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Surgeon General's Office


 
 
EN5RAVEH B/ SAP.TMN
es
<o   'J J~~)^-xJ
■■>   ,J
7 
SIX  LECTURES
FUNCTIONS  OF  THE LUNGS;
            AND CAUSES. PREVENTION, AND CURE OF
       PULMONARY CONSUMPTION, ASTHMA,
r          Diseases of the Heart;

ON  THE  LAWS  OF  LIFE;
                 AND ON THE

   ■OBE OF PRESERVING MALE AND FEMALE HEALTH
             TO A HUNDRED TEARS.
WITH 30 ILLUSTRATIONS.
BY SAMUEL SHELDON JJLTCH, A.M.,M.D.,
THIRTIETH EPITIPW.   •^{^'
\
y°7pz>
I'- \
 KI may yet walk, as it appears to me, the rosy paths of life; and. the enerijw and tctioi
Skit were once in these limbs, may agiin be mine.  If so, I ;'.iall irive 'bohor to ^noo
konor is due;' and if, contrary to this, the earth should soon close over me, tysho last nio
ment of my life should I b<> satisfied tlat this is the way, and the only tru.< «ray, to cur*
Oorwumption."—Extract from ITenry Peck's letter to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
            NEW YOKE:
S.  S.  FITCH, M. D., 714  BROADWAY.
                1870 
          filtered ftooevitng to Act of Congress, In the yew 19»,
                     Bt  SAMUEL B. FITCH,
to •» Otek't Otftee of the District Oonrt of the United SUies Ibr Ike EooUtOT
                       Dietrlet of New York. 
INTRODUCTION.
  The Author, besides lecturing in England, has had an opportuni-
ty of addressing about fifty thousand persons in the United States,
and thus of personally presenting and enforcing his views by direct
examples and prompt practical results and demonstrations.  In 1827,
whilst a student of Medicine in Philadelphia, he discovered the grand
uses of the Lungs, and thereby laid  the foundation of a scientific, ra-
tional, and certain method of  elucidating and treating their diseases.
For twenty years, with some interruptions, diseases of the Chest hare
been his study.  To notice the effects of climate as a curative or pre-
ventive  agent, he has visited  twenty-three  States of the American
Union ; also, England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, France,
Italy, the northern shores  of  the Mediterranean, Switzerland, Sar-
denia, and  Savoy;  several watering-places of Germany, Prussia, the
West India Islands, the Canadas, &c, <kc.—seeking everywhere for
knowledge and light on the diseases of the Lungs,  making himself
evervwhere as fully acquainted as possible with the peculiarities of
each locality, both in the nature and prevalence of Consumption, and
the peculiar methods adopted  for its prevention and cure by the
highest professors and teachers of Europe and this country; as  also
by the untutored savages of this continent, who are well known to
lre»t rcany diseases, and especially  those  of the Lungs, with great 
|y                       INTRODUCTION.
Ruccess.  To facilitate his researches, he has lectured at many differ-
ent points on the borders of the Ocean, on the shores of the Great
Lakes, in many of the great Valleys, and on the Highlands of this
country, as well north as  south; everywhere collecting most  valua-
able and interesting materials for a very extensive work upon the dis-
eases of the Chest and Lungs.   He hopes ere long to finish his re-
searches, and then complete  his great  work upon diseases of the
Lungs, which he flattens himself will become for Physicians a guide
to a successful treatment of Pulmonary diseases.  These Lectures
are intended as  a Director to all classes in the prevention and cure
of Consumption.  Those who follow the directions will not, he thinks,
be disappointed, but will each day realize their  truth  by the  most
gratifying personal benefits.
   The writer's experience is  derived  from an observation of more
than twenty-five thousand eases within the  last eight years, besides
all his previous  practice.
   To render the Lectures effective  upon the reader, it is necessary
that perfect confidence should be placed in the statements and con-
clusions.   Great truths are  taught, which, if fully understood, im-
plicitly believed, and judiciously followed, would lead to an almost
total annihilation of Pulmonary Consumption.
   To obtain a share of this confidence, a few letters  are subjoined
from men of undoubted respectability and integrity; some of whom
have known the writer for many years, even from childhood ; oth-
ers, who have had a  thorough opportunity of noticing his pi actjc*
and its gratifying results.




                                 is 70
                       (•Id i  i-v   U'-'U  • 
CONTENTS
 Titk.......  ..................................................p.  i
 Introduction......................................................  Hi
 .Letter from Di. Luther Brigham to Amos Binney, Esq............. ..xiii
   "  from Dr. Benj. H. West to Dr. Gardner......................ib.
   "  from R. R. Hinman, Esq., late Secretary of State of Connecticut,
         to Professor Kingsley,  of Yale College...................ib,
   "  from R. G. Belt, M. D., to the Hon. Upton  S. Heath, U. S. District
         Judge, Baltimore, Md.....................................xiv
   "  from J. Hubbard Graves,  M. D., to  Dr. Wm. D. Buck, of Con-
         cord,  N. H.............................................. ib,
   "  from E. Halley M'Coy, Esq.,. to Dr. S. S. Fitch................XT
   11  from John W. Collins, M. D., to Wm. Haslam, Esq............ il.
 riuestions for Invalids, writing for advice...........................xvi



                         LECTURE  FIRST.
 (Tses of the lungs, and causes of consumption.......»..............p. 19
 four great chambers in the human frame............................29
 Skull.............................................................ib.
 Chest................................: ...........................23
 L,eu lung smaller than the right.....................................25
 impossible to contract consumption when the air passes in and  out of
  each air-cell.....................................................ib,
 Consamption is caused by general or partial closing of the air-cells.....ib.
 Consumption a most curable disease.................................£b.
 Grand uses of the lungs.............................................96
 Uses illustrated...................................................39
 Pure air  food of the lungs...........................................33
 No books teach the true uses of the lungs.............................34
JWnerican Indians in native state do not hare consumption.............36
Consamption a child of civilization..................................ib
Causes of consumption.............................................37
Mechanical causes................................................. 38
FillJig of the bowels..............................................40 
n
CONTENTS.
Effeminacy and debility cause consumption.........................J U
Hope antagonises the spread of consumption..........................45
Typhus fever—fever sores, scrofula, A.c..............................4G
Inhaling dust, metals, &c.............................*.............f&
Irregularities in diet—dyspepsia.....................................ib
Liver complaint—chronic diarrhoea—costiveneis.....r,................ib.
Diseases of the throat...............................................49
Too much clothing to be avoided....................................50
Influence of climate on consumption.................................53
Catarrh—influenza................................................56
Hereditary consumption............................<.............* 57
Spinal diseases................................................... -.58
Pain in  theside, kidney affections....................................ib.
Gravel............................................................59
Injurious medicines—mercury, opium, emetics, blisters, and emetic tar-
  tar sores.... ••«..............................•.....•...........69-1
                       LECTURE SECOND

Prevention and cure of consumption..........................«».... 6B
Diseases that cure consumption......................................ib.
Diseases of the heart...............................................ib.
Asthma cures consumption...................»......................66
Swelled tonsils prevent consumption.................................69
Common cold cures consumption....................................71
Hysteria..........................................................73
Prevention of hereditary consumption................................73
Plain bringing up of children.......................................75
Effects of cheerfulness and exercise to prevent consumption............78
Dancing..........................................................80
Beds, and  lying in beds.............................................81
Climate <mu light prevent.consumption.............................81-2
Sea voyages, diet, regular sleep, employments........................84
Never  neglect a cold...............................................85
Cold bathing, inhaling tube, braces, supporter........................86
Cure of pulmonary consumption.....................................88
Inhaling tube, how it acts.........................................90-1
Inhaling tube alone will  not cure consumption........................94
How we know one has consumption.................................ib.
Treatment to cure consumption......................................96
Bleeding, rarely advised............................................97
Counter-iiritation, often injurious.................................. 9fl 
                             CONTENTS.                         VU

Diet..............................'...........................p. 99
Air, and changes of air............................................100
Effects of journeys..................................~.............101
Sea voyages......................................................102
Warm climate....................................................109
Respirators—bad effects, when may be used..........................ib.
Under what condition of the lungs may we hope for a cure of consu reption. ib.
First and second groups of curables..................................104
Third group curable...............................................105
Fourth group..................................................... ib.
Fifth group.......................................................106
Asthma, causes and cure...........................................109
Heart diseases, causes and cure....................................110
Mineral, iron and sulphur waters................................115-16
Red Sulphur Springs in Virginia................................... ib.
Hot mineral waters...............................................11-7
Throat affections..................................................ib.
Cure of tnroat diseases, &c.........................................118
Consumption in children...........................................129
Hooping cough, measles, &c........................................ib.



                       LECTURE THIRD.
Truth, but one offspring............................................124
Asthma, Case I. Thomas Fengar....................................137
Spasmodic asthma, Casf II. Miss Little..............................138
    Case III. Mrs. Fernald.........................................139
    Case IV. John H.  McGiflin...................................140
Consumption—
    Case   I. Miss Hawley........................................141
      "    II. Mrs. H.  Gardner.....................................143
      "  III. Rev. L.  D.Barrow..................................145
      "  IV. Mrs. Hurluurt.......................................147
      "   V. Master Geo. W. Roberts.............................148
      "  VI. Mr. Thaddeus Barnes................................150
      "  VII. MissAngell.........................................151
      " VIII. Miss Nickerson.....................................159
      "  IX. Rev. Jchn Morris Pease..............................154
      "   X. Miss Redmond.......................................155
      "  XI. GrovnerNoyes.....................................156
      '  XII. Mr. Moses Ely......................................157
      "XIII. Mrs. Dorcas T. Moore.................. ...........15" 
                            CONTENTS.

    Case   XIV.  Rev. RodolphusBard.....  ................. ...p.161
      "     XV.  Mrs. Sarah Louisa Burrett........................163
      "    XVI.  Mrs. T. T. Dean.................................164
      "   XVII.  Rev. R. Whitwell................................iD.
      *"  XVIII.  Mrs. Chas. M. Brockway.........................ib.
      1     XIX.  Rev. W. H. Tiffany..............................165
      "     XX.  Mr. William Wigram...........................166
      "    XXI.  O.Thayer, Esq..................................167
      "   XXII.  Ann D. Birdsall..,........".......................171
      «■  XXIII.  Mr. StephenB. Dodge...........................179
      "  XXIV.  Mss. C. B. Collins............................... ib.
      "   XXV.  Miss Elizabeth B. Lum...........................173
      "  XXVI.  C. D. Petrie, Esq.................................175
      " XXVII.  Mrs. M. H. Valentine............................176
      " XXVIII.  CM.  Murray....................................178
      "  XXIX.  James M. Evarts.................................179
      "   XXX.  Mary Ann Brooks................................ ib.
      "  XXXI.  Rev. William L'vesey..........................180
      " XXXII.  Miss C. A. B................................  ...183
      " XXXIII.  Catherine Ann SKatth.............................186
Conclusion.............................»s«. ««.....»..«*. .. v ....188



              LECTURE FOURTH- *o ladik ,o»m
 r stances of longevity..........«d(.................................190
Female life should average 100 yeats, instead of 30...................19*1
, nfluence of female beauty on man..................................192
Health and beauty intimately connected.............................193
Symmetry of person, the foundation of all health and beauty...........195
Shoulder supporters...............................................198
To form a fine beautiful chest.....................................201
Habitual stooping to be avoided....................................204
Sitting posture....................................................205
Position of the chest in walking ,...............lo...................207
     "      "     inbed.........................................208
Standing on one foot..............................................209
Tight lacing......................................................ib.
Flow to form a clear and beautiful complexion.......................210
The teeth.........................................................ib.
Digestion........................................................211
Dyspepsia.............'...........................................213
Articles of diet that injure the complexion..........................21$ 
                              CONTENTS.                           ix

Gall-stones in the gall-Madder......................, ..........  .p.2H
Bad breath ......................................................218
Costiveness, its effects, how to correct............................218-19
Kidney evacuations................................................220
Periods suppressed—painful—termination of.......................221-9
Evacuations from the  lungs........................................223
The skin.........................................................ib
Clothing, its effects, &c.—rules for..................................225
Effects ot washing all  over with cold water..........................227
To keep the feet in perfect health...................................230
Air and exercise..................................................231
Grand arts of the toilet among the princely and noble families of Europe.23*



                 LECTURE  FIFTH—to ladies ON-.r.  .
Basket of the hips.................................................240
Symmetry  of the internal organs of the bdy.........................242
Falling of the bowels—          i
    Effects on the lungs............................................244
    Effects on the voice...........................................246
    Effects on the heart, palpitation of...............................ib.
    Fainting fits.................................................247
    Sinking, all gone at the stomach................................ib.
    Chronic diarrhoea—costiveness................................248
    Liver complaint...............................................ib.
    Pain in side, and  breast, back, and spine........................249
    Gravel.......................................................250
    Piles.........................................................253
    Pains  in the limbs.....-......................................254
    Swelling of the limbs and  veins...............................254-5
    Inc Dntinence of urine..........................................255
    Stone in the bladder...........................................256
    Wor jw>.....................................................257
Farllinj>; of the-womb...............................................ib
    Effects of di«'ocation of the womb.........................858 9-60-1
    Fluor albus.................................................261
    Uarn-nness...................................................  ib
    Miscarriages.................................................262
    rioodings...................................................263
Aodonu'nal supporters.......-...................................264
What a supporter should do........................................26G
When alxbaiinal support should be used............................268 
I
CONTENTS.
Symmetry of mind essential to health............................p. 269
Case of*Mrs. Kingsley.............................................369
       Mrs. Howland............................................271
       Mrs. Mary F. Gardiner....................................279
       Miss Beedom..................•...........................273
Letter from Mrs. Gibbs............................................274
    From Mr. Fayerweather. .....................................ib.
    From Mrs. Jenney and Mrv French............................*75
    From Mrs. Taber.......................................•  -•• iV
    From Mrs. Smith.....................................  - ....%%
    From Miss Mary Nutter.......................................
    From Miss Waldron..............................•...........27*
    From Mrs. Vanness.....................*.....................278
    From Helen M. Lay..........................................279
    From Harriet Clpaver......................................... ib.
    From W. V. S. Wordworth....................'................280
              LECTURE SIXTUI—to gentlemen omlt.
Cases of long-lived men...........................................387
Brand division* of the human frame..................•.............389
Manner of forming a fine chest...........,........................290
Proper carriage and position of the chest...........................293
Bad effects of vicious position of the chest..........................295
Position of the shoulders..........................................296
Remedy for round shoulders......................................,,. 298
Shoulder-braces..............................<....................ib.
How shoulder-braces should be made, and by whom worn............300
Man is intended to stand perfectly straight.......................... 303
Fine figures of savages...........................................  jDi
Premature old age................................................303
Position in bed................................................... 304
Self-reparation of the body.........................................305
The stomach.........................................^,.........30g
Progress of food after leaving the stomach...........................308
Small and large bowels..........................................!W58-9
Costiveness.......................................................309
Bad effects of costiveness......................................     310
Depression  of spirits...........................................   3ig
Jaundice.—Piles................................................ jb
A bad breath...............................................       3U
Bea-sickuess...........................                           ;v 
                             CONTENTS.                           n

Manner of curing ctstiveness....................................p. 314
Office of the kidneys and bladder....................................316
Skin and its offices................................................318
Bathing..........................................................319
Sponge bath, sea water............................................321
Effects of water upon weak eyes....................................323
    Upon sore throat..............................................ib.
    Upon weak and painful spine..................................324
Bad effects of artificial irritation over the spine......................325
Rheumatism......................................................327
Water cure.......................................................ib.
Treatment of the feet..............................................328
Dht, not change too suddenly.......................................329
Exercise.........................................................332
Animal  gratifications..............................................333
Symmetry of the internal organs of the body.........................  ib.
Effect of a rupture.................................................334
    Of weakness of the abdominal belts.............................335
    Of bleeding at the lungs.......................................337
Loss of voice, wheezing, palpitation...............................337-8
Breaking of the liver, and of the bowels..........................339-40
Piles.............................................................341
Gravel...........................................................345
Pain in the back, limbs, &c.........................................ib
Swelling of the limbs and veins.............................-.....344
Abdominal supporter...............................................ib.
Sleep, and beds...................................................345
Frame destroyed by seeking to do too much at a time.................347
The effect of vice upon longevity...................................*4i
advertisements (before title-page.)
/onsultation.


The public cautioned against imponera,
Nonces of the Press. 
f|j                          CONTENTS.




                TABLE OF  ILLUSTRATIONa
A—Three views of the human sketeton............................f • 21
B—View of the skeleton of the trunk of the body....................28
C—View of the windpipe, lungs, heart, midriff, stomacK, iiver,  gall
  bladder,  large bowels, small bowels..............................23
D—View of the windpipe, lungs, air-pipes, and air-cells  heart, and
  midriff........................................................•**
E-—View of windpipe, gullet, and natural belts that form thi walls of the
  abdomen.......................................................26
F—Consumptive and non-consumptive figures................-......37
G— Inhaling tube.................................................. 90
H—Asthmatic chest.............................................. 67
I—Consumptive chest............................................. ib.
Flora Thompson, at 150 years......................................191
K—Stooping female figure.........................................205
L—Front view of  the abdominal supporter..........................264
M- -Back view of        do.       dc...........................ib.
N—View of the figure and inside of the stomach.....................212
O—Side view of the midriff, stomach, large and small bowels, bladder,
  and womb......................................................243
P—Same parts fallen down........................................ ib.
U.—View of the liver and gall bladder..............................216
R—Falling bowels...............................................336
S—View of the midriff, kidneys, ureters or water-pipes, large  bowel,
   bladder, and womb..............................................251
Figure of Henry Francisco, at 134 years...........................288
T—Injurious position of the chest..................................294
U—Posterior view of the brain, spinal marrow, and large nerves  t? at go
  between the ribs and so to the  arms and lower limbs................323
V—Heart and blood-vessels.......................................343
*??.ad of Henrw Jenkins......................................... 'i&} 
Lfi  TTERS,  ETC
        >Vou D».  \jitier BK\k «"*(* u> -£ft«u Binney, Esq., of Boston,
                                             Lowell, January 4, 1844.
SMOS Binwgy, E&«:
  Respected Sir,—Allow me to introauce to your friendly notice, Dr. S. S,
Fitch, of Philadelphia.  I  have known Dr. Fitch from his childhood.  Ilia
grandfather. Dr. Ebenezer  Fitch, of Connecticut, and his father, Dr. Chauncy
Fitch, were celebrated Physicians.  Dr.  Ebenezer  Fitch, so long President
of Williams College, was  his uncle.
  Dr. S. S. Fitch, the bearer of this, is justly celebrated for his researches
upon the uses of the Lungs, and the nature and treatment of Pulmonary Con-
sumption.  I think his opinion and advice on those subjects of great value.
Hi3  patients in this place  speak  of him  in the highest terms.   Any favon
you  can render Dr. Fitch will be highly appreciated by his numerous friends,
and bv none more highly than by  your old friend and humble servant,
                                                   Luther Bhigham.
Extract of a letter from Dr. Benj. West, M. D., to Dr. Gardner, of Providenc*,
                             Rhode Island.
                                            Nantucket, May 18, 1845.
  My dear Friend :  Permit me the pleasure to introduce to you Dr. S. S.
r'itch, of Philadelphia, a gentleman who has been  lecturing here on Con-
sumption ;  one who is acquainted to a surprising extent with the subject in
its most  important bearings; and  who, by his disinterested  actions,  has
shown himself entitled to the  respect and confidence of all with  whom ha
may be brought into contact.
  I bespeak for the Dr. your hospitalities and friendship.
                               Your Friend,         Benj. H.  West.
Copy of a letter from R. R. Hinvian, Esq., late Secretary of State of the SUtto
            of Connecticut, to Professor Kingsly, of Yale College.
                                         Hartford, October 17th, 1844.
PROFESSOR KlNOSLY :
  My dear Sir,—As Doct. Samuel S. Fitch, of Philadelphia, is about to visH 
*i>
LETTERS,  ETC.
New Haven, upon the duties of his profession, I take the liberty of saying
that I have had a personal acquaintance with him more than twenty yean j
that he sustains an estimable moral character, that he is not only a regularly
educated physician, but that he has been eminently successful in that branck
of his profession which he has particularly pursued for  many  years past
His tra vels in Europe at different periods of his life,  and particularly hii
.esidence  in London, has afforded  him a fine opportunity to examine
the many cases of consumption with which he has met in all climates anc
in every quarter of the globe.  You can rely upon him as a gentleman of
strict honor, skilful in his profession, and every way worthy of the patronagk
of the public.                           Yours,         R. R. Hinman.
Copy of a letter to the Hon. Upton S. Heath, Esq., United States District Judgt
          in Baltimore, Maryland, from Richard G. Belt, M.  D.
                                     Fall River, Mass., Aug. 2, 1845.
  Dear Sir,—Allow me to introduce my friend Dr. Fitch, of Philadelphia,
to your acquaintance.  The Doctor has spent several  weeks in this place,
and delivered a most interesting course of lectures, which I had the pleasure
of hearing, upon the origin  and cure of Consumption,  and all the diseases
of the  chest.  The  Doctor  has effected many extraordinary cures in this
section of the country, and in the city of Boston, of Consumption, after all
other means had totally failed; of which he can produce the most satisfactory
testimony.  The Dr. has been laboring  for eighteen years upon  this most
fatal disease; about five years of which were  spent in Europe visiting the
largest and most prominent  Medical Institutions.  I take pleasure in recom-
mending the Doctor to any of my Baltimore friends, and believe he may be
the instrument of restoring many to health who are now without hope.  An*
attentions to hint will be gracefully acknowledged by
                               Yours truly,        Richard G. Belt.
Copy of a letter from J. Hubbard Graves, M. D., to Dr. Wm. D. Buck, M. D.t
                      of Concord, New Hampshire.
                                      Nashville, N. H., Oct. 20, 1843.
  My dear Sir,—Allow me the pleasure of introducing to you my friena
Dr. Fitch, of Philadelphia,  who has recenMy delivered some lectures ol
Consumption, its causes  and cure, in this place.  On my announcing this
subject, the idea of quackery may possibly strike you, but there you will be
most agreeably disappointed.  Dr.  Fitch regularly studied  his profession,
both in this country and in Europe ;  and you will find him a man of strictly
philosophical mind, who has thoroughly examined the theory which he
advances.  His ideas are not crude and  confused, as those of r;uack lector- 
LETTERS,  ETC.                          XV
«s invariably are.  You will find  that they are clearly arranged,  an: that
all his conclusions have been logically deduced.  In fact, from what I have
seen of Dr.  Fitch, I am satisfied you will deem his acquaintance in ths
highest sense agreeable.
            I am. dear sir, yours with much esteem,
                                               J. Hubbard Graves.
       Copy of a letter from E. H. MCoy, M. D., to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                    Harrisville, Harrison County, Ohio, July 1st. 1850.
Dr. S. S. Fitch:
  Dear Sir,—I received your favor of  June the 12th, and repaireo.  to th«
city of Wheeling, to your Agent, Mr.  Mellon, from whom I obtained your
Six Lectures  on the Lungs, breathing tube, &c.  I found your Lectures of
such absorbing interest that I did not leave my office until I had "devoured"
the Book. I  have reperused  it several times with increased interest.  In-
deed, I have learned more from this small volume on those subjects, than ftorn, all
my twenty years reading besides.  I regard  your book as shedding a flood of
Dew light on  this department of inquiry.
  I have been much interested with what  you call the mechanical treatment
of chest diseases.  Your medical treatment  I wish very much to learn.   Y ou
refer in your  Lectures to a work you were preparing for the use of the pro-
fession, that work I want immediately.  I  could not hear of it in Wheeling.
If it is out I wish you to inform me, and where  I can get it.  If its weight
does not exceed three pounds, I would be muchobHged if you would forward
me a copy by mail, and I would remit the money immediately.  If you can-
not send it by mail, please forward me  one to your Agent, Mr. Mellon, of
Wheeling. Please let me hear from you again,  in  connection with this
deeply interesting subject, and accept assurances of high esteem, &c,  Ac.
                                                 E. Halley M'CeT.
     Copy of a letter from John W. Collins, M. D., to Wm. Haslam, Esq.
                                  Hopkinton, R. I., January 23, 1851.
Wm. Haslam, Esa:
  Dear Sir,—I have been personally acquainted for some years with Dr. S
S. Fitch, author of Six Lectures on the Uses of the Lungs, &c.  I have hai1!
a fair opportunity of witnessing the results of Dr.  Fitch's practice  in Pul.
moBary and other diseases, and must say, I have great confidence in th*
Doctor as a very useful physician, and honest man.
                                           John W. Collins, M. D.
  [Doctor Collins is a very experienced, respectable, regular practitioner of
medicine.] 
                 QUESTIONS  FOR INVALIDS.
  [<gfL Ab I have had the happiness of relieving Tery many consumptive nnd olhst
invalids whom  1 have never seen, I subjoin a number of questions of which the in
valid, wishing to consult mo by letter, will please answer such as may concern him
adding any further remarks that may be necessary to a clear description of his ca/<e
I can then give my advice almost as successfully as though the patient we^s hfra-
lelf present; still, if convenient, it is better that I should see him.
  «3~ Persons writing mo, and wishing a reply, must enclose postage stamp, to pay re-
turn postage.
                             TO  INVALID LADIES.
         What is  your name,  age, occupation, residence, so a letter may reach
      you?   Where born  and brought  up?   Delicate  or  good constitution 1
      Height ?  Slender or broad figure ?   Fleshy  or lean ?   Erect or stooping 1
      Chest full and straight, or contracted, flat, and stooping ?   What is your
      measure around the waist, just above the hips'?  What  is the color of your
      hair, eyes, and complexion ?  To what diseases are your family subject 1
      Any died of asthma, scrofula, heart disease, dropsy, cancer, or consumption 1
      Are you subject to asthma or  short breathing ?—any humor, salt rheum, o»
      skin diseases ?—any head-ache, or pain in  the chest, neck, spine, shoulders-
      back, stomach, bowels, sides,  or limbs?—any sore  throat, swelled tonsils.
      heat or dryness in the throat, weak voice, loss of voice, hoarseness, catarrh
      in head, aose, or throat 1  Any cough ?—how long had it ?  Do  you cough
      up any thing?—how much?—what  kind, &c. ?  When cough most?—and
      when raise most I  Ever raise blood ?—how many times ?—how much 1   On
      which side lay best, if either ?  On full breathing, do your ribs rise equally
      all over your chest, or do the ribs rise better on one  side or  part than ano-
      ther ?   Have you daily chills, or fever, or night-sweats ?  Are you confined
      \o your bed, or room, or the house, or do you go outdaily ?  Any palpitation,
      or distress at the heart, or stoppage  of circulation ?  Are you nervous,  or
      paralytic, or have fits ?  Any  bad dreams, and their ejects ?  Any dyspepsia,
\      sour stomach, or distress, or pressure at  the  stomach-3  After eating, does
      food rise ? „ Ever sick stomach to vomit ?   Ever any sinking, exhausted, all-
i      gone feeling at top of chest, pit  of stomach,  or sides, or bowels, or  across
      you ?   Appetite good, bad,  or capricious ?  Bcwels regular, costive, or di-
j.     arrhoea?  Any external, or bleeding,  or blind piles, or fistula, weak back,
      heat in your back, or any part,  hot flashes?  Have a  rupture?  Suspect
      having worms ?   What kind  ?   Any gravel  or kidney complaints ?  Water
,     stoppage, or free, or too much, scanty  or scalding, or  settlings ?  Cold or
;      burning feet?  Bloating  anywhere ?  Much wind  in stomach or bowels <
;      Rheumatism or neuralgia?  Any deformity?  Ever an} wounds?  Long
      favers ?  Took much medicine, or mercury ?  Fever sores 1  Bilious hab-
,  *   itually?  Married or single, or widow?   Had any children?  Suffered
•      miscarriages, or floodings?  Ever rise from bed feeling  quite smart, but,  on
,      exercising, soon obliged to sit or lay lown, all exhausted, o: head-ache, antl 
llscouraflwll  Natural periods easy, painful, regular, or irregular, or stoj*
pedl  If so, how long, and why ?  In the family-way 1  Any bearing-down.
or female complaints 1  What have you done for these complaints ?  Can
jrou read aloud, or talk long, or walk well, or do light work, without unusual
fatigue ?  Are you in  indigent or easy circumstances 1  Have you  good
fcethl Do you work hard, go out much, or the reverse!

                    TO INVALID GENTLEMEN.
  What is your name, age, occupation, or profession 1  Residence, so a lettel
may reach  you 1  Where born and brought up ?  Delicate or good consti-
tution ?  Height 1 Slender or broad figure ?  Fleshy or lean 1 Person erec*
or stooping 1  Chest full and straight, or stooping and contracted ?   Consti-
tution delicate or robust 1  What  is your measure around the waist, just
above the hips 1   What is the color of your hair, whiskers, eyes, and com-
plexion 1  To what diseases are your family subject ?   Any died of asthma,
scrofula, heart disease, or consumption?  Are you subject to  asthma or
short breathing 1—any  humor, scrofu!a, salt rheum,  or skin diseases 1—any
head-ache,  or pain in the chest, neck, spine, shoulders, back, stomach, bow-
els, sides, or limbs 1—any sore throat, swelled tbnsils, heat or dryness in the
throat, weak voice, loss of voice, hoaiseness, catarrh in head, nose, or throat.
Any cough 1—how long had it ?  Dc you cough up anything ?—how much 1
—what kind,  &c. ?  When cough most 1—and when raise  most 1  Ever
raise blood 1—how many times ?—how much 7  On which side lay best, if
either 1 On full breathing, do your ribs rise equally all over your chest, or
tto the ribs  rise better on one side or  part than another ?  Have you daily
chills, or fever, or night-sweats, short breathing, or asthma K  Are you con-
fined to your bed, or room, or the house, or Aa you go out daily ?  Any pal-
pitation, or distress at the heart, or stoppage oi* circulation ?  Are you ner-
vous, or paralytic, or have fits 1  Any  bad dreams, and their effects ?  Any
dyspepsia, sour stomach, or distress, or pressure At the stomach, after eating,
or ever sick stomach to vomit, or food rise after eating?  Ever any sinking
exhausted,  all-gone feeling at top of chest, or pit o*'«om*tch, or in the stom-
ach, or sides, or bowels, or across the bowels t   Apr^ite £ood, bad, or capri
eious 1  Bowels regular, costive, or diarrhoea ?  Any external, or bleeding
or blind piles ?  Weak back?  Have a rupture 1  Surpect having worms  I
What kind ?  Any gravel or kidney complaints ?  ' Water stoppage, or frea
settlings, scanty or scalding, or too much ?   Any heat in %"pjr back or an*
part ?  Cold or burning feet ?  Bloating anywhere ?  Much wind in stom-
a;h or bowels 1   Pains in your limbs ?  Rheumatism  or neuvyria ?  Any
deformity ?   Ever any wounds ?  Long fevers ? Took  much wenicine or
mercury 7  Fever sores?  Bilious?  Clear  complexion?  What rtone fo*
these complaints ?  How long?  Are you married or single 1   Canyon read
aicud, or talk long, or walk actively, or do your work,  without unusual \a-
tsgue  ?  In  indigent or easy circumstances ?  Do you work  hard, or tek*
active exercise, or the reverse 7  Dropsy or cancer 1  Have you good teetr  I 
 
DISCOURSES.
              DISCOURSE   FIRST.

     ON THE USES OF THE LUNGS AND  CAUSES  OF
                       CONSUMPTION.

     We live in an age remarkable for its vast discoveries, for id
  wonderful developements in knowledge;  deyelopements which are
  giving us great control over the material world, annihilating time
  aud  space.   At one moment, discoveries obtrude upon our notice
  in a  gentle light; at another, they burst forth with  the  most
  brilliant meteoric glare, dazzling us with their splendor and awaken-
  ing profound and wondrous  anticipations of the future.   Even
  now, so much more can we achieve than we could have done fifty
  years ago, that life seems almost to have doubled its value  in that
— period.
  [.  Three  hundred years ago, could a person have  been thrown to
  bloepj and have continued in that state  fifty  years, on awakening
  and returning to the schools, he would have found  the same books,
  the same mode of teaching, the same elements of thought, perhaps
  without a single change.  Now, let a person remain in seclusion for
  no more than five years; on returning, he  would  notice many
  chajiges in the arts, and in all the  active developements  of human
  knowledge.
     As an example : about fifteen years ago a celebrated oculist wag
  accused of having said that, by cutting a  few fibres of the  muscles
  of the eye, cross-eyes, or strabismus, might be cured,  lie, in the
   puhlic papers, declared this to be a libel; that he had never made 
 90           ON THE USES OF THE LUNGS, AND

 such an assertion ;  considering it the height of absurdity.  \\ itliin
 a few years after, this operation  was  adopted all over the civilkod
 world.
   Perhaps very few persons are aware, or  suspect, whither all these
 improvements  tend,  or  what is  to  be the  final result.  I answer,
 they are all building up  a science that now  has not even a name.
 It is now like an open square in the centre of a great  city, to which
 all the ways tend, but itself is only open space.   This science is the
 science of Longevity—the science  that  tends to  prolong  human
 life, and  make all  reach  the limits  of its utmost duration.   It  is
 even now  known that the duration  of human life among civilized
 nations, is in the exact ratio of their increase in knowledge.   In
 those countries  where knowledge is  on the increase., in that  ratio
 does the  duration  of life increase  among  that people.   For ex-
 ample:   In  I'TGO, the deaths in London- were one  in twenty-one
 of the inhabitants; in  1820,  the deaths  were one in forty-one;
 and  is  1850, one  in forty-five;  life  having  nearly doubled its  du-
ration in eighty years.   At that same period, the deaths in Paris were
 one  in seventeen;  now they  are  one  in  thirty-two.   In  New-
 York, the deaths vary from  one in  eighteen  to one in thirty-two
 annually.   This knowledge must increase among the people, as at
 this  time, in venerable Rome, the deaths are  one in twenty-five;
 and in the polite city of Vienna, the deaths are one in twenty-two.
 The physicians of Rome and  Vienna are fully as  good  authority in
medicine as those of London or Paris; but the mass  of their popu-
lation are remarkable  for gross ignorance.  Knowledge  to each in-
 dividual is almost  a  palladium to his existence.   You all know to
what great reputation some  physicians will attain  in large  cities.
This is owing  in part  to the  high  intelligence of  their  patients,
whose sagacity and knowledge give almost  double  efficacy to medi-
cal  remedies.
  Correct knowledge  to each individual in society, on the subject of
 health, is what is required.  It is this which  is my apology for pre-
 paring this work, and  presenting  it in  plain English, ihat all  may
 read it and have health.
   Many diseases were once  deemed  incurable, which the prcqrresi 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION                31
     PLATE A.— Views of lite Human Skeleton.
1. Side View.          2. Front View.          3. Back View
*—4, the Collar Bones.    1—1, the Shoulder Blade*.
jf knowledge has taught us are  not so, but are now readily cured,
As 4t,r example: the small pox,  once sweeping away tribes and
nations, as with  our North American Indians.  Dropsies, inflam-
mations, <kc, were usually fatal.
  My own belief  is, that there are no diseases for which successful
remedies do not exist; but, owing to our ignorance, their prompt
and timely application is not made,  and thus the lives of million*
are needlessly lost.   Oftentimes perfect remedies become of no avail,
from the ignorance or scepticism of the patient, or his friends.
  A little correct knowledge in  the mind of each individual will
work wonders in preserving his health and multiplying his days.
  Before I proceed further, allow me  to  call your attentipn to the.
skeleton.   (See Plato A.)  We live in a house.  The human fram-
i* a piece  of mechwisua put together  on  mechanical principles, and 
USES OF THE LUNGS,  AND

       PLATE B.
         1. *reast-bone.   2-2, Basket of the Chest  8—3, Baskc t of the H ips.
                  4, the Spine in the Loins or small of the Back.

*  acting in all its parts  mechanically, or mainly so; the only exccj
   tion to this is, in the chemical changes and  galvanic or electric ex-
   changes that take place in the actions and secretions of the variouf.
   assimilating organs  of the system,  and in  the  supply of power to
   the nervous system.  But the whole human frame and all its parts
   Constitute in the whole one great machine, whose harmonious action
   confers general health.
     The skeleton, or framework, on  which all is built, besides the
   upper and lower limbs, is naturally divided into  four chambers:  lfet,
   the skull;  2d,  the  chest; 3d, the abdomen;  4th,  the pelvis, oi
   Vasket of the hips.  (See Plates B and A.)
     The first chamber  I will  notice, is the skull.  This is a  dark
   chamber, remarkable  for being the  room in which the brain is lo
   cated, and is also remarkable for the place where  mind  and matter
   meet.  In the brain resides  that inscrutable and awful being, the
   human soul.  The eye does not see, the ear does not hear, all the
   senses arc  only means and instruments that convey knowledge to 
C/ USES OF CONSUMPTION.

         PLATE C.
  L 4m Windpipe.  2—2, the Lungs. 3, the Heart.  4, the Midriff.  5, the Stcmaek.
    6, the Liver.  7, the Gall Bladder.  8, the Large Bowel.  9, the Small Bowel.

the soul.  The soul is imprisoned in this dark chamber.  Its food
is knowledge; no man can  explain—no  man can comprehend it.
It is an emanation from the Most High; and in  control, holds the
same relation to man's body that the Almighty does to it.   Impri-
soned now, it will one day leave its prison-house, and wing its way
to immortality.
  The chest is & basket of bones, formed in the male like a sugar
*oaf,  and  open at the bottom.   (See Plate B.)  The  ribs of this
basket are tied in front to  the breast-bone, by  elastic  cartilages,
which, for perspicuity, I will call India rubber.  By this construc-
tion, the chest is  made flexible, expansible,  and compressible.   It w
the only bony cavity of the human frame that can be enlarged oi
diminished at one's will.  So formed is  it,  that any person choos-
ing a full fine chest, can have it; and any one choosing to have i 
u
OSES  OF HIE LITNGS. AND
PLATE  D
 «, Wh.dpipe.  2, Right Lung, or Great Air-Bag. 3, Heart.  4, Le^Liins hhlf wit awjj,
        showing the air pipes and air cells.  5, Midi iff, or floor of the Lungs.

contracted small chest can be gratified.  This flexibility of the choi\
continues with mauy  and most persons to old age.   It is  in highest
perfection in young persons.   The  chest is separated from the abdo-
men by the  diaphragm, or midriff, which  is a fleshy substance, 01
floor, that is loose, and floating upwards into the chest on expiration,
and  falls  downwards on inspiration:  working  up and down as we
breathe.   (See Plate C.)
  On each  side of the chest  are  situated  the lungs: a  couple ol
air  bags,  folded  in such a manner as to present  a  vast  surface to
 he air.   (See Plate D.)   The lungs, like their envelope,  the chest,
are flexible, compressible, and expansible.  The heart is situated be-
tween  the two  lobes of the lungs, and  under the  breast-bone, to-
wards  its lower  portion,  including a little to  the  left side.   (See
 Plate D.) The lungs wili bear moderate compression and  Pxpnn«ioi^
 without immediate disease, but the heart will not.              „— 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.               lb
   A yreat many cases of heart disease are  produced  by £ contrac-
tion rf the chest, so that the heart has not room to play.   I have
often  cured seemingly fatal diseases of the  heart, by enlarging  the
lize of the chest;  of which I shall speak in another place.
   The left lung is smaller than  the  right.   It is divided into two
lobes, whilst the right has three lobes.
   The lungs  are  formed in  cells, or leaves, if you please, like  the
honey-comb,  or  a sponge.  Each cell  has  walls ; and on the thick-
ness or thinness of these walls depends the  healfli  or disease of  the
lungs; as  all  changes in  the lungs commence by  rendering their
walls thick, or rather by external pressure, or internal engorgement
of the walls of the air cells, these cells  become  smaller, or  are  en-
tirely closed.
   Each air cell is in communication with the air pipes, from which
It  iu filled with air at each  inspiration,  and through which it empties
itself at each  expiration.  The air cells may be compared to grapes,
and the air pipes to the stems on which those grapes hang.     %
   Now it is  utterly impossible to have pulmonary consumption so
long as the air passes freely into and out of each air cell, and thus
keops all the walls of  the air cells  thin, and free from engorgement
or deposition  of foreign matter; and they will be kept perfectly free
from such engorgement, or deposition of matter, if the air fully inflate*
each air cell at each inspiration.
   Allow me to repeat, pulmonary consumption  is caused  by a gene-
ral or  partial  closing  of the air cells, either from external compres-
sion, internal engorgement or the walls Of the air cells, or a deposition
of foreign matter in the air cells, as chalk, bony matter, <fcc.;  which
last is very rare.   It is utterly impossible   to have  pulmonary con-
sumption, unless the air cells are more or tess obliterated.  The du
ease progresses <ts  the air ceils are progressively obliterated.
   A portion at healthy lung will float on water; a  portion pulmon
arily diseased, will sink in water.
   From  vast   observation and  experience,  I unhesitatingly assert
that consumption is one of our most curable diseases ; and it is eaiiei
prevented  and warded off than  any hereditary disease to which  t?«
are inclined.
               a 
USES OF THE LUNGS,  AND

         PLATE E.
   I, Windp pe. 2, the Gullet, or pipe that conveys the food from the mouth :« tta
           stomach. 3—3, the belts covering the front of the abdomen.

                    USES  OF THE  LUNGS.
  On a correct knowledge of the  uses or functions  of the lungs  de-
pend all correct views of their diseases, and of their treatment.   It is
well known that in  ail great pieces of machinery, both natural and
artificial, we  very often find one grand leading purpose, and then
comes an important but subordinate purpose.
  In nature, let us consider the sun: its first grand purpose is to keep
the planets in their places ; its subordinate purpose is to furnish light
and heat to those planets.
  In art, observe  a  watch : its first grand object is, by the move-
ments of a pendulum, to mark the  progress  of  the  sun across  the
heavens.   It might  be a perfect time-keeper, with only  this "move-
ment ;  but in order to make  it useful to us,  that  we may be hv
formed  of  the progress of the sun, another subordinate moveinenl 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.               27
 fc» added, by which  hands  are  moved along a  dial plate;.thus
 counting to us tho lapse of hours and  minutes.
   Again :   Lead two savages into a flouring mill; on leaving that
 mill,  one may be supposed  to  ask the other its grand use.  At
 once  he replies, it is  to separate the coarse  and fine parts of that
 powder from each other.  No,  says  the ether,  that is not the
 principal use of the mill; it is to crush the  kernels of wheat into
 powder. - The  former,  by only  noticing a  subordinate  function,
 arrives  at a  very false estimate of the importance of the mill, or
 the magnitude of its operations.
   So with the lungs.   It is one  of the most singular  facts con-
 nected with the history of the  human  mind, and the progress of
 knowledge,  that from  all time-it has been known that the humax
 frame is a machine, exhibiting everywhere most perfect mechanism ;
 yet no  human being  has ever asked,   " What is the power that
 moves this machinery," or  whence is  derived the ability to con-
 tinue the movements of that machinery.  One would suppose, 1$at
 in the earliest dawning of knowledge this question would  have been
 asked and auswered.
   "Why has  not some  one,  long ago, stumbled upon  it; so nu
 ;nerous are  the facts  that,  like a  finger-post, have  ever  pointed
 to it  ?  Nearly all writers upon  the  uses of the kings  make the
 chief use of  those vast organs to purify the  blood.  Others allow,
 that  they  introduce  a large quantity of oxygen into  the blood
 The  blood,  on arriving  at the lungs,  is  of a dark color ; and od
 leaving, is of a light  vermilion  r-ed.   This is owing to a loss of
 earbon, (coal,) thrown  out  of tho  blood in  the lungs.   Yet this
 loss is not. more than could be separated by two glands half the
 size of the kidneys; and does not  at all account for the vast siza
 of the  lungs,  so disproportionate  to  this object.  To  purify the
 blood of this carbon,  is  only a  subordinate  function :—by dwell-
 ing  so  long on this, and  making it nearly final,  much  of the
 darkness on  this subject has arisen, with all its deplorable effects.
   "What are  the grand uses of the Lungs ?
   In 1827,  whilst pursuing some investigations in  Philadelphia
\/pon Nervous Influence, preparatory  to my graduation thesis, J 
ay
USES OF THE LUNGS,  AND
discovered, what  I conceive to be, the grand  uses of the  lungs,
and  their first great purpose.  In those researches, I was led to
ask,  what it was  that gave  support and  power  to  the  nervoua
system.  I traced this support to the  lungs ; and  at  once,  and
forever, to my mind, all darkness upon the uses of the lungs dis-
appeared.
  If any one of  my readers can  tell me  why we  breathe harde/^>
in running up stairs, than in running down,  he can  tell me wl>aT>"
are the  principal  uses of the lungs.  I have often  asked this ques
lion.  I never met but one  person who made  even  an approximate
answer.
  But what are the uses of the lungs ?
  I reply :  They give  to the human machine itg. power of actiou
This power  exists in the  atmospheric air; and  the lungs  are the
medium by which,  and through which,  that principle which gives
the  human machine its living power is conveyed to it.
  The lungs  have the same relation to the human machine that
the  water-wheel has to the mill  it moves.  The air is the same to
the  lungs that the water is to the wheel:  shut off  the water  from
the  water-wheel,  and it soon  stops ;  shut the air from the lungs,
and  they  as  soon stop, and  all  the  system with  them.   Where
there is no air, there is  no action ; and the consumption of air in
any living machine, is in the  exact ratio of its size and action.  It
is most likely that, in all  animals,  the  same  amount of action
requires exactly the same quantity of air.
  We see, in running up stairs,  the lungs, before  quiet and easv
in their movements, at  once double and quadruple  their action,
and, if the exertion is long  continued, are lashed into most active
and even violent  pantings ; whilst not the least  increase of action
is observed in running down stairs—because there is no increase in
the  consumption  of power, for no increase of  power is required.
Exactly in the ratio of the consumption of power, will be the action
of the lungs and  consumption of  air.

  To illustrate this subject, allow me to  present  a few example*),
Jannl\?r to vou all.  It is  of vital consequence that we perfect!t 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
29
j*id* rstand th o uses of the lungs ; do this, and  they will becoro*
as playthings to us.

