ONE principal character of a fluid, as laid down by Mr. Martin, and seems to be warranted by Sir Isaac Newton ▪ is (viz.) That the particles composing the same, are exceeding small, for, that the smallness of the particles con­duces to fluidity, say they, is evident from hence: That the points of contact between spheres, are in proportion to their diameters, and therefore grow less with their spheres, and the less their points of contact, the less will be the cohesion, and the greater (of course) their disposition to fluidity, &c.— upon which I would observe first; That if any given point of the contact of a sphere, even against a plane, is of any measure of distance across, 'tis plain and evi­dent, 'tis not an entire sphere; for that given distance, must be a plane also, or it could not rest upon a plane. Hence 'tis also plain and evident, that let their spheres be great or small, it makes no odds in respect to the largeness of their points of contact; But in respect to their number, it does; for the larger the spheres, the fewer the number of their points of contact, in any gi­ven quantity of matter. Therefore, if we account for fluidity in their way, the larger the spheres, the more fluid must that body be; which we know is contrary to fact.

Fill any vessel with musk [...] ball, and elevate (for in­stance) the south side of the vessel, until some of the balls begin to roll, not one of them will roll, until you bring the center of its gravity, north of the northermost point of its contact; 'Tis certain also, that you must elevate the vessel just as many degrees, in order to make fine pigeon shot to roll, as to make cannon ball roll— And 'tis just as certain, that the same vessel, being filled with any known fluid, and elevated on one side, the [Page 2] whole surface, instantly alters accordingly, and forms a level—Thus I think I have made it fully to appear, that those philosophers are mistaken in this matter.

In the 2d. and 3d. place, they affirm, that they are both round and smooth; here I would just observe, that if they are perfectly round, they must, of course be smooth, for there can be no other idea of smoothness, but equa­lity in surface—Moreover, smoothness, they make an absolute requisite to a fluid, for want of this quality, say they, altho' the particle were possessed of all other mentioned in the definition, yet they would never constitute a fluid, since nothing can be of greater obstruction thereto, than asperity or roughness of the superficies.

Now I would just observe, for a moment, in what manner our theory must run (in order to have it consist­ent upon the hypothesis, that smoothness is absolutely necessary to a fluid; it must run thus, viz. That the particles composing oleaginous substances, such as lard, tallow, &c. together with the whole train of metallic substances; also most saline substances, such as sea-salt, pot-ash, lap. infern. and even lunar caustic itself, when melted, are exceeding smooth—Surely then, we ought to leave off the term acrid, as applied to them—Howe­ver, what has been said, I think sufficient to prove, to any curious mind, that the account given by those philo­sophers concerning a fluid, is at least, altogether unsatis­factory—It were to be wished therefore, that they had adhered more strictly to the incomparable Sir Isaac's first rule of philosophizing, viz. More causes of natural things are not to be admitted, than are both true and sufficient to explain the phaenomena; for nature does nothing in vain, but is simple, and delights not in superfluous causes of things. Accordingly the poet, although with a different view, ob­serves,

& again,

[Page 3]It remains therefore, to account for fluidity on some more rational principles, and more agreeable to what we find to be fact—First then, we will attend to the follow­ing axiom, viz. Whenever we can procure a number of par­ticles or corpuscles of common matter, of a suitable configura­tion to attract the electrical effluvia on all sides, so as to form an electrical atmosphere around each; we then have a fluid, without which electrical atmosphere, there can be no proper fluid; because, if the particles touch each other, altho' it should be even only in points, yet they would not be a fluid; altho' perhaps, they might be a pretty fine powder: Now there are two grand divisions into which all the matter composing this system, ought to be divided, because, attended with opposite qualities and attributes—The first is re­pulsive matter, which is, by far, the most abundant, ^* [Page 4] and secondly attractive or common matter, ^† which occupies but a small proportionate part of space. One very princi­pals, as well as peculiar attribute of the former, is an invariably repulsive quality, whereby its particles con­stantly and violently repel each other; but as constantly attract, and of consequence, are attracted by all common matter—Which last, in respect of repulsive matter, may be sub-divided into plus and minus, or more and less at­tractive powers. Again there is a sub-division to be made in repellant matter also, as appears from electrical experiments on the vitrious and resinous electricity; but to determine precisely, how they are disposed towards, or affected by each other, must be referred to more ac­curate, as well as a greater number of experiments.— The pecular characteristic and principal attribute of common matter, is, that its particles constantly and pow­erfully attract each other, and also those of repulsive mat­ter—And when by any ^‡ violence, they are robbed of their natural proportion of the repulsive, (in any degree) in the same proportion are their attractions, in regard to the repulsive, both stronger, and to a greater distance; and all these attractions, and repulsions are, coeteris pa­ribus, proportionate to the quantity of matter, and their nearness; and from these axioms, together with the consideration of the vis inertiae of matter may be de­duced, the general laws, to which are subjected all the fluids and solids, hitherto known; and all the motion in [Page 5] the material world, where spirit is not the immediate & efficient cause—Here it may be ask'd what then, are rays of light, which the great Sir Isaac affirms to be material substances? and certainly they produce much motion, rarify air, and other substances, produce that brisk acti­on called fire, &c.

