Andif，likecontagion，theywerenotpalpabletothesenses，suchapersonmightgoontoaffirmthatnoproofexistedoftherebeinganysuchthingasmusket-balls。“NowletthestudentturnbacktothechapteronHydrophobiainthesamevolume。HewillfindthatJohnHunterknewacaseinwhich，oftwenty-onepersonsbitten，onlyonediedofthedisease。HewillfindthatonedogatCharentonwasbittenatdifferenttimesbythirtydifferentmaddogs，andoutliveditall。Istherenosuchthing，then，ashydrophobia？Wouldonetakenoespecialprecautionsifhiswife，abouttobecomeamother，hadbeenbittenbyarabidanimal，becausesomanyescape？Orlethimlookat“UnderwoodonDiseasesofChildren，“[Philadelphia，1842，p。244，note。]andhewillfindthecaseofayoungwomanwhowasinoculatedeighttimesinthirtydays，atthesametimeattendingseveralchildrenwithsmallpox，andyetwasnotinfected。Butsevenweeksafterwardsshetookthediseaseanddied。
Itwouldseemasiftheforceofthisargumentcouldhardlyfailtobeseen，ifitweregrantedthateveryoneoftheseseriesofcasesweresoreportedastoprovethattherecouldhavebeennotransferofdisease。Thereisnotoneofthemsoreported，intheLectureortheLetter，astoprovethatthediseasemaynothavebeencarriedbythepractitioner。Istronglysuspectthatitwassocarriedinsomeofthesecases，butfromthecharacteroftheveryimperfectevidencethequestioncanneverbesettledwithoutfurtherdisclosures。
AlthoughtheLetteris，asIhaveimplied，principallytakenupwithsecondaryandcollateralquestions，andmightthereforebesetasideasinthemainirrelevant，Iamwilling，forthestudent’ssake，totouchsomeofthesequestionsbriefly，asanillustrationofitslogicalcharacter。
Thefirstthingtobedone，asIthoughtwhenIwrotemyEssay，wastothrowoutalldiscussionsofthewordcontagion，andthisIdideffectuallybythecarefulwordingofmystatementofthesubjecttobediscussed。Myobjectwasnottosettletheetymologyordefinitionofaword，buttoshowthatwomenhadoftendiedinchildbed，poisonedinsomewaybytheirmedicalattendants。Ontheotherpoint，I，atleast，havenocontroversywithanybody，andI
thinkthestudentwilldowelltoavoiditinthisconnection。IfI