faster than yours will, as the same
vapor will  propel cars on a rail-road,  faster  than
the  plodding  ox can drag through the mud the
ponderous  wagons ofthe olden time.
   "Erysipelas," says  Hooper, "is known  by
Bynocha of two or three days continuance,  with
drowsiness and sometimes delirium;  pulse com-
monly full  and hard; then erythema of the face, or
some  other part,  with  continuance of synocha,
tending either to abscess or gangrene."
   "It is remarkable that erysipelas sometimes re-
turns  periodically, attacking  the patients once ot
twice a year, or even once every month," <Stc. 
395
  The worst case we have treated was one ofthe
vesiculose species, of this periodical character.
  "Where the erysipelas attacks the face, it comes
on with a chilliness, succeeded by heat, restless-
ness, thirst, and other febrile symptoms, with a
drowsiness  or  tendency to coma,  and the pulse
very frequent and full.
  Such was the condition ofthe patient when we
were called to prescribe.
  "The treatment" says-  Hooper, "must proceed
on the antiphlogistic plan, varied in activity, ac-
cording to the type ofthe  disease."
  We commenced, however, a treatment the very
reverse; gave  heating stimulants which, in a few
hours, cut out several days of "the progress of the
disease" as described by Hooper, bringing out the
"large blisters" at once.   To these we  instantly
applied (all  over the face) hot and  moist, stimula-
ting poultices,  inviting and absorbing the virus
which was forced out so fast by "diffusive stimu-
lants" that in  two or three days the patient was
entirely well, and  has not since been attacked!—
The attack, the preceding spring, had lasted her
several months, under the antiphlogistic treatment
recommended  by Hooper.  Is  it common for this
self-limited  disease  to become so much  lighter
and more  easily eradicated, after three or four pe-
riodical returns, as  to  account for the difference
of duration here exhibited, consistently with your
views  ofthe subject!
  "It is a question of great interest to the medical
profession, to  determine whether  typhus is a dis-
ease susceptible of control by medical means.  No
one doubts that, if the disease is once fairly estab-
lished in the system, it cannot be eradicated by
art, but must complete a certain natural course
before convalescence can take place.  But the ques- 
396
tion is, whether this disease is capable of being
jugulated or broken up at its outset, by the early
application of remedies."
  Our limits forbiding to be more particular we
willjust remark now, Doctor, foryour present be-
nefit; that we have treated almost all the forms of
fever in your formidable catalogues, typhus among
the rest, but, in nearly three years practice,  we
never have allowed any one  to battle our skill for
twelve hours!
  We hope,  when  we see  the remainder of the
discourse, to find a  table of the maximum and
minimum periods that each ofthe self-limited-dis-
eases is allowed to run.
  To conclude these remarks whose length is justi-
fied only by the vast importance ofthe subject, we
must explain the hint thrown out in the beginning,
that you might yet become a Thomsonian.  You,
sir, see and acknowledge the defects of the sys-
tems of the schools, in the accomplishment of the
grand object (the healing of the  sick) for which
you have devoted to their attainment the energies
of your youth  and  the  mature strength of riper
years.  With your venerable neighbor,  Dr. Wa-
terhouse, you hnve become "sick of learned quack-
ery."  As  it is not  the characteristic of a great
mind, to sit down in despair after disappointment
in any pursuit, so we expect that, like him, you
will look about  you and "take some interest in ob-
serving the effects of humane and strong-minded
empiricism, which has done more for the healing
art than all the schools of physic since the days of
Paracelsus;" and we are  sure that, if you once
drop your hold  ofthe confused, discordant and de-
ceptive theories of those  schools, turn your back
upon them and  look about you with an eye ready
to observe and a heart willing to receive the truth 
397
wherever you find  it, you will not long entertain
the absurd notions of disease advanced in  the dis-
course on  which we have just commented.
   In his parting  address  Dr. Medicus  recom-
mends to us  the  perusal of the  little poem of
Burns,  entitled Death and  Dr. Hornbook.   We
have read it.   As the story goes, Death meets the
poet, on  his return, late at night, from a place
where he had gotten a little  tipsy, and complains
to him  that Dr.  Hornbook, a famous apothecary,
physician and surgeon,  secundum  artem,  (no
quack, mind ye,) had taken from him all his law-
ful  business, that of taking men only when fairly
worn out with age.  After hearing but misunder-
standing, a long story about the  manner in which
Hornbook learned his art, of " Buchan and ither
chaps," the poet expressed his fears that his friend
Johnie, the grave digger, would soon be out of
business, and ruined, and the grave yard ploughed
up !   Whereupon,

