Sed:, i; Of the Theory of Pharmacy.

in Matter, than what is here ipokeof, or that it exerts it ll»]f by ibmeLaws not here hinted at. As toany other Property, it has alreadybeen obferv'd. that there is no foun-dation fo mach as to imagine itfrom ; and to recur to any fccretLaws of its Execution, carries us fofar from the cue and omy Standardof Reafoning about fuch things,(which is the Evidence of Senie,anddemonlhat'ive Djduftions there-from) thatit plungesus atonceintoa Caaos df Uncertainty and Confu-iion: For as to material Bodies,when we ence leave Demonftration,and venture into Hypothelês andConjectures, no one knows wherethe Conceit may flop. It may aswell be fuppos'J that one Parcel ofMatter has in it felfa Power to moveagainic and ftrike another at anyd¡ fiance, WiJi any given Force andDirection, at pleaiuie; as to ima-gine it can in the leaft exceed thofeLaws which are manifeitiydemon-ilrable in its Nature. If Mattertherefore is not a fiee Agent, butunder fuch Laws as have beenproved; and it, according to thoieLaws, it cannot a£t, in final! Par-cels efpecially, but aimcit in Con-tact ; it is plain that all Preteniionsto fuch Remedies, how much lo-ever countenanced by fome greatMen, of more Credulity and Good-Nature thanftiicl Inquiry, is a De-luiion and a Cheat. For they fup-poië the Remedy not under thofenatural Influences, but that in thefrr.alleit Quantifies it may and does,in many Inihnces, atfjft and alterthe Frame of a human Conffitutionat confiderable diibance, or apply'dvery remote from the principal Scatof the Complaint. And what canbe more abfurd than to alledge anatural Effect, brought about bya natural Ciufe, contrary to the

5

known Laws by which all materialAgents are by the Author of Naturebound to operate ?

But this Error, if firittly in-quired into, might appear not ibmuch the Produce of an ill way ofReafoning, as of an Unattention tothe true Nature of things, or a dif-honeft Impolitic« upon the Credu-lity of Mankind. It is a very con-çue way of Thinking, and a ¿pcedyInlet into the Myiteries of Nature,to explain an Effect-, wc are toolazy futficienrly to inquire into, byoccult Qualities in the Agent ; andwhen we find a Difeafe remedy'd,to adign it to fome Specific Quali-ty in the Medicine made ufe of:when, were there due Examinationmade of fuch Cures, the Caulbmight perhaps eafily be found fromlbme other Inftrument. Bur fo ea-fily do People impolé upon them-felves in fuch Matters, that if they re-cover at oi near the time of makingufe of things under this pompousDenomination, whatfoever otherMeans the Recovery might juflly beafcribed to, thefe certainly carry a-way the Credit jeipeeiail/ when íuchare concern'd, who ¡find their ac-countin the Impofition, as they havealways Skill enough to make the beftAdvantage of fuch Weaknefs, in fa-vour of their own pretended Reme-dies. So that befides this Notion gi-ving an Encouragement to Lazinefs,and being a Cover for Ignorance, italio fuppliesa Shelter rbrCheatsandImpoftors, under which theyabuiètheir Fellow-Creatures with Sham-Remedies, and pick a thoufandtimes more Pockets, than they cureDi (tempers.

;. Hence likewifeis manifeft theImpoifibility of a Plenum, whichfome are even religioufly fond of.For one Body is laid to be morefluid than another, as its Parts areB j imalier,