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Buchan's Domestic Medicine : or the Family Physician ; designed to render the medical Art more generally useful, by showing People what is in their own Power ; both with the Respect to the Prevention and Cure of Diseases ; chiefly calculated to recommend a proper Attention to Regimen, and simple Medicines
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LABORERS, ARTIFICERS, &c.

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They alone who are witnesses of those scenes of calamity-can form a notion of what numbers perish in diseases forwant of proper assistance, and even for the want of the neces-saries of life.

Laborers are often hurt by a foolish emulation whichprompts them to vie with one another, till they overheat them-selves to such a degree as .0 occasion a fever, or even to dropdown dead. As this is the effect of vanity, it ought alwaysto be checked by those who have the superintendence ofthem. Such as wantonly throw away their lives in this man-ner, deserve to be looked upon in no better light than self-murderers. It is pity that poor widows and fatherless chil-dren should suffer by such rediculous conduct. Could wespeak to the passions of men, we would bid them think oftheir wives and children, and then consider of how great im-portance their own lives are.

The office of a soldier, in time of war, may be rankedamongst the laborious employments. Soldiers suffer manyhardships from the inclemency of seasons, long marches, badprovisions, hunger, &c. These occasion fevers, fluxes, rheu-matisms, and other fatal diseases, which generally do greaterexecution than the sword, especially when campaigns arecontinued too late in the year. One week of cold rainyweather will kill more men than many months when it isdry and warm.

Those who have the command of armies should take carethat their soldiers be. well clothed and well fed. They oughtalso to finish their campaigns in due season, and to providetheir men with dry and well-aired winter-quarters. Theserules, taking care, at the same time, to keep the sick at 3proper distance from those in health, would tend greatly topreserve the lives of the soldiery.

Sailors may also be numbered amongst the laborious.They undergo great hardships from change of climate, theviolence of weather, hard labor, bad provisions, &c.

One great source of the diseases of sea-faring people isexcess. When they get on shore, after having been long atsea, without regard to the climate or their own constitutions,they plunge headlong into all manner of riot, and often per-sist till a fever puts an end to their lives. Thus intemperance,and not the climate, is often the cause why so many of ourbrave sailors die on foreign coasts. We would not have sea-