AN INQUIRY, &c. PART I. INTRODUCTION. “Les hommes sont bien malheureux! ils flottent sans cesse entre de fausses esperances et des craintes ridicules; et, au lieu de s’appuyer sur la raison, ils se font des monstres qui les intimident, ou des fantomes qui les seduisent.” MONTESQUIEU. The author of the following pages has been induced to lay before the public the details of an investigation into Atmospheric Contagion, from the following considerations. _1st_, That there prevails among the public, and especially among the relatives of the sick, much unnecessary alarm on that subject. _2d_, That much injury is inflicted upon the poor patient, who is often made to suffer great and cruel privations, from the neglect and desertion of friends in a state of panic. _3d_, That a great obstacle to the progress of Medical Science, is raised up by the belief in the existence of Atmospheric Contagion. _4th_, That there exists relative to that subject, much confusion, from the misapplication of terms. He has thought that these are important grievances, and that a little labour would go far to remove them. He is satisfied, from the investigation that is shortly to be detailed, that Atmospheric Contagion has no existence; that consequently all the apprehension felt upon the subject is groundless, and that the many painful measures which the public adopt, for their security, are totally unnecessary. On a subject, too, touching such important considerations as the dreadful panic often experienced when pestilence is ravaging; the safety and ease of mind of the public; the discharge of the most sacred offices of kindness and consolation to their sick and dying fellow-men; and the progress of medical science, he has felt that the public must take a deep interest, and that he is warranted in treating it in a style fitted for popular perusal. It must be granted that the British nation, whose sympathy is not confined among themselves, but exists for the various tribes of the human race, civilized and savage, must willingly lend an ear to an argument, whose object is, to shew that their own safety from pestilence, does not require them to be placed in the painful and cruel position, of withholding their aid from a suffering and helpless fellow-creature; of disregarding the cries and the imploring and eloquent looks of the dying; of forsaking the sick-bed of a father or a brother, denying the tender and unpurchaseable offices of friendship, and of ruthlessly breaking asunder the sacred bonds with which God has wisely and indulgently joined us.