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Workmen, on the contrary, when they are liberally paid by the

piece, are very apt to overwork themselves, and to ruin their

health and constitution in a few years. A carpenter in London,

and in some other places, is not supposed to last in his utmost

vigour above eight years. Something of the same kind happens in

many other trades, in which the workmen are paid by the piece; as

they generally are in manufactures, and even in country labour,

wherever wages are higher than ordinary. Almost every class of

artificers is subject to some peculiar infirmity occasioned by

excessive application to their peculiar species of work.

Ramuzzini, an eminent Italian physician, has written a particular

book concerning such diseases.