hath done his utmost to cast all the Aspersions he can upon Learning and Learned Men and therefore he ought to be used in his kind to be serious with such weak Nonsence would be to betray Learning and to expose my own Understanding to the Censure of the Learned and to Compliment such a vain Person would be to make no distinction betwixt Men of Sence and Merit and the most notorious Block-heads which would be a greater Affront to Learned Men than any he hath given But without doubt Men ought to be Used according to their Merit and it would be Ridiculous as well as Unjust to put Learned and Ingenious Men upon a Level as to treat a common Offender and a just Man alike how Ridiculous and Weak would it be for a Lawyer when a Prisoner is indicted for heinous Crimes to moderate his Pleading as if he were a just innocent Man But that what just Reflections I have made may be no Disadvantage to my Arguments I would desire my Reader to consider the Arguments and them apart and so he will have the Advantage to see how my Arguments confute him and how my Remarks are grounded upon Conviction of his grand Errors and tho' it be common to say that Remarks tho' Just cloud Arguments and prejudice the Readers yet I would not lay such things to their Charge I believe Rational Men who have the Use of their Reason can distinguish betwixt Remarks and Arguments and can without prejudice consider the former as the Merit of the Man and the latter as against his Books And here I think it necessary to let the World know that Dr. Coward having lately writ a Book against some Part of Mr. Colbatch his Books Mr. Colbatch hath been pleased to put an Advertisement in the latter End of a Book published soon after wherein he says Dr. Coward 's Book is not worth an Answer I therefore shall tell him that he only says so because he cannot answer it and for that Reason I shall conclude that if he does not Answer Mine he really cannot and because I have made so many Remarks on him which perhaps may be too severe I shall put him in a way to prove that he does not deserve them which will be by shewing that the Reasons I have given against his Books are not valid but if he does not do that the Remarks properly belong to him being grounded upon his Errors There is one thing more which I must acquaint my Reader with which is that in Answering his Novum Lumen Chirurgicum his Essay of Alkalies and Acids his Appendix to that Essay and his Book Entituled The Doctrin of Alkalies and Acids further Asserted c. I have all along quoted the first Impression of those Books that the Reader may if he pleases turn to those Quotations which will save those that have the First Impression the Trouble of looking into the Second All that I have further to say is that if there be any Faults in the following Sheets I must beg the Reader to ascribe them to the haste in which they were writ the whole being writ in a Month's time when I was in London the last Spring except the last concerning the Person bit by a Viper which Book of his being not published before I return'd to Oxford a few vacant Hours there were employed in an Examination of it And now least the Reader should think that I publish the haste they were writ in rather to be taken for a quick Writer than to excuse my Faults it may not be amiss to tell him that my chief Reason is that I would not have the World to think that the Confutation of so weak an Adversary required longer time than was necessary to write it for I would by no Means have the World to think the following Sheets the Product of a longer Consideration Mr. Colbatch his Faults being easily discern'd at the first Sight by any one that hath made a Progress in Physic sufficient to enable him to distinguish betwixt Truth and Error and therefore I humbly submit them to the impartial Reader hoping they will convince the World of his Mistakes and deter young and less judicious Practioners from following his Absurd Methods in doing of which if they may be serviceable to young Physicians I have my Desire I say young ones because Men of riper Judgment are already convinc'd of his Mistakes Candid Reader Your very Humble Servant R. BOULTON AN EXAMINATION OF Mr. John Colbatch HIS Novum Lumen Chyrurgicum Wherein his Absurdities and False Opinions in Physick and Chirurgery are truly Represented and fully Confuted LONDON Printed in the Year 1699. AN EXAMINATION OF Mr. John Colbatch HIS Novum Lumen Chirurgicum c. PRIDE and Incivility are such Natural Concomitants of Ignorance and Self-conceit that wherever the Latter and Naturally imbred in a Man void of common Sense the former unavoidably flow from them as Natural Consequences of a depraved Reason It is on this Account that I have undertaken