                     IUES  ILLUSTRATED.
   The first example  I  will  give  you is that of the race-horse.
A.-k  any stable groom upon  what depends the value of  the race-
horse,  and he  will tell you, not on the swiftness of his heels,  but
npon  his  bottom, his wind,  his lungs.   Many horses could outrun
Eclipse, at one mile, that would be dead  on  the course long before
they could accomplish sixteen miles.  This truth was known long
before  the days of Homer.   If any man does not  know it, get a
broken-winded  horse, and endeavor to  urge him  into speed,  and
he will soon know.
   The next example I will mention to you, is the difference in the
ptrength of men and women.
   We all  know that women are weaker than men, but  why so I
am not aware has ever  been explained,  nor  can it be, except by
reference  to the uses of the lungs.  The lungs of women are one-
third smaller than those of men, as an examination of their chests
will  instantly prove.  In  those  two  beautiful remains of Grecian
sculpture, the  Apollo of Belvidere in Rome, and the Venus  of
Medicis at Florence,  to which pilgrimages are made annually by
thousands of admiring observers, this rule holds : the breast of tha
Apollo measures  three, the Venus two.  These  statues owe their
value to their truth  and fidelity to beautiful  nature.  It  is written
on the frame of woman, that  she can never surpass man in physical
strength;  she  conquers  by   her  charms ; her  lungs are a third
smaller than his,  consequently her physical strength  is always
less,
   Ao-ain : observe" the difference in the strength of different men.
Were you  required to select the strongest  man  of your  acquaint-
ance, would you select a man with t flat th;;a  chest,  long neck,  and
narrow round stooping shoulders,  or would you  select a man with
a wide, deep, round chest, and broad heavy shoulders. There can
be but one answer.   You  would choose the man with large lungs-,
and you would not be disappointed  You would find his strength 
JO
USES OF THE LUNGS, AND
in the exact xatio ef his pulmonary developement, other things being
equal.
   The difference in the strength of  different men  is immense,  and
the difference in the size of the chest forms a very striking character-
istic in such cases.
   So of Northern nations: we find them always conquering South-
ern nations, because  of  their superior  physical  strength,  derived
from larger lungs, from  breathing purer, denser, and more nourish-
ing air.
   Again :  observe a man about to lift a heavy weight;  as he stoops
to raise it, hi3 last act is to fill his lungs  to their utmost  expansion,
and if a great effort be required, he does not suffer the air to leave hia
lungs until the feat of strength is accomplished.
   Another striking instance is  in the use of the  right arm.  It is
seen with all  the inhabitants of this  globe, that the right  arm is
preferred in its use  over the left; in other words, that all men are
right-handed, as a general rule.  Some  very unsatisfactory reasons
are given for this.  The true reason  is found in the fact, that  the
iimgs give us the power of action, and that the  right lung is larger
than the left; hence it gives more power to the  right arm.  I have
often seen the right  aim hang quite powerless at  the side by exten-
sive" disease of the right lung.
   Very rarely we find persons left-handed.  I  believe in all cases
where they  are left-handed, the  left  lung  will be  found  to be  the
largest.   I have often had  an opportunity of verifying this fact;  so
thrtt being left-handed is  not  a  matter of capricious  *,r  accidental
choice in the infant, but is owing to the left arm being the strongest,
because the left lung is the largest.   This explains why it is difficult
to make a left-handed child prefer to use the right hand, and  thu9
become right-handed, when nature in its  formation has ordained it
otherwise, by making  the  left lung tho  largest—and thus  the left
arm the strongest.
   Take two brothers, one brought up m  sedentary pursuits  in  the
city, the other brought up  and leading an active and laborious life in
the country : after  the laj-se of a  few  years  the brother  in  the
country will bo  found to  possess in a vast iruny  ca>es  douLle the 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
SI
 physical strength of the brother in the city, and not half as inclined
 to pulmonary consumption.
    We talk of the power of the steam  engine,  and are  struck at its
 wonderful performances :  but there is  a power that  laughs  at the
 etearn  engine,  and that  is the power that is doveloped in the eagle.
 In him we see an animal that poises himself high in the heavens, and,
 almost with the rapidity of lightning, sweep* to the earth, and seizing
 i living animal of nearly or quite his own weight, flies away with him
 to the top  of  Mont Blanc.   This is power acting upon mechanism.
 We know of nothing in man's art that will compare with it
    Now what is peculiav in the eagle ?  First, his lungs are as large as
 can be  stowed in  his body; secondly, the ah is made to  fill all his
 bones and quills, and finally is poured thnJugh the cellular tissue, and
 spread upon the hring muscles, so that  they may feed upon  the  air
 without the intervention of the lungs.
    In the case of  the eagle, science says this  universal diffusion of air
 in his  quills and bones, &c, is to buoy him up in the sky.  Not so ;
 for if you strike him in the sky,  he falls to the  earth as suddenly as
 any other body of the same weight and space.  It is  to  give him
 more air to  consume, as no lungs can  be given him sufficiently large
 to give air  enough to generate a power  sufficient  for the wonderful
 feats of strength he is called upon to perform.
    Many migratory pigeons  that travel fifty miles an hour, that you
 c-an hold upon your hand, consume more air than some females.
    Again : go down  the scale of beings,  and take those animals who,
 for a greater or less period of time,  suspend all action, and you find
 &at  the lungs consume little or  no air at this time, as m the  case of
 the frog imbedded  in stone  or clay, for indefinite periods, perhaps
 hundreds of years.
    So with the hibernating bear, who breathes scarcely once in several
 minutes.  In all cases it will be observed, with no exception whatever,
 that in all animals the action of the lungs will be found to correspond
 exactly to the consumption of power; and,^as I have before remarked,
 where  there is no air, there will be no action.
--   The importance of fully understanding this subject may be inferred,
 by knowing that the larger the lungs and the more perfect their de- 
33               US1S OF THE LUNGS,  AND
velopment, the less they are liable to pulmonary consumption.  Thai
the more they ar* exercised, the larger they will become ; that aa we
take active or laborious exercise;  our lungs will be continually enlarg-
ing ; and that on the  contrary, indolence, want of exercise,  <kc, will
render the  lungs smaller  and smaller, until by absence  of air the air
cells then wili  close up and collapse their walls, as a bhvi folds up  'is
plumage.
   By this we also learn that pore ah, and even cold air, because more
dense, is the best friend of the lungs,  and  should be resorted to with
the greatest confldcnce, both to prevent and cure their diseases.
   Pure air is the food of the lungs, and diffuses through them, life,
energy and activity, into the system.  In the pursuit of any science,
if many minds  of equal power and endowment investigate a subject,
and arrive  at far different conclusions, diverging from each other
like the spokes of a  wheel, we  may t>e  certain they have started
wrong; that their premises are erroneous.  As for example, the
hieroglyphics  of Egypt.  On many monuments, tombstones,  obe-
lisks and pyramids in Egypt, are  observed numerous inscriptions,
paintings, &c,  drawn 01  engraved upon  the solid  granite.  For
more than fifteen hundred  years a  knowledge  of the meaning or
purpose of these inscriptions was lost to the civilized world.  Books
and almost libraries were written to prove their uses, some making
them one thing, and some another,  until recently it was hinted that
these very pictures were alphabetical letters.  No sooner was this
idea fairly  stated,  than  an alphabet was commenced and gradual!v
completed, until now these Egyptian writings are read with the facilit*
of the inscriptions on  the tomb-stones in  our grave-yards.   All the
wretched speculations of the once would-be learned scholars have been
dissipated and proved  to be the absurdity of ignorance.
   We now learn that  what was supposed to be a cloud, covering most
inscrutable mysteries, are only simple records of mcn'a actions, wishes.
lives and deaths, and r^re o"v*» familiarly rei/i by f 1' the stone-masons
of Egypt.                                        -    /
   Now this is precisely the ecaamoc of orjr yjf\&k&ZQ £*"/#*rd ta
Ihe lungs, their uses and  diseases*; * perSy/ r\c.drl rtd/jvyft them,
«lecause their uses are  not well understood,  fhev ^Vl^ffcj*08?* * 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION                a
entireiv overlooked, and unknown by the  mass of medical and other
»nen.
  This is shown in their pr^ffaGe ana us results.  No two of any ex-
perience agree in their practice.   I Co not know that I ever met two
physicians who were of any eminence, and not mere imitators, who
thought or acted alike in treating consumption, or who had  the least
no-lion how it might be vrevanted.  Nor have they any confidence
in their own practice : in few oases have they the least hope of curing
the disease, or of preventing it.  Go to them to treat  a  pleurisy or
lung-fever, or inflammation of the lungs, and they do it skilfully; but
tell them the patient has  consumption, or is threatened with it, and
at once all is doubt and darkness.   One tells him to  go to  a warm
climate—another says, go to a cold climate;  one says, keep in tho
open air—another says, shut yourself up in your  room  in  all cold,
damp, or windy weather.   One says, we can cure  consumption if we
can stop the  motion of the lungs, and  so  directs his unfortunate pa-
tient  not  to  breathe much, and to restrain his breath as  long as pos
sible; one tells him to breathe the air when  out of doors,  but  another
commands his patient to wear a n.'spirator and cover his  mouth, and
not to allow the cold to touch his lungs, <fcc.   One blisters the chest,
or makes  awful sores upon  it; another rejects this, &c.   One bleeds
and reduces the patient, another stimulates him and gives tonics.
  In  one thing they nearly all agree, and their  experience  is alike,
that their  patients nearly all  die.   This  universal mortality among
their patients keeps  them all in countenance, and  inspires confidence
that their practice is right.
  Nothinor daunted, a learned physician will conduct all the members
of a family to their graves, one after another, giving the  same reme-
dies to each,  and never once suspecting that his practice  is wrong, or
that ;t can  l»e changed for better.
  Intimate to tb? medical body that consumptkn is a curable disease,
and at  once  sueh  an idea is denounced as  the  height of folly or
kuavery.
  What results from thi* darkness of the medical faculty  ? Why, tfc<i
wWo land is covered with a pall; nearly one half of the adult*, whea
.key die, die  of consumption or diseases of the chest
                   2* 
84                USES OF THE LUNGS, AND

  The whole population are running  everywhere for aid.   All confi-
dence in the regui:ir medical faealty, for consumption, is lost;  nobody
respects them, and they do not respect themselves on this subject
  Allow me here to <say, from great experience, that nine -tenths of
all that is  laid  down  in medical books, taught in medical sebools, c
pursued in  medical practice, for the prevention ar-1 cure of oonsump
lion, is calculated to create the disease, not to cure it
  Another most startling fact grows out of theae premises, which v.
that our oldest  and most  eminent physicians, every  where—thos*
standing highest in the communities where they resiae, having the
most influence, and  most addicteu  to written authorities, and regular
precedence, in fact, called the head of the medical profession—are th«
poorest possible authority on consumption, except .to record  its fatality
Their  consumptive  patients all die, without a single exception ;  and
for this we  have  their most emphatic authority.   Dr. Nathaniel Chap-
man, who has been  for  a great many years Professor of the Theory
md Practice  of  Medicine in the University of  Pennsylvania,  in a in-
tent publication, denounces a man  who professes to  cure consumption,
ts sinking himself to the most degrading charlatanism ; and solemnly
leclares, that in a practice of  fifty years, he never has seen a case of
seated consumption  cured.   This, my readers, is a record of his p::ic-
ace ;  and  of nearly all, with scarcely an  exception,  in the  regulai
'acuity, up  to this  time;  and most fully confirms all  I  have  said
lpon the awful  destructiveness of  their practice.  This leads me also
» call  to your minds, that nearly all the higher classes in the United
•States, who only employ the orl  school physicians, when struck  with
consumption, die of it.   Whilst with the more independent, and think-
ing classes,  »ot trammelled by foshion, not reverencing  mere  names and
pretensions, but fly from such persons, and  ask for facte, demand cure.*,
find often, at last in perhaps an oWure old woman, or some illiterate
person, that aid which cou?J  not  be obtained  from their regular and
u world and time-honored  physicians;'  This want  of success  of the
Bchool-bred physicians  is owing to theu-  profound ignorance  of the
uses of (he  lungs.  Why do they not at once, as bluest men, tell  theii
coa^umptive  patients, we cannot cure  you, and leave them to nature
and its resources, without adding  to their  sufferings the accumulated 
CAUSES OF  CONSUMPTION.                35
i d accumulating ills of drugs and medical remedies, that, in nina cases
tat of ten, hurry them to their graves, and deprive them of all comfort
whilst living.   I have known many old physicians, who at last, over-
whelmed by their ill success, say at once to their patients, let medicines
alone, and trust to diet, change of air, and  nature.  It is a fact, tha*
in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, patients left to themselves will
li 3 much longer without the usual medicines, than with them.  Woo
then, to you, consumptives, who put  yourselves  in the care of those
who pronounce Consumption always incurable.
  Let me here enter a solemn disclaimer of any unkind  feelings to-
wards any physicians.   No m:tn  better than myself, knows their sa-
crifices, their great benevolence, and disinterested efforts in behalf of
sick and suffering humanity.  None  admit more fully than they, all
that I have said on the insufficiency and  even mischievous nacure of
their practice, and on its deplorable effects  on medical reputation.  None
would go farther, or do more than they, to introduce a successful prac-
tice in the cure of consumption, or rejoice more to see it fairly classed
among  curable  diseases.  But,  «ilas, in  our profession, a few  high
priests dictate tc all the rest, and the laity of the profession consent
to receive instruction  on'v  through these oracles.   My father, my
grandfather and brother ?<re regular, eminent, and respectably edu-
cated physicians.  I cannot  bear ill feelings towards physicians.   No
one respects them more ; but I do deplore  their iguorance of the uses
of the  lungs, and causes of consumption ;  and most  of all, their
ignorance of even rational practice in  pulmonary diseases.
  One excuse is found, and a good  one, that no books teach correctly
the uses of the lungs; hence  arises  all the  darkness, insufficiency aud
mischief of the ordinary practice.  Again  : let me say to physicians,
[ have no secret remedies;  call  on me,  if you choose ;  you will find
me always friendly, and the  little I know is at your service.
  Allow me, before I go farther, to refer to one most interesting fact
in-the history of the spread and  prevalence  of consumption.   It is
found in the history of the  American Indians,—at one  time  num-
bering many  millions of people, and inhabiting from the most extreme
[oiut north, to Patagonia, south ; embracing all varieties of climata
and location ; dwelling  in the frigid, temperate and torrid zoras; occu« 
36                USES OF THE LIT A US, AND
pying every variety of situation, on the seaboard, on the borders of
the lakes, on the tops of the highest lands, and in the most secluded
valleys ;  on tho wide-spread and open prairies, and in the most arid
deseits;  the countries of the greatest humility, and where it rare.y
ever rains,  as in Peru;  yet  in all these  countries, and every where,
guch a thing as a  case of  pulmonary consumption has  never been
observed, while those people  remained in their savage state.  Bring
them into our settlements, civilize them, educate  them, and let them
adopt our habits, and  they become as liable  to consumption as we
ourselves.
   It is eminently due to ourselves and our subject, to notice the pe>
culiarities of the savage Indian, as compared  with  ourselves,  and to
Beek for  some light to  elucidate the  frequency of pulmonary con-
sumption.
   By what peculiarities  is the Indian distinguished from the civihze.1
American ?   1st. The American Indian is remarkable for  the perfec I
symmetry of his figure.   " Straight as an Indian," is an old proverb,
whose truth i? justantly  recognised by all who have ever seen the wild
Indian :  his chest  is perfect symmetry,  his  shoulders and shoulder
blades  are laid flat against the chest, and the whole weight of his arms,
shoulders, and shoulder  blades, is thrown behind the chest—thus  al-
ways expanding, instead of contracting it; the naked chest, and whole
person, is often  exposed  to the open ah-;  they are much out of dooif>,
indeed, rarely in-doors ;  breathe the pure  air,  never  stoop  in  gait or
walk, and pm-sue no avocations that contract the chest, or  prevent  its
free and  full expansion ; often wash  themselves in  pure  cold  water :
exercise the lungs freely by active athletic exercise ;  running,  racing,
the chase, frequently dancing, and  shouting, <fec, most vehemently,
nearly  every day.   The same holds true in regard to animals.    Ani-
mals in their wild state  never have the consumption ; whilst the sama
animals domesticated have it—as the monkey, the rabbit, the horse,
&c.   Consumption is a child of civilization ; results chiefly from
loss of symmetry, and from effeminacy, induced by too much clothing,
too luxurious living, dissipation, too  little exercise,  and dehiJi fating
diteeues and occupations, and poison in the blood 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.                tf

        PLATE F.
Cf- tonsnmptlve Chest sml Figure.       2, Not Consumptive.
                CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.

  The i auses of consumption may be divided into three grej»*. <jlasse»
  First: Mechanical causes, loss of symmetry, external and .nternal
 thaling dust, <fcc.
  Second: Efl'eininacy and debility of the constitution.
  Third: Poison.
  We have remarked before, that consumption could  never taka
^I.vjc  until trie air cells of the lungs are closed, and  sod'sposed thtt 
38                USES OF THE  LUNGS,  AND
the air does not fill them well when we breathe ; and that when every
air cell  is  freely open, at each  inspiration, no consumption can evei
exist.
   The first cause of consumption I will  notice, is, any external cause
that conttacts the basket of the chest upon the lungs, by any external
pressure  This is produced by the weight of the shiltlders, arms, and
ghoul ier blades being brought forward on the chest.  (See Plate F.)
Tho collar  bones are shoulder braces, and occur only in man, and are
intended to keep the shoulders off the  chest; but if long pressed upon
they yield an i bend.   Pressure upon them depresses the breast bone
at its lower end, breaks it down towards the back bone, causes the breasl
bone to press upon the heart,  and allows the ribs to press upon  the
lungs, thus causing an artificial collapse of the lungs by external pres-
sure.  The  structure of the lungs is so elastic, that they yield to  the
slightest external pressure, and allow the capacity or size of the chest
to be diminished daily ; in fact, the substance of the lungs offers no re-
sistance to  a shrinking of the chest, as the largest lung, when perfectly
collapsed, is not larger than an ordinary fist, if so large.  The weight
of the arms, shoulders, ore, thrown forward upon the chest, causes it
to collapse  daily, unless resisted  by most forcible and constant strong
breaths, or inspirations of air.  To delicate persons, the least inclined
to chest diseases, this position of the shoulders is one grand cause of
consumption.   In  fact, any position  of the shoulders, by  which   the
weight of the arms is made to bear across the chest, or upon it, instead
of hanging  down, so as to draw the chest backwards, will contribute
powerfully to diminish  the size  of the chest—press upon  the  lungs,
and close the air cells—to prevent a free  circulation  of blood through
the lungs, and thus tend to produce imperfect breathing, bleeding  at
the lungs, deposit  of tubercles, and  all  the  horrors and  realities of
consumption.   (See Plate F.)  It is for  this reason  that all mechani-
cal employments that cause us to stoop forward will tend to injure the
cheat;  in truth, every position forward of the  erect is a  produciup'
cause of consumption.  Who are those that contract these bad posi-
tions?   I might at once say, all Americans over three years old,  asd
vast numbers of Europeans.  If there is any characteristic that  would
apply to the Americans, as a nation, it is round-shouldered.   The habi< 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
39
of contracting the chest, by stooping, is formed in multitudes at school,
by sitting at low tables or no tables ;  by sitting all in a heap, eitbei
in school or out of school, by not holding themselves erect, either sit-
ting or standing.  It is a matter of-habit in a great degree, in tailors,
shoemakers,  machinists,  clerks,  students,  seamstresses, in  fact, all
whose occupation causes them tc stoop at their work, or at rest, or at
their pleasures, or amusements.   (See Plates F, K, T.)
  Passing by the  position of the arms, shoulders, and chest  itself,
another most fruitful cause of consumption is wearing the clothing too
tight around  the base of  the chest, so as to diminish the size of the
waist.   Millions from this cause sleep in untimely graves.
  A great deal has been  said and written against tight-lacing.   It is
not entirely peculiar to ladies.   It occurs in both sexes.   Tho effect,
however, is deplorable in the extreme; it prevents a free expansion of
the lungs, closes the air-cells of the lobes of the lu»gs at their bases
impedes greatly the circulation  ef the blood, produces shortness of
breath, hurried breathing, and extensive closing of the air-cells of the
lungs,  bleeding at  the lungs, &c.
  Consumption usually begins in the top of the lungs ;  but many
cases occur when the  waist has been greatly contracted, in which tu-
bercles are first deposited  in the bases of the lungs,  and  by  their
softenings produce one of the most intractable and incurable forms of
consumption.
  I once knew a lady, who, at nineteen, chose  to have the smallest
waist in the neighborhood.   Small waists  wero then and there con-
sidered by the young ladies as most desirable.  She would  lace her
stays as tightly as she could wear them by day, and at night would
sleep in them.  Before going to bed, she would tie one lace-string to
the bed-post,  and  holding  the  other, would throw her "whole weight
on  the strings, so as to  contract the chest very much;  indeed, she
Boon had a perfect wasp  or hour-glass shape.   She was in no  way
predisposed to consumption.  In a few months, from perfect health,
Bhe sunk  away into a  species of apparent consumption,  and died a
mcot  awful death, from the dreadful  throes  and efforts to breathe
which characterised  the  disease for some time before she died.   Af-
U*  death  h;r body wras opened, when  it was fouud that the  livei, tha 
40               USES OF THE LUNGS, AND

upper part of the stomach, the  midriff, the heart, and  lobe:* of boti,
lungs, had all grown together;  and in this way produced an untimely
and fearful death.  Great contraction of the base of the chest is a se-
rious misfortune, as it utterly prevents a full development of the lungs;
consequently they will always be weak, and disposed in sueh person*
to consumption.
  A striking and almost demonstrative proof, that consumption  is
caused by want of expansion and exercise of the lungs, is found in the
fact, that disease always begins  first in those parts of the lungs least
expanded and exercised, which are in nearly all cases the tops of the
iungs ; whilst the bases of the lungs, that are usually much exercised,
are rarely ever diseased  until  late in the  progress  of  consumption.
In some rare cases, either from  rheumatism, pleurisy, or tight-lacing,
the bottoms of  the hmgs are least  exercised, and  consequently first
diseased.
  Supposing the shoulder blades, shoulders, and all the che.°^ to be ic
perfect symmetry, and to be well  developed, and the base of the chesi
well expanded, also the air cells, in fact a perfectly  healthy chest and
lungs, there  is another formidable enemy to them,  arising from a re-
laxation or weakness of  the natural belts which cover the abdomen,
by which free expiration of the  air is prevented.  There we have loss
of symmetry actincy on the floor of the lungs.


                 FALLING  OF THE BOWELS.
   By referring to Plates C and D, you will there see the lungs, heai t,
and  fiver, stomach,  bowels, and midriff, all in their places in symmetry
You will notice the lungs are  wedge-shaped, with their  small ends
uppermost; tho heart  weighing considerable, the liver weighing some
pounds, and the stomach and largo and small bowels, <fec.  The chest,
you  will see, is a basket of bones, (look at  Plate A,) and open at tli6
bottom, so that on setting up  the trunk of the body, all the organs
incline to fall downwards to the  groins and  into the  basket  of the
hips; and they would all fall through, causing instant death, if this
were not prevented,  and these  all kept up, perfectly and beautifullv
in their places,  by the basket of the hips fulling backwards, and by the 
CAUSES OP CONSUMPTION.
41
natural oelts that cover ail ,he front and  sides of the  trunk of tho
body, which arise  from  the ends  of the breast bone, and the lowei
edges of all the short  ribs and back bone, where  there are no ribs;
the upper edges of the hip bones, and from the cross bone, that goes
acioss the lower part of the abdomen, these belts are very strong, per-
fectly flexible, and are found in three layers ;  so that when in health,
tha stowage of the trunk of the body and all the internal organs is
perfect.   No jarring of any of. the  organs  takes place on walking; all
the inside of the body  is kept perfectly firm  and tight, yet elastic
These abdominal muscles, or belts, act a  most  important  part in the
functions of breathing, speaking, &c.  (See Plate E.)
   The midriff, or diaphragm, (see Plate D,) is a fleshy partition dra wn
across the base of the  chest,  and  fastened to the middle of the chest
and to the breast bone,  and  ends of the short ribs, and  back  bone.
On its sides it is entirely loose, and its loose portions open  up into the
iihest, like inverted bowls, rounding up against  the base of each iunjj,
^>ut not much against the heart.  It is the floor of the lungs.
   When we draw in the air, the midriff draws downwards, and allows
(he lungs to fall down and fill full of air ; and at this moment the
nbdominal belts contract themselves, and draw back against the lower
bowels, ana at  once dash the liver and stomach and  all the bowels
upwards : so that the liver and stomach start upwards into the loose
'Darts of the midriff and drive it  against the bottom of  each  lung
This impulse at the bottom of the  lungs is felt up to the collar bones,
when the abdominal belts are healthy and strong ; by which contri-
vance the air is forced out of the  lungs,  and the upper  part of tho
lungs are fully  expanded, and all the upper air cells fully distended.
A little reflection will convince you of  the indispensable necessity for
good lungs and healthy breathing, that the  abdominal  belts should
be perfectly strong and kealthy.   (See Plata E, for a view of these
belts, to which  we shall again  recur in anotheT discourse.)
   On the contrary, if these belts are weak from any cause, the respi-
ration becomes  feeble ;  talking long, or  rovi'Bg  loud, is impossible
 jrithout great fatigue ;  aching of  the lucgrr, pah: 3rd dragging down
in the top of the chest is produced—as ah-.o ihr aj]\'g of the chest un«
cUr the collar bones, so that the latt".r stick uj  *trj  much } the icp* 
 (2                USES OF THE LUNGS, AND

 of the lungs collapse, and the air cells closo more or less, in which stale
 they are exposed to a deposit of tuberculous matter.  The blood circu-
 lates imperfectly through the lungs, and they readily become full of
 blood, and bleeding at the lungs often takes place; great weakness and
 sinking, and twitching, is felt along and at the end of the  breast bone;
 wheezing, breathing, shortness of breath, &c, a dragging down, fatigued
 feeling at the collar bones, or in some parts of the chest, and a constant
 disposition to stoop, not Being  able, or not feeling able, to sit or stand
 erect In a great many cases this is impossible ;  a hacking cough, and
 at first  a dry irritating cough, is apt  to arise;  weak voice and sore
 throat, pains  about the  windpipe, and  dryness  in the throat.  In a
 great many cases of bleeding at the lungs, it will be found that weak-
 ness of the abdominal belts is the grand cause.  By this the floor of
 the lungs may be said to be knocked out.   On attempting  a  long
 breath, it seems lost, and on drawing in a long breath, the short ribs
 and lower end of the breast bone, in place of opening when we inspire
 the air, seem to  close around the base of the lungs, seeming  as  if a
 ccrd was drawn around  them.  Breathing  becomes difficult,  and
 much exercise of the lungs seems  impossible.   A great many con-
 sumptions in  both  sexes begin with pain  and weakness  across the
 bowels,  aggravated  by talking, singing, &c, complete loss of voice at
 times.   Bleeding at the Jungs is often preceded by a sinking,  hollow,
 deathly feeling, more or less for months, at the  pit of the stomach, or
 about the sides somewhere,  in a greater or less degree.  In cases  of
 much relaxation of the abdominal belts, in walking, the lungs jar and
 tremble  at every step. At times the breath seems lost.  This  subject
 is well illustrated in cases of pregnancy.   All physicians and observers
 know how promptly pregnancy will stop the progress  of consumption,
and that it will seem suspended in bad cases until  the  birth of the
child.  In a great many cases, pregnancy will  and does cure early
 consumption, and could the child bo carried in the womb for eighteen
instead  of nine  months, nearly all consumptive mothers  would  be
 cured.
  This is done by the womb, with all its contents, rising up into the
abdomen, and forcing the liver, stomach and bowels upwards, so as to
X% up the floor of the lings, enlarging greatly the siz^ of the waist, 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
43
Mid spreading the short ribs.   The lungs feel the upward pressure to
the collar bones, so that even  moderate  breathing will expand the
tops of the lungs.  All the benefits to consumptive  ladies in  preg
nancy may not arise from mechanical causes only ; but 1 am inclined
to think they confer the largest benefit.
   Again : on the cessation of pregnancy, the floor of the lungs sud-
denly loses its support; and  unless  fully supported  and  relieved,
they sink down ; the breathing becomes difficult; the lungs are most
imperfectly filled, the cavities before closed by the lifting up of the
lungs, which have not healed, now gape open; the disease again starts
with  accelerated pace  and  fury, and death  soon closes  the scene.
During pregnancy, the lungs are placed in a most favorable condition
to be cured.   If in any way diseased, this  period should by all meana
be improved, to give perfect health to the  lungs.
   I am disposed to the belief, that about one-third of all  the con-
sumptions originate from weakness of the abdominal belts.  In my
discourses to ladies and gentlemen, this subject will be again resumed.


       EFFEMINACY AND DEBILITY, A  CAUSE OF
  -----               CONSUMPTION.
   The next great cause of consumption I will  mention, supposing the
chest to  be  in perfect  symmetiy, the floor of the lungs sustained by
firm abdominal belts, no sinking or weakness  at the  stomach, no jar-
ring of the lungs on walking.  This cause  proceeds from the habits
and constitutional condition of the system itself, comprised in two
words, effeminacy and debility.
   Ihave told  you that  the  lungs are the medium that gives us the
power of action.   This  power is in the air  ; the lungs taking it from
the air and conveying it through the blood to the whole system.  The
action of the lungs, the full and complete expansion which we desire to
produce at each breath  will depend on the exercise of the individual
—so tt.it all  trades, occupation?, professions, or employments,  whe-
ther for recreation or profit, whether from  voluntary  or necessary  in-
dulgence, that prevent our taking active exercise, will incline to a re&i
of the system,  diminished consumption of itf power, and consequently 
 44                USES OF THE LUNGS, AND

 a lessened action of  the  lungs, exactly in the ratio in which the cxe.
 cise of the whole system is lessened.   The" reader can easily  till  ujl
 the catalogue from all the sedentary mechanical  trades ;  all students
 —those professions  where there is much talking and  little exercise,
 as clergymen, teachers, lawyers, and auctioneers.   The last rarely have
 the consamption, because they usually  take much exercise and often
 speak out of doors,  and have freely expanded the lungs  by speaking
 ui the open and cold air.
   Lawyers have less consumption than clergymen ; because they usu-
ally take more exercise and speak on a level or at the feet of {heir au-
ditors,  instead of being lifted up into more rarified,  attenuated, and
heated air, as is the case with the clergy in most cases.  Indolence, in
all its forms of indulgence, lessens the action of the lungs.  This will be
found a most fi-uitful  cause of consumption in the easy classes of the
United States of America.                              .
  The contrast between the easy classes in England and in America
is most, striking.   In England, all work almost instinctively to accumu-
late wealth, intending to retire and spend the remainder of their daya
in active repose, if I may use the expression; in other words, to throw
off the cares of busmess, and enjoy the delights of out-door—of active
—of country exercise, in the open air; by walking, as the  first best ex
ercise; next, by horseback exercise;  next,  the  carriage;  lastly, gar-
dening and rural occupations, field sports, the chase, &c
  Nearly every Englishman,  however deeply  immersed m business
in the most secluded  solitude  of London, hopes and desires one day
to expatiate in the country, and spread himself on broad acres.
  In the United States of America, nearly all of our easy classes in tho
most active pursuit of wealth, never think much of exercise, or, at any
rate., shrink from the contemplation of its fatigues and the  disagreeable
sacrifices of ease and pe-sonal indulgence it involves.
  Almost all our gentry  perfectly  hate  a  country life, escLe.vinw it
most religiously,  if they have the means to five  in the city.  In  very
many cases  preferring quite a mediocrity in the cities and villages, to
rural independence.
  The result of this is, that consumption prevails much less among the
beet classes in Europe, whilst it is almost an epidemic among the eaaj 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
45
clasps in this country.  Many ladies have become ccnsumptive from
mere indolence.   With these, a walk two  or three times a week is
thought sufficient.  Taking very little exercise within doors, the lungs,
from want of air and full exercise, cease to be expanded, fold up their
cells, and sink into consumption.
  Mental emotions,  grief, fear, despondency, incline  to depress all
the energies  of the system, and leave every part to  be inactive, in
rhich  the lungs must participate, and so must suffer.  It is for this
reason  that a family losing one of its number by consumption, grief,
fear, and despondency seize upon all of them.  This is one great rea-
son why consumption will often sweep through a whole family.
  Two beautiful young ladies recently called on me, one with a bad
cough, the other said to me: " Our mother died of consumption last
spring; and since  her death sister has given up  that she  must die,
and  will take no courage, or do anything for herself."  This is often
the case ; frequently at the very grave of one who has ju-t died of con-
sumption, another will take a cough, go back, give  up all  hope  or
effort, and in a few months die of  the same disease.   In this order,
sometimes,  whole families will be swept away ; at other times several
will die, and  from some  hitherto unexplained  cause,  others of the
family  will  escape  the disease, and  live to be very old.  One case I
knew, where seven brothers  and sisters died of consumption, between
the ages of twenty and twenty-fiVe.   Two brothers escaped the pro-
scription, and both a short time ago were living, one at eighty-three,
the oilier at eighty-five years of age.  In all of these cases, it will  be
found that the peculiar habits of those exempted  were of such a cha-
racter as prevented a decline of the general health, and procured an
expansion of the  lungs.  Persons  in early life, predisposed to con-
sumption, often live to a great age after escaping  this  malady.
  Ilope, unmixed with fear, is a great  antagonist to the spread of con-
wmption.   Grief arising from loss of children, loss of parents, loss of
fery dear relatives, loss of wealth, or even loss of health, will frequently
paralyze all  the powers  of the p^fctem, jnd  lead to  an early decay,
For this reason, when one J a fam'ly has died of consumption, I re-
Bommend, if  practicable, change ot air, change of  location, change of
tcenoj and in many cases change of occupation, (fee. 
•6               USES OF THE LUNGS, AND
   A most prolific source of consumption is found in those diseases thai
weak down the strength of the system, and so prevent full action and
expansion of the lungs.


             TYPHUS  FEVER.—FEVER  SORES.
   Lung fever leads thousands to consumption.   Pleurisy imperfect?}
cured, leaving pain and weakness in the side and chest, and often ad
hesions between the internal smooth covering of the ribs, and the co-
vering of the lungs, will take place, that greatly prevent an expansion
of the lungs, and thus lead to consumption.
   Rheumatism and rheumatic fevers produce a great many consump
tions by breaking down the general health; and thus preventing a full
expansion of the chest   At other times, the rheumatism will seat it-
self upon the lungs themselves,  thus leading to consumption.  At
times it will settle between the ribs  and prevent a full expansion of
the lungs and chest on breathing.
   In persons predisposed to  consumption, an attack of rheumatism
in the joints, and the knees, ancles, hips, elbows,  or shoulders, or a
rheumatic fever,  will often precurse the approach of consumption.
   Gout, a disease kindred to rheumatism, at times locates itself upon
the lungs and induces consumption.   In these diseases, large quanti-
ties of chalk are often deposited ir^ the air cells of the lungs,  and in
the air passages, and around the bronchial glands.
   Both rheumatism and gout located upon the  lungs, are indicated
by vastly more pain, and  darting sharp pains, and nervous irritation,
than in true scrofulous consumption, and require different treatment
   Scrofula is considered a principal cause of tubercular or ordinary true
consumption.   The whole variety of diseases  designated in common
language, and very properly as a humor, comprising scrofula, salt rheum,
and all the varieties of the skin diseases, canker, hives, eruptions upon
thS skin—in  the mouth—in the  stomach—in  the  bowels, &c—
from very extensive  observation, I  incline  to consider as  having
one common origin, only differing in their history and  character by
their difference in location; some appearing  most in winten  other*
most m summer. 
                 CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.               47

  Scrofidji is  located upon  the cellular  tissue,  which is a covering
thrown over the muscles, or lean meat, and below the external skin;
it is found more or less everywhere.    In  this, scrofulous lumps are
developed.  At other times, this same humor  will be found on the
true skin under the  scarf skin, producing  salt rheum, as scald bead,
tetter, &c.  At othor times is placed immediately below the true skin,
swelling up into pimples and pustules, and discharging matter.  At
other times, causing eruptions  of dry scales, or a discharge drying
off in scales.  In some cases like  nettles  or  stings [and  bites of in-
sects; at other times true boils.
  These varieties are not often seen in one person, but at times se-
veral, or nearly all occur in one individual.   I believe all these pro-
proceed from a poison generated in  the system by causes often pal
pable, at other times not readily discovered.   In  proof of  this, we
often see in the same family one  have scrofula, another  salt rheum,
another eruptions or pustules, &c.;  and as I said before, at times in
the same  person nearly all occur.
  These humors  often appear in infancy,  go off, and after some years
appear upon the lungs, or throat,  or air pipes, stomach, liver, bowels,
kidneys, womb, &c.
  To treat consumption successfully, all  these humors must be well
understood and radically cured.
  I once knew a lady in Rhode Island, who w^as thougnt to bo mar
her end with consumption, when  suddenly she became affected with
humors all over her skin and swelled enormously—losing both sight
and hearing for days by the swelling ; but in a few weeks got  well
of the humor, and  with it all consumption disappeared.
   It is a vast desideratum to throw the humors out upon the skin ;
they should never be repelled or  driven in by washes or applications
to them.  I once knew an infant of  seven months die in its^mother'a
arms of true consumption;  beginning with  bleeding at Fie lungs,
and  going through all the stages  of consumption on to  death, pro-
dm-ed by driving  in salt rheum ;  it had salt rheum upon its face
the physician injudiciously applied  a solution of corrosive sublimate,
which cured it oh its face, but drove it to its lungs, and thus pro
duced consumption and death.   This burner, in  one or all its \»rio> 
48               USES OF THE LUNGS AND

ties, often locates itself upon tie throat, the wind-pipe, the larger and
smaller air passages of the lungs, and in the air cells, and in the
substance of the lungs.   In our inquiries into the causes of con-
sumption, reference should always be had to the subject of skin dis-
eases, or scrofula,  because they so often locate themselves upon tha
lungs.  They are always easily cured, and entirely  driven from the
system, if properly managed and in season.  They are one exceed-
ingly prolific cause of consumption.

             INHALING  DUST, METALS, ETC.
  Inhaling, or drawing in of large quantities of dust, will cause this
to be deposited  upon the lungs,  and thus by mechanical irritation,
had  to consumption.  This is seen in stone cutters, millers, dry grinds
.ng of metals, pickers and sorters of rags for paper making, and many
others.   I once knew a case of  a stone and marble cutter, who died
suddenly.   His  chest was opened, and it was found that a large pro-
portion of both lungs was so impregnated with stone dust, as to have
caused his death.   This case occurred in  Cincinnati, Ohio

                IRREGULARITIES IN DIET.
  Long continued irregularities in diet,  ekher too low or too high
firing, will break down and effeminate  the system,  and in persons
predisposed to consumption, will often induce it; but low hring sooner
breaks down the system and  produces consumption, than high living.
A high regimen is the best if only one is to be selected.

                        DYSPEPSIA.
  Dyspepsia  or imperfect digestion of the  food is a very  common
cause of debility of the system, and breaking down of the powers of
the constitution.  Dyspepsia also greatly injures the purity and qual-
ity of the blood, and in this way leads to the creation of humors and
the production of consumption.

      LIVER COMPLAINT.—CHRONIC DIARRHOEA.
                        COSTIVENESS.
   liver complaint, chronic  diarrhoea,  costiveness., all are among 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.               49
the cause* that injure the constitution  and general health,  and in
this way lead to consumption.  These  subjects will  be referrea -o
sgain, in another place.

            DISEASES  OF TnE THROAT, ETC.
   Diseases of  the throat often cause consumption.  Inflammation
*nd ulceration of the wind-pipe,  and parts about the vocal organs,
at the top of the wind-pipe,  often cause  consumption, by the great
debility which this causes, and often by the great debility of tne
wind-pipe, preventing anything like vigorous  breathing or respira-
tion.  This disorder is attended with  hoarseness, and weakness oi
the voice, more  or  less ;  often atten/led with a total loss of voice,
fjreat dryness  and heat  in  the  throat, and pain in the throat or.
speaking or reading aloud ; "clergymen are often subject to this aa>
ease.   It is extremely rare that the wind-pipe alone is affected; but
Wi nearly all cases of throat disease, it will  be found that the lungs
sre also much  affected.   In some cases the wind-pipe partianv
c.'oses, and at other times dreadful spasms attack the throat.   When
spasms  attack the throat, so as to produce  temporary suspension of
breathing,  the chest will rapidly enlarge, and all lung difficulties m
uome cases will soon be  removed.  I  saw a striking case of this in
the hospitcl in London.  A  man came  into the hospital in  an ad-
vanced  stage of  consumption, his lungs badly ulcerated, his chesi
verv contracted, and  greatly emaciated.   He had not been long 11.
the hospital, before he was attacked with an inflammation  of ui*
wind-pipe, which was soon attended w:th the most dreadful spasms
In those fits, his breathing would stop; his chest heave as if  a ron&JL
were tiod  around his neck ; he would  at times  be a whole minut>
without breathing.  These spasms on his wind-pipe  caused a most-"
rapid enlargement of his chest; all symptoms of pulmonary or lung;
consumption  soon disappeared;  his chest became enormously eu-
•arged.   Most affections  of the throat,  called " Bronchitis," are trao
*kin dise-iscs, caused by a poison  in the  blood, and hence the cnv»
absurdity of attempting to cure all throat diseases by cutting out ftif>
tonsils, cutting ^ofl* the palate, and then merely swabbing the parte
with nitrate of silver.   Consider the unhappy state of a patient with
               9 
60               USES OF THE LUNGS, AND
the jest and treatment for throat diseases only when consumption »
preying upon his lungs.

                  TOO MUCH CLOTHING
  Great effeminacy of the constitution, and consequent  tendency to
consumption,  is often induced by our treatment ot  tne sunace  of the
frame.   Too much clothing greatly inclines to deDintate tne system,
and lead to effeminacy.  Suppose a person were w> put ms nana in a
poultice, and keep that poultice on for some weeKS ; on removing the
poultice, the hand would feel as if it had no sirin upon it, so sensible
would  it be to the  external air.  Too much clotnmg nas the same
effect.   It greatly effeminates tL\e system, and  maues it so delicate
that if  cannot  bear  the least exposure whatevei.   AacU successive
addition to our clothing, beyond the point of heartn, instead  of de-
stroying the influence of  cold, makes us more su&ceptiDie to its injuri-
ous effects, and infinitely more liable to those diseases tnat proceed
from change of temperature.
  I have the pleasure of knowing two physicians wno are now Uv
'jig in the same village,  near the borders of Canada, «wv>nt the 45th
degree :>f north latitude; a climate very cold tor neany six months
in the  year.  One of these  gentlemen is about sixtv-nve years old,
the other  is  about forty-five.  Some years  ago,  tnese gentlemen
entered into  partnership  in  the practice of meuicme,  the  young
physician, on first  calling upon the old physician, touna him about
to ride out in his sleigh to visit his  patients,  it was very cold
weather; the young man expressed great surprise at tne insufficiency
of the old  gentleman's clothing.  " What do }w Mean.?" said the
old doctor.   " I have on my hat, my great-coat, ana my mittens ,
what more do I want?"  The health  of the uia pnysician was
perfect.  The young gentleman was a show :m some respects, and a
fair representative of most effeminate people;  rattier large and tall in,
person,  he had on  all the clothing  he could put on tor  his daily in-
door dress.  Now talking to the old doctor, he had on besides his in-
door clothing a surtout coat, then a great-coat, then  a cloak;  on hU
feet he had stockings, boots, and overshoes; over his cravat he  wore a
thick woolen scarf, or shawl, that muffled up ms mroat, cmn an i nose, 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.                51
neaily to his eyes  On h,s head he wore a fur cap, which came dawn
nearly to his eyes. With these envelopes he hoped, and fully believed,
that he  could exclude all cold,  and fully prevent  its injurious effects
upon his system.   The health of the old physician was  perfect; the
younger one was sick  nearly every winter with lung fever, or some
disturbance of his lungs.  The old man told mo  it took him two
years  by precept and example,  before  he could get the young man
to reduce the amount of his clothing to the standard of health;  when
this was accomplished, the constitution  of the young man improved,
and his  health became perfect.
   There is an amount of clothing that  is tho point of health ; it no
doubt differs  in some persons; the best rule is to  wear as little  as
possible consistently with comfort.  It should never be worn  with an
eye to health, but to comfort.  The first settlers in the United States,
«ttid for  several generations after its early settlement, were a very hard**
rac ; consumption with them was  very rare ; had they have been
obliged  to wear as much clothing as is now worn,  the couutry never
could have  been  settled.  These remarks  are applicable  to all  or
nearly  all of the present settlers of the new parts of this growing
oounti)'.
   Su-lden reductions of clothing should not be made in cold weather
6ut should be commenced in warm weather, and carefully proceeded
with until the point of health is found.   Too much clothing is highly
injurious  to  the  constitutions of children.  The  rule with them,  as
with all, is to wear as little as possible, consistent with comfort; and
never worn  as a curative  remedy.  At all times  neither our  clothing
nor our rooms should be warm enough to make us  perspire, whilst at
rest  This holds  good also  with our bed-clothing ; nor should  the
warmth of our  clothes or the  heat of our rooms make us feel  un
comfortablv warm ;  health requires us always to keep rather cool.
   Effeminacy caused by leaving  active or  invigorating employment
for sedentary, in-door and effeminating ones.
   A most frequent  cause of  consumption, in those  predisposed to it,
and if ndt predisposed to it, will, in a multitude of cases, cause predis
position, is leaving active, out-door, invigorating employments,  for in
door aud effeminating ones.   Our cities, our large towns, our inanv 
tffc               USES  OF THE LUNGS, AND
factories, our woik shops, our counting houses, the professions of /aw
physic,  and divinity,  are  nearly all  filled by persons who wei o th<
children of farmers, and in their early lives sharing in all the toils, the
expasure, and the invigorating pursuits of agriculture, and all its oncfi
affiliated or kindred occupations.   The consequence is, that great mul
titudes of both sexes fall victims to consumption, who otherwise never
would  have had it.   The banishment of the old-fashioned large spin-
ning wheel, from our farmers' homes, and leaving the daughters in
comparative idleness,  or sending them to work in manufactories, h;is
tended vastly  to spread the ravages of  consumption.  Again: we
may often see fathers,  whose children are consumptive, devoting th■•■in
to the most sedentary and  debilitating occupations, and encouraging
the  heaviest tasks, or  permitting it.  These  remarks are particularly
applicable to all  parts of  New-England.   To illustrate this I eannol
do better than to introduce a few cases of this kind, which fully explain
all I can say on this subject.
  In Feb. 1844,1 was consulted by a lady in Boston, who was hastening
ftcm New Hampshire to Virginia, to attend  a young man  who had
gone there in ill health.   He was  the only son of a wealthy  farmer ic
New Hampshire, who kept his son on his farm as much as possible,
and  at the same time  undertook to give him  an education.   The boy
went to school in winter, and worked on the farm in summer, until he
was heventcen years old ; then, instead of going to  school,  he taught
school and pursued his studies out of school hours.  After two or three
years,  he  was  prepared to enter  Dartmouth College, still teaching
school during the  winter,  and  attending  college in  the spring and
fall  months ; but working at home on the farm in haying and harvest-
ing.   This terrible course of effeminating and exhausting labor soon
broke his health.  He was predisposed to consumption by family taint,
his mother having died of it.  Its  early symptoms soon  be£an  to ao-
pear.  He was sent to tho south to improve his health and teach school.
This coui-se soon eompleted its work.  The lady, on airiving in Virginia,
found her young relative dead of consumption, and he the only  son of
a rich father.   Tlie southern people, vhen they see these  multiplied
eases among them of young persons of reputedly rich  parents, cannot
Kit think that the New England mind is tb<>. very acme of mearncsa 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
M
   Another case I wiL give of a similar character.  I was consulted it
October of 1844, by a young gentleman in one of the richest country
towns in Connecticut.  He  was a fine  looking,  genteel young  man
His first remark was, " I have called to ask  you how loug I have to
live;" not believing that he could five long.   He was an only son.
Lfis'mother died of consumption, leaving one son  and two daughters,
one of whom had also died of consumption.   The son graduated at
Yale College, then studied  law in the Law School  in  Albany.   On
closing his  law studies, he settled in New-York ; not  getting law  busi-
ness as fast as he desired, he took a situation as book-keeper in a whole-
sal-' store:  staid there until pulmonaiy  symptoms began to appear,
then went home :  change of air and occupation soon restored his health,
and now he takes a school for occupation;  in three months, bleeding
at the lungs showed that consumption had began its  work in earnest
He relinquished his school, and passed six months* of unmitigated  dis
tj8=is in anticipating an early and certain death.   I had tho pleasure
of restoring him to perfect health by God's blessing.  No danger need
he eve apprehend from consumption, if he follows faithfully the direc-
tions.  His father is a very wealthy man.
   I will add one case  more.  I was consulted in May, 1844, at Spring-
field, Massachusetts, by a young man in  the very last  stages of con-
sumption,  He was brought up to fanning pursuits and active out-
door occupations until twenty-two years of age; then  desiring an easier
employment and higher wages, he came from the country to Springfield,
and hired himself to a confectioner, and worked in a basement, almost
a cellar, over kettles of boiling sugar and boiling  syrups, most of the
time inhaling a bad air, and covered  with  profuse perspiration.   In
seventeen months he died of consumption.
  These cases will suffice to point  out the  terrible  effects of leaving
out-door occupations, and.choosing exhausting and debilitating employ-
ments within doors.   If predisposed to consumption, your fate is cer-
tain ; if not predisposed, a  predisposition may be mduced by these
exhausting  drains upon the vital energies,

      CLIMATE PREDISPOSING  TO  CONSUMPTION
  Allow me to say a word or two on climate, and some states of tha 
54               USES OF THE LUNGS, AND
atmospxisre, as under some circumstances predisposing to consump-
tion.   Consumption  prevails most in  dark, damp,  cool climates,
Buck as that of Scotland and England ; but climate alone never wilJ
cause consumption, and never did.   In Scotland, and some parts ol
Wales, consumption  is  almost  epidemic.   Its highlands and  se«
toasts  are dark, cold and cloudy; but in the early periods of Scot
tish history, its population was a most hardy race.   Effeminacy a<-
most unknown in both sexes.  Then,  consumption was almost  ui
known ;  now, nearly, half of its adult population,  when they di«
are its victims.  Climate can only concur with other causes in pro
ducing consumption.
   Li^ht and dry climates are least  predisposing to  hihg diseases
such as the climates of Siberia and Cuba.   No more deaths take
place, ror as many, from consumption in Siberia, as in Cuba, in pro-
portion to the population.
   Consumption wras an exceedingly rare disease in Canada for many
generations, until they became an effeminate race.   It is now fre-
quent.   Cold is not a cause, nor d6v6s it cause predisposition to con-
sumption, as is commonly thought.   In fact,  cold dry air is most
healthy and beneficial to the lungs.   But cold may act  to such an
extent  as to  enfeeble and break down the system, and then, like
other debilitating causes, it  may predispose to consumption.   Of
all the predisposing causes, the effects  of cold are most  easily ob-
viated.
   I had the honor of a personal acquaintance, for many years, with
the lion, and Right Rev.  Dr. Stewart, Lord Bishop of Quebec.
In his old age and enfeebled by disease, his duties compelled him to
pass alternately his winters in Quebec and Toronto.   In Quebec, the
cold is incessaii.,, ^ieady and dry, for nearly  six  months,  with verv
few changes  or fluctuations of temperature.   The  air  is drv and
bracing.  In Toronto, the air is mild, damp, and subject to great and
sudden changes of temperature.  Dr. Stewart told me that he much
preferred residing in Quebec.  Consumption is much less frequent
in Quebec than in Toronto,  all things considered.
   Those cases of consumption induced much by skin disease will b«
influenced by cold in  the early stages of the attack, the same  as  th« 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
&»
original skin disease was.   For example :  salt rheum is most apt t<j
appear in cold weather, and at the period of changes from heat to
cold, and to disappear on the approach of warm weather. Hence many
cases of this kind in Uxe early stages disappear in warm weather, and
are helped on going to a warm climate, so that many cases of asthma,
bronchitis,  throat disease and consumption, are better in their early
stages by warm weather.   But as the disease becomes more seated
the good effects of  the warm weather are overbalanced  by  the de-
bility^ it produces, and the suffere/ derives no benefit  from the  re-
turn of spring and access to warm weather.
   Other forms of skin diseases are worse in summer, and if affecting
the lungs, throat, &c.; the  persons will have much more  cough in
summer than winter during the first stages of their  disease.   This
whole subject of humor, or skin, or tissual diseases is eminently de-
serving of the most scrutinizing attention, as it must  greatly modify
»y advice and remedies.
   Obstructed perspiration,  or a common cold, a cause of consump-
tion.
   A common cold  is a frequent cause of consumption.    Although
in my remarks on diseases that cure consumption, I shall  refer  to a
cold as  at times curing,  instead of producing consumption,  yet  it
much oftener produces than cures consumption.   The first attacks
of cold very rarely  produce consumption unless in lungs highly pre-
disposed and prepared for it.  "fhere are many persons who will have
a cold in cold weather which wiil last two or four weeks, and go off.
The next winter they will last five or six  weeks ; and so increase in
intensity and continuance in successive winters, until  a  cough  lasts
nearly all the year,  and consumption is  the result.   Cold produces
consumption by obstructing the pores  of the skin,  and  the fluids
which should pass by the skin are thrown upon the lungs.  The lungs
become gorged with blood;  the air cells nearly  closed.   Nature, tc
retrieve herself, sets up a secretion of phlegm more  or  less watery
and acrid, that is thrown off in greater or less quantities from the skin
that lines and covers the walks of the air pipes and air cells.  Should
these secretions continue long and be profuse, great irritation is pro-
duced, and the system sinks into consumption by the  great  debilitv 
65                USES OF THE LUNGS, AND

of the lungs, and engorgement of blood and mucus and ulcerated m>
cretions.   What is called quick consumption, i» usually in tho begi*
niug oniv a common cold.

                          CATARRH.
  Catarrh is a form of disease like a cold that is located chiefly on the in
teraal lining of the no^, extending up between the bony plates abov«
the eye-brows; at times occasioning most intense headache  and dull-
cess about the head  and eyes.  Oftentimes the discharges are very
copious.   Occasionally it extends all over the back of the throat anc1
par^> .ibout the palate, reaching along  the passage back to the inter
jal ear, and producing at first dullness of hearing and finally deafness
The discharges will often drop from the back of the nostrils into the
wind-pipe, producing constant hawking and raising of offensive mucus.
Sometimes the catarrh  spreads  down the wind-pipe  and along the
air-pipes to the top of the lungs, when pain, tightness and stricture is
often felt—also producing a cough and raising nearly tho same matter
as is discharged from the nose.   Catarrh differs from a  common cold
by its longer continuance, almost total absence of any fever, and by its
offensive smelling discharges,  rarely ever  found in an ordinary cold.
I think it is produced by a humor or sort of skin disease, that  spreads
wherever the catarrh is experienced, and is its exciting and continuing
cause.
   Catarrh is very curable, and all its  unpleasant  consequences easily
removed.   It is often a cause of noises in the nead, ringing in the ears,
and great oppression about  the head,  causing  deafness.  It at  times
deranges the general health so nuich 83 to prepare the way for puimo-
naiy consumption.  At  times catarrh cures consumption, 3ret  it  is a!
ways on the lungs more or less during consumption.

                         INFLUENZA.
   Among the exciting causes of consumption, and one that weakens
and irritates the lungs as much as any other, is influenza.   It  is  a  U r-
rible disease.   Its occurrence in summer is  a frightful  calamity, as it
lays the foundation for thousands of consumptions.  Influenza  wnll re>
der the strongest lungs in persons no way inclined to consumption, higo 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.               II
ly predisposed to it.   It is worthy of remark, that a summer  cold  or
an influenza in siunrner, is much more liable to produce consumption
than if it takes place in winter.   No relics of influenza should be al-
lowed to remain, but it should be done away by exercise, bathing and
(he inhaling tube, and suitable medicines.

