stress on, when he, according to his odd fantastick way, calls it the _Anger of the Archæus_, that won’t let the Waters pass; and if there is this kind of Spasmodick Affect in the Parts leading to the Kidneys, then certainly there is as much Reason for one in a Dropsie to get into a Coach upon his taking his Medicines, that the frequent jolting may assist their Operation, as there is for one in a Fit of the Gravel so to do. The Heat that is acquir’d by the Motion of the Body, must needs comfort the Parts, and rarifie a great deal of the Moisture, so that it may the more easily pass the Membranes, as they are dilated by Exercise; and if we can by squeezing, make Water pass through Leather, the whole Skin dry’d and prepar’d, may it not much more easily pass the Membranes of a living Animal, when work’d and stretch’d by Motion, and assisted by the Warmth which that Motion produces? These may be thought little things by some, but they will be found to be of great Consequence; by such minute Measures, Nature can produce great Effects; and by a Neglect of these things, many a great Life has been lost, in Dependence upon something of a greater Name, that has had no Relation to the Genuine proceedings of Nature. These are some of the Reasons which have convinc’d me of the Preference of the Diuretick Course, and which I think can’t be overthrown, by all the Examples of the Success of Purgers, because if we compute the Ill Effects of ’em likewise, and set ’em to balance the good, the very Cures done by ’em, will seem but as so many _Splendida Peccata_. We ought not hastily to quit safe Means for those which are dangerous, only because they are a little more expeditious; when a Case is within our Reach, we ought to Establish our Prognosticks upon sure ground, tho’ they may not be so quick as could be wish’d; we have other Dropsies that are dubious enough, but in this Case we ought to study to bring things to a certainty as much as possible; which how can we do unless our Methods are Uniform? It behoves the Patrons of Purgatives to assign some certain Rule, to render the Use of ’em alwayes safe, which seems impossible to be done; and it behoves those who are for insisting on Diureticks, to find out some such Measures, as may make these milder Medicines always Efficacious; which is what I have been attempting to do; and which, if I don’t flatter my self, I think I have made to appear plain and obvious; for if we can’t arrive at some comfortable certainty in this Case, I don’t know in what we can do so; for we are so happy as to have those things as will certainly act upon such a Crasis of the Blood, as will revive and enrich it, when decay’d, tho’ not always in the like space of time; and when they act too slowly, we can enforce their Virtue, by these ways I have been speaking of.