If I was to attend to the aforesaid rule of Philosophi­zing, viz. not to admit more causes, than are, both true and sufficient to explain the phaenomena, I would answer, that a solar ray of light, is no other than a particle of this same repulsive matter, just now described, projected forth from the surface of the sun, with such force as to over­come the resistance made by the attracting matter in that body; and suddenly passing into a repelling medium, with little, or no resistance, it almost instantaneously pass­es in the interstices, or seams near the verge of their se­veral spheres of repulsion; much after the manner that a honey-bee passes, when the hunter takes his line—When it arrives at the air's surface, it finds more resistance; but from thence to the earth, is a small proportionate dis­tance—When the rays of light arrive at the earth, ac­cording to Sir Isaac, they are there mostly absorded— How that great philosopher means to be understood by this, I am at a loss; whether he means that they are annihilated, or that they have assisted, in increasing the bulk of this earth for near six thousand years; in consequence where­of, the sun has grown less, in that proportion—True, I don't find, that he gives us any account of them after this; but I rather think, that had he lived in this day, with advantage of the discoveries of that equally great philo­sopher, Doctor Franklin, he would have employed them in supplying the place of those large quantities of elec­tricity, or repulsive matter, which are continually pas­sing from this globe, to other parts of the system, to restore an equilibrium in the same; and that some of them assisted in preserving a fluid state in air, some in water. &c.

I would here take notice of a very curious experiment, that now occurs to my mind, that has been often try'd, [Page 6] tho' not attended to—I mean the collection of nitre from air; a principal part of which last, consisting of plus at­tractive matter, thence collects around each particle, a very large atmosphere of the repulsive—When the wind, in this country, blows from the N. W. and these repelling atmospheres, are from any cause considerably lessen'd, the projectile motion of the air, being a force added to that of the natural attraction there is between the aerial par­ticles, and that of the terrene alkaline salt; urges the former (notwithstanding its repulsive atmosphere) direct­ly on to the saline point; which being accute, more ea­sily enters, taking off the said repelling atmosphere as it approaches, from the known laws of electricity; whence the said aerial and terrene particles, becoming one, are now of a figure not fit to hold a repelling atmosphere, on all sides, having a point that is constantly throwing off, as fast as the other part, tho' plus attractive, can take on; & thus polarity being form'd between these two primogenial particles, (both which now conjunctly form one corpuscle) a number of those corpuscles, being immerg'd in a fluid capable to suspend them, easily form into shoots which we call nitre; and thus the original fluid and solid par­ticles forming this corpuscle, are generally, both conti­nued in a solid form, until some ignited particle is pro­jected, with such force, as to knock off the said saline particle, leaving the aerial naked, and in its original fi­gure; whence it immediately demands its original quan­tity of repulsive atmosphere; in gaining of which, there being such violent and instantaneous demand for room, there are numbers more of those spiculae knock'd off by the sudden motion of the repellent matter; as also nearly all the adjacent particles of common matter, projected from thence, with an ignited force, in among the adjacent mass; and thus is produced a general explosion of the whole—The terrene and aerial particles, being thus sepa­rated, the former precipitates to the earth from whence it originated, and there lies ready, either to assist in form­ing nitre again, or to perform all the offices of vegetati­on, &c. that belong to that particular substance; and [Page 7] the latter is now become a fluid again: And as soon as it has had sufficient time to part with its extraordinary quantity of repulsive atmosphere, is fitted to perform all the purposes of respiration, &c.

