impunity to those who thus poison the gifts of Providence.

Hence arises a necessity for the occasional use of medicine of some kind or other, to obviate the dangers of constipation, dyspepsia, and other consequences of unwholesome diet; and, though strongly opposed to the general practice of taking medicine, yet am I so deeply impressed with the imminent danger and decided injury to which the body is exposed by protracted confinement of the bowels (more particularly when it continues in spite of the adoption of an unexceptionable diet), that I earnestly recommend the taking of some gentle aperient, or the use of a simple lavement of warm water, from which no harm can result, though it were every day in the year, rather than the bowels should be continually confined; for the extent of the injury and danger from this cause, more particularly when the elasticity of the machinery of life begins to diminish, and old age approaches, baffles the powers of all calculation.

The grand and important question then becomes,

substance, and is unlike any other bread. It always contains a portion of alum, and the subcarbonate of potash, and some other unknown ingredient. The proof is, its not keeping. Country bread will keep good a week; and this is a better test of the genuineness of bread, than the usual test employed for detecting alum.

what substances should be employed to counteract these evils, without entailing others equally injurious and dangerous? I answer, Not

"Powerful poisons for which we madly roam,

From every noxious herb collecting death;"

but such as are not inimical to health and life, but are free from every particle of poisonous ingredients, being provided by nature for the purpose, and by consequence entirely innocuous, and yet withal sufficiently powerful to excite the peristaltic action of the bowels without irritation. Such medicines are to be found among the productions of the vegetable kingdom, and such only ought to be employed.

It will doubtless be said by medical men, that in some cases powerful and active medicines alone will reach the mischief; but, as it is not for their science to limit or define the operations of nature, and as the exact modus operandi of such medicines is frequently unknown to them, the title of such preparations to be called remedies must rest upon hypothetical assumption, which is too often made the foundation of positive assertion. I cannot for a moment doubt that more benefit

*Take so much rhubarb, learned Galen says;

Take so much cassia, so much aloes;

So much of t'other, and of such and such :

Give me this recipe-take not too much."

would accrue from the real knowledge of the nature and action of a few drugs, innocent and appropriate for the human body, than from an elaborate searching for virtues in the whole Materia Medica. For me, however, it is quite sufficient to know, that, if a diseased state of health be not produced by contagion, or some other accidental cause, it must arise primarily from indolence and intemperance; and, without presuming to presage all the consequences that may result from the taking of deleterious medicines in such a case, I may confidently assert, that to obtain even temporary relief by such means, life must frequently be put to hazard.

PRESENT MODE OF REMUNERATING MEDICAL MEN.

THE respect due to medical men of talent and learning, who devote their whole attention to the investigation of the nature of diseases, with a view to the discovery of appropriate and effectual remedies, and who pass their time in attending on the sick, and in upright endeavours to alleviate their sufferings, cannot be overstated.

Without a doubt, these men are richly entitled to rewards commensurate with the diligent and conscientious performance of their painful, and, at times, melancholy duties; subjected, moreover, as they often are, to the danger of miasmata and contagion, to continual fatigue, to interruption of rest, to irregularity in their repasts, to privation of almost all recreation, and, in fine, braving all dangers for the relief of suffering humanity. No one standing in need of their services would willingly withhold from them a just recompense.

But, considering the universally acknowledged usefulness of this class of men, and the arduous and deeply responsible nature of their profession,

N

is not the source from which they are usually remunerated a derogation from their dignity? And is it not equally detrimental to the community, especially the community of invalids? Was ever any thing more absurd, dangerous, and unworthy, than the practice of making the amount of medical emoluments dependent upon the quantity of physic swallowed by their patients; and, worse than all, is not an aggravation, if not an effect still more serious, instead of an alleviation of their sufferings, frequently the result of this atrocious custom?

The regular practitioners cry out against empiricism, while nothing gives a more decided countenance to the pernicious traffic of the patentmedicine warehouses, nor a more direct encouragement to the whole herd of quack-doctors, than the money-scraping system of drenching patients with physic.*

Physicians and consulting-surgeons are remu

*Kien Long, Emperor of China, inquired of Sir G. Staunton the manner in which we paid our physicians; and when, after some difficulty, His Majesty was made to understand the system, he exclaimed, “I suppose, then, no man in England is in good health if he can afford to be ill. Now, I will inform you how I manage my physicians. I have four to whom the care of my health is entrusted, and to whom I allow a weekly salary; but the moment I am unwell that salary is stopped till I am well again. I need not inform you that my diseases are of very short duration,”