to correct the Insolence of this Author by shewing how weakly he manages his erroneous and invalid Assertions and also how widely and uncivilly he his mistaken contrary to Experience and Reason and the Authority as well as the private Opinions of Learned and Judicious Men. But before I proceed to lay open his Absurdities I must make an Apology to the World for taking that Liberty in my Expressions which most properly represents him in his Character As for himself all I shall say is that if what I shall write of him displeaseth him he must blame himself for it and not me it is from what he hath published that I draw his Demerits and if he hath published Asurdities he can best Apologize to himself and must not blame me for saying only what he himself hath laid publick Grounds for However it is not without some Reluctancy that I engage my self in such a Cause where the Ignorance and base Designs of a self-conceited Man obliges me in Justice to his Character to make use of Language I should otherwise be ashamed of But the undoubted Merit of that very unlearned Mr. Colebatch never too much admired for his wonderful Genius in scribling Nonscence and his Dogmatical Positiveness in laying down Falsities to the great Satisfaction of all those who love Nonsense in a homely Dress I say this mighty Hero hath taken such Pains to write down such Specimens of his profound Disabilities and his assuming Boldness that should I not study for such Expressions I should be guilty of Misrepresenting him But before I engage my self in a Confutation of such mean and indigested Nonsense I think it may not be unfit to let the World know that it is not with a design to get Victory Credit or Applause that I oppose such a mighty Champion since all Judicious and Learned Men laugh at his Childish Crude and Shallow Notions and are amazed at his Impudence but it is partly to undeceive those People who are
AN EXAMINATION OF Mr. John Colbatch HIS BOOKS viz. I. Novum Lumen Chirurgicum II. Essay of Alkalies and Acids III. An Appendix to that Essay IV. A Treatise of the Gout V. The Doctrin of Acids further Asserted c. VI. A Relation of a Person Bitten by a Viper c. To which is added An Answer to Dr. Leigh's Remarks on a Treatise concerning the Heat of the Blood Together with Remarks on Dr. Leigh's Book intituled Exercitationes Quinque Printed at a private Press in Oxford without the License of the Vniversity AS ALSO A short View of Dr. Leighs Reply to Mr. Colbatch c. By RICHARD BOULTON of Brazen-Nose College in OXFORD LONDON Printed for A. and J. Churchill at the Black Swan in Pater-Noster-Row 1698. Liber Coll. Omnanim Fidel. defunct in Oxon. TO THE Learned and ever Honoured CHARLES GOODALL Doctor in Physick Physician to the Charter-House AND CENSOR to the COLLEGE of Physicians London Learned SIR AS no one can be more concerned than your Self in Vindicating Learning and discouraging it's Opponents so without Presumption I may say no one is more able to take upon him such a Task of which You have long ago satisfied the World by appearing Publickly in the Defence of That College of which You are now a very worthy Member And as you have given a very full Proof that you are sufficiently qualified to Defend Learned Men from the Attempts of those who endeavour to Oppose them so it consequently follows that I could not possibly make choice of a fitter Patron for this Book which is a Vindication of all Learned Physicians from the vain and false Pretences of an ignorant Man And tho' I presume to ask your Patronage of this Book yet it is not because I think the Adversary I appear against nor all his adherents formidable Opponents but because any thing that carrys with it a Vindication of that Learned Society of which you are a Member cannot have a more proper Name prefixed to it than Yours who have so signally appeared in their Defence But tho' it be an Honour to appear in such a Cause yet it is not that which bears the highest Place in your Character For Religion and Vertue which are the Measures and Rules of all your Actions make you Useful both to the Church and State it being Part of your continual Care to instil into young Men a just Veneration for a Deity and noble and great Notions of the extraordinary Merit of so great a King And your Prudence is not more remarkable in respect of the Publick than your own Private Affairs where Judgment and Learning are the sure Guides of successful Practice and Vertue and Tranquility extend themselves throughout your Family These are but short Hints of so great a Character as the Conduct of your Life affords materials for a Character which claims a better Pen than mine to take a Draught of and which one that is intimately acquainted