Let us next take a view of human blood; I mean, in an athletic person. This we may consider as an hetero­geneous mass, consisting of particles or corpuscles of com­mon matter, differing, not only in magnitude, but figure also; whence they are both plus and minus attractive— Now the constant friction, occasioned by the action of the heart and arteries, collects such large quantities of repulsive matter, that the proportion that each of the minus attractive particles naturally take to themselves, proves sufficient to produce a fluid state in them; lessen that friction, to a sufficient degree, by taking the blood from those vessels, or by any means prevent this extraor­dinary quantity of repulsive matter collecting in their neighbourhood, so that the proportion of the repulsive that belongs to each minus attractive corpuscle, is not sufficient to counteract the natural attraction there is be­tween themselves, and they immediately coalesce; and then, we say the blood is coagulated.

And on these principles only, have I ever been able to account for the coagulation of any fluid whatever—But here comes a question, viz. How comes it to pass then, that the fluids in an egg are coagulated by an extraordinary degree of heat? I answer, that the plus attractive particles, which, by their intervention, render fluid all the rest, are so shap'd, and so extremely minute with-all, that upon any considerable addition of repulsive matter, they make their escape, even through the shell; hence the remaining par­ticles immediately coalesce.

In farther illustration of this subject, let us next take a view of the effects of frost on human flesh; and in or­der to a right understanding of this matter, it may be necessary first to inquire, what sort of substance may be the proper subject of frost—And here first negatively, 'tis neither air, nor earth, nor spirit, nor any of the ole­aginous substances; for neither of those having been [Page 8] placed in a situation ever so cold, do we agree to call fro­zen—But 2dly and positively, water alone is, perhaps, the only proper subject of frost; and therefore a disco­very of the mechanical operation of frost on water, will naturally lead the mind to a right view of its effects on human flesh—Now then, we are to consider the effects of frost on water; and here I would make the following ob­servations, viz. 1st. That water, in an open vessel, can­not be heated beyond the 212th degree by Farenheit's thermometer; because, if you add to the water any far­ther degree of heat, the aqueous particles instantly take to themselves, such large and complete repelling atmospheres, as to cast them out of the spheres of the corpuscular attrac­tion of each other, and thence they become air; for there is doubtless no essential difference between water and air, only the particles composing the one are within, but the other without the spheres of their corpuscular attractions. 2dly. That water will decrease in its quantity or bulk, exactly according to the increase of cold, from the high­est possible degree of its rarefaction, viz. From the 212th degree of heat, even down to the 32d degree—Now 'tis plain, that in all this process, the aqueous particles are constantly approaching nearer to each other; but when it comes to the 32d degree, which is the freezing point, and the particles are about to come in contact, the quan­tity or bulk of the water will instantly be enlarg'd, by reason that the particles of the same, in order to present their more angular or pointed parts to each other, will alter their situation, by suddenly turning out of that close and compact position, respecting each other, in which they were before constantly kept, by common gravitation. Hence, ice occupies more cubic measure, and of conse­quence, is specifically lighter than water.

These things being premised, 'tis easy to see how hu­man flesh must be affected by frost; especially when we consider that the whole of human flesh is composed of fluids, (the basis of which is water) and the vessels which contain them; which vessels are continually contracting and growing stronger, as the cold advances, until it ar­rives [Page 9] at the freezing point; at which time, the fluids, with which the vessels are already filled, being instantly enlarged, by a force that is not to be resisted; the effect which this must have on the containing vessels, needs no description.

I beg leave here to recite the following, nearly as it was delivered before the society:

Discourse on Burns and Scalds.