                HEREDITARY CONSUMPTION.
  jTi speaking to you of the causes of pulmonary  consumption,  it  is
♦.roper that I  should speak to you of  hereditary consumption.  He.e-
ditary taint is often spoken of as a caused" consumption. I do not thuik
because our parents die  of any disease, that we must necessarily  have
it, whether there is a predisposition to consumption, cancer, or any oth-
er disease.   It is a very curious fact, that children are  copies  of  theii
parents, more or less frequently, in each minute particular ;  both in ex-
ternal formation and the most intricate peculiarities of  the constitution.
  I once knew a case of a man, who, after marriage, and having two
healthy children, lost by injury the use of his right arm, that gradual-
ly withered  away to mere skin and bone,  with no power in it.  He had
two children born after this accident, and  both had  withered arms.
  Persons born  of parents who are consumptive, only  inherit apredis
position to this disease, and sooner fall into  consumption from  any ol
tVi active causes I have before mentioned,  than  if their parents had
been free from consumptive cc-Eplaints.    This strongly indicates  to
them the necessity of avoiding all the predisposing  causes of consump-
tion I have enumerated.   Greater care is required of these in  forming
and keeping a fine chest and lungs.   They should  also recollect that
they should sooner adopt preventive remedies, and longer continue the
precautions I shall hereafter point out.  Jisease in  them is more rapid
and sooner fata!  than in persons  of healthy  parents.  That their lungs
will bear vastly less disease and are cured with greater difficulty  than
if not predisposed.   Therefore they  should take earlier remedies  in
their cure.   It must be  agreeable  to  the consumptively disposed,  to
Lnow that of all  the diseases to  which we are or can be predisposed by
hereditary taint that tho seeds of consumption are easiest eradicated
and most perfectly obliterated from the constitution.
  Person* not hereditarily predisposed to consumption may  bcccm«
                   U* 
58
USES OF THE LUNGS, AND
predisposed to it, by long suffering under any of tho causes I hav«
mentioned as inclining us to consumption ; so that no person, whethei
predisposed or not, should allow any  circumstances tending  to con
.sumption to be acting upon him, if possible to prevent it   That ij
can always be prevented, will be shown in the lecture on prexen^on
and cure of consumption.

                     SPINAL DISEASES.
   Spinal diseases often lead to  diseased lungs, by the  great  debility
tiey produce.  This debility preventing a full free exercise and expan-
sion of the lungs.   The ancient writers on the lungs and consumption
make a consumption of the back or spine.  A vast many persons allow
pain to continue a long time in the spine, between the shoulders in the
neck, and particularly in the lowest  portions of the back-bone, hips,
and extreme end of the back-bone; sometimes attended  .rith heat, at
other times not; sometimes tender to the touch, at other times a cold
rpot, &e.; curvatures of the spine, &c.  In a  vast many cases, and pro-
bably quite a large majority of the cases, there is no actual disease of
the spine; but those pains originate from humor, loss of symmetry, and
rheumatism, as I shall explain in subsequent lectures.
   From wnatever cause produced, the effect  is very injurious upon all
die general functions of the system, and should receive early attention.

                    PAIN IN THE SIDE.
   Pain in the side, or its cause, often by organic changes,  or by pro-
ducing inability or an indisposition  to expand the  chest,  will at  last
injure the lungs in many cases,  and sh<»«dd not be allowed, but should
be cured.

                   KIDNEY  AFFECTIONS.
   It is the office of the  kidneys  to separate the salts and earths,  and
much water from the blood; their office is most important, and if not
properly performed,  has a tendency injurious  to the lungs.  Occa-
sionally in consumption, little  or  no cough, or expectoration, is ob-
served ; but all the matter that  should be raised by coughing is carried
off by the kidneys.  This is a very important hint for  the treatment 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION
59
    ¥ if consumption, as it indicates the use of kidney medicines, or such an
'l\*. **»-'! produce a free flow of urine.

                                GRAVEL.
        Gravel, if present,  so as to produce much stoppage  of uriner ot
     cause it to be scanty, and thick, with settlings, upon standing a short
     tins, or very high and dark colored, will often predispose to a coupr*.
     and increased expectoration from the lungs.  It is an unfortunate state
     of things, and should receive our earliest attention.   Too much urine,
     especially if it is sweet, inclines to debility and consumption.
        Costiveness is also a frequent cause of debility and unhealthy action
     in the  lungs.  In both  gravel and  costiveness, the fluids that should
     pass by the  kidneys and  bowels are thrown upon the lungs and skin;
     in many cases causing engorgement of the lungs,  and a strong ten-
     dency to consumption.   I rarely ever recollect to have noticed bleeding
     from the lungs,  unless costiveness was present.   In a future lecture, I
     will speak again upon this subject.
        Luxurious and high living, if at the same  time accompanied by a
     change from active to sedentary life, will often induce rapid consump-
     tion.   Ajnong the articles of  diet that I think often very injurious,  ia
     indulging in large quantities of coffee, hot, cold, &c.  Also  high-sea-
     soned food,  pasty, and meat, and greatly diminished exercise,  and
     confinement within doors.   Sitting up late at nights, &c.,  <fec,  will
     readily predispose to  consumption   in a vast many persons.  I cannot
     better  illustrate  what I mean,  than by giving you one  or two  cases.
     Whilst in Virginia,  last summer,  a gentleman called  on  me,  and
     mentioned the  extraordinary  mortality from  consumption that pre-
     vailed in some parts of the south.   He said that of late, within a very
     few years, consumption  had  become  very common  on  the southern
     plantations,  among the slaves, and especially, almost exclusively, among
     the house sei-vants.  He told  me that thirty-five years ago, consump-
     tion was almost unknown among their slaves; that those slaves lived
     on the simplest diet, consisting of milk, vegetables, salt bacon, no tea
     or coffee.   The very mention of  these  last would have seemed su-
     Dremely ridiculous.   Now tliose house servants on  many estates are
     treated to the most luxurious diet.  Coffee as much as they choose to 
    GO                USES OF THE LUNGS, AND  '   C^V+1

    drink, two or three times a day; also large quantities of Trcsh and salt
    meat,  fine bread, &c.; very little labor is expected of them; they
    take little exercise, and that at the slowest rate,  uniting at  once indo-
    lence, luxury, and effeminacy;  the consequence is exactly what I have
    before mentioned.  The production and development of  tubercles, 01
    irue consumption in its worst form, running its whole  course,  from
    beginning to death, in about twelve weeks; the cases occurring with
    frightfrd frequency.  The last year,  on one plantation,  out of eighty
    persons, seventeen died of consumption, within twelve months. ' Hands
    perfectly well in field labor,  but removed from the field  to the house
    to supply the place of those who had died, would,  after a few weeks'
    repose, confinement, and diet, such as I have before named, begin-to
    sicken,  and soon die.   No cure was found, but at once, on the ap-
    pearance of cough  or debility,  to send them to their field labor, ami
    siiv pie diet.  This, if early adopted, usually effected a cure.              *

                      INJURIOUS MEDICINES.                   ' ^
      Medicines that incline us to consumption.  I have before told you   ^»
    how little was  known  correctly of the lungs, and  the true causes of     v
    eoraumption;  owing to this, a  great many medicines  and  medical   ^ t
    remedies  are often  used,  that instead of curing,  rapidly and surely
    incline to produce consumption.  I can only mention a fe-w of them.
                            MM5 RCURT.                              \
      At the head of all  these  is mercury.  In all its preparations,  or    >.
    different modes of giving it, salivation  in some states of the lungs b  & •
    as  certainly fatal ss the dagger or pistol; in  some sections  of om     \
    country, calomel, as it is given, is a most dreadful  scourge.   In many    *j
    parts of  the United States,  cities, towns, villages, and  country, are   ^
    strewn with the wrecks of firing men,  women, and children ; whilst   ».
   ;the graveyards conceal the decaying remains of thousands killed by   v)
  ,/mercury.  This is not  everywhere  the case.   I am most happy to   ..
^T>rjpesent the city of Philadelphia as an exception ; more  calomel is   6
 l  consumed  by  some small towns  in New-England,  than by the whole   V
    city of Philadelphia.   Every consiunptive should  understand, that  ^>
    when he takes calomel, uncombined blue pills, Ac, he does  it at tha  \ 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.
61
 risk of his life.  There is  no doubt that mercury w 11 remain in the
 system years after it is taken, and produces injurious  effects  even
 twenty years after it has been swallowed or rubbed into the skin.
   If tubercles exist in the Kings, calomel softens and inflames them,
 and thus developes consumption.  Calomel administered to the child-
 ren of consumptive parents,  is very liable  to bring on consumption.
 I think in many cases of consumption in children, it is produced by calo-
 mel.  What I say of calomel will apply to every mercurial preparation.

                             OPIUM.
   Opium in all its preparations, as  far as my observations go, is very
 injurious to consumptive lungs, and should be avoided.  It may quiet
 the cough a little, but it soon returns with greater violence.  No cure
 will go on under the  influence of opium.  It prevents a cure, causes
 night sweats, closes all the secretions save of  the skin, constipates the
 bowels, destroys the  appetite, confuses  the  mind, and wholly breaks
 down the nervous  system.   Now,  in consumption,  it is of the last
 importance that the nervous system should  be kept in the greatest
 strength and composure.

      C . / •   "V   .,.*'■  EMETICS.
   Emetics often do great  injury to the consumptive, especially those
 of a debilitating class-, as emetic tartar.   Ipecac, lobelia, <fec. are not
 bo objectionable.   I scarcely use any emetics.

       BLISTERS  AND  SORES  UPON  THE   CHEST.
   These I rarely use.  I have often seen blisters  and tartar  emetic
 sores hurry consumptives to a premature grave.   They prevent free
 breathing and  expansion  of the chest, very much debilitate the pa-
 tients, make them exceedingly nervous,  &c.   I have seen very horri
 ble sores produced on the patient's chest, even within five days before
death.  In confirmed consumption,  blisters and sores can be of little
use; and in the later stages are  most pernicious.   These are mont of
(he leading causes  of consumption.   Nearly all tending to one pri-
mary effect: to prevent a free exercise of the lungs  and perfect ftr-
pension of their air-cells, and of course  of the whole chest. 
a               ON THE PREVENTION AND
           DISCOURSE   SECOND.

 ON THE  PREVENTION AND  CURE  OF  CONSUMPTION

   The subject of this discourse can hardly be surpassed in its impor-
 tance.  Nearly,  or  fully one-third of the deaths of adults  in  this
 country arise from consumption, or diseases of the  ch^st  These dis-
 eases are eminently curable in themselves, and only require the aid
 of judicious knowledge, and such  true  remedies as  actually exist.
 The reason why these diseases  are  so often finally incurable, is not
 because they are so in  themselves, but  arises  from our ignorance.
 Misconception  and ignorance of chest diseases, prevails to  an enor-
 mous extent, and hence their far-spreading and overwhelming fatalitv.
 It is preposterous to suppose that a wise and good God would create
 us so imperfectly that a disease can arise in its nature  incurable, and
 that may sweep  away the whole  human  family.  I propose  to men-
 tion to you, in the first place, some of those diseases that cure con
 •umption, or at least prevent its progress  and fatal termination.

          DISEASES  THAT CURE CONSUMPTION.
   The first of  these which I will mention are diseases  of the heart.
 I will observe that  those  diseases which cure consumption are those
 which in their  commencement and  progress enlarge the chest.  Dis-
 eases of the heart  are  usually of  this class; such affections as are
 attended with  enlargement  of the  heart, and great palpitation, are
 those which most relieve the lungs.  By  retarding the  circulation of
the blood, the lungs, as well as the heart, become greatly enlarged.  In
 all cases, enlargement and irregular action of the heart, although dis-
 tressing, will retard consumption, and  often cure it.
   I will mention a few cases.  In  the summer  of the year 1843, I
lectured at Saratoga.  The day after  my first lecture, as I was walk-
ing in the street,  a young man standing in a store  door, without any
preliminary salutation, says to me, " What is the matter with  me 2" 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                63

•topped, and looking at him, told him there was not much the matte!
with him.   " Have I not the consumption ?"  said he.   " No," I re-
plied ;  " and you will never have it; you have a  slight disease cf
your heart;  that is all your ailment"   His brother-in-law, standing
beside him, said at once, " He will be very glad to hear you say so,
as he thinks he has the consumption, or is liable to it."  The next
moment the young man  was laying prostrate in the  store door in a
fit, by sudden stoppage of the heart, brought on by mental excitement
ttat induced faintness and  loss of consciousr.e-s for a moment, until
tho heart again acted.  I accompanied him  to his house and pre-
scribed for him ; in a short time he was well.
  At his house I met his wife.  Before marriage, she was Miss Avery,
of Pittsford, or Brandon, Vermont.  Her brother was  Doct. Avery,
of New York;  a  pleasing  writer,  who died early of  consumption.
She is a niece of my much esteemed friend, Lyman B. Walker, Esq.,
the present  respected attorney general of New Hampshire.   Mrs. L.
told me that twenty-eight months before, she was brought to Saratoga
in the last stages of consumption : great  emaciation, night  sweats,
hectic fever, much cough, and frequent expectoration ;  in fact, she was
not expected to live two months.   As a forlorn hope, she  came  to Sara-
toga to driuk the water, without the least expectation of recovering.
After being a short time at Saratoga, she awoke one morning and found
tho bed curtains in great agitation, as well as the whole bed.   She
soon traced  this to her heart, and discovered it in great  agitation, and
palpitating violently.  For six weeks her friends watched her bed-side,
hardly daring to turn their backs upon her, fearing she might die with-
out their observing it.  In about six weeks the violent and irregular ac-
tion of her heart began slowly to subside.  Her friends then thought to
inquire after her cough,  but this  had ceased  for  some time.  In a
short time the heart resumed its  healthy action,  and  she was well.
Her strength and flesh rapidly returned.   I saw her about twenty-two
months after her perfect recovery.   She told me her lungs had never
troubled her since.   If she took cold, her heart would become agita-
ted, but no trouble with  her lungs whatever.  She was a fine-locking,
fleshy, kealthy woman, with a very full chest and lungs.
  In  November, 18-13, I met at Concord. New  Hampshire,  Go* 
 U               ON THE PREVENTION AND

 McNeil, of Hillsboro', New Hampshire,  brother of the distinguished
 Colonel in the American army.   His case is interesting, as it showa
 the effects of a common cold—as sometimes preventing consumption,
 instead of producing it.
   General  McNeil's case was as follows: Almost  as  early as he can
 remember, he had a cough and apparent consumption.  He well re-
 collects, at  ten years of age, hearing remarks from  his friends and
 neighbors, that he was in consumption.  This  cough  continued on
 him until he was grown up.   In his adolescence he could only go to
 school, not being able to do any work, or endure much  fatigue.  From
~iwenty to thirty he  could  do no work, only ride about and- superin-
 tend his farming operations.   The cough and expectoration changed
 6ut little up to the age of  thirty-five, when being in Montreal, Cana-
 da, on awakening one morning, he found his bed and its curtains, &c,
 in great agitation ; he soon traced this to his  heart, which was beat-
 ing violently and irregularly.  This irregular action of the heart soon
 controlled all  the other organs  of  the chest.   It continued on him
 for five years, with some returns of the old lung troubles, cough, ex-
 pectoration, &c.   At about  forty, the cough  ceased; the action of
 the heart consequently returned to a healthy condition, and although
 a delicate man compared with others, yet from  forty  to sixty, to the
 time I saw him, his health had been good.  If he takes a bad cold,
 or deranges his system much, his heart will be a little excited, but in
 general, his health is good.
   The heart, as far as I have noticed it, seems  to control most tho
 lower portions of the lungs;  so that in a multitude of cases, the tops
 of one or both lungs may be ulcerated, and go on to a certain extent,
 when the heart will begin  to be affected  and  by its  irregular action
 stop the progress  of the consumption, and finally cure it: which i?
 effected by the heart first tiking  a part of the inflammation upon it
 self; and secondly, by retarding the circulation of the blood, engorges
 the lungs, and this, with »its  own enlargement, rapidly  enlarges th«
 chest and every part of the lungs.
   In October, 1844, Miss  Mary Dibble called on me  in New Haven,
 Connecticut.   She had heard me lecture, and was  so struck with th«
 parallel of my lectures and her experience, that though in good health 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                63
 che called to tell me her case.  She said that two or three times sh«i
 had been raised from a seemingly hopeless state, but the reason of it
 she had never understood, until she heard my lecture.  She was tall,
 and of <«. slight figure.  Her father died of consumption, and she had
 lost nine cousins of consumption.   Now 45 years*old.  Mother and
 brother died of  lung fever.   At eighteen, had a fever, and was  sali-
 vated w'th mGrcury ; soon had a bad cough and raised blood.  She
 rapidly became very bad, not able to sit up  for weeks.   In eight
 months she recovered ;  knows not how, but had great palpitation of
 the heart.  In one year confined again with a bad cough.  Dr. pro-
 posed the use of opiuui, and stimulants;  these she refused  to take ;
 had an enormous appetite, and relaxation of the bowels • could get
 to relief except by great abstemiousness, living on a half pint of milk
<*s day, and a little fruit; cough dry and hacking, raising only blood
 She gained her health,  subject to fevers  and lungs affected.   After
 some years she went to reside in Norfolk, Virginia;  had a fit of sick-
 ness there, and the doctor thought her  case  a  heart disease.  Eight
 years ago she returned to New Haven, and took a* typhoid fever that
 lasted sixty days, terminating in hectic fever, ulcerated lungs, very bad
 cough, entire prostration, her fife being entirely despaired of by physi-
 cians and every body else.   Sick thirteen months;  constant palpita-
 tion of the .heart; but again recovered; raised a good deal of thick,
 yellow, cream-like matter.  Five years ago, sick  again, raised blood
 three times, and lost her voice from November  to April;  cough and
 thick expectoration, and her heart so bad as almost daily to  threaten
 suffocation ; this had always been  the case whenever her lungs be-
 came bad. The heart affection  usually seeming  the most immediately
 dangerous.   She has been  benefitted  by short sea voyages.  Spent
 one winter in Savannah, Georgia. Disposed to be bilious, and at times
 dyspeptic.  Through fife, bowels were usually in good order. On ex-
 amining the chest and lungs, I found the top of the right  lung alj
 gone, down to about the fourth rib, causing a loss of nearly one-third
 *f the right lung; the rest of the  right  lung  was  good.  The laft
 lung was unusually large, and the ribs over the  left chest bulging out
 The heart was enlarged considerably beyond usual health.
   Tn this remarkable case, for twenty-seven years, the heart had ro> 
66               GN THE PREVENTION AND
Bisted the progress of consumption, and three times raised the persoi
from apparently hopeless consumption, curing the diseased Jungs aftei
one-third of the right lung had been lost by tuberculous ulceration,
I could introduce numerous cases of this kind, but the limits of a lec-
ture will not admit of it.  Allow me  to  say, no greater skill  is  re-
quired or knowledge, than to  know when  to interfere  with, or  let
alone, a heart disease in persons who are predisposed to consumption,
or in whom the heart is  acting, or being diseased, on  account of-fhe
lungs, or to save the lungs.  It is a singular fact, that a disease  of
the heart, when it is in sympathy with the lxngs, is rarely fatal; but
is apt in very many cases to continue  until  late in life,  and  finally
cease altogether.  I have often noticed in a family of brothers and
sisters, one  or more being consumptive, one  or more with heart affec-
tion, and no consumption, while others perhaps will have asthma.
   There is  another curious fact: a parent saved from consumption by
a heart disease ;  his1 children are as liable to Consumption as if he had
had consumption.  1 have often known families of Wiildreu going off
in consumption, and no declared signs of  consumption or asthma  in
either parents;  but I  would very soon detect heart-trouble in one of
them.  The difference between  heart disease and consumption is, one
usually hurries you away in early life, the other usually allows you to
die in old  age.   Of course, if the heart  disease  is vthy violent, it
must be corrected and controlled by suitable remedies.   At all times
it  is perfectly curable by curing the weak state of the lungs.   I
should remark that there are original diseases of the  heart, which do
not arise from sympathy with the lungs, and are entirely  independent
of the lungs; but in all such cases the lungs are rarely diseased, and
never become  diseased,  unless asthmatic.   The  diseased or enlarged
heart saves them.  Moderate disease of the heart, properly managed,
is a tolerable passport to old age.

                           ASTHMA.
   The next disease I will speak of, as curing consumption, and always
preventing it, is asthma: tho pht^-'^sul it is otter, cail^l i*: common
language.  A diseased hea2^^1o^U>«e SwA  r.nd 'uogs; but <isth
ma vastly more, and is A ^atoZ/vj* t'up  iu^gr.  themse'.ves.   It is % 
       CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                 fl?

PLATE H.                    PLATE L
            Asthmatic Chest.                  Consumptive Chest.

iieea3e caused by consumption, or consumptive tendency in the lungs,
and always arrest* the progress of consumption.  It is a vastly lesser
disease given in place of a greater, and instead of being a curse, ig
osiul'.y a great blessing.  In consumption, the lungs are too small;
in asthma they are too large.  (See Plates II and I.)  A disease like
asthma may be produced  by ossification of the blood vessels of tho
heart; but in jfcorly all cases, it is produced by consumptive irritation
of the lungs.   It often  takes  place suddenly, in earliest childhood,
continues  un(5  between 12 and 20, then  goes  off and is never seen
Ro-ain; but the person falls a victim to consumption ;  or asthma may
reappear and secure the patient from consumption.  If "properly treat
cA, it is a  passp »rt to old age ; but when badly  treated, it may termi-
nate in dropsy  f the chest.  In cases of dropsy superseding it, it will
usually be foui  d that ossification of the blood  vessels of the heart ia
present, and  pot simple asthma.   Asthma all  but always cures con-
sumption  ; never produces it.   In some exceedingly rare cases, by
excessivel" effeminating and debilitating the system, a person may shJi
 
i
68               ON THE PREVENTION AND

under the effects of asthma  into apparent consumption, or what i«
made consumption by very bad treatment.   The asthma le«*v\es  the
person, and  he is  rapidly overcome  by the  consumption that had
always been on him whilst he had the asthma, and which resumes its
rapid and fatal course, on asthma  leaving him.
  If asthma is cured without  perfectly expanding the  lungs, tad
keeping them so, the person is  extremely liable to  consumption.  In
October,  1844, at East-Haven, in Connecticut, I was  consulted by
Mr. S. Hotchkiss, aged 43, who. was in the last stages of coT«sumptiont
wishing to go to the West Indies.  My opinion was asked.   For many
years he was a subject of  asthma.  Ten years before, that is, 1834, he
went to St.  Croix, in the West  Indies ; the warm climate  entirely
cured him;  he returned home delighted with his relief;  took no steps
to keep his lungs well, as  he had no fear of consumption.   The conse-
quence was,  after seven  years time, consumption disclosed itself, of
which he died ten days after I saw him.
  Mr. Daniel Russel,  at Providence,  Pshode Island, consulted me in
March, 1845,  for diseased lungs.  I found him near his end in hopo
less  consumption.  He told me, that at twenty he was attacked -by-
asthma, and had  it every night, more or less,  for thirty years,  when
without any known cause it left him.  In eighteen months after, he
began to have a cough,  with the  early symptoms of a fahil and true
tubercular consumption.
  Mrs. Faxon, of Boston, consulted me in March, 1844, for distress-
ing asthma.   She  had b&3n for forty-two nights unable to lie  down
in bed at all; but sat up all night.  No medicine "was of any avail.
A short time after I saw her,  an abscess broke in her lungs and dis
charged freely, which gave her immediate relief, and all the asthmatic
symptoms left her.  She has had repeated attacks  in this way, but
was  relieved by the breaking of an abscess  each attack.   During tho
time while the  abscess was forming, asthma would attack her violently;
when it broke it would   leave her.   This  had often been the. -vise.
Four or six  weeks would  elapse whiLst the  abscess was forming, and
during this period, most distressing asthma would be present, and all
leavo when the abscess broke,  and  the irritation of the lungs was over.
She would then recover her usual health.  Asthma, in this case, coa 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                 89
wquently curing consumption.  I saw this ladv in J.ily, 1845, in very
good health.
  As in heart diseases, so in asthma, woe to the person who s cured
of asthma, without a free, and perfect, and continued expansion of the
chest; as he will, in nearly ail cases, sooner or later fall into consump-
tion.   The remarks about asthma curing consumption, and preventing
it, I have verified in a multitude of cases.  It is also true that children,
born of asthmatic parents, and delicately brought up, are equally apt
to have consumption, as those born of parents who have died of true
consumption ; but if rightly brought up, and well exposed to  outrdoor
occupations  and exercise, with rather hard firing,  they will  rather
incline to asthma, not consumption.
   By  treating asthma nearly as I do consumption, I find it perfectly
and readily curable; much more so than consumption.   Its longer or
shorter continuance,  before I see the patient, is of very little  conse-
quence in its cure.
   March, 1851.—I have to this time treated many thousand  cases of
asthma.   I do not know of five cases that have failed of recovery.
   I have seen asthma affect one lung and consumption the other

       SWELLED TONSILS PREVENT CONSUMPTION.
   Swelling and continued inflammation, more or less, of the tonsils,
derive from the lungs, and  often and  usually prevent consumption.
Of this I  have seen a great many cases.  Dr. Ramadge, in  Ix>ndon,
had a  cast of the  chest of a man who died of consumption of the left
lung, while the right lung was well,  or nearly so.  The  right tonsil
was always enlarged and inflamed, and he considered the escape of
the right lung from disease was owing to the swelling and inflamma-
tion of the right tonsil.  The left tonsil had never been-inflamed.
   After a lectur* I delivered at Saratoga,.in 1843, a distinguished
gentleman of that town,----Cook,  Esq., spoke to me  of his expe-
rience  in this matter.  Ho said that for a number of ye are, his  son
had been  subject  in winter to attaclcs  of quinsy, which is an acute
inflammation of the tonsils.  His life would at times seem in dan-
ger.  Mr. Cook told me  that he had consulted a great many physi
rians ind surgeons, who could give no account of the uses of  th« 
73
ON THE PREVENTION AND
tonsils.   One old  surgeon of great celebrity,  said  thty were lha
only part of the human  frame that had  no use, and were made
entirely in vain.  The tonsils act as a sort of sentinels to the lungs,
and  attacks which would  affect the  lungs in  a vast many cases,
attack the tonsils.  The tonsils enlarge and partially close the throaty
so that the passage of the air out of the lungs is.partiaUy  and often
much obstructed; the effect is to enlarge the lungs, and prevent the
progress of consumption.   It is said that whenever  the tonsils are
enlarged, tubercles at that time exist on the  lungs.   To continue
the case of Mr. Cook.  After  much anxious consultation,  by the
unanimous consent of all the consulting physicians, the tonsils of his
son were cut out.  But the next winter, said Mr. Cook, to my horror
the disease  attacked  my son's  lungs, and  it was with the greatest
difficulty we could keep him alive until warm weather, when his dis-
eased lungs  grew better; and now, said Mr. Cook, I propose  to send
him to the West Indies early in the fall, to cure his lungs, and save
his life by a residence in a warm climate.  It was remarked in his
case, that one tonsil  was cut out and a  part of the other.  The in-
flammation attacked  his lungs ; the lung on the side where the ton-
sil was  all cut out, was much more affected than  the  other side, for
the piece of the tonsil left in was inflamed,  and so relieved the lung
on the same side in some measure.
   A case was mentioned to me  at Portsmouth, New-Hampshire.   A
child  of Captain Philip Currier, of that town,  had swelled  tonsils,
and its mother  had them  cut out.  The disease  that  was  upon tho
tonsils soon settled upon  the lungs, and  the child,  to its mother's
inexpressible grief, soon died of consumption.   In cases of persons
who are inclined to any humor in the system, and that have the ton-
sils inflamed,  if you  cut them  out,  the  lungs are almost  certain  to
become affected.   The inflammation and swelling of the  tonsils are
easily  remedied and  relieved;  so that cutting  them  out  is  usually
unnecessarv,  besides often endangering the life  of the person who
has his tonsils cut out.  Parents who have the health of their child-
ren in their keeping,  should be cautious how they allow their tonsib
to te cut out.   If very greatly enlarged, they may be cut out after put
ting the lungs in a healthy state. 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                71

          COMMON  COLD  CURES CONSUMPTION.
   I  have before hinted that a  common cold will occasionally cur*
eousumption.  It may seem paradoxical that a cold  will cause con-
sumption, and will also at other  times cure it  I will  endeavor to
make you understand how this can  be.  Suppose  I  stick  a nail
in my hand, and  suppose inflammation  follows; should  this  in-
flammation run  over  the skin of my hand, and  be  superficial, my
hand would swell very much, but I should not lose it;  but if the in-
flammation should  attack the bones and deep-seated  parts of my
hand, I might lose the hand.  It is  the same with  a cold ; at one
time  it  will  attack the deep-seated parts of the lungs, and  cause
consumption ; at other times it will only run over  the skin,  fining
the  air-pipes and  air-cells  of the  lungs;  in  this  way enlarging
the lungs very much, and will prevent and even cure  consumption,
as I have witnessed in many cases.  The case of Mr. McNeil, of
Hillsboro', mentioned in heart cases, at page 04, is an illustration of
consumption retarded, and its fatal  termination prevented by a eold
on  the  lungs;  or, as  it is called, pulmonary catarrh.   General
McNeil  had  a cough  and seeming  consumption for thirty-five  years
before his heart became affected;  when for five years the heart af-
fection and cold acted  together, and both cured the consumption upon
the  lungs; when,  the exciting  cause being removed,  all got well,
both the  heart disease and the lung affection,  &c.
   In Liverpool,  England, I met a  lady whose mother  died of con
sumption, and,  as  her only,  child was very delicate  as she grew up,
all thought she would, at an early period, fall a  prey  to  consump-
tion.  At nineteen yeare of age, she took a bad cold, as it was thought,
and as it  actually  was: soon her  health became good.  When  I
knew her, she had had a cough and daily  expectoration for twenty-
seven years ;  saving its inconvenience, she enjoyed excellent health,
with a full, well expanded chest, without any symptoms of a decline.
   In November,  1842,1 lectured at Burlington, Vt, upon consump-
tion ; after the  lecture, a respectable lawyer of that  town,  ----
Griswold, Esq., came to see me.   He told  me that if he could have
thought I had previously known him, he would have believed that 1 had
lectured upon him; as my various remarks so strikingly corresponded 
73          .    ON THE PREVENTION AND

with his experience.  He had suffered from a cough  for more than
thirty yeare, and raised a great deal from his lungs.   At cne time he
had a bi.d influenza, and  joined to his old Cough, presented strong
syi/iptoms of rapid consumption.   It was in  March, a very  cold,
windy month.  He was attended by  two extremely  well  educated
physicians,  both professors, teachers  and practitioners of medicine.
They adopted the usual practice, a very  warm room ;  as if cold were
a mortal enemy to the lungs, and  emetic tartar,  confinement to hif
bed, and all accessible remedies, to reduce the strength of the pa
tient,  and thus drive off his disease.   Under  this treatment his
strength rapidly declined; cough and expectoration became profus*?,
&nd every symptom of rapid consumption appeared.   In this  state
his two physicians, knowing the extent of his business, felt  it to be
their duty to make known to him that he  was near  his end.   On
this announcement, he said at once, u If that is the case, why  have
you kept me so long in bed ?  I should  have much preferred to have
been up."   He immediately had an arm chair  brought to  him, that
had wheels on its feet, and caused himself to be dressed,  and was
wheeled into  his parlor—a large, well  aired room.  This  was ck?
Thursday;  on Saturday after, his physicians called ; he  told thcn-v
that the next Monday morning he  should start for Montreal,  capita
of Canada,  about eighty miles north from  Burlington—" For," said
he,  " as you say, I have a great deal to do, and but a  short time to
do it in."   They remonstrated against this unheard  of temerity, a^
a species  of suicide; that his  death  must be  the  result in a very
short time.   Their entreaties and positive advice had  no effect upon
his resolution.   He went to Montreal, and "returned nearly well.   I
saw him eighteen yeare after this transaction, in rigorous health, al-
though still subject to his old cough and  expectoration.  As a  very
strong intimation  of his» consumptive habit, I may mention he has
lost two sons by consumption.

                          HYSTERIA.
  Hysteria often arrests and cures  consumption.  In  many cases the
<pasms of hysteric fits stop the breathing for a short time, and prevent
the air leaving the -lungs; and in this way consumption is  often re- 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                73

tai'ded and  at times  entirely  cured.  The effect  of heart diseases,
asthma and  swelled  tonsils, hysteria, a cold, &c, in part is to divert
irritation from the substance  of the lungs,  and also to expand the
lungs and chest  an i in this way cure and prevent  a great manv con-
sumptions.   It  is a most interesting circumstance, that there are
some diseases that cure  consumption—that heart diseases, asthma,
&c, cure consumption, is capable of the utmost possible or desirable
demonstration, by proofs entirely irrefragable  and beyond possible
controversy.   The proving of this establishes an important fact, that
pulmonary consumption is a curable disease, and sets at rest the scep-
ticism  of those  in the highest walks of  the medical profession, who
boldly assert it is always incurable in the very nature of the  disease
itself.  The  despair engendered by these terrible  declarations leads
thousands to untimely graves.

             PREVENTION OF CONSUMPTION.
  Having detailed to you the causes of consumption, you will readily
anticipate much  I  must say in teaching you how to prevent it.   I
will say, that all  consumption is prevented by having and  keeping a
good healthy state of the constitution, and  a  full  chest, and  perfect
symmetry of the whole person.  No  hereditary disease  is so easily
prevented as pulmonary consumption.

     PREVENTION OF HEREDITARY CONSUMPTION.
  No  state  of mind is  more distressing than to live for years,  from
earlie-t recollection,  in the constant  apprehension und expectation
of dying of pulmonary consumption;  thinking  because  a parent
died of consumption, all  his children must  die of it.   This horrible
phantom, by night and ty day, follows many, and usually all whose
parents die of consumption.  All  pleasures are marred by its horrid
apparition.  It haunts them in their dreams, and terrifies them in
their waking hours.  Never do they see a notice of death by con-
sumption, but they  experience a  thrill  of horror through every
perve ; and a cough, or a little hacking, or the least speck of blood,
«id  their minds are filled with  the deepest  distress  and despair.
               4 
74               ON THE PREVENTION AND
They can find no consolation but in death itself.  Let such take cev
rage; no disease is easier prevented than consumption.
   I will give two instances of hereditary consumption being entirely
eradicated, apparently, from the blood of families.
   I  once knew a  family, the grandmother was the daughter of a
very wealthy farmer in the western part of Massachusetts; she was
the oldest daughter, and brought up in the greatest effeminacy. She
died of  consumption at twenty-six, leaving  an only child a daughter.
This daughter was brought up with the same delicacy until she was
twelve yeare of age, when her father- removed to  a frontier town,
where she was exposed to the hardships, and shared in the privations
of a  frontier life.   At  eighteen- she  was married, and  died  at
thirty-two of consumption.  She left a family of sons and daughters;
her sons, whilst  mere children, and all their early days to twenty-
two, led  most active lives, and became professional men.   Two  of
her sons are public speakers ;  they stand well as  such ; they obtained
their professional educations  chiefly by candle-light, before daylight
in the morning, and after dark at night.  Their days, from -early boy- *
hood, were occupied in active, hard, out-door labor—in farming, clear-
ing land, cutting wood in the forest, &c.  The  daughters also shared
in the  hardships  and  exposure.   One son,  from  excessive over-
exposure and  hardship, contracted a dreadful pleurisy, that nearly
destroyed his right lung; of the consequences of which  he died at
an  early age.   All the rest  are living, and their  average ages are
about forty-five  years—all married, and have families  considerably
numerous, and nearly grown.   Now, in the ordinary course of things,
wo should have expected  consumption to show  itself  at an early pe
riod; but not the least appearance or suspicion of consumption is seei
among them ;—-all perfectly free from  any appearance  of consumi)
tipn—all its  predisposition or its seeds apparently eradicated fron-
the blood of the family.
   I will give another case : I knew a  family, where  the father died
of consumption, and the mothers  family were somewhat  inclined to
it.  The father, at his death, left eight sons and one^daughter.  These
eight sons were brought up in most active, out-door labor and exercUa
 --coarse diet, hard fare summer and winter.  The oldest son for merej 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
15
   yeans showed indications of consumption, but was remarkable for his
   tall ai.d very straight figure.  My father treated him for  his cough;
   he got  over his consumptive predisposition mostly, and is now firing at
   nearly 60, in poor health.  All the sons are living; one or two had some
_  appearance of scrofula, yet no consumption.  The average age of those
   eight sons is about forty-four yeare ;—all well, save the oldest; all liv-
   ing, all  married, all have large families of children.  Not a case of con-
   sumption has ever been known among these men, save the oldest, or
   their families.  Hereditary consumption was entirely eradicated by in-
   vigorating exercise in early life.  No effeminacy in them or their fa
   milics.   It was  not so with their sister; she  was an only daughter
   and brought up indulgently—sent to school, and greatly effeminated.
   She died of consumption at about twenty-two.
      Change of air and location are particularly valuable in changing the
   constitution of persons predisposed to consumption ; going into new
   parts of the country ; should they  choose to reside on the shores  of  a
   lake, by all means live on that side whence  the  least wind is experi-
   enced from the lake. This is a rule of va*t importance to the consump-
   tive : piercing winds coming over a wide sheet of water, become loaded
   with vapor and dampness, and are injurious to the consumptive.
      Mothers  who are strikingly scrofulous'and consumptive,  I think, for
   tlieir children's sake, should never nurse ; but these should  be brought
   up by the sucking bottle and feeding them wii!h^ proper food, instead
   of being nursed by their mothers.  Best of all is the choice of a healthy
   wet nurse.  I throw out these remarks on nursing merely as a mattei
   of opinion, having nothing very positive to determine my  judgment.


             PLAIN  BRINGING  UP OF  CHILDREN.
     Children born of consumptive parents should be brought up in the
   p'ainest manner. Food plain, coarse, little meat, much bread and milk,
   pudding and milk, no pastry, no coffee, little greasy food, light clothing
   no dainties to help their appetite; barefooted in summer, if  you please,
   it, least no stockings on their feet; indulge them in all active out-door
   exercises, running, racing, climbing hills and mountains, farming oc-
   cupations of all kinds, military exeTcise.   All beneficial, running anrf 
Tc
ON THE PREVENTION AND
racing, active outdoor exercise tend to give full chests, and large lung*.
and rigorous constitutions—of course, discretion should be observed.
  When I was a boy, I knew two families who lived near each other.
The mother  of one family delighted in the pleasures of the table ; had
a great deal  of company.  Her children were brought up with, the
greatest possible indulgence, both in the profusion, quantity, and ex-
pense of their clothing, and in their beautiful soft beds, and every lux-
ury of the table ; this was especially the case with the daughters.   The
mother told • me, in a later period of her life, what a mistake she made;
she said her  daughters scarcely knew any health after they were grown
up.   The other family were brought up exactly the opposite in all res-
pects, careless in clothing, and rather scanty ; no luxury  in food, and
no superabundance of it;  very much ont of doors.   This family are all
in the prime of manhood,  and  in the cnjo)rment of perfect heakh.
Both families enjoyed the same position in society.   A friend of mine
dined some yeare ago at the house of a rich American merchant, in one
of our largest cities.   Two years after, he dined at the same  table
again ; six persons who were at  the table two years  before, had  died
of consumption, including, two beautiful daughters of the host.  Their
father could  erect over their graves a most costly monument, but what
was this to a good constitution.  They had been brought up in the
worst form of the n\pst costly luxury  and effeminacy.
  Children should not go too early  to school, nor be long confined
there; the desks at which they sit or sjudy should not be too low ;
they should rise to the armpit of  the child, and even to the  bottom
of the throat, so that they will not thrust  the chest forward, or sit
6tooping, in  order to study.  Some years ago, I met a young girl of
ten*years, in the country, whom I knew to bean only child of  very
wealthy parents.  I observed she had  very  round shoulders,  and
btooping chest.  I remarket! to her mother, that her daughter had
*ery round shoulders and stooping chest.  "I know  it," said  she,
" and I have scolded her enough for stooping, but all I can say has
no effect upon her."   I asked her if she thought that scolding would,
cure  round shoulders.   I went  to the school-room,  to see the  table
at which she studied;  1 found  it extremely low, so that  each child
was obliged to throw its shoulders  upon  its chest in  stooping for- 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                Tl

ward,  to  write or read.   By raising the table, high,  the  child*!
Bhonlders were soon restored to symmetry.  I saw her at 16 yean
old, and her figure was very good.   This matter is of such vital im-
portance to the future health of children, that every parent should go
to the school-rooms,  and know  for  a certainty  that the  desks at
which their children write or study are fully up  to the arm-pits, and
in no case allow them to sit stooping  or  leaning  the  shoulders for-
ward  on  the  chest.   If fatigued  by this posture, they should be
called to stand or go out of doors,  and run about  when fatigued; so
that they shall never rest their shoulders on the chest, or relieve them-
selves by such a mischievous  position.  Seven  years is quite early
enough to go  to school.
   I am personally acquainted with two elderly legal gentlemen, who
were  practitioners  of the law,  and have  both, filled stations  in the
judiciary.  They both lost children by consumption ;  ihey both as-
sured me, that they were satisfied they owed their  lives to the prac-
tice  of sitting perfectly straight while writing and  reading, never
stooping at the desk at all.  Practice will soon  make  sitting or stand-
ing perfectly erect vastly more  agreeable and less fatiguing  than a
stooping posture.   To  persons predisposed to consumption, these
hints, as regards writing or reading desks, are  of tho greatest im-
portance.
   In walking, the  chest should  be carried proudly erect, and straight,
the top of it pointing rather backwards than forwards.  The  North
American Indians, who never  had  consumption, are remarkable for
their  perfectly erect, straight walk.  (See Plate  A, figure 1.)   Next
to this, it is of vast importance to  the consumptive to breathe well;
he should make a practice of taking long breaths,  sucking  in all
the air he can, and holding it  in the chest as long as possible.  On
going into the cold air,  instead of shrinking from it, draw in  a long
breath of the pure cold air.   Do  this a  hundred times  a  day, if
you have any  symptoms of  weak lungs, and it  will  soon cure you ;
Bhould you have a slight cold, be in the habit  of often drawing in a
full chest of air.
   In  the city  of Edinburgh, Scotland, where consumption is  almost
an epidemic, there is one class  of persons who, as  is said,  never hav« 
       78              ON- THE PREVENTION  AND

       the disease; these are the fish-women, who carry fish in the 3treeta J__-
       they go two miles, down to Leith, the harbor of Edinburgh, and gee
       their fish  early in the morning, place them, in'baskets on their head*
       and then  run all the way to Edinburgh, and  cry their  fish througl
       the streets, carried in baskets on their  he^ads.  This  practice makei
\       them perfectly straight, and their chests remarkably full and symme
       trical;  they are said never to have consumption.  I attended a bs.*^
       at the Palace of the Thuileries, in Paris.   Several thousands  of tfcf
       English and French  nobility were present;  I had the pleasure of
       noticing their  fine erect  chests,  and carriage, and  of knowing by
       this why this class of people in Europe enjoy such  remarkable ex-
       emption Troin  pulmonary diseases, compared to the  rest of the po-
       pulation.

                           '" CHEERFULNESS.
         Cheerfulness is a valuable  ingredient  in the  composition for pre*
j       venting pulmonary consumption.   Persons predisposed to consump-
       tion should never indulge in forebodings  on the  subject, but take all
       preventive means they know of, and cheerfully rely  on the blessing
       of a kind Providence, to extend their days, and  grant  them. an ex
       eruption from the disease; they  should seek cheerful  society, cheer-
       ful employments, and cheerful  exercise.

>                                EXERCISE.
'          As a preventive  remedy, exercise  in  the open air stands at the
       very head.  Exercise, to have its utmost value, should be taken at
       sxactly such an hour every day.  The machine comprising all the
       human frame is a most  wonderful  creature  of  habit  aDd  as-
*       sociation.  Exercise, when taken  at irregular hours, one day in the
\      ' morning, another day at noon,  and  another  at night,  has  very_
I:       little effect,  compared  to the  same  exercise tiken  every  day  al
       the same hours, and  continued  the  same length of time.  I  once '
       knew a lawyer who had a large business, and found that he was  ra-
       pidly sinking into consumption ;  he re-sided at Burlington,  Vermont
       In the month of September, he  bought a horse, and  without  any  re-
>„      gard to his clier-t.s he would leave all,  ask h's company to wait, a) \ 
QURE OF CONSUMPTION
79
 be would mount his horse, and  ride at noon exactly one hour in all
 weathers.  He continued this habit through a very long winter, to
 the next March, when he found himself in perfect health.
   I met a gentleman the last summer,  at the Red Sulphur Springs,
 in Virginia, who resided in Lower Virginia.  All his immediate an-
 cestors, and brothers and sisters, had died of consumption.  He was
 * mere skeleton, and had had diseased lungs for thirty years ;  but by
 avoiding all drugs, and all reducing medicines,  by keeping himself
 out of doors, on horseback, and with some object in view, such as fox
 chasing, and deer hunting, continuing his out-door exercises all winter,
 when most invalids consider it their privilege to house up, he retained
 fair health.  In summer, he  would  visit  the mountains  and places
 of summer resort;  in this way, his disease continued nearly station-
 ary, although highly  consumptive by  hereditary predisposition, by
 his early habits, by  his figure,  &c  He  had had true consumption
 thirty years.   All  invigorating exercises out of  doors, or in  cold.
 rooms, such as dumb bells, quoits, gardening, shooting, angling, farm-
 ing, sawing wood;  in fact, all  that produces -full expansion  of tho
 lungs and does not contract the chest, are valuable.   Long walks  in
 the open air, and taking  full  deep inspirations of  pure  fresh air, are
 also most valuable.
   For delicate  persons, jumping  the rope is a  valuable exercise.   I
 witnessed at Now Haven, in Connecticut,  a most cruel hara case.   A
 beautiful  young lady  of seventeen, and  sffongly disposed to con-
 sumption,  became irregular in her nature, followed by some bleeding
 at the lungs.   A judicious friend advised her to jump the rope,
 which she did for some months,  and by this pleasant and exhilarating
 exercise completely restored this indispensable function, and  greatly
 improved her  health;  when, one unlucky day for her, a medical pro-
 fessor called at  her  house.  It is a practice in  a vast many cases,
 among  conceited doctors, to  disapprove  of advice given by other
 physicians, but most  of all, if it  comes from such a vulgar source as
 persons not medical,  if it is a popular  remedy, or arises from  do-
 mestic practice, on some pretext or other,  without the least regard to
 its merits or usefulness, and without asking what it has already dona
in the same person,  it is at once rejected ; so it  was with this young 
80               ON THE PREVENTION AN£>
lady.  She was told the  exercise was too great,  the jumping  and
jamng of her person too much and  '.cry unsafe; that she musi tak«
but little exercise, and that not at all  exciting,  such as a slow walk ;
the consequence was, nature with her soon stopped wntirely, difficult
breathing came on,  and bleeding at  her lungs, and she died in a few
months of consumption.   Had she only continued the  exercise of
jumping the rope, it is more than probable she would have been alive
and well at this time.


                          DANCING.
   At the head of ail exercises for delicate persons, and those  predjt
posed to consumption, and invalids, is dancing.   Dancing in company,
dancing to the sound of harmonious music; I do not  speak of danc-
ing as  a dissipation, but as an exercise.   Its practice promotes cheer-
fulness,  symmetry of person, full exercise of the lungs, o:nd expansion
^ the chest.   I once knew a badly diseased lung, and true consump-
tion, cure.! entirely by dancing.   The patiect began when very low,
from bleeding, and  an  ulcerated lung; he began almost by accident,
to step to music,  and danced for two or three minutes at first, and in-
creased  as he  could bear it; tins was done at exactly  a certain hour,
daily, for four months,  when  the lung  was perfectly well, and has
remained well for several years.   When young persons and old  per-
sons meet in then- small^ocial circles, instead of sitting  in conversation
for hours, dance a little while,  if only for half an hour, in rooms not
too much heated;  the  various musical instruments which are nou
so common  will have a positive  value  in them, if they incite to
dancing.  Tho greatest value and good  is obtained from this  and at
other exercises, by doing it every  day or evening, at the  same hour
No exercise  should  be carried  to  the point of great  exhaustion, so
as to produce debihty.   Begin gently, and it may be gradually much
increased, with daily increasing  benefit.  As a general  rule,  every
person should take  a walk or ride, every day in the open air,  unless
extremely stormy;  slightly disagreeable weather should never dete?
going out; strong, hard, cold wind,  is much worse to encounter, thai
•light rain or snow.   The consumptive should never stand still, talk 
                   CURE OF CONSl'MPTION.                 81

ing,  or silent,  exposed to sun,  rain,  or wind,  but go at once to a
shelter.  Whilst out  of doore, in the cold  or wind,  keep walking
actively,  not stand still.  Gobbing should be as light as is consistent
with health.  (See  remarks on clothing, Discourses IV. and VI.)

               BEDS, AND LYING IN  BEDS
   Luxurious feather or down beds shosld be avoided, as they greatly
tend to effeminate the system,  and reduce the strength.   For this rea-
son beds should be  elastic, but rather firm and hard; straw beds, hair
mattresses, these on a feather bed are well; a most excellent mattress
Is  made  by combing out the husks or shuck that cover the ears of
Indian corn.   I first met these beds in Italy, they are  delightful,
Cold sleeping  rooms are in general  best, especially for persons in
health ; they should never be much heated for any pe^on, but  all
should lie comfortably warm in bed.

