Commentaries on the Principles and Practice of Physic: Illustrated by Pathological Tables and Practical Cases : Being an Attempt, on a New Plan, to Connect the Several Branches of Medicine, and to

Commentaries On The Principles And Practice Of Physic: Illustrated By Pathological Tables And Practical Cases : Being An Attempt, On A New Plan, To Connect The Several Branches Of Medicine, And To Place The Practice Of It On A Rational And Solid Foundation : To Which Is Prefixed An Essay On The by James Makittrick Adair. This eighteenth?century medical treatise fuses humoral theory with practical clinical pedagogy, linking physiological theory to diagnosis and treatment. It treats fever as a disturbance of bodily determinants—the movement of morbid matter toward organs or surfaces via circulation and excretions—distinguishing sudden, violent shifts from slow, progressive ones. The work emphasizes excretions and cavities as drivers of crises and introduces revellents that provoke a crisis and derivants that redirect or temper determination, with careful attention to patient temperament and state (irritable fever vs somatic low fever). A wealth of clinical vignettes demonstrates when to bleed, employ evacuants, diaphoretics, purgatives, or blisters, and when to avoid excessive stimulation. The text advocates a disciplined, principle?based practice, nourished regimens, tonics, warmth, cautious use of antimonials, and a commitment to medical education, ethics, and the physician–apothecary alliance as public duties.