THE chief design of the following discourse, being to point out a method of treating those wounds received by fire, (commonly called burns or scalds) better, and more rational than is commonly practised in the country; and it being generally necessary to investigate the cause of a disease, before we can proceed to prescribe a ration­al method of cure; it may be necessary to observe the following method, viz. First to say something on the es­sence of fire; 2dly, on the mechanical operation in its action; 3dly, its effects on human flesh; and then pro­ceed to the general intention:

First then, I am to say something concerning the es­sence of fire—This has been thought, (perhaps by some of the greatest geniuses in all ages, from the first crea­tion of the world, even down to the present day) to be one of the most surprizing and unaccountable creatures of God: some of the antients observ'd that wherever a man was (and could himself subsist) whether on Pizgah's top, or in the deepest vault, on board a ship, many leagues off at sea, or in the hold of the same, many feet beneath the surface of the water, in open day, or even in the darkest dungeon, if he should only do this small homage, viz. To strike two hard substances together, such as a flint and a bit of steel, or the like—This won­derful essence would instantly make its appearance to his assistance, presenting him a comfortable degree of both light and heat—This circumstance looking so much like omnipresence, many of them mistook this creature for the creator, and worshiped it accordingly; and no won­der, for I think, that without the light of a divine reve­lation [Page 10] the mistake must have been, in their day, pretty easy and natural—Among the modern of all the writers on the essence of fire, that I have had the perusal of, I think the great Boerhaave, appears to be the most in­genious; but he, grossly mistook his point—He gave us no satisfactory account of the essence of fire, neither is this to be wondered at, for he sought it where it was not to be found, viz. In material substance—But he who rightly attends to the very interesting discoveries of the great Doctor Franklin, will find, that the essence of fire consists in motion; and that this motion is a parti­cular effect of certain qualities, viz. Attraction, and repulsion, and the vis inertiae of matter; and that no­thing appears, but that the same particle that did once attract, ever continues to attract, and that the particle that did once repel, continues so to act, and that they both constantly and invariably observe all the laws of at­traction and repulsion, whether they assist in composing the body which we call frozen, or that of a hot flame. I come now to consider the mechanical operation in its ac­tion — And here, first I would consider that most eminent of all, that appears in the explosion of nitre, which the reader may reflect has been before particularly treated of, under the head of the formation of that substance, where we have a view of the mechanical operation of a fire, the most sudden and violent—Now, in order to render this fire less violent and more lasting, (such as might an­swer to a culinary fire) you have nothing farther to do, but to add thereto and intimately mix with the nitrous mass, a sufficient quantity of attractive matter, whose intervening particles, are less attractive, in regard to the repulsive; and you then have a view of a culinary fire, which will be more or less violent, according to the quantity of intervening matter, and according as the said intervening matter is more or less attractive, in re­gard to the repulsive; thus much for the mechanical operation of fire in its action—I am now thirdly to con­sider the effect of this action of fire, on human flesh; and here first I would observe, that whenever any body of [Page 11] matter, heated to a high degree, is opposed so near to human flesh, as that the ignited particles that are pro­jected from said heated body, enter, and pass thro' the interstices of the solid flesh, with such force and in such abundance, as by their extraordinary friction, to invite such large quantities of repelling, into the region of the flesh, as that the particles or corpuscles composing the solid fibre of the flesh, beginning to take to themselves such large and complete repelling atmospheres, as whol­ly to overcome the resistance made by that attraction, whereby they subsist in a natural fibre; then we may justly say, that flesh is burn'd or scalled: And it is doubt­less impossible, by any art whatever, to re-vivificate, or restore this flesh to proper life again—But there is a seam or space between this dead flesh, and that which has suf­fered nothing as yet by this extraordinary flux of repel­lency, in which the plus attractive ends or parts, of the component particles or corpuscles, stand at distances from each other; while the other ends or parts, that are more pointed, and therefore minus attractive, adhere still to the healthy part—This gives to the patient, the idea of extreme pain, and is, according to the great Boerhaave's definition of pain, viz. A tendency towards a dissoluti­on of continuity, in the component parts of a fibre— Thus much for its effects on human flesh—I am now to point out a method of treating those wounds received by fire; and the first intention appears to be, to preserve from putrefaction, that portion of flesh, which is be­twixt the healthy and the dead flesh; which can be done in no way, but by applying, externally, those substances as will so violently attract the repellency from the inter­stices of its component parts, as that its particles will coalesce with each other, in the same manner as they did in the healthy state. The substance which most strongly attracts, and is the best conductor for the electricity, is cold water—But that it may be holden, with convenience to the part, I have made a cataplasm therewith, by the admixture of some farinaceous substances; such as Indi­an meal, scrap'd potatoes, or the like—Some object to [Page 12] this practice and say, it subjects the patient to take cold, so much cold water, &c. being applied: But it ought to be considered, that as taking cold is no other than perspira­tion being obstructed—Perspiration, in this case, cannot be obstructed, for that is already done, by an absolute destruction of the cutaneous glands; therefore not the least danger from this quarter.

