/^^^t<^L--{-.-'W^
                         on




PULMONARY CONSUMPTION,



          (PHTHISIS  PULMONALIS,)



                   With remarks on



              BRONCHITIS;


                 Containing a description of the


SYMPTOMS, CAUSES, MORBID APPEARANCES, INDICATIONS OF CURE, &.C.



        Together with the various methods of Treatment,


                     TO WHICH IS ADDED



      THE  MOST APPROVED  REMEDY,


               WITH THE EXPOSURE OF SOME OF THE


         QUACK  MEDICINES AND NOSTRUMS


                 [_ Of the Present Day.
Nature may be compared to a house on fire, easily extinguished in the beginning/ but if
   neglected, must burn down.  So with Consumption, if taken in its formative or
      incipient stage, it may be cured; but if permitted to progress-till the
       Lungs become too far diseased, or ulcerated, it must prove fatal.  < >


           ----5---"'"..';%

            BV W. BEACH M. D.^//^
   MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW^YORK.—AU-

THOR OF THE MEDICAL WORK, ENTITLED THE AMERICAN PRACTICE OF MEDICINE, 3 Vols.

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL SOCIETY OF BERLIN,

IN PRUSSIA J OF THE NATURAL SOCIETY OF FRIEBURG, DUKEDOM OF BADEN, &C.
JOSEPH B. ALLEE JPRINTER,


     No. 154 Water-strut.
1840. 
AMERICAN  PRACTICE  OF MEDICINE.
Extract of a letter from Dr. Thomas Richardson, Dated Donegald, West-
  moreland County, Pa.
                                            January 10th, 1840.
  The opinion of your "American Practice" which distinguished
Foreigners as well as Americans, have formed, and publicly express-
ed, is truly gratifying to my feelings.
  When Baron Alibert says that your work is a" Master Piece of Medi-
cal Analysis, and Medical Experience;" when Von Hufelahd the most
celebrated Physician in Europe, after examining your work, presents you
with  a Diploma, " as Corresponding Member of the Medical, and Sur-
gical  Society of Berlin;"  when Hasselbach acknowledges your  work
valuable and excellent, and when Dr. Lobstk-n  whose Semiology of the
Eye—I have read, says of your work.  " It is  the result of your  skill,
talents and industry; and is a production like aromatic plants  and  flow-
ers, from which the buzzing bee can  take wax  and honey if he chose,
without soiling or withering them."  I say when such expressions are made
relative to you and your work, you might well exclaim as you have done.
" Thanks to the author of all good,  for the origin, success, and blessingof
the important cause of Medical Reform,"—and 1 would say in the words
of the Old Roman " Magnum est Veritas, et prevalebit." I humbly  trust,
sir, that you will reap the reward your distinguished talents, benevolence,
and indefatigable industry  so richly merit;—For merit, sir, will be re-
warded.
Extract of a letter from Dr. George Shecut, Dated Georgetown, S. C.
                                               July 10th,  1839.
  I had long indulged the hope that some master spirit would spring up
from our Botanic Fraternity, one capable of collecting,  arranging, and
condensing, the abundant materials which have been so long accumulating,
and thus forming them into a system of Medicine, more simple and con-
sistent, than the world has yet seen, and supply a desiderata in Medicine that
has long been wanted. This Herculean task 1 am happy to learn you have
undertaken, and if I may Judge from the specimen of your abilities, as
displayed in the first edition of your truly scientific work,—I think I may
say, without incurring the imputation of flattery, that you have fully de-
monstrated the practicability of this great work;—as I honestly believe
you have done more towards the advancement of true Medical knowl-
edge, than any one writer, ancient or modern, I have ever met with.
Extract of a letter from that distinguished Author and Professor, C. C.
  Rafinesque,—Author of the Medical Flora, and numerous other works,
  Dated Philadelphia, Jan. 6, 1840.
  I must now state again that I think highly of your Medical work ;  I he-
long, like yourself, to the Reformed School of Medicine, and agree with
you much  better, than with the Thomsonian, Homaepathy and Botanical
Empyrics.  Your system is a good one, if not perfect- It is better at any
rate, than  most of the fashionable systems, Galenian, Brunonian, or Min-
eral.  Your system of Surgery appears benign and safe,  and much better
than the old Butchering system. 
PULMONARY COUSUMPTION.
              Anatomical Structure of the Lungs.
  In order that the general reader may  have a better knowledge
of Pulmonar/ Consumption, I shall commence with giving a short
description of  the Anatomical  Structure  of the Lungs, this organ
being the seat of the Disease.  The Lungs are two viscera situated
in the Chest, by means of which we breathe.  The Lung in the right
cavity of the chest, is divided into three lobes, that in the left,  into
two ; they hang in the Chest attached at their superior part by means
of the trachea or wind-pipe, and they are also  attached to  the heart
by means of the Pulmonary Vessels.  The substance of the Lungs
is of four kinds, viz. :  Vesicular, Vascular,  Bronchial, and Parenchy-
matous.  The Vesicular substance is composed of the air-cells.   The
Vascular invests those cells like a net-work. The Bronchial is form-
ed by the ramifications of the Bronchia, throughout the Lungs, hav-
ing the air-cells at their extremities, and the spongy substance  that
connects these parts, is termed the parenchyma. The Lungs are  cov-
ered with a fine membrane, a reflection of  the pleura, called pleura
pulmonalis.
  The internal surface of the air-cells  is covered with a very  fine
delicate and sensible membrane, which is continued from the larynx
through the trachea and bronchial tubes.—The arteries of the Lungs
carry blood to the Lungs for their nourishment, the pulmonary cir-
culates the blood  through the air-cells to undergo a certain change:
—the Pulmonary veins return the blood which has undergone this
change into the heart.—The Lungs  then may  be compared to a bel-
lows, which expands by every inspiration, by inhaling the air,  and
collapse  by every exhalation, by forcing  the  air from them.   It is
owing then to the constant motion of this  organ, that they become
more difficult to heal than other organs.
                     General  Description.
  Pulmonary  Consumption is characterized by emaciation, debility,
cough, hectic fever, and purulent expectoration,  night-sweats,  &c.
One writer enumerates thirty different species of Consumption, but
this enumeration seems unnecessary for practical purposes.—When
one lobe of the Lung is  affected, the disease is very slow in its
progress, often lasting for many years; but when the substance  of
both lungs is affected, the disease progresses rapidly, commonly  call-
ed the Galloping Consumption.
           HISTORY AND PREVALENCE OF THE DISEASE.
  This disease has prevailed extensively from  the earliest period  of
history to the present time, and has swept  more from the earth  thafo
the sword or famine.  In all northern climates it commits the most
terrible ravages.  A writer some  years since,  computed that out  of
a population of eleven millions, in the Island of Great Britain, fifty-five
thousand annually died of the Consumption, and the same fatality at-
tends the disease in this climate.   I presume one third of those  who
die  in this Country, are taken off by Pneumonic  Diseases, or affec- 
4
 tions of the Lungs ;  all which shows not only the prevalence and fa-
 tality of the complaint, but likewise the ineflicacy of the various meth-
 ods of treatment, including the vast number of the boasted nostrums
 of the day, with which the community are now so shamefully deceiv-
 ed and imposed upon.  That the reader may have an opportunity
 of seeing the mortality of Consumption in this City, he need only
 refer to the report of the City Inspector.
                             CAUSES.
   These may be divided into Remote, Intermediate, and Proximate.
 The causes which produce  this afflicting and extensive malady, are
 very numerous.
   First.—Remote.—Among these may be enumerated  hereditary
 disposition, which prevails in some families.   A Consumptive taint
 may be transmitted from Parents to Children, and produce a develop-
 ment of the disease at different periods of their lives, owing to those
 circumstances which are  calculated to call this Consumptive predis-
 position into action.  A whole family have enjoyed comparatively
 good health, till a certain period of life, when,  upon a sudden attack
 of severe  cold, or some other exciting cause, Consumption  has su-
 pervened, and proved fatal to all; no doubt some such case has come
 under the observation of the reader.
   Among the remote causes, we may enumerate the particular forma-
 tion of the body; such as prominent shoulders, narrow  chest, &c.
 Scrofulous habit, Bronchitis, Pneumonia,  Scrofula, and  the sequel
 of eruptive diseases: particular employments, exposing  the person
 to the inhalation of dusty particles  of matter, and  fumes of metals
 and minerals ; sedentary life, depressing passions, great evacuations,
 intemperance, nursing of infants too long, and whatever else induces
 debility; tight lacing, which serves to compress the chest, and  cir-
 cumscribe the action of the pulmonary muscles, and lastly, the appli-
 cation of cold to the body, when in a state of perspiration, which is
 by far the most common of all other causes, which shows  the danger
 of the Bali-Room, where exercise is performed till the pores are open-
 ed, and suddenly closed by the application of cold, which ends in Con-
 sumption : nearly every patient who applies for medical aid, in speak-
ing of the  cause of his disease, refers to the time,,when he  experienc-
 ed a sudden check of perspiration, and dates it from that  period.
   I may also mention those positions of the  body  which oblige the
person to continue long in a stooping posture, as at the desk, in the
manufacture of shoes, factories, sewing, <fec.; also such employments
as keep the hands and feet unnaturally cold.
                      Intermediate Causes.
  Among  the intermediate causes may  be enumerated every thing
which  tends to produce general debility or weakness, such as im-
proper diet, impure air, obstructed perspiration, which retains mor-
bid humours in the circulating mass, translates them to theLungs the
weakest organ, there causes irritation, inflamation, and tubercles.  An
experienced and judicious Physician says, the manner of treating peo-
ple supposed Consumptive, is in my opinion, the cause of more deaths
by Consumption than any thing else.  People will send for the doc-
tor when  they have a bad cough, pain in the side,  foul stomach, or
no appetite.  They are directed to put on a blister, have an issue, or
Seaton, be bled, take salts, or calomel and jalap, take a tartar emetic,
vomit, diet themselves, or go through  a course of salivation, or take 
a              5
mercury till their tongues are swelled  out of their mouth, their lips
are blaek, their teeth loose, and  they almost dead  with hunger.  If
all this does not cure, the last direction is to go into the country  for
your  health.  I do not believe  there is a well man  on  earth, that
could go through all  this  treatment without  being confined to his
bed.  After going through this process, the person is commonly  de-
clared in a Consumption, past all cure and dies.  I  believe that Con-
sumption may as  certainly be curedas any other diseases if rightly
attended to in season.