                           CLIMATE
   Many*coasuiiiptives think they would enjoy .perfect exemption from
consumption, if they could reside in  a hot  climate*  No  mistake is
greater than this ;  a hot climate, as a  general rule, is not usually of
much value; the effect of a hot climate is to  debilitate and effeminate
the svsiem, and to predispose  to consumption ;  hence, consumption is
common in all  the West Indies,  and in all hot countries amongst the
natives, and long  residents.   No climate is worse to a consumptive
than where his diseases  originated; any change with him is for tho
better  ; going from the sea-board to the western country, avoiding a
residence on the  shores of great bodies of  water.   The new inland
countries are the best;  changing from  the sea shores to the interior,
even if m.t more  than forty miles back.   Removing from the moun-
tains to the valleys, and from the valleys to  the mountains, especially
in summer, is  most favorable ;  avoid  locations where  there is great
prevalence of  damp  changeable weather.  Cold,  piercing, cutting
vrir.ds  arc always  injurious.  Consumption is as prevalent in any city   J
of Cuba, as it is at  Archangel, on the  frozen ocean,  the northernnwa
city of Europe. 
SB               ON THE PREVENTION AND
                                  LIGHT.
                                                                  i)
        In only one respect do the torrid and  frigid zones agree, and Jfi
      is in the matter of light.  Light and dryness are great friends of the
      lungs.  Darkness and dampness are tlieir enemies.   Therefore, in oui
1  *    choice of locations, these views should be kept in mind.  In the choice
      of our rooms,  reference should always be had to light and dryness.
      Our bed-rooms, sleeping-rooms,  sitting-rooms,  counting-rooms,  work
      shops, <fec., should always have the sun upon them at $fct once a day
      Choose a south exposure as much as possible.  So /Viable is  th(
      light considered in modern Rome, that it is there tUf overb, " when
      the sun enters, the  physician never enters."  Basetf »nt stories parti}
      under and above ground, or cellars,  are most danferous to the con-
      sumptive, either  as sitting-rooms, bed-rooms, or w^.tehops, or place?
      of assemblage, as we see under churches, unless \-%y well aired and
      warmed and ventilated.
        I was consulted in New-Haven, in October, 1§44. on behalf of a
      hired girl, who had left her comfortable  farmer's ^bme, and gone to
      do house-work in a  respectable family in town.   Her sleeping-room
      Was a bed-room in the cellar, near the kitchen.  The walls of the
;,     basement were ^'ery damp;' she took fatal consumption.  For this
i:     Reason  the highest  rooms of a house are always the best sleeping-
      Oooms.  The chill of damp  basements is always felt  by consumptives,
--     und should be at once avoided.  Rooms should always be well venti-
      lated, and have fresh air at all times.  The following striking case will
      Illustrate much that I wish to say on this "subject
        In November and December,  1842, I lectured in Burlington and
i      Middlebury,  in the state of Vermont, and in Plattsburg,  New-York
I      The contrast in these towns was most striking, and supports what I
      said.  Plattsburg is  situated  on the west  side  of  Lake Champlain.
      Little or no wind ever blows from the lake upon the town.   The north
      and north-west winds cany all the vapor snd dampness of .the lake
r      from Plattsbiu-g,  and throw them directly upon  Burlington.  On-all
      the western shores of the lake, and at Pittsburg in particular, con-
      sumption was  comparatively rare.   The  population of Flatteljtfjip  u
      not \*iy wealthy, nor are  their houses particularly warm^ One of
!      dti  principal physicians, Dr. Benjamin J. Moore, is at least a friend 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                83
 to out-dooi life and exercises, and neither advocates  too  much cloth-
 ing nor effeminacy.   lie is a most  gentlemanly and valuable phyw-
 cian.   Consumption was not very frequent at Plattsburg.
   Burlington contains about 4,000 inhabitants, and is one of the rich-
 est villages in New-England, or in the United States.  The houses are
 beautiful  and well built, and most of the best ones have double win-
 dows, I belie\ e.  I know a great many have.  The land rises gently
 from the  lake for nearly a mile, and  presents a broad surface to  the
v"vcst and north-west, looking  upon the broad lake, and  receiving all
 the west,  south-west, and north-west winds from it, which  come loaded
 with vapor.  Some  physicians of Burlington have, for  many yeare,
 taught the necessity of shutting up in winter, and keeping very warm.
 For this reason, and a strong desire  to be comfortable, the houses are
 closed in November; usually the double windows are put up and kept
 up without being onco  opened until April  following, in  many cases.
 Well dofeuded vestibules to the outside doors shut out the  possibility
 of cold air entering their houses.   Luxurious living, with much cloth-
 ing, and  almost a total want of  exercise, complete  the  picture.   A
 female is rarely seen in the street.  I have  visited one hundred and
 fifty cities in Europe and this country, yet my impression is, I never
 saw so much consumption anywhere as in Burlington, in proportion to
 ft* population, in the same  classes  of people.  A great mauy cases
 were there when I Was there.  The disease v/as  principally with  the
 best classes.  Little manufacturing is done there.  It is  possible  this
 is not entirely correct, but it is my full impression.
   Middlebury is  situated thirty-two miles south from Burlington, and
 has almost the same population, but vastly less wealth and luxury, or
 effeminacy,—few or no double windows  to their houses.  Their prin-
 cipal  phvsician, a highly intelligent  and sensible  man, long  resident
 there—1  h-. Allen—has always taught the value of out-door  exercise
 md air, in  preventing consumption.   Middlebury lies rather  high; b
 several miles from the lake, and has a fine fall of water running directly
 ihrousjh  the village.  Whilst consumption was, and always had been,
 «o prevalent in Burlington, I found  but one case of consumption in
 Middlebury.   I have  met  several other  towns that seem to enjoy &
 remarkable immunity from  consumption;  but  I have  not time t« 
84               ON THE PREVENTION AND
particularize them any farther.  Rooms fronting north and north- west
without the sun upon them, should be avoided, especially in winter.

                        SEA VOYAGES.
   Short sea voyages, as  preventives  of consumption, are very valua
ble, but not curatives.   Long sea voyages never should be undertake*
as a general rule.

                             DIET.
   Luxurious and gross living should be avoided by  the  consumptive,
the scrofulous, <fec.   Avoid much  coffee.   I think it one of the worst
liquors for the consumptive ;  so are all descriptions  of pastry, grease
food, and too much  food; eating to repletion is bad.   On the other
hand, all we eat  should be good of its kind, perfect; but  not eat too
much or too little.  Well cooked meats,  plain puddings, milk, if it
agrees,  is a valuable  article, and so is ripe fruit, fish, sliell fish, <fcc,
good vegetables ; living neither too high nor too low, eating such food
»s seems to agree best.

                    NIGHT WATCHPNG.
   Sitting nf late at night in  dissipation, or  anxious watching  over
tb*» sick, or ii> Btudy, is very bad indeed,  for  the  consumptive, and
should be carefully avoided, as it soon breaks down  the  system.   0a
the other hand, the sleep  should be regular and undisturbed, as mucli
so as possible.

 EMPLOYMENTS  DISAGREEING SHOULD BE LEFr  OFF,
   Employments, . occupations,  professions, trades, &c,  that the con-
sumptive knows t< disagree with him, should be left off.   Oftentilliea
this alone will relie/e the consumptive, even when he chooses another
occupation that at first seems no better or not as .good.
   In November, 1N42,1  was consulted by a very eminent lawyer, in
a large  business" in his profession, for consumption.   His right lung
was badly ulcerated , he raised a  good deal of blood, and was very hoarse,
having nearly lost his voice.  I prescribed for hi in, but made it an in-
dispensable condition to his relief, that he should go to his fan? and 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                8!
abandon all law practice, for at least two years.   After much hesita-
tion he chose  to do so.  I met him twelve months afterwards in ap-
parently good health.  Had he continued his law  practice three
months  longer, he must have died.    He is now quite well—March,
1851.
  It is deplorable to see consumptives  continuing the same occupa-
tions, such as laborious studies, public speaking, teaching, factory labor,
<kc, which  have originated the disease.   Yet they will often continue
on in despite of pain in the chest and side, cough, or bleeding lungs,
whilst every effort  they make is  only piercing their bosoms  with
laggere.

                 NEVER NEGLECT A  COLD.
   I have before said that a cold will at times cure or retard the pro-
gress of consumption, yet it often leads to it;  for this last reason  a
cold should never be neglected.  Some persons are veiy liable to cold,
such are usually inclined to consumption.   It will often  begin at the
beginning of cold weather, last a few days, and then go off.  The next
year the cold begins and lasts much longer.  So from year to year,
until the lungs are  very much  irritated and debilitated; at last, the
cough and expectoration do not leave at all, and fatal consumption is
the consequence.   A cold should never be  neglected } on its first ac-
cession  it should be stopped by drinking  at bed time, a large draft,
Bay  one pint  or  more of  hot  tea  of  sage, or mint, thoroughwort,
4r lobelia,  but not so  strong as to vomit; at the same time  take
a  little  gentle physic,  such as salts,  and  put the feet in hot water.
Iliis will usually soon relieve  the cold.   Do not  give over your t-fforta
until it is removed.  An old arid celebrated physician, of Philadelphia,
told  me that whenever  he perceived he had a  cold, he would go to
his bed, take warm drinks, and lie  in bed  until,well, and would ne-
ver have it last more than one day,  and often a less time.  Colds in
ftuinmer, or in warm weather, are far more dangerous and more liable
U» produce consumption than in winter.  Coughs beginning in sum-
mer are far more  dangerous than those commencing in winter, an«J
should never be neglected. 
86               ON THE  PREVENTION AND

                      COLD BATHING.
  Cold bathing as a preventive  of consumption,  is most valuable
Persons who bathe in cold water every day, rarely ever taka cold, 01
Are liable to consumption.  It is  one of the most valuable preven
tives.   (See Lectures IV. and VI.)
  I have before mentioned the case of a lady who lost all her familv
Either, mother, and seven brothers  and sisters, by consumption.  She
ft'as the last   She bathed her chest freely in cold water,  in all seasons,
and >it all times, from seventeen to thirty-five, the age I  saw her; and
shhongh  at times a little troubled with colds, yet had entirely escaped
consumption, and when I saw her, was enjoying good health.   It is
Biuch more  valuable in cold weather, and in variable weather,  with
the coldest water, than in warm weather, and consequently ^moderately
cold water.   I shall refer to this subject again  in my future lectures.
Bathe in  tepid water if  you cannot bear cold.

      INHALING TUBE,  BRACES, AND SUPPORTER.
  I have thus  far* spoken to you  of remedies and preventives, which,
although valuable,  and  should never be  neglected, yet do not always
iu ever)* caso prevent consumption.  I now come to speak to you of
preventive remedies, which,  if faithfully and perseveringly used with
the others, cannot fail to prevent all consumption.
  I have told you,  consumption cannot take place unless the air cells
of the  lungs are closed up more or less.  This may arise from loss of
symmetry by  the  shouldere pressing on the chest; by tying up the
chest so that it cannot expand, and by the falling down of the bowels,
so that the floor of the lungs is partially removed, or  not well sup-
ported.   If you have a weak stomach,  and  sinking all gone there,
Bhort breathing, &c, wear a supporter which I shall hereafter describe,
(See Plate L.)  The next step is to remove all tight lacings from tho
chest, and wear a pair of shoulder braces.    The shoulder braces will
frssist to rapidly expand the chest, and keep the shouldere from press-
ing hard on the chest.   The next step is to iur«• an inhaling tube.  In
speaking of the cure of consumption,  I shah describe the inhaling
tube.   (Also see  Plate G.)   The use  of the  braces  (and the sup
porter, if the  abdominal muscles are weak,) and inhaling tube, wiij 
                   CURE  OF CONSUMPTION                 9)

*6y^tivt ether remedies, ontirel) prevent the possibility of consump-
tion fron  whatever cause.   The inhaling tube, shoulder braces  and
supporter, fthen needed, are useful preventives, and should not be ne-
gk-cted. 1 ie lungs are not liable to become diseased, if the shouldere
are kept off the chest, and  the abdomen well supported, and then an
inhaling tube faithfully used.  Pains, hoarseness, and weakness of th*
chftt, are often removed.  The breathing becomes deep, free and full
The chest rapidly enlarges, and  every air cell is opened.  Any per
*on, in this way, who chaoses to take the  trouble, can have  a  Large
ihest aud healthy lungs.  Scrofula  is  driven from the lungs, andJis
rendered difficult  to settle on them.  All invalids confined  to their
beds, except from  acute fever or inflammation, should use an inhaling
tube, to exercise and expand the chest, and  open  all the air  cells of
the lungs, and  thus prevent the progress of consumption. After lung
fever, pleurisy,  or  pleurisy fever,  or influenza, the use of it is  beyond
all possible  praise, as it will promptly relieve  the lungs, and avert a
liability to consumption.  So also  use it if laboring under scrofula, or
scrofulous sores, or white  swellings  of thejoints, or hip disease, or
spinal complaints, or rheumatism, and,  in  fact, under any affection
that prevents  a free exercise of the lungs.   In a great many cases,
consumption is dated from a lung fever, or  pleurisy, or some  chest
disease.   If,  after any of these di.-eases, an inhaling tube is  faithfully
used a few months, or even weeks, the lungs and chest often  become
as perfectly well as they ever were.  In December, 1842, an old man
at Rutland, Vermont, consulted  me  in behalf of his son, who a few
months before had a large  abscess  in the chest. It opened outwardly,
and two quarts jf matter were discharged at once.   It continued to
discharge for six months, up to the time  I saw him.  I met his phy-
Bician who told  me he  had  seen  an account  of the  inhaling  tube,
and although he had never seen one, yet he coantructed a rude tube
and gave it to this young man, and by its use the lungs had been pre-
served from any cough, and were strong  and well.
   Attacks of measles, scarlet fever, scarlet rash, and all  the eruptivxj
diseases, and influenza, often leave  the lungs  in  a b?.d 6tate,  espe<
cially measles.   If the inhaling  tube is  freely Med  after thase di»
wises, all seeds  of consumption often  are eradicated. 
B8              ON THE PREVENTION AND

  The inhaling tube is a most valuable assistant in curing dyspepsia,
and many diseases attended with great debility only.
  Ladies after confinement, who have the least disposition to lung
diseases, should make a free  use  of the inhaling tube, so as to ghe
immediate activity and expansion to the lungs, and thus ward off an
attack of consumption, and prevent all weakness of the lungs. Persona
whose lungs readily stuff up, and fill up with mucus, or from any
cause, will find that the use of the inhaling tube wiii entirely prevent
this filling up of the lungs, or greatly relieve it.  It  should be  under-
stood, that the only object in  using  an inhaling tube is to procure a
full and perfect expansion of the chest, and the inhaling tube is used
to facilitate this objeet  Taking long full breaths, drawing in  all the
ah we can, so as to fill the chest to its utmost capacity, and holding
the air in as long as possible,  is in most  cases  equally valuable with
the inhaling tube ; it is often better, and may be  done a thousand
times a day and night, in all places and positions.   The weakly and
delicate will often prefer the inhaling tube.  Persons not accustomed
to take long full breaths, should begin their use with the same caro
and precaution as in using the inhaling tube.  For most invalids 1
think the inhaling  tube too useful to be neglected.

         CURE OF  PULMONARY CONSUMPTION.
  Having spoken of the prevention of pulmonary consumption, and
n*.ving  endeavored to convince  you  that, first, consumption is in
some measure a mechanical disease, and may in most cases be pre-
vented  by counteracting mechanical remedies, I come now to speak
to you of the cure of  consumption after it has actually taken place,
after the lungs  have become  tuberculated—after cough has become
habitual—after the lungs have become ideerated—after night sweaU
and hectic fever are, of daily occurrence—after all these are present,
I have shown to you that heart disease, asthma, and pulmonary ca
tarrh will cure it.  I will now endeavor to explain  a course  of me
chanical and medical treatment, that will in most cases, if seasonably
applied, cure settled consumption.  I have shown  to  you that heart
disease, asthma, <fec, cure  consumption by enlarging the chest, and
diverting the disease to other localities.  I have now to introduce t# 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                80

your notice a mode of expanding the chest, even when the lungs are
u cerated, that is far oetter and  more certain than to have consump-
tion  cured by other diseases, and has the advantage,  that it may
always be used in every case of persons old enough to use them^Tho
irsoovery of this mode of expanding the chest,  like most great  dis-
coveries in medicine, was made  by accident, and its fortunate discov-
erer was an eminent physician of London, Dr. Francis Hopkins Ram
adge.  Laennec, a  celebrated French  physician, wrote a work more
than.30  years ago,  upon the diseases of tho lungs and  chest.   In
that work, he announced to the  world  the fact that consumption  was
cured by nature or accident, but how this was done he could not  tell.
Nor could he even hint at a possible mode by which it was effected.
He had seen persons in consumption, who had recovered, contrary to
all ordinary expectation, or experience, and who,  yeare  after, had died
of other  diseases; he  had opened their lungs  and seen traces of  dis-
ease, and cavities where ulcere had once existed in the lungs, but  had
healed.  Dr.  Ramadge was a  pupil  of Laennec, and established a
lung hospital in London, many years ago.  At this time, Dr. Rnmadge
enjoys a very extensive and lucrative practice in  London, chiefly con-
fined to diseases of the chest.  The discovery was as follows :  Among
his numerous patients was one,  who, whilst in an advanced stage of
lionsumption, was attacked with  a tumor or swelling at the bottom of
the neck in front, and above the breast bone.  The swelling became
so large  as to  threaten suffocation.   It  required all the skill of the
doctor to save Ids patient from being suffocated by the  pressure of the
tumor on the wind-pipe.  In about six weeks the swelling began to
subside,  but before  this the  consumptive complaint rapidly yielded,
and when the tumor on  the throat subsided, the  consumption  was
well.   After a little time, the doctor  received a call  from a person
who was the last of his family,  ail the rest having died of consump-
tion,  and he was in confirmed  consumption.  The doctor related to
him the  case of the man who was  cured by a tumor  coming on the
front of his throat.  At Dr. Ramadge's  suggestion, this last  patient
made a silver band  to go around his neck, and  on the front of it ho
fastened an ivory ball, and bound it firmly down on the wind-pipe in
front.   This operated nearly as the diseased  swelling had done in tha 
tO                ON THE PREVENTION AND
first  patient.   It  soon  cured the lungs of the silversmith,  Fiom
these tvro cases, Dr. Rarnadge learned that the effect in each was to
rapidly enlarge the lungs and expar.d the chest.  He also discovered,
that  3* he had to do was to cause the patient to breathe through a
st'iail opening or pipe, much smaller, say twenty times smallei, than
t) e opening into the wind-pipe.   To effect this,  he  made  an .-nstru-
v ent then called,
                    AN INHALING TUBE.
  This tube he at first  made  about four and a half feet long, with
an opening through its whole length,  provided with a mouth-piece
to go between the lips, and the patient sucked  in  or inhaled  the
air as long as he could, and then, through the  same tube, blew it
out again.  By this process,.the chest would  rapidly enlarge.   Dr.
Kamadge  also made an  inhaling tube a little like a whistle, with a
valve in it so  constructed that the air would go into the mouth  and
lungs through a large free passage, and, on returning, the air would
be forced to go out of the mouth and lungs through a much smaller
opening.  The effect of which is, to allow the lungs to fill rapidly
and without exhaustion of strength, and on leaving the lungs,  it is
%11 passed through  an  opening  not  much larger  than a knitting
needle, by which the air  was slowly forced out of the lungs, and by
this pressure  the  lungs were greatly  expanded,  and  the air every-
where opened the chest in the freest manner.
  Dr. Ramadge is the  original inventor of the inhaling tube.   For
the expansion of the chest, and expansion of the lungs, ancl the cure
of pulmonary consumption, I  prefer the valvular tube, as being in
all respects the most efficient and easy to the  patient.   These tubes
were at first made of wood and ivory.   For several reasons, I prefer
the tubes to be made of silver, platina,  or gold. Because tubes made
of wood, ivory or indiaiubber, are apt soon, if used by a person with
o 
                 CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                 91

ulcerated or diseased lungs, to become very foul and poisonous  is
Borne  cases.  Some time ago, early in my  practice  in  the United
States, I was consulted  by a ina,n  who had ulcerated lungs.  I pre-
scribed for him. wHe told me he could  borrow an inhaling tube,  to  ^
which I did not object.   He did well for eight days and a half, whejj
he was attacked with violent vomitings, and died  in two  and a half
days, in despite of all the efforts of four physicians.  The symptoms
much the same as death by-poison.  I asked to see his inhaling tube ;
I found it was an india rubber long tube, and had been used  by a
consumptive man for four months.   It was so impure that you could
uotice its unpleasant odor on entering the room where it was.  I de-
termined at all events, whether poison had anything to do with my
patient's death or-not, to put it out of possibility by having the tubes
made of silver or gold, and never to be made of any  material that
could contract any impure or poisonous matter from the air that pass-
es through it  from ulcerated lungs, that might thus cause ulceration
in healthy  portions of  the lungs, and so poison  tho  whole  system.
The silver and gold Is much better than wood, and will last a  hun-
dred years, as far as I  have had experience, or in other words, never
wear out.   The consumptive should always have  his  inhaling tube.
The wood and india rubber tiibes, or ivory, will  last but  a short
time.

            HOW THE  INHALING  TUBE  ACTS.
   Many of you may ask me how the inhaling tube can assist in the
cure of ulcers in the lungs.  I answer  that  ulcere in the lungs  do
not incline to heal;  because every day the  substance of the lungs
is continually growing  less, and the walls of the sores or ulcers  re
tire from each other, and continually from this cause ard the motion
of the lungs are kept separated from each  other.  But  if you  use
the inhaling tube, its effect is to expand the lungs.  In this situation
they struggle everywhere against the ribs and on all sides for room,
at once closing up any cavity existing in tho lungs.  Reflect for a mo-
ment  that the lungs enlarge so as to fill and enlarge the chest, four,
five, six, and seven inches in circumference.   A good  deal of  force ia
qscd by tho patient to  open  his lungs, and this more  strongly puah 
99               ON THE PREVENTION AND
M the. lips of the  ulcers together, and  occasions them  to  heal, or
places them in  a position  to  heal.  The use of the  inhaling tuba
will very soon teach  the  patient' having ulcerated  lungs, where his
disease is, as there he will feel pain, smarting and burning,  more 01
Uss.  All ulcers not broken, will, on the use of the  inhaling tube,
break and discharge  their contents.   This alarms the patient.  There
is now no cause of alarm, because all the ulcere  must be broken up
and  emptied before they will heal.   Again, by the use  of the in-
haling tube  the air cells  all  round  the  ulcer or  ulcere, having
greatly enlarged and expanded,  will  swell around and into  the ul-
cerous cavities  and close them up.   Allow  me  to illustrate, as well
as I can, this most important subject.  Suppose  I wish  to cause two
of my fingers,.which are now placed beside each other, to  grow to-
gether.   If they grow leaner each day, they will separate from each
other, and cannot grow together; but suppose that I by some process
cause each finger to  swell to two or three times its natural size ; the
effect of this would be to bring the fingers  hard  against each other,
and should  the sides of the fingers next each other be made sore, or
the skin be removed, the fingers might  be  made to grow togethei.
In this way precisely the inhaling tube acts.  Its  use expands and
opens first all the air passages;  next, all the air cells ;  and causes a
free expectoration of all mucus and pus, &c.  It completely cleanses
tho ulcers, next enlarges the air cells around the ulcere, diffuses new
life and rigor through the  lungs, forces the extra blood out of the
walls of the air cells  which  has thickened and nearly closed them up.
It causes a rapid and free circulation of blood through the whole lungs,
allows no blood to  remain in  them that should  not, and it soon
obliges the enlarged  blood vessels of  the lungs to become smaller and
to return to a healthy state.   In all  cases when there is a cougli, bul
no ulceration, the inhaling tube is greatly required and is of  unspeak-
able value.  After bleeding from the lungs, if used with proper pre-
cautions, the inhaling tube is of vast value, and its use should never
be omitted.
   The history  of the introduction and use of the inhaling tube is in-
structive, as it fully proves, that  in all sciences, and  arts, as also in all
mechanical instruments, there  maybe the original and true  idea, and 
CAUSES OF CONSUMPTION.               93
  ■A3 the  spurious or false imitation, the substance and the shadow,
  Abo at nine years ago, the discovery and object of the inhaling tube was
  made known in this country.  Instantly attempts tvere made to make a
  thing which seemed so simple, and also to use it.  No questions were
  asked, no anxious inquiries were made as to how it should be made,
  but one physician whittles out a stick,bores a hole through it, and places
  it in the  hands and mouth of some dying patient, and suffers, but does
  not encourage the patient to use it. Many fly to the use of goose quills,
  as most eminently appropriate, and  as good  as  anything.  A large
  quantity of tubes in imitation of Dr. Ramadge's long tubes, were made
. and.peddled  through many sections of the country, and sold at high
  prices, without any opening through their length to allow the air to
  pass through at all.   I saw one  inhaling tube, formed under the di-
  rection of  an eminent  physician, whieh  was made by cutting off the
  large end of  a tin candle-mould, stopping up the ends, and cutting a
  small hole through each end, so  as to allow the air to  pass, and then
  declaring this was as good  as any, whilst in the, immediate neighbor-
  hood the true article was to be had.   In Boston great numbers of
  tubes have been made  and sold,  that looked well and would allow the
  air to pass freely into the lungs,  but it could not  come out through
  the tube, but out through the patient's  nose, &c.  Eminent physici-
  ans in many  sections of this country have in this  manner  employed
  the inhaling tube, or what they supposed to be the inhaling tube, with-
  out any success, who on being consulted would pronounce the inhal-
  ing tube a failure, and of no use.
     In most cases physicians have never  recommended the inhaling*tube
  until the patient was in the last days of life, when his lungs were so
  extensively ulcerated and gone, and his general strength so reduced,
  Stat a return to health was impossible  under any known treatment.
  In such casc>, without  making any allowances for the  hopeless state
  of the case, the tube is condemned, and  the physician still adheres to
  the idea  that consumption is incurable, deceiving himself and his un-
  happy patients.  All new remedies, with few exceptions, have to figlit
  their way into  notice, and their bitterest detractors and opposers will
  be found among members of the medical profession.  In no case has
  this been more verified than in the case  of the inhaling tube.  Being 
M               ON THE PREVENTION AND
rejected in some measure by physicians from the causes   ha\€ oefoxa
stated, it has been taken up and used by empirics.  This has still farther
exasperated the regular profession* and makes them give up all inquiry
on the subject—in many cases rejecting a patient investigation and
study of a remedy that is destined to produce an entire revolution in
our notions of consumption, and place it among the curable diseases.
   Will th* inhaling tube alone cure consumption ?
  You will ask me, will the use of the inhaling tube alcne'cure con-
firmed consumption ?  I unhesitatingly answer, no.  Medical remedies
mu>t also be used:  Consumption,  as  a  general  principle, cannot be
cured by the inhaling tube alone, unless the patic-nt is in perfect health   ,
except a  small cavity or ulcer in the  lungs.   In nine hundred and
ninety-nine cases  out of a thousand, proper medical remedies  are
required.  The medical treatment must also be right;  if not, the
inhaling tube cannot make head against the disease, and-the injurious
effects of the medicines too.   This forces me to make the solemn de^
claration, and in the most emphatic manner, that the usual routine of
practice laid down in nearly all the medical authorities, adopting the
use of emetic tartar, blisters, setons, tartar sores,  caustics, housing up
the patients, confining them to their rooms, using opium and its pre-
parations,  drastic emetics and purgatives, much bleeding, Jbdine, low
diet, &c, are all calculated to make consumption, and not to cure it;
bo that if the inhaling tube is used in conjunction with these remedies,
'ts benefits are nearly counteracted.
   The first step in our progress is to know if the lungs are actually
diseased or not.
  The air, in passing in and out of the air cells  and air  passages of
tho lungs,  gives peculiar sounds in health, from which there is no great
variation in persons of the same strength and age.  When the lunge
become diseased, the air does not enter some parts ; or in px«sing in
and out of their air-cells and passages, it gives a different sound from
what it does in health.   On this is found the art of examining tha
chest, to ascertain the condition of the lungs.  You know the niano,
the accordion, the flute, the violin, all give forth peculiar and different
rounds; and so does a perfect, or a broken, or a cracked instrument,
ur an instrument imperfectly made.  Every deviation from health is iiD' 
OURE OF  CONSUMPTION.
99
pressed on the sound, or absence of sound of air in entering or leaving
the chest.   It requires an instructor, time and practice, and constant
experience, to be able to explore the chest, or ascertain the condition
of tho lungs with proper certainty. In London, Paris, New York, and
Philadelphia, as far  as I know, nearly ail the practice of examining
the chest is done by very few in each city.  In  all  these cities it is
perfectly understood, that one man cannot know all branches of me-
dicine and surgery, and be as perfect in each branch as if the whole
mind and experience were devoted to one department.   In each of
these cities there is practice in each branch enough to employ ihe twst
minds, and all the time of physicians who are devoted to one branch
only.  It is customary in these cities for physicians, who do not de-
vote their time to examinations of the chest, to send their patients tc
those who make examinations of the chest a* particular study.  No
certainty and accuracy can be attained in exploring the chest without
a good teacher first, and large experience and observation afterwards.
The author of these discourses, besides his opportunities in London, has
had twenty-seven thousand consultations in cases of consumption and
kindred diseases, within the last seven  yeare.  In no instance have I
ever had a decision of mine proved incorrect by any physician. I name
'his, in the hope that when I mention in my discourses that such or such
a patient had diseased lungs, it will be understood that I carefully ex-
amined the chest myself.  No matter how  learned a physician or sur-
geon may be, without considerable practical experience, he is liable
io fall into great and sometimes deplorable errors in his opinions on
the state of the chest, for it may be diseased and he not detect it; and
he may pronounce disease when there is none. A striking case of this
kind occurred in one of our largest colleges a few years ago. A young
gentleman, a student, was taken sick with what appeared  to be con-
sumption ; besides his attending physician, two professors and teachera
of medicine were called from  a large neighboring city, who all pro-
nounced the case confirmed consumption, and advised sending for his
.ither, who came and took his  son home.   Passing through the city
of Boston, he called on or.e of  its oldest and most respectable phy-
ricians, who agreed with all tfie others, that he was in the last st»g«j
of consumption.  The young man went to the state >f Maine, wV<S*£ 
>6
ON THE PREVENTION AND
 he resided, a&d died in eight days after his return.   His father had
 ois chest examined after death ; his lungs were  found to be in  per-
 fect health.   He had died of disease of his stomach."
   I knew another case, where a young man died in the interior of
 the state of  Connecticut, of what was supposed to be a disease of his
 kidneys.  He never had any cough until a week before his death.
 Several physicians had seen him auring his sickness.   After death,
 kis body was examined; no disease was discovered in the kidneys,
 hut both his lungs were  found to be extensively diseased; he  had
 died, not of  kidney disease, but of consumption. , Some persons may
 actually have diseased lungs, who hardly susp^jfany such thing, ana
 others  may seem to have consumption who have  it  not, but some
 other part besides the lungs is the seat of the disease.  There  is  no
 way of settling this, but to  have the lungs examined by some gentle-
 man who is  acquainted with the mode  of examining  and exploring
 the lungs and chest, both in disease and  health.  A  man who does
 know how to examine the lungs, goes to the chest to learn their con-
 dition,  whether diseased or not, with the same confidence as you would
 look upon the face of a clock, to tell the time of day; but to do this,
 the physician requires knowledge and much practice.

                        TREATMENT.
  Having ascertained  by actual, careful,  and skilful  examination of
 the chest, that the lungs  are diseased, the physician should inquire
into the condition of every other part of the system.   He should in-
vestigate carefully the  condition  of the brain, the nervous system,
the stomach, the bowels, the kidneys, the heart, the circulation of the
 blood, if there js daily fever, or night sweats ;  if the patient has piles,
gout,  rheumatism, scrofula, skin  diseases, or  any humor.; canker,
sores upon any part, such as white swellings;  dyspepsia, gravel,  all
kidney diseases, throat  diseases, liver complaint, worms ; in  ladies,
falling  of the womb, all female diseases,  weakness  at the pit of the
stomach, or  across  the bowel^ sinking, or all gone  at the pit of the
stomach ; weakness of the back, pain anywhere, stoppage  of healthly
nature  in ladies, costiveness or diarrhoea    These Kiust all be cured, foi
it is irrational to expect as  a general thing, to  va'tho lungs, and 
                   CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                 91

leave any ol these before-mentioned diseases  upon the patient.  A
cure cannot be easily realised, whilst other diseases are upon you.   Foi
all these different complaints, I administer what I think to be nrone?
remedies, so as in general to remove them perfectly.
   I  next put upon my patient, a proper  abdominal  supporter, well
adjusted, of the right size, strength of pressure, &c.; next, I  put on
him a  pair of shoulder-braces,  and  give him  an inhaling tube, with
carefu? directions.   I take care that the tube is prepared for his or her
case, as the inhaling tube differs in many persons ; what suits one per-
son will  not suit everybody', or every patient; *>f tine inhaling tube is
not  perfectly adapted  to  the  case, its efficacy  £i ad&A impaired.  L.
••iext direct, him  or her to be  bathed  freely every morning  in  cold
water, or cold salt and water; any kind of spirits may be used in the
wate..  The efficacy of the water arises somewhat from the  tonio
power of the cold  that is  in the water ; hence, the colder the water
tho  better for the patient; if  not accustomed to cold bathing, the
water may be a little warmed at first.  (For directions for bathing, see
Discourses IV. and VI.)  Before washing all over, the chest should
be rubbed well; if cold and chilly, use flannel,—if not,  use a cotton or
linen towel; after being well  heated up by rubbing,  then wash all
over with the cold water, especially  the throat, neck, spine, all the
chest, and stomach ; it is better  to wash all over, daily,  either morning
or evening,—I rather prefer the morning.  Unless under very peculiar
civcumetances, nothing should be done to  reduce  the strength of the
patient.  It has been the, fashion at  various times to  consider every
itep in the,  commencement and progress of  consumption to  bo occa-
sioned by  inflammation,  and to  reduce inflammation, tho patient'*
6kxxl must nearly all be taken from  him.

                          BLEEDING.
   At one time, bleeding was all the fashion hi consumption, and this
brst a few years ago; for be it understood, there is a fashion in medi-
cir?e  as in cv'rvthing else; as leaders and setters of fashion say, so >t u*
adopted  by all their  followers,  or those who rarely think for them-
•elves,  but rely on others  for direction ;  for this  reason, at ono  time,
bleeding was all the go.   1 once knew a man bki nineteen tunes in
           5 
96                r'N THE r'_iL'.'7.'""r"VHr A&fl

•igl';f?" **' y«: 1 well torn*;.\ "v Ms rsr^^ks 01. iU'. i'i^s *£?£2j, a.*
ft pTJ7of?^ all the cod olli?o.   *$* >-ad coiiavl-. jL'jO anr? «'»«r^: to «»...
iasv?7 r7.,orv year? ; w 'iiswr T*L>*d from iii<? Cxi'?.*/! bl«edingA, «r*
dif •! *.*» 3 »«w monuim  ^ pcwribina: icv u.x>:j: J wirX" taousar.U p«~
■a i -J7*v«ii a.v   #J«h: *jjr. <« this coajuif/, :~*1 oft -11 *»ssc:s a uuj

commended bleeding, but in one case.  In  this case the young  m*a
had a cousin that bled to death from the lungs two months previously.
and another  cousin of another family, that bled to death two year
before in the same way.  He came to me, and had been  moderate!}
bleeding from his lungs for three days.  In his case I directed bleeding
from the arm,  and other remedies,  and soon relieved him.   In tho
ordinary progress of consumption, I  never  think  of bleeding, as it
would be productive of vast injury.   One orTw^~leecJie^_inay\vt timeg
be used, but  I rarely find it necessary ; still,  at times  leeches  wck'frr^
great benefi^^^ J^JJ^  ^^ ?£.

           n/V"'   COUNTER-IRRITATION. '      \
  It has been  at different times the fashion to use the most severe
remedies to produce irritation,  and discharges, and sores on the chest,
bo as to cure internal inflammation.'* Three  days since, I saw a lady
who, under  the direction of a  respectable  physician, had put seventy
.. .icer?;ve blisters on  her chest,  with hardly any perceptible  benefit
/..n~ihaT lady 1 sa„ t. &b.-'.* tiro*. c.ince, who had on her  chest made
; a^r fHe airectx*! of.. fVrie^nfJ&e inov?, vc ,>,"jcr"°f»a tartar Rcrcs.
Tie pv,vsician n.niself i.ppV--^ *he «meuc tai~-.. c'.it^eTit   its seVjlty
r.TiM extent may b«* iiii'L'.'.-ix? f-^n\ th« lac*,  Luai  ?r. >h" breast-i_G; *, an *
h?:Vir.^ wis maue d. cJii'.y th^utfh it mco hcv .Vi??*.  "ft
                     ^",'1rJ   These «jiia  j./.l blHers. besides t>;ing
 most horrible r^ dreadful in  nearly eve.y ^-J-'' ~f riew. tone, ^atly
 to reduce the patient, aJlv^ .»\ ; 'j r»vW very peculiar circnr.is,w.jces,
 should never be used.   In some rare cases tney may be used, but tho
 cases where they are needed are very rare.
   I once  knew a young lady who was in  consumption,  but able to
 attend to all  ordinary duties, to take long daily  walks, a good appetite,
and fair strength.   Under bad advisers, she put an immense blister 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
98
plaster, over her whole chest, and kept it on all night.   It  drew on«
vast blister.   She  never after  could leave  the  house, and  hardly
her bed, until her death.  For the first  three weeks  after using the
blister she never left her bed, except to have it made, foe.
   Blisters and emetic tartar sores in three ways act injuriously to the
lungs.  First, by the distressing pain and suffering they induce, they
overcome the nervous system ; next, their discharges reduce the patient
by the drain from his system; and lastly, they prevent his breathing;
be cannot expand his chest on account of the pain produced by the
lores when he moves his ribs in drawing in the air, or letting it out.
   It is an interesting fact, in removing pain, a piece of liuen or cotton
iloth, folded two or three thicknesses, and wet in cold water and laid
upon the  chest, or any part from which you wish to remove pain, will
remove the pain nearly as soon in many  cases as a blister, without
producing any injurious  consequences whatever.   The cloth may b*e
ivet two or three times in twenty-four hours, and worn all the time, or
only at night, and the pain will usually cease.   If still th.s pair does
aot leave, a liniment  may  be rubbed on, and  this will usually com-
ple e wh.it the wet cloth has not perfectly done, or you may rub on
the liniment, and  then cover the part with the wet  cloth, and very
rarely will you ever fail of relieving the pain, without any suffering to
the patient, or loss of strength, or those horrid -scare which so often
iis*figure the neck and breast of beauty.

                            '  DIET.
   On no  subject does medical philosophy fail wore than on the sub
ject of diet.   This  is so with the consumptive.  I believe the besi
rule is, to allow them to  eat  whatever  they please, without eating
bo much as to load the stomach or cause fever.  Well cocked meats,
fish, stale  bread, vegetables, fruits, wine,">beejv-porter, Ac, and in fact,
every thing in  moderation that gives strength and  does  not pro-
duce much fever ;  slight fever will soon  go off, and does little  hurt
Coffee I usually find  to  do harm, and also acids.  Use a plenty of
nait, not much pepper or spices.  Salt provisions are not usually desir-
able.  The  food or  drink usually, may be  rather  cold instead of
very warm.   Pastry and all varieties of confectionary, hashed, spiced, 
100               ON THE PREVENTION AND

or sweetmeats, <fec, should be used very sparingly.   In all  this tha
patient should be his own doctor, study hi3 case carefulb/, and  eat
what he finds to agree with him, and not positively to disagree. Rigid
ruiea of diet I have seldom found of much benefit.

                             AIR.
  To the consumptive, pure air is an  important medicine.  It is far
more valuable than  all other remedies.   It is the grand agent in ex-
panding the chest.  It was a fashion, some time ago,  for all consump-
tives to be housed up, or sent either to a warm climate, or at a very
*ariy day in the fall to their warm  rooms, and kept there  until tho
*ext summer, or late in the spring.  A few, very few,  would survive
we winter.  They usually went  from  their rooms^to their graves.
No practice can be more  fatal.  It almost surely  ends  in death, and
usually cuts off every hope of a cure.  The consumptive  should bo
Wpt out in tho open air as  long  as  possible daily, if the weathex
will at all allow of it, either to ride or walk.   If he cannot ride, h)
should walk in a cold room each day ;  and if stiH obliged to keep hi*
room, I often direct  a small hose or stopcock 10 bo  placed througi"
the window frame, and draw the air from out of  doore to the inhal
lug tube.  The effect of the cold air is  very  salutary  upon the debili
tatcd and ulcerated lungs.  The cold fresh  air is vastly more nutriti
ous to the lungs and system than warm air ; and even half a lung
fed with oold pure air, will sustain  life when, if  only supplied with
warm, rarefied air, it would  allow the  patient soon to  die.   For this
reason I always  keep my patients at  their business, especially if in
active and out of door occupations.   When  in consumption you con-
fine yourself to bed, it is usually the  last  place  before the  grave.
Again, let me say to the  consumptive, keep out as long as possibla
Do not be enticed into the house by the sympathy of friends,  or  the
advice of physicians, and  do  not  take reducing and strength-destroy*
ing medicines.
   Change of air, and 'vuth it change of location.
  Supposing nil the while that you are usicg your proper remedies
for co isumption, as  I h.-wo before remarked, and shall still.again no* 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                fl
rice, change of air will be found of vast benefit if you have tl   . leans
of doing it, and at the same time your mind is tranquil. Going from
the valleys to the highlands, from the city to the country, from tha
mountains to the valleys, from the country to the city, leaving lakes
of water and the seaboard, and retiring a few miles into the country,
away from much water and on dry situations. In your new residence,
take as much  air as you can, by walking, riding in a carriage or on
horseback, <fec.   If you  gain in  one locality, stay there just as long
as you  improve or decidedly hold  your own, or  do  not go back
snji.

                          JOURNEYS.
  Long and pleasant  journey's, which ar,> not  too fatiguing, such as
on horseback, or on foot, or in a carriage, will often, if properly man-
aged, contribute much to a recovery.  Great care should be taken at
all times, and in all exercises, not to overcome yourself by too much
exhausting your strength.
  In February, 1844,1 was requested to sec  Mr.  Webster, a respect-
able merchant of Boston.  On visiting him  I  found  him veiy com
fofliable, and occupying two very fine rooms  in his own house.  The
temperature of tho rooms was kept steady, <fec.; in a very pleasant
situation and condition.  On examining his chest,  I felt confident that
he could be cured, and told him and his friends so.  At any rate, I
felt the utmost assurance, with tho  care he was  taking of himself,
that most likely he would live six cr eight  months .without  my aid.
Different counsels prevailed, and he  was persuaded that a change of
climate would be a far better mode  of treatment  than  to place hirrr-
Belf under  my care.   In pursuance  of thi-, about the first days  of
March, the worst month  of the year, he broke up his pleasant and
perfect winter quartere, and  went by boats and railways to Baltimore,
and thence to Norfolk, in  Virginia.  Far better would it have beea
for him  to have gone to Canada at that season.  He died  in foui
weeks, or thereabouts.  In  April his body was brought back to Bos-
ton.  I have hardly ever witnessed a case  that filled me 7rith more
regret, or  that more  strikingly exemplified  the  ignorance and  bad
aounsels prevailing on the tubject of contsumption 
IK
ON THE PREVENTION.AND
                       SEA VOYAGK?
  It has been the fashion  to  recommend sea voyages,  and much 11
«ud of .ong sea voyages, and some pretend they would effect a cure
if the voyages were  long enough.  To this, I entirely dissent.   I be-
lieve all a sea voyage will do, or can do, is gained in five or six weeks.
I have at times witnessed  the most heart-rending scenes of distress
from this cause.  Allow me to say, that a bad cold will often get wel]
Dy going to sea, but if actual consumption is present, I think the pa-
dent is better on land, than long at sea.   I will give one case.
  Mr.-----Perkins, of New London, a son of one of the richest men
'n New England, and by his mother inheriting consumption, after be-
ing out of health, and in consumption for some time, was  persuaded,
advised, and by all  that could be said, incited to leave his wife and
rix interesting children, and take a voyage in a whaling  ship to the
Sandwich Islands.   After the most  heart-rending separation, almost
equal to death, he embarked on this long, this dreary, this cheerless,
to him hopeless  journey.   He lived  to reach the Sandwich Islands,
with but one engrossing, anxious wish, which was to reach his homo
and die in the presence of  his family,  and bestow on  them his last
blessing.  This was  denied him.  On board a whale ship, far from
all he loved, he died, first  requssting his heart  to be taken out and
placed in an urn, and sent to his wife  and children, as the husband'3
and father's last gift  I was in New Loudon when the ship came in,
bearing the tidings of his death, and the  only relic of his person.
His body found a resting-place in the ocean.   How much, think you,
would he have given, could  better  counsels have  prevailed, and he
been allowed to have spent those dreary months in the bosom of his
family during which he lived at sea    Allow si9 to say to those who
conjure  up fanciful  pictures of pleasure at  sea, that the ocean is a
perfect wild, howling wilderness, with scarcely a single object or inci-
dent,  save  accidents, to cheer  or change its  dreary monotony.  T
speak this from an pie personal experience.  Peculiar cases  may occur,
and have occurred, but as a  general experience, it is very rare that
any person  in o ^nsumption * as ever benefitted permanently by a
long sea voyage. 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION               103

                     WARM  CLIMATE.
  In speak*ug of-the prevention of consumption, I gave my newi
cf a warm climate as a preventive.   I will now say that as a cura-
tive of consumption, nothing can be more  fallacious.  A  pair of
broken lungs that would last for years in a cold, diy climate, would
dease to act at all in a few weeks, in a hot climate.  Cold  air is  a
good tonic, and restorative of the system.   In such air, even a small
piece of healthy  lung will serve  to sustain life, whilst the same lung
in hot rarefied air, would  immediately lose its strength  and  die.
There is as much difference  in the nourishing powers of cold dry air
and of thin rarefied air in sustaining life, as between wheat flour and
wheat  bran.  Remember,   consumptive, that travel wherever  you —*—-
please, you cannot travel out of your body.  The disease originated
in your own body, by  your own acts.>ft Your cure  will depend on
yourself,  and the use  of the remedies  indicated in these  lectures.
Do not fancy there is some far-off favored spot,  which,  if you could
reach, it would be found exempt from consumption.  No such place
exists whore civilized man resides.  Do  not expend all ycur strength
and money to reach such a  spot, which, when attained, only fills you
with tlx crudest mockery and disappointment.  A temperate climate,
neither very hot  nor cold, nor damp, nor changeable, is no doubt the
best         vK  ■■    ^■■ta*r$f*/    %  ~&*^   > «*■•'»■  \*>^
                       RESPIRATORS.
   I will sav  one  word of respirators, and of anything  worn over the
mcuth, and  used to modify the air, and keep  it  warm.   In some
cases of irritability and inflammation of the air pipes only, or throat,
they may be useful for  a short  time ; but in general, they weaken
the lungs and tend to produce consumption, instead of curing it or
preventing it.  I  scarcely ever recommend their use.  In disease of
the air pipes only, they may be used at times.
   Under what condition of the lungs may we hope for a cure of con-
lurnpiion t
  You may  now ask under  what condition of the lungs may we hop*
(b>  a cure of consumption.   I 'will endeavor to group off classes of
r> es, consumption usually occurring in one or other of these forms
   rv.*  £«+ ,^0 T wnll mAntinn is as follows: Suppose a pereoo to 
ilH,               ON  THE PREVENTION AND
have lost father or mother, brothers or sisters, by consumption, or t"h«U
he is in any way predisposed to this disease, and that this person baa
had to contend against long continued colds, that ho  has suffered
from influenza, pleurisy, lung fever, measles, scarlet fever, scrofula 01
somo humor struck in ;  that his strength has been broken  down  by
any cause, as confinement, dissipation (in the  case of men); confine-
ments, miscarriages, falling of the womb, &c. (in the case of females)}
or that the individual, whether male or female, is reduced in strength,
or has his or her  health deteriorated by wounds  or other injuries,
which render confinement necessary, and thereby induce debility, or
that he or she has been suffering from dyspepsia, liver or spine dis-
ease, fistula, jmd its consequences, bleeding from the lungs, lingering
fever, rheumatism, &c.  Suppose this person, after being exposed* to
one or more of the above named causes, to be attacked, whether hav-
ing or not having a pain about tho  chest,  with an obscure hacking
cough, slight, and not alarming, and not  attracting  much  attention,
after awhile  the cough increases, until it becomes habitual, night and
day—easily excited by exercise, by laughing or talking much, is most
severe on lying down, or on rising, or going into a cold room, or in the
open air, accoinpair'ed,  moreover,  with shortness of breath,  quick
pukse, followed, after some time, with much debility7, disinclination to
business, aud great fatigue after the least exertion ; to this  there may
be added pain in the side, across the  top of the  chest,  between the
shoulders, beneath the shoulder blades, down  the arms, running from
the. breast bone to the spine, the  entire length of which is  traversed
by this pain, cough by day  and night, daily chills and fever, exhaust-
ing night sweats, occasional bleeding from the lungs, the cough being
devoid of any expectoration, while the lungs are much congested.
  Consumption thus far is as curable  as the ague and fever, with suit-
able medicines, inhaling tube, shoulder  braces, supporter, <fcu, &c, as
I have before indicated.  Nearly all  such cases will get well when
the patient does his duty to my remedies and directiona-

                         BKCOND GROUP
  Suppose a patient to have all or some of the symptoms mentioned
in the first group, and in addition, ho had ulcerated lungs, in the tow 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION
1M
©f one or both in front, and suppose his cough, i»\ \ I-vh. ot toing dry,
is humid; or  in other words, he raises a good deal  of frothy or thick
cream-like matter, with little specks of cheesy matter in it; but  hia
strength is such, that he is able to be about his business, generally, and
the rest of  his lungs are good, or nearly so, and his or  her general
Btrengtli is  not much  impaired, or greatly so.   Cases of this kind are
eminently curable ; say at least eight out of ten will get well.

                          THIRD GROUP.
   Suppose  a  person who  has the  diseases, &c, and tlie condition
more or less of the first and second group, and raises the same mat
ter, but in addition has a little phthisic, or asthma,  or heart disease;
all such cases, with hardly a solitary exception, are  curable, and ofte»
in a moderately short time.   I always  feel most gratified, if I fincA
traces of asthma in the lungs, or  in parts of  them, as I can usually
prognosticate  a happy recovery.- The same remarks apply to the pre-
sence of heart disease, with any or all of the symptoms or  states of
the lungs I  have  before mentioned.

                         FOURTH  GROUl.
   Suppose the case of a person, or of persons, wno have lost  all, or
nearly all of one lung, whilst the other lung  is good, or a little asth-
matic.   The cure of such persons becomes doubtful,  and  in  many
aises impossible ; yet I know  persons who enjoy fair health, and do a
goodly amount of labor and business, who have lost one lung, or carry
it  in their chests  a mass of  disease.   Cases at times occur where ova
lung is lost entirely ;  it wastes by disease until nothing remains of it
Vet such is the restorative powers of the system, that  a  person may
lose one lung, and live to old  age with the other.   At times the en-
tire  loss of  the left lung will take place,  and the heart losing its sup-
port, will act most irregularly, and give  rise to the opinion en  the
pan. of the medical advisers, that  there  is a  terrible heart disoase
prcseut.  I have froquenily witnessed these mistakes on the part  of
phvsiciaDi not skilled  ni.d  cxperioflccd in the art  of  examining th«
hings.  I was consulted a day or  two  past by a lady for her  inlanl
               ti* 
106                ON THE PREVENTION AND
child, eight months old, that had been suffering with a  difficulty  in
its breathing since it was four days old.  The physician pronounced il
a heart disease.   On examining, I found the heart well, but the left
lung was all but entirely lost, it was extremely diseased.

