
    I was going on to tell him of another Sort of People, who get their
Livelihood by attending the Sick; having upon some Occasions informed his Honour
that many of my Crew had died of Diseases. But here it was with the utmost
Difficulty, that I brought him to apprehend what I meant. He could easily
conceive, that a Houyhnhnm grew weak and heavy a few Days before his Death; or
by some Accident might hurt a Limb. But that Nature, who worketh all things to
Perfection, should suffer any Pains to breed in our Bodies, he thought
impossible; and desired to know the Reason of so unaccountable an Evil. I told
him, we fed on a Thousand Things which operated contrary to each other; that we
eat when we were not hungry, and drank without the Provocation of Thirst: That
we sat whole Nights drinking strong Liquors without eating a Bit; which disposed
us to Sloth, enflamed our Bodies, and precipitated or prevented Digestion. That,
prostitute Female Yahoos acquired a certain Malady, which bred Rottenness in the
Bones of those, who fell into their Embraces: That this and many other Diseases,
were propagated from Father to Son; so that great Numbers come into the World
with complicated Maladies upon them: That, it would be endless to give him a
Catalogue of all Diseases incident to human Bodies; for they could not be fewer
than five or six Hundred, spread over every Limb, and Joynt: In short, every
Part, external and intestine, having Diseases appropriated to each. To remedy
which, there was a Sort of People bred up among us, in the Profession or
Pretence of curing the Sick. And because I had some Skill in the Faculty, I
would in Gratitude to his Honour, let him know the whole Mystery and Method by
which they proceed.
    Their Fundamental is, that all Diseases arise from Repletion; from whence
they conclude, that a great Evacuation of the Body is necessary, either through
the natural Passage, or upwards at the Mouth. Their next Business is, from
Herbs, Minerals, Gums, Oyls, Shells, Salts, Juices, Sea-weed, Excrements, Barks
of Trees, Serpents, Toads, Frogs, Spiders, dead Mens Flesh and Bones, Birds,
Beasts and Fishes, to form a Composition for Smell and Taste the most
abominable, nauseous and detestable, that they can possibly contrive, which the
Stomach immediately rejects with Loathing: And this they call a Vomit. Or else
from the same Store-house, with some other poysonous Additions, they command us
to take in at the Orifice above