As soon as your poultice is on, the pain ceases; but when the pain returns, change your poultice, for the part next to the flesh has, by the heat of the flesh, be­come so warm, that it does not attract the repellency strongly enough—And thus we ought always to proceed, until this kind of incipient gangrene is intirely gone; and then apply digestives, &c. as in case of other wounds, and it will be found to heal as fast as any other whate­ver—Thus much for external application—But it often happens, that so great a part of the cutis is destroy'd by a burn or scald, that such a proportion of the materia perspirabila is retained in the habit, as that (by a coales­cence of its particles, and so forming obstructions) a fe­ver is the consequence; and this fever is generally very highly inflammatory, and therefore very dangerous; for being ardent, it very often turns malignant—Therefore, when a person is considerably burn'd or scalled, he ought always to be carefully watched by the physician; and upon the very first appearance of a fever, either phlebo­tomy or a cathartic febrifuge, or both, ought forthwith to be administered; and in this way, may the fever be entirely prevented, and a perfect cure will succeed, as fast as the wheels of nature can advance—Now if these sentiments are just, and this practice warrantable, and I think they can be vindicated, upon the most strict theo­retical principles, as well as reiterated experiments; then how may we deplore, the excruciating torture, experi­enced chiefly by those who are in their tender years of childhood, as well as loss of life occasioned by a contra­ry practice?

I would next, take a view of that perpetual motion in an animal, call'd respiration—The reader may remem­ber, [Page 13] that when speaking about the particles of attrac­tive matter, it was observ'd, that when, (by any vio­lence they are robb'd of their natural proportion of the repulsive in any degree) in the same proportion are their attractions, in regard to the repulsive, both stronger, and to a greater distance.

This appears from the manner of collecting the repel­lent matter, by the electrical apparatus; for by rubbing the globe against the cushion, and so constantly robbing the outermost vitreous particles, of their natural propor­tion of the repulsive; you not only, hence charge your apparatus with electricity, but impregnate the region round about; nay, the whole electric room is so filled with repellent matter, that atoms, floating in the air, take to themselves such large repelling atmospheres, that they are seen for a long time after, to repel each other at con­siderable distances; but in time, an equilibrium is restored. Now the body of an animal, may be compar'd to the electric room, the blood and arteries, which keep a constant friction, to the glass globe and cushion, and perhaps the nervous vessels to the conductor, or common recepticle of the repellent matter; now by the friction, occasioned by the motion of the blood, there are large quantities of repellent matter collected therein, which is generally pretty equally distributed throughout the whole mass. In a faetus in utero, where the fluids in the faetus, amnios, & mo­ther, are all so connected, as that if you lessen the quan­tity of repellency in the one, you also diminish it in the other—They all conjunctly forming one general mass, the mother breathing for the whole, they are generally all equally fraught with repellent matter.

In all faetuses, both of viviparous, and oviparous ani­mals, although the lungs are found collapsed, the mouth shut, &c. yet the aspera arteria, & bronchii, are ever found nearly empty, open, and not collapsed, as the lungs are; yet the fluids in the amnios (being equally fraught with repellent matter) are not attracted by the blood in the lungs, which is the reason, why the lungs are not fill'd with the fluids contain'd in the amnios; but as soon as [Page 14] the cold air takes place in lieu of the said fluids, it be­ing most violently attracted by the blood in the lungs, immediately rushes in qua data porta, and inflates them— But, when the air has enter'd the lungs, it cannot stay there for a moment—But being divided into an almost infinite number of streams, that are surrounded by so great a proportion of blood, in the pulmonie and other arteries, and their returning veins, the arteries coming in a direct course from the right ventricle of the heart, and fraught with as much repellent matter, as any part of the juices; hence the aeriel particles, (taking to them­selves an equal quantity of repellent matter, and thereby forming exceeding large repelling atmospheres) are thence immediately forced out, by way of the mouth or nose— Here, at first thought, it would be natural to suppose, that no more air would be forc'd out, than to restore an equilibrium; and that therefore there was nothing to oc­casion a second inspiration—But it ought to be consider­ed, that the pulmonic blood, that has just suffered a great loss of repellent matter, which was taken out of it, and carried off, in the aeriel atmospheres of the last expiration, is directly replete with its proportion of repellency, from the remainder of the mass of blood; hence the same cause obtains, to produce a second inspiration, as did in the first, and so on—Thus, I think, I have given a me­chanical account of the true cause of respiration.