                          FIFTH GROUP.
  Under this group, I introduce all those cases where there is exten-
sive disease at the bottoms of the lungs, or where there  is extensive
disease and ulceration anywhere in the lungs, and the  rest of the
lungs badly tuberculated, and with this state the general health much
wasted and broken. In females,the periodical nature,long since ceased,
dyspeptic, often vomiting and chronic diarrhoea, and the powers of the
constitution very  much prostrated.  Although 1 have seen some such
cases terminate in a perfect recovery, yet in the larger number of cases,
the patient sinks to his final rest.  In  females,  I have rarely lost a
consumptive patient who had regular,  healthy nature.
  Finally, there is  a great difference in the amount of disease  and
destruction of  the lungs some persons will bear and live, whilst one
half the  injury in another person would terminate fatally.   This  is
owing to the difference in the constitution of different persons. I have
known a child die from a scratch on its finger, so feeble the powers of
its constitution as to allow the finger to mortify, and death follow.  I
have known a man to receive seventeen  stabs with a dirk  in his limbs
and body, and yet recover. I have known persons whose constitutions
were so frail, either by habit or inheritance, that a very slight ulcera-
tion of the lungs would quite suffice to sweep them away, whilst ano-
ther would be about and doing a little  business,  with a loss of half
the lungs.  From the general and  almost  universal belief that con-
sumption is incurable, and the exceedingly ill success that follows the  *
usual practice of medicine in  its  treatment, persons inclined or pre-
disposed to it, are the last to  acknowledge it, or to ask aid.  Their
friends usually speak of it long before they do. Let me address  such
in the language of the deepest  sympathy.  Your disease is eminently
curable, and in its  earliest stages, only a short time is  required  to
effect a cure.  You can have a  perfect command of its progress.  Do
not allow it to progress beyond the first stages.   Do not wait  until 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
101
four lungs are badly ulcerated.  Do not,  whilst consumption is on
fo\i, say, •' I am not sick enough to doctor, or use remedies."
  Again, let me in the most solemn manner conjure the consump-
tive, after he has commenced the remedies I have pointed out, and
by  a  fair  trial,  finds himself improving, not to leave off,  but reso-
lutely and patiently persevere.  Every step you gain, will  give you
itrength to  gain more.  You will go  from victory to victory, until
you attain to perfect  health.  Some of your  remedies,  you  should
never lay  aside ; such as bathing  in cold water daily, and with  it,
full friction of the whole body, and th<> occasional use  of the inha-
ling tube if the lungs arc stuffed  up, or oppressed, or painful,  also prac-
tise full, free, deep, long breaths daily all y our life, remembering, af-
ter  your lungs seem well, they will be weak where  they were once
diseased.  A relapse is dreadful.  It is no trouble for  me to  cure con-
sumption, by God's blessing, in a great many ca>cs ; but the difficulty
is to  induce patients to persevere in their remedies.  When once a
little better, keep on until well;  and once well, use the  remedies  to
keep so.   It is  often to me a matter of  profound surprse, to observe
persons  who in  consumption have lived for months or years in view
of an  open coffin, and a certain grave, and yet, as soon as relieved of
consumption and all  feelings of  danger past, and lungs nearly well,
in multitudes of cases, from  pure heedlessness  and indolence,  or on
some  frivolous  excuse of not convenient, or  not time, or a continual
iovc of e<ise, they will  lay  aside  their remedies,  and relapse back
into exactly the same habits that originally  induced in them tha
consumption.  Allow me to say, it requires from six months to three
veare  to pi jducc a radical  cure of consumption.  For  further instruc-
tions to the consumptive, see Discourses IV. V. and VI. in this volume.
  I will observe, that although physicians usually assert  consump-
tion to  be entirely incurable, and say it never was and never can
be cured, yet they never hesitate  to treat it.  Believing the disease to
bs fatal, they will rarely ever at first admit that the sufferer h?.s con-
sumption.   This, I have no  doubt, in a vast majority of cases, arises
from sympathy and benevolence ;  they have too much feeling to teU
th-3  patient or his friends that he has consumption, and so pronounce
sentence ©f death upon him.   Thus the unfortunate  consumptive, it 
   108               ON THE  PREVENTION AND

   nearly all cases, seems forced to die,  by circumstances that api>oai
   planned expressly for his  destruction.   Attacked with  shortness of
   breathing, he calls on his physician and is informed it is nothing hut
   debility, and all he gets is in most cases remedies that  increase tho
   debility until all ends in rapid consumption.  If he takes a cough, he
   is told it is nothing but a cold;  this will run on for weeks or months,
   defying all remedies.  He now most anxiously  asks his physician ii
   it is not consumption—says some of his kindred have died of con-
   sumption.   " No," says the physician, " it is only  bronchitis, a little
   trouble in  the throat, which will soon be well."  Perhaps he has his
   palate cut off and his tonsils cut out, and his throat burned with caus-
~- tic, and more medicine given.  Fully is he encouraged to believe it is
   not consumption.   After some time, still growing weaker with fever
   night sweats, chills, bad cough, raising much matter,  mucous, frothy,
   &c, and often more or less  blood, his  flesh wasting away, «fec, and
   told  all this while it is not consumption.  In  great despair  another
   physician  is called to consult with his family physician, and examine
   the chest;  and now,  when the patient has not  a month to live, he or
   his friends are told there is a little tubercle, only a little, on his  lungs,
   and he is advised  to  take Cod Liver Oil, or some other fashionable
   medicine, and go to the country, or to the south, or sea voyage, from
   which, if he ever returns, it is only to die soon.  Thousands and thou-
   sands the last year have been carried to their graves after the use of
   Cod Liver Oil, under the fullest promise of a cure.   In this way the
   precious months are wasted  in  which a cure is possible.  No  cough
   should be  allowed to go on more than one week before full measurea
   should be taken for its cure.
     Do not be led off  by such fatal delusions as I  have  mentioned;
   read  this book, and  strictly and instantly  foHow  its teaching and
   most  particularly, if  any of your  own  blood  relations have died of
   consumption.  Men can bear the  ravages  of  diseased lungs  much
   more  than women; tho last have  smaller lungs, and more  delicate
   systems.   Ladies, do not de/*y seeking relief  if in any way out  of
   health in lungs, stomach, heart, or from female trouble.
     See the letters for examples of how  low a person may sink in con
   sumption and get well; yet beware of getting so low  youmlvee. 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
                  ASTHMA,  OR  PHTHISIC,
   With your permission, 1 will  say to you a few words on the subject
of asthma.  Tho causes of asthma, or phthisic, as it is  often called,
arc as obscure to all medical men, or nearly all, as consumption, and
often much more so.   The causes of consumption  are  obvious and
palpable ; but the causes of asthma are usually an entirely cealed
book to them.   When speaking of diseases that cure consumpticn, I
6poke of asthma as one.  I now propose to speak of  the causes of
asthma, and its  cure.  A disease something like  asthma may arise
from ossification  of the heart, or its great vessels, but these cases are
comparatively rare.
   In my opinion, asthma always arises from a consumptive taint, and
is excited by the same influences  that  would have produced  con-
sumption ; but God has ordered, that in place of consumption an op-
posite train of symptoms arises that vastly enlarge the chest, instead
of allowing it, as in consumption, to grow  smaller and contracted.
In asthma, the  air-passages aud lungs are more or less covered with
humor, and periodically subject to great terrible  congestion, filling,
and thickening  up; hence, at such times, the patient  cannot  fie
down from  a feeling  of  immediate  suffocation,  if ho tries to  do
so.  Thus for months and yeare,  there are  times when he  can-
not lie down at night, but sleeps what little he does sleep, in his chair.
I do not know that such a thing as a radical cure  of .asthma is evei
hinted at in books, or any plan  of treatment laid  down that will  be
of any permanent benefit.  In asthma, the chest is too  large ; in con-
sumption, it is too small.   (See  Plates H and I.) I treat asthma pre-
cisely as if it were a consumption,  and by doing so, meet with com-
plete and almost universal success.  Aathma is far easier to cure than
consumption, and it is not so apt to recur again. Persons who at con-
siderable intervals have fits  of asthma, may have it cease altogether,
and consumption takes its place.  Have it and the consumption which
excites it cured, and all is well.
   In the discourse on the proofs of the cure of consumption, see the
letters on the results of the treatment of ast»hma. A strong argument
with me in favor of the side that  asthma arisw from consumptive infiu
enoes, 1  find in the fact, that asthmatic parents  have  consumptr/f 
110               ON THE PREVENTION AND
children, and some of the same family of brothers and sis tots may
have asthma, and others have consumption.
   Asthma is a  true skin disease, and its paroxysms  increase  and
decrease;  it 's governed by the same laws that govern skin disease*.
it is a most curable disease.  I have had over 2,000 cases of a3tharj
in five years past.  I have no knowledge of ten cases but what have
perfectly recovered in those who have faithfully followed my directio-ua
and used my remedies, such as I have already pointed out for con-
sumption.   No disease presents such striking and marked  benefits by
a radical change  of air as asthma.   English and European asthmatics
are usually vastly benefitted by residing in this country, and American
asthmatics derive great benefit  from a residence in Europe, all by a
change of locality—first in one place and  then  another,  until they
find  a  place  that suits them.   Residents  in the country often are
benefitted by residing in  a city, and citizens by residing in the country
But without any change of climate or location whatever, in nearly aD
cases it may bo cured.   It is cured with more difficulty in old people.
If a change of location is made to a colder climate, it should be made
in warm weather.  Changeable weather  much affects asthmatics.  ]
again repeat,  it is most curable,  and  in nearly all  cases,  no mattei
of how long standing or how apparently  hopeless.   For  directions
respecting diet for the  asthmatic consumptive, see  remarks on the
fctomach and food in Discourse VI.

                      HEART DISEASE.
  I have before  referred to the fact, that consumption is often cured
by irregular action of the heart, and by disease  of  the  heart   The
heart often has diseases of its own, independently  of association or
sympathy with any other organs ;  yet there is no organ of the whole
body that is  more influenced by the condition of other organs, than
the heart.   The  condition of the stomach powerfully influences the
heart, and so does falling of the bowels, before referred to,  and  fallinc
of the womb, and so does the condition of the lungs.  The lungs, the
stomach, the bowels, and the brain, may produce what seems to be
heart disease when the heart is not at all diseased. The heart is often
greatly affected by the condition of the walls of tho chest itseM  It u 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                HI
*erj often notic-d that by stopping and leaning the shoulders heavily
upon the chest, :t is contrasted at its base in front, and the breast-bona
thrown flat dov n upon the heart, in this way injuring theJieart, and
'eading to the opinion that there is disease of the  heart, when there >a
r.o disease of it; but the walls of the chest have closed around it, and
the heart cannot act.   After forty yeare of  age, and in a great many
8&<es at >m earlier period, the heart begins to enlarge in multitudes of
persons, and if the chest enlarges also, a-U  is well; but if tho chest
does not enlarge, then the heart is compressed, and palpitation, suffo-  ,
cation of the heart, and apoplexy, may take place.  From this fact is
explained the reason why we have little heart  disease until  after the
middle periods of life.
   That heart diseases often arise from  consumptive influences, I have
verified in a great  many cases.  Knowing this, I have often ascer-
tained the presence of heart  diseases in one or both  parents, when I
have  fbund  the children  highly consumptive;  yet nothing of con-
sumption in any respect had shown itself in the parents.  The treat-
ment of keart disease,  in a great  many cases, is required  to be the
same as wo find necessary in consumption ;  in  fact, with a little modi-
fication, I treat many cases of heart  disease  the same as  1 do con-
sumption, and often have the pleasure of entirely curing it, when all
hope of life  had fled.   Of course, cough medicines are not required
if no cough exists.
   I enlarge the chest; I restore as soon  as possible the chest and all
parts of the body to perfect  health ;  if necessary, use the inhaling
tube, shoulder-braces, and supporter for the  abdomen; in fact, treat
the heart disease, with a little  modification, as I  do consumption ; in
some cases, out they are not one in fifty,  such  changes have taken
place in the form and structure of the  heart itself, as to render a cure
impossible.
   I will remark, that the heart is placed under  the  breast-bone, and
to the left of it.  Mostly about one-third of the heart lies to the right
and  two-thirds  of  it to the left of the centre  of the  breast-bone;
eo the heart has the oreast-bone, and the flexible ends of the ribs,
chiefly  in front of it,  the  spine behind it, and  the lungs on its
aides.   (See Tlate D.)   You  will see by its commanding and p» 
112
ON THE PREVENTION AND
culiar position,  how the enlargement of the  heart must  enlarge th<i
chest at its base, and throw back the top of the frame, and make the
person full chested, and straight.  Now, if a heavy pair of shoulders,
with the dependent arms, are thrown forward  upon the  chest, the
heart cannot enlarge, and must be more or less suffocated,  producing
palpitation and disease of the heart.  The heart is supported at  ib
sides by the lungs.  Sometimes one lung, from some reason or other
will waste away, or it will become bad and shrink up, so that no  ah
will pass through it.   The heart, in such a case, losing its  support
will oeat very irregularly, and seem to be greatly diseased,  when ic
fact it is not diseased at alt  The condition of the heart can only be
fully detected by an examination by a person who is  skilled in the  art
Df examining the chest, and thus ascertaining the actual condition  of
the heart and lungs, and great blood vessels.   A  vast many mistakes,
and those the most unhappy, arise from the examinations of medical
men whose knowledge and experience are not sufficient to determine,
with certainty, the condition of the lungs and heart.  I once heard a
medical  man, of considerable eminence,  lecture  against the idea of ,
curing consumption by expanding the chest,  and instanced  the case
of a man whom he, the lecturer, had treated  for some time for heart
disease,  who died; and after death,  his chest was opened, and it was
found that the  left lung had disappeared, or entirely wasted away
the heart was  well.   " Now," says the lecturer, " no person could havo
told that the lung had disappeared, until the chest was examined aftei
death!"  I'n September, 1844, I was consulted at New-Britain, Con-
necticut, by a man who was subject to  fits.  He usually had about
five fits in the day time, and three at night.   He would lose his con-
sciousness at the time, yet not fall down, but would seize hold of any
thing in his reach, and endeavor to break it, even to grasp the blade
of a scythe.  His appearance was that of an idiot. The fits had great
ly impaired his  intellect, and all the powers both of mind and body.
He was  a shoemaker, and stooped very much; his shouldere lay more
upon the chest than any case I had ever seen.  I found on examining
his chest, that the breast-bone  lay upon  his heart, and pressed hard
down upon it more than I had ever seen  before ; and  that  the ures-
wre of  the breast-bone upon the heart was so  groat  that the blood 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                US
could not pass well through the heart.   About three times every day,
the blood would so accumulate as to stop the action of the heart, and
prevent tho blood returning from the brain, and this would cause a
loss of consciousness,  and a fearful sense of impending dissolution.
He would usually  have two fits every night;  any excitement would
increase their number.  I considered the  disease to be entirely me-
chanical, proceeding from the breast-bone pressing upon  the  heart
I at once put on him a pair of stoufr shoulder:braces, to bring the
shoulders off the  chest, directed  him to  stand up  straight, and not
to stoop, and if  he felt a fit coming on, to throw himself back,  and
to throw his  shoulders as much as possible off the chest, and to avoid
Btooping.   I  also gave him a  little medicine to assist and take away
any irritability of  the heart, &c.   In seven days he  came back; he
had had but  one fit  in the day-time, and  two at night, three for the
whole week.   The idiotic expression of his face was gone;  he had not
passed such a week  for many years; he experienced that, on feeling
the least trouble at his heart, or  distress  at the pit of his stomach,
which always preceded a fit, by  tlirowing himself backwards  and
throwing his  shoulders  back, and  throwing open his che/t so as to
lift up the breast-bone a little, the  circulation of blood went on through
the heart, and no fit would take place.
   I will give one more case out of a great many.  In October, 1843,
I was  consulted at Nashua, in the State of New-Hampshire, by a
young gentleman, seventeen years of age, who  had a most distress-
ing affection  of the heart; his face wore a blue corpse-like appear-
ance, and he was  entirely unable  to do any business, could only walk
with the greatest difficulty,  and had been obliged to leave off all oc-
cupation.   He had  consulted the first  medical  men in Boston, who
gave him but little hope of recovery ;  he had much palpitation of the
heart, which  was greatly aggravated on the least exercise.  On ex-
amining his  chest, I found the breast-bone pressed heavily upon the
heart, so as to prevent  a free circulation  of blood  through it, from
which resulted all  his illness ; he  was also very scrofulous.   I put on
him a pair of shoulder-braces and  gave him an inhaling tube, to fully
expand his chest, and also suitable medicines to cure the irritability of
the heart, and directed all the remedies as I would for sonsuinptioa, 
Hi              ON THE PREVEN'lION AND
 save cough medicines.   The young man improved with the greatest
 rapidity.   Four weeks after, I met him at a ball.   He did  not take
 much part in the dance, but was vastly  better, and I believe has per-
 fectly recovered.   It is of great consequence  that  the  heart rule  the
 thest and govern the lungs.  A regular, symmetrical enlargement of
 the heart and great vessels rarely does  any hurt, provided the chest
 enlarges with it.   But if the chest does not enlarge, or the heart en-
 larges irregularly,  then the case is full  of danger.  Sometimes one
 side of the heart will enlarge more than the other side, &c, &c.  In
 this case danger arises.
   Costiveness, dyspepsia, rheumatism, gout on the heart, ossification
 of  it, <fec, &c, will all incline to produce changes in the heart, and
 should be obviated and cured; also great loss of blood by design or
 accident may injure the  heart, and cause  great nervousness ; for a.
 long time producing palpitation of the heart, which will at times lead
 lo disease of it.  I think heart  diseases easily managed, and in a great*
 many case3 curable, especially in scrofulous subjects, and in persona
 who have consumption, or who have had it, or who  are predisposed
 to it.  Softening of the heart is a rare disease, of  which  I have met
 but two cases in this country; therefore  I do not speak of it.
/"Within the last five years I have had more than 3,000 persons of
 all  ages and bcth sexes consult me for the relief of heart troubles, pal-
 pitation, heavy beating, irregular action, fluttering,  stoppage, inter-
 mitting, rheumatism on the heart, weakness of the heart.  I have met
 cases of partial dislocation of the heart, and various true  organic de-
 rangements of the  heart, enlargements, <fec, &c, water about the
 heart, nervous derangement of the heart, yet of this whole number I
 have not lost ten patients, either young or old.  Suitable medicines
 and mechanical remedies are what I use with wonderful  success.   I
 believe that I am almost the only living physician who  treats diseases
 of the heart with a view to perfect and  permanent cures.   It should
 bo  recollected that most diseases of the heart begin by irregular action,
 and if this irregular action is not checked, organic disease may be fully
 developed  and eventually lead  to fatal  results.   (For directions  re-
 pecting diet for persons laboring under heart diseases, <kc, see mv  t&>
 marks on the stcmach and food in Discourse VI.) 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               118
                    MINERAL WATERS.
   In the progress of the lecture, I have not spoken a word of mineral
waters, as a matter of prevention or a curative agent in consumption.
rhi> subject is too extensive to dwell  much upon,  save in general re-
nmks.   In seated consumption, when the lungs are ulcerated, I know
of uo waters that will be of  any benefit.   This leads mo  to ^peak of
thj  Red Sulphur  Springs, in Virginia.   In 1845,  at an  im-
menoe expense in time and great sacrifice of personal ease, I visited
that celebrated spring.   I found a  most  valuable  spring  of water,
which had suffered greatly in its reputation  from having  too much
imputed  to it.  Too many virtues claimed for it had, from the nume-
rous disappointments and heart-rending  distress produced from this
cause, injured the reputation of the spring.  Few persons were there ;
and  not one person, as far as I knew, who had badly ulcerated lungs,
had derived much benefit.   This water,  had it been praised for what
it really is, would stand  most  pre-eminently high,  and almost alone
in some of its properties.   It has an  influence  in reducing irritation
and  inflammation of the mucous membrane, or tho skin that covers
the inside of the throat,  the air pipes, and the cells of the lungs, and
the skin that covers fche interior of the gullet, the stomach and bow-
els, and the internal lining of the bladder, the womb, <bc.   In all des-
criptions  of catarrh, thk  water is valuable.  It is well known that an
inflammation of the skiu that lines the inside of the  throat, or lungs,
will  produce a severe cough,  and some expectoration and fever, highly
excited  pulso, night sweats, <fec.   Such  persons often derive great
benefit from  this spring, but not always.  In inflammation of the
stomach,  and in irritation about the  heart, and in dyspepsia, and
costiveness, or chronic diarrhoea,  this is a most unique and valuable
water.   In many kinds of kidney diseases, fluor albus,  &c, the water
is most valuable.  Its reputation should  never be placed on ulcer
ited lungs, but on  dyspepsia, heart  diseases, bowel complaint,  and
diseases of the bladder, womb, &c.   Persons  who propose to visit the
Red Sulphur Springs, should, before  concluding, have the chest ex
ami nod, and if their lungs are ulcerated, not go at all; or at all events,
they will  hardly realize  anything but cruel fatigue,  and still more,
cruel disappointment  I wish here tc thank  tho gentlemanly piopri 
*16
ON THE PREVENTION AND
 etors of the spring for their politeness to me the last summer.   I cob
 sider the spring  one of the first on earth, for its efficacy in the casei
 and diseases I have before indicated.  1 do not know  another mineral
 spring in the world that  is so beneficial in heart diseases.   In casei
 where there are  no ulcers on the lungs, but where the lungs are only
 irritable, or inflamed from tubercles not yet softened, or when thera
 has been some bleeding from  the lungs, for all these  cases, but  no
 ulcerations in the lungs, the Red Sulphur Spring water will be found
 highly useful, in  most instances.

                IRON PURGATIVE WATERS.
   To persons of bilious habits, or who are usually  bilious, and  are
 disposed to a cough or  pains  about the chest, the waters  that have
 iron and magnesia, soda, <fec, in them, are valuable.   In other words,
 the purgative iron waters, such as  those of Saratoga, are of some
 value in putting  the system in such a state of health  as will ward off
 consumption ; but are in nearly all  cases injurious, if the  lungs  are
 ulcerated.  These also generally benefit scrofulous persons much, who
 have no ulcerated lungs.

                    SULPHUR  WATER3
   In persons who are scrofulous, or have any skin disease, or a humor
in the blood, which has struck in, or who suffer from the bad effects
of mercury, <fec, who have reason to suspect a cough or distress about
the chest to arise from a humor, salt rheum, erysipelas or  any thine
of that  kind, will find great benefit in many  cases  from using  the
sulphur purgative waters.  These waters abound in some parts  of the
United  States, but are seldom useful if the  lungs  are ulcerated;
otherwise  they may be  used for the cases I have  named.  Sulphur
waters are found  in many parts of this country.   The White and Blue,
and Salt Sulphur Springs in Virginia, are very noble  waters. I think
the Salt Sulphur  a superb spring of water.  These springs are  not
surpassed  in Virginia.  There are two very fine sulphur springs nea>
 the north end of Lake Champlain.  One is at Alburgh, and the other
 is at Highgate,—botn near Canada fine.   Of the  \lburgh I have no
 knowledge, save  by report, wh'?h speaks well  of it.   1 have visits 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                m
I he Highgate Spring.   The accommodations are very good, and tha
spring of water is very good.  The  Avon Springs, near Rochester, in
the state of New York, are valuable sulphur waters.  Numerous val-
uable sulphur springs abound all over this country.

                  HOT  MINERAL WATERS.
  I have visited  the hot and warm  springs in Virginia, and the hot
springs  at Aix-la-Chapelle, and .at  Wis-Baden in Germany; and as
tar as I  have  ever known or observed in  Europe, or this country, I
believe  the hot  mineral  waters, either for bathing or to drink, are
very  ii jurious to  the  consumptive, and  should be most carefully
avoided.
  Allow me to conclude  this lecture by  observing, that I have only
indicated the general plan of treatment.   It is impossible to go into
details in such a  discourse as this.  I am now preparing a large work
on  the  Lungs, for medicrJ men, in which I propose  to  give  what I
know upon the subject in all the detail^ and a careful  account of all
the im'dicines I have found useful.  I must remark, that every case
of consumption I ever saw, requires, or did require, the aid of  medi-
cines, more or  les?, to/ulfil some or all of the following indications—
to equalize the circulation  of the blood—to support the strength—to
purify and enrich the blood—to regulate the digestion—to correct
the bowels—to  remove irritation—to  subdue the cough—to reno-
vate the functions of  the skin, or  to  remove  obstructions  in the
functions of  the  liver or kidneys ; and in f.'inales, to cure their pecu-
liar diseases.   The patients should never be drugged.  They require
but little nvdieiuc, but that should be efficient and perfectly applica-
ble  to the case ;  otherwise medicines wall be found hurtful rather th.uj
useful.

                   THROAT  AFFECTIONS.
Lost <f  Voice and Hoarseness, with slight or occasional  Cough, and
         great weakness cf voice and fatigue when Jalking.
  Diseases of the throat are caused by humor.   They are a true skill
disease,  and require tho same treatment as pu'monary consumption, 
118              ON THE PREVENTION AND
with some modifications, and the same rules of diet should be observe*!,
and cnVinge of air, exercise, «fec, as in consumption, for a vast many
tkroat diseases, especially if aggravated, are complicated with true
consumption.  Loss  of voice,  hoarseness, weakness  of voice, sore
throat, catarrh in the throat, pain in the throat, lumps in the neck,
liability to colds in the tkroat, external and internal swelling, ulcera-
ted throat, swelled tonsils  and  palate,  all are  usually very curable.
All the rules and  medicines for consumption  apply to throat diseases,
with some additions not reouired in consumption.  Avoid talking and
using the voice much until  well.
  This terrible disease occurs often in costive, sedentary, and dyspep-
tic people, and those who with these habits also  use  the voice very
much, as clergymen, lawyers, teachers, lecturers, Arc.;  those who talk
a great deal, particularly those  who sing considerably and exert the
voice  greatly7, especially before large assemblies, and in heated rooms,
In many cases we notice swelled  tonsils and much enlarged palate;
and in a very large majority of these throat  diseases,  I find, if they
are of long  standing, that the; lungs arc also affected,  ar.d always sc\
if the patient is highly predisposed to consumption  by  family taint,
&c.   In some cases, we find chronic catarrh,  in aggravated forms,  ac-
company these diseases.

             CURE OF  THROAT DISEASES, &c.
  If the tonsils are enormously enlarged, a  portion of each  may b<
cu-l away, and  the same with the palate  ; but if not considerably  en-
larged, the tonsils or palate do not require to be cut off.  The patient
ahould wear supporter and braces; if there be a cou^h, use the inhaling
tube; keep the stomach in perfect order—neither eat nor drink anything
that disagrees.  This disease is often produced and always aggravated
by any form of dyspepsia.   Its  permanent cure is impossible, unless
the dyspepsia is  cured or  greatly alleviated.  It  is, in a great many
cases, and nearly all,  produced by a humor in the blood which settle?
on the throat and windpipe.  Often this humor follows down the <nil-
lot to the stomach, and  seems to cover portions of the stomach,  and
very often extends down the windpipe and into the lungs.   Observe
the rules of diet prescribed for consumptives. Wear a wet cloth troun*1 
                      CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               tig

   the throa1!, and top of the chest every night, mapping a towel over  u
   to keep the neck warm during sleep.  Bathe freely ail over as direct-
   ed in consumption, and especially bathe the  back  of the  neck anu
   throat freely in very cold water every morning;  besides wash the in-
   «ide of the throat, palate, <fec, with cold water.  Chew often a littlu
   nutgall, and swallow its juice.   Put very little dress about the throat,
   and do not cover  the mouth when you go out,  but take the free, fresh
   air daily on and into the throat, no matter how eold, after you are ac-
   customed to it,  but be careful at first not to do so  if it injures you.
   Avoid all crowded assemblages of all sorts.  Even  going to church
   Is very bad for you, especially if  it be  much heated  or  crowded.
   Never go there at night.
     'Observe all the rules of diet prescribed for the dyspeptic and con-
   sumptive.  Avoid great excitement of all kinds, mental or physical, or
   long-continued  study, take regular sleep, avoid sitting  up at night,
   or watching with the sick.  Use the voice as little as possible, and con-
   stantly take long,  full breaths, so as to keep the chest  perfectly ex-
   panded, and thus prevent diseased lungs. Avoid damp, cold night air.
     Gargftng the thrpatrwith a very weak solution of nitrate of silver
   is. ;tfso very useftfl ; so is the solution of alum-water   Also chewing
   gold thread, and allowing the juice to fall down the throat.  A decoc-
   tion of oak bark is advisable for a gargle ;  also strong tea, borax and
   honey, may be used.  Gum Arabic water, if much irritation.   Some
  Mjur^eohs assert  great  benefit from using  a  solution of nitrate of
( silver, so as to burn out the throat. ,. This may bo usfffhi for two or
   three-applications, but no more, especially if the person is weak and in
   consumptnJnyM the irritation it causes makes the throat much worse,
   renders tho patient very, nervous, and reduces the strengths Cutting
   off the palate, and cutting out the tonsils, and applying caustic in ca»ea
l   where consumption is far advanced, lungs ulcerated, and health low,
   is a most cruel, and unnecessary aggravation of human suffering.  lit
   my own experience, th*e soothing treatment is much the best I advise
   nothing har-h. Besides local appli.:a ions to4he throat outside andin-
   •ids, suitable medicines are required to purify the blood,  and through
   th6 blood to cure the humor or skin disease that  causes sore throat, Ac,
   Ac. By this course I rarely ever fail to cure alJ these complaints ym- 
120             ON THE PREVENTION AND
mar.izily  and in a short time; and by these rules the throat is kept
well, and  will eventually grow  stronger.   (See the letter of Mjm
Murray, in Discourse III., on the proof of the curability of consump'
tion.)

              CONSUMPTION IN  CHILDREN.
  It is not very .often that young children contract tubercular consump-
tion, bu. such cases do occur, and often among the poor, when all tho
causes I have heretofore enumerated  as predisposing to consumption
are brought to bear upon  the tender and delicate organization of chil-
dren.   They are, however, subject to  winter coughs, beginning by a
cold, and continuing all winter and lasting-several  winters.   What
t have said of some medicines  for  adult  persons  in consumption,
applies with ten-fold force to children.  As  parents value the lives of
their children, avoid blistering,  tartar sores, reducing, emetics, hard
physicking, &c, to cure coughs in their young children.  Pursue the
rules I lay  down in this book, give them air, exercise, wholesome food,
&c, (fee, and if needful, castor oil for the bowels, and suitable cough
medicines, nothing to reduce.   Great numbers of children are brought
to my notice  far  gone in apparent consumption ;  and  by suitable
treatment, warm salt bathing, and proper cough  medicines, I see them
rise from the most hopeless condition.  Do not  neglect their coughs,
but only use  mild  remedies.  My own medicines  act on children
almost magically.

              HOOPING COUGH,  MEASLES, <fec
  All are  accompanied  by a humor  in the blood,  and act on the
lungs, air passages,  throat, and skin.  After passing away, they are
exceedingly  apt   to leave  a  cough  that  may last for  years, and
sooner or later   may originate  true  consumption.  They should
never be neglected.  Hooping cough, usually Jasting" twelve weeks,
may in all cases be  reduced in its continuance to six weeks, and en-
tirely disarmed of all danger.  I speak advisedly, from a great expe-
rience, and never-failing  success.   (For more on this subject, and par-
ticular directions  for hooping cough, croup, Ac, &e, see nay Guida-
Book to Invalids.) 
                CURE OF CONSUMPTION.             12]

   I have witnessed  one case where  a hooping cough  cured an
liabitnal  cough  of years standing,  after obstinately resisting all
remedies.
   Children should be  kept  in well ventilated rooms in winter.   I
much dishke stoves for their rooms, and advie well ventilated but
comfortable sleeping rooms.   In the warm season, give them as far
as possible sea air. sea bathing, country air, and free, full, out-door
exercise,  riding,  &c.   A good  constitution  is worth  a thousand
foi tunes. 
m
ON THE PROOFS OF THB
              DISCOURSE   THIRD.

    ON THE PROOFS OF THE CURE OF CONSUMPTION

    My first discourse was on the uses of the lungs and the causes tA
  pulmonary consumption.   The second was upon the prevention and
  cure of pulmonary consumption.   My object being to enlighten your
  minds in the clearest manner  upon these subjects, and in this way to
  obtain your fullest confidence, for without confidence in what  I  say,
-  my words are of no  more consequence to you than the  sound of a
  " tinkling cymbal."
    There is  no. class of persons who are more apt to be indolent, and
  more readily despond and give up, than consumptive patients ;  and
-  particularly those who believe that tbey have an hereditary predispo-
  sition to consumption, because some relation has died of it.  To pre
  vent  or cure consumption, requires a great deal of effort from  the
  patient, the price of his or her health being constant vigilance.   The
  consumptive must never forget the attention due to his health.   Un-
  der some circumstances, a few months,  or even weeks, of neglect, will
  bring on the disease, or render his case hopeless, if he already have
  it.  Unless  I can obtain the confidence of the consumptive, and of hia
  friends, he cannot be  induced to persevere in the use of his remedies.
  Sometimes I obtain the confidence of the patient, but not of his friends
  Often I have found. from the  influence of sceptical advisers,  the
  patient lay aside his remedies, and sink into  hopeless disease,  at  the
  very moment improvement had commenced in bis health, and a few
  weeks of perseverance would  have placed him out of danger.   No
  opinion is more widely spread, and no  prejudice  more deeply rooted,
  than  that consumption  is an incurable disease.   I have heard one m-
  •tancc of a highly respectable clergyman pronounciiig it blaspheme as
  to »ay that  consumption was curable, because God himself had mad* 
                  CURE OP CONSUMPTION.                103

A tncuiable.  In this feeling  no  persons participate more than great
numbers of physicians, forming a very large portion of the medical
faculty.   With z\szj of these, nothing can  subdue their prejudices,
nothing can cause  thaaa to seek new light  upon  the  subject.   If a
person that they Pronounce to be  in full consumption, and to be
hopelessly iiA'rable, yet, when they see such a  person  get well, they
declare  thr.t he never had consumption.  I  recollect one case, of *
patient who called in an old  and  very distinguished physician, to ex
active his chest, and give his opinion  of his case.  After a carefii
examination of the case, he rebuked the attending physician for calling
him in, adding that he " never saw a more hopeless case of  consump-
tion ; that it  was true  consumption,  and that the patient would die
very soon."   About nine  months  after this, the  patient having re-
covered, went to this same physician,- and  reported his recovery to
him, and requested the  physician to  examine his chest and see if he
were  not entirely well.  Tho physician expressed much surprise at
the apparent recovery, and on the patient's  assuring him that he was
perfectly well, he refused  to  examine his chest, and said,  "If your
lunors are now well, you never have had consumption; for I hold it to
b^ an eternal truth, that  no person  ever  yet got well of diseased
lun"S."   So that you will remark that the patient has not only, some-
times, to war against his own despondency and fears, but also against
his sceptical friends and advisers, and also  against the vehement as
seve<»tion.s of, perhap-% his family physician, that his case is  entirely
'hopeless, and that no remedy whatever can be of the least permanent
benefit  to him.  You will see, then,  how all-important  it is that T
have  the perfect confidence of the patient and of  his friends, and, if
possible, of his Thedical  advisers, so that the patient  shall faithfully
and perseveringly employ his remedies.
   If I can obtain the confidence of the patient and his immediate
friends, I am satisfied, and patiently wait until his physician can witness
the effect of remedies.   There are many physiciaus who, under any
circumstances, utterly refuse  to believe, if I may use the expression,
tlieir  own senses, and after pronouncing a  patient in  hopeless con-
sumption, and afterwards, seeing the  patient get well, will then black-
en tlieir ewi: reputation by declaring the patient never had wnsurop 
134               ON THE PR00F3»0F THE

tion, and also denounce the idea of  its curability as a dangerous anc
even criminal notion.  Has interest  anything to  do with this ?  It ia
not to be wondered at, as I have said in a former lecture, that many
physicians should oppose the curability of consumption, for, in ninety-
nine cases out of a hundred, nearly every remedy laid down in the
books, and adopted in practice, is calculated to create the disease, and
not to cure it   So that to adopt correct treatment of consumption,
nearly all  previous authority and  experience  on the subject must bo
laid aside, and entirely new  ideas and  a new course of practice be
adopted.  However, it always takes more or less time for the spread^
of truth.  Allow me to make a remark to you, that in all nature
and in all things known to  us,  there  are very few original principles
or original roots or causes  of things.   For example: gravitation is
probably an original  principle  in nature.  Truth is also an original
principle in nature.  The mind travelling  back on this idea, carrier
itself to the throne of God, and is then forced to believe and instantly
adopts the idea Jhat God  is truth.  Now it is a  most interesting
fact, and eminently deserving of our notice, that truth has  but one
offspring,  which  is usefulness.  This "is an  everlasting  and never-
failing test of the presence or absence of truth;  so  that whatever ia
true is useful.   The converse is also true, that whatever is  useless is
false, and  whatever is false is useless.   To prove this, I could cite  to
you numberless examples, but I leave it  for you to do.   Follow tho
idea yourselves, and youjvill find it a perfect guide in the purswit of
truth.   By this test, aided by reasonable time, you will very soon be
able to know what is true or what is false, and to detect where there
is  a mixture of truth  and falsehood.
   I know what I have taught to you, on  the  uses  oT the lungs and
causes of consumption, and upon the prevention and cure of consump-
tion, to be eminently true, because I have witnessed, m a great num-
ber  of cases of diseased lungs, that it was  decidedly useful.   You
may now  ask me, if I cure every  case of consumption  that is pre-
sented to  my notice, and solicits  my aid ?  / answer most ttnhesita-
iingly, I do not;  and because  I do not, some persons reject the idea
of any being benefitted;  but I deliberately assert,  that I cure eight
cases cut of every  ten, whjn the patients  are presented to mo befori 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                1«
 they are reduced to that hopeless condition that would destroy life in   *
 this or any other disease ;  provided always, that the patient employs "
 my remedies as long as may be necessary, in a- faithful, judicious, and
 persevering manner.
   The causes that lead to a want of success, I have before hinted at.
 I will  now repeat, that the cases of failure are where there has been
 such an immense  destruction of the lungs, and where the powers of
 the system are so utterly broken clown, that nothing is left to build
 upon.   The next is a want of confidence on the part of the patient, so
 that he does not faithfully pursue the use  of his remedies.   And last-
 ly, not using the rernedies as much and as long as he ought.  I have
 had very few  coses  of consumption in  females,  whose constitutions
 were so good as regularly and  fully to preserve the course of nature,
 that did not get weil, &c. &c.
   However finely wrought and plausible the theories  may be for the
 cure of consumption, and yet, in  their application, fail of usefulness,
 you may at once set them down as false, or not applied seasonably or  ■
 properly;  and here I leave them, resting  rimply on the question of
 success, knowing,  as I do, that they are eminently useful, and in a
 large majority of cases perfectly successful,  where the patient is not
 too far gone, and where he employs the remedies faithfully, judicious-
 ly, and perseveringly.
   Aliow me here  to remark, that  many  persons by dire experience
 learn to avoid medicines, that is, such medicines as they are acquaint-
 ed with.    They haje seen their pernicious and injurious effects.  If
 the medicines are wrong, the fewer taken the  better.  There never
 wa6 a cause that a counteracting cause could not  be found, except in
 the word of the Almighty himself.  There never "was a  disease yet
 but what had a beginning, and  from  a  cause, and this cause  has a
 counteracting  cause, and may  always- in the beginning be removed,   ^
 and the disease cured. Fifty years ago it was the almost universal cus-
 tom for every physician to  prepare  his own medicines, and to see to
 their administration.  Each physician was Lis own apothecary  and
chemist,  prepared  and manufactm-ed his own medicines  with the
greatest care, and some of the  most perfect medicines ever prepared
were originated by physicians  who prepared  their own  mcucinea 
IS6              ON THE PROOFS OF THE
Since then, cheinistiy has developed many new forms of medicine*
but not many absolutely new medicines. Surgery has improved much
in operations,  and the knowledge of external agencies  that  impair
health has much advanced and developed many new and useful facts,
und all the sciences have greatly expanded, as well as the mechanical
irts.  Much collateral aid has been extended to medical men to ad vanca
their success.  But unfortunately for medical usefulness, medical men
have left the beaten track of their fathers, and have declined prepar-
ing their own medicines, but prefer writing prescriptions and" sending
to an apothecary or chemist, by whom the medicines  are compound-
ed, and then given to their patients.  The modern physician in this
country seems to have forgotten that medicine separates itself into two
great divisions—the science of medicine and the art of healing. Now
the great pride is the science of medicine, and a contempt at least in
practice is felt for the art of  healing.   The true test of a great phy-
Bician is success in the  art of  healing.   No matter what may be his
acquirements as a scientific physician, he may fail utterly or mostly in
the hea;t of healing.   I once knew the great Sir Astley Cooper com-
pletely floored in a matter of surgery by a common travelling bone-
setter.  Persons" "even the most ignorant may be found  who  have  a
knowledge of some remedy and skill in  its use, that makes them for
some one disease or trouble  equal  to any physician, however scienti-
fic.  No physician who ever practised medicine for any length  of
time, but what can testify to the truth of this.  A person truly ignorant^ ~
of science may by practical experience and  observation become pro-
foundly learned in some branches of the  healing art.  The great sci-
entific physician, who does not apply himself most sedulously to the
art of healing in all  its details, may find himself in somo or many res-
pects entirely excelled in usefulness by ignorant persons, who  do ap
ply all their energies to the art of healing
   It requires but little  reflection  to determine who the invalid will
prefer: the scientific  physician who cannot cure him, or the ignorant
person who can and  does  euro him.  The scientific physician  may
strengthen his social  position as much as he pleases, and a}l may ex-
claim " Quackery" as long and loud as they choose, but tlie intelligent
public will prefer life to death, health to sickness.  Now the scientifXj 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                127
 physician has a vast advantage oter the ignorant in nis position and
 acquirements as far as he goe<, but it is equally necessary for him, and
 infinitely more his duty, to apply himself most humbly and most se-
 dulously to getting a complete knowledge of the art of healing in all
 its completeness and all its resources;  keep your eyes and ears open;
 get successful experience from any one that can give it.   Never deny
 that a person has got well when he says he has and ail his friends say
 bo, but if there is a cure, acknowledge it, and honor the instrument and
 the agent by which it  was accomplished, and immediately learn to do
 eo yourself.  You will soon find that the resources of the healing art
 arc complete, quite sufficient.   None ever need die unless by accident
 or old age, if the resources of the healing art are completely, judiciously
 and timely applied.   It is  ignorance of the  art of healing, and the
 true and  proper remedies which do abundantly exist, that causes such
 i cry against regular physicians, and such a terrible loss of confidence
 ui their skill  or prescriptions.
  From an experience exceeded by few living men,  either in its ex-
 tent its comprehensiveness, or its success, I am forced to say that '•*
 my  opinion, no man,  however intelligent he may be, can become  a
 true adept in the art of healing, unless he passes a full apprenticeship
 to preparing  his own medicines, administering them himself, and
 noticing their effects until he is thoroughly prepared to treat any dis-
 ease successfully.   A grateful and intelligent  public  will  find you out
 and  reward you in the fullest mannei'.   In the treatment of consump-
 tion, the scientific physician  who does not prepare his owi» medicine in
 usefulness is thrown usually behind all  competition.   Not one  in fifty
 can prepare a good cough medicine, cr ia &ct lend  any useful aid to
 the consumptive;  because  not preparing their own medicines,  they
 are ignorant of the proper remedies.   Exceptions may be found, but
 this is usually true.  This is the  real  cause  of irregular practice' of
 medicine.  The scientific physician will not stoop to  preparing medi-
 cine for the sick, therefore their necessities are attempted to be sup-
 plied, however imperfectly,  by irregular physicians.  If  the regular
ecientific physician  did justice to the art of healing, there would be
neither quacks, nor quack medicines, nor quack practices.  This singu
Is? and disastrous  state of things in the condion of the medical  pro- 
128
ON THE PREVENTION AND
feeaion, and tlieir want of perfection in tne art of healing, ha* produced
a most curious effect.  Its effect has been to produce fa$hi«u in medi-
cine, and what is curious, the fashion is only in the regular profession
These have  prevailed within  a comparatively few yeare.  The first I
wiii mention was the  practice of stimulating in all diseases.  The fa-
culty were divided  upon its merits, yet a vast many adopted it, and
bark and brandy were given  in the most  acute inflammations.   My
mother's father was murdered  by Peruvian bark and brandy, given foi
inflammation of his lungs, until the blood flowed freely from  his mouth
and nose.  The next I will speak of, and longest in existence, and not
now entirely laid  aside, was the use of immense quantities of mer-
cury.  For almost every disease the unfortunate  patient would be
salivated, and in a vast many  cases, ten times the injury was done by
the calomel,  more than the disease could or would have done.  Few
intelligent physicians d<» so Bow.  The next  fashion was to bleed for
nearly every thing, and to an enormous extent  I knew one man who
was bled twenty times in nineteen  days for the cure of consumption
He soon died. Comparatively a few years ago a French physician pro-
pounded the doctrine that nearly all diseases were produced by inflam-
mation of the fining membrane of the stomach, then came the days
of leeching, dieting, and mucilaginous drinks.   This fashion so utterly
failed in all its pretensions that it had  but a short run.   Then came
the reign of iodine, and foxglove,  and prussic acid,  down to wood
naptha and cod liver oil, not to speak of the excessive blistering of
the chest,  and awful tartar emetic sores. Each one  either impelling
or amusing thousands  to their doom, and each having some valuable
merit when  appropriately employed.   Medical fashion and medical
fiction go hand in hand,  and the more universal the fashion the more
accumulated  the  fiction.  In  numerous cases I have witnessed  the
high minded, high souled  physician, proud of his scientific acquire-
ments, and prouder still of his high social position, attempting to treat
consumption, bronchitis, heart diseases, dyspepsia,  and female diseases,
and utterly unsuccessful.  His  patients having sjch regard for his
moral worth, and respect for his social position, continue to  receive his
visits, and  request his  prescriptions,  when at the same time  they
*ecrstly  call in some irregular or ignorant  person, celebrated for suo 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                  128

  cessful treatment of their  affections, one or all, and who prepares the
  remedies himself.  These  are taken  by the patient until he or she ia
  well.   The attending physician, proud and delighted with the results,
  proclaims to his friends his great success, or if he is a teacher of medi-
  cine, hastens to his class and vaunts of his great success to his admiring,
  confiding, and almost awe-strict en students, when at the  same  time
  not one of  his prescriptions have been used."  The evil does not stop
  here.  The students prescribe the same  medicines, and experience a.
  total defeat until the lives of the sick are sacrificed, or their confidence
  wholly lost, so that the regular physician  is no longer much eulled on
  to treat such diseases.  In  some cases the patients, being certain of
  their cure,  reveal to the proud professor that his prescriptions,  after"
  having utterly failed, were  laid aside,  and irregular men or irregular
  remedies have been employed, to whom the patient owes his cure, and
  gives all the credit of it.   Now the proud professor chews the bit, and
  smotheredly curses  the patient, but  open'ly and cordially denounces
  quacks and quackery. It is of little use to address old physicians, but I
  would urge upon the young ones, that the whole wrong lies at th* door
  of the regular physician, and arises from  his ignorance of the art of
  healing, and of the complete resources of medical remedies which must
  ever be if the phyrician does not prepare his own medirinss.   Science"
  teaches you what the disease is,  but ic is the art of "healing that pro-
educes a cure.  Where now would  have been the fame or reputatioi
  of Michael  Angelo,  Raphael, Reubens,  Vandyke,  Reynolds,  West
  Lawrence,  Hoaly, Rotlrermel, if these  men had held it beneath theii
  dignity to select and mix their own paints.  Where would their troa
  and glowing colors have been, if they had  relied upon a color-grindc-i
  to prepare  them ; and yet it is infinitely more  important to success,
  that the physician select and prepare  his own medicine, than that the
  painter should compound  his own colore.  The^physicjari or physi-
  cians who do not prepare their own remedies, cannot be  acquainted
  with tlte complete resources of the healing art  nd consequeiatlv must
  feil, to a terrible  extent, in their success.
     Fifty yeare ago there were  few isms in medicine.  Physicians pre-
  pared and compounded their  own  medicines, and a vast amount of
  wh,-t was the regular universal practice has now, by the contempt of 
130               ON  THE PREVENTION AND
science, been driven* into domestic and family practice, where it is still
most useful.   The different  sects and~isms in medicine have arisen,
chiefly because physicians have so signally failed in curative success,
and hence the numerous  spasmodic efforts to make scientific  igno-
rance a substitute for the true knowledge of  the art of selecting and
compounding perfect medicinesf and then successfully and judiciously
administering  them.  "Hiere are  no isms in surgery, because each
successful surgeon does the work himself, not by a substitute.   If he
does attempt it by a  substitute, as physicians mostly  now do, tho
failure is equally as signal. A most remarkable example of this took
placer in France, a few years  ago.  Louis Philippe, King of France,
•had noticed the great mortality among those who had been surgically
operated upon  in the  hospitals  of Paris ; to remedy this  he ordered
every death to be published  in the newspapers, and with it the  name
of the surgeon. With the  surgeon it was  at once success or dis-
grace.  He no longer confided  to apothecaries or assistants.   The
eonsequence was, in an  almost incredibly short  space of time the
leath^diminished one half
   After what  I have now said,  my hearers will be  prepared to learn
that I always prepare  my own  medicines,—never trust to any apoth-
ecary, to  any  druggist or any assistant, except undsr ray own eye
I would say to the  young physician in all places, but especially in
the country, prepare your  own medicines if you would be successful,
meritorious or  renowned.  Your position founded on success would
be  impregnable.  You Mould have  lo fear of competition,  and yon
would soon destroy all quackery.  It is a great mistake  to suppose
that the healing art is notas unchangeable as any other science.   It
is only medical foppery, and  medical ignorance, that causes such fluc-
tuations in medical practice.   Diseases remain the same ;  small pox,
measles,, scarlet fever,  are  exactly now as 2,000 years ago, and their
medicineTact as well  now as then; what would cure them then will
cure them now,  and what will  cure a disease once will cure it a^ain,
Tmde; the  s*ime circumstances.  Let the physician know what  ia
known, and if  timely consulted, he will have ample resources for tta
(nire of his patients.
   The man of a large  mind and cultivated liberal views, thoroughly 
                  CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               Hi

informed of all that is old and known, receives every novelty in med-
icine with respect, examines it  carefully, and if  he finds it useful, he
adopts ii into his practice, and thus is  continually enlarging his own
resources and usefulness and fame  in the art of healing.  But the
narrow-minded, ignorant physician, whose mind is  bounded by an
ism or sect, and governed by a  name, is continually discarding valu-
able remedies  as soon as he learns that they are  announced as a nov-
elty, or are made to be a foundation for a new sect, so that discover-
ies do not increase his resources, but diminish them daily.  The feuds
among this last class of minds would  be  amusing, if  they were not
tragical.   A lady or nurse says to such a doctor, " Shall  we not lay
a wet cloth on  his burning  breast—shall we not sponge him all over
■—he is all burning  up with  fever ?"  " Not  a  bit of it," says  the
Doctor; " I am' no  hydropath.   I do not believe in it at all.  Put
on a large  blister."  And so doubles the heat and fever.   Another
says, "Doctor,  the patient has had no movement  of his bowels for one
week : do  you not think he requires a little physic ?"  " Do you not
know," he replies, "that I am a homoeopath, and we never give any
physic."  So his patient dies, or calls in  some other physician of an-
other system.   A youngish man,  of full habit,  red face, short neck,
falls down in a fit of apoplexy.   A  physician is  instantly called, and
begged to bleed him.  " No," says the physician,  " I am a hydropath,
end we never bleed."  Another says, " Doctor, my stomach is exceed-
ingly' delicate, and your medicines overcome me  very much.   Shall I
not take very slight doses ?"  " No, I do not believe in slight doses ;
I wish to see some effects, even  if  they are disagreeable.  I  am  no
homoeopath, I assuro you.   I am an allopath ; we give full doses, or
none;  no child's play  with us."
  An effect is thus produced.   The universal people lose respect and
confidence  in  physicians, and especially in systems of medicine; and
medicines of akiiost  infinite value  for some diseases, er states of dis-
ease, are thrown out of use by whole classes of physicians.
  I have alreadydwelt long  on these  subjects,  as  I  consider them
vital to medical success.  The only resource for  medical usefulness ia
in the increasing knowledge and goccl sense of an enlightened pubBo.
I will give  two ins/uinces to illustrate what I have before said, remaik 
139               ON THE PREVENTION AND
fng, tkat —hat a physician knows he  knows as well as other men
and what ne does not know, he is as ignorant of as any one, whethei
it be on medicine or any other subject.
  In 1849, during the prevalence of  cholera in this  city,  a young,
wealthy,  and very respectable wholesale druggist became indisposed
in the early part of the day with symptoms of cholera.  A physician
was called to his office, and prescribed for him.   In the course of two
hours, as he did not improve, he went to his room in one of our first
Broadway hotels, ana his physician again called and brought another
physician with him.   At l2  p. m.  the  business  partner of the sick
man went to his cnamber,  and found he was  fast sinking.   The two
physician0 were sent for, and the partner also called in a neighboring
apothecary, an English gentleman, who  was familiar with the cholera
and well understood its treatment,  having treated and seen much  of
it in India, and also very successfully in this city. He informed the phy-
sicians that everything now depended on getting the patient into a free
perspiration, and remarked there was  a hot bath  on  the same floor,
within ten feet of the patient,  and observed that as he was young, of
good habit,  and full strength, there was good reason  to hope for  hi«
recovery, and volunteered his services to aid them.  The tw© physi
cians consulted together, and informed the apothecary that, as he
was not a regular  physician,  they could not consult with him or  ac-
cept his services, whereupon he retired.  The two physicians adopted
the idea of getting him warm, but would not follow the apothecaiy's
suggestion as to the mode.   As it was a chemical fact, that quick-
lime sprinkled with water will generate heat,  they sent for a quan-
tity of that article, and caused it  to be thickly spread between two
blankets  and  sprinkled with water.   They now had  the gentleman
closely wrapped up in this lime-bath.  He died that evening.   On
removing his  lime blankets,  immediately after death, it was fqund
that the lime had eaten large holes through the walls of the  abdomen,
so that his bowels protruded  in several places!!!  Persons wishing
to know  the name of the deceased man, <fec, can  have it by calling
on me.
   Tk* next example I will mention occurred at Hartford, Connecticut,
ivid under my own personal observation.  I happened at the house of 
JURE OF CONSUMPTION.               133
f( relatxe there, and his little grandson, a beautiful child of three and
a half yeare old, about half past 5 o'clock in the*"afternoon, ate a green
unripe apple.  He was much subject to spasms and fits on eating in-
digestible food.  His mother at once sent for their physician, a homoeo-
pathic doctor.  He came, and expressed great pleasure at being called ,
in good season, said all would be right with the child, adding he could
give him medicines that would prevent any spasms.   During three
hours he visited him twice, each time giving him homoeopathic pow •
ders.   At 9 o'clock in  the evening the child was taken ^th a terrible
spasm ; as soon as possible he was  placed in a warm bath, and  the
doctor sent for.  He came, and commenced giving his sugar-pills, <fec.
He would give nearly a tea-spoonful at a time   At 11 o'clock the fits
as terrible as at first   I expressed my  astonishment that he  should
uxpect to dislodge such a substance as hard unripe apple from the
stomach with such remedies, and  suggested the propriety and neces*
rity of giving the  child an  emetic.   To this he made no reply, but
rontinued giving his homoeopathic powders.  At three o'clock the next
morning the unfortunate child  died, a victim to a medical ism, mur-
dered by a wretch who chose rather to have him die by his medicines
t han live by old known remedies.  I will  not pursue this distressing
rubje^t any farther.  No man can feel a deeper  interest than myself
ii the honor, usefulness and reputation of the medical profession.   I
would say to all invalids, enlighten  yourselves  as much  as possible,
wid never give away your private  judgment.  Never ask counsel of a
physician as to- the merits of any system  of practice, or of medical
treatment that can conflict with his sect or his interests, for, however
worthy and honest he  may be in private life, his pride, his prejudices
and his interests are so committed against any other than his own fa-
vorite s /stum, that he will conceal or deny what he knows to be cura-
tives, rather than allow his patients  to be cured  by any other system,
or any other man.   Of course, rare exceptions may be found.
   I know of no system of medical practice or ism but what has some
peculiar merit. The physician who utterly discards  any  one of them
will certainly lessen his useful resources in the art of healing.
>J[t is possible that some persons would suspect that in urging upon
youmg physicians the absolute necessity  of preparing their own med> 
134               ON THE PREVENTION AND
cinss, <fec, if they would be  gre&tly useful in the  healing  art, thai
possibly I intend injustice to the apothecaries.   I most emphatically
deny this ; the apothecaries in our cities are, as far as I am acquaint-
ed, a most respectable, intelligent body of men, and put up prescrip-
tions accurately, although within the last 12 months three deaths have
taken place, one in Boston, one in Philadelphia, and one in this city,
by mistakes  of apothecaries putting up wrong  medicines.   Nearly
every year furnishes examples of this  kind, and we can  reiy easily
believe that many mistakes may occur,  not immediately fatal; but the
great evil is, that the physician who  does not select and prepare his
own medicines, and administer them himself, and carefully note their
effects, is not so apt to become as fully an adept in the choice of medi-
cines, and in the art of healing,  as he" should be, as'the capabilities of
medical remedies  allow, as the reputation of the medical profession
demands, and above all, as the healths, lives, and comforts of mankind
most imperatively deserve.
   I will here subjoin an  extract from a letter of a respectable physi-
cian, an invalid  himself, and  you will see  how emphatically he en-
dorses all I have said of remedies and true curatives, what disappoint-
ments he  finds in medical books, and with what anxiety he seek? for
help.  How vain are medical theories to'him that do not bring a «ure;

