Indeed it would be very ill judged in the author to discourage Galvanic experiments, when not at. tended with inhumanity. Every advance in that science is a step nearer the top of the eminence on which Perkinism rests. I am not, however, very sanguine that Perkinism is likely to derive that immediate support from the step-by-step progress which Galvanism is making, that one would, on the first reflection, be led to imagine. I fear the Medical Profession will fail to support Galvanism the moment it is attempted to be applied to any useful purpose, that is, to an easy and cheap mode of curing diseases, for then it will become identified with the other offending practice. Perkins and Aldini I conceive go hand in hand; but the former cures diseases, (ay there's the rub) and thereby encroaches on the province of the faculty; and, I apprehend, it will continue to be the province of too many of the medical profession to condemn the American, while they bend the knee to the Italian. In the third Canto, entitled MANIFESTO,' the author has discussed the merits of every argument, which, to his knowledge, has been adduced against the Tractors. Their ridiculousness, like that of some of our Bond Street fops, is almost beyond the reach of caricature. For instance, when we perceive Dr. Haygarth attempting to persuade the public that the Tractors cure diseases by operat ing on the imagination of the patient, although every possessor of them may have daily proof that infants and brute animals are as much subject to their power as the most credulous; and when incontestible proof is adduced by Mr. Perkins of their efficacy on those subjects, we see the Doctor attempt to show that, in those cases, it is not the 'patient, but the observer, who is deceived by his ( own imagination'-when we next find that Dr. H. and his adherents whose duty it is to cure discases in the most safe, cheap, and expeditious manner, anathematize the Tractors, because they cure diseases, (as they pretend to suppose) by an operation on the imagination (a pleasant remedy!)— when they exclaim against the Tractors, and assert that no confidence is to be placed in their effects, because the modus operandi is not explained and demonstrated, like a mathematical problem, although the modus operandi of the best and most approved medicines in the Materia Medica is even more inexplicable-when we find it objected to the Tractors, that the testimony of those who support the discovery is not admissible, nor satisfactory, although such testimony is, in every sense, preferable to that on the other side of the question, inasmuch as it is from learned and disinterested men, many of them MEDICAL CHARACTERS, RETIRED ON THEIR FORTUNES FROM BUSINESS-it is difficult to show the ridiculous conduct of the party opposed to Perkinism, in a more conspicuous manner, than by presenting a simple relation of facts. The author has merely endeavoured to give a ludicrous turn to such nonsensi W cal arguments, and, by thus placing them in their just light, show them to be ridiculous as well as foolish. In the fourth Canto, after exhibiting some specimens of pure and unadulterated quackery, toge. ther with some other curious traits of character, the Poet has plunged headlong and headstrong into a battle, which is intended for the entertainment merely of your stout-hearted, roast-beef readers, who feast upon terrible images and horror-fraught descriptions. Ladies and ladies-men, and all other delicate, timid, and gentle readers, are respectfully informed, that they will do well not to venture too incautiously upon the terrific scenes there introduced. Should it be objected against this Poem that the author is unnecessarily severe on some occasions, I shall reply, in addition to what has been before observed, respecting the provocations given, that he has founded his severity upon FACTS, and if he has nothing extenuated, he has set down nought in malice. Were men of real science to unite in stripping the mask from ignorant and impudent pretenders to knowledge and acquirements, which they do not possess, society would no longer be imposed on by empirics, pseudo-philosophers, poetasters, and other witlings, who puff themselves into consequence with the less enlightened, but more numerous part of mankind. If, by attacking some of that kind of scribblers, exposing to ridicule and contempt their whimsical and imprac ticable theories and speculations, and supporting a discovery, which (although it has been treated with unmerited obloquy) experience has proved to be useful, the author has been of service to society, and contributed his mite to the treasury of correct literatare, his most ardent wishes and expectations will be amply gratified. The following LINES, relating to the excellent Institution, so frequently mentioned in this Poem, the Author conceives may be copied here, not improperly, as a conclusion to this Introduction. An Address delivered before the PERKINEAN SoCIETY, at their public Dinner, at the Crown and Anchor, July 15, 1803, in celebration of the opening of the Charity in Frith Street, Soho, for the use of the METALLIC TRACTORS, in Disorders of the Poor: By a Friend to the Institution. SAY, SONS OF SOUL,' when erst th' Omniscient plan What firm, immutable, immortal laws, Impress'd on nature by the GREAT FIRST CAUSE;' Fitted to order's durable control? SAGES OF SCIENCE, eagle-ey'd, disclose, What aptitudes and appetencies those, Which world with world connect in one vast chain, CAUSE and EFFECT, a never ending train? Can ye unfold what energies control |