There was another Hoffmann—Christopher Ludwig
Hoffmann (1721-1807), of Westphalia, who devised a so-called humoral theory in which the "acridities" of Boer-haave were mingled with the "putridities" of the pneu-matists and the "irritability" of Glisson. His treatment and remedies for diseases were supposed to be antiseptic, as was very proper when dealing with putridities.
The theory known as the "Doctrine of Infarctus" had its origin with Kampf, who died in 1753. By infarctus Kampf understood impacted fæces, which he thought originated in the humors of the body, portal vessels, and intestines; he recognized two kinds,—the black bilious and the mucous. From this theory a wide-spread clyster fashion developed, and lords and ladies vied with each other in belaboring their infarcti and in administering enemas. As Baas says: "We cannot deny to the author of this doctrine at least an extensive knowledge of human nature. He supplied a universal remedial procedure, and gratified the apothecaries with the bulkiness of the herbs required for its practice."
Quite antagonistic to the views of the Vienna School were those of the School of Montpellier, inaugurated by Bordeu (1732-1796), and generally known as vitalism. Bordeu died in the enjoyment of great reputation, but at variance with all his colleagues. He maintained the existence of a general life of the body,—a composite life,—resulting from the harmonious working of the individual lives and powers of all the organs, which were supposed to be associated with each other, but each for its own definite function; the most important organs—the stomach, heart, and brain—being called "the tripod of life." In pathology he laid great weight upon crises, which were supposed to proceed from the glands.
The most important representative of vitalism was Barthez (1734-1806), of Montpellier,—a man of great gifts and eager for knowledge. He recognized a vital principle as the cause of the phenomena of life, but acknowledged that its nature was unknown, although he endowed it with motion and sensibility different from a thinking mind.. Plants were supposed to possess it likewise. Disease, he believed, was the result of an affection of this vital principle. Every disease was divisible into certain disease-elements, viewed as parts of the whole, and these were again divisible into secondary elements. He explained putrid fevers as specific vital diseases,—in which view, of course, he embodied humoral ideas.
In Germany, at about this time, a similar doctrine obtained,—a doctrine of vital forces,—which the versatile Reil (1759-1813) elaborated into a system.
Meantime, in England, a doctrine was elaborated by Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) which partook, in a certain degree, of the doctrines of Stahl, Hoffmann, Haller, Brown, and Bordeu. Erasmus Darwin distinguished himself, not only as a physician, but as a poet, philosopher, and physiologist. He was a friend of James Watt. Of his life it is said that by his practice and very fortunate marriages he became wealthy, ate much, and drank nothing but water. His chief work—entitled Zoonomia, or the Laws of Organic Life—was published in 1784, and is well worthy of perusal to-day. He recognized two fundamental substances—spirit and matter. But it is not so much for his doctrine as for his researches into animal and plant physiology, and, reflexly, because of his more celebrated descendant of the same name, that we owe him most gratitude.