                            "Lafayette, Miss., Feb. 10th,  18P1.
" Dr. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—I have been practising medicine here three yeare, beside*
four in North Carolina, where I was raised, and every dayVexperience
teaches me more the importance of the right remedy.  We may know
or think at all times v.hat is the obstruction that hindere the operation
of nature; but unless we can introduce a remedy, it is of no use; and
as to all our text-books, elementary writers, &c., I have laid ail aside,
from the fact their remedies, nine cases  out of teri,-are useless,  and in
fact injurious; and since I have  arrived  at this conclusion, I have been
picking and culling over everything for instruction respecting remedies,
and am at the same time afraid of  all or one-half of those nostruuj
and patent medicines,—but at present there is nothing else a drowning
man tike myself can catch at.     Yours, respectfully,
                        (Signed;)              15.  1).  Ciiowbii." 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
131
   Now the question arises, How can I prove to yo .. that consumj)tion
ts  curable f   Soon after I commenced lecturing,  I used to present to
my audiences persons who had been cured of consumption, and who
would state their cases before them ; but I found that sceptics would
eay that these persons were  liired to falsify  the  trath, and  thus the
influence of their testimony would be greatly impaired  with  some
minds.   So I finally adopted the plan  of stating cases, and giving
names, and supporting these by letters  from respectable persons, de-
tailing the cure  as  it occurred  in themselves,  or their  immediate
friends, and thus allowing any person who doubted or questioned the
truth of these letters and statements, to refer, by letter or otherwise,
bo the persons named; and  in this way the truth  would be arrived
at in the most  satisfactory  manner.   I now beseech you,  give me
your confidence,—at least, believe that  I believe what I assert; and
then, for the  sak"e of your own life, or  that of your children, or that
of your friends, carefully  and candidly investigate these cases; and if
you find in them all,  one case that you believe to  have been con-
sumption, and  that it has been cured, then lay aside prejudice and
doubt on this subject, and  proclaim consumption a curable disease ;
aud, of course, if curable after being formed,  believe  that  its forma-
tion may always be prevented.
   Afain, I beseech  you, give me your confidence  so far as to give
me a patient hearing, and the whole subject a searching  and honest
investio-ation.  It is of no use for me  to rise up before an auditory
of one  thousand persons,  and  utter  a  falsehood, at the same time
naming time, person, and place, because at once one or more pereons
would be found who could on  the spot prove or disprove what I assert.
I have repeatedly, after a lecture, had  persons call on me, who were
perfectly acquainted with  the  truth of what I had stated, although
the cases had occurred hundreds of miles distant from the  place of
the lecture.   In  selecting these letters, I have tiken such as I thought
would present as great a  variety of symptoms as possible, and from
persons  who arc pleased to have their unbiassed testimony .placed
before all the world for the encouragement  of the invalid.  I never,
under any circumstances, expose a name or letter without the fullest
approval of the writer.   Any person, male or female, need  have nc 
  136            ON  THE PROOF  OF THE

  fear of  writing  the  most confidentially ;  their letters are kept
  most sacred.   If I have any suspicion that  using  a letter  wou-ci
  be distasteful, I avoid it.
    Allow me to say one wo- d to the consumptive or other invalid.
-  The objpet you propose, the recovery of your health, is o*ne"of vast
  moment to you, and is deserving of your highest efforts. Let me urge
  you, in the first place, to have confidence in your remedies ; and in
  the second, to commence their use *vith the greatest caution.  If not
/ iccustomed to batliing, commence it at first  in a very warm room,
  with warm salt and water, and change  to  cold  as you find you  can
  bear it; commence your  medicines  in  doses, say about one fifth of
  what is called the  smallest dose, so that,  under no  circumstances
  shall the system receive any shock, by any changes you may make, either
  in diet, medicines, supporters, shoulder braces, inhaling tube, bathing
  exercise, or exposure.  Study to  incorporate  all your  changes with
  your system,  so  as to  do no violence to it.  Make all the remedies
  congenial  to you, and know, for your pleasure, consolation, and  en-
  couragement, that if you become  decidedly better, by faithfully con-
  tinuing and pursuing the course that has  made you  a little better,
  vou will certainly recover your  health in a longer or shorter period
  You, like  otbAr invalids, will feel the changes of weather, and have
  your poor days.   Bat do not despond.   Use your remedies faithfully,
  and, by G«d's blessing,  you will recover your health.   Recollect,  the
  very essence of m^ teaching is, to make you your own doctors, anc.
  your own  nurso-
    Be faithful to yourselves, and success  will crown  your efforts.   If
  circumstances or season of the year allow, as soon as well able, travel,
  change the air and youi* location.  If in a city or town, go to the
  country;  visit  watering-places; go  quite away, for  a time, frora
  your business, or usual  place of residence, and stay some months, i
  possible.
    I now present  to you  names and letters from well known an
  respectable individuals, who would  be  very happy at all time* tc
  answer inquiries, and assist and encourage the sick by  »Jl  aj*aw "
  their power. 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               13*3
               CASE J.—Case of Thomas Fengar.
                            ASTHMA.
   I have mentioned to you that asthma was one of the diseases tLat
cored pulmonary consumption, and that Nature  in this way saved
the lives of thousands  who would  otherwise have  died of consump-
tion.  I think a disposition to consamption  is the cause of asthma
in nearly all cases.  I find the same remedies, with some modifica-
tions, that cure consumption will c»u-e asthma; in other words, I en-
deavor to cure the consumption in cse lungs, or the seeds of it, and
the necessity  of asthma ceases and it disappears.   In January, 1845.
I spent some  days at New London, Conn.;  and among many others
that called upon me was a man  named  Thomas Fengar.  He was
sexton to one of  the churches, had  a  large  family, and was a
very industrious, worthy citizen.   For eight  yeare he had been a sub-
ject of asthma, which had at last entirely broken him down, and
prevented his doing any work.  The  weather was exceedingly incle-
ment.   It was with great difficulty that  he could walk across the
Btreet.  I gave him his remedies,  and in  three weeks from the time
I first saw him he gave me the following letter:

                                " New Loudon, Feb. 6th, 1845.
u Dr.  S. S. Fitch  :
   " Dear sir,—As a slight return for the assistance I have derived from
your prescriptions, inhaling tube and medicines, I will inform you that I
was taken with that distressing disease, the asthma, about eight years
ago, and have experienced much  of its  distressing  ravages upon my
heaRh.  For  two  months before  I saw you I was unable to do a
day"V work, and was forced to sit up.  For twenty-one nights I was
unable lo go  to bed at all, being forced to sit up all night.   On the
13th of January, 1845, I began the use of your remedies.  In a short
time I found  relief, and in less than three  weeks  was able to return
to my work and do a full day's work in the open air, and in the most
Inclement wreather.  I have no pain, very  little shortness of breath,
aud can lay down and sleep in the soundest maimer.  KI can always
have as  good health as I now enjoy, I shall feel satisfied, and most 
rjs
ON THE PROOFS OF THE
happy and giatful.   >.'yj\jif, :.oy wife and cliildren join me in thanks
for the assistance, under God, derived from your advice and medic*!
treatment.              " Respoci.fi.-ljy yours,
                                         '• Thomas Fexgar."


              CASE  II.— Miss Mariame H. Little.
                      SPASMODIC  ASTHMA.
   At  Portland,  in  November,  1845,  I was  consulted  by Misa
Mariame H.  Little for a terrible asthma.   She was twenty  yeare of
age.   Her father has been a respectable merchant of Portland; she
had had the  asthma fifteen yeare; it began after baring measles.   At
the time I saw her she was a great sufferer, unable to do any thing;
had to sit up in bed nearly'the whole of every night, and dreadfully
oppressed for breath.   For three yeare past was subject to dreadful
spasms in the base of the chest. Almost her only relief was to take
sulphuric ether, in great quantities,  by inhaling it.  In this way she
had used a pint of ether in twelve hours.   She regularly used a bot-
tle of ether eachweek.   Her case seemed most hopeless.  Her shoul
ders  were drawn up,  &c. The 12th of November I gave her reme-
dies  as  if foi  consumption,  as I  have  before  mentioned, as the
proper mode of treating  asthma., In three weeks she  was much
better, could lie clown  and sleep very well at night, and do a good
deal  of  light work about the house.  She did not  take more than
one-fourth as much ether as  at first.   I  subjoin  the following letter,
by which you will learn she is now in  pretty good health.   She had
received the  advice of  thirteen  different physicians.

                       " Pearl street, Portland, Nov. 4th, 1846.
" Dr. Fitch  :
  " Dear Sir,—Your letter of October  23d was duly received, and it
gratifies me  much to inform you that it is owing to your invaluable
couch expectorant and nervine that I owe my present state  of health.
Wlien I firet applied to you, in November, 1845,  I was iu a most dis-
tressed state, requiring two pounds and a  half of ether in a week, and
th j constant and unremitting care of my friends in  the night season, <?C 
CURE OF CC NSUMPTION
133
oen having to be held in an upright position, being too much exhausted
to tupvort myself.   I had been under the care of thirteen physicians,
and bid  nearly ghen up all hopes of ever enjoying even a tolerable
degree of health,  when you  came to our city.   Since that  time, by
following your prescriptions, and the use of your  medicines, I have
been gradually recovering, so much so, that I am enabled to substitute
the inhaling of the smoke of brown  paper, soaked in  a solution of
Mltpetre, instead of the ether,  thereby saving a great  expense, and
the unpleasant effluvia of that  article.  I have not, for four months,
had  any ether.  My sleep is good,  and I can assist about the house
without any inconvenience ; aud I write this to certify,  that both my
friends and myself  have the utmost confidence in your superior skill
and knowledge of my case.        " Yours, with respect,
                                       " Mariame H. Little."


             CASE III.—Mrs. Harriet R.  Fernald.
   In December, 1845, I was consulted at Portsmouth, New-Ha/np-
Bhire, by Mrs. Harriet Fernald.   Her father died of consumption : she
was about thirty yeare of age ; had been sickly some  time ; twelve
months ago raised blood, succeeded by a cough, and, after some time,
by attacks of asthma, nights and dayrs.  Seven weeks before I saw her,
Bhe had  an attack of pleurisy on the left side.   The top of the right
lung had tubercles in it, and was much shrunk up.  There was a large
ulcer in the top of the left lung ; left foot was cold.  The asthma had
prevented tho progress of the  consumption, and thus saved her life.
In October, 184G, I received the following letter :           *     .

                                " Portsmouth, Oct. 16th,  1846.
" Dk. Fitcii,—Sir :
   " By your request, I answer your letter.  I have neglected writing
tc yoi:, as I unde-stood  you had heard-of my  health by the way of
others that had w itten.  I gained my health slowly; every cold I took
[ would have a-n attack of the asthma, until about  July : since  which
lime I have had no asthmatic affection whatever.   Some days, when the
v~.'. J is East and damp, I am some troubled with shortness of wreath. 
IM                ON  THE PROOFS OF THE
But  my complaints have entirely changed since the third night on
commencing your remedies,  which I commenced  December last.   1
had not been ablo to lie down in bed for several months, until I tools
your medicines.   I continue  to wear the braces and supporter, and
use the tube occasionally.   Since the asthma has left me, I have been
troubled with the catarrh in my head, very bad ; my nose would dis-
charge clear water for several days at a time, and then leave me for
a few days, and then again commence ; and quite a cough attended
me, which seemed to be no farther than my throat.   My lungs seem
well since the asthma left.  I took the most of  the catarrh snuff you
sent me, but did not receive much benefit; and have tried two other
kinds, and still receive no cure: but my health, at present, is better
thai, it has been  for several months.  I think if I  could get cured of
the catarrh, I should find myself well.  I have not applied to any
physician,  excepting Dr. Burnham, for snuff  The  cold bath I con-
tinue  across my  throat and  chest.  But I  thought I took  cold by
bathing, after leaving my warm room,  and did not bathe, only  across
my chest and throat,  but seldom.   If you have medicine, or can ad-
vise mo what course I can pursue, in order to be cured of the catarrh,
I should be highly gratified in hearing  from you.
                 " Respectfully yours,         H. R. Fernald."


                 CASE IV.—John IT. McGiffin.
                            " Hudson, New-York, June 3,  1850.
"Dr. S.  S. Fitch:
  ,Dear Sir,—In  compliance  with your  request I take  this ear-
liest  opportunity  to address  you  a few lines,  expressive of the satis-
faction I experience  in regard to your treatment of my case.  As
you may remember,  I  first applied to you by letter, I think about
the 7th December, 1848.   I had been previously afflicted with asthma
from infancy ; the fits occurring at intervals of from three or four, till
At that time often less than  one a week.  I had previously done but
little for them, except using for a short time some medicines prescribed
by Dr.-----of Philadelpliia, together with his inhaling tube, frora
which  latr ,r I thought I received some, though  but  partial benefit, 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               Hi
On the whole, tire attacks were more frequent, and only prevented by
the smoking of saltpetre paper inhaled on going to bed.  I com-
menced using your  remedies  on  the 23d of December, 1848,  and
continued them pretty constantly till about June following.  The win-
ter of 1848 was a very unfavorable one, and I did not experience any
change for the better till about the beginning of March ;  it was how-
ever, from that time, very rapid, and by the middle of April I felt per-
fectly weiL   I used the  tube till July, when I was obliged to dispense
with it for want of time.  Through the latter part of August, I again
felt the symptoms of asthma, which resulted  in a return of its attacks
about the 15th September.  These continued through the last part of
the fall, though by no means as severe as before.   I again applied to
you  December 27,  1849; commenced  a course  anew,  and felt my
health improved vrithin a fortnight.   I have  had no asthma  for two
or three months, and feel satisfied that your treatment is the proper
one,  the more so as I judge by the result of two trials, which would
seem to preclude the possibility of the effects by any other causes.  I
have done nothing to prevent the fits but use your medicine, and have
not used the saltpetre paper more than two or three times in as many
months, and then probably unnecessarily.  Wishing to add my mite
to the n»ss of testimony you already possess in  favor of your treat-
ment of lung diseasesTHboth from, gratification to myself, and a desire
in some degree to contribute  to alleviate the suffering of my fellow-
creatures, by pointing them to means of relief to be confidently expect-
ed, I have  penned  this in much haste.   Should I continue  as well
as I hope, I shall write again  in the  Fall. In the mean time, I am,
with sincere gratitude and esteem, your obliged friend,
 #                                     "John H. McGiffin.'"
     PROOFS OF THE CURABILITY OF CONSUMPTION.

                    CASE I.—Miss Hawley.
  In December,  1842, I was at Vergennes, in the state / Vermont
On arriving there I was very anxious to visit a gentleman I enco knew
who resided in that place, and who was a very respectable lawyer, ami 
1*3
ON THE PROOFS OF THE
had tesided  in my father's family when I was a boy   lmmediitely
after mv arrival, Dr. Bradford, one of the first physicians of that town,
called upon me.  Dr. Bradford had been a room-mate of mine some
months, whilst wo were  attending the  Medical  College in Philadel-
phia.   I  immediately inquired for  Mr. Hawley.  He  told me  Mr.
Hawley had died of consumption  seven  yeare  before,  adding, also,
that his daughter was in consumption  and not expected to five but a
short time.   Now, said he, I  do not know what  to say of the cure of
consumption, but I do not believe you would say you  could cure it,
unless  you thought you could; and, if you please,  I will  introduce
you to Miss Hawley, and if you can cure consumption, you can have
a chance  to do so in her  case.  After  seeing Miss Hawley, and her
family, h.e called and took me to see her.  I can hardly describe the
agony of her countenance, as  she said to me, " I suppose you have
come  to  tell me I have  consumption."   On  examining her chest, I
found her very much emaciated, and ulcers in the tops of both lungs.
She had a bad cough, and raised blood occasionally. She expectorated
ulcerated matter, pus, every day. The day I was there, she raised blood,
and had all the general  symptoms of consumption in a rather  aggra-
vated form.  This was the only time but; one I ever saw Miss Hawley.
I gave her her remedies, and also written directions for her treatment,
medicines, &c, and placed them in the  hands  of Dr.  Bradford, to see
them faithfully fulfilled ; and  this  I did with all my patients I had
there.  I, at the same.time, reqiiested them, or Dr. Bradford, to write
to me in  case any farther assistance was required.  I would  say,  that
Dr. Bradford is a very candid,  judicious,  and excellent  physician.   I
heard nothing more of my patients in Vergennes,  until the next Au-
gust,  when  I met one of them in a steamboat on Lake Champlaiii,
and this was the senior Captain Sherman, of Vergennes.  He told me
he believed all my .patients got well, and,  added he, " that young lady,
Miss Hawley,  for whom we  all felt so much anxiety, and thought
would not live one month, began to mend immediately after you saw
her, and has now become entirely well."   In September, 1814, some'
tb:,jg ov,:r  Vveiity-one  months after I saw Miss Hawley, I wrote to
her,  requesting  an account  of her health,  and in  answer received
the folio whig letter.  Her case was one of true hereditary tubercular 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                143
consumption.  Her cure was perfect  I ought to 6a} she was about
nineteen years  of age.  April, 1851, Miss Hawley is still  in good
hetlth, and has been for some years the wife of a physician.

      Copy of a letter from Miss Hawley to Dr. S. S. Fitch.

                                   '' Vergennes, Oct 2d,  1844.
'• Dr. FiTcn :
  " Your kind letter of the 20th I  have just received; and am re-
 ioicod to assure you, in answer to your kind inquiries, that I  ^m now
enjoying a very comfortable state of health.   You  are aware  that,
two yeare since, at the time you we*e at Vergennes, I was fast declin-
ing,  with the most dangerous  and alarming symptoms of consump-
tion, and a sure  prospect of speedy dissolution.  I raised blood fror
my lungs daihy,  causing me great pain, with  an  unnatural  appeti'e,
flush upon my cheek, a general losing  of flesh ; and my condition
such, that it was impossible to raise  a blister upon my lungs.  I fol-
lowed your prescriptions faithfully,  and commenced blistering, and
was soon able to obtain relief fiom this source.   I  was  reduced in
strength by this treatment,  but my lungs grew better.  I  am now
quite well,  and am able to be  about the house ;  can walk and ride
without inconvenience.   In fact, my  health is full as comfortable as i.
has been for the last ten yrears.   I attribute my recovery to your visit,
and Dr. Bradford's  attention afterwards.  Your request to him shall
be complied with.  His health'"is good.   Accept the thanks of my
mother  and brother, and believe me, that I shall remember you with
the greatest pleasure and gratitude.
                                             " Miss Hawley.
  " P. S.—Allow me the pleasure of informing you that Mrs. Scott
is in a comfortable state  of health, owing to your kind attention, she
thinks."


               CASE II.—Mrs. Hannah Gardner.

  January 31,  1843, I  was called to see Mrs. Hannah Gaidner, at
Salem,  Mass.   This lady had  lost father, mother, one brother, and
three sisters, ex* consumption.   She had been urwell a long t:me, bul 
144               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
very sick for six weeks.  Her physician was, and is, one of the mo«
estimable physicians I ever knew.  Mrs. Gardner's case seemed most
hopeless: exceedingly emaciated; night sweats ;  cold feet; constant
cough,—expectorated a pint every night, by coughing; strength ut-
terly prostrated.   It was  a case  of  apparently hopeless  hereditary
consumption.  Iu October, 1846,1 received the following letter from
her husband.  She is now, January 1852, very well, I believe

                                    "Salem, Oct. 15th, 1846.
4Dear Sir:
  " I received your note, and it is with the greatest pleasure that I
mswer it.  In the summer of 1843,  my wife's health was veryj poor;
-n December she was taken sick with a lung and pleurisy fever. Her
Or. tended her five or six weeks; and she continued to grow worse.
I called on the Dr. and he gave me no encouragement.  He told the
neighbors that she was in a consumption, and that she could not live
but a short time.  My brother called  on me, and told me that he
heard your lecture on consumption ;  and he believed that you could
help Iter.  When you saw her, you gave me very little hope; but you
gave me  some medicine,  and directions  for bathing, which were
attended to very strictly for four or five days; and she began to grow
better, but continued feeble and weak, with night sweats, and very
bad cough, and raised a pint in the  night.  She continued to take
your medicine until  you left the city; and her health improved very
much.   In the spring, she was able to walk out in the yard, a mere
Bkeleton.  In June,  she went into the country, and staid six or eight
weeks; and her health improved very fast.   Since that; her health is
better than formerly.  She is able to do the most of ksr work. She
is more fleshy now than ever; and has no cough, except when she
takes cold.  She has a very good appetite, and eajcys life well. She
was very sorry that she  did not see you when  you was at  Salem.
We  did not hear of your  sickness  till  wKr you kad gone, or we
should have called on you.   If you«-./  jS*. erer visit Salem again, w«
should be happy to see you     ^c / »  fc^iy, 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               141
                CASE HI.—.Rev. L. D. Bairow.
   in October, 1843, I lectured »t Nashua, N. H.  Among the pe*
sons mentioned to me in  that town in consumption, or strongly in-
clined to it, was that of the Rev. Mr. L. D. Barrow, a Methodist cler-
gyman, resident in Nashville.   He was then travelling for his health.
He called on me in Concord,  N. H.. a few days after I left Nashua.
He was a tall, thin,  emaciated figure, with  a  very slight delicate
chest, and in ever)  appearance indicated the presence of consump-
tion.  On examining his chest I found the upper part of both b:j
lungs were considerably tuberculated.   He  stooped  very much, b.JB
shouldere were  drawn very much 07er his chest, and his  chest was
very much contracted.  He had considerable cough, pain :n tho chest,
&c.  I  think he was able  to  preach once a week.  It was with dif-
ficulty he could write for half an hour a day.   I gave him his reme-
dies.  In a few weeks  after I  met him at Nashua.  He told  me he
was happy to say he  felt quite well, and that he could write all 3ay
easier than he  could half  an  hou* before, and that he  could  preach
three times a da)r.....In November, 1844, I received the
following 'letter.  There is one circumstance in this letter to which I
wish to  call your particular attention, where he mentions that he re-
ceived great, benefit from the remedies, but becoming so very much
better,  he left them off, or omitted their use for a while, until he be-
came worse.  Docs it not seem extraordinary to you, that any man
or woman, who had been walking in sight  of an open grave for
months, because struck by a disease that is usually thought incurable,
on finding a remedy that every day makes them better, should leave
off that  remedy before their health  is perfectly confirmed, and before
their systems are entirely rid of it!  The patient persevering use of
remedies is often required for  three or four yeare.  The prize in view
being perfect health, with daily comfortable  health all the time.
You will observe the remark of Mr. Barrow, that he had left off hia
remedies prematurely, and you will observe the same m some of the
other letters.   On the first impression upon the lungs, or when they
arc observed  to be improving, no effort should then be relaxed until
thev are perf >ctlj veil.  When from carelessness, and omitting the
                  *l 
146
ON THE PROOFS OF THE
use of the remedied a relapse is suffered, the recovery is much  e-
tasded and sometimes rendered doubtful, the cure of which was ab»-
lutely certain at first.  Let every patient remember, that if he becomoi
positively better, he will certainly get well if he perseveres in the use
of his remedies, and he should continue his remedies long after every
vestige of disease is removed.   April, 1851, Mr. Banow still preaches,
wid is in good health, residing at Newark, New Jersey.


   Copy of a  letter from the Rev. Mr. Barrow to Dr. S. Si Fitch.
                             "Nashville, N. H., Nov. 1st, 1844.
" Dr. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—It is but just tjmt I should acknowledge  the benefit
derived from your treatment.   For nearly one year previously to my
applying to you, I had been suffering with a difficulty^ which my medi-
cal advisers pronounced the ' Bronchial,1 attended continually with a
slight cough ; my throat and tonsils became inflamed, and the latte*
much enlarged, "until a small portion of one of them was removed by
excision ; my cough continued to increase until ah1 medical gentlemen,
to whom  I applied,  pronounced the right lobe of my lungs-diseased.
In this condition, sir, you found me ; your instructions, together with
the good effect of your braces, soon convinced me that my posture in
writing had greatly conduced to my then state of health.   At once I
could write half of the day with more ease, with the braces, than one
hour without them; your inhaling tube soon relieved, in a measure,
my cough ; and gave  a heavier,  smoother,  and easier tone to  my
voice ; my  feeble and  narrow chest,  in a few weeks, was enlarged
more than one inch.
  " The relief which I  realized soon induced me to fall iuto careless-
ness respecting your prescriptions ; and though my lung difficulties
have recently revived slightly, it is the result of my own heedlessness,
and I am applying again to the tube and braces, as my most efficient
remedy.  I can but think, sir, that your  information and mode of
treatment is fraught with great good to the human family, and espe-
cially to clergymen, whose habits of study and exposure of lungs need
to be guarded and directed by your most important instructions.  Na 
CURE OF  CONSUMPTION
hpeaker,  even in health  can use your tube without great advantag i,
it will give a compass and music to the voice, and learn him to avt id
a high,  snoit, unpleasant, and destructive tone of voice; and to /se
those tones which will strengthen the lungs, and thus make speaking
itself a means of prolonging rather than shortening fife, which I be
lieve to  bo the true theory..
               " Most respectfully yours,        L. D. Barrow "


                   CASE IV.—Mrs. Hurlburt.
  At Weathersfield, Conn., irrAugust, 1844,1 was requested to see *
Mrs. Hurlburt, who resided in the west part of Weathersfield, about two
miles west from the meeting-house.  Her physician was Dr. Robison,
of Weathersfield.   She was represented to me as being in quite an
advanced stage  of  consumption.   An eminent medical gentleman
from Hartford, had the week previously visited Mrs. Hurlburt, in con-
sultation with Dr. Robison.  I accompanied Dr. Robison to her.   I
found her in what is called  quick consumption—that is, her lungs
were affected pretty much all  over  them, and  large quantities of pu3
were poured out daily from the internal skin of the lungs, with ulcer-
ation in. the top of the right  lung.  She had a bad cough, daily fe-
ver,  profuse expectoration, raising more  than a quart a day, night
sweats, great prostration of strength, and cold extremities.  In fact,
her immediate friends did not suppose she could live ono week.   1
believe Dr. Robison and myself concurred in the opinion, that unless
speedily relieved, she would soon die.   I gave her remedies, such as
the  case seemed to  require.  Her refief was very prompt.  I saw her
several times.   In three  weeks she was able to  come  down to the
gate and  converse wi^h me.   In a few weeks  she was  perfectly re
covered.   Her husband is a respectable farmer.  Her recovery is still
B]X>ken of in that region as little less than a miracle.

  Copy of a  letter from Mr.  James Hurlburt to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                              "Weathersfield, Dec. 15th, 1844.
* De. S. S. Fitch :
  " Dear  Sir,—L~. reply to youi inquiries, I will teU yo.i tbat my wifc 
[48                ON THE PROOFS OF THE
 was in poor  health,  all last spnng and  summer, with some oci^jh
 The fore part of July, her cough became alarming, with fever, and
 every symptom of consumption.  Two eminent physicians  attended
 her ; but no medicine seemed to help her, as she suryX very rapidly,
 until both physicians quite despaired of her recovery, considering her
 in a rapid consumption.   Few persons considered that she could live
 two weeks :  some thought she might  not five one week.  Such was
 her situation when you were called to see her.  In twenty-four hours
 after your first visit, my wife began to improve :  in two  weeks, she
 was about her house.  By a faithful use of all your remedies, she has
 perfectly recovered.  She imputes  her" recovery to your  timely aid.
^She, and all her famhY, as well as  myself, send you  our best thanks
• and highest regards.  We cannot cease to recommend your  practice
 jo ail in consumption.                       James Hurlmjrt "


              CASE V.—Master  George W. Roberts.
    In January, 1846,  I   was at  Newburyport, Mass., and  was re
 quested to see a young lad, who was about fifteen years old, an only
 child.  He had been sick for upwards of three years, and at this time
 did not go out at all—could set up only  a part of every  day.  The
 top of his right lung ulcerated.  He raised a  great deal,  and had  a
 most harrassiiig cough, and although the weather was very  coid, yet
 he was obliged to sit up  two-thirds of every night.  His case seemed
 to invite but little hope, as he had been so  long ill, and his system
 was so prostrated.   But his confidence was boundless.  He used his
 remedies faithfully.  I need not say that no person expected he could
 recover.   His physicians bad left  him entirely, considering  his case
 hopeless.  Within three weeks I had so far calmed his disease  as to
 allow him full sleep at night, and to be more or less out of doors in
 the day time.  In March I received the  following letter.   I believa
 at this time, (April,  1851,) he is in fair health.

                          " Newburyport, Mass., March 1st, 1846.
 *Dn. Fitch-
    " Sir,—I. take pleasure in communicating through you to an afflicted 
                     CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                14S

(   public, the astonishing effect your medicine has had upon  me.   I
   have not enjoyed perfect health for the last three yeare.   Much of
   the time I have been reduced very low, so as to be given up  by my
   physicians.  They thought my liver was so consumed that it wr.s be-
   yond the power of medicine to cure me.  Some refused to give medi-
   cine, saying it would have no effect.; that I could not live but a short
   time at the longest, and perhaps might five a little  longer  without
   taking any medicine, excepting a resting powder.  So I left off taking
   any other medicine (or all other medicines), and I think I felt a little
   better, for my  medicines  generally made me feel very bad.   I was
   so that 1 was able to go out   I went  out  and took a slight cold ;
   was taken down to my bed again.   My cough increased, my appetite
   failed me.  For many months I was  obliged to be bolstered up in
   my bed.   I could not lie down in bed on account of my cough ; if J
   did, it w..s attended with severe coughing spells.   I raised  a good
   deal,—was troubled  with night sweats.  I had given up all hopes of •
   being any better—supposed I very soon must die.  I was in  this sit-
  uation when I heard of your arrived in this place.  I had heard of the
  astonishing cures you had performed, and felt anxious to  see  you;
  and, by the blessing of God, I am happy to say I owe my  life to you,
  and the health I enjoy.   I applied all of your remedies according to
  directions, and felt greatly reheved in a short time.  Mv ni<rixt sweats
  disappeared, my cough grew bettor, my appetite increased, my strength
  was greatly increased.  I continue the remedies.   I now can lie doww
  in bed, and sleep all night; am able to go out and take several walks
  during the day.   I have faith to believe that your medicines will en-
  tirely cure me.  All of your medicine has  had an  astonishing effect
  upon all that have been taking it in this place.   Your patients, so »ar
  ss I have been able to learn, are doing extremely well.  We all feel
  very anxious to have you visit this place again.   I feel very anxious
  to hear from you.  Please write when you think of visiting this placa
  again.  If you do not think  of risiting this place, you must wrrt>
  without fail.         I remain ycur obliged friend,
                                       * Gsorok  W. Roberts ' 
150               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
                CASE VI.—Mr. Tluiddcus Barnet

   In October, 1844, I was consulted at New Haven, Ct, by the sub
 ject of the following case.  His father died of consumption, and in
 every respect he was, himself, highly consumptive in appearance.  Ha
 was about twenty-four years of age.  He had been declining in health
 for two yeare ; he was extremely emaciated ; his face was white as a
 Bheet, the complexion perfectly blanched; he had a bad cough; raised
 considerable every day, and frequently raised blood ; the morning I
 saw him he had raised considerable blood.  His friends had no hope
 of his recovery, and he had very tittle himself.  His recovery was very
 batisfactory.  I heard from him about eighteen months after, and then
 he was in good  health.  I saw him in October, 1845, twelve months
 after he called on me.  He was then in  fine health and spirits.   I
 saw him again on October 28th, 1846, in good health.  April, 1851,
• he still enjoys good health, and has never omitted daily  bathing if
 cold water.

   Copy of a letter from Mr. Thaddeus Barnes to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                                   New Haven, Oct. 8th, 1845.
 "c Di. S. S. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—I cheerfully comply with your request for  a concise
 account of my situation, previous to my  acquaintance  with yourself,
 and your remedies.  For some two years I had felt that my  health
 was gradually declining,  and for some eight or ten months prior to
 your visit to New Haven, my friends had  become quite alarmed at
 my symptoms.  My hands and feet were always cold.   A constant
 hacking cough Aad produced extreme soreness in the chest, together
 with bleeding from the lungs at seven or eight chfferent periods.  My
 flesh was wasting away, and my strength so far gone that  ascending
 a flight of stairs with more than ordinary haste would  completely ex-
 haust me.  In fine, my friends were bold to tell me I hail  the  con-
 sumption-  This was and  bad been my situation at and before your
 visit to our city.   After placing myself under your treatment,  I very
 boor began to improve  In two months I had gained ten or twelve
 pounds of flesh.   My cough was silenced in  about one week, and  1 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION^               l&l
have never been troubled with it since.   Without detailing farther, I
can say my health has been good most of the time since I commenced
with your remedies.
   '' Believing, sir, that you were the means of my restoration to health,
  subscribe myself, yours, under lasting obligations,
                                        " TuADDEUS BARNKS."


               CASE  VII.—Miss Mary D, Jngell.

   The subject of this case, a beautiful young lady,  consulted me at
Providence, R. I., on the 5th of March, 1845.  This young lady was
the last of her family,  her father having died of consumption.   A
y oung sister died some years  before of some sudden lung or threat
disease, and another and only sister, her constant companion, being
nearly of her age, had  died of consumption in July  previous (1844.)
She had conutant cough, much fever, raised matter daily, and at times
there was  blood.  She  had also hectic  fever and night sweats.  I do
not believe she had one friend or acquaintance who thought she could
survive much beyond the period of her sister's death.   Her interest-
ing age, her beauty and her danger, made a powerful impression upon
my feelings.  I gave her her remedies, and strong hopes of recovery.
Her mother privately said to me,  " Tell  me exactly what you think
of my daughter, as I have given up every hope of her recovery,  and
do not wish you to give me the least encouragement, unless you  feel
certiin she will live."   lier lungs were highly congested, besides suf-
fering from tubercles and ulceration.  In July following, in place of the
habiliments of the grave, wedding dresses were prepared for her.   She
is at this time in excellent health.

                            "Providence, R. L, Jmw 16tb, 1845.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Sir,—I take the greatest pleasure in  informing you, that after six
months of cough and all indications of consumption, my father's death,
and a dear sister, who died of consumption,  in July  1844, had in«
duced me  to expect their fate.  All my friends and  mother pretty
rcuch gaw me up as soon to die.   In March Utot, 15th, you saw me 
1M               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
I took your remedies ; I was then weak, lost flesh, constant 50ugh,
expectorated a good deal, and raised blood, with some pain in the side,
In sixty days all vestige of disease left me ; not a bit of cough for five
weeks Dast.   I am now in most perfect health, aesh and looks.
   " I must recommend your practice, from my own happy experience
of its delightful and happy effects.
   u My mother and  all my friends, with  myself, give you  our bert
thanks.                                        Miss Angell."

             CASE V1IL—Miss Sarah G. Nickerson.

   In April, 1845,1 was consulted at New Bedford, Mass., by this young
laiy, who resided at Fair Haven, opposite New Bedford.  I relieved her
entirely from the indisposition under which she had labored for some
years.   I returned to New Bedford in June,  and found a letter at the
hotel, requesting, should I come to New  Bedford, to call over and
Bee this  young lady.  I will now remark, that every physician should
he a master  of medical remedies.  His mind should be expanded to
successfully  meet every case, and  learn judiciously to diversify his
treatment.   Some physicians are so stupid as to use the same set cf
remedies perhaps an  hundred successive times, and always  without
success,  seeming not to know how to diversify their practice.   I found
Miss Nickerson in a very  deplorable state  of health.  She had had  a
very severe pleurisy upon the right side, and inflammation of the right
lung ; and this had continued for upwards of three weeks, until near-
ly every hope of recovery had vanished.    The day  before I called, she
had, in the most affecting maimer, intimated to her friends,  that she
thought she  could live btJfc a short timej and in this they all concurred.
She had constant burning fever, total  loss  of appetite, incessant cough,
dry and hot skin, cold feet, great  prostration of strength,  wretched
sleepless nights, and much pain  over the right side.  She had taken
a great  de*d of medicine, until it seemed as if she could take no more,
so prostrated had she become,  and so injured was the tone of her
stomach.  She had been blistered very  much upon her side; horrid
tartar emetic sores had been made upon her side and breast, and fi-
nally, to shut out all  air from her chest,  the whole  chest was covered 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
lid
 with oil-silk; but l»eneath the silk were plasters, salves, and an abun<
 dance of sores.   On examining the chest, scarcely any air entered tha
 right lung;  the lung seemed to be utterly closed up.  Every remedy
 seemed to have  failed of conferring any benefit.   AM this, joined to
 complete prostration of strength,  seemed to make the case  almost
 hopeless.   In addition, she had been delicately brought up, and was
_ of rather  effeminate  habits.   I,  however, did  not despair of-her
 recovery,  and  told her so.   It was a warm afternoon when  I saw
 Iftr.   I told her at six o'clock to put her  feet in  very hot  watery and
 keep them there  until they were perfectly warm, arfrl until the blood
 circulated freely through the  lower extremities, and to raise the heat.
 if possible, to produce general  perspiration.   After this had been ac-
 complished, I  requested her to remove every thing from the chest,
 oil-silk, plasters, saive, and every thing of the kind, as much as pos
 eible ;  and after that was done, to dip a moderately sized linen table
 cloth in cold #ater, and wrap up t-lie chest, and indeed the whole per
 son; then to place  herself in bed and  be  covered up warm.   I di
 rected  her to keep on the  wet cloth for three  hours, then take it off
 and be sponged over with cold salt and water;  then be wiped and
 rubbed diy, and placed  pleasantly in bed.  I also gave her such med-
 icines as I thought suitable for her case.   Tho  use of the wet cloth,
 as  first directed, I recommended to bo in the  same way  every eve-
 ning, until all pain  and  soreness should have  left the chest, and all
 fever was dispelled  from the  system ; and after this, to wash her per-
 son all over, every day, with cold salt and water;  to go out as soon
 as  possible, and to wear no more clothing about, her chest than was
 comfortable ;  to put1 no more oil-silk or plasters upon it;  and finally,
 as  soon as she  found the side  relieved of pain,  and the fever some-
 what dispelled,  to use her inhaling tube in the freest  manner, so as
 to  open and  expand the collapsed lung.  In  one week I received a
 letter from her, stating that she was much better;  la rix, she visited
 me at Fall River, in company with a»f«male friend, who required my
 btssistenco.  Miss Nickerson was then in  blooming health.  I should
 have remarked  in  the proper place, that when I told  them to wrap
 her up  in a wet cloth, they were as much astounded as if I had told
 thera to kiil her, nor would it have been adopted had the not before 
iM
ON THE PROOFS  OF THE
ried nearly every other remedy without success, and had she not pre-
viously experienced benefit from my proscriptions.   I saw her in tha
following October.   She enjoyed the finest health.
   April, 1S51, she is married, and enjoys excellent health.

 Vopyof a letter from Miss Sarah G. Nickerson to Dr. S. S. Fitch
                          "Fairhaven, Mass., July 18th,  1845.
 ' Dr. Fitqh :
   " Respected friend,—In answer to your kind inquiry concerning
my health, I  am  happy  to inform you of its rapid  improvement.
You doubtless recollect the situation you found me  in  when you so
kindly and unexpectedly called.  Suffering with a constant pain in
my side and across the chest, and in my shoulders, a dry hard cough,
shortness of breath, a burning fever, and entire debility', I  felt my-
self sinking fast, and the only encouraging words said to me by m«
physicians and friends were, ' The warm  weathe/  is; in your favor.'
You, sir, like some kind angel commissioned  by Heaven,  declared I
might yet live.  After following your prescriptions two  or three days,
I could rest sweetly all night, which  I had not done before Tor  many
weeks, and my appetite, which was entirely  gone, was completely re-
stored, my cough ceased, and the soreness of my lungs  and chest dis-
appeared.  ~I am gaining in strength and weight; and  I will add, the
benefit I have received from your medicines, together with the shoul-
der brace and inhaling tube, cannot be expressed.
   '' I therefore most cheerfully recommend  to all similarly afflicted
with myself, your remedies, and would advise them not to  give up
to consumption's fatal grasp until they have  given them a trial.
   " And now, kind sir, please accept my  warmest thanks  for youi
kindness ; and that Heaven's richest blessings may rest on you and
yours ?s the sincere wish of your friend,
                                     " Sarah G. Nickerson."


             CASE IX.—Rev. John Morns Pease.
   I add one letter, containing the experience of the Rev. John Moj« 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                »»
/* PcJwe, who, after long continued chest and luLg  disease, is now
r«biored to perfect health, with a fine noble chest

"Pr-Fitcm:
  u Dear Sir, • -You will please send me five inhaling tubes.  I would
not go so far, and be so long away, without providing for accident,
and  to supply ihe  suffering.  On no account would I  be without
your inhaling tube.  It has been everything to me ; I use it daily;
It is the best medicine I ever used.   Indeed, I could not live without
it.  It saved raes by the blessing  of God, from the jaws of death,
and now preservet me in comfortable health.   In two years, by it*
use, my chest, theu measuring 32 inches, now measures 39, and my
breathing, health and strength, have improved in proportion.
              u I am, dear sir, yours, respectfully,
                                   " John Morris Pease,
                     u Seamen1* Chaplain, Rio de Janeiro, S. A.
  •New-York, Ik,c. 7, 1849."

                  CASE  X.- -Miss Redmond.

                            K Paterson, N. J.,  August 31, IS43.
• Dr S. S. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—1 wish to inform  you of the effect of your medicines
upon my daughter.   She is 18 years of age, and delicate.  She waa
taken in April.last with a slight  cough.  The first week  in May she
became unable  to be about much.  Violent cough, profuse expecto-
ration, so as to raise one pint a day, and some daily fever, night
sweats,  and rapid debility, followed by a total loss of appetite, utter
prostration of strength, and entire cessation of  monthly sickness—
very severe  pain in  her right side, which, after a time,  changed to
her left side ; she could not lie upon her right  side at all; her feet
and limbs swollen very much, so as  to shine and  appear almost trans-
parent   Her physician gave her up.  Another physician, who chiefiy
attends to lung diseases, said she could not be  cured—he could do
nothing for her.   It was supposed she coidd not live one  week.
  " On the 22d of June last, my husband called on  you, stated tha 
166               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
 case, and took yrour remedies.  After the remedies wore received, oui
 clergyman called on us, and  said,  as consumption never was cured,
 he considered it wrong to be giving her  medicines ;  but as we had
 no other hope,  we used  your  remedies faithfully—inhaling tube,
 shoulder braces,  supporter, and medicines.  We called on you from
 time to time for  advice and medicine, which were strictly employed.
 She is  now  perfectly well, but lias not quite recovered her strength,
 and has  not coughed  once in three weeks.  We thank a good  God
 for this, and hope you may be always as successful.
                                      "Elizabeth  Redmond.*

   April, 1851, Miss R. is in excellent nealth.


                  CASE XL— Groviier Noyes.

                                 P ekskill, N. Y. May 9, 1850.
   ** Dear Sir,—It is with  feelings ot gratitude, I assure you, that 1
 withdraw a moment from my business to communicate the astonish-
 ing effect your medicines had on me.  Two years ago the 28th  day
 oi March, I was attacked with a severe  turn of bleeding  from the
 lungs, which continued for a day or two.   For two or three  months
 previous to this, I had a very distressing cough, insomuch that I could
 not rest clay or nignt.  I tried everything I could think of, but noth-
ing seemed  to do me good.  After bleeding from the  hmgs I was
very  much  reduced, and so weak that I could not be raised in  bed
without fainting.   However,  after  a short time, I gained  a little
strength, so that I could walk about a little ; but this strength  did
 uot last long.  I took a short walk one damp day, and took a very
heavy cold;  my body  was a wreck of pain.   I was attended by two
skilful  physicians, who did all in their power to  relieve me,  but the
 relief their medicine afforded was only momentary ;  my left hand
 and foot became powerless almost  I was so sore across  my ches-t
 and ftoraach I could  scarcely breathe.   Whenever I coughed, my
mngs became so irritated they bled.   I was as helpless as an infant.
 Reduced  to a mere skeleton,  my bones had worn through the skin,
 i waa in as shocking a condition  as any one could be,  and live.  N 
CURE 0^ CONSUMPTION.
151
OLe  thought I could survive Dji a snort time.   For three months 1
was  in this condition, when a kind neighbor felt interested enough to
Bend me one of yoxu books called " Dr. Fitch's Six Lectures on tha
Prevention and Cure of Consumption."  I read the book, and fel*
assured you could do something for  me,  and that to remain in the
condition I was then in I must die.   I stated my case to you, by let-
ter,  as near as I could,  and  you prescribed for me.  I commenced
with the remedies as directed, and in less than three weeks was ena-
bled to get out of doors again, to the astonishment of my physicians,
friends and neighbors.  It seemed as if your medicine braced me right
up.   My recovery was  very rapid.   I felt I gained strength every
day.   I am now in a comfortable state of health.  I can go out in all
weathers,  and not take cold.  I can truly say that I have not had a
bad  cold or cough Aince I commenced using your remedies.  I con-
tinue bathing daily with cold water.  The shoulder brace and sup-
porter I would not dispense  with for any consideration.  When  I
feel  the least indisposition  I  apply to your  remedies, which  always
give immediate relief.   I have  now  no pain or soreness whatever;
can  lay down and  sleep soundly.   If I can always enjoy as good
health as I now do, I shall be contented and  happy; and I write this
to certify that both  my friends and myself have the utmost confidence
in your superior skill and knowledge  of my case.
              " Yours, with respect,          Grovne-r Notbs."