I am now to say something concerning its use, which is very great indeed; for without it, animal life, by the known laws of nature, could not exist: All animals that have fallen under our inspection, do breathe; even from an elephant, down to the smallest reptile; from a stork, to an house-fly; and from a whale, even down to a sprat; they all breathe, that is, they do inspire, or suck in; and then, at short intervals, puff out again some kind of fluid; some have their lungs seated in one part, some in ano­ther; the common house-fly has her's seated near the mid­dle of the back, and the trachea comes out a little be­hind the wing; but she does breathe—And it doubless answers the same grand purpose, as in other animals, that [Page 15] is, it preserves a constant stream or current of electricity or repellent matter, through some certain tubes in the body of the animal; which stream or current, is doubt­less the primum mobile, and efficient cause of all involun­tary animal motion; on which immediately depends, all those motions which are voluntary, in which a muscle acts by the same laws, and in the same manner, as it does in that motion which is involuntary—Thus much appears to me easy, plain and natural; but here we must stop with our researches—If we proceed any farther herein, we get on hallowed ground—This is too near the immediate finger of the creator—We know, the will does determine the time and quantity of motion, in every voluntary act of a muscle—But a knowledge of the manner, in which that something, which is capable of volition, acts on the body, presupposes a knowledge of the modus of union between soul and body; which, I should think, necessarily implied in it, a knowledge of the modus in the operation of the divine spirit, in the exercise of creating power, which doubless is a matter too deep, even for the highest created intelligence in Heaven to look into: Therefore, it can be no impeachment of the character of any gentleman, as a physician—A wise man, or philoso­pher, to say that he knows nothing about the matter.

The following is inserted by particular desire:

THE mechanical operation of mercury, on the human juices, which has long since been described by the learn­ed Boerhaave, in the 5th vol. of his institutes, to those gentlemen of the faculty, who have been honest in the pursuit of their proper business, is generally known— In which description, it plainly appears by the laws of projectiles, that not the solids, but the fluids are prima­rily and principally acted upon; in this view, there can be no irritation of the vessels; hence nothing of drasti­city in its operation—But the chief design of this part of my discourse, being to recommend the use of the above me­decine in severs, it may be proper to have recourse chief­ly to facts—First then, in all inflammatory fevers, such as pleurisies, peripneumonies, measles, what is common­ly [Page 16] called rattles in children, small-pox, &c. I have for a course of about 12 years, given it as my most common febrifuge; and it has proved in almost all, a most spee­dy, safe and effectual remedy—The morbid serous cohe­sions, which we call inflammatory lentor, stand no more chance before it, than so many snow-balls would, before the projectile force of cannon ball—Those fevers flee be­fore its operation, as the dew before the sun. I very of­ten find no occasion to exhibit it more than once, seldom more than twice, and don't remember an instance that I ever gave it more than thrice, before the fever subsided; but I have not had opportunity to exhibit it, in a proper manner, to more than six or seven persons, who had the small-pox the natural way: But in those it had a very good effect, the patients recovered, and had the dis­order light—When I consider the operation of it in the above cases, I call it the most expeditious, safe and ef­fectual febrifuge, that I ever knew; and it has no less salutary effect on fevers of the putrid or malignant kind, by its projectile force, flying in the arteries so much swifter than the rest of the juices; it knocks off the an­gles or spicula of the morbific or putrid corpuscles, which carries on the work of putrefaction, in such manner, & so absolutely, as to intirely prevent any farther putrefac­tion of the juices; at the same time, opening the emunc­tories, and carrying off what is already rendered unfit for circulation—I have given it in many of the above mentioned cases; and one instance I remember, in parti­cular, where the blood was so dissolved, as that when I was first called to the patient, he bled at the nose, void­ed blood by urine and by stool, and spit blood; I im­mediately gave him down about 35 grains of calomel, and it happen'd very lucky, for it operated not as a ca­thartic, short of about six hours, and then gently passed off by stool; by which time, all the haemorrhages ceased, and by the help of a strong decoction of the bark, in large doses, the patient recovered.