                       Proximate Cause.
  The proximate or immediate  cause may be  ascribed to irritation
on the delicate coat of the Lungs, producing organic change or lesion
of their structure, subsequently inducing tubercles or ulcers.   There
is undoubtedly a translation of a deleterious agent or fluid to this or-
gan, which all of us daily receive into the system in our food and drink,
instead  of being carried off by the excretory vessels of the system.
As an evidence of this we find that as soon as a person whose Lungs
are weak, or who is predisposed to Consumption, experiences a check
of perspiration, or to use a common expression, takes cold ; he  im-
mediately feels an irritation on the Lungs, and begins to cough.  This
demonstrates that there is an offending matter, or noxious agent, which
should be carried off by perspiration ; hence the importance of keep-
ing up a uniform determination to  the surface, in order to preserve
health.
                  SYMPTOMS  OF CONSUMPTION.
  The incipient symptoms usually vary with the cause  of the disease,
but when it arises from tubercles it is usually thus marked : it begins
with a short dry cough, that  at  length becomes habitual, but from
which nothing is  spit  up for some  time,  except a frothy  mucus.
The breathing is at the same time  somewhat impeded, and upon  the
least bodily motion is much hurried ;  a sense  of straitness with  op-
pression at the chest is experienced; the body  becomes  gradually
leaner,  and great langour, with  indolence, dejection of spirits, with
loss of appetite prevail.  In this  state the patient frequently continues
a considerable length of time, during which he is, however more rea-
dily affected than usual  by slight colds,  and upon  one or other of
these occasions, the cough becomes more troublesome and severe,
particularly by night, and it is at  length attended with an  expectora-
tion, which towards morning is more free and  copious.  By degrees
the matter which is expectorated becomes more viscid and opaque,
and now assumes a greenish colour and purulent appearance, being
on many occasions streaked with blood.  In some cases  a more se-
vere degree of haemoptisis or bleeding at the Lungs attends, and  the
patient spits up a considerable quantity of florid frothy blood ;  the
breathing at length becomes more difficult, and the emaciation and
weakness increasing.   With  these the person begins  to be sensible
of pain  in  some part of the thorax,  which, however  is usually felt
at  fiist  under the sternum,  particularly on coughing.  At  a more
advanced period of the disease, a pain is sometimes felt on one side,
and at times prevails  in so high a  degree, as to  prevent the  person
from lying easily on that side ; but it more frequently happens, that
it is felt only on making a full inspiration, or coughing. Even where
no pain is felt,  it often happens that those who labour under Consump- 
6
tion, cannot lie easily  on one  or other  of their sides, without  a fit
of coughing being excited, or the difficulty of breathing being much
increased.
  At the first commencement of the disease, the pulse is often  na
tural,  or perhaps is soft, small, and a little quicker than usual: but
when the  symptoms which  have been enumerated have  subsisted
for any length of time,  it then becomes full,  hard and  frequent, at
the same time the face flushes, particularly after eating ; the palms of
the hands and the soles of the feet are affected  with burning heat,
the respiration is difficult and laborious ; evening exacerbations be-
come obvious, and by  degrees  the fever assumes the hectic form.
This species of fever is evidently of the Remittent kind,  and has ex-
acerbations twice every day.  The first occurs usually about noon,
and a slight remission ensues about.five in the afternoon  ; this last is
however soon succeeded by another exacerbation, which  increases
gradually  until after midnight, but about two o'clock in the morn-
ing a remission takes place, and this  becomes  more apparent as the
morning advances.  During the exacerbations, the patient is very
sensible to any coolness of the air, and often complains of a sense of
cold, when his skin is  at the same time preternaturally warm.   Of
these exacerbations, that of the evening is by far the most considera-
ble.
  From the first appearance of the hectic symptoms, the  urine is
high coloured, and deposits a copious branny red sediment.   The ap-
petite, however is not greatly impared, the tongue appears clean, the
mouth is usually  moist, and the thirst is inconsiderable.  As the dis-
ease advances the mouth and fauces put  on rather an inflamed  ap-
pearance,  and  are beset with apthse or canker, and the red vessels of
the tunica adnata become of a pearly-white.  During  the exacerba-
tions, a florid  circumscribed redness appears  on each  cheek ; but
at other times  the face  is pale,  and the countenance somewhat dejec-
ted.  At the commencement of Hectic, costiveness prevails, but in the
more advanced stages of it, a Diarrhoea often comes on, and this con-
tinues  to  recur  frequently  during the  remainder of the  disease  :
colliquative sweats likewise break out, and these alternate with each
other,  and induce great debility.  In the last stage of  the disease,
the emaciation is so great that the patient has  the appearance  of a
walking skeleton ; his  countenance is altered, his  cheeks are promi-
nent, his eyes look hollow and languid, his  hair falls off,  his nails
are of a livid colour, and much incurvated, and  his feet are affected
with sedematous or dropsical swellings.  To the  end of  the  disease
the senses remain entire, and the mind is confident and full of hope.
It is indeed  a peculiar  symptom attendant on phthisis, that those
who labour  under it, are seldom apprehensive of danger ; and it is
no uncommon occurrance to meet with persons labouring  under its
most  advanced stage, flattering themselves with a speedy recovery,
and forming distant projects  under that vain  hope.  Some days be-
fore death the extremities become  cold.  In  some cases a delirium
precedes that event, and continues until  life is extinguished.  To-
wards  the close of the  disease  the matter expectorated becomes ex-
tremely offensive, both to the patient and others and very  much in-
jures the appetite.  This shows extensive ulceration in  the Lungs.
Dr. Ramage v/ho rfor many years superintended the London Lung
Infirmary,  has tha following judicious remarks on the  symtoms of
consumption.                                       " 
7
   It has long heen acknowledged, that the symptoms on which prac-
 titioners generally rely in the incipient stage,  as indicative of Con-
 sumption, are extremly variable and uncertain.  Its attack, indeed,
 is in many  intances,  so  deceitful, that, before the patient is  in the
 least aware of his danger, the case has become desperate.  Again, it
 seldom happens that pain, or any other uneasy sensation, is felt in the
 part which is  well known to be the primary seat of the disorder,
 although it results from tubercles, disseminated  at first in the sub-
 stance of the upper part of one or both lungs.  At other times, we
 see cases in which its progress is latent and altogether unheeded ;
 still, a slight cough is generally the first symptom, and this is attribut-
 ed to some uneasiness in the throat, produced by a common cold.
 After a time the cough increases, and from being either hard or dry,
 is followed by the expectoration of a little mucus often devoid of col-
 our, as in common catarrh.   This is succeeded by some degree of
 weight and slight pain felt in the chest, along with difficulty of breath-
 ing, general weakness, and an accelerated pulse, which seldom ranges
 below 90 ;  during the hot stage of the hectic fever, it is generally 120.
 A sense of chilliness along the course of the  spine, commonly expe-
 rienced towards noon, is  the  next symptom  ; this is followed by an
 augmented temperature of the body  on the approach of evening, and
 finally by prespiration, which usually comes  on profusely after mid-
 night, and  greatly attenuates the body.  When spitting of blood oc-
 curs with the foregoing symptoms, or when the matter expectorated
 begins  to  assume the appearance of pus, we have strong grounds
 to suspect the  presence of Pulmonary Consumption.  The occurance
 of cough in any case, in which the general health has been impaired,
 ought to be regarded with no small suspicion.  Cases are not  want-
 ing  in  which  the disease manifests itself most  irregularly.  For in-
 stance, the  usual characteristic symptoms are not  uncommonly pre-
 ceded, for  a short time,  either by mesenteric enlargement,  aphtha?,
 severe diarrhcea, amenorrhoea, or by an affection of the larynx, attend-
 ed with a slight alteration of the voice.   Though in the early  stages
 there may  be some doubt as to the existence  of phthisis, without the
 aid of physical signs, there can be however little chance of mistake
 in the advanced stages.  As soon as hectic fever is fully established,
 the  wasting of the flesh becomes remarkable, and rapidly increases,
 if prespiration, diarrhosa, and expectoration have been abundant.
 Having daily opportunities of seeing new consumptive cases, I readily
 come to a conclusion, by the absence of catarrh, thatthey are undoubt-
 edly consumptive, without taking the trouble  to ascertain the state of
 the  upper  part of the chest; for if an individual  coughs up blood,
 or muco-purulent matter, is subject to chills,  accessions of fever, and
 night sweats,  wastes away and complains of  debility, and no catarrh
 is heard in the inspirations, we may be perfectly satisfied that tuber-
 culous cavities exist.
   The blood taken from the arm is peculiar  in its crassamentum ;  it
 is never cupped, and its upper surface has a somewhat greenish semi-
 transparent gelatinous appearance,  with yellow filaments here and
-there  interspersed.   This extraordinary and characteristic state of
 the  blood,  has been for years noticed by the  attentive Apothecary so
 long attached to the Infirmity for diseases of the Chest.   It is indica-
 tive of an actual, an inappreciable change in the circulatory fluid. This
 state of blood is owing to the incapacity of  the Lungs  to imbibe a 
                               8