   April. 1851, is in excellent health.


                  CASE XK—Mr. Moses  My.

   When I first sa»v Mr. Ely; hL right lung was most extensively
ulcerated,  and neither myself nor any one  supposed that he could
possibly recover.  This letter speaks for itself.  April, 1851, he isstilj
in excellent health ;  now twenty-one years old.

     "New-York, N. E. cor. Gold and Fulton sts.,  Aug. 20, 1848.
"  Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   w Dear Sir,- -Ii  iccordance with your desire, I vill now attempt *4 
£58               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
give an account of the very critical situation in which you found ma
when you visited me  on the 5th of May, 1847, together with  the
causes which led to it,  and my present state of health, compared with
that of the above time.   Careless exposure during the winter previous ■
had caused me to take cold upon cold, which being neglected, paved
Che way for inflammation of  the lungs, with which I was attacked on
the  20th February, with such severity, that on account of the very
sharp pain it occasioned in my right side, I was unable to take even
the slightest breath without the greatest difficulty.  Leeches and other
applications were made,  with  but temporary effect,  and the disease
gradually progressed, notwithstanding the efforts of the best medical
advisers to check it.  Soon the greater part of my right lung seemed
entirely to cease acting; and when I inhaled the air, ordy the front
upper part of my right breast moved.   My cough abated none, and
the character of the expectoration became  worse  and worse.   The
disease so far baffled the skill of my physicians, that they soon began
to abandon all hope of my recovery, and on or about the first of May,
they gave me up, and resigned me to the kind offices of ' time and
nature.1  Previous  to this, I had accidentally overheard one of them
tell some of my relatives, in an adjoining room,  ' It is impossible for
him to live,'  and on the same day that they  gave me up, he met  my
uncle in the street, and told him that I might possibly live till August,
but not longer ; and it was then, when deliberating what course next
to pursue, that I heard of your manner of treating diseased lungs, and
determined,  if possible,  to have the benefit of  it.  Accordingly, you
called to  see me on the  5th of May, when the symptoms which  the
disease had assumed were as follows: I  had constant sharp pains in
my right side, midway between the hip and the shoulder, running from
the front through to the back part of the breast; in my right shoulder,
and running down my arm to  my elbow, (which last prevented  my
raising my hand  to my head.) and an almost incessant cough, with a
copious expectoration of  thick, yellow offensive matter, which sank in
water.  I was confined to my bed most of the time,  and unable to lie
on  my right  side.   My  right  lung was  still inactive—my appetite,
which before had been miserable, was now almost insatiable, and my
bowels had been, since I was first attacked, verv inactive    Mv right 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                159
  fcde had sunken in very muelij and my shouider being deprived of ita
  proper support, sunk so far as to be much below a level with the other
  one.  On the same day that I placed myself under your care,  I went
  to Newburg, and soon began to discover  a very favorable change in
  my feelings.  The use of the braces and tube enlarged my breast verv
  much, and caused the cavity to fill up.   My appetite became reduced
  to its natural standard, the' pains gradually subsided,  and my  bowels
  became regular.   On the 4th July, I was so far recovered as to be able
  to be from  home all the morning;  and on the 1st  October  follow-
  ing,  returned to New-York, and have ever since attended to my busi-
  ness, with scarce any interruption in consequence of sickness.
    " I now feel quite welf, but still liave a slight cough,  from which I
  hope soon to recover.   Other than this, nothing remains of that dan-
  gerous illness,  from which,  through  your timely aid, I was relieved.
_I have recommended your treatment to others, and watched its effect
  upon them, and have become acquainted with a great many who had
  been  previously benefitted by it; and the result is, that I  can recom-
  mend your practice with the greatest confidence to all who are afflict-
  ed with diseased lungs, feeling  assured that  in doing so I can do
  them no injustice.
    " Hoping that many years of continued usefulness may be in stoie
  for you, I am,  with great respect, yours, etc.,
                                               "Moses Ely."


               CASE  X) Z.—Mrs. Dorcas T. Moore.

                            "Farming-ton, Maine, Oct. 1C, 1848.
  u Dr. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—I fear  th»-t you have thought that I have forgotten
 vou, my kind l.entfactor —but I  have not,  nor ever- shall, while me-
 mory lasts.  Your medicines and machinery have met my most san-
 guine expectations.   My health is better than it has ever been since
 mv remembrance; and your tube, braces and supporter have done all
 for me that you recommended them to do.   Please to accept my most
 Hincore thanks and well wishes.         " Yours, in haste,
                                         rt Dorcas T. Moor*." 
160                ON THE PROOFS OF THE
              CASE XIV.—Rev. Rodolphus Bard.

"Dr. S. S. Fitch:
  " Dear Sir,—In looking over the history of the layJUro years (A
my life, I am filled with gratitude to God for his great goodness in so
far restoring my health and giving me back to my family, after all
hope had  fled, and they could only look)i on me as already entering
the grave.  It has ever been to me a  self-evident truth that the all-
wise Creator always works by means, and it gives me great pleasure,
my dear sir. to say that your remedies for the cure of consumption
were  the  means, the ' only means,' of my  recovery, as will  more
fully appear by the following statement of my case.
  " First,  my family nearly all consumptive—my mother,  brother
and also  a large number of other relatives, died of  consumption.
From my  childhood my constitution was slender, and for t'he last 25
years, regarded by all my friends  as inclining to consumption.
  "At the age of 25 years I commenced preaching the Gospel,  with
but little prospect  of Jiving to the age of 30.  Lungs weak, a con-
stant hoarseness and  hacking cough, some expectoration, often night.
sweats, and habitual  costiveness,  attended with freouent distressing
nervous head-aches.  A change of climate from  New York to Ohio
operated favorably, and for 12 years I  was able to act  as Pastor of
the  Baptist Church  in Brimfield.  In the winter of 1844 I had a
severe attack of erysipelas fever, which very much injured my consti-
tution, and left me in a decline.  In  the winter of '46 I took the
charge of  a protracted meeting in  Mantua,  laboring night and day
for four weeks, at the  close  of  which I found my whole system en-
tirely prostrated—my lungs  so weak  it was with difficulty I  could
speak so as to  be heard.  My friends and ministering  brethren be-
came alarmed,, and  earnestly adriscd me to stop preaching.  But I
did not realize my danger,  and  continued  to preach  two or three
times each  Sabbath  during the  summer.   In September, I took a
violent cold, aud at once found myself on a sick bed with a  hard
cough, large expectoration of light frothy matter, daily chills, fever,
night sweats, loss of  appetite, pain in the  chest, shouldere and lirats,
palpitation of the heart, nervousness, Ac.  I  tried  the usual  remodaoa, 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION               161
 such as  blistering, <fec, to nc benefit  I went down rapidly, with in*
 creasing alarming symptoms, until  the  middle of November.  All
 hope was gone, and the community considered me past recovery.
   " A copy of your Lectures fell into my hands, the reading of which
 rekindled a spark of hope.  I lost no time in applying to you, and
 on the first clay of December, '47, ' of happy memory,' received a full
 supply of your remedies.   I  followed your directions to the letter,
 and to the astonishment and joy of all my friends, my recovery was
 as rapid as had been  my decline,  so that on New-Year's day I was
 able to visit my friends.  I soon felt myself  compelled  to labor for
 tho  support of my family.  During the summer I performed my
 usual amount of labor.
   " In October, '48,1 again found myself failing.   I called on Dr. A.
 Jackson Squire.  He decided I had a chill fever—gave me medicine
 which soon relieved.  However, I imprudently went out too soon,
 which brought on a relapse.  The disease  concentrated its whole
 force on my lungs—my right lung  till then  was sound—but now
 both lungs were highly congested.  Cough returned with great vio-
 lence—lungs soon became loaded with  thick  heavy  matter without
 fctoe power to throw it off.   I was  out of  your medicines, but fortu-
 nately, I was able to borrow from  one of your patients,  1 bottle of
 Expectorant, 1 do. of Pulmonary Balsam, and a bottle of Anti-Mu-
 cus Mixture.  After taking the Expectorant a few days, I  raised large
 quantities of matter that would sink in water almost as soon as lead.
 That bottle of Expectorant saved my life.  I immediately applied to
 you again—there  was necessarily considerable delay in  getting the
 medicines.   My friends  and physician said there was  no hope in my
 case, and I too felt that my time to die had  come—made arrange-
 ments to leave my family—and how could I think otherwise ?   I had
 a hard cough, raised large  quantities of solid matter, distressing pains
 through my entire lungs, shouldere,  bowels and limbs,  daily chilla
 and fever, night sweats, loss of appetite, flesh  rapidly wasting  away,
 and to crown the whole, swelled limbs and diarrhoea.
  " Your letters, dear sir,  to me were full of kindness  and encou-
 ragement   You said you  fully believed  I would yet recover.   You
did  not misjudge.   My recovery was slow ' but certain.' 
G2
ON THE PROOrS OF THE
   " In May. 1849,1 felt anxious to see you.  My health still very poor,
many of my friends thought me presumptuous in undertaking such a
journey alone.   On  your examination of my lungs you pronounced
'he entire front  of my left lung and the top of  the right ulceiated.
''his  was S3  news  to me ; I had made the statement often to my
Hends, which I  found  to agree with  your decision.  You also said
>ny lungs were in a heating  state.   I  now  acknowledge my doubta
at that time, but have since found you were correct.
   " In October last I was elected to  the office of Recorder of Portage
County, Ohio.  My political opponents said that writing would kill nle,
and some of my friends even feared it might prove true.   I have now
be in in the office, writing from four  to  eight deeds  per day, for four
m -nths, myr heah;h improving all the while.   The secret  of all this is,
y< u^ sir, have learned me  how to take care of my health.  I am  often
as&ed,  ' Do you expect to be  restored  to perfect health V  I answeT
all such,  ' I  never enjoyed perfect  health ; I have now almost gone
through the winter without any serious  attack  of the lungs, and by
care  I hope yet to live to  the common age of man.'  Dr. Earl, of
Franklin, not long since said to me, ' Sir, you are almost a miracle in
the history of disease.'   Others  have  expressed themselves in the
same manner.   In conclusion, I will  say, no  man feels a deeper inter-
est in  consumptives than myself.  To  all "such  I honestly and con-
scientiously would  say, ' Try Dr.  Fitch's  remedies—tiy them faith-
fully, do not say  you cannot follow his  directions,  but  follow  them
perseveringly, and through the blessings of God you may yet live who
would otherwise sink into an early grave.'
   " In publishing the above statement I believe I am doing my duty
to an afflicted public, and to you, kind sir, as a benefactor ; and it
Bhall ever be my prayer that  peace,  prospeiity«and long life may bt
yours.   With sincere regard, I remain your* truly,
                                          "RonoLnius  Barp
   "Ravenna, Ohio, October, 1850."


        CASE XV.— Consumption prcduced iy a humor.

   [have often referred t>  the fact, tl >  the two great principal ca   <* 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION                [<jj
of consumption are loss of symmetry, and a humor or poison in tha
blood.   The following is a most marked case illustrating what I have
said.  April, 1851, Mrs. Burrett is very well.

                            " Waterbury, Ct, August 28, 1850.
"Dr. S. S. Fitch:
  " Dear Sir,—You wished me to write a statement of my case.  My
exact case was written to you the fore part of February, 1850.   I will
put thein down as near as I can remember.  When I wrote you I had
been confined to my bed three months, since my confinement.  My
symptoms were daily hectic fever, constant cough, raised thick, yellow
matter, sometimes it was frothy, a heat, dryness and constant tickling
in my throat, pahi through my chest and shoulders, great pain in my
back, constant diarrhoea, could not eat anything but soda  crackers,
great coldness in my lower  limbs.  Physicians, friends, and myself
thought consumption would soon lay me in the tomb.  Friends, who
came to see me from a distance, thought I could not live more than
two weeks.  I alone had faith that you might help me.  I wrote you.
Your candid answer was that, under all the circumstances, the  proba-
bility was medicine would not avail, but if I wished, you would send
me some, which you did.   I took  them faithfully two months, wher
I found myself so much better I thought I might  leave them off. As
isoon as I commenced taking the medicines, my appetite came, and I
could eat anything.  I  continued to improve, and in July my gene-
ral health was  better than  it had  been for some yeare.  I have had
oiles,,pr an eruption of some kind, on my face, most oAhe time. At
present my health is good ; and what has passed off in biles,  seems to
have gone into my hands and ear, they are all  running sores.  My
hands are bound up,  so please excuse the soiled paper and poor writ-
ing.  I will  now clos^,  hoping, soon to cancel  my pecuniary obliga-
tions ; but the  debt of gratitude I owe you  for my restoration to
health and ray littli ones, will be lasting as life; and 1 trust and pray,
dear sir, that your ^ iluablc  life will long be spared as a blessing to
afflicted humanity.  You can make any use of my case that you wish.
                     " Very respectfully yours,
                                   " Sarah Louisa Burrkit.' 
164               ON THE PROOFS OF THE

                CASE XVI.—Mrs. T. T. Dean
                        " Ballston Springs, N. Y., Oct. 0,  1848.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—My  father died of asthmatic consumption—motht*
died of tubercular consumption.  I have been unwell five yeare, paii
in left chest and lungs, cough, raising matter and blood at times.   In
August, 1847, I called on you and got your remedies ; in their us«j
several ulcere broke on my left lung.  The medicines and all the re-
medies acted well, and before long, I was restored to good health.  1
have now no cough, and feel as  if I have a new lease of life for many
yeare. 'I feel obliged to  you for  this result by God's blessing.  I
think yours is the true practice in consumption.  Chronic diarrhoea 1
have had for years;  I am much reheved of it, and am" almost well.
                                     "Mrs. T. T. Dean.
                              " At the house of Rev. N. Fox."

                         CASE XVII.
Letter from Rev. R.  Whitwell, Episcopal Clergyman of St. Armand,
  C' F., who has had a good opportunity to judge of my remedies.
                             "New-Haven, Ct, Aug. 28,  1848.
  " My dear sir,—I have  but a  moment to sayT that I am now  frea
from cough and expectoration, and for a week back have been slowly
recovering my appetite  and strength.   Week before last I bathed in
the sea at  Morris' Cove four mornings  out of the five.  Your  medi-
cines are truly what they*profess to be—' no mistake.'  Shall pursue
the course as you directed, and hope still to benefit  by your judicious
treatment.  With thanks for all your kindness, and the good servic*
from your excellent practice, I remain, &c, yours faithfully,
                                           *'R. Whitwell."

          CASE XVIII.—Mrs. Charles M. Brocheay.
                          " Brockport, N. Y., August 21,  1845.
" Dr. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—It is but right that I should acknowledge tb , *vuel 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                IG5
 lerived from your treatment.   When I first saw you in  February
 1847, I was thought by my friends and several eminent physicians to
 be past cure, unless your remedies could help me.  I had a very bad
 jough, and every morning raised a  quantity of blood—also a verj
 bad pain in my left side and chest—almost lost  my voice at times—
 speat weakness in the  small  of my back,  palpitation of heart, and
 bloated very much in my bowels.  I purchased  one of your  books,
 n.nd in a week from that time was on my way to see you.  My hus-
 band and friends did .not expect to see me return alive, but in four
 weeks from that time I returned to my family, very much improved
 in health, to tho  astonishment of all; and in three  months from the
 time that I commenced using your  remedies, I was  entirely cured,
                          " Respectfully yours,
     •                           " Mrs. Chas. M. Brockway."

   April, 1851, ftilj in excellent  health.


               CASE  XIX.—Rev. W. H. Tiffany.
    •                        " New-York, September  28, 1850.
 4 Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Respected Sir,—For two years have I used your brace,  supporter,
 and inhaling tube, and have derived great benefit from the same.  I
am naturally of slender make, predisposed to consumption.   Before I
used any of your remedies, physical  prostration  was the almost cer-
taih result of the Sabbath day's labor; but noio I  find preaching to ba
a delightful recreation.   I might say much, and still  not be saying
too much, in recommendation  of  your system.   I advise all my min-
isterial brethren, at least to purchase your ' Six Lectures,' brace, sup-
jxirter, and tube, feeling perfectly satisfied that  my advice will not be
found by theni to be  wreug.
       " I remain, very respectfully and truly, your friend,
                                        "W. H. Tiffast,
                         " Preacher in the Methodist E. Church
  M My Post-Office address !s Minaville, Montgomery Co. New-York." 
   f               ON .THE'PROOFS OF THE

              CASE XX.—Mr. William Wigram
                   " Saugerties, Ulster Co., N. Y., Aug. 3, 1848,
 *Dr.S. S. Fitch:
   " Dear Sir,—I am glad to inform you that I believe I am decidedly
better, if not entirely well.   I  feel as well, nearly,  if not quite, as 1
ever did—have not the least pain anywhere—sleep well and eat well.
[ walked a mile last week, half of which was very much uphill, and
walked fast, in company -with another person, as fast as lever walked
on ordinary occasions, and did not feel more difficulty of breathing, or.
was more exhausted,  than I  would have  been twenty yeare ago; but
I cough,  perhaps  once,  or sometimes during the night and  before
breakfast.   Some days I do  not cough at all; when I do cough,  ex-
pectorate hardly anything.   It  is merely a single cough at a time- -no
spell, or continuation  of coughing—generally cough  once, and shortly
afterwards again; I then expectorate a little, and am sure not to cough
again for hours,  or during the day.  When I talfe a cough  pill, 1
generally do not cough again forlioure, sometimes a whole clay.   Not
having seen Mr.  Sol'n M. Myers since 4tbr July, I yesterday called on
him, and was rejoiced to hear him  say that he believed he was entirely  ' ■
well, not having  coughed a single  time (and of course not expecforat-
ted at all)  during the last two weeks.  He said he had lately got i
new supply  of medicmes, and believed he would use-fchem up, bein,'
well satisfied that your medicines, taken according to directions, will  .
hurt no one.  He has  the fullest faith that it must be  the worst a< «*>
cases of consumption if you  did not cure it.  I advised him by all
means to continue.using the  medicines, for fear of relapse—that if 1
had the medicineSj J. would continue using them  more  or  less for
years.                       Yours, truly,
                                        " William Wigium."

   Mr. Wigram is a most respectable practising lawver, aud  exten-
sively known.  His health was  in a most critical and dangei ous state
when he firet called on  me.  His  lungs were badly ulcerate \ and tu-
berculated.   Now, (April, 1851,) he is very well.   He- is 6P years of
age. 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION                »61
                 CASE XXL— 0. Thayer, Esq
   November 7, 1848,1 was consulted  by Mr. 0. Thayer, of New-
ark, New Jersey.   He is one of the proprietors of the Hudson River
Cement Company, doing business  nt Jereey City, near this city;  a
gentleman <*f«wealth, piety, and education, well and favo.ably known.
His right lung was extensively ulcerated, congested, and tuberculated.
Nearly all the right lung was diseased, but mostly in the front lobes •
hi? left lung was catarrhal and hoarse ; bad cough, expectoration, pain
in both sides, great soreness across the  chest, considerable palpitatioa
of the heart, very dyspeptic, and had been so for  yeare, great pros-
tration of strength, very short breathing, and constitution much shat
tered  by  disease, flesh much wasted, frequent chills and daily fever
I give a letter from him to me, and a letter of inquiry to him, and his
answer.  All who have given" letters in  this book a^e happy to an-
Bwer letters of inquiry, provided the postage is paid.  Mr. Thayer had
previously used my mechanical remedies for support IS months with
much benefit, but he had not used any of my medicines.

                            "Newark, N. J., August 14, 1850.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—Having apparently recovered from  the  pulmonary
diseases from which I have so long  suffered, I feel it my duty to com
munieate the following  brief particulars respecting my case, for the
encouragement of the suffering.   My difficulties commenced  in the
cpring of 1838, with  a hemorrhage from the lungs, and expectoration,
Attended  with severe pain in the left side and breast, which soon ex<
tended to the right side, with slight cough, shortness of breath, night
sweats, inflammation  of the chest;  emaciation and weakness ensued,
and bleeding from the lungs continued.   By the advice of an eminent
physician, I spent a year  in  Virginia, and returned with improved
health.   During the foTIowiua summer.  I raised blood again, which
continued, more  or  less, untu     "*4th  August,  1848, when I raised
about a pint.  I then gav: T> h v  ■      On the evening of the 15th,
I  raised, as was judged, rav*   - - *  * %art of fresh blood from tht
Itmgs   It was not tit f)w*  hm -  ^jje myself up to the horron of 
168               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
my situation—night sweats wetting  my bed through and throngh—
and  a distressing cough immediately commenced;  I  had  ctjpioui
expectoration, mingled with blood—shortness of breath,  rendering it
necessary to communicate my wishes by writing, as, on attempting to
speak, my breath seemed gone, and instant hemorrhage ensued ; my
pulse, one hundred and twenty-five per minute, with sharp pains
through my lungs and chest.  One physicfan said niy heart was
much diseased, as well as my lungs.   Another, that the tops of both
my lungs were ulcerated and gone  ; that  he could give me no encou-
ragement ; I might continue a short time, but probably should not
Another said  all my vital organs were  diseased; heart  and lunga
veiy much ; thought he ought not to give me any encouragement;
said  I might  keep  along a week or two, but was liable to  die any
minute ; advised me to take simple remedies that would alienate my
pains, which was all I could expect to be  done for me.   An eminent
physician in New York next gave his opinion that the bottom of both
my lungs was destroyed and gone, lungs full of ulceration, my heart
much diseased, and so  much inflammation in my  chest that my case
was utterly hopeless—my speedy dissolution certain ; said, remedies
for  fever  and ague would  be as good as any thing for me, and re
commended arsenic!   About two weeks after this  last opinion, I saw
you, and  on examination you told me the centre of my right lung
was badly diseased; and never shall I forget my feelings when you
eaid you thought I  mhVhi be restored—I had  considered my doom
certain.  When I commenced taking your remedies, and saw their
number, my heart sank within me.   I doubted the  propriety of taking
so much medicine.   I longed  to see one who had been restored by
ihem—to behold with my own eyes the countenance  where blushing
health had gained  the  ascendency over pale consumption.  As if to
add to the horrors which surrounded me, one advised one thing, an-
other recommended something else—some said  your remedies would
certainly kill me—others, that  I had  betljgr  let all medicines alone,
that I should suffer less—physicians  all  agreeing that consumption
was incurable.  I persevered with  your remedies according to direc-
tions, and found relief.   The morning cold bath,  with the cloth wet
with cold  salt water, laid upon my breast during the night,  allayed 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
169
the inflammation.  The Cathartic  and Cough Pills  relieved me at
once ; the Heart Corrector and Pulmonary Balsam I found priceless
remedies for diseases of the heart and lungs.  My health  has  greatly
improved.  The night  sweats, pains in my chest,  cough,  and  hemor-
rhage, have all disappeared. I have gained nearly my original weighlr
can run  up-staire or walk up-hill without fatigue, And frequently walk
many miles in a day.   I am strongly impressed that walking out and
exposure to the open air has had much,  veiy much, to" do with my
present improved healthvand expanding the chest by inhaling all the
air possible is also of immense benefit, especially where there is pain
in the chest;  and keeping  the chest erect and thrown forward.   Your
Tube I could never use, but have expanded my chest by inhaling long
breaths,  very considerably*  I  feel  as though  a  new life has  com-
menced  with me, and I may yet see  the  opening buds and sunny
skies of many springs.  My acquaintances view me with amazement;
they supposed I sbfuld long ere this .have  been  in my last repose.
And here allow me to express my gratitude to  you for your faithful-
ness and kindness to me, and  moreover, to the great Physician who
blesied the means for my recovery; also my entire confidence in the
effieacy of your remedies for the cure of pulmonary diseases.   If this
hasty epistle should afford  aid or comfort  to the suffering, my object
in writing will have been attained.
            " Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
                                               "0. Thayer."

                               "Dayton, Ohio, Feb. 8th, 1851.
  " Mr. O. Thayer,—The  occasion for this communication will, I trust,
 ks a sufficient apology for  addressing a stranger in this way.
  " Dr.  S. S. Fitch of New-York, in a pamphlet which he has pub-
^hed, gives  a letter over your name, of  date August 14th, 1850,
stating that by the use of his  remedies you were, at the date of the
letter, nearly cured of the consumption.  Having a case of lung disease
in my fa-mily, I have concluded  to try Dr. Fitch's remedies, if I can
first ba assured by  tliose said to be benefitted by them, that as much
was accomplished in tins case as it claimed.
  " You will  do mo  and many others great  kindness, by vahmmg
                      o 
iCO               ON THE PROOFS OF THE

mo whether the said letter, as published, gives a correct statement of
your case, and also whether you eontinue to improve, or have attained
to perfect health.
   " By answering this immediately, you will very much  oblige a
stranger.                 " Yours, respectfully,
            (Signed,)                * Charlk? v ^awford."


                                « Newark,, N. J.. Feb-
■Charles H. CRAwyojir,Esq.,       tj
                      •* Dav,toa. Ohio
    " Deai 8b,—Xom .r.«^     nn msu » reoeiv&u. tJtxc \u »epiy, I a»
  happy to inform you that the letw, as published in Docu.. 8. S. FitchV
  pamphlet, over my signature, is correct; acd I am better than I iuw9
  been  for many years. I have received priceless Dbn9rlt rw the use or.
  his remedies,  and  cheerfully recommend them to all suffering with
  pulmonary affections.  ; believe his remedies would alleviate all cases
  of consumption, and cure such as are not too far advanced.   I have
  been  brought low, and my case was apparently hopeless.  It must be
  remembered that his remedies do not consist in medicine only; exercise,
  the outer air, bathing in cold (salt) water—(I will add, rubbing with
  the bare hand after batliing)—are indispensable; diet must be carefully
  attended to.  The patient  must judge for himself what best  can bo
  eaten, &c, &c.   The cold wet cloth is of very great  importance, laid
  upon  the chest in front, and kept on during the night; commence
  bathing with tepid water in a warm room ; let the bath be taken upon
  rising in the morning, (and no£ at night,) keeping the chest erect with
  the shoulders thrown back, and expanding the chest with a tube, or by
  inhaling long breaths.  During the last year I have been engaged in
  active out-door business, part of the time travelling.  I think great
  care should be taken to keep the feet not only dry, but warm; never
  retire with cold feet.   After putting the cold wet clotli on the chest at
  night, I invariably wrapped my cloak around me, and sat with  my
  feet to the  fire until  I was warm,  before  retiring for  the nio-lnt.
  From great prpstration I am restored to comfortable health, and find
  my strength and flesh increasing.   I can now  appreciate  the blessing 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                {71
 of fc'P^ h/.-altl,  as I never did before, and if I can render any assis-
 tant or advice to the suffering, it will afford me pleasure.
                               " Respectfully yours,
                                                v 0. Thayer."


                CASE XXII.—Ann D. Birdsall.
   hi January, 1849, I was consulted by Mrs. Ann D. Birdsall by let-
 ter.   She receivejd her medicines last of March, or beginning of April
 following.  Besides her condition as related in her letter, her month-
 ly periods had wholly ceased eleven months,  many  of the Society of
 Friends had witnessed the  good effects of my remedies,  and  made  *
 a trial of them.   Althcagli the case seemed so utterly hopeless, Mrs.
 Birdsall called on me in OctoBer, 1S49, in very good health.  I have
 received letters from her,  and seen many of her friends and husband
 since; all speak of her continued fair health.   She is an intelligent, well
 educated woman, a much esteemed member of the Society of Friends,
 is well known in this region, arrtl was from Utica, N. Y.
  April, 1851, up to this time'Mrs. B. is well.

                "Albion, Calhoun Co., Michigan, Sept. 29, 1849.
 " Dr. S. S. Fitch :
  " Esteemed  Friend,—I have long been in delicate health.  My
 father, mother and  six brothers and  sisters died of consumption.   1
 have suffered by miscarriages, and was so reduced by dreadful female
 diseases, and,  at the same  time, bad cough,  bleeding at the  lungs,
 soreness of the stomach, sour stomach, dyspepsia, and burning at the
stomach, palpitation of the heart, kidneys badly affected, falling of the
 womb, and female weakness—my right arm always*cold,  and had to
 be swathed in cotton—for eight months I did not  leave my bed.  My
 physicians and my friends gave me up; my grave-clothes  were  made,
so certain  did the  approach of death seem.  When a* hope had
ceased,  your  medicines and remedies were obtained, and by God'a
good blessing and their use, I am now in good health, or nearly so.
 I can walk and ride well—no cough, very little palpitation, stomach
in good order, and bowels.   I have found ail your remedies and direc 
172               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
   tions most salutary and usefid.  I have followed y our directions care-
   fully.  After thanking a good God, I must gratefully thank you foT
   all yrou have done  for me.          Thy friend,
                                           " Ann  D. Birpsall."


               CASE  XXIII.—Mr. Stephen B. Dodge.

               " Yprktown, Westchester Co., N. Y., Jan. 9th, 1851.
   " Dr. S. S. Fitch :  .
     " Dear Sir,—I have been subject to  a cough and expectoration as
   long  as I can  remember.  I am forty-two years  old.  I gradually
   ivore down so as  the last year  not able to work  at my trade, shoe-
   making ; left side  became so much affected as to lose the use of my
   left arm and shoulder pretty7 much, cough extremely bad, and raising
   vast  quantities of  corrupted matter, palpitation of the heart, constant
   dull head-ache,  fever  daily, and chills occasionally, never knew a good
•  night's rest, unbroken by coughing, stomach out  of order,  sour, ■•dis-
   tress after eating, sickness of stomach, &c,  bloody phlegm, <fcc. at
   times.   Doctored  much and of all kinds, not much help, only a little
   temporary relief.  For one year I coukl do no work.  I gave up all
   hope of relief, and felt scarcely able to walk.  In this state I called on
   Dr.  S.  S.  Fitch,  707 Broadway.  You  examined  my  chest  and
   whole case; you said  you thought I would get well.  On the 29th day
   of August, 1850,~I  took all your remedies, inhaffhg tube, shoulder
   brace, and supporter,  and medicines, and all seemed to agree perfectly.
   I took the medicines  about two months.  I now seem to be perfectly
   well.   I  have gained twenty-one pounds in flesh.  I still use the
   tube, braces, and supporter, and free cold bathing every mornings Your
   ■emedies have  b«en  in my case all that praise can bestow.  I work
   laily at my trade,  and with happiness.
                           " Respectfully yours,
           * -             »              " Stephen B. Dowje.''


                 CASE XXIV.—Mrs.  C. B. Collins.

    I give the following letter because it expresses an ii&i that ahtviti 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.
173
be felt by all.  Tk» physician whc proclaims consumption incurable,
and yet treats it  in  the  cruel manner ouen  witnessed, does most
" mercilessly trifle" with human life.

                       " Rochester, New-York, March 12, 1851.  .
" Dr. Fitch :
  " I wish to submit to your care, prescription, and invaluable-practice,
an invalid sister who is too feeble to visit you at present, but who has
unbounded confidence in your system of practice in consumption, from
knowing its value,  by what it has alreadyjgr God's blessing done for
myself,  now in very good hffilth,  four years since  given up to die in
consumption.  Although you did not personally prescribe lor me, yoi
were the originator of the means used and blessed unto my recovery.
I feel to thank you and praise God for the interest you take  in the
poor consumptive class of  invalids, for JQav application, and vast  ac-
quirement of useful  knowledge, in this  branch of medical science,
so misunderstood, and indeed  so  fnercilessly trifled with by all for-
mer classes of medical men.  You may well be called the philanthro-
pist of the present age.  In my own name, and in the name of thou-
sands, I thank you, and call on God to bless you and your efforts  foi
the benefit of mankind.  May all the laurels of  human  honor encircle
your brow, »nd acknowledge far and near the obligations  due to you*
successful  efforts.         Yo-ss, very truly,  •
                                        " Mrs. C. B. Collins."


           -  CASE  XXV:—Miss Elizabeth B. Lum.
  The young lady who  gave me the  following letter,  when she first
called on me, presented about as perfect a specimen of a human wreck
as one is ever allowed to see.  Lungs,  heart, kidneys,  &c, all much
affected, blood  thoroughly poisoned, a humor raging throughout her
system; utter prostration of physical energies,  face nearly as blue as
a corpse,  despaired of by all  her fiiends.  Never Acquainted with
Buch a thing as good health, life itself daily threatened.  She is well
educated,  accomplished  and pious.  It gives  me  great  pleasure t*
subjoin tho following letter from her.   She is nineteen  years of age. 
ON THE PROOFS  OP THE
                             "Sycamore, 111., March 17th,  1651.
          ch :
          Sir,—I feel that I owe you a great many apologies for hav
         aetinated so long in writing, but I have thought of you daily
          ueepest gratitude,  and with a sense of obligation that  can
         discharged.  Would that I could induce every victim,of the
         g angel of our country, consumption, to partake of your rem-
        to drink and be healed,' and for the' benefit of any- whose end
   perhaps being hastened by impolitic advice and improper remedies,
 I will give a short sketch of my own experience.
   " Consumption is hereditary on my father's side ; he died of con-
 sumption, many of his  relatives have died since my recollection, and
 all with that insatiate disease.  Constitutionally delicate, I have often
 heard my mother remark that she never dreamed oT my hfe  being
 protracted beyond the perio«l»of childhood.
   u When a child of three  and four years, I was so  debilitated that
 for a long time I could not  stand upon my feet on awakening in the
 morning.  I was about this time  attacked with chronic sore eyes,
 which remained sore  and weak-for  years ; was all my life subject to
 violent palpitation of the heart, at times could scarcely bear the slight-
 est exertion or  the least fatigue, and suffering frequently from pain in
 the chest and shouldere, and continually from urinary difficulties, and
 inward fever.
   u In the summer of 1846, we removed from New-Jersey to our pre-
sent residence,  De Kalb county, Illinois, ariR for a short time the cli-
 mate seemed to prove beneficial, but in the  autumn of 1847, I con-
 tracted a heavy cold, and was first  attacked with violent"palpitation
 of the  heart, and so severely and  singularly was I operated  upon,
 that my physician afterward said that he thought at the time I must
 be dying.  My breathing was convulsive : my  countenance at one
 moment dyed to  a deep purple, the next the blood leaving it white as
 death.   I was  troubled  during the winter with a dry hacking cough,
 night sweats, pain in the s de* chest, and beneath the shoulder blades.
 my  breathing  continued  painfully short, constantly attended with
 urinary difficulties,  and a  fever  that  threatened at times almost u
 consume me. 
CUPE OF CONSUMPTION.                175
  •• In the May fodowmg, my mother determined to return to New
itrsey with  me, in hope thaftravel ar.,1  change of climate would
prove beneficial to me,  and most  1/ my  acquaintances prophesied
that I would not live Id return  in tk* ensuing autumn.  Soon after
our arrival in New-Jereey,  I was induced by the representations of
a gentleman ot  ray acquaintance, (who had been much benefitted by
your advice and medic^ies,) to consult you.   I did so, and was provi-
ded with shoulder braces, supporter, inhaling tube, and medicine, and
their concerted action operated like a charm.  I soon began to breathe
a different atmosphere, and a vigorous life, to which I had before been
a stranger, pulsated through my system.  The olcf painful, debilitated
and precarious existence I had so long sustained, lost its identity in a
new and delightful sens* of being;  and I sincerely believe, that had it
not been for your kindly advice and remedies, I should long ago have
passed that  ' bourne  from which no traveller returns.'
  In closing, permit me to say that my gratitude is inexpressible, that
it is incorporated with my life, and will end only  ' when the  golden
bowl is broken,  and the pitcher at the fountain,' when ' the dust shall
return unto dust, as it was,  and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it.'
  " May you long be spared to retain the elevated position  you have
taken in thaLgreat circle where intellect and humanity go hand in
hand.                     Yours, most gratefully,
                                         " Elizabeth B. Lum.
  " P. S.—A lady residing about six miles from this place has been
suffering through the winter with all ihe dreaded symptoms  of con-
sumption.  Some time since I sent her a bottle of pulmonary balsam,
one of liniment, with  directions to bathe, <fec.  She soon found relief
and is about to send to  vou for a packnge  of  medicine in the confi-
dent hope of a certain rectory.                       E.  B. L."


                CASE XXVI.— O.  l.Mrie, Esq.
  On the 18th day of December, 1849, I was  called to see Mr. C. D.
Petrie.  He was very low,  only able  to  go from his bed to his chair
Both back lobes of his lungs were badly ulce?ated, the left lung ex 
£76               ON  THE PROOFS OF THE

tensively;  his general health  greatly prostrated, &e  He is a very
intelligent, well educated geLtieman, and enjoys  a very respectable
social position.   At this time, (April, 1851.1 he is in good health.

             **New«-York, 630 Greenwich street, April 19, 1850.
"Da. S. S. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—In December, 1848, I was taken sick with a cough
expectoration, and pain in my chest, which soon increased vastly.  In
May, 1849,1 began to raise bloody matter and great increase of ex-
pectoration, and cough; matter would sink in  water  like shot. Night
sweats, most profuse chills' and fever, wr*ch  prostrated me.    My
father is  a physician of Naples, Illinois, who  did all that  he could
for me.  In June, 1849, he  took me to St. Bbuis, Mo., where I con-
suited Doctors  Professor Pope  and Professor Linton, both  of the St.
Louis Medical College.  They both pronounced me in confirmed con-
sumption,  and that I could not  live but a short time, say until the
next September.   On the 18th dayt>f December, 1849, I  consulted
Dr. S. S. Fitch, of 707 Broadway, New York.   He gave me but little
encouragement, as I was so very low and no mitigation of my disease.
My father had urged  me  to see you with very little hope.   Your
remedies have acted on me in the most  happy manner.   I am now
in excellent health ; I have  not coughed once in six weeks, no pain
or any trouble whatever, and no  expectoration.  I am satisfied that
consumption is a curable disease, so is my father.  I would  advise all
consumptives to try Dr. Fitch's remedies.
                                             « C. D. Petrie."
                CASE XXVII.—Heart Disease.

  This person did not exped to live three months.  She is a most ac-
complished and eJegant lady

                           "South Brooklyn, July lGth, 1850.
  " Dear Dr. Fitch,—You to whom I owe so much of my health
tend happiness, words can but feebly express my feelings yet I cannot 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               I
refraia from addressing you, to assure you what  my gratitude must
be in future.
  " About  six months previous to me  period at which I commence
this letter, I was severely afflicted with what I supposed to be disease
of the  heart.  I had tried everything J could hear of,  together with
the advice of one of the best physicians in the city, until I was fully
satisfied I had done much to my injury to obtain a temporary relief
In this state of suffering I came to you for advice, which you gave me
witn such calm  confidence,  it encouraged me, and sustained me, or
rather seemed to quiet me, for in my weak and highly excitable state,
the barest  possibilijyof relief acted  as a  stimulant, and seemed to
arouse  every nerve-within me.   I willingly submitted myself to your
treatment,  and soon experienced its magic effects.  I can truly say I
have not enjoyed such uninterrupted health for many years.   In  skill
and science, I am sure you have no equal.  I have read your book of
Lectures with peculiar pleasure, which I recommend most cordially
and particularly admire the liberal and generous tone, so free from any
thing tike professional exclusiveness.   I have endeavored to be as brief
as possible.   Permit me  therefore to  hope you will have health anil
happiness, beyond the reach  of want, for the rest of your life, to com-
pensate you for your benevolence and energy so finely spent in tht
public sendee.        Yours, truly and sincerely,
                                    " Mrs. M. II. Valentine."


                CASE XXVHL—Throat Disease.
         r
  The treatment I recommend will usually cure a throat disease in
from two to eight weeks as a general rule, with very rare exceptions.
                                         «
                                   " New-York, Dec. Oth,  1850.
" Du. S. S. FiTcn:
  '; Dear Sir,—The very great benefit 1 have derived from your reme-
dies, together with the sincere gratitnd- 1 owe ycu, induces me to lay
my ctse before you, as in your practice 1 have no doubt you have simi-
lar cases, to wlmn it might be a satisfaction to hear of  the wondeifu)
efli'.'aey of your' remedies  in throat diseases.
                                                      f 
/178               ON  THE PROOF?? OF THE

   " From a child I was  afflicted with scrofulous sore throat, which wai
 hereditary, as my sister  was similarly afflicted.   I was under the care
 of  some of the best  physicians in Dublin  and London, till I was fif-
 teen, without any permanent benefit   Small lumps would form in my
 throat,  break and scatter,  together with great soreness on the inside,
 and attacks of inflammation.  Six  years  ago I arrived  in  Boston,
 Mass., and consulted two eminent physicians there, who informed me
 [ would be obliged  to resort to the use of  caustic, cutting my palate,
 &o, &c.  These .operations I shrunk from with horror, as my throat
 and voice I was wholly dependent on  for a livelihood,  singing beiqg
my study and  profession.   In the beginning of February, 1850,  I
 visited New-York, for the purpose of placing myself under the instruc-
 tion of  some eminent musical professors.  I was in New-York but  a
 few weeks when I was taken with a violent attack of sore throat, so
 that I was confined  entirely to the  house,  unable to sing or us^ my
 voice.  I became disheartened, when  a friend of mine knowing you,
 wished me to call on you and consult with you.   I did so;  you en
 couraged me.   I followed your directions faithfully.  Used your inval-
 uable liniment and wet cloths on my throat at night.  Your tonic
 wash for sore throat I found very beneficial, as also all your remedies.
 Yom* abdominal supporter I could not wear for any length at first, but
 soon became accustomed to it.  I now wear it constantly.#. In my joy
 for the  recovery of  my throat, I had  almost  forgotten to say,  I had
 always suffered the most excruciating pain,  monthly, which debilitated
 me much; this I am happy to say is entirely removed, from the use
 of your supporter, &c, &c.   I now may say, thank God, through you
 I am a healthy woman  I now use  my voice constantly.   Singing
 four  and five hours a day without  inconvenience,  and consider that
 organ more pure, cle*r,  ai.d perfect than ever.   You are at liberty to
 dispose of this letter us  yoa please.  I can be communicated with, 01
 Been, by making inquiry at 639 Hudson st,  New-York, of Mrs. So
 phia Levey.          Dear Sir, very gratefully yours,
                                             UC. M. Murrav.*
« 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION.               179
               CASE XXIX.—Jamet M. Evarts.

                      " Westville, New Haven, Aug. 13tii, 1849.
 1 .-R. S. S. J ITCH *
   " Dear Sir,—It is with feelings of gratitude that I give you a state-
 ment of my health for a number of years previous to my acquain-
 tance with you.  I had felt that my  health was gradually failing,
 though, for most of the time, I was %ble to labor until the fall of 1847,
 when I was taken with a severe  p<uR. in my side, extreme soreness in
 the chest, together with a very bad cough, raising a thick, yellow mat-
 ter which sank in water.  My feet and legs were very cold; I could
 not walk but  a very short distance without being  completely ex-
 hausted.   My friends were  quite alarmed at my  symptoms;  they
 thought 1  had  the  consumption, and would  live but a very short
 time.  My  father died of consumption, and I  began to Think there
 was nc> help for me, for I could get no relief, when  a friend of mine
 brought me a copy of your Lectures, which I read, and resolved, if
 possible, to see you.   I called oh you in November, 1847;  you gave
 me your remedies.  I had used them but  a short time before I could
 perceive a change for the better.   I have enjoyed better health most
 of the  time since, than any time  previous to my using your remedies,
 for some five years.  Relieving, sir, that you were the  means of my
 restoration to health, I remain, with many thanks, yours, truly,
                                         " James M. Evarts."

  April 1851, Mr. E. is welk


                   _   CASE XXX.

                                "Newark, N. J., Oct. 9,  1848.
« Dr. S. S.  Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—i am forced by feelings of gratitude to inform you of
the effects of your medicines on me.  My two sisters and  a half siste?
died of consumption.   The last week  in March, 1848, I was taken
with cough  ana ^xneotorfttion, which  continued five  months,  with
many other bad svmptoms, all warning me to expect the fate of my 
rSO               ON THE PROOFS OF THE
departed sinters.  In August last, I got your medicines and all youi
remedies.  I used all faithfully, and now (Oct. 9th, 1848,) I am well
of aH cough.  The salt rheum I have had is nearly entirely well, aud
I feel, by the mercy of a kind  Providence, that with  care and yo1!/
remedies and  advice, I may long walk the lovely path of heal) \
With many thanks, I remain yours,
                                       " Mart Ann Brooks."

                                                       »■
             CASE XXXI.—2tev. William Livesey.

                             "Warren, R. I., Nov. 26th, 1845.
"S. S. Fitch, M.D.:
  " Dear Sir,—Yours of the 24th was  received last evening; and 1
hasten to answer it, in the  best  manner I can ; regretting, however
it had not eome to hand some time  ago.  I would state here, that
when I first saw you, in February last,  I was judged by my friends,
and several eminent  physicians whom  I had consulted,  to  be in an
advanced stage of consumption.  The upper lobe of both lungs had
been diseased for some time; the right for nearly two  years.  I had
a very distressing cough, and most of the symptoms attending that
disease ; a loss of strength, and  great emaciation.  After commen-
cing the use of your medicine, a>id following your directions, I began
to amend.  My cough abated;  night sweats subsided; I could sleep
well; gained my strength, and in a great measure my flesh.   I coul4
preach once on the Sabbata, without feeling any inconvenience; and
sometimes twice, but generally felt fatigued after.  / thought my-
self almost well ; and think I should have been entirely so,  if I had
continued faithfully to use  your remedies.   But I must here make a
confession  : as I Improved in health, I grew rewiiss in the use  of  tha
remedies;  and taking an  agency, which  necessarily took  me awav
from home most of the time, I found it inconveinent sometimes, and,
of course, in a great measure, left off the use  of the means.  I con-
tinued improving until about the last of September, when I  too* a
very severe cold, by putting on some clothes that were damp.   By a
careful use of the means, I  kept it from my lungs, and seemed to re-
cover, but o»>t fully ; and being from home, with  a distressing pail 
                  CURE ~>F CONSUMPTION.              |j81

in my head, distress at my stomach and chest, was induced to send
to a physician for an emetic, which I unfortunately tooki  It was anti-
mony, and operated but little, as an emetic, but severely as a cathartic;
and, occurring in the night, I had frequent discharges of blood ; and
it left me very much debilitated, with  an entire  loss  of  appetite.  I
took two Dover's powders of  the doctor,, to relieve the pain in my in-
testines ; but these threw me into a violent paroxysm of  asthma, and
irritated my cough.  I found,  if I did not leave for home shortly, I
Bhould hardly get there.   Returrirg,  I took another cold,  which set-
tled on my lungs ;  and what with loss of appetite,  <fec,  I  have since
been running down, for  three weeks.   Weak, and thin of  flesh, rest-
less nights and tearing cough, I almost despaired.  Since taking a
little  tonic, in the form of elderberry syrup, I find myself better: my
appetite improve*; my cough  abates ;  and  I  feel more strength, and
more encouragement.  I think the emetic did me serious injury, and
will take some time to get over it.  I have  some of your  medicines,
which I 'am again using.  I have a little of the Nervine, o* the Ex-
pectorant  and the Pulmonary Balsam ; also some brown and yellow
powders I do not use, which you first gave  me.  I  have  felt so mnch
better, for three or four days, that I begin  to hope again that I may
recover.
  MI feel  it a duty to give you the above  information,  to clear you
and your  medicines from being in any manner accountable  for the
failure of  the cure in my case.
  " I have an aversion to my name appearing Defore the public,  li»
almost any form'; nevertheless, I have  not the- least hesitation in say ■
ing that, from my acquaintance with you,  as far as I have been able
to form an opinion,  I have the fullest confidence in your candor and
integrity, as a man, and  a gentleman; and, as to your mode of treat
ment and  prescriptions, for pulmonary diseases, I think them superior
to any other I have  met with ; and should feel  entire confidence  in
submitting myself, or my friends,  to your care, beliering that, if within
the reach  of any remedies, yours would be  the most efficacious  in
affording relief.         I am, affectionately, yours, &c,
                                          " William Livesev.
  K N. B.—I 9hould be giad to hear from,  and receive  any adnoi 
ON THE  PROOFS OF THE
you may think needful;  and, could I know where a lette: would find
you, in a month from this time, I would write you further particulara
of my state of health.                                  W. L."

   April 16,  1851.—I heard from  Mr. Livesey  this day.   My im-
fondant saw him a short time since in  good health,  and discharging
*very useful duty connected with las profession. •


                 CASE XXXIL—Miss C. A. B.
   On the 27th day of January, 1847,  I was  called  to visit a young
I xdy residing about  70 miles from  New York.  Her father had re-
tired from business in this city  to a pleasant  country village, for the
benefit of his own health and  that  of his family. -  He was in easy
circumstances and his children delicately brought up,  and with all the
care that affection and affluence could  devise.   The mother of the
young lady had died of  consumption,  and also her two sisters.   The
last death occurred about one vear previously, and was that of a twin
sister.   The young lady had been out of health 15 months, but  much
worse the last 3 months, from which time she  dated  her great illness.
She had a chill every morning,  fever through  the day,  and profuse
Bweats at night.   She expectorated  one pint every 24 hours.   She
had not been out of the house for  many weeks.   Flesh  and strength
much wasted.  She experienced much pain  about her chest and  ic
her lungs.  She had a  very harrassing cough.   Her lungs were ex-
tremely irritable, and the least  change  of air would* produce a fit of
coughing.
   She had the assistance and advice of three experienced physicians ;
they all coincided in opinion that her's was a case of true hereditary
tubercular consumption, and that  under no  circumstances could she
live longer thar. two months, or until the  firet of  next April, (now
January 27th.)   She had taken much medicine.   On  examination I
found both her lungs ulcerated in  the  front  upper  lobes :  under  all
tne circumstances her case seemed  almost hopele.-s.   To  her  father, in
her presence, and that of a considerable circle of sympathising friends,
some of whom had gone up from this city to  bo present and hear mj 
                   ZURE OF CONSUMPTION.                183

opinion I remarked, " I suppose if she gets well, you will all say she
never had consumption."  " No," said ner fathei, " ail the others were
just as she Is, and they died;  if they had  consumption,  she has it,
and there was never a doubt expressed  of  what their disease was."
One of her physicians was her uncle, a  gentleman of education, ex-
perience, and in extensive practice, 60 years  of age, and one of tb«
most agreeable, intelligent men I ever met.  I was exceedingly pleased
with his urbanity and intelligence.   I explained to him very minutely
what I considered her condition, and the' plan  of treatment and the
medicines I proposed to use, and that  I hoped she might recover.
" Well,"  said he, " you talk very plausibly, but I have seen them all
die.   Her own aunt was ray wife, and  died of consumption.  Her
mother and two sisters died  of consumption, and the last was a twin
sister.  I hope she may recover, but I do not believe you, or any one
else, can  help her."
i  Her father and aunt, who were wkh her, and herself, were intelli-
gent, cool, and judicious. All my views and" directions were fully com-
prehended and prepared to  be earned out with  the strictest care, and
were so.
  The interest in this case soon became  intense.  I have never known
as many  invalids in one locality, as were at  that time  to be found
within the limit of  a few miles from this lady's house—consumptives,
scrofulous  persons,  ladies  indisposed  or bed-ridden by womb dis-
eases, rheumatics, heart affections,  asthmatics, dyspeptics, dropsical
and neuralgic cases, <kc.  Nearly every house  appeared  to  have an
mv/did; a great many were entirely given up as incurable, all seemed
to feel as if this young  lady got well, they mightr hope for relief also.
In a few  weeks she began to improve, and by the firet of April, before
assigned  as the limits of her life, she appeared  to be  out of clanger.
July following, found her perfectly well.   I have told you the lungs
give us the power of action; now, although perfectly well, she could
not walk over 100 feet without fainting.  It required one whole yeai
longer to produce  a peifect restoration of the lungs to their full size
and power, so that she was in all  respects- vigorous,and strong.   She
has usually since called on me twice a year, but not  for medicines, aa
t»be required none.   In March, 1850, her aunt called on me, and tokJ 
184               UN THE PROOFS OF THE
 me  that her niecs was one of tie heahhiest yToung women .-die e\e«
 saw in  her life—not any indisposition whatever  in  any  respect
 April,  1851, she is still perfectly well.  One would suppose that such a
 striking case and its perfect cure would have called forth the acknow-
 ledgment and  admiration  of  her  three  attending physicians.  The
 Kckness and the cure could not be denied.
   Two years after she was  perfectly well, her aunt said to Dr. B----,
 her uncle, and one of her  attending physicians, who  met me on my
 firet visit to  her, " What do" you think of our niece, do «you think she
 ever had consumption?"  " Yes," he replied, " I do."   " Well, do you
 think Doctor Fitch's remedies cured her ?"  " Yes, I  do,  but it will
 not do for me to say any thing about it" !!!  - Medical men, is  this
 the -wjay to fulfil our high and holy mission, the mitigation  of suffer-
 ing and cure of disease, by concealing cures  when they are made.  It
 availed but little in this case.   I had between fifty and sixty patients
 from this one, and all got well, as far as I  know, except two,* one  a
 case of dropsy,  and one arcase  of very far advanced consumption, but
 was  carried  off  by summer  dysentery.