with those Vertues in their utmost Extent can only describe For which Reason I fear that whilst I only endeavour to shew my self sensible of those Obligations your Favours have laid upon me and for which Gratitude can be the least Return I shall rather be condemn'd by those who know how far I come short of your Merit for undertaking to mention any thing that belongs to a Character so much above my Reach Yet from your self I can easily hope for Pardon since you are so free to give it to all those that transgress not too far Divine and Human Laws nor unreasonably triumph in their Ignorance to the Dishonour of Learning and Learned Men for all which you have so great a Veneration and therefore I am more hold humbly to subscribe my self Learned SIR Your most Obliged Servant at your Command R. BOULTON THE PREFACE TO THE READER THE Doctrin of Acids and Alkalies hath been so long since rejected as False and Erroneous by the Famous and Honourable Robert Boyle Esq and others that it is a wonder any Man should have so much Impudence as to advance it afresh without answering those Objections which have sufficiently proved the Insufficiency of it much more to dare with so much Boldness to Contradict all Learned Men upon such false Grounds as Mr. Colbatch hath done And therefore I think it fit to acquaint my Reader briefly with the true State of the Controversy that he may more clearly judge how far he is from Truth in what he hath writ and what Reason I had to write in the Method I have In short then they must understand that Mr. Colbatch hath endeavoured to Account for and to cure most Distempers upon so false a Bottom as the Doctrin of Acids and Alkalies which hath been long since rejected and laid aside by all the most Rational Physicians and that herein he hath been so bold as not only to tell all the World that they were mistaken but hath taken upon him to call University-Learning nothing but fusty Philosophy and all Rational Physicians all the ill Names he could invent impudently complaining that he was sorry to see Physick a Scene of Slaughter These Imputations with a great many more hath he laid upon the World and if we look into his Books we shall see very little Reason for it for he hath not only Err'd with the Vulgar in building all his Writings on a false Doctrin but to shew how grandly he is mistaken he hath proved himself two Removes from Truth for granting the Doctrin of Acids and Alkalies true what he hath said will not hold so that he must needs be doubly mistaken And therefore in Answering his Books and laying open his Faults I all along proved that granting the Doctrin of Acids and Alkalies true what he says it false And here it is not amiss to declare a little more clearly that tho' I have argued against his Books as if the Hypothesis he built upon were true yet I don't at all grant it to be so only to shew how widely he is distant from Truth for to have shewn that he only Erred in assuming the Doctrin of Acids and Alkalies would but have proved him guilty of a Fault that hath been common to others as well as himself but his Faults are of a more absurd kind for which Reason it is excusable that I have treated him in such a proper Manner as to represent the Man as well as the Physitian However I must confess that tho' I have proved him guilty of such grand Faults both in Physick and his Behaviour towards the Learned World yet it wants an Apology and perhaps may be no small Disadvantage to my Arguments to mix such Remarks as I have amongst them for which Reason I desire my Reader to consider the State of the Controversy and the Person against whom I write it is not a Man who hath the good Opinion and Approbation of Learned Men but like a Mountebank the Cry of a few of the Rabble and one that
Learned Men whose private Designs do not byass their Sentiments and what is more without any shew of Reason or appearance of Truth And I could rather have believed that you would not be concerned in such a Cause for this Reason because it is below any Man of Sense or Learning to appear at the Head of such a Cause which is against both And I fain would have such Thoughts of you still and conclude that you only did it to satisfy the Importunities of one that had been formerly your Apothecary in Worcester This Sir is the Interpretation I would willingly put upon it in Favour of your Reputation which must needs be lessened otherwise especially amongst the Learned by Patronizing any thing which directly and manifestly is repugnant to Learned Men and Truth since the common Interest of the former so far as it is consistent with the latter should incline you rather to defend both than Patronize their Opponents viz. Ignorance and Falsity upon any