nearly touches the foul relates to all. Therefore the afperity of tartarous falts, and the fiery acrimony of alcaline falts, irritating and wounding the nerves, produce nafcent paffions and anxieties in the foul; which both aggravate diftempers, and render mens lives reftlefs and wretched, even when they are afflicted with no apparent diftemper. This is the latent fpring of much woe, fpleen, and tædium vitæ. Small imperceptible

irritations of the minutest fibres or filaments, caufed by the pungent falts of wines and fauces, do fo fhake and difturb the microcofms of high livers, as often to raise tempefts in courts and fenates. Whereas the gentle vibrations that are raised in the nerves, by a fine fubtile acid, fheathed in a fmooth volatile oil (a), foftly ftimulating and bracing the nervous veffels and fibres, promotes a due circulation and fecretion of the animal juices, and creates a calm fatisfied fenfe of health. And accordingly I have often known tar-water procure fleep and compofe the fpirits in cruel vigils, occafioned either by ficknefs or by too intenfe application of mind.

87. In difeafes fometimes accidents happen from without by mifmanagement, fometimes latent caufes operate within, jointly with the fpecific taint or peculiar caufe of the malady. The caufes of diftempers are often complicated, and there may be fomething in the idiofyncrafy of the patient that puzzles the phyfician. It may therefore be prefumed that no medicine is infallible, not even in any one diforder. But as tar-water poffeffeth the virtues of fortifying the ftomach, as well as purifying and invigorating the blood, beyond any medicine that I know, it may be prefumed of great

and general efficacy in all thofe numerous illneffes, which take their rife from foul or vapid blood, or from a bad digeftion. The animal fpirits are elaborated from the blood. Such therefore as the blood is, fuch will be the animal fpirit, more or lefs, weaker or stronger. This fheweth the usefulness of tar-water in all hyfteric and hypochondriac cafes; which together with the maladies from indigeftion comprise almoft the whole tribe of chronical diseases.

88. The fcurvy may be reckoned in thefe climates an univerfal malady, as people in general are fubject to it, and as it mixes more or lefs in almost all difeafes. Whether this proceeds from want of elafticity in our air, upon which the tone of the veffels depends, and upon that the feveral fecretions; or whether it proceeds from the moisture of our climate, or the groffnefs of our food, or the falts in our atmosphere, or from all thefe together; thus much at least seems not abfurd to fuppofe, that, as physicians in Spain and Italy are apt to fufpect the venereal taint to be a latent principle, and bear a part in every illness, fo for as good reafon the fcurvy fhould be confidered by our phyficians, as having fome fhare in most disorders and conftitutions that fall in their way. It is certain our perfpiration is not fo free as in clearer air and warmer climates. Perfpirable humours not difcharged will ftagnate and putrify. A diet of animal food will be apt to render the juices of our bodies alcalefcent, Hence ichorous and corrofive humours and many diforders. Moist air makes vifcid blood; and faline air inflames this vifcid blood. Hence broken capillaries, extravafated blood, fpots, and ulcers, and other fcorbutic fymptoms. The body of a man attracts and imbibes the moisture and falts of the air, and what

ever floats in the atmosphere, which, as it is common to all, so it affects all more or less.

89. Doctor Mufgrave thinks the Devonshire fcurvy a relique of the leprofy, and that it is not owing to the qualities of the air. But as these infu lars in general live in a gross faline air, and their veffels being lefs elaftic, are confequently less able to fubdue and caft off what their bodies as fponges draw in, one would be tempted to fufpect the air not a little concerned, especially in fuch a fituation as that of Devonshire. In all thefe British islands we enjoy a great mediocrity of climate, the effect whereof is, that we have neither heat enough to exalt and diffipate the grofs vapours, as in Italy, nor cold enough to condense and precipitate them, as in Sweden. So they are left floating in the air, which we constantly breath, and imbibe through the whole furface of our bodies. And this together with exhalations from coal fires, and the various foffils wherein we abound, doth greatly contribute to render us fcorbutic and hypochondriac.