  " The creature grain'd an eldritch laugh,
  And says 'Ye need na yoke the pleugh,
  Kirk yards will soou be till'd enough,
                       Tak' ye nae fear,
  They'll a1 be trench'd  wi' monie  a sheugh
                       In twa-three year.
      For, continues Death,
    * Whare I  kill'd ane a fuir strae-death,
  By loss o' blood or want o' breath,
  This night I'm free to tak my aith,
                       That Hornbook's skill
  Has clad a score i' their last claith,
                       By drap an' pill. 
398
      To prove it, he says;
  * An honest Wabster to his trade,
  Whase wife's twanieves were scarce wee! bred,
  Gat tippence worth to mend her head
                      When it was sair;
  The wife slade cannie to her bed,
                      But ne'er spak mair.
    " A kintry laird had ta'en the batts,
  Or some curmurring in his gutts,
  His only  son for Hornbook 6ets,
                      An pays  him well;
  The lad, for twa guidgimmer pets,
                      Was laird himsel'.
    ' A  bonnie lass, ye  kend her name,
  Some ill-brewn drink had hov'd her wamc;
  She trusts hersel', to  hide the shame,
                      In Hornbook's care;
  Horn sent herafftoher lang hame,
                      To hide it there.
    ' That's just a swatch o'  Hornbook's way ;
  Thus goes he on from day to day ;
  Thus does he poison,  kill and slay,
                      An's weel paid for't;  -
  Yet stops meo' mylawfu' prey,
                      Wi'  his vile dirt."
  If the above favors Dr. Medicus, he is  heartily
welcome to all its beneficial influence,—E»» 
CONTENTS.
      DISCUSSIONS IN MARYLAND.
                                       Pagb
Dr. Williams's speech on the Bill to incor-
  porate the Thomsonian National Infirm-
  ary, H. of D. Maryland 1835,               5
Dr. Curtis's Reply to  do.                   19
Refusal ofthe B. M. S. Journal to admit it, 36-7

  DISCUSSIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA.

Rev. Mr. Daniel's Certificate,              38
Commentsof "Medicus," or Dr. Bettner,      40
Answer of Botanist, or Dr. Curtis,            53
Reply of Medicus or Dr. Bettner,            63
Second reply of Botanist, or Dr. Curtis,      70
Omar's first essay,                         78
Contributions of a country subscriber,         80
Quackery, from The Pa. Inquirer,            81
Reply of Botanist to the above,              82
Remarks  of"Agricola,"                    90
Lecture delivered in Baltimore, by Dr. A.
  Curtis,                             93, 117
Cholera Practice,                         109
Thomsonian Surgery,                      123
Value of Steam,                           127
    CONTROVERSY IN GEORGIA,     139
Introduction by Equity,                    140
Note by the Editor ofthe F. U.             142
"Remarks" on the preceding  Lectures, by
  Dr. Edward Deloney of Talbotton, Ga.     143
Reply of Dr. Curtis,                       168 
400
Dr. Deloney's'answer,                     201
Rejoinder of Dr. Curtis,                   227
Warden to Dr. Deloney,                    240
Dr. Deloney to Warden,                   241
Warden's Reply,                          246
Dr. Deloney's Rejoinder,                   247
"Equity's"'first reply to Dr.  Deloney,       249
Dr. Deloney's Reply,                      2G2
Equity's Farewell,                        261
Eveliegh's (M.  D.) Advertisement,         2t1
"Medicus" or Dr. Deloney's exit,           287
"Medicus Senior,"                        290

                APPENDIX.

Notes on Dr. Williams's Speech,           301
Review of Trials of  Thomsonians, in Ha-
  gerstown, Maryland,                     303
Further nGtes on Dr. Williams's Speech,     313
Principles ofthe B. M. and S. Journal,      317
fetter of Dr.  Elliot,                       320
Omar's reply  to Botanist, with answers,      330
Dr. J. H. Miller's "Thompsonalgia Report," 335
Infirmary Practice,                        351
Thomsonian Intemperance,                 357
Botanico-Medical Schools,     359—60—62, 376
Review of Dr. Bigelow's, Address,          '385
Medical laws—     20—22, 257—260, 293—301
                                    303—313
Medical School  at ColumbuB,               3^3
Death and Dr. Hornbook,  .                397
The nature, improvement and use of reason,
          "           "              i;3—104
The Thomsonian Practice,         117--I22, 370
The Science of Medicine,               132, 369
Botanic Principles,                        G72
Regular Plan,                            373 
 
 
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