The Sun.
London, England, 1816-03-18 00:00:00

uryiag tliat the experltneilt nude IQ the Sac.
folk, 'find the I•etchtrtiendAtiolf tame .feiiitis the.
Medical Board, to the Board of Admiralty for the

general stippiy.- • .
It is in vain that you triumphgntly tell me that.
"in the 'cm respondence on that subject; reserved
in the Atintiraity, &c. tint the least allqsinii is

made to you nor in w."at passed it) the 'Mediter-
ranean." 1171)y allusion vas not made t that
time I am at no loss to z;uess, and I have oo doubt

that the Noble Loid.”•ho so ably and with such
high character then presided at the Board could
guess too, for he was well acquainted with all the
ciretonstances railing to my removal as Physician
from that Fleet. •lipon him I waited on my return
from the Medlterranean, and to his unsolicited
appointment it is that lam proud owc my si-
tuation at the Medical Board, which I shall al-
ways consider as an honourable testithony of. his
Lordship's approbation.
You I utther and, that " had I ascribed any merit
to you it would have been /1 barefaced ini.repre-
sentation,'&c. &c." What ! Sir, would it have been
a " barefaced tuisrepresentatio`n to have related the
established fact (whether with praise or without it)
of the foliating advantages so recently derived from
my practice for '.:ear years.in the Mediterranean
Fleet. As prominent a feature l humbly con-
ceive in the history of Naval Pharmacy as the
experiment made in the Soffolk;or at least strongly
corroborative of. that. sitecesstill experiment; it
ought, therefore, to have gone hand in band with
it to the Board of Admiralty. 01this'.unission,
therefore, this studious omission, I thiok that 1
_Ti*ve .reasoo. to complain.—A statement of this
important fact, as tie ground and basis tor. so
am persuaded it really was—u; the•experiment in
the Sliftotk, and, the consequent general supply
to tile Navy, would ha, e !Kett no more a " bare-
faced inisrepresenta.ion."than the honourable men-
tion you are pleased to make in your Pamphlet
(page 10) of Dr. 11,iird's introduction of this va-
luable Medicine into Lord st. Vincent's Fleet it;
the year 1800, '(tier ye trs (let it be observed)
alter the yi.ar in wh:ch the general supply was in-
troduced, which you add, therefore be eon-
sidered as an ara.in the Ilcadh of the Navy."
The statement of t e wonderturetiect of this
medicine, molcr my direction, for three years int-
mediately 'preceding, the supply, Would,' 1 sly,
have been not more " a barefaced representation"
than the insertion in your ".Illustrations" of Dr.
Baird'iletter, dated Bth of jrily, 1815, givittg•an
account of the efficacy of th,tt tneil!cine, under his
directiOn, in Lord St. Vincen:'s Fleet. In' that
" :era of the health of the Navy" .confined, cer-
taioly, (as far as' appears) to that Fleet alone-
1800—in the hear •of yinir invest gition, and
fervour of your patriotic inquiries into this
truly national subject, you were Intliteed,
doubt, to request from Qr. Baird a particular ac-
count of all wilt relatedp the health of that Flyet,
and by 'what means ii was preserved; For tuffs
request made•hy you, and for Di'. itaird's compli-
ance with it, I blame neither you nor him.; but
how,,Sir, does it happen that the sante zeal did
not inspire you to apply to Inc for the particulars
of which you a ffirm you were " entirely igno-
rant," of the Iteattb. of the Fero in the Mediter-
ranean under my direction, and the means by
which it was restored and supported.
Such appiicution, linwevrr, you'never made to
me, and in my fortthr,r letter 1 supplied you With
a testimony, no less titan that of the venitablf
Lord Flood, not many weeks before his death,
widen 1 concluded you, as well as all cite readers
of that letter; would have respected ; hut thrisway
in which, you treat it, is a lamentable proof
.how
difficult it is for prejudice to receive and cherish
truth, and for those who are bred in one school,
whether literary, medical, or naval, tsi.be just, or•
even respectful to the great master. io another.
This testimony, however, is so precious to ruts
that 1 shall make no apology for again Obtruding
it upon your notice.

I.do hereby certify that in the Slimmer of'
1793, .wlt n his Majesty's Fleet unite r lily con
wand was greatly afiliord with scurvy, Hifil
John Harness, the Physician tO the Fleet, being
strongly recommended to the nse of lemon joke
as a core and preventvive of it, ii) consequeuPe of
which ordered the respect *ships to he emistant ly
supplied with lemons, and was Inuppy to find that
within six months the disorrier.was effectually era-
dicated, and the crews Of hint Nl,jesty's Fleet per-
fectly healthy.. Given under my hand at llath,
November 3d, 1815. Floots"

Er And ootv, Sir, let me tilk you if this practice
was SO com Mod, and " this knowledge so fully
establiSlied, and so universally diffused, That it.
' the. most uninstructed . Surgeon's Mate iu the
sal adron had been .asked hy Lord Hood what
%vas best to be done, he Ought to have been dis-
Misted 'from -the service forignorrtuve if he hail
not recommended lenion nice." How then can
it -bare happened, let me ask you, if it ,were really
so, that the crews of his Majesty's ships have been
in ,every period of the naval history, even, to the'
hour at my appointment, so broken down by this
dreadful. malady,
.and that the scurvy' has been
suffered to:tuake such en unresisted,progress. and
to coloarii such fatal ravage. Was it that the
respective Commandersof these ships and Fleeth
were totally regardless of theliaalth of 'their re-
spective crews, and 'obstinateiy deaV to all medical
advice. This, Lam persuaded, will pot, cannot
be believed, and how did it happen in Lord
Hood's Fleet that the health of the crews under
my direction was restored and "'in six months
the disorder wail effectually eradicated ?" if these
gnestions can be answered satisfactorily without
adMitting the truth of my statement, and the.
validity •of my claim, then your confident as-
'sertious may be maintained ; otherwise theylnust
be considered as'spletietick effusions thrown:out,
not pertuips .1" to mislead the ignorant .and, Un-
wary," but certainly for the purpose of wounding.,
my feelings, anddegiatiing my character.

Now, Sir, l shall take my leave of you,
the assurance that I shall ‘‘, renounce no preten-
sions that 1 have made," but shall steadily keep-
ground,—and I will venture to hope, that
my " Philosophical Reasoning," and , the theory
built, upon it, which you are -distiosed to treat
with go much levity, andveven affect to ban-H
ter, will tie ic onsitlercd by the ingenuous and
unprejudiced, as mitt= ridiculous our
•