90. There are some who derive all diseases from the fcurvy, which indeed must be allowed to create or mimic most other maladies. Boerhaave tells us, it produceth pleuritic, colic, nephritic, hepatic pains, various fevers, hot, malignant, intermitting, dyfenteries, faintings, anxieties, dropfies, confumptions, convulfions, palfies, fluxes of blood. In a word, it may be faid to contain the feeds and origin of almost all diftempers. Infomuch that a medicine which cures all forts of fcurvy, may be prefumed good for moft other maladies.

91. The fcurvy doth not only in variety of fymptoms imitate moft diftempers, but also when come to a height, in degree of virulence equal the moft malignant. Of this we have a remarkable proof, in that horrible defcription of the fcorbutic

i

patients in the hofpitals of Paris, given by monfieur Poupart, in the Memoirs of the royal academy of sciences, for the year one thousand fix hundred and ninety-nine. That author thinks het faw some resemblance in it to the plague of Athens. It is hard to imagine any thing more dreadful than the cafe of thofe men, rotting alive by the fcurvy in it's fupreme degree. To obviate fuch putrefaction, I believe the most effectual method would be, to embalm (if one may fo fay) the living body with tar-water copiously drunk; and this belief is not without experience.

92. It is the received opinion that the animal falts of a found body are of a neutral, bland and benign nature: that is, the falts in the juices paft the primæ viæ, are neither acid nor alcaline, having been fubdued by the conftitution, and changed into a third nature. Where the conftitution wants, force to do this, the aliment is not duly affimulated; and fo far as the falts retain their priftine qua-. lities, fickly fymptoms enfue, acids and alkalies not perfectly fubdued, producing weak ferments in the juices. Hence fcurvy, cachexy, and a long train of ills.

93. A cachexy or ill habit is much of the fame kind with the fcurvy, proceeds from the fame caufes and is attended with like fymptoms, which are fo manifold and various, that the fcurvy may well be looked on as a general cachexy, infecting the whole habit and vitiating all the digeftions. Some have reckoned as many forts of the fcurvy, as there are different taints of the blood. Others have fuppofed it a collection of all illneffes together. Some fuppofe it an accumulation of feveral difeafes in fieri. Others take it for an affemblage of the reliques of old diftempers.

94. But

94. But thus much is certain, the cure of the fcurvy is no more to be attempted by strongly active medicines than (to ufe the fimilitude of an ingenious writer) a thorn in the flesh, or pitch on filk to be removed by force. The vifcid humour must be gently refolved and diluted, the tone of the veffels recovered by a moderate ftimulation, and the tender fibres and capillary veffels gradually cleared from the concreted stuff, that adheres and obftructs them. All which is in the apteft manner performed by a watery diluent, containing a fine vegetable foap. And although a complete cure by alteratives, operating on the fmall capillaries, and by infenfible difcharges, muft require length of time, yet the good effect of this medicine on cachectic and fcorbutic perfons, is foon perceived, by the change it produceth in their pale difcoloured looks, giving a florid healthy countenance in lefs time than perhaps any other medicine.

95. It is fuppofed by phyficians, that the immediate caufe of the fcurvy lies in the blood, the fibrous part of which is too thick and the ferum too thin and fharp and that hence arifeth the great difficulty in the cure, becaufe in the correcting of one part, regard must be had to the other. It is well known how extremely difficult it is to cure an inveterate fcurvy: how many fcorbutic patients have grown worfe by an injudicious course of evacuations: how many are even rendered incurable by the treatment of inconfiderate phyficians and how difficult, tedious and uncertain the cure is in the hands even of the beft, who are obliged to ufe fuch variety and change of medicines, in the different ftages of that malady: which nevertheless may be cured (if I may judge by what 1 have experienced) by the fole, regular, conftant, copious ufe of tar-water.

96. Tar