The evils to which attention has been hitherto directed, were in general the consequences of indolence, ignorance, undue and thoughtless veneration for antiquity and previous authority, in some instances of superstition and love of the marvellous. But soon after the commencement of the eighteenth century a new source of fallacy and perversion came into operation; and the influence of this was, if possible, more powerful, and less easily counteracted, because it assumed, and actually bore the aspect of scientific inquiry and experimental investigation. Near the close of the seventeenth century, namely, in 1679, John James Wepfer, a zealous and wellinformed Swiss physician, published the results of an Experimental Inquiry into the Poisonous Effects of the Water Hemlock (Cicuta Virosa); and, as illustrative of these, of the effects of Conium Maculatum, Aconite, Cocculus Indicus, Nux Vomica, Hellebore, Jalap, Fritillaria Imperialis, Solanum Dulcamara, Atropa Belladonna, Henbane (Hyoscyamus), Bitter Almonds, and, in a cursory manner, of the effects of Antimony, Arsenic, and Mercury. The results of this inquiry seem not to have attracted much attention till the year 1715; but after this time they be * avail but little in explaining the action of remedies upon the human body. The therapeutic method, founded upon the study of the nature and effects of disease and the action of remedies, can alone form a sure foundation for sound practical knowledge in this department. * Wepfer was a native of Schaffhausen, Archiater or Principal Physician to the Town of Wurtemberg. Born in 1625, died in 1695. came more fully known in France, Germany, and the Low Countries; and they naturally created, and increased where it already existed, the taste for ascertaining experimentally the effects of various articles employed as medicines, but which were known to possess poisonous properties. In another mode, the researches of Wepfer were useful. The number of animals which were destroyed in his experiments was considerable; and he not only gives correct accounts of the anatomical structure of these animals, some of which, as the eagle and wolf, had not been previously examined; but he records various important physiological facts which had fallen under his observation in the course of these experiments.* During the close of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth, Ipecacuanha became an object of great interest, and was the subject of many observations. During the same time, and somewhat previously, Arnica montana, or Leopard's Bane, attracted the attention of various physicians in Germany, and continued to hold its position as an agent much used in certain affections of the locomotive organs till far on in the eighteenth century. Valerian was esteemed by not a few as a serviceable remedy in certain affections of the Nervous System. Johannis Jacobi Wepferi Historia Cicuta Aquaticæ; Qua non solum Plantæ hujus Venenatæ Structura Naturalis, Vires, et Operationes deleteriæ in Hominibus ac Brutis accurate describuntur, sciteque explicantur; sed et aliorum plurimorum Venenorum Qualitates funesta deteguntur. Curante Theodoro Zuingero Archiatro Basil. Cum figuris aeneis. Lugduni. Batav., 1733. Lastly, Seneka, or Rattlesnake Root (Polygala Senega), was, in 1738, strongly recommended by John Tennent as a powerful remedy in certain forms of low Inflammation of the Lungs. In 1743, appeared a new candidate for popular favour. George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne,† brought forward the hygienic properties and therapeutic powers of Tar-Water in many different, sometimes opposite, morbid conditions; and, in the course of one or two years, his recommendations were zealously supported by friends, and confuted and resisted by opponents. In this instance, the rank, the learning, and the high character of the author for piety, integrity, and benevolence, accomplished, for a considerable time, that which should have been left to be effected by observation and experimental trial. Notwithstanding opposition of every kind, Tar-water was much and extensively employed both in England and in Ireland. In several of the Tracts written against the medicinal uses of Tar-Water, there entered probably too large an amount of acrimony.‡ * An Epistle to Richard Mead, concerning the Epidemical Diseases of Virginia, particularly on Pleurisy and Peripneumony. Wherein is shown the surprising Efficacy of the Seneca Rattle-Snake Root in Diseases owing to a Viscidity and Coagulation of the Blood, &c., &c. To which is prefixed a Cut of the Plant, and an Appendix annexed. By John Tennent. Edinburgh, 1738. 8vo. Pp. 102. SIRIS: A Chain of Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries concerning the Virtues of Tar-Water, &c. By the Right Rev. Dr George Berkeley, Lord Bishop of Cloyne. A New Edition. with Additions and Emendations. Dublin; reprinted, London, 1747. 8vo. An Authentic Narrative of the Success of Tar-Water, &c. But it is impossible to deny, that the remedy, if to that character it were entitled, was praised far beyond its just merits, and that to its use were ascribed effects which it was perfectly clear were not produced by it. Soon afterwards, namely, in 1746, appeared the experiments of Browne Langrish* on the Effects of Cherry Laurel Water on various animals. From these experiments, which were in a great degree suggested by the facts recorded by Dr Madden, and the experiments performed by that physician and Dr Cromwell Mortimer, Langrish thought there was reason to infer that the Cherry Laurel might be beneficial in the cure of diseases. The taste thus created for new remedies increased as the eighteenth century advanced; and after the middle of the century, the activity, especially of several German physicians, was incessant in trying and recommending for the cure of various painful, and generally incurable maladies, the employment By Thomas Prior, Esq. A New Edition, Complete. Dublin and London, 1746. A Cure for the Epidemical Madness of Drinking TarWater. By T. R., M.D. London, 1744. (Tancred Robinson ?) June 1st. Nosologia Empirica Examinata, or a Specimen of Partiality and False Reasoning. By a Physician. London, 1747. Pp. 46. Remarks on the Bishop of Cloyne's two Letters, &c. Anonymous. 8vo. Pp. 48. * Physical Experiments upon Brutes, &c., to which is added a Course of Experiments with the Lauro-Cerasus. By Browne Langrish, of the College of Physicians, London, and F.R.S. London, 1746. of remedies either entirely new, or previously little known, or known chiefly as poisons of various degrees of intensity. In this manner, hemlock was recommended by Antony de Stoerck, John Henry Rahn, Locher, and John Fothergill, in Skirrhous Tumours, Cancer, Tumours which must have been Strumous, probably Irritable or Neuralgic; in Caries, and bad forms of Syphilis, and Mercurial diseases. Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna), was recommended by Münch as a remedy against Canine Madness, and by others as a remedy against Skirrhus and Cancer. Thorn-Apple (Datura Stramonium), was recommended as an efficient remedy in certain forms of Cerebral Disorder by Antony de Stoerck, who became, indeed, between 1760 and 1771, the unwearied advocate of the therapeutic powers of various active Plants;-Aconite, Hyoscyamus, Clematis, Dictamnus albus, Pulsatilla or Anemone, Meadow Saffron. The characters assigned to these agents, some powerful, others inert, were not in all instances confirmed by subsequent observation; and it was afterwards said, that De Stoerck, who was then at the head of the Medical Department of the Austrian Army, often lent too easy cre * Antonii de Stoerck Annus Medicus. Vindob. 1760-1761. †D. F. Münch de Belladonna Efficaci in Rabie Canina. Ext. Frank Delect. i. p. 248. Antonii de Stoerck, Experimenta et Observationes circa Nova sua Medicamenta. Vindob. 1765. Id. De Flammula Jovis sive Clematide Erecta, et de Dictamno Albo. Vindob. 1769. Id. De Pulsatilla Nigricante. Vindob. 1771. |