sufficient portion of oxygen from the air, to keep up a healthy state of
this fluid so essential to life, and not to any Specific virus or poison
in the system, as has been supposed.
           PROGNOSIS OR  OPINION OF ITS TERMINATION.
  Pulmonary Consumption when fairly seated is attended  with much
danger, more so when it proceeds from tubercles than when it arises
from hemorage of the Lungs, or pneumonic supparation.  Sometimes
vomica or abcesses of the lungs form and break suddenly, causing sud-
den suffocation ; both pregnancy and insanity often suspend the com-
plaint, also a residence in a fever and ague, and warm climate.   But
the degree  of danger is to  be estimated by the stage and violence  of
the disease, together with the kind of treatment instituted.
                     MORBID APPEARANCES.
  The morbid appearance met with, on dissection of those who die
of Consumption, is the existence of tubercles in  the cellular substance
of the Lungs.   These are  small tumours which have the appearance
of indurated glands, are of different  sizes,  and  are  often found  in
clusters.  Their firmness  is usually in proportion to their size, and
when laid open in  this state, they are of a white colour and of a con-
sistaace nearly approaching to cartilage.  Although indolent at first
they at length become inflamed,  and  lastly from little  abscesses  or
vomica;, which breaking and pouring their contents into the bronchia,
give rise to a purulent expectoration, and thus lay the foundation for
Phthisis or  Consumption. Such tubercles or vomicae, are most usually
situated at  the upper and back part of the Lungs ; but in some in-
stances they occupy the outer part and then adhesions to the plura are
often fprmed.—When the disease is partial, only about a fourth of the
upper and posterior part of the Lung, is found diseased ;| but in some
cases life has been protracted till not one-twentieth part of them ap-
peared, on  dissection, fit for performing their function.  A singular
observation, confirmed by the  morbid  collections of anatomists,  is,
that the left lobe is much oftener affected than the right.
                 DIAGNOSIS OR DISCRIMINATION.
  Other diseases of the Thorax or Chest may be  mistaking for Con-
sumption, particulary Chronic  inflamation of the Liver ; but in this
disease there is less expectoration of mucus or pus, than in consump-
tion, the cough usually being dry ;  it may also  be distinguished from
Tabes Mesenterica, where there is a wasting away of the whole body
—but no cough.
                  CURABILITY OF THE DISEASE.
  It is supposed by most people that Consumption is incurable, and
nothing is more common than when an individual is attacked with this
disease to consign him to the grave.  But we should not be too hasty
in arriving at such  a conclusion.  We have many well authenticated
instances  on  record, where  Consumption  has been cured, either
spontaneously, or by proper remedial agents.   An author in Europe
enumerates thirty or forty  cases, restored to  health.  I have myself
attended a  considerable  number of persons, who having every symp-
tom of the disease in its  confirmed stages, were cured, are now well,
and  enjoying  good health.  I recollect one person reduced so low
that I refused to prescribe for him, under the supposition,  that medi-
cine would  avail nothing ;  some months after the  same man accosted
me in the street, and stated that after I first saw him, he took a syrup, 
0
made of the very ingredients which enter into the preparation, which
I am now in the habit of prescribing, under the use of which he com-
pletely recovered.  Indeed it is beyond dispute, that the Lungs recover
from disease the same as any other organ, though less frequently, pro-
vided the powers of nature are sufficient to bring about a healthy  ac-
tion ; all which shows the propriety of pursuing a rational judicious
course of treatment; besides, it is the duty of thePhysician to al-
leviate disease where he cannot cure, and  which can always be done,
even  in the worst stages of this  formidable malady.  The fact that
cicatisres or scars  have  been discovered in the Lungs of persons on
postmortem examination, who had been cured of Consumption, but
who subsequently died of some other complaint, proves beyond dis-
pute, that the disease is  curable.
            THE PRINCIPLE OR PHILOSOPHY OF CURE.
  Debility being one great cause of Consumption, those Medicines
which remove it, aid in  curing the disease.   The Lungs being weak
are unable to resist the invasion of disease ; but as soon as their office
or functions are restored, they are enabled to overcome the irritation,
which is the proximate cause of morbid action.  This fact 1 have as-
certained by experience. What consummate folly or ignorance, then,
to induce greater debility by bleeding, &c.  The process of nature in
removing ulceration  or  tubercles, appears to be first, by absorption;
second, by expectoration ; third, by the excretory vessels of the skin.
Medicine it is well known cannot be introduced  into the Lungs, ex-
cept bv  inhalation ; it acts through the medium  of the blood, and also
by  sympathy.   The  sympathetic effect  of medicine is strikingly
shown by emetics and expectorants.
                VARIOUS METHODS OF TREATMENT.
  First, the common practice.  This consists in bleeding in the first
stage of the complaint,  and next, in the administration of Mercury,
Antimony, Squills, and  Laudanum, also Blistering, Seatons &c.; all
of which treatment is  calculated, instead of removing  the disease, to
accelerate its progress,  and  that it actually does, daily  observation
shows.   It has become proverbial, that as soon as patients are placed
under the care  of the faculty, they begin  rapidly  to decline; indeed,
this cannot otherwise be, as the medicines they give produce the most
debilitating effects, and  undermine the constitution much faster than
the disease itself.
                   PREVENTION  OF THE DISEASE.
  Every thing  that has  a tendency to  check perspiration  should he
carefully avoided.  As soon as a person experiences any chill, if the
LuLs are weak, it is sure to be followed by a cough ; hence wet
feet and exposure of every kind should be avoided, also, tight-lacmg,
and'lntemperance of all kinds.  After  severe  exposure to cold,  the
feet should be bathed in warm ley-water ; catnip tea should be freely
drank,—and thus restore the natural temperature of the system, by
equalizing the circulation.
  Avoid bleeding,—Salts,—&c
                           NOSTRUMS.
  It is  truly surprising to see the number of Nostrums Advertised
in tL Papers, for  the cure of Consumption.  I counted about one
hun/redind 'eighty in  one paper, the  Sun ; a considerab e numbe
0i  which were for the cure of this disease.  The most specious ana
                              8 
                                  IP