When I also consider its operation in putrid fevers, I am constrain'd to call it, not only expeditious, safe and [Page 17] effectual, but the most universal febrifuge; and in its effects, the greatest antiputrescent, hitherto known— Neither should the physician fear to give it, on account of its desolving the blood, and so hastening the putre­faction of the same; for it has no such tendency: If a liberal use of it does any mischief to the juices in gene­ral, it is in rendering them aqueous and so bringing on a dropsy, a state of the juices very opposite to that of ma­lignancy—Moreover, it ought to be consider'd, that if by passing swifter in the arteries, it should break a few of the red globules of blood; yet millions of morbid cor­puscles, are hereby so trimmed of their numberless spicula as that they become innocent—But to return to the con­sideration of the operation of this medicine, in inflamma­tory fevers, and here I would observe, that the higher, and more ardent the fever, the more difficult to raise a ptyalism—In short, in an acute fever, you can retain the mercury in the habit but for a very few hours, unless the fever subside.

If therefore, I find my potion suddenly pass off by stool, and the fever very little abated, I conclude then, either that not much has enter'd the lacteals, and so pass'd into circulation, or rather, that what of the ca­lomel, that has entered the lacteals, has too soon pass'd out, by the hepatic vessels—As soon therefore as the ca­tharsis is a little over, I give a dose or two of calomel, 3 or 4 grains at a time, waiting a few hours between; and then in six, eight, or 12 hours, more or less, give a sufficiency of the same to purge—My common dose for an adult, is from eight to thirty five grains; and I by no means give much less to children, on account that daily experience shews, that, for a general rule, about the same quantity of any kind of physic, as will purge the child, will also purge the adult; by reason that a great part of the potion is commonly inveloped in the phlegm, which is apt to collect in large quantities, in the stomach and intestines of youthful persons—Very great indeed have been the prejudices, against this most [Page 18] useful and salutary medicine; arising chiefly, from a mis­taken notion, that a fever render'd the use of it dangerous, & so it was given only where a fever was absent, and in low cases, the only case in which it ever lodges in the habit, and is mischievous in the bones, &c. and in which case special care ought always to be taken, to keep up a proper tone to the sanguiferous vessels, either by well tim'd epispasticks, or some other proper stimulants, which would intirely prevent the evil—A neighbour of mine, a man of about thirty years of age▪ who had been la­bouring under an hectic fever, for upwards of a year, which he had acquired from a surfeit by over excercise, I visited him often, for about six months, but gave him nothing of consequence besides calomel, and balf. tolu, with loaf sugar; which, being wet with water, would form into pills, that would easily dissolve in the sto­mach—This he took every day or two, thro' the whole term, and then the acrimony being all destroy'd by force of the calomel the fever left him; and by the help of a tincture of the bark, in a syrup of the opening roots, he in a very few weeks, recovered his strength, and is now in health—Moreover, if I give not my patient over at first view, I never think I am called in too late; nei­ther wait I for, nor pay the least regard to an approach­ing critical hour—My patient being ever so weak, I admi­nister calomel, which by resolving the obstructing mat­ter, and fitting it to pass the emunctories, &c. brings on a crisis forthwith, and all this, is without the least force on nature—I think little, or nothing more needs be said to the ingenious, intirely to prevent any future mischief being done by this inestimable medicine—One word there­fore to the sick, and their friends, and I have done— And here I would observe, that among the deceased, more than nine tenths of them would probably recover, only living in that abstemious way, which is generally natural to the sick, merely by force of the operations of that honest physician nature, who is constantly using her endeavour, and doctering for no pay, cares not how soon [Page 19] she makes a cure; nay, I have often known her endea­vours so forcible, that she has finally perfected a cure, in spite of both patient and quack, constantly affording her, all the interruption in their power; and such fa­vourable opportunity as this, (being all the knowledge the quack has in physic) is instantly embraced, and by him publish'd in Gath, and affords him large opportu­nity to murder numbers with impunity. The want of proper regulations among practitioners at present, ren­ders it almost impossible effectually to guard against this prenicious evil, which I verily believe, has been the de­struction of more American lives, than have fallen in battle for five years past—However, 'tis to be hoped that the time is approaching, when this country will acknow­ledge no Initiation into the practice of physic, without a public examination before some respectable body of phy­sicians.