13
ed had a salutary influence on the nervous system, while they lessened the debility, which, according to old prejudices, it was apprehended that they would increase. It would be out of place here to rehearse the steps by which Dr Hamilton proceeded in applying the same principles to the treatment of Scarlatina, Marasmus, Chlorosis, and several other diseases. But it is not uninteresting to observe, that the commencement of the practice in the case of continued fever, is coeval with the establishment of this Society; and that, in all probability, the friendly intercourse which such an association is calculated to promote, must have had considerable effect in extending an improvement, the value of which is now fully appreciated. Dr Hamilton was not impatient for the acquisition of celebrity as an author, and he had the efficacy of his practice demonstrated by the experience of more than twenty years, when he published, in 1805, his Observations on the Utility and Administration of Purgative Medicines on several diseases,—a work which passed through eight editions in this country, in little more than twenty years, besides being republished in America, and translated into French.