 unwarrantable promises are held out to catch the ignorant and un-
 wary.   They are got up by individuals without science, skill, or ex-
 perience, for the sole purpose of speculation.  What credulity then
 must there be in the minds of the community, to swallow so many of
 these Quack Nostrums, misnamed Medicines.   The loss of money is
 of some consequence, but very little compared to  the loss of their
 health,  and  the precious time that ought to be employed in the use of
 Medicines of some  value.  In order to deceive the  public they as-
 sume the title of M. D., or Doctor in Medicine, employ some respec-
 table Apothecary to sell their Medicines, and stand behind the coun-
 ter, and no doubt laugh at the credulity of those who patronize them.
 It has sometimes appeared to me that  the  greater the  humbug, the
 greater the patronage.  As an  illustration  of these remarks we will
 mention a few cases.—There is an article sold in this City under the
 fictitious name of Dr. Allen's Balsam of Hoarhound, Liverwort, and
 Pleurisy Root, which is  continually puffed into notice,  and in such
 a manner, as must convince every candid  reader, that it is not entitl-
 ed to the character given it.  He comes out  with a flaming advertise-
 ment, saying, that he can produce ten thousand Certificates of cures,
 and yet I doubt whether he has a single one in his  possession.—The
 following is taken from the Sun of Dec. 18th.
  10,000 CERTIFICATES—We have published more than ten thousand certifi-
 cates ol cures absolutely performed on different individuals by Dr Allen'^ Balsam of Hoar-
 hound, Liverwort, arid Pleurisy Root  In casrs of consumption, coughs, liver complaint,
 and other diseases of the chest.  Still some doubt, others hesitate,  procrastinate and
 finally die.  "What madness,  what folly.
           ------" Oh, by the sacred tears
            Of widows, mother?, orphans, sisters, wives, forbear!"
           This wonderful medicine is sold only at—
   Notwithstanding the Certificates  often thousand cures, we  see by
 the weekly report of Deaths, just  the same number die of Consump-
 tion as formerly.  This is lying with a  vengeance.
   Another of the 18th December, 1839, (let the age of the world be
 registered.)
  "CONSUMPTION is slaying its thousands just because people will not resort to Dr.
 Allen's Balsam—Strange infatuation ! Reader, when wdl you be wise?—If you have
 Consumption, fly to the only remedy and be well again 1 Oh, have you lost all love for
 life ?  Will you seek your own destruction by neglecting to take  Dr. Allen's Balsam.
  In another Advertisement published some time since, he says Con-
sumption is making a quick  retreat from  the City of New-York, be-
 fore Allen's Balsam of Liverwort, &c.  Such a man, it is stated, has
 been cured who lives in  Waverly Place, such a one in the City Ho-
tel, another in Newark ; I ask if there are any such persons in exis-
tence ?
  Another preparation is Taylor's Balsam of Liverwort, which has
been brought into notice by much puffing and many Certificates, wheth-
er true or false, may be inferred from the following, which appeared
in the N. Y. Sun.

♦k*^" EXTRAORDINARY CURE !-Life is mine again-health is also mine-
thanks be to Him who guides our fate, and to Dr. Taylor.  When at the point of death,
when dark despair told me life would soon he still, this medicine was produced and I was
restore<l!  Who shall tell how sweet it is to feel health eoursin- freely through our
veins after be,ng so near the grave ! But enough,  lam restored t» ho. A, when con-
sumption had consumed me quite, and I would only tell the sick  and the hopeless, that
«n,i v.ut?tS     ", °-f L,,vfrwort. recommended to mc by my physician, has cured me
tfld will cure you.  U is sold at 375 Bowery.
                                              D, Mitchell, 265 Bowery. 
11
  It happens that this same Mr. Mitchell, whose signature is attach-
ed to the above Certificate, has been an old friend and acquaintance
of mine for more than twelve years, and  during this period has done
much of my Printing.   Soon after the above made its appearance, he
Called on me, and stated that this Certificate was inserted without his
knowledge, being a real fabrication, that there was not the least foun-
dation for the statement, that he was astonished at the announcement
of his name in this public manner, without his authority, he having
enjoyed a state of perfect health, even from childhood.
  The week previous Mr. Mitchell states, that the same Mr. Taylor
used the name of his son in the same manner, stating that he had been
cured of consumption, when in fact he never had the disease, or even
tasted the Balsam of Liverwort,  being in perfect health.  Can any
confidence therefore be placed in the  numerous  Certificates, which
are constantly blazoned before the public in the  daily papers.   One
man informs me that took  the trouble to look for a street and num-
ber, and he found only a vacant lot, instead of the person referred
to.  Taylor refers to the Mate of the  Ship Gautier, I  should be glad
to know if there is any such person or Vessel.   I have examined this
Medicine, and it appears to contain very little Liverwort, and is ap-
parently  nothing more than an infusion or Tea of that plant, combin-
ed with some narcotic, (said to be Fox glove and  Morphine,)  to be
taken in tea-spoon doses. Were it what it purports to be, a con-
centrated preparation of Liverwort, still  I should have no faith in its
virtues, having myself used the Liverwort extensively in various ways,
without any special benefit.
  Suppose these Certificates  were handed to  the District Attorney,
or the Grand  Jury, what would be the penalty?
  For  a  length of time past,  a greater portion of the numerous pa-
tien»s who have applied at our Office for advice in affections of the
Lungs, had taken more or less of this very Balsam of Liverwort, and
in many instances, with injurious effects, in others, to use their own
language, producing no more effect than so much Molasses and Wa-
ter.   Why then are the public so much deceived, gulled, and impos-
ed upon by these boasted  Nostrums.
  There is an individual now in our office, who says that a friend of
his had taken eight bottles of Taylor's  Balsam, for which he paid six-
teen dollars, of which he says, it was like so much wash, being of no
service whatever.                                  -
  One woman states that her daughter became delirious after having
taken it.                                                  ,
  Since writing the above, I have ascertained that in reality there is
no such person as Dr. Taylor.   That the Medicine is put up and sold
by a Dr. Thayer, who passes for Dr. G. W. Taylor M. D., when call-

