I have not troubled the reader with an useless parade of quotations from different authors, but have in general adopted their observations where my own were either defective, or totally wanting. Those to whom I am most obliged are, Ramazini, Arbuthnot, and Tissot; the last of which, in his _Avis au Peuple_, comes the nearest to my views of any author which I have seen. Had the Doctor’s plan been as complete as the execution is masterly, we should have had no occasion for any new treatise of this kind soon; but by confining himself to the acute diseases, he has in my opinion omitted the most useful part of his subject. People in acute diseases may sometimes be their own physicians; but in the chronic, the cure must ever depend chiefly upon the patient’s own endeavours. The Doctor has also passed over the _Prophylaxis_, or preventive part of Medicine, very slightly, though it is certainly of the greatest importance in such a work. He had no doubt his reasons for so doing, and I am so far from finding fault with him, that I think his performance does great honour both to his head and to his heart. Several other foreign physicians of eminence have written on nearly the same plan with Tissot, as the Baron Van Swieten, physician to their Imperial Majesties, M. Rosen, first physician of the kingdom of Sweden, &c.; but these gentlemen’s productions have never come to my hand. I cannot help wishing, however, that some of our distinguished countrymen would follow their example. There still remains much to be done on this subject, and it does not appear to me how any man could better employ his time or talents, than in eradicating hurtful prejudices, and diffusing useful knowledge among the people. I know some of the Faculty disapprove of every attempt of this nature, imagining that it must totally destroy their influence. But this notion appears to me to be as absurd as it is illiberal. People in distress will always apply for relief to men of superior abilities, when they have it in their power; and they will do this with far greater confidence and readiness when they believe that Medicine is a rational science, than when they take it to be only a matter of mere conjecture. Though I have endeavoured to render this Treatise plain and useful, yet I found it impossible to avoid some terms of art; but those are in general either explained, or are such as most people understand. In short, I have endeavoured to conform my style to the capacities of mankind in general; and, if my Readers do not flatter either themselves or me, with some degree of success. On a medical subject, this is not so easy a matter as some may imagine. To make a shew of learning is easier than to write plain sense, especially in a science which has been kept at such a distance from common observation. It would however be no difficult matter to prove, that every thing valuable in the practical part of Medicine is within the reach of common abilities.