consideration whatever This I say is the Interpretation I should put upon it though if it were so it would not be blameless to oppose Truth and Learned Men to serve a Friend or your Self were there not something in that Dedication so plain and evident as to suggest some other Reason for your Patronage For Mr. Colbatch says the Doctrin advanced in his Book is not new to you it being what you long ago Practised even before he knew you how he came to know what your Practice was before he knew you looks to me like Contradiction and I am inclined to believe he strained to say so much beyond Truth only that your Name might the better recommend his Book so that it seems if your Name will serve him by adding Authority to his Book he 'll tell an Untruth to serve you so that I am apt yet in Favour of your Reputation to understand that you have permitted him to say it is your Practice to recommend it to the World that his Applause of you might go the farther And the Truth is this either your Practice agrees with what he says or you can make no good Excuse for permitting him to say so And truly Sir if what he says be not true you 'd do your self Justice to tell the World in Vindication of your Judgment and Practice that he hath imposed upon you but if you allow what he hath said I am sorry the Absurdities and Falsness of his Book obliges me to lay open the groundless and unreasonable Assertions there laid down because they are tho' falsely said to be so agreeable with your Practice But in this particular I must beg your Pardon for as I shall never write for the sake of Writing but Truth so I shall always endeavour to detect Falsities and vindicate the latter And though I shall ever have all that Respect for you and all Learned Men that I think due to Learning and Qualities so I must ever shew as little Respect to those that make it their Business to run down Learning Learned Men and Truth and without Reason tho' not some base and private End for tho' I have Learning or Knowledg little enough to make me so zealous in their Defence yet I shall ever think it worth my while to Defend that which I am willing to spend my time in the search of And were I in your Case I should never condescend so far as for Interest to Patronize that which I could give no Reason for But Sir The simplicity and falsness of his other Books I have already shewn and when I have laid open this I hope the World will see the shallowness of Mr. Colbatch and the Falsness of what he says so plainly that it will be no longer misled by him in a Matter that relates to the future Ruin of their Constitutions And Sir it at the best will be but little Credit to profess your self of the same Opinion with Mr. Colbatch an Apothecary and much less is it Honourable to joyn in a Cause with such a one that hath neither Knowledg nor Learning but Arrogancy and Boldness to support his Ignorance and to forsake the Cause of Truth and Learning to make a Party with such For all the Cry and Noise he can make of you will tend less to your Honour than your Reputation amongst Learned Men tho' it may help to captivate those who are easily deceived But Sir as I had formerly a great Opinion of your Merit so I would fain perswade my self still that you only permit him to say what he does in compliance with his too earnest Requests than any Opinion you have of the Truth of what he says and therefore when I have run over his Preface without any other Apologies I shall proceed to detect his Errors and shew the Falsness of what he there asserts without entituling you to so weak and open Errors and profess my self as ever Your very Humble Servant R. Boulton The next thing that comes in view after his Dedication is his Preface where Page the 11th he says The History of the Blood is to be fetched out of the Fire there being not one Page in it that does not cost me near a days Labour and Attendance at home in my Laboratory That he fetches it out of the fire I am afraid is ominous and that it will scarce be fit for any thing else but to return to that Element for there is so little Analogy betwixt Chymical Preparations and the Parts of a Mans Body that he 'll discover little to the purpose there to make the Use of them more intelligible and sorry I am he takes so much Pains to no purpose Page the 12 He says The following Piece is a Composition of Observations and Speculations at Coffee-Houses and such Places A very fit Place for such Compositions for any thing may serve for a News-House for want of better but it would have been better for him to have considered it at home in his Study for I am afraid he drank his Coffee so hot that he was scarce qualified for what my Lord Bacon says viz. That a cool Head is fittest for