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A dose of Ipecacuan, by exciting the stomach, will abate both the force and velocity of the heart in its vital motion, and affect the whole series of blood vessels, from their origin to their most minute ramifications, as is evinced by the pallor of the skin under its operation, as well as by its efficacy in arresting hemorrhage; so the brain, when disordered by vertigo, frequently derives instantaneous relief from the administration of a tea-spoonful of æther in a glass of water. The stomach however is not in every case the medium of sympathy; a substance may excite a powerful impression upon a distant part, by the instrumentality of the nerves, without any concurrence of the stomach; thus, the Belladonna, by coming in contact with the Tunica Conjunctiva of the eye, will occasion immediate dilatation of the Iris, although no other part of the system is in the slightest degree affected.

But there is yet another mode by which remedies may be made to exert a sanative effect upon particular organs of the body, through the medium of what Mr. Hunter called contiguous sympathy, and whose existence appears to depend upon the mere proximity and contiguity of parts, without any relation to the distribution of the nerves; thus it is, that relief is afforded to a deep-seated inflammation, by scarifying the nearest external surface; while we know from long experience that the thoracic or abdominal viscera, when similarly affected, receive corresponding relief from the same topical use of bleeding, blistering, or fomenting.