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INTRODUCTION.

The improvements in medicine, since the revival of learning, haveby no means kept pace with those of the other arts. The reasonis obvions. Medicine has been studied by few, except those who in-tended to live by it as a business. Such, either from a mistakenzeal for the honour of medicine, or to raise their own importance,have endeavoured to disguise and conceal the art. Medical authorshave generally written in a foreign language ; and those who areunequal to this task, have even valued themselves upon couching, atleast,'their prescriptions, in terms and characters unintelligible tothe rest of mankind.

The contentions of the clergy, which happened soon after therestoration of learning, engaged the attention of mankind, andpaved the way for that freedom of thought and inquiry, which hassince prevailed in most parts of Europe with regard to religiousmatters. Every man took a side in those Woody disputes ; andevery gentleman, that he xn\ghtdistingxnsh himself on one side orother, was rnstrucced in Divinity. This taught people to thinkand reason for themselves in matters of religion, and at last totallydestroyed that complete and absolute dominion which the clergyhad obtained over the minds of men.

The study of law has likewise, in most civilized nations, beenjustly deemed a necessary part of the education of a gentleman.Every gentleman ought certainly to know at least the laws of hisown country : and, if he were also acquainted with those of oth-ers, it might be more than barely an ornament to him.

The different branches of philosophy have also of late been veryuniversally studied by ail who pretended to a liberal education.The advantages of this are manifest. It frees the mind from preju-dice and superstition ; fits it for the investigation of truth ; indu-ces habits of reasoning and judging properly; opens an inexhaust-ible source of entertainment ; paves the way to the improvementof arts and agriculture ; and qualifies men for acting with proprietyin the most important stations of life.

Natural History has likewise become an object of general atten-tion ; and it well deserves to be so. it ieads to discoveries of thegreatest importance. Indeed agriculture, the most useful of allarts, is only a branch of Natural History, and can never arrive a*,a high degree of improvement where the study of that scienceneglected.

Medicine, however, has not, as far as I know, in any countr,been reckoned a necessary part of the education of a gentleman.But surely no sufficient reason can be assigned for this omission.No science lays open a more extensive field of useful knowledge,or affords more ample entertainment to an inquisitive mind. Anat-