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718 VON TROIL’S LETTERS ON ICELAND.
long as they are able to ftir; they likewife feldom confult a phyfician, and when they
do, it is out of their power to follow his prefcriptions exa€tly. Some perfons attacked
with it have, however, been freed of it, after having had the {mall-pox. It might, there-
fore be conjectured, that patients aflli€ted with the elephantiafis, if they had not had the
imall-pox, would be benefited by inoculation.
Some who have had this dreadful ‘difeafe have gone from Iceland to Copenhagen,
where they have happily experienced a cure. | will likewife mention, in juftice to Dr.
‘Thomas Heberden, that he is the only phyfician known to have cured the elephantiafis,
after it had attained avery high degree. -His manner of cure is this: he firft mixes an
ounce and an half of powder of bark, with half an ounce of faffafras root, and then adds
as much fimple fyrup as is neceflary to make the whole into an eletuary ; ; of which he
gives the patient two portions a day, of the fize of a nutmeg: he caufes the hands and
feet to be rubbed morning and evening with a mixture, confifting of eight ounces of
brandy, an ounce of lye of tartar, and two ounces of fpirit of falarmoniack. He laftly
caufes blifters to be conftantly laid between the fhoulders. ‘This method regularly pur-
fued fucceeded in the courfe of five months, after he had before made ufe of antimony,
mercury, and the like, during the full period of feven years, without any lafting
amendment. [But I have already faid too much of this loathfome difeafe.
Sed. quanam medela excogitari peterit, que elephantem tam ingens malum ex-
pugnare digna fit? Areteus.
LETTER XXV.—From PROFESSOR BERGMAN TO DR. TROIL.
Of the Effects of Fire, both at the Volcanos and the Hot Springs ; and alfo of the Bafalts.
- Sir, Stockholm, June 12, 1776.
You have been fo kind as to communicate to me your obfervations on Staffa and Ice-
land, and to defire my opinion of their natural curiofities. It would be very ungrate-
fulif I hefitated to comply with this requeft, as you prefented me with the intire col-
le&tions you made there, that I might chemically examine the nature of each. Mere
obfervations, without the affiftance of an exact knowledge of the fubftances, in refpec to
their original matter and compofition, inftead of affording any {ufficient lights whereby to
enable us to determine with certainty of them, would only lead‘us to draw very erroneous
conclufions. Though the form, grain, colour, hardnefs, pofition, and external appear-
ances may aflift us in our conjectures of the true nature of minerals, and fometimes of
the manner in which they are produced, yet we muft neverthelefs remain in uncertainty,
till proper experiments guide us to a more clear decifion.
Forgive me for mentioning the conclufions, which, in my opinion, might be drawn
from your obfervations. regarding the internal nature of thefe fubftances, fo far as I
have been able to difcover them from a€tual experiments. But you muft by no means
expecta {olution of all the difficulties that arife on this intricate bufinefs. I will cau-
tioufly endeavour to feparate what is certain, from what has been hitherto confidered
precarious and doubtful ; a due regard to truth will always prevent me from offering
mere conjectures, or even credible opinions, with a peremptory decifion, as incontro-
vertible arguments. Experience has taught us-that we ought to judge of the works of
nature with the utmoft diffidence ; and we do not wantexamples, even from the remotelt
times, of perfons who have pretended to explain, with the moft pofitive certainty, not
only how our earth, but even how the whole world received its prefent form, and even its
very origin. ‘To determine the contrivance of fo vaft a machine over a oe £
indee
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