THE following little work has no other claims to public patronage than what may originate in its utility. The author has compiled from a great number of volumes, written by men of acknowledged merit and standard authority, those directions and prescriptions, which it appeared to him might most benefit the largest proportion of mankind; and he has arranged them alphabetically, that they may be the more easily referred to in cases of emergency, or in the hurry of business Many of the articles, however, he believes have never before appeared in print, and are either derived from personal observation, or been furnished by the author's friends, with a view to publication. Several of the contributors alluded to are medical men, of regular standing, and established reputation. These gentlemen could have no other motive in affording their valuable assistance than what one of them has expressed in a communication to the compiler, viz. "a wish to contribute to the ameliorating of the condition of man." The same gentleman observes, in forming these recipes I have attended solely to such as would be of use to the mass of the people. Therefore I have avoided any composition, into which any ingredients entered, which were not familiar and accessible to
