INTRODUCTION.

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who, while he is dosing his patient with Medicines, often neglectsother things of far greater importance.

Many things are necessary for the sick besides Medicine. Noris the person who takes care to procure these for them, of less im-portance than a physician. The poor oftener perish in diseasesfor want of proper nursing than of Medicine. They are frequent*ly in want of even the necessaries of life, and still more so of whatis proper for a sick-bed. No one can imagine, who has not beena witness of these situations, how much good a well-disposed per-son may do, by only taking care to have such wants supplied.There certainly cannot be a more necessary, a more noble, or amore godlike action, than to administer to the wants of our fellow-creatures in distress. While virtue or religion are known amongmankind, this conduct will be approved ; and while heaven is just,it must be rewarde. !

Persons who do i ijt choose to administer Medicine to the sick,may nevertheless direct their regimen. An eminent medical au-thor has said, That by diet alone all the intentions of Medicinemay be answered.* No doubt a great many of them may ; butthere are other things besides diet, which ought by no means to beneglected. Many hurtful and destructive prejudices, with regardto the treatment of the sick, still prevail among the people, whichpersons of better sense and learning alone can eradicate. To guardthe poor against the influence of these ytrej^Jices, and to instil intotheir minds some just ide»« ^/-«.fle importance of proper food, freshair, cleanVme*«, and other pieces of regimen necessary in diseases,would be a work of great merit, and productive of many happy con-sequences. A proper regimen, inmost diseases, is at least equal toMedicine, and in many of them it is greatly superior.

To assist the well-meant endeavours of the humane and benevo-lent in relieving distress ; to eradicate dangerous and hurtful pre-judices ; to guard the ignorant and credulous against the frauds andimpositions of quacks and imposters ; and to show men what is intheir own power, both with regard to the prevention and cure ofdiseases, are certainly objects worthy of the physician's attention.These were the leading views in composing and publishing the fol-lowing sheets. They were suggested by an attention to the con-duct of mankind, with regard to Medicine, in the course of a prettylong practice in different parts of this island, during which the au-thor has often had occasion to wish that his patients, or thoseabout them, had been possessed of some such plain directory for reg-ulating their conduct. How far he has succeeded in his endeavoursto supply this deficiency, must he left to others to determine : butif they be found to contribute in any measure towards alleviatingthe calamities of mankind, he will think his labour very well be-stowed.

* Arbuthnot.