An Exposition of the Principles of Pathology, and of the Treatment of Diseases

An Exposition Of The Principles Of Pathology, And Of The Treatment Of Diseases by Daniel Pring surveys competing medical theories and advocates a principled, analytic approach to pathology and therapeutics. Daniel Pring critiques the mechanical, humoral, and nervous doctrines that dominated 18th- and early 19th-century medicine, arguing that disease stems from changes in living properties and the relations between life, organization, and their effects on the body. The work systematically examines Humoral Pathology, Doctrine Of Spasm, Doctrine Of Brown, Pathology Of The Determination Of Blood, Origin Of Disease In The Abdominal Viscera, Origin Of Disease In The Nerves, Relations Of Disease, General Principles Of Pathology, Speculative Doctrines Of Therapeutics, and Practical Principles Of Therapeutics. Emphasizing the vis medicatrix and the limits of empirical theory, Pring advocates an evidence-based reform of medical reasoning, urging caution against overreliance on unproven methods and urging medicine to align with observed phenomena and reasoned analysis. The book was originally published in 1823 in London and remains a major historical critique of medical theory.