MORGAN, Thomas.

A Letter to Dr Cheyne; occasioned by Dr Robinson's Letter to Him, in Defence of his Treatise of the Animal Oeconomy, against Dr Morgan's Objections in his Mechanical Practice, &c.

55 pp. 8vo, attractive antique calf-backed marbled boards (title a little soiled). London: T. Cox, 1738. First edition and rare. This is part of a notable medical controversy of the time. In 1732-33, Bryan Robinson (1680-1754), physician and mathematical writer, published his chief work, Treatise on the Animal Economy. A great admirer of Newton, Robinson in this work tried to account for animal motions by his principles, and to apply them to the rational treatment of diseases. He attributed the production of muscular power to the vibration of an ethereal fluid pervading the animal body, a doctrine essentially in accord with modern views. Morgan (d. 1743), deist, attacked Robinson's views in his Mechanical Practice of Physic (1735). Robinson immediately defended himself in A Letter to Dr. Cheyne (1735) and the present work is Morgan's final salvo. Fine copy. Errata slip pasted on final page. D.N.B., XIII, pp. 932-33 (Morgan) and XVII, pp. 4-5 (Robinson).

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• ordernr.: HillBibl-335

• bookseller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (USA)