1 iv
2 relinquish their absurd theories ; and nothing remains
3 for us, but to pity those who are doomed still to con-
4 tinue in darkness. Yet, we ought not entirely to dis-
5 regard old works, but to select, as I have done, such
6 portions as appear useful. I have tested some of the
7 simple remedies mentioned in their books, which, having
8 been injudiciously administered, had fallen into disuse
9 (their real utility being misunderstood, or, overlooked)
10 and, in some cases, I found them very efficacious. In
11 prosecuting my experiments, I principally consulted the
12 Persian works, Tohfet Khany , jjU- and Tohfet al
13 Mominin , And to these I shall refer, as
14 often as the special cases I relate, may require.
15 At present, there are two different systems of medical
16 treatment practised in Europe, viz. Allceopathia and
17 Homceopathia ; both of which have been contending for
18 supremacy, during the last half-century. The former
19 is the ancient method, and is universally recognised and
20 taught in all the universities of Europe ; but, as both
21 of these systems have their pro. and con. I shall, for
22 the sake of the general reader, give a concise account
23 of each \ which accounts may, at the same time, serve
24 as an introduction to the medium-system I have adopted.
25 Allceopathia contains remedies which operate so vio-
26 lently, that, if the doses administered are not very nicely
27 adjusted to the disease, or, if a mistake occur (which
28 too often happens) the effect, instead of being salutary,
29 proves injurious, if not fatal ; and the patient then dies,
30 not of disease, but, from the improper means used for
31 its removal. In such cases, it would have been better
32 to have left the patient to the fostering care of nature.
33 The number of those who are sent (some of them in