The philosophy of mineral waters : with their medicinal applications / by John Balbirnie.

  • John Balbirnie
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The philosophy of mineral waters : with their medicinal applications / by John Balbirnie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    on theoretical grounds alone, the answer can only be a philosophical one, i.e,j can only be obtained by interrogating Nature herself—-by investigating the chemical constitution and physiological action of spa waters—by shewing the identity of their inorganic constituents with those of the fluids of man—by tracing the affinities they have with vital operations, and the influences they exert on the living organism—and, lastly, by demonstrating the definite and appropriate relation that obtains between the essential ele- ments of mineral waters, and the condition and requirements of the human fluids and fiame- work in disease. On all these grounds the only just and solid grounds of Therapeutics* will it be made manifest, beyond all possibility of contradiction, that spa waters are the most rational and feasible adjuncts of scientific me- dical treatment. Some data towards satisfactory conclusions on these points will perhaps be gathered from the following series of observations : I. Chemical researches prove that the healthy condition of the animal frame depends on the reception of certain nutrient or reparative prin- ciples identical in composition with the elemen- tary constituents of the blood. * That branch of physic that concerns itself with the means and agents used in healing.
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