第53章

NOTESTOTHEADDRESSONCURRENTSANDCOUNTER

CURRENTSINMEDICALSCIENCE。

SomepassagescontainedintheoriginalmanuscriptoftheAddress，andomittedinthedeliveryonaccountofitslength，arerestoredinthetextorincorporatedwiththeseNotes。

NOTEA——

Thereisgoodreasontodoubtwhetherthenitrateofsilverhasanyrealefficacyinepilepsy。Ithasseemedtocuremanycases，butepilepsyisaveryuncertaindisease，andthereishardlyanythingwhichhasnotbeensupposedtocureit。Dr。Coplandcitesmanyauthoritiesinitsfavor，mostespeciallyLombard’scases。ButDelaBergeandMonneret(Comp。deMed。Paris)，1839，analyzethesesamecases，eleveninnumber，andcanonlydrawtheinferenceofaveryquestionablevalueinthesupposedremedy。Dr。JamesJacksonsaysthatreliefofepilepsyisnottobeattainedbyanymedicinewithwhichheisacquainted，butbydiet。(LetterstoaYoungPhysician，p。67。)GuyPatin，DeanoftheFacultyofParis，ProfessorattheRoyalCollege，AuthoroftheAntimonialMartyrology，awitandamanofsenseandlearning，whodiedalmosttwohundredyearsago，hadcometothesameconclusion，thoughthechemistsofhistimeboastedoftheirremedies。“Did，youeverseeacaseofepilepsycuredbynitrateofsilver？“Isaidtooneoftheoldestandmostexperiencedsurgeonsinthiscountry。“Never，“washisinstantreply。Dr。

Twitchell’sexperiencewasverysimilar。How，then，didnitrateofsilvercometobegivenforepilepsy？Because，asDr。Martinhassowellremindedus，lunaticswereconsideredformerlytobeunderthespecialinfluenceofLuna，themoon(whichEsquirol，beitobserved，utterlydenies)，andlunarcaustic，ornitrateofsilver，isasaltofthatmetalwhichwascalledlunafromitswhiteness，andofcoursemustbeintheclosestrelationswiththemoon。Itfollowsbeyondallreasonablequestionthatthemoon’smetal，silver，anditspreparations，mustbethespecificremedyformoonblastedmaniacsandepileptics！

Yetthepractitionerwhoprescribesthenitrateofsilversupposesheisguidedbythesolemnexperienceofthepast，insteadofbyitsidlefancies。Helaughsatthoseoldphysicianswhoplacedsuchconfidenceintherighthindhoofofanelkasaremedyforthesamedisease，andleavestherecordofhisownbeliefinatreatmentquiteasfancifulandfarmoreobjectionable，writteninindelibleinkuponalivingtabletwherehewhorunsmayreaditforawholegeneration，ifnaturespareshiswalkingadvertisementsolong。

NOTEB——

Thepresumptionthatamanisinnocentuntilheisprovedguilty，doesnotmeanthattherearenorogues，butlaystheonusprobandionthepartytowhichitproperlybelongs。Sowiththisproposition。

Anoxiousagentshouldneverbeemployedinsicknessunlessthereisampleevidenceintheparticularcasetoovercomethegeneralpresumptionagainstallsuchagents，andtheevidenceisveryapttobedefective。

ThemiserabledelusionofHomoeopathybuildsitselfuponanaxiomdirectlytheoppositeofthis；namely，th

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