Consideration But how came he to take Observations of the Gout in Coffee-Houses Those I thought had been only to be made with his Patients but perhaps he had as many Patients there of that Distemper as any where else and consequently it might be as fit a Place to make Observations in But why not rather in his Study I warrant he had taken notice that the Ingenious Sir Richard Blackmore had writ his Heroic Poems in Coffee-Houses and such like Places and because he thought it sounded well to say so he must needs be a Wit too nay in time he may do well but I would have him think of the old Saying Nosce teipsum for if he were sensible of his own Weakness it would be better for him to take a private Thought at it if he knows how to think In the same Page He says
meal-mouthed and too modest His Modesty indeed is of a new kind and very remarkable and as for his meal mouth I cannot well interpret it except his disrespectful Behaviour towards his Betters be the Meal that fouled it Page 7. He says The following Treatise of the Gout is built upon my Hypothesis of Alkalies and Acids upon which Score I thought it necessary by way of Introduction to Publish the foregoing easy Experiment that thereby the whole World might be satisfied of the Truth or Falshood of his Hypothesis Having therefore shewed that his Hypothesis of Alkaly and Acid is False and Incoherent his Treatise must need be so too his easy Experiment together with my easy Observation shewing that his Hypothesis is Erroneous so that I might save my self the Trouble of a further Examination were it not for the sake of Ingenious Gentlemen who are not competent Judges Page the 8th He says Were there any one Acid that would turn a Solution of Syrup of Violets from a Blew Colour to that of Redness c. I should not insist so much upon the Experiment as I have done To what purpose he hath insisted upon the Experiment I have already shewn but that he may insist upon it the less in his own Thoughts I shall instance one Acid that turns Syrup of Violets Green as well as Arsenick his exalted Alkaly as he calls it which is Mercurius Sublimat but perhaps he 'll call it an Alkaly and therefore I shall satisfy Ingenious Gentlemen if two Witnesses against one Man will be Evidence The Ingenious Sir John Floyer in the Second Part of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Touch Stone of Medicines Page 232. Hath this Mercury Sublimate is Corrosive by a particular Texture made by the Particles of Quicksilver dissolved by an Acid and this vomits corrodes and produces Convulsions but this going into the Blood coagulates it and produces Salivation This Acid is absorbed by Fixed and Volatile Salts and so the Corrosive Texture is destroyed And Page the 19th before Sublimate has the Acid of Spirit of Salt joyned with it by Sublimation and a little after he says it is a kind of Vitriol And What he says is confirmed by the Famous Etmuller who Schroderi Dilucidati Mineralogia Page 260. says Mercurius Snblimatus quocunque modo preparatus nihil est aliud nisi Mercur qui se conjunxit cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibus Corrosivis admistis beneficio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fortioris secum sublimavit adeo utut etiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ia sint fixa Mercur. Volatilis nihilominus Acida 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ia fortiter aggrediuntur Mercurium cum eodem se uniunt c. And just after he says Et quidem utut Mercur. sublimatus fiat cum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 communi Nitro nihilominus nihil secum in Sublimatione assumit quam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commune From whence it sufficiently appears that Sublimate is for the most Part an Acid most of the Ingredients which are used in it's Preparation being Preparations of the same Vitriolated Acids as Mr. Colbatch uses in the Cure of Distempers But undoubtedly he 'll tell them they are mistaken No-body can see besides himself But these Mens Opinions will be taken before his since he cannot at all pretend they were his Enemies both their Books being wrote before his Time Page the 8th and 9th He says Physicians he owns have been able to Cure some few Diseases but how they have done it themselves could never tell they without inquiring nicely into the Natures of them or being at the trouble of Analizing have given Steel Antimony c. By means of which they have Cured several Diseases but they have given them as Alkalies when they will appear to an Inquisitive Person to be Acids c. Now their giving of these Things hath stood them in some stead and cured many Distempers by a way they were ignorant of How unreasonably