  I mi<rht mention among numerous other compounds which have
obtained some notoriety, that called the Native Pulmonicon, used in
connexion with a Medicated Wrapper,—worn lound the Chest.  Al-
though the proprietor extols them highly, I have no evidence that they
possess the least efficacy.            , .  ,   ~   ,  ,   * •          -x..
  I saw  them prescribed  in a case which afforded a fair opportunity
of testing their virtues,—but they proved unavailing, the patient died
of the disease; numerous other persons  have  used them  without any
better success; credit however is  due to the proprietor, for the able
manner in which he advocates Medical  Reform.  Many other Nos, 
12
 trums might be noticed, but these already numbered, afford specimens
 of others.
   These nostrum mongers remind me of the saying of an editor of a
 Newspaper some years since.—" The public is a goose, and he is a
 fool who will not pluck her."
               REFORMED SYSTEM OF  TREATMENT.
   Thus we see that  the Consumptive patient has nothing to expect
 from the old method of treating the disease, or from the  nostrums of
 illiterate pretenders  to the science of Medicine.
   The question then arises, can we offer a substitute, or any thing
 better. I answer in the affirmative.  I maintain that the improvement
 and  discoveries which have been made by  the Reformed School of
 Medica,  with  which I stand connected,  are superior  to every  other
 method made use of.
   I have had an opportunity of seeing and treating Consumptive pa-
 tients  for near twenty-five years, during which, I have tested every
 kind of Medicine and treatment,  which  promised any success, and
 therefore am prepared to recommend such medicines as I have found
 efficacious, and even these we do not offer as an Infallible remedy in
 all cases; but I have had many patients recover by the use of them,
 when all other means had  failed, and can therefore recommend them
 to those labouring under Pulmonary affections, as being preferable
 to all  others.
   Before I mention the principal  preparation relied upon in the treat-
 ment of Pulmonary Diseases, I shall briefly notice the effects of some
 classes of Medicines, to show how far they are beneficial.
   First.—Emetics.—Emetics sometimes prove beneficial by their
 sympathetic action on the thoracic viscera; they exert a peculiar force
 and effect upon the  lungs and skin.  When one is indicated, none
 will be found better than our Vegetable  Emetic.
   Expectorants.—Expectorants  greatly aid the efforts of nature, in
 removing from the air-cells of the Lungs, the tough viscid, pus and
mucus, which continually collects, besides, they aid in producing ab-
 sorption, by which a  healthy action is restored. Diaphoretics Medi-
cines which produce a moderate determination to the surface, are ben-
eficial  by equalizing the circulation ; they have a tendency to divert
morbid accumulations from the Lungs to the surface or Skin,and allay
Inflammatory action and congestion; profuse perspiration should  be
avoided as it occasions too much debility.
  Cathartics.—Cathartics are sometimes beneficial in the incipient
stages  of the disease, by diverting the  morbid humours from the
Lungs  to the bowels ; ordinarily  it is sufficient to keep the  bowels
regular.
  Counter Irritants.—.Where there is pain or stricture of the Chest,
Counter Irritants are  valuable. We employ a stimulating and sweat-
ing Plaster, which removes these symptoms in  a very short time.
  Inhalation.—Inhaling the steam of bitter herbs, where the com-
plaint is attended with much inflamation, and in Bronchitis is some-
times  beneficial, as it has a tendency to  remove the conjested  state
of the mucus membrane, and the bronchial  tubes and lun^s.
  As regards the inhalation  of various  substances directly into the
Lungs, I have to remark that I have several times tried the experiment
by means of Dr. Middleton's  Inhaler, and although it changed the
•haracter of the mucus  or pus, no permanent benefit was derived ; 
13
by  means of  a tube I have also introduced  the  same  substances,
which I have employed for Ulcers externally, but without any real
benefit.
  Dr. Ramage of London places  great reliance on frequent breathing
through a long tube, in order to  expand the lungs, and thereby heal
the tubercles.  It  has been tried also in this country, but 1 doubt
whether much benefit has been derived from its use.
                     Tonics and Restoratives.
  As debility is one great cause of consumption, it follows that those
medicines which are calculated to restore tone, are  of the  greatest im-
portance in the treatment of the disease, as they preserve  the strength
of the patient.  By the following remarks, it seems that Dr. Ramage
also considers debility one great cause of diseased lungs ; " I have said
that it is requisite to distinguish betwixt the direct and indirect causes
of  consumption,  not that there  are any that  can  with propriety  be
termed direct, but in order to impress  thoroughly upon the mind
the grand truth, that phthisis is for the most part, the sequence of de-
bilitated bodily  health alone.  When the general health  becomes
impaired, a  total change takes place in the fluids and secretions  of
the body, and there is consequently an aberration of nutriment: on
ti is, the formation of tubercles soon follows."
  How clearly does this doctrine illustrate the injury that results from
the common depletive course of treatment, such as  bleeding, mercury,
&c, which  only tend still further to  debilitate ; well might this dis-
ease be considered the " opprobrium" of the  medical profession un-
der such treatment.
                           Narcotics.
  Narcotics alleviate the disease, but render very  little or no perma-
nent benefit.  When the patient  is very restless, and the Lungs very
irritable, narcotics may prove serviceable.
                          Astringents.
  Astringent  Medicines are of  Primary  importance in  haemoptisis
or bleeding  from the Lungs.  An infusion of the water of hoarhound,
or bugle weed, is very good ;  but the styptic  plant Canada  Flebane,
(Erigeron Canndense) given  in the same manner is preferable.   It
usually arrests the hemorage in a short time, and is altogether bet-
ter than the  common practice of  bleeding, which only lessons the im-
petus  of the blood in the pulmonary vessels, by which farther weak-
ness is occasioned.
                       Principle Remedy.
  The preceding  class of remedies  act as auxiliaries in the  treat-
ment of Pulmonary Consumption, but the medicine on which we place
the most reliance, and which we prescribe in  every stage of the dis-
ease, is a concentrated Vegetable preparation, called the Pulmonic
Balsam.  It combines many of the properties enumerated in the pre-
ceding classes of medicines, it is      [Expectorant,
                                      Tonic or  Restorative,
                                     Alterative,
                                     Stimulent,
                                     Pectoral,
                                    _Dimnlcnt, fyc.
   Hence it  aids expectoration, removes congestion, and strengthens
or restores the tone of the whole system, and  is calculated to remove
< 
14
 the  consumptive taint from the fluids, and by its stimulating proper
 ties removes tubercles from the Lungs, by promoting absorption.   In
 administering a medicine combining  all these properties, it will be
 seen that the treatment of Consumption is reduced to great simpli-
 city, and from among the numerous medicines which we have tried
 from time to time, we have found this superior to all others, and un-
 der the use of this, the cases illustrated in this treatise, together with
 numerous others have  recovered.  After ascertaining by extensive
 practice, those native indiginous productions, which were most effi-
 cacious for diseases of the Lungs, I have combined the whole togeth-
 er, and the product is the Pulmonic Balsam, which we  confidently re-
 commend as superior to any other preparation  for the treatment of
 Pulmonary Consumption.  It is perfectly safe in all stages of the dis-
 ease, and under all circumstances, and where there is principal suffi-
 cient to  operate upon, or if the disease is not too far advanced, will
 effect a cure ; and even in those cases when the disease is incurable,
 the use of it will be attended with beneficial effects, by mitigating the
 symptoms.
                   Common Colds or Catarrh.
   I do not intend to treat of Pneumonia, or active inflamation of the
 Lungs in this place, but merely to notice slight affections of these
 organs, in which the inflamation is very superficial, commonly cal-
 led cold  or cough.  It  is important to attend to these premonitary
 symptom?, as they very often  result in  real  phthisis.  In  cases  of
 this  kind, I advise the patient to bathe  the feet in warm ley-water
 at night, for about fifteen minutes, drink freely of hot catnip tea, and
 after having retired, apply a heated  brick to the feet and sides, and
 thus excite moderate perspiration.  The next day  take one of our
 cathartic powders ; after this nothing will be better than  our
                         COUGH DROPS,
 which  are remarkably well calculated to allay the irritability "of the
 bronchial tubes and lungs, and thus cure Colds,  Coughs, soreness
 and pain of the Chest and Lungs, and Influenza. They contain no pre-
 paration of Opium, or other Narcotic, and possess the peculiar pro-
 perty of removing irritation, without  producing excitement of the
 system.   They promote expectoration and generally mitigate and re-
 move in a short time, the most distressing Colds, Coughs, Hoarse-
 ness, and other Bronchical affections.  They  are perfectly innocent,
 as well as pleasant, and may therefore be taken with safety by persons
 of every age, and under  all circumstances.
                  Importance of Perspiration.
  During the circulation of the blood  through the lungs, a principle
 necessary to the support of life is  absorbed from the  air ; and vari-
 ous matters, the longer  continuance of which in the body would be
 noxious, are  also discharged in the form  of vapour or gas.  That
 there is besides, no inconsiderable quantity^- of aqueous fluid secreted
 and discharged  from the lungs, every person must be convinced, who
 has attended to the deposition of watery particles that take place from
 the breath, in a  frosty day.   Of the whole quantity  of perspirable
matter  discharged from the surface of the body, in any given portion
 of time, that exhaled from the surface  of the Lungs, may be estimat-
 ed as amounting to one-third.   The skin and  the Lungs being both
 secreting sur faces, must also be considered as  organs mutually, com-
 pensating or balancing each other.  If the skin be suddenly chilled, 
15
a larger share of perspirable matter will endeavour to escape by the
Lungs, as being an internal, and  therefore a warmer surface.  It is
not surprising that this effort should in a delicate organ be productive
of derangement  and disease,  and accordingly we daily  hear people
dating their first attack  of Pulmonary complaints, from sitting in a
cool place  after having been over-heated; from  being  thoroughly
soaked with rain, or from cold bathing in an improper state of the
system.  The purpose of these observations is to enforce the proprie-
ty of maintaining cutaneous perspiration, and endeavouring to render
the surface of the body less susceptible of atmospheric variations-.
In persons of a phthisical habit, the skin is in general, either dry and
scabrous or clammy, both of which conditions betoken deficient per-
spiration.  The most effectual means of removing this morbid state
of the body, is the  frequent use of cutaneous friction, with warm rain
water and ley applied daily.  Why a practice on which the ancient
physicians  placed so much dependence, not only for the cure of many
diseases, but in  a  prominent  manner for the preservation of health,
should in modern  times have fallen so completely into neglect, it  is
not perhaps easy to account; although at present nothing seems  to
be  considered as medicine except what is taken into the stomach;
as if the regulation of air and  exercise  did not furnish means of re-
covery, at least as efficacious as drugs.  From regularly persevering
some length of time in this practice, I have observed a very obvious
alteration produced in the texture of the skin.  It appears to acquire
thickness and to become  mellow and pliable, a condition very different
from that of persons disposed to consumption, whose skin is common-
ly thin and harsh.   The muscles also seem  to derive firmness from
this practice.  It will also be found  daily to remove no small quanti-
ty of surfuraceous matter, which, whether inspissated perspiration ad-
heringbto the surface, or particles of decaying cuticle, is certainly bet-
ter away.  This also removes every kind  of roughness and asperfty
from the surface of the skin, which  becomes beautifully smooth and
polished, so  that  even  as a cosmetic, having no tendency to impair
health, bathing may be  advantageously  employed.   After exposure
to wet, to strip and bathe the feet and surface of the body till it glows,
is unquestionably  the best means to prevent taking  cold. *I do not
presume so strenuously to  recommend liquid friction of the skin, as
a means of supporting the  healthy  action of the external surface  of
the body, and of promoting cutaneous perspiration, without having
witnessed remarkable changes for the better, produced in the constitu-
tion, by adopting and persevering in this practice.  Indeed I am dis-
posed to attribute much of the benefit derived from exercise on horse-
back as well as the good effect of sea voyages towards a mild climate,
to the increase of perspiration produced by these modes of gestation.
Every person suspicious of predisposition to Pulmonary Consump-
tion, ought to be at all times, but especially in cold weather, to wear
a quantity  of woollen clothing sufficient to obviate any approach  to
the  perception of chillness;  independently however of the  actual
presence of obstinate hoarseness or cough, I am disposed to think
that the requisite quantity  of flannel is more advantageously worn
over the usual shirt, than in immediate contact with  the skin, (which
I always practice myself).
                 IS CONSUMPTION CONTAGIOUS?
   This is doubtful.  The possibility of communicating  the disease 
16
 by contagion, is a point that has been much agitated.  As a measure
 of precaution, the delicate ought  to decide this question for them-
 selves in the affirmative.  Exhalations from the Lungs is the mode by
 which infectious diseases are  most generally propagated, and from
 analogy  we might infer that  air,  impregnated with the effluvia of
 these organs in a state of ulceration, would have a tendency to excite
 diseased action of a similar kind, if received into the Lungs of a per-
 son previously disposed to this complaint.   I have  seen, says a wri-
 ter, more than one instance of a husband, who appeared to have no
 previous disposition to consumption, being affected with a distressing
 cough, which continued to harrass him for  months, while his  wife
 was lingering under  that disease.—On one melancholy occasion I
 witnessed the successive deaths of three young ladies, two of whom,
 in my opinion, caught the disease in consequence of their sedulous at-
 tention during the progress of  the indisposition to her, who was first
 affected,  who evidently was of a phthisical habit, which was not ap-
 parent in either of the others.
                            Climate.
   If the symptoms already described as characterizing this disease,
 renders its existence no longer equivocal, the person so affected ought
 without delay to migrate towards a warmer climate, should not proper
