Excerpt from Inaugural Dissertation, Being an Attempt to Prove That Certain Substances Are Conveyed, Unchanged, Into the Circulation: Or, if Changed, That They Are Recomposed and Regain Their Active Properties

Fadden death. They afferted that the mutative pow' er, of the chylopoictic vifcera was fuch, that every thing noxious was rejeéted, and only the nutritious parts of fubltances were permitted to pafs into the fanguiferous fyfiem. Finally, they referred all the phenomena, which were inexplicable to them, to a certatn vague term called fympathy which, perhaps, mvolves as many or more difficulties than the former opinion. It Is not pretended to be denied, that In the operation of certain medicines a fympathy does appear to cxiii between certain parts of the body but it alfo feems probable, that this fympathy has had too great a latitude and that certain circum fiances are referred to it, which are more eafily ex plained on other principles. Many refpeétable inqui rers continue to entertain the idea that fome fubftan ces are found in their aétive fiate after having enter ed into the circulation and Of confequence that they muff have paffed unchanged, or if changed, have regained their original properties by fome pro ccfs unknown to us. They grounded their opinion upon experiments and obfervations made with ac curacy and fidelity: the accounts of thefe are to be found in various writings from ancient down to modern date: but, fo far as is known to the author, there has been no compilation or collection of them into one mafs. As the only way to arrive at the knowledge of the truth is to poltefs a clear view of the evidence, and as this queltion is deemed of fome importance it is contemplated in the following efiay.

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