he hath changed the Names of these Medicines I have already shewn and therefore I shall not repeat it again I shall only here take notice how he contradicts himself no less then three times in one Page For First He says they have been able indeed to cure a few Distempers And then they have cured several Distempers and last of all a many Distempers and those Distempers he says they have cured no Body knows how because they were not at the trouble of Analizing but if he were not forgetful he would scarce think himself the only Chymist in the World for would he allow any Body a small share of Knowledg besides himself he would know that much more Pains hath been taken by wise and able Chymists Men that knew better how to make Observations than he does who wants Natural Philosophy to direct him as well as Judgment and Skill and there are now Men so qualified And tho' Chymistry be of great Use in Philosophy as well as Physick when cultivated by Ingenious Men yet notwithstanding all the Pains they had taken it proved in vain to enable them the better to discover the Principles or rather Texture and Complexion of those several Humors in a Man's Body and their Insufficiency the famous Mr. Robert Boyle hath sufficiently shewed and therefore we may well think since we have Reason his Pains will prove to no more purpose for let him spend more time than he hath or never so long it will still be in Vain for Bodies loose their former Complexion when Chymically dissolved every Particle being modified anew But it is no Disparagement to Chymistry neither is it the less valuable because it will not discover ultra terminos and beyond it's Bounds no more than a Plow because it is of no use at Sea But he says Physicians have cured some Distempers they know not how Here I shall take Occasion to propose one thing to the Consideration of those Honest Gentlemen who have had the ill Fortune to be deluded by him they being induced to think he hath Skill and Ingenuity because some People recover whom he misuses viz. whether since I shewed he is mistaken in all he hath asserted they may not reasonably conclude he cured them he knew not how I for my own Part am sure he knew not how but as for those Ingenious Gentlemen I leave it to their own consideration whether one Man may not sooner be mistaken than one Thousand who agree in the same Opinion which Number tho' it be not in London yet it is double in Europe whose Practice agree in Success and Reason in Opposition to his and two or three Adherents Page 11. He says I have all this while been talking as a Physician but not as a Naturalist for though I account for the Cause and Cure of Distempers from Alkalies and Acids yet I don't pretend to account for all the Phaenomena of Nature from those two Principles those there have been those that have undertaken so to do but I
subtilized and rarified to a certain Degree from whence it appears that tho Water and Air be in Motion yet the Nitre which swims in them being laid down upon the Sensory disposes those Fluids about it to rest by which means there being a lower degree of Motion than is requisite to preserve a Natural Temper we feell a contrary Sensation to Heat and if so the more these Nitrous Parts are forced upon our Body the greater must be the Cold. And as for what he says of the Progressive Motion of the Blood in the Vessels I never heard that any ever affirmed it to be the Cause of Heat so that there he might have spared what he hath said against no Body but tho' Water in a River moved by some accidental Cause in a whole Stream does not grow hot yet if it be set over a Fire where it hath an Agent subtile enough to work upon it's Minute Parts and to put them in Motion it soon changes it's Temper Page 61 He says I am very glad you own Alkalies to abound in Pleurisies and Rheumatisms and other Inflammatory Distempers But Mr. Colbatch must not think that all the World grants it because Mr. Tuthill cannot defend Truth and therefore I having proved that all those Distempers proceed from Acids I expect he should confute what I have said or he gives up his Cause Page 64 He says Now for want of a due Secretion by the Excretory Vessels the Blood is clogged with too great a Quantity of Serum which Serum being admitted into the Lymphatick Vessels and being impregnated with Alkaline Particles cannot freely pass along these Vessels by Reason of it's gelatinous Quality c. And again Page 65 and 66 He says Such are the Excretory Glands of the Skin the Glandulae Renales the Glands of the Liver c. all which seperate an Alkaly from the Blood to be thrown off by Excrement and if by any Accident these Glands are made uncapable of performing their Office so that the Blood cannot