 medicine prove efficacious.  Should circumstances render this expedi-
 ent impracticable, the next best plan  a phthisical person can adopt,
 is to remove into a low and rather damp situation, where billious dis-
 eases prevail.  The fatal events of Pulmonary Consumption are uni-
 formlyaccelerated by  residing in an elevated region.   There are even
 instances of phthisis  making its appearance in families previously
 unaffected by  it, on  changing their place of residence from a level to
 a hilly country ; while on the contrary, the inhabitants of extensive
 districts in low places, enjoy a complete immunity from  this disease.
 In Holland, Pulmonary Consumption is a disease of comparative rare
 occurrence.  The same situations that predisposed to ague, are unfa-
 vourable  to the attack  of phthisis, as  if these two  states of dis-
 ease were incompatible with each other.  The physicians of ancient
 Rome were accustomed to send their patients to the  low and marshy
 land of Egypt.  Cicero the celebrated orator, who, in his youth was
 threatened with consumption, as the hollow temples and sharp fea-
 tures of his remaining burst, abundantly testify, travelled in Egypt
 for the recovery of his health.
   It is well known that warm climates  have considerable influence in
 removing tubercles from  the Lung--, by the genial and uniform tem-
 perature imparled, hence the Brazils, and West India climate, have
 sometimes benefited, when other means have failed.
                          SEA VOYAGE.
  The advantages derivable from short excursions, or still better,
voyages by sea, always  invited my recommendation when  circum-
stances rendered them available. Impregnated as the sea breezes are
with saline particles, they act, I conceive, as stimulants of the lungs
to deeper and more frequent inspiration, and thus forward the enlarge-
ment of the chest, a point to which I have more than once adverted,
in the course of this work, as of primary importance.  They may also
be regarded as  possessed of a tonic power, bracing and invigorating
the surface of the body, and, by continuous sympathy, exerting a
beneficial influence  on the viscera, especially those connected with 
17
the digestive functions.  Another strong inducement  to recommend
a sea voyage, in the case of persons labouring under incipient con-
sumption, is the probability of the patient's having his chesi expand-
ed in the manner described  above, and thus increasing  the chances of
his contracting some variety of catarrh,—hence bidding defiance to
phthisis.
  Of the different kinds of exercise I would particularize running and
riding, as the most calculated to forward the purposes of prevention ;
indeed, as the best general  prophylactics.  After a quick and brisk
run, the respiration becomes frequent and deep, and the panting that
ensues  by exercising the  muscles of the chest,  favours  a healthy
development of that part, and  enlarges the volume of the lungs.  It
has been my universal practice to recommend  a constant attention to
this healthy exercise, in those schools I have been in  the habit of at-
tending, and to advise the preceptors to promote it by every induce-
ment within their power ;  and I have never been disappointed in the
results experienced.   Nor are its happy effects confined to the mere
expansion of the chest; by the greater portion of air thus broughtinto
contact with the venous system, the blood becomes more effectually
decarbonized, the animal heat increased, the action of the heart more
vigorous, and the multifarious secretions are carried on with greater
energy.
  Riding, which stood so high in Sydenham's estimation, is an exer-
cise of no mean value, for the self-same reasons, with this advantage,
that it yields all the good effects  of the former, unattended with its
fatigue.  To those, however, in whom consumption has decidedly ap-
peared, the benefit derivable from this mode of exercise may, perhaps,
be enhanced by the tendency to an  upward motion  imparted to the
lungs, thus disposing to apposition the diseased surfaces, in the upper
region of the chest.
  A strong proof of the advantages  of exercise may not unwarranta-
bly be sought for in the probable exemption of man, in a savage state,
from the ravages of this disease.   Although  various disorders  are
mentioned  by  travellers as having fallen under iheir observation, 1
do not remember, in the course of my reading,  to have met with any
notice  of consumption, recorded by those who have mingled with the
savage tribes of either of the old or  the new world : at  least, amongst
the more active races of uncivilized man.  Indeed, it would be won-
derful were the case otherwise.  Dependent for their subsistence on
incessant vigilance and vigorous exertion ; constantly engaged in the
toils of the chase, or animated  to activity by the animosities  ever
subsisting between neighbouring tribes, however they may lapse oc-
casionally into habits of sloth and indolence, their life from the cradle
to the grave must, generally speaking, be calculated to call forth and
perfect every bodily energy.  Free from the restraints which are the
unavoidable consequence of a state of superior intelligence,-—neither
confined to the manufactory, nor chained  down  to the desk of the
counting-house ; untrammelled by dress, and uncramped by the vari-
ous devices to which either fashion, or the force of habit, renders us
subservient despite the dictates of reason ;—the savage possesses at
least the uncontrolled use  of his limbs; and  the symmetry, usually
observed in  him, is perhaps the best index of the health  he enjoys.
If, too. we extend our course of reasoning to the inferior race of ani-
mals, and  observe the differences existing between them in  their
wild and domestic condition, we shall find a singular analogy betwixt
                             3 
18"
 them and man.  To go no further than that harmless creature, the
 rabbit, I have found, in the  course of my researches in comparative
 anatomy, that this animal frequently dies of consumption, in its tame
 state ; but I never met with an instance of the kind in the wild rabbit.
 Perhaps the benefit of exercise cannot be better exemplified than by
 way of contrast.   Swine, proverbially the most indolent of animals,
 are also the most subject to tuberculous disease ;  hence the derivation
 of the word scrofula from the Latin scrofa, a swine ;  and consump-
 tion and scrofula are identically the same, both resulting from the pre-
 sence  of tubercles.  To pursue the analogy, another strong instance
 of the force and good effects of exercise is  observable in the race-
 horse, the hunter, and indeed in all this class that are subject to fre-
 quent and active exertion. These seldom or ever, I believe, are found
 to have tubercles in the lungs, so  long as they are kept constantly
 employed.  Many illustrations of this nature might be adduced, but
 sufficient has been said to enable the reader to extend this comparative
 inquiry, and to confirm  the high value which I set on the effects of
 judicious and well-regulated  exercise.
                             Diet.
   The Consumptive patient from  the great waste  of the system,
 needs  a nutritious diet, but animal  food is  inadmissible.   All kinds
 of vegitables may  be taken,  and whatever rests  well upon the stom-
 ach, oysters, milk, stewed fruit, <fec.
                       ILLUSTRATIONS.
   To show the efficacy of our method of treatment, we shall adduce
 a number of cases by way of illustration, which  now occur to us.
                            CASE 1.
   A Mrs. Akerly, who now  resides at the  Williamsburg Hotel, at
 Williamsburg, near the Ferry, had been labouring under a deep seat-
 ed cough for a long time, which confined her to her bed, with all the
 symptoms of the last stages of Consumption ; excessive cough, great
 expectoration ofmuco purulent matter, emaciation, night-sweats and
 reduced so low that her life  was dispaired of;  under the  treatment
 recommended in this work, she slowly recovered and now attends to
 her domestic duties.  There  are but few such cases as this on record
 Mr. Akerly, her husband also had a deep seated cough, which was
 cured by our Pulmonic Balsam.—Dr. Cox from London, who studied
 with Sir  Astley Cooper, and now a distinguished Physician of Wil-
 liamsburg, had attended the patient previously, and pronounced her
 disease genuine phthisis,—or Consumption.
                            CASE 2.
  Miss Maria Hosier, now residing at No. 28  Broome-street, was
 reduced to  her  bed by  a Pulmonary disease, which  Dr. Cox above
 mentioned  also pronounced Consumption.  She raised much matter
 great debility, pulse 120 per minute, wasting of the body, and so JreS
were the signs  of her dissolution, that her father said she would no
live over two weeks ;  under  our treatment she  recovered in a few
weeks, and has been well for  several years.
CASE 3.
  Miss Eltmra Darling, 450 Monroe-street, near the corner of Grand
had been affected with a severe cough for several months, and had all
tem of Consumption, so that her case appeared  hopeles"
Under the use of the Balsam  laid down i„ this treatise, she rapidly 
19
recovered, and has been well for a number of years.  She was in
the office a few days since.
                            CASE 4.
  Mr. Stephen Polhamus, then residing at 557 Grand-street,  had
been for a long time in a decline, and his symptoms so unfavourable,
that his recovery was considered  very doubtful.   Under the use of
our remedies he recovered his health, and has been well for a num-
ber of years.
                            CASE 5.
  Mrs. Miller, wife of Mr. Miller, Ferry Master at  South Ferry, was
attacked with a disease of the lungs, which presented all the symptoms
of Consumption ; great wasting of the system, expectoration of mat-
ter, bad cough, night-sweats, fever, &c   Under our  course of treat-
ment, she recovered and has  been well for many years.
                            CASE 6.
  Mrs. Louber, 15 John-street, had for many months all the symptoms
of Consumption, so that no hopes of her recovery could rationally be
entertained, cough, raising, debility, emaciation;  by our medicines
she was  restored to  health, and has been  well for ten  or twelve
years.
                           CASE 7.
  Mrs. Page, corner of  Thompson and Spring-streets, was attacked
with the Remittent Fever, which terminated in a cough, haying every
appearance of being incurable.  She had one or two Physicians pre-
vious, but  her health constantly declined, till she submitted to the
treatment prescribed in this treatise, under which she recovered, and
has been well for many years.
                            CASE 8.
   Mr. Timothy Kelly, (West Farms,) had been afflicted with a dis-
ease of the Lungs for some length of time, and became very much re-
duced; cough, expectorated matter, and had all the ordinary symptoms
of Consumption.  He took  about  six bottles of our Balsam, which
cured him.
                            CASE 9.
   Miss Montrose, (Peekskill, N. Y.) was so far reduced with the Pul-
monary disease, that her Physician pronounced her incurable ; she
came to  this City, and I found her health much impaired, with very
little prospect of her recovery.  Cough, tubercles on the Lungs, wast-
ing of the  whole  system, great debility, &c.   I prescribed the usual
remedies under which she grew better, finally recovered and has been
well for a number of years.
                            CASE 10.
   Mrs. Brower, (Brooklyn,) one mile from the Ferry, had been for a
long time  afflicted with a deep seated cough ;  she  raised from the
Lungs large quantities of mucus and pus.  She took several bottles
of our Bafsam, and she now enjoys good health.
                            CASE 11.
   The Niece of Mr. Smith, Ship Carpenter,  Goveneour-street, had
been in a decline for a length of time ;  she  had a  distressing cough,
and raised half a pint of matter every day,—she pewwowe under
the attendance of her Physician, but was cured by three bottles of our
Pulmonic Balsam.' 
20
                            CASE 12.
  A gentleman residing in South America,  labouring under a dan-
gerous Pulmonary affection,  at the urgent  solicitation of a friend of
his, who had witnessed much of my improved method of treating dis-
eases, came expressly to this City, and placed himself under my care.
So unfavourable were the symptoms, that apparently he  could not
survive long ;  he had hectic fever, an incessant and most distressing
cough, copious expectoration of matter, night-sweats, and continual
wasting of the body.   Contrary to the expectations of every one, our
Medicine arrested the disease and restored  him to health.
                           CASE  13.
  A child of Mrs-.  Ludlam, aged seven years, was apparantly  in the
last stages of Consumption.  The attending Physicians, Doctors  B.
and P. pronounced the case hopeless, and  Dr. M. who was called in
consultation, said  that nothing could be done for him,  and left the
house.   He had  been confined in his bed  from March  last, till fall.
He had continued to raise for months large quantities of pus or mat-
ter, not less than half a pint each day ; there was fever, night-sweats,
continual wasting of the whole body, excessive debility, and constant
cough :  so much reduced was he, that a termination of his sufferings
by death, was every day expected.  In this situation the father of the
child was advised, by  a friend, to call on Dr. Beach ;  he did so, and
was advised to make trial of his medicine ; the first  glass of  which
benefited and three bottles have almost completely  cured  the  child.
Any person wishing further information in relation to this  case, can
obtain it by inquiring of Mrs. Reid, at the  corner of  Cannon and
Houston-streets.
  We have thus  given by way of illustration thirteen cases, and had
a register been kept of all which have been successfully treated, a
volume might be added.
                        BRONCHITIS.
  In conclusion, it may be proper to give a few remarks on Bronchi-
tis, a disease somewhat prevalent at this time.
  Bronchitis is an inflamation and ulceration  of the mucus membrane
lining the bronchial tubes, which convey  air to the lungs.  It pro-
ceeds from exposure to cold and much speaking, causing a translation
of morbid humours to these  parts.
  It creates a soreness along the course of  these tubes, or apparently
in the lower part of the  throat.   It is usually attended with a hack-
ing cough, a sensation of dryness in  the throat, and expectoration of
mucus and purulent matter.   The treatment consist  in bathing the
throat every morning in  cold water,  using our Cough Drops and the
Pulmonic Balsam, as recommended in consumption.   Exercise of the
voice should be avoided as much  as possible, and the use of all kinds
of stimulating food and drink.  Our Rheumatic or Stimulating liquid
should be applied two or three times a day to the throat, externally,
as a counterant.
  A collar or stock made of fur should be constantly  worn next the
skin.
              RECAPITULATION  OR ANALYSIS.
  It will be seen that we have treated this  disease under the follow-
ing heads.
    1st.—Anatomical  Structure of the Lungs.
    2nd.—General Description of Consumption. 
£1
     3d.—History and Prevalence of the disease.
     Ath.—Causes,—Remote, Intermediate and Proximate.
     bth.—Symptoms.
     6th.—Prognosis or opinion of termination.
     1th.—Morbid Appearances.
     Sth.—Diagnosis or Discrimination.
     9th.—Curability of the Disease.
    10th.—Principle or Philosophy of cure.
    llth.—Various methods of Treatment.
    12th.—Nostrums.
    13tk.—Reformed System of Treatment.
    14th.—Common Cold or Catarrh.
    lbth.—Importance of Perspiration.
    16th.—Is Consumption Contagious?
    17th.—Exercises and Sea Voyages.
    18th.—Climate.
    19th.—Diet.
    20th.—Prevention of the Disease.
    21st.—Illustrations.
    22d.—Bronchitis.

