"As all the diseases of the body, according to Dr. Brown, are occasioned by direct or indirect debility, in consequence of too much, or too little stimuli, so all the defects of the fire must arise from direct or indirect lowness, in consequence of too much or too little air blowing into it. As Brown taught that one debility was never to be cured by another, but both by the more judicious application of stimuli; so will be found the case in treating the effects of the fire. If the fire has become so low, or the man weak, by want of the needful quantity of stimulus, more must be applied, but very gently at first, and increased by degrees, lest a strong stimulus, applied to the accumulated excitability, should produce death, as in the case of a limb benumbed by cold (that is, weakened by the accumulations of its excitability, in consequence of the usual stimulus heat), and suddenly held to the fire, which we know from experience is in danger of mortification; or, as in the case of the fire, become very low by the accumulation of the matter of fuel which the feeble flame, assailed by a sudden and strong blast of air, would be overpowered and put out, instead of being nourished and increased. Again, if the man or the fire have been rendered indirectly weak by the application of too much stimulus, we are not suddenly to withdraw the whole, or even a great quantity, of the exciting powers, or air-for then the weakened life and diminished flame might sink entirely; but we are, by little and little, to diminish the overplus of stimulus, so as to enable the excitability or matter of fuel gradually to recover its proper proportion. Thus, a man who has injured his constitution by the abuse of sprituous liquors, is not suddenly to be reduced to water alone, as is the practice of some physicians, but he is to be treated as the judicious Dr. Pitcairn, of Edinburgh, is said to have treated a highland chieftain, who applied for advice in this situation. The doctor gave him no medicines, and only exacted a pro

mise of him that he would every day put in as much wax into the wooden queich, out of which he drank his whiskey, as would receive the impression of his arms. The wax thus gradually accumulating, diminished daily the quantity of whiskey till the whole queich was filled with wax; and the chieftain was thus gradually, and without injury to his constitution, cured of the habit of drinking spirits. These analogies might be pursued farther, but my object is solely to furnish some general ideas to prepare the reader for entering more easily into the Brunonian theory, which I think he will be enabled to do after perusing what I have said.

"The great excellence of that theory, as applied not only to the practice of physic, but to the general conduct of the health, is, that it impresses upon the mind a sense of the impropriety and danger of going from one extreme to another. The human frame is capable of enduring great varieties, if time be given it to accommodate it to different states; all the mischief is done in the transition from one state to another. In a state of low excitement, we are not rashly to induce a state of high excitement, nor when elevated to the latter are we suddenly to descend to the former, but step by step, and as one who, from the top of a high tower descends to the ground. From hasty and violent changes the human frame always suffers; its particles are torn asunder, its organs injured, the vital principle impaired, and disease, often death, is the inevitable consequence.

"I have only to add, that though in this illustration of the Brunonian system, written several years ago, I have spoken of a tube constantly pouring in fresh fuel, because I could not otherwise convey to the reader a familiar idea of the power possessed by all living systems to renew their excitability when exhausted, yet it may be proper to inform the student, that Dr. Brown supposed every living system to have received at the beginning its determinate proportion of excitability; and there

fore, although he spoke of the exhaustion, augmentation, and even renewal of the excitability, I do not think it was his intention to induce his pupils to think of it as a kind of fluid substance existing in the animal, and subject to the law by which such substances are governed. According to him, excitability was an unknown somewhat subject to peculiar laws of its own, and whose different states we were obliged to describe (though inaccurately), by terms borrowed from the qualities of material substances."

This full and lucid explanation affords ample materials for forming a dispassionate opinion on the system of Brown. Such a judgment it was difficult to arrive at, when it was first promulgated, as so much of the personality of the man entered into the impression made by his doctrines; and although there might be Brunonians, who were not extravagant in their views and reckless in their advice, we can scarcely class the founder of the school in this category. We frequently see disciples outheroding their master, but John Brown's prescriptions seem a caricature of his system. For example, here is one written in reference to a hypochondriac patient, about whose case he was consulted:-" For breakfast, toast and rich soup made on a slow fire, a walk before breakfast, and a good deal after it; a glass of wine in the forenoon, from time to time; good broth or soup to dinner, with meat of any kind he likes, but always the most nourishing; several glasses of port or punch to be taken after dinner, till some enlivening effect is perceived from them, and a dram (of whiskey?) after everything heavy; one hour-and-ahalf after dinner, another walk; between tea-time and supper, a game with cheerful company at cards or any other play, never too prolonged; a little light reading; jocose-humourous company, avoiding that of popular Presbyterian ministers and their admirers, and all hypocrites and thieves of every description Lastly, the

company of amiable, handsome, and delightful young women, and an enlivening glass.'

We can hardly wonder that a system which seemed to lead to such excesses should excite the strongest opposition in the minds of all moderate and sensible persons, and that the enthusiasm for it among the young and ardent should soon burn down after the death of its vehement apostle. Had Brown been a man of sobriety, he might have placed his doctrines on a much more enduring footing, and have himself achieved a great and permanent renown.

Brown was the Paracelsus of Scotland. He was gifted with great genius, but the victim of the most degrading vice. His career of folly impaired the power of his speculations. These, if read with attention, will be found singularly ingenious and captivating, from their logical coherence and simplicity; but they are radically fallacious as a guide to practice. On applying to his main doctrine the grand touchstone of experience, it was found not to answer, and has become entirely extinct, leaving, however, as genuine thoughts always do, an influence behind, which we find incorporated in succeeding systems. "Brown was wrong," writes Fletcher, "in considering his excitability as imparted to every man in a certain proportion at birth, and not rather continually renewed; he was wrong in making it in every part of the body of the same nature and not everywhere different; and, above all, he was wrong in allowing his doctrine concerning asthenic diseases, including most cases of inflammation and fever, to lead to the most pernicious employment of general stimuli, to the neglect of blood-letting in practice. And these errors are

too often held in remembrance,

while the real

merits of his theory are forgotten or undervalued.

"The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones.""

1 Op. cit., p. clx.

2 Fletcher's Elements of General Pa

thology, edited by Dr. Drysdale and Dr. Russell, p. 47. 1842.

Fatal and Disfiguring Effects of Small-pox-Jenner's Early Training-His Personal Appearance-His Life in Gloucestershire-John Hunter on Hedgehogs and Love-sickness-His Marriage-His Patience-Difficulties of the Investigation-The Profession discourages him-He visits London-Declines London and £10,000 a-year-Danger of Vaccination from False Friends-Discussed in Parliament-Grants voted to Jenner-Opposition he encountered -Dr. Moseley on its Horrors-Moseley-charity suggests the proper Reward -Dr. Rowley backs Dr. Moseley-Vaccination spreads to Greece-French Claims considered-Jenner's Death and Monument.

THE name of Jenner will for ever be honoured. as the discoverer of the means of preventing the most terrible pestilence of modern times. It will seem no exaggeration to speak thus of the small-pox, if one considers the long period it has prevailed, its almost universal diffusion over the globe, the number of the victims it has destroyed, and the permanent injury it has inflicted on those whose lives it has spared. It is believed that small-pox has

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