The mechanical practice of physick: in which the specifick method is examin’d and exploded; and the Bellinian hypothesis of animal secretion and muscular motion, consider'd and refuted. With some occasional remarks and scholia on Dr. Lobb’s Treatise of the small pox, Dr. Robinson on the animal oeconomy, and Professor Boerhaave’s Account of the animal spirits and muscular motion

London: T. Woodward, 1735. FIRST EDITION. Woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Contemporary calf, rebacked with spine label; interior incredibly crisp and clean, a fantastic copy. First edition of this very interesting book, considering the author’s background. Morgan uses his own experiences as a physician to educate the reader on medical topics and situations such as sudorifics, labor and newborn challenges, fermentation, the heart, and the “mechanical effects of medicines in general” with a focus on how to treat different ailments based on one’s personal constitution. He shares helpful medical advice on circumstances such as strengthening weak newborns (“just dipping the child every morning in cold water, and presently taking it out again”) and how to restore milk in nursing mothers.

Morgan (d. 1743) was a Welsh deist, dissenting minister, doctor of medicine, freethinker, and religious controversialist. He was ordained in 1714 and became minister of Burton two years later and subsequently of Marlborough; in 1720 he was dismissed from this last post for his growing unorthodoxy. He then took up the study of medicine and produced several books on that subject, including the Philosophical principles of medicine (1725), The mechanical practice of physick (1735), and Letter to Dr. Cheyne in defence of the “Mechanical Practice” (1738). Morgan is chiefly remembered, however, for his deistical tracts. He was one of the pioneers of historical criticism of the Bible, particularly of the Pentateuch. He was also particularly critical of the Jewish religion and the Old Testament.

Morgan believed in the corruption of human nature and defended suicide for the "weary or satiated with living." His criticism of the Scriptures centered on the fact that so many different interpretations are possible and are accepted by so many different and sincere believers. Traditional religion, therefore, is not infallible but only probable, as is all history. Priestcraft, which instituted superstition, enthusiasm, and finally persecution, is the culprit for the erroneous notion of the infallibility of a catholic church. Reason and tolerance are the only cures (encyclopedia.com).

Blake, p.313; Wellcome IV, p. 179.