                    PULMONIC BALSAM.
  It will be seen by the foregoing treatise, that we recommend prin-
cipally our Pulmonic Balsam in the treatmentof Consumption. Those
who are labouring under the disease in any of its stages, and wish
to test its efficacy, are informed lhat the medicine is kept constantly
on hand at theMedico Botanic Institute, No. 196 Bowery, near Spring
St.   The medicine is accompanied with plain directions for use, and
can be obtained genuine at no other place in the City, and such  other
medicines as maybe given as auxiliaries to the Balsam,  may also be
be had at the above number only.
  This medicine will also be found efficacious in deep seated coughs,
pain in the breast, spitting  of blood, &c.
  Advice on Pulmonary affections will be given gratuitously at the
Office.  A. Upham M. D. who is in partnership with me, will  visit
patients at their residence when requested.  He is eminently qualified
and experienced, in both the Old and Reformed Systems  of Practice.
  This Treatise may be had free of expense to those labouring under
Pulmonary Diseases, at 196 Bowery, a few doors above spring St.
  N. B. Those to whom this Treatise is sent are respectfully request-
ed to forward it to any of their friends  or acquaintances  who may be
labouring under Pulmonary diseases. 
APPENDIX.
 'IN MEDICINE I WISH TO SEE A REFORM, AN ABANDONMENT OF HYPOTHESIS FOR SOBER FACTS.'
                                                       Jefftrson.