be rid of it's Excrements then a Distemper of some kind or other must necessarily follow and Page 69 This damnable Distemper really a very pretty Epithite which although it be rately cured in a confirmed State yet in the beginning nay after it hath made some progress is frequently to be done and that as effectually by Chalybeats and Bitters as by any sort of Medicines But here for want of making Experiments you say that Steel and the Bitter Herbs are Alkalies And again Page 72. He says As for Bitters I will be bound to lay a good Wager with you that if you put a Pound of Centuary or Wormwood into a Retort and distill it with an easie Fire till all be come off that will and afterwards calcine the Caput Mortuum and extract the fixed Alkaly from the Ashes if you don't find a much greater quantity of Acid than Alkaly c. And from hence he would infer that Bitters are Acids But he hath rather taken an effectual way to prove the Insufficiency of Chymistry in discovering the Principles of Bodies for if it will alter Bitter and turn most of it Acid who can be so stupified as to believe that this discovers the Nature of Bitter Can Aloes be turned into Juice of Oranges and Aloes not be destroyed It 's in vain to reason with such Ideots yet this is not all we may throughout these Quotations see how miserably the dull Soul forgets himself having repeated the same things often in other Books and also how blindly he contradicts himself here according to his Custom and how fully he confutes himself For first Page 64. He says The Serum being too much impregnated with Alkaline Particles cannot pass free through the Vessels by reason of its Gelatinous Quality as if the Gelatinous Quality depended on a Mixture of Alkalies whereas it appears from the Experiment he mentions in his Treatise of the Gout that the whole Serum of Healthful People is Alkaline and abounds with Alkalies where there is no such Gelatinous Quality and therefore as I have often taken notice we are to conclude that the Gelatinous Quality depends on a mixture of too much Acid because as I before said that is said to be the Cause of an Effect in whose Absence there is no such Distemper but on the contrary when mixed with it From whence it appears that the Reason why the Excretory Glands cannot perform their Office in evacuating Excrementitious Alkaly as he says Page 65 66 is because Acid is mixed with it and this is certain from his own Words for if the Excrements be Alkalies naturally they would not obstruct were there no Acids to coagulate them But let us see how coherent Mr. Colbatch is in his Thoughts Page 69. He asserts That the Distemper which in a Passion he calls Damnable if curable is to be cured by Chalybeats and Bitters the former of which I have before proved an Alkaly and that Bitter is not Acid any Body knows that can distinguish betwixt Tastes but if Mr. Colbatch can perswade People that Wormwood is Acid he may make any thing go down with them but since Children have too nice Palates to be so deceived I hope those of riper Years have not lost their Taste All that I need further to take notice of Mr. Colbatch his Productions in these Quotations is another Wonderful Confutation of himself For Page 66 He says The bitter Excrement of the Liver to wit Choler is an Alkaly Yet Page 72. Bitters are Acids and consequently Choler as may be seen in the Words I have quoted I might take notice of other Absurdities and Falsities contained in the foregoing Quotations but what I have said being sufficient I shall not extend a Book of this kind to too large a Compass Page 91. He says The Blood cannot super abound with Acids Because the Stomach will not receive or retain more than it hath occasion for The Reason he gives a little before is If at any time People are not sufficiently cautious of that Matter but load the Stomach with more manifest Acids than the Body hath occasion for she won't fail of rejecting them by Vomit That this is false every Body knows that have but lived in the World long enough to take notice of what occurs daily for nothing is more common than for Children to bring Distempers upon themselves by eating of unripe Fruit and not only Children but grown People and these Mr. Calbatch cannot deny to be Acids surely if he remembers what he ascribed long Life in Herefordshire to viz. eating Fruit besides it is too commonly known that many People almost ruin their Constitutions by drinking Vinegar the very same Acid he mentions And thus I have gone through all that he further says concerning the Use of Acids and proved it to be as absurd and ridiculous as the rest of his Incoherences and now shall leave him to consider when he writes again whether it will not be prudent to