Berkeley and Jefferson intelligencer. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va.) 1802-1810, 1806-04-18
For ai< IsrEtLreEkcER..

smAnsl ouQ pnyetCLAu0 AREee Wn6n
,amsA i ina fever he is sick. But men.
ton fhs curative plan in either case, and
Ne noyoniy disagree, but combat each
otheras ensnies to truth. We,call in
question every thing but our oNhsrrors.
Aato our ignorance it is out ofthe ques-
tions fdf we have none ofis. =.
{. zWhefH akfmbus had digcsted his plan
ofsaili6g 70 the East Indies BY holding
West0n course from the continent of
Europe, Il was not only treated As CHI
ncrical, but As altogether absurd and
impractisabls, because never suggested
before, His wise philosopbic oppo-
nents could not conceive that new prin-
ciples might be developed, and new dis
eoveries made. They contemplated
themselves as having assembled the steep.
eat activities Of science, and as seated
inphilosophie serenity on the summit Of
human wisdom. Columbus, however,
soon taught them that the passage was
practicable, and that he would have
reached those regions Of wealth had he
not been intercepted on his way thither
by a IuorM.
The huge volumes Of ply sicians now
present themselves to me with equal alb.
Suptness. Ger steppingthel nodesfy ofna-
sure they have thrown all into confusion.
But like the etumbians, l must get round
those voluminous interruptions, and
gain my latitude on the opposite side.
Medical preiudicrs may run as high as
religious ones, but truth in this country
viii be respected; Tor the man that re.
spects his own understanding, will re-
sPeet the understanding otanother. This
IL reasons position.
In consequence Of the i-,U of health
not being understood, physicians have
never agreed. Their doctrines too Of
ten enveloped in mysterious guise, ten
ded to mislead aud deceive. Man 10
certainly the most inconsistent creature
in the universe. He is constantly de.
nouncing imposition, and is perpetually
the subject of il. There should be no
secrets in med;ciue--nor politics, nor
religion. Nature disclaims the idea.
The man that promulgates the possessi-
on Of y secret nostrum, does an INJURY
10 society BY imposing upon the ersdu-
lous sal weak; and by deriving sup
port through the medium ofhis knavery.
Whether this takes place in medicine,
religion, or politics, it is equali' abo-
Ininable, and ought tobe detested when
ever il appears. Secrecy includes in its
very nature deception.
The similarity Of fevers all over the
globe, in all climates and in all countries,
have long considered as proof of the
existence Of some ka1V uniform in its o.
perations in the production Of health,
and deranged in the production Of fever.
A ttoer in the East puts on the same ape
pearance that it does in the Wtest;, and
begins and euds in the same way, whs.
ther in the equatorial, or polar regions.
I.discOver no generic and spesif fl natures
except that which arises from the nature
and degree Of the stimulation applied.
But to this, some very eminent physiei-
an, no doubt, will oppose himself, and
seii his patients that I know nothing Of
the matter; because al physicians, in
ait ages, have asserted generic and spe-
cific differences, and that even D9cter
Rush, was some time engaged in deter.
mining the speeitdt nature Of the feverof,
Philadelphia. Then be it 90, and let
diem go on with their generic and spe.
ciifee differences, and provide nosfruR.a
6r,eaeh genera and species. But this
pursuit alter generic and specifc natures
- G.Ser Il Nor onlv hewiltlerit,v II In n