        Theory or Principles of American Practice.
   The Theory or Principles of the American Practice of Medicine,
 consists in the following positions.
   First,  That Mercury, Antimony, and other minerals, are deleteri-
 ous agents or poisons, directly or indirectly destructive to health and
 life, and are therefore always improper to be given in any disease.
   Second,  That Bleeding to relieve or cure disease, is incompatible
 with the laws of the animal ecomony, and is therefore positively in-
 jurious.
   Third,  In place of this treatment, we substitute Vegetable Medi-
 cines, which ample experience has demonstrated to be milder, safer,
 and more congenial with the human system.
  Fourth,  We maintain that the Physician can only be the servant,
 or hand-maid of nature, and all he can do is to aid her salutary efforts
 in eliminating or expellingdisease, through those outlets of the body,
 expressly established by the Author of our existence to continue life
 and health.
   These excretions of the  body are principally.
                       THE STOMACH,
                       THE BOWELS,
                       THE SKIN,
                       THE LUNGS, and
                      THE KIDNEYS.
   Hence, we find  that diseases usually terminate through the medium
 of some one or other of these organs.   They subside by vomiting, by
purging, by sweating, by the discharge of urine, and by the expec-
toration of pus or matter from the lungs.  The principles of the Amer-
ican Practice of Medicine are based on this foundation.  This prac-
tice will  equalize  the circulation, remove obstructions, produce a
healthy state of the different organs of the body, remove impurities
of the blood, ,and  thus re-establish lost and impaired health: and to
convince the most unprejudiced, a fair trial only is necessary.
  In order to carry out this principle in practice, we have  prepared
the following remedies by the use of which,  we hesitate not to say,
that those labouring under disease of anyjkind may experience speedy
relief, or be restored to perfect health.
                            —&&&—
          VALUASLI! FAMILY MEDICINES
 Prepared upon Scientific Principles from Vegetable Substances, and tested for upwards
       of Twenty Years in the extensive and highly successful practice of
                 W.  BEACH, 191.  D.
Member of the Medical  Society  of  the City and  County  of New
  York, Corresponding Member of the Royal College of Physicians
  and Surgeons, Berlin in Prussia, &c. &c. <fcc. ;  Author of " THE
  AMERICAN PRACTICE OF MEDICINE," a work recommend-
  ed by the most  distinguished Members of  the Faculty in Europe
  and America, and for which its  Author has been awarded several
  gold  medals from some of the Crowned Heads of Europe, at the
  instance of their Principal Physicians, whose high encomiums drew
  forth so unusual a distinction. 
23
              Curative, or Antibilous Family Physic.
  Among the numerous purgatives in use, it is acknowledged by all
persons who have tried BEACH'S CUKATIVE, that they have found
none so gentle, safe and efficacious, while it is peculiarly grateful to
the stomach.  It is a substitute for Mercury in every form, and far
superior to Calomel, Jalap, Castor Oil, Salts, Aloes, Gamboge, &c.
It is prepared so as to suit all conditions and ages, and being com-
posed entirely of vegetable substances, no danger need be apprehend-
ed from taking cold,  or from any other cause.   It is an easy, safe,
and pleasant cathartic, in  every case where one is required.
  Nearly all the common  purgatives in use pass through the stomach
and bowels, without stimulating them sufficiently to create a healthy
action, or from their drastic natures destroy the coats of the stomach,
and are consequently more or less injurious thin beneficial;  but this
Medicine not only cleanses the stomach and the' entire range of ali-
mentry, canal, (which may be estimated at thirty feet in length;)—it
not only cleanses them of all bilious or morbid matter, but likewise
changes their secretions ; while at the same time, it invigorates and
restores them to a healthy tone.  In its operations through the entire
intestinal regions, it diminishes the quantity of the circulating mass,
equalizes the circulation, and reestablishes a healthy state of the bil-
 iary organs, stomach, and intestines.
   BEACH'S CURATIVE will assuredly be found the safest and
 most certain remedy for removing all Complaints arising from excess
 or deficiency of bile.  In Dyspepsia*, Affections of the Liver, Incipient
 Apoplexy, Loss of Appetite, Fevers, and all disorders of the Stomach.
                    Restorative Wine  Bitters.
   The uncommon success which has attended the use of this valua-
 ble and pleasant remedy, in the extensive practice of Dr. Beach in
 the city of New-York, for many years, empowers him with confidence
 to assert, that it is superior to any other preparation  with which he
 is acquainted.  It is admirably calculated to restore tone to the mus-
 cular fibre, thereby imparting strength and energy to the whole sys-
 tem.  It will be found exceedingly valuable in all cases  of Debility,
 Pain in the Breast,  Loss of Appetite,  Incipient Consumption, and
 those inward Complaints peculiar to Females, such as Fluor Albus or
 Whites, Prolapsus Uteri, or Falling of the Womb. By giving tone to
 the digestive organs, they are peculiarly  useful in Dyspepsia or Indi-
 gestion, and  are thus beneficial in removing Acid Eruptions, or Sour
 Stomach, Flatulency, <fcc.  In short, they will be found a most valua-
 ble preparation in all cases where a strengthening remedy is required.
                        Pulmonic Balsam.
   FOR COUGHS, COLDS, CONSTRICTION OF THE LUNGS,
 CONSUMPTION,  SPITTING OF BLOOD, PAIN  IN  THE
 BREAST, &c.
   The peculiarly grateful and healing qualities of this BALSAM has
 been thoroughly tested in the private practice of the original pro-
 prietor for many  years, in the various diseases of the Lungs and
 Chest.  It promotes expectoration, allays the cough, gives tone and
 strength to the system.   It is the most safe and efficacious remedy in
 the treatment of all Pulmonary Affections and Coughs of long stand-
 ing, being well calculated to relieve that constricted state of the lungs
 which  is often met with in Phthisis Pulmonalis  (Consumption).  It
 does not increase the circulation, consequently it may be taken with
 safety and success in all stages of Consumption. 
24
  THE PULMONIC BALSAM has effected the most extraordinary
cures when all other means have failed.  Being prepared in a highly
concentrated state, and entirely from  Vegetables, it  maybe taken
without the least danger to the system.  It will retain its properties
for years in any climate.
                       Pile Electuary,
     A MOST VALUABLE REMEDY FOR THE PILES.
  Most of the remedies now in use for  that dangerous and painful af-
fection, Hemorrhoids or Piles,  are directed to .be used externally.
They partially assuage thepain, without removing the cause of com-
plaint.   Dr. Beach after much care and application, has perfected his
celebrated remedy, which is given internally to correct a faulty state
of the biliary or digestive organs, which is the cause of this distress-
ing complaint.  Beach's Pile Electuary is perfectly safe, pleasing to the
palate,  mild and easy in operation, and will afford immediate relief.
ALTERNATIVE SYRUP, For all Impurities of the  Blood.
RHEUMATIC LIQUID, For Rheumatism, Spinal Irritation, &c.
COUGH DROPS, For Colds, attended with Cough and Soreness of
     the Lungs.
NEUTRALIZING MIXTURE, For Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Cholera
    Morbus, and  Summer Complaints of Children.
EXPECTORANT TINCTURE, For Asthma,  Whooping Cough,
    Croup, Fits, &c.
FEMALE PILLS, For Complaints peculiar to Females.
ANTI-DYSPEPTIC PILLS, For Dyspepsia,  Sour Stomach, Heart-
    burn, Dizziness, &.c
STRENGTHENING PLASTER, For Pain in the Side, Breast, or
    Back,  Weak  Stomach, &c.
BLACK OR HEALING SALVE,  For Ulcers,  Burns, Cuts, Sore
    Nipples, &c.
HEPATIC PILLS, For Liver  Complaints.
DIURETIC DROPS, For Gravel, and all Affections of the Kidneys
     or Bladder.
WOKM  POWDERS, COMPOUND BITTERS, ANTI-BILIOUS
PILLS, VEGETABLE  EMETIC, EYE WATER, RHEUMATIC
PILLS, FEVER  AND AGUE  POWDERS, &c. &c.
  The Senior Proprietor of these Medicines has tested their efficacy
for upwards of twenty years in his highly successful and extensive
practice in  the City of New-York, and therefore  confidently recom-
mends them to public notice, being fully assured that they excel in
every  safe and healing property any other Medicine now in use, and
he hereby authorizes all the Agents to refund the money, in every
instance, when they do not prove beneficial.
   In all our Southern States  and  climates where Billions Diseases
are prevalent, these Medicines will be found of inestimable value.
   These Medicines, prepared on scientific priciples, are the result of
long and successful experience ; and thus far  premising, the Pro-
prietors are determined  they shall rise or fall on their own merits—■
not on the extraneous use of voluminous advertising.
   Prepared and sold wholesale and retail by BEACH and UPHAM,
 at,the  Medica-Botanic Institute, 196 Bowery, New-York.
   N. B.  The above medicines can be obtained  genuine only on ap-
 plication at the Office of the Original  Proprietor.