paper in question, for it was a vote passed among my own townsmen; nor
to the opinion of any American, for none know better than the Professors
in the great Schools of Philadelphia how cheaply the praise of native
contemporary criticism is obtained. I appeal to the recorded opinions
of those whom I do not know, and who do not know me, nor care for
me, except for the truth that I may have uttered; to Copland, in his
"Medical Dictionary," who has spoken of my Essay in phrases to which
the pamphlets of American "scribblers" are seldom used from European
authorities; to Ramsbotham, whose compendious eulogy is all
that self-love could ask; to the "Fifth Annual Report" of the
Registrar-General of England, in which the second-hand abstract of
my Essay figures largely, and not without favorable comment, in an
important appended paper. These testimonies, half forgotten until
this circumstance recalled them, are dragged into the light, not in a
paroxysm of vanity, but to show that there may be food for thought in
the small pamphlet which the Philadelphia Teacher treats so lightly.
They were at least unsought for, and would never have been proclaimed
but for the sake of securing the privilege of a decent and unprejudiced
hearing.

I will take it for granted that they have so far counterpoised the
depreciating language of my fellow-countryman and fellow-teacher as to
gain me a reader here and there among the youthful class of students I
am now addressing. It is only for their sake that I think it necessary
to analyze, or explain, or illustrate, or corroborate any portion of
the following Essay. But I know that nothing can be made too plain for
beginners; and as I do not expect the practitioner, or even the more
mature student, to take the trouble to follow me through an Introduction
which I consider wholly unnecessary and superfluous for them, I shall
not hesitate to stoop to the most elementary simplicity for the benefit
of the younger student. I do this more willingly because it affords a
good opportunity, as it seems to me, of exercising the untrained mind
in that medical logic which does not seem to have been either taught or
practised in our schools of late, to the extent that might be desired.

I will now exhibit, in a series of propositions reduced to their
simplest expression, the same essential statements and conclusions as
are contained in the Essay, with such commentaries and explanations as
may be profitable to the i