There is reason to believe, if the efforts of Nature, at the beginning of a fever, were duly attended to and promoted, it would seldom continue long; but when her attempts are either neglected or counteracted, it is no wonder if the disease proves fatal. There are daily instances of persons who, after catching cold, have all the symptoms of a beginning fever; but by keeping warm, drinking diluting liquors, bathing their feet in warm water, &c. the symptoms in a few hours disappear, and the danger is prevented. When fevers of a putrid kind threaten, the best method of obviating their effects is by repeated vomits. Our design is not to enter into a critical inquiry into the nature and immediate causes of fevers, but to mark their most obvious symptoms, and to point out the proper treatment of the patient with respect to his diet, drink, air, &c. in the different stages of the disease. In these articles the inclinations of the patient will in a great measure direct our conduct. Almost every person in a fever complains of great thirst, and calls out for drink, especially of a cooling nature. This at once points out the use of _water_, and other cooling liquors. What is so likely to abate the heat, attenuate the humours, remove spasms and obstructions, promote perspiration, increase the quantity of urine, and in short produce every salutary effect in an ardent or inflammatory fever, as drinking plentifully of water, thin gruel, or any other weak liquor, of which water is the basis? The necessity of diluting liquors is pointed out by the dry tongue, the parched skin, and the burning heat, as well as by the unquenchable thirst of the patient. Many cooling liquors, which are extremely grateful to patients in a fever, may be prepared from fruits, as decoctions of tamarinds, apple-tea, orange-whey, and the like. Mucilaginous liquors might also be prepared from marsh-mallow roots, linseed, lime-tree buds, and other mild vegetables. These liquors, especially when acidulated, are highly agreeable to the patient, and should never be denied him. At the beginning of a fever the patient generally complains of great lassitude or weariness, and has no inclination to move. This evidently shews the propriety of keeping him easy, and if possible in bed. Lying in bed relaxes the spasms, abates the violence of the circulation, and gives Nature an opportunity of exerting all her force to overcome the disease. The bed alone would often remove a fever at the beginning; but when the patient struggles with the disease, instead of driving it off, he only fixes it the deeper, and renders it more dangerous. This observation is too often verified in travellers, who happen when on a journey to be seized with a fever. Their anxiety to get home induces them to travel with the fever upon them, which conduct seldom fails to render it fatal.