which he has only taken care to free from the
impediment of unwise meddling, and to aid, as
far as possible, by strengthening the natural
force, the all-pervading life itself, fighting against
the disease by which it is enfeebled.

A physician, well esteemed among his brethren,
teacher of Medicine in the Liverpool Medical
School, has written a brave book, which fairly
advances to the rank of a general principle,
the truth towards which all professional
experience has of late years confessedly been marching.
This writer, Doctor Thomas Inman, of
Liverpool, disclaims all credit for originality;
but, as he founds upon the knowledge of our day
a distinct argument that in combating with
disease the physician should give his first attention
to a support of the powers of life, and his
second attention to the particular structure that
may be diseased, and, as this is a reversal of the
old rule, he ventures to entitle his book "A
Foundation for a New Theory of Medicine."
The title is big, but the book itself is free from all
extravagant pretension. It is in harmony with
the present temper of professional experience
and practice, but is full of new and valuable
truth; for one, who feeds his cold upon thin gruel
when he ought to knock it down with a
rump-steak; for another, who likes to be bled every
spring; or a third, " continually refining his
blood," as he supposes, with antibilious pills. We
draw, therefore, on the book, not for speculations
but for a few suggestive facts. It is of no matter
whether we recognise, with Doctor Inman, vital
force as a distinct power, or define it with Mr.
Bain " as a collocation of the forces of inorganic
matter for the purpose of keeping up a living
structure." Whatever life may be, we know the
conditions of its sustenance; we know that the
powers of life are impaired by all diseases; we
know that often, if not always, their tendency is
to a curative effect, and we care only to show
here, by many instances, that the success of this
effort is very commonly proportioned to the
degree in which those powers of life are
sustained and strengthened.

A gentleman married at the age of eighty, and
had five children. Two died before the age of
thirty, as it seemed, of pure debility; the others
appeared likely to follow. There are many
reasons for the obvious difference in the degrees
of vital force which children bring into the
world.

When a child is at the breast, it is a common
household proverb that a weakly mother makes a
crying baby. Instead of giving Daffy's Elixir and
other poisons to the child, the custom should be
to nourish the mother well with ample food, and
give her all possible peace of mind. To secure
a still night to a nursing infant, there are few
medicines so effectual as a full dose, to be taken
by the mother before bed-time, of good soup,
and some wine or beer. A sick infant should,
of course, as far as possible, be supplied with
the requisites of healthy life; and the first
of these is good air. A child of eighteen
months, weak from its birth, and threatened
with water on the brain, was dieted
carefully in Liverpool without success. He steadily
got worse, and was unable to digest even
milk and water. As a last resort he was
taken across the Mersey to New Brighton, a
watering-place round the corner of the opposite
shore, facing the Irish Channel. " No alteration
was apparent until he had turned the angle
between the river bank and the open sea; but the
instant he had done so, a change was perceptible
in his features the haggard look of suffering
was replaced by the placid look of ordinary
repose. As soon as he arrived at the lodging
taken, he was ready for a meal, and digested
with perfect ease a small basinful of bread and
milk. The vomiting and purging ceased at once,
and the recovery was complete."

A child, aged twenty-five months, had convulsions
that resisted all treatment. She was
sent into the country and they ceased
immediately. She was brought back to town in a few
days, and they returned. She was taken back
into the country, kept there for some months, and
came home quite well.

Lancing of gums, purging, calomel, blistering,
used to be the old fatal artillery brought to bear
against children in convulsions. Under the
contrary system now prevailing, the mortality has
been greatly reduced.

We have all read and known many examples
of the sustaining power of hope, and of the
depression of the vital force under despair. A
man receives a hurt, which is by accident
over-estimated, and his doctor says in his hearing
that it must be mortal. He lies still in bed,
eating nothing, silently expecting and assuring
himself of death. Somebody else, in whom he
has full confidence, happens to see that he is not
seriously hurt, orders him chops and porter; his
eyes brighten, his tongue is loosed, and next day
he is well.

As we have seen of the strength of mania, so
we may find of all forms of unsoundness of
mind, that there is deterioration, not increase of
vital force. A lady, subject only at certain
times to aberration of mind, with a sleeplessness
that was not to be conquered by narcotics,
recovered by the help of steel medicine, good diet,
a slight daily walk, and carriage exercise. An
overworked young surgeon, whose mind wavered,
and whose sleepless nights were haunted with
wild visions, recovered by the use of liberal
food, steel, and cod oil. A sister or daughter,
wearied with watching by the sick, whose eyes are
darkened with black spots, and whose ears sing,
takes wine, with the support of frequent food,
and is freed from those distresses. An elderly
lady had an attack which she feared boded
apoplexy. The surgeon who first saw her, finding
her pale, weak, and badly nourished, prescribed
tonics and good living. She was well in a week.
Subsequently she had a similar attack, and was
seen by a practitioner of the old school, who
leeched and purged her. She was dead in two
days.

A stout woman who lived freely, used
purgatives, and suffered now and then from
giddiness, was seized with apoplexy. There was