                                    " New-York, April 1, 1850.
 " Dr. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—In October, 1846,1 caught a severe cold, which  pro
 duced cough, with expectoration, pain in my right side and shoulders,
 and  in about two months chills and fever, night sweats, and  all the
 premonitory symptoms of consumption. Physicians ef the highest re-
 putation attended me, from whom I received no benefit,  but was  con-
 fined to  the house? and rapidly growing worse, when  one of youi
 books was.placed in the hands of my friends.  Having had a oreat  deal
 of sickness in our family, and  that consumption,  for my mother and
 two sisters died with that dreadful disease, we had tried  all modes of
 treatment, and all kinds of quackery, until my father was discouraged,
 believing consumption an incurable  disease; with this idea he was un-
 willing for me to see your, book, but by some means I gained access
 to it, and after reading, it struck me forcibly that it was good common
Bense, and that your mode of treatment alone would relieve me.   You
were immediately sent for, which was about the firet of February,  te»4 
CURE OF CONSUMPTION                186
 after seeing me, you assured us that if I would persevere with your re-
 medies, I would get well.   It is now more than three years, and I am
 perfectly well.  I continue the cold bathing, which I consider a  great
 preventive against taking cold.  At the time you were called tonne, phy-
 sicians assured my friends that I could not live until the firet of April,
 and as my mother and two sisters died with consumption,"the same
 fate seemed awaiting me.  I believe if you could have treated them _
 during their sickness, they would now have been living.   I feel very
 grateful for your kindnesTand attention, and to the use of your reme
 dies I owe my life, and wish to recommend  them to all  similari;
 affected.                                             C. A. B." *

   This case is known to hundreds.   Any person who wishes to  know
 the name of this lady, and her residence, and her highly respectable
 and extensive family connections  in this city and Brooklyn,  can  do so
 by inquiring of Mrs. Harriet Jiles, Njo. 224 Adams street,  Brooklyn,
 New-York.


   As a specimen of feeling and  experience, alas, too general! and in
 corroboration of Dr. Borrow's letter, I give the following:

           "Brooklyn Centre, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, April 1, 1851.
 " Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—I am sorely afflicted with bronchitis, and have been for
 the last five years.   I ought to have visited you long ago, and should
 have  done so,  had I not listened to the doctors  in this  country.  1
 have cTR, loose from them all, after having my fine constitution ruined
 by taking their remedies.  In God, my last and only hope is that I
 may receive help from your administration.  I dare not take so long
 a journey until a^outf the 1st of May next.   Shall you probably  be a*
 your pjace in New-York about that time ?  Be so kind as to inform
 me soon. "          Truly yours,         Nathaniel Cheney."

                        CASE  XXXIII.
   I have before spiken of the excellent and almost miraculous effect!
rf these remedies, in  cases of children, ,>ften have  I seen their com* 
186
ON THE  PROOFS OF THE
  plete restoration, when it was thought by physicians, parents, mother*,
  and friends, that they could not live five houre.  This applies to whoop-
  ing cough, lung fever, asthma, long continued colds, and consumption.
  All thought that the subject of the following case could not live but
  a short time.   I would say to parents, never despair if you can get my
  remedies.'  I say to physicians, if your remedies are. so well adapted
  and perfectly compounded  as to help  and agree well with children,
  anybody may safely use  them and with benefit.
                                          *»
                     " Elizabethport, New-Jersey, April 8th, 1851
  " Dr. S. S. Fitch :
    " Dear Sir,—You have requested me to write you the results of your
  treatment of my little daughter,  Catharine Ann Smith.  She is now
  eight yeare and a half old, always a most delicate child, much subjec'i
  to croup, and frequent periods of dangerous illness.   In September;
.  3 847, she was attacked  with  symptoms of croup, a sore throat, and
  cough.  Of 4his she  improved a little,  but the cough  never left her,
  always pressed for breath, and very feeble,  gradually failing, until  in
  November,  1850, she began to raise blood, and continued raising it for
  three weeks.  We consulted several physicians of respectability, but
  all with little or no benefit, and continually grew worse, with no pros-
  pect of cure.   December 2d, 1850? I consulted you with no hope of
  cure.  Doctors  said she  was too far gone—past cure.  You did not
  give me great encouragement, still you gave me inhaling tube, medi-
  cines, and shoulder braces.  The  medicine and bathing, and wet cloth
  to her chest, all have worked well, apparently a perfect cure; she has
  not eoughed at all in nine weeks past,  and her  breathing  if. perfect,
  flesh, strength,  and all returned; she looked  better in a fcw weeks
  than she ever did ; exposure even to wind or wet or cold does rot give
  her any cold.  If she takes  cold  she does not oougrL  Of  couree we
  cannot be too grateful, with many thanks for such rosy cheeks now.
  She could not have lived till this time if not helped.  No one expected
  bor to live for the last two springs.
                            u Very respectfully yours,
                                                " Eliza Smith.* 
                   CURE OF CONSUMPTION.                187

   I will here answer a question often asked—how long does it taka
 to cure a case ©f consumption ?   The time of cure varies very much,
 eome get well in one month, othere take medicines two years before
 they are well.  You should always bathe daily, ail your life.   Shoul-
 der braces, inhaling tube and supporter, should always be used, unless
 all traces of disease have long disappeared.  Taking long full breaths
 many  times, day and night, never  should be  neglected by tho con-
 sumptive, or any one with a weak chest, throat or lungs, or who have
 ever had eonsumption.  After using the medicines a few months, they
 may be left off a little, to see the effect of leaving off.   If no  relapse,
 you need take no more  medicine.   In  general, take the medicines,
 one, or as many, or all, as you find beneficial.   Once better,  you are
 apt to  get well by judicious perseverance.   You  never need fear a
 second attack of consumption, if you persevere in a faithful  use  of
 remedies and preventives.  The  same remarks apply to asthma, and
 most other  diseases.  Keep the medicines by you that you  know to
 be useful, and use them when you  need them.  Do not suffer  for
 want of them.
   I have now presented as many and great a variety of cases  of cure
 as the limits of this discourse- will allow.  I could fill many volumes
 with such cases and letters, but I  have given enough for the fullest
 reference, and to convince and assure any impartial, honest, intelligent
 mind of the curability of consumption.
   I again most solemnly and emphatically repeat—/ do not cure  all
 cases.   Of the unsuccessful cases, some do not use the remedies judi-
 ciously and perseveringly, and continuously ;  others do not apply to
 them* until all the recuperative powers of  the  system are destroyed j
 othere, whilst using  the  retnedies, continue all  the causes that pr©~
 duced  the disease, so that the remedies do not triumph over the dis-
 ease, and all its originating and producing  causes, acting together.
 Finally, there are some minds which do not seem to comprehend the
 scheme and reasons  of the treatment, or from other causes  are de-
terred  from confidence, and although they take the remedies, usi
 them so hesitatingly, so partially, and so unskilfully, as to fail of suc-
cess. This class of patients are often greatly endangered by receiving 
188     PROOFS OF THE CURE OF CONSUMPTION.

visits, or advice from physicians, who from interest or ignorance den^
the usefulness of  their remedies.

                        CONCLUSION.

" With these cases, ladies and gentlemen, I conclude my lecture upon
the proofs of the cure of pulmonary consumption.  That some of you
ma; bel\eve, and many disbelieve, I have no doubt.  Were  you to
ask for more cases, I could give you hundreds of others ;* buf I have
not time to read them Jto you; nor have you time  to read  them,
were more placed in your hands.
   The cases are marked, important,, and were not done in a corner.
Should you  feel any personal  interest in their truth,  it is the easiest
thing in the world to verify or disprove  the statements, by appealing
to the persons themselves, or to their friends.
   With these remarks, I leave the subject in your hands, hoping that
if you or any of  your fiiends  are attacked with  pulmonary consump-
tion, or are predisposed to it, that you will never despair either of its
prevention  or cure,  but apply  promptly to the means  I have  indie*
ted, and thus save your own lives, or those of vour friends.
  * I have now ninety-two  volumes of manuscript notes of cases of mj
patients—all  most minutely stated and carefully recorded, with their pro
gress  and  result,  and alphabetted so as to be referred to In one moment,
Never do I prescribe for any patient without recording the remedy given, anu
the reasons for doing so, whether it is the first or the twentieth prescription,
I have now on my books twenty-seven thousand cases.  I think the latgesi
record of respectable private practice now existing. Other physicians sea
more hospital practice and the poor, but in respectable private pracace, this
I think, is the largest ia America recorded.
I 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             180
           DISCOURSE   FOURTH.

                      TO  LADIES ONLY.

 Ok the mode of forming a, fine Chest,  a fine  erect Varriage,  anJ
   Walk.— On the manner of procuring a clear and beautiful C>-*»
   flexion, without art.s-On  the causes of Lung, Liver, and Stomas
   Diseases, in Ladies, and on the Cause of Female  Diseases, wiA
   their prevention and cure ;  and finally, on the best mode of obtain-
   ing perfect Symmetry of Figure, and of forming and fortifyiu,
   the Female Cojgtiiution, so as to preserve Heal'h and Beauty *
   the latest attainable periods of life.

 I adies:
   It  always gives  me  the  greatest pleasure to address you ^gu the
 oi.portant subject of health.  It is a most painful fact, that", from a
 multiplicity of causes, some of which will be enumerated' in this  dis-
 course, the length of female life  is greatly abridged  in this country.
 In fact, multitudes of ladies are cut off in the very beginning of adult
 life, and by a variety of agents, whose  influences and injurious effects
 ?an be entirely obviated; and some of the most prominent of these,
 instead of being instruments of destruction, as they now  are, may, by a
 tittle  knowledge, be converted into instruments of <he highest good.
 The duration  of female life ought_ to. equal  that of males;  but, in
 many sections, it would seem to be less.  In the southern States, a
 vast   many men, wiho attain to 45 or 50 years  of  age, in that  time
 lose two, and some four wives.
  Tho human frame is a machine, or the trunk of the body may be
said to bejx box, full  of machinery.   The operations and life of this
machinery is  capable of continuing a great many more years than it
usually does.   It ought to mpve always one. hundred ye<irs, apd may
go on to one  hundred and fifty or one  hundred ani  sixty years, and
probably more.  To  prove  this t© be true, I have only to present te 
I9Q            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY
 you cases of persons who have lived to that age.  pod is not unjuM
 and partial; he has not  -made one to  five one hundred and sixty
 yeare, whilst another cannot live more than twenty or thirty.   No, we
 are all made alike ; and if cut off prematurely, it is, probably in nearly
 all cases, our own fault  I believe that if any lady dies much short
 of one hundred yeare, it is the result of accident, and not incidental
 lo old age.   The machine needs only to be kept in repair, and it will
 continue its operations and life to a vast many yeare, and with ago,
 the full enjoyments of life.
  The Countess of Desmond died in England some years ago, at tha
 age of one hundred and forty years.  Her a^e is well authenticated
 by official papers.  Margaret Foreter died in Cumberland, England,
 in 1771, aged one hundred and thirty-six  years.  Flora Thompson
 died at Nashua, in  North  Carolina, in ISO8,  at the age of 150 years.
 A great number  of persons attended her funeral  ■m>
  A woman died at Knoxvil'le, Tennessee, in the year 1835, aged one
 hundred and fifty-four years.   She was a German woman, that came
 to this country, and was sold in North Carolina fer her passage from
 Germany.  R was a custom in tSose days for poor emigrants in this
 way to pay their  passage, by being articled,  or indentured, or hired
 out, for a longer or shorter period, untii their passage  was paid.  By
 these papers,- she  was known to have been thirty-five years old when
she arrived, and to have lived one hundred and nineteen yeare after.
  Flom Forbes was living in the Highlands of Scotland, a short time
ago, at the age of one hundred and twenty-five years, and I believe
is still living.  She witnessed the battle of Culloden in 1745, and was
then twenty-seven years old.
  There is a woman now living in Norfolk, -Virginia, in good health,
 who is one hundred and twenty-two yeare old.
  There was living, six months ago, in the city of Moscow, in Russia,
a woman who was one hundred and  fifty-seven yeare old.  She had
had five husbands.
  A Gennan woman died in Moyamenf ing, a suburb of Philadelphia,
Penn., in August, 1850, at the age of 111 years.
  Molly Perry, residing in Marion comity, Kertucky,  is now in good
health, at the age of 112 years. 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLTf.
1*1
              FLORA THOMPSON,
Died at Nashua, In North Carolina, in the year 1808, aged 150 yean
  In the United States, there are many persons at present living who
are over 100 yeare old.
  These cases,  and a vast many more I could adduce,-show conclu-
eively that  the female frame  is made to  endure a vast maay more
years than it now lasts: that, in place of dying,  as multitudes do, at
twenty-five to thirty, they may live to one hundred years ; that the
female life, in place of  thirty yeare, ought to be  and might be one
hundred years.   You that are frail and delicate  may soe, by the
ages othere have attained,  how much  you may hope  for.  If you
carefully pursue the means which are actually knowr to operate effi-
ciently in supporting your heaith and constitution, you  may attaia
to very old age. 
192
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLV.
   There is another  reason why ladies should preserve  their health,
because with health you may always preserve your beauty.   Health
and beauty are almost  synonymous terms;  you can hardly have one
without the other.   Good and perfect health, in many cases, confers
beauty, or, at least,  good looks and attractions.  With very few and
very rare exceptions, and those arising from accident, God has always
traced upon your frames the most exquisite lines of beauty.  Ho has
formed you  to. be the most beautiful of all his works.   The angels,
m their  most  resplendent  beauty, as  fancy and  poets and painters
embody them, take your forms, and fully fill up all that the imagina-
tion can create of angelic beauty.  What do you suppose is the grand
stimulus to man in all his fatigues,  his exposures, his  dangers,  h">
toils, and his pri^itions,—in the field, hi the workshop, in the camp,
—on the stormy ocean, by night, by day, even facing  the cannon'a
mouth ?   What cheers the student  in his  long nights   of  study,
wasted by untiring toil ?  What sustains the mariner in his long and
perilous nights at sea ?   In fine, what sustains man  in  all his in»u
merable exposures and employments, sacrificing his ease, and often
his life ?   It is  bis  love of  you—your  charms are his attraction and
yndying stimulus,—his love  for his  mother, his sisters, his wife, his
{laughters.  There is a gulf fixed by the Creator between the male
and female mind, which nothing can pass  until both meet in their
future angelic state.   It is impossible for the female fully to compre-
hend the male mind, and it is impossible for the male to comprehend
the female mind; both will remain distinct whilst  in this state of  ex-
istenee.  Each  sex can  comprehend  its  own mind.  All  men  know
that woman is the centre of all that is charming and lovely ;  no place
is attractive to us that is not graced by the presence of woman ; you
form the ornaments of our houses, our streets,  our churches, and all
peaceful and pleasant assemblages.   To adorn you, man traverses all
the earth, bringing home diamonds and rubies, and pearls and costly
gems—he seeks the plumage of the most rare birds—he devises stuffs
of the softest texture, and of the richest and rarest colors.   He lavs
all at your feet, and finds in  your acceptance and your smiles,  ani
blandishments, his happiest  rewards.   A smile from  you soothes the
face of care,  and wipes  the perspiration from the brow of toil.   La 
DISCOURSE 10 LADIES ONLY.             193
 fine, without you, the world would become a desert, and man a bmte
 Man rubs by strength—woman controls by her charms.
    Hence, there is a high, moral duty that the female owes to bet
 family, to her country, and the world; that Is, to preserve her charms
 —to keep the flowers of her own loveliness from fading—to preserve
 to her latest days all the splendors and realities of her beauty. Care-
 lessness on this subject has blighted all  the hopes of thousands of
 ladies, and made a wreck of happiness in many families of the best
 expectations.   This happens in too many cases, where the female ia
 altogether unconscious that it is to herself that, these ills are owing.
   In a multitude of cases, for want of attention to  the most obvioui
 principles of health, a wife may reduce her husband  to despair, and
 her house to want,—converting what should be a residence of plea-
 sure, to a hospital for  the sick.  A daughter may, in default of a
 little knowledge, induce her own  untimely death, and fill her fathers
 house with never-ending sorrow.
   For these reasons I address you on the  subject of health, excusing
 myself for calling you  together, with the hope that I may give such
 directions to your views  of  it, and its best mode of preservation, as
 will clothe  you to your  latest clays with  the highest adorninga of
 beauty, and continue your fives to at least one hundred yeare in an
 uninterrupted holiday of glowing health.
   Health and  beauty I use as  synonymous terms.  When I use  the
 word health, I might use the  word  beauty.  It is impossible for a
 lady to have beauty without  health, and next to impossibility to have
 health without beauty, or at  least attractiveness.
   To ensure a continuance of health,  and  with it life and beauty, it is
 necessary to have  health  every day,—not to  suffer broken health a
 single day.   Recollect,  your  frame  is a machine, and  made  on  the
 principle of mechanics.   As far as it has ever yet been explored, it is
 found to be mechanically formed, and to act everywhere on mechani-
 cal principles.  To eusure its continuance  in health, and its life, it ia
 i 'dispensable that each part should have its own perfect bearing, and
 ^ its own proper place.  No wear or tear should be allowed in one
 \ .ace moro than another.   You should see, and be certain, tbat  the
 Y                                        1.1
"duty cr office  of each part  should  be properly and certainly per 
194
DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.
formed,—that no deficiency or excess exists in the doings or function!
of any organs, or part of the machinery of your frames.  Let no pari
suffer, or act too little, or too  much.  As a reward, perfect aad  long-
continued, and uninterrupted health, will result to  you.   By moderate
practice, you will experimentally learn that all  the organs  of  youi
body are your servants,—you may make them play things, to do youi
bidding at your pleasure.  By a little precaution, and the application
cf a little well-timed knowledge, you may prevent  the anguish  of
disease, and cure it if it takes  place.   You may preserve your healths
under nearly  all circumstances of luxury, and affluence, and ease, or
of exposure, privation, fatigue, or misfortune.  To ensure the entire
expression of health,  apd with it, and by it, the nearest approaches to
perfect beauty, you should possess a fine figure, always at your  com-
mand,—a fine carriage of your head and person,  and an elegant elas-
tic step and walk, brilliant  eyes, clear  complexion,  the rose and the
lily in just proportion, and  equally blended and  perfect,—teeth of a
pure shining white,—luxuriant and glossy hair.   Of these you can be
the possessors.   If already in broken health, the use of* such means
as actually exist, and faithfully pursued for a longer or shorter "period,
will usually restore you to liealth and beauty.
  The female frame is made, as I have before told you, to last in full
strength a  great number of years.  In order to this, every part of it
Bhould have its perfect mechanical bearing. It is composed of a great
many parts, each part must occupy  its natural and appropriate  situa-
tion.   Each bone—each muscle, must be in its proper place.  All tho
great organs, as the lungs, the heart, the stomach, the bowels, «fcc, all
have their  appropriate and natural places.  Each should occupy the
Bpace and place originally assigned  to it, and prepared for it.   After
every  organ of the body, and every part of the frame, is in its place,
and perfect, the continuance of these several parts in their places de-
pends on yourselves.  The mode in which we carry  the frame, the
way we dispose  of it, will determine very greatly whether the organs
of the body, and all its parts, shall remain in their places or not.   By
improper positions of the frame,  long continued, every organ of  the
body may become dislocated,— that is, displaced  from its original nat-
ural position,—and  by this  its functions deranged, and health  d» 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
ttroyed, and life prematurely cut off.   Symmetry is the foundation of
all health and beauty\  Just as we recede from symmetry, just in that
proportion do we push from us the certainty of health, and the prob-
ability of life.  Recollect, there is not an organ of the whole body that
may not be dislocated,—wind-pipe, lungs, heart, stomach, bowels, liver,
kidneys, bladder, womb, &c.; all are capable of changing place, or shape,
more or less.  In fine, there are but two grand causes of all diseases.
One is poison, and the other loss of symmetry.  Small pox, measles,
scarlet fever, &c, proceed from poison, also typhus fever, skin diseases,
&c.; whilst nearly^ll chronic diseases proceed from loss of symme-
try and poison—as  consumption,  in nearly all cases. Heart diseases
proceed from loss of symmetry,  and poison.
   The first point to which I will call your attention, is the symmetry
of the head and neck.   The head is constructed to stand plumb  and
perpendicular upon the top of the bones of the neck, which are made
to rest perpendicularly upon the spine of the  back, (see Plate A,
figures 1, 2, 3.)   By these arrangements the immense weight of the
bead is placed upon the slender neck, and yet safely ;  as it is con-
trived that the head is supported on the perpendicular neck as its usual
position.   Now, should you carry the  head forward,  and of course
bend the neck,  what results ?   Why, that the head with its great
weight is earned at a great mechanical  disadvantage.  It  is well
known to you that a post or column, standing erect and perfectly  per-
pendicular, can support a  vast weight,  but let the column be  thrown
out of perpendicular, and a moderate weight will crush it to the earth.
So with the head standing on the perpendicular" column of the neck.
In that position it is easily carried ; its weight is  not perceived  and
rives  no fatigue.  But throw the head forward and bend the neck,
and you  will perceive the head is placed on the top  of a stooping col-
umn,  anal is carried at a great mechanical disadvantage,  jist m pro-
portion as  tfle stooping takes place,  (see Plate F, figure 1.)   The
human  frame has the power of self-reparation and  adaptation to al-
tered circumstances in a wonderful degree, still, the  effect of carrying
forward the  head is to produce weariness about the neck, spine of the
neck, and muscles of the back, often producing pain, and  tending, by
Ite everlasting drain  and wear upon the system,  to  shorten the dura 
196            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
tion of the system and of life.  It requires five times the  strength te
carry the head on a stooping neck bent forward, that it does to carry
it on a perpendicular neck as an usual position.   Hence, you may infer
in continued yeare, what a prodigious drain this will be  upon the
strength of the system, and consequently upon its duration.  Another
mischief is produced:  The spine of the neck, whilst made flexible to
bend forward and sideways at will, yet never was arranged to have
any of  these positions permanent.   It was no more intended that tire
neck should be bent permanently forward than jarf>ne side.  A neck
permanently bent to one *ide would be at once marked as a striking
deformity; yet,  as regards health, it is no more injurious than when
bent forward.   The wind-pipe,  and gullet,  and  blood  vessels,  and
muscles, are alb  both in length and position, adapted to a straight neck.
The effect of a crooked neck is injurious to the wind-pipe.  In sym-
metrical arrangement, the wind-pipe is made straight and covered with
Btiff hoops, and so arranged  that it cannot close together.  Up and
down tifi; open, straight barrel, the air goes in a full, straight, unbroken
column; but if  the neck is bent, the wind-pipe is bent also, and, by
being bent,  the column of air is made crooked and  partially im
pedeel in its  ingress and egress to and from  the lungs.   In the for
mer case the lungs are badly filled, and in the latter case the voice is
broken and impaired, more  or less, so that every person who would
expand his chest well knows he must have his neck and wind-pipo
straight, and every public speaker or singer knows, to have his voice
perfect, his wind-pipe must bo straight.  The neck should be carried
perpendicular to the spine  of the back, and the  head should sit grace-
fully asd easily  upon the  top of the neck; in other words, the neck
and head must  not bend forward habitually,  if you would have an
easy carriage, free breathing, or healthy throat,  back, foe.  The neck,
as So?omon so well expresses it, should rise  gracefully between tho
shoulders, like a " tower of ivory."  In  still greater contrast and great-
er deformity, it is to sc-e the neck thrown forward and the shoulderi
kept straight, as is seen  in asthmatic persons.
               i
                         SHOULDERS.
  The nest thing to which I would call your  attention, supposing th« 
DlbGuURSE ^O LADIES ONLY.             197
 head and neck are carried well, is the position of theshoulders.  Tha
 shoulder-blades  should lay flat against the back of the chest, beside
 the spine.   The edges near the spine must not turn up at all, but lay
 perfectly flat againstjthe ribs at the back.  (See Plate A, fig. 3.)
   The collar-bones are shoulder-braces and only occur in man.   (Sea
 Plate A, fig. 2.)  Their use is to keep thi shoulders off the chest and
 prevent their approaching each othe;   -; hc'.v general course is straight,
 but if greatly pressed upon by stooping, they will bend very much,
 and allow the shoulders to approach each other, forwards, and presn
 upon the  chest, pressing the breast-bone down  upon the heart, and
 force the ribs upon the hmgs, and make the chest much smaller.  The
 shoulder-blades  then turn up behind like wings,  whilst the collar-
 bones are forced forwards and downwards, making  the top of tho
 chest, front  and back, a mass of almost naked, angular and repulsive
 wreck of scraggy, ragged bones.
   Everybody knows that the form of the bust, by which term I mean
 the  upper half of the body, from the waist, is that of a  triangle;
 most particularly noticed in the female, but the base of the triangle is a
 line from the point of one shoulder to the other.  The smaller part of
 the waist is the point or apex end of the triangle.   The greatest beauty
 of the bust  depends on having the greatest possible  wiu'.h from one
 shoulder to the other, on a line with the neck and should* rs, and both
 flat with the back, and perpendicular behind..  Many la-lies, who hure
 greatly rounded tho shoulders and brought them forward a/d towards
 each other,  hope to correct the fault by tying or lacing up the waist,
 so that it shall be very small, and thus restore the lost symmetry and
 beauty—that is, they maKe one deformity to obviate and cure the
 bad appearance of another.   This bad and dangerous position of the
 shouldere  has a most di^stious effect upon the chest, contracting it
 and making it too -:^Ot   ,ti i\'urmg the lungs, and  thus laying the
 foundation for thousands cf coiisumptions, besides utterly destroying
 the beauty of the female form.
   When the shoulders are carried back as far as symmetry  requires,
 the weight of the arms  and shouldere hangs behind  the chest,  and
 thus balances the upper  part of the person  backwards,  instead of
ctooping forwards, and so always expanding the chest, instead of cor 
198
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
t^actng it.  (See Plate A,  fig. 1.)   By this the collar-bones  lay flat
to the top of the breast above the ribs, and can hardly be seer or felt
at all.  The continued weight of the shoulders, arms and hands falb
hig behind instead of before the chest, drags the shoulders downward?
and backwards, and lifts  up the breast-bone at its base,  and contri
butes vastly to enlarge the chest, always in all cases preventing  it*
contraction.
   A great many ladies, from debility or bad posture, contract a habit
of stooping, and thus biiug forward the weight of the shouldc rs and
arms and hands across the chest, and contraot it fearfully.  If they
cannot correct this by any other means, they should tie the shoulders
together behind.  This leads me to mention

                    SHOULDER-BRACES.
   Shoulder-Braces are instruments of very-old date, having been used
tn England and France for hundreds  of years.   In all parts of Europe,
irith the noble and educated classes,  the remarks I have made on tho
jarriage of the head and neck are fully appreciated, and have been un-
derstood for  ages.  Indeed,  from observing these classes, all my ideal
m these subjects  have been fully confirmed.   In many boarding
iichools of England, it is a part of the education of young persons,  to
provide that the shouldere, and carriage of the head  and neck, &c.
shall be perfectly erect and  elegant.   They know that stooping  o.
rounded shouldere are alike destructive of elegance and health.  Romx
and stooping shouldere are set down  in England as decidedly  vulgar
marking ignoble descent, and denoting weakness and age.  The tick-
ets for admission to the ball-room at  Almacks', in  London, cost $1.25
each, or five  English shillings, yet at any  time five hundred  dollars
would be paid for one.  But money  cannot buy a ticket at this aris-
tocratic place of meeting.  Admission for a lady is obtained through
a committee of ladies of the highest rank, the object  being to intro-
duce the aristocratic youth and beauty of the empire to each other,—
to show oft'the finest blood  in the world,  and the lushest breed:r.«
and physicil cultivation.   The least approach to deformity would ba
an insurmountable barrier to the admission of any one person,  how
tvor exalted in rank.  Tho Queen herself would hardly be admitted 
DISCOURSE TC LADIES ONLY              199
if she had deformed shoulders.   At sonr.  '^arcling-schools, if young
ladies have high or stooping shouldcru _tr' og shoulder-braces are put
on them, and pass down the back behind, outside  the dress, with a
heavy weight attached thereto, and the child is placed on a stool for some
hours daily, until the shoulders are brought into the required symme-
try.   They are worn until the dispotitics to stoop is entirely overcome,
and a perfect figure  and  carriage are fully established.   Shoulder-
braces are universally worn by all classes that desire fine figures, or the
rewards pf them.  The officers  of the army cultivate in  themselves,
and yi tlieir men, the finest figures, and perfeet position of the shoul-
ders.   They all wear shoulder-braces,  more or less.  The soldiers also
wear them until the form is  perfect.   From the nobility  and higher
classes, and from the army, a taste for a fine figure and perfect  posi-
tion of the shouldere is diffused throughout all classes, both as a mat-
ter of taste and as the  very key to health  and beauty.  The effect of
manual labor, is, to a greater or less degree, to throw the  shoulders
and arms upon the chest; and from this results one-half  the fatigue
of manual labor.   With a vast many the habit of stooping at labor  is
extended to periods of walking and sitting; and, finally, at  all times,
gave in bed, the weight of the shoulders and arms is forced  upon the
chest; and thus the individual always carries a  pack upon  his back,
and exactly the same effects  are produced as if a person were always
to carry a burden equal in weight to the hands, arms, and shouldere,
upon  the back.  Back-ache,  pains between the shoulders,  pains in the
neck and spine, heat between tK. shoulders, are the frequent effects
of bringing the shouldere forwa-m/- The occupation of many persons
requires them to use one arm more than the other.   This, long con
tinued, is apt to make the shoulder of that arm weak, and to displace
the shoulder-blade, caufVEg it to grow out, and its inner edge to lift
up like a wing,  and in a 7ast many cases  to clfange the spine to one
aide, and bulging out the chest  and shrinking it  in, in some places
thus producing great  deformity and  disease.   Nearly every case ot
crooked spine between the shouldere arises from this cause; that ia
the weight of the shoulder most used drags the spine out of the straigh;
line, or to one side. Now, to prevent all this, wear shoulder-biacea.  Tii 
2t)0             DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

the shouldere together, and they  will r-svolve around  the cleat, but
cannot press on it, or crook the spine.
  Perfect symmetry of the figure requires that the points of the shoid-
ders should be "carried downwards and backwards as far as  possible,
by which arrangement their points recede from each other as far as
possible, and the shoulder-blades lie flat upon  the back.   (See Plate
A, fig. 1, and Plate K.)  To produce this position of  the shoulders,
it is necessary that the whole length of the .ipii*..: should  be  perfect-
ly supported, and therefore the small of the back  is the first point
to be  supported.  Having  established my  support  there, I then
cany the brace up the back, between and around the  shouldere,  by
which  I bring them  downwards and backwards at pleasure.  The
foundation pieces at the small of the back and between the shoulders,
should be elastic.   Great care should be taken to cover the spine as
little as possible, as the spine may be kept too warm and weakened
by it.   Some braces are made so  that rubber  stuff covers the whole
ppine.   I made them jn that way until fully convinced of their inju-
rious effects.   The spine must hot  be  wholly covered with <tny thing
that can prevent free evaporation and airing of the some.  The India
rubber stuff on the x» !u>!e spine will keep th6  spine wet with perepi
ration, and greatly weaken it.  Such braces  should never be worn,
The pieces  of the shoulder-braces between the shouldere should be
elastic and allow full movements of the shouldere, and not confine the
bull of the shoulder or arm, so that a free movement is permitted, and,
on resting, the  shouldere will a' once be brought back by the^lasti-
city of the  stuffs to then- place-.   The piece on  the loins should be
elastic, so as to allow free motion of the whole person, if  desired.
A great many persons,  especially those with light chests, and whose
shoulders are very flexible, and  move easily, cannot do  mmh with
their arms or hands, cannot sweep a carpet,  nor do any manual la-
bor, nor work, nor write, nor stoop long,  <fec, without having pain in
the chest, or in the side,  one  or  both.  These pains often extend to
both arms, to the ends of the fingers,  and pain is felt down the whole
spine, and great weariness at the top of the chest and between the
shoulders, and heat about the shoulders, pains under the shoulder-
blades, foe.  Such persons will find the  sliGulder-braces,  if  adjusted 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             *U
and made as I have described, a vast benefit, and in most cases a per-
fect cure.   The use of perfectly adjusted shoulder-braces will enable
them to do ten times the work  they  could perform without tke-m.
Every female employed in any manufactories, especially if she has in
the least a constrained position, should wear shoulder-braces.  Girls
at school, and young ladies, as long as at school, should wear shouv
der-braccs.  In fire, every lady, whose shouldere ?re not always per-
fectly in  symmetry, should wear shoulder-braces.   If the  least con-
sumptive, or consumptively disposed, she should wear shoulder-braces;
fliey greatly assist in  expanding the  chest, prevent curvature of the
ppine, and assist much in curing it, and preventing its progress after
it has commenced.  They give symmetry to the back and shoulders,
do much to prevent stooping, and  almost double the strength of the
shouldere, giving the wearer the ability to do twice as much with her
arms and shouldere as she otherwise  could.  They perfectly prevent
the straining of the shoulders or back, or chest.  I  never attempt to
cure consumption without the use of shoulder-braces.   Shoulder-
braces  should  be sufficiently strong,  and  as  light and  elegant as
possible.

                            CHEST.
   Supposing the neck and .shoulders to be all in symmetry, as before
directed  and described, our next step, in  tho formation of perfect
symmetry, is to develope a largo, vouud, erect, and perfect chest  (see
Ptele A, figure  1.)  A perfect r.'.'d noble chest is the grand  basis of
.ill good  health.  The lungs,  to uisure good  health  in  them,  and
everywhere, must be  large,  and  perfectly expanded  in every part
Kvery air-cell must be fully stretched open, if possible, at every breath,
and. at any rate, daily.   Tho luegs  cannot  be perfectly expanded,
wh-.-n the chest is in any way contracted around them.  In a perfect
cbost, the spine, from the root of the neck to the bottom of the waist
h placrd stooping backwards; rising from the bottom of the waist to
the root of the  nock, it inclines a little backwards of a perpendicular
lino, and d- rs not, m a perfect chest, crook at ail forwards.  The chc -t,
I have told vu. is a basket of bones,  open  at the bottom  (see Plate
S.)  It is of the utmost importance, in forming a fine cheat,  that th« 
SJ02             DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

bottom of the chest should be as open and wide as possible, and thai
the oreast-bone, at the bottom,  should be lifted outwards,  as  much
as possible, and not depressed inwards, or crowded towards the back-
bone at all.   To form a fine and perfect chest, after the shoulders are
fully in their places, all that  is  required  is to breathe properly, arid
carry the person well.  Much  has been said and written upon diet,
eating  and drinking ; but I do not recollect ever noticing a remark
in any writer upon breathing,  or the  manner of breathing.   Multi
tudes,  and  especially ladies in easy circumstances,  contract a vicious
and destructive mode of breathing.  They suppress their breathing,
and contract the habit of short,  quick breathing,  not  carrying  the
breath  half-way down the  chest, and  scarcely expanding the  lower
portions of the chest at all.   Lacing the bottom of the chest also greatly
increases this evil, and confirms a bad habit of breathing.  Children
that  move  about a great deal  in the  open air, and are in no way
laced, breathe  deep and full to  the  bottom of the chest, and  every
part  of it; so also with most  out-door laborers, and persons who take
a great deal of exercise  in the open air, because, as i said before, the
lungs give us the  power of action;  and  the more exercise we take,
especially out of doors,  or hard labor in  the open  air, the larger the
kings become, and the Ijss liable to disease.  But those in easy cir-
cumstances, or who pursue sedentary employments witliin doors,  gene-
rally use  their hmgs but very little,—breathe very little air into  the
chest, and thus, independently of bad positions, contract a wretchedly
narrow, small chest, and lay the foundation for the loss of all health
and beauty.  All this can be  perfectly obviated by a little a«tentiop to
the manner of  breathing.   Recollect, the lungs are like a bladder in
their structure,  and can be stretched open to double their  ordinary
size with perfect safety, giving a noble chest, and perfect immunity
from consumption.  The agent, and all the agent required to expand
the chest, is the common  air we breathe; supposing, however, that
no obstacles exist  external  to the chest,  such as  lacing, or tyino- it
   md, with stays or tight  dresses, or having the shoulders lay unon 
                DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             901

 •o as to fib the chest to the very bottom of it, >o that no more air
 c-in be.  got in;  now hold your breath,  and  throw  your arms and
 shoulders behind you, as if you would throw them off behind, hold-
 ing in  your breath as  long as you can; again fill your chest, and
 walkabout, holding in your breath as long as possible.  Repeat these
 leng breaths as  many times as you please; done in  a cold room is
 much better, because the air is heavier and denser, and will act much
 more powerfully in expanding the chest.  Always, when  stretching
 open the chest with air, throw the head back, so as to lift up the breast-
 bone, and bend the whole bust backwards from the waist.   You may,
 hi this manner, expand the chest a thousand times a day, if you please.
 On going outdoors into cold air,  inhale or suck in all the  air-you
 can, and hold it iu as  long as possible;  stand or sit perfectly erect,
 whilst walking  or riding in the street, along the roads, in the fields,
 or gardens.   Practise this  mode of expanding the chest.   Do not
 stoop forward at all,  but suck in  all the air you can, throwing tho
 head and neck  backwards,  and hold in  the air as long as possible.
 By this exercise, you will often at once check a cough, or disposition
 to cough.   The chest may also be fully expanded whilst lying in bed.
 By exercising the chest in this manner, it will soon become very flexi-
 ole and  expansible, and will enlarge its capacity and the size of the
 luii.^s, so as, in a few weeks or months, to hold double its usual quan-
 tity of air, whilst,  externally, it will measure from one To six inches
 larger in its circumference.  Should you not have full strength to en-
 large the chest in this way, then use an inhaling tube, such as I have
 delineated in Plate G.   The inhaling tube will greatly assist you in
 expanding the chest, if you are weak or not.  The chest should be
 treated  in  tVs way during your whole lives.  Should you  become
 invalids, from any cause, keep your chests expanded by long breaths
 *nd the  inhaling tube, and continue to breathe a little cold fresh air
<iaily, by having it drawn from &ut of doors,  by leather or tin pipes,
or in auy other manner you please.

  BAD  CONSEQUENCES FROM USING  THE INHALING
          TUBE, AND EXPANDING  THE CHEST.
  Some timid patients and advisejs may suggest the idea of injur* 
«04            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY
from this exercise, but you need give yourself no uneasiness whatevei
on the subject.  You cannot injure yourselves. Only commence grad«
ually until  the lungs, air-pipes, and air-cells are well open and ex«
panded, and,  ever after, you  need fear no  bad consequences from
expanding  your chests with all the air and strength in your power.
The effect of these means will be to make the chest flat behind, and
?D front, as  full and round,  and lifted up, as the  breast of the swan
k\\ the  ravishing attractions of the chest,  and an exquisitely lovely
bust  will soon be fully yours  the collar-bones will soon entirely dis-
appear, the chest  will become round, and wide at the top ;  the front
of the chest will rise up and be developed in its greatest fulness.  No
art oi' padding will be required to perfect the figure, but free, match-
less, and unrivalled beauty will adorn your chest,  and at once give a
noble grace and dignity to  your persons,  and the exceeding gratifi-
cation of a perfectly healthy chest and lungs.  Your gratification will
hardly be alloyed by one cough, or a twinge of pain,  or unpleasant
feeling in the chest, for a long life.

                 POSITION OF  THE CHEftT.
  Whilst forming a  fine chest,  and after it is formed, great care is
requisite to establish perfectly correct positions, so that the chest shall
Rot be contracted, and all your efforts counteracted  by  bad positions.
If your positions are habitually bad, in  spite  of all you can otherwise
do, the chest will  be more  or less contracted, (see Plate K.)  The
rale with you  should be, and the rule of health is, to keep the bot-
tom of the  chest,  the ends of the short ribs, and the  lower  end o"
the breast-bone, as far out from the back-bone zj, possible.  To effect
this, the chest must be kept perfectly straight, *r.'i thrown a little back-
wards from the waist, at all times.   (See Pb/a A, figure 1.)

      HABITUAL STOOPING  SHOAJJ.D BE AVOIDED.
  The small of the back is  made flexible, but the hip  joints are the
points from which to stoop either backward or forward.  These jointa
are ball-and-socket joints, like a swivel in some degree.   The trunk
of the body may  bend forward as  much as you please, for all usehi.
psrpoaea, and the ?hest, and whole spite, and neck, l>e kep*  perfoetlf 
DISCOURSE TO LADIE- ONLY.            203

       PLATE K.
itraight.  Hence, no lady should ever make a table of her lap, eiihei
for sewing, reading, or writing, or any occupation whatever (as you
see in plate K).   Let  all these, and all work you do, be arranged on
a table  before you, and that  table, be raised to the arm-pits, or aa
high as possible, so as to keep the  chest straight.  A little practice
will make this infinitely more agreeable than to stoop, while little or
no fatigue will be experienced at your occupations, compared to what
is  experienced while  stooping,  or  from habitually stooping.  The
weight  of the shoulders will thus be kept off the chest, which is one
of the grand causes of fatigue from manual labor.   You will  thus
entirely prevent  the mark of servitude being impressed upon your
persons, in a  pair of round stooping shoulders, and flat contracted
chest.

                     SITTING POSITION.
  Nearly all  the American people sit badly.  Whilst sitting, and the
person in repose, the chest should  be kept up, the shoulders thrown
back, and the person straight.  This position, by habit, will be found
to give the greater  relief from fatigue, and be  far more agreeablo
than to  stoop while sitting.  Most persons in this country, on placing
themselves in a chair,  bring the shoulders forward on the chest and
S 
206             DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
bend the whole spine, fron  the head to its lower end,  forward, ap-
proaching, more or less, the figure of a hoop.  (See P ate K.)  The
effect of this is to produce  a truly vulgar  figure,  round shouldere,
crooked person ; even the bones .of the lower end of the trunk of the
body, by this wretched position, if long practised,  lose their symme-
try, and are bent forward, and contract the basket  of the hips, or, as
anatomists term  it, the pelvis. J* «A70  no doubt that a great many
ladies have lost their lives by thus contracting thje, basket of the hips,
and bending inwards the lower cad of the spine, so that no space or
little is left for the greatest office the female  can  ever  accomplish.
No person will sit badly, unless from extreme indolence, or ignorance
of its most injurious effects.
   Let me say to you, ladies, who have daughters or young girls un-
der your care—follow them to school, and at any cost or sacrifice, in-
sist upon it that  the seats for your little girls shall be easy, and that
they shall sit at a table to study, write, &c.;  and this table be so high
as to make it impossible for them to stoop at all. If the table is made
as high as the arm-pits, and the child sits near to it, the chest  will
not be contracted,  but will be expanded by studying or writing at
such a table. For writing, one inch below the arm-pits will be found
fully as low as is necessary, and habit and practice will veiy soon
cause the child  greatly to prefer a high to a low  desk.  The child
should not sit sideways, but perfectly fronting her desk or table. The
caution to have girls sit square in front of the table is very important,
for if they sit sideways to the table, the effect usually-is, or in a great
many cases, to lift up  one shoulder  higher than the other, and to
bend the spine either between the shouldere, or in the small of the
back.   I have observed this effect in a multitude of cases, from five
years old to thirty yeare.  Bad position is the parent of nearly all de-
formities of  the trunk of the body, oither of the spine, the shoulders,
the hips, or the-aibs.
   In all occupations that  require you to  stand, keep  the person
straight. If at table, let it  be high, raised up neaily to the arm-pita,
so as not to require you to stoop ;  you will find  the employment
much easier,—not one-half the fatigue ; whilst the form of the chesr;
and the symmetry of the figure,  will remain perfect  Vou hav« no- 
                 DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.            301

 tic*, \ that a vast  many tall ladies stoop, whilst a great  many short
 ones  are erect.  This arises, I think, from  the  tables at which we sit
 or work or occupy ourselves, or study, being of a medium height, fai
 too low for the tell person, and about tight for the short person.  This
 should be carefully regarded and corrected, so that each lady may oc-
 cupy herself at a table suited to her, and thus  prevent  the possibility
 or necessity of stooping.

         POSITION OF TIIE CHEST IN WALKING.
   I have already occupied you a long time upon the position of tho
 chest, and will still occupy you with  a  few words  upon the position
 of the cfrest in walking. An elegant carriage of the person in walking
 is indispensable to health and beauty, and to that graceful  elegance of
 figure, of which the person is fully capable.  It was the fashion forty
 years ago for the ladies to walk with great  grace, and perfectly erect,
 without any stoop.   A few years ago some of our tourists and ladies
 t(M>k  part in it, having seen the Venus of Medieis at Florence, in
 Italy; her position  being stooping,  conceived  the fine idea  that  a
 stooping position in walking  or  standing was  the very  acme—the
 highest point of elegance and  grace.  This stoop was called the Gre-
 cian bend.   The statue of the Venus of Medieis at Florence, in Italy,
 which I  have  often  seen,  and admired, is. that of a  lady entirely
 naked ; just having left the bath, her person gracefully inclining, or
 stooping forward, she extends her hand for her  robe.   This position
 —the acme  of grace in a lady uncovered—was  never intended to re-
 present for one instant a lady dressed.  To prove this, you have only
 to look at the forms  of the females as they are  carved and painted
 in the processions of the Greek and Roman ladies—funeral, religious,
 and triumphal  procesrions, etc.   At Saratoga  Springs, two or three
 years  ago, I had  an  opportunity of noticing this most  wretched pos-
 ture in walking.  In  the largo parlor of a large and fashionable hotel,
 were  a number of ladies  and gentlemen.  The ladies generally as-
lumed the Grecian bend, the  shoulders and  chest thrown forward,
stooping  from the 'small of the back,—a position at once indicating
 weakness and deformity.   In striking contrast to this were the figures,
the  carriage, the stop,  of two young ladies, daughters  of an English 
208
DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.
gentleman, but an American mother, and bora and educated inCoane©
ticut  Their chests were fully developed, and  their pensons perfectly
erect and straight.  They  attracted the notice  of all.  They must
have been greatly obliged to the other ladies for so strikingly setting
off their figures and carriage, by the miserable positions they bad
assumed, unless, what was most probable,  the  artless and unsophisti-
cated minds of the young ladies fcrebore drawing comparisons unfa-
vorable to their companions, and favourable to themselves.
   I hardly need say  that the same rules apply  to standing and walk
ing, as in sitting, to keep the person straight, the shoulders completely
off the chest, the chest thrown out, head and  neck  perpendicular to
the spine, but easy in its motion, and flexible, the weight of the arms
and shouldere er.tirelv falling behind the chest.   The step elastic and
buoyant, and not  mincing or  affected or stiff.   If the least  stoop 1?
permitted, let it be from the  hip-joints, and not from the waist 01
shouldere.

             POSITION OF  THE CHEST IN BED.
   I have no doubt that all beds should be rather hard, such as can
be made from a hair mattress,  husks or shucks of corn, straw finely
"cut up, cotton, foe.  I think these far better than down or feathers;
being better ventilated, They do not so much confine the heat of the
body^  and better  promote  the circulation of the blood, and do not
effeminate as feathers and  down invariably do.  The position of the
chest and person should be flat, laying on the back as much as possi-
ble ; indeed, this should be the habitual position in bed, the head very
low, or level  with  the body, so that the spine  is kept straight.  Tim
position,- if early adopted, will  be found, as a  general rule, far more
salutary than to bolster up  much under  the head and shoulders, espe-
cially on a soft bed.  The practice of sleeping  on a soft bed,  with the
head and shouldere high, will, in itself, make yrou crooked, and greatly
contract the  base  of the chest.  You should  notice the  position of
your daughters in bed.   They should never sleep always on one sida
as thrs'throws the  lungs, heart, liver, stomach and bowels, cut. -J «ytn
pietry, and often causes disease. 
               DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.             9*

                 STANDING  ON ONE FOOT.
  Nothing is more common than to see ladies who rarely stand erect
on both feet, but rest firet on one foot and then on the other.  This,
besides being most ungraceful, is often productive of deformity.  I waa
lately consulted by a lady on behalf of her daughter, who had ona
hip much larger than the other, so as to be a great deformity, and
caused entirely by standing very much on one foot.  The hip of the
same side of the foot on which she most rests, is soon thrown out, and
the other  hip drawn in.  This,  in a longer or shorter time,  becomes
permanent, and produces an irreparable  deformity of the  hip, and
often curvature of the spine, and derangement of symmetry through-
out nearly the whole person.


                       TIGHT LACING.
   A great deal has been said and wrUten against the  habit  of tight
lacing, or confining  the waist, so as to make it very small.  You will
notice, by recalling  what I have said, how pernicious and destructive
lacing the chest must be to the  lungs, the heart, the liver, and large
Dowels.   It produces a broken constitution, and almost certain death
 o any or all who practise it.  It is utterly subversive of symmetry,
and is, in every point of view,   decidedly  vulgar.   No person is now
known to practise it, save the  ignorant  and the would-be  fine and
genteel.   It must not be practised if you would have health, elegance,
or symmetry of person.  But, as Ihave told you in speaking of  the
shoulders, widen them, and make  the top of the chest wide, and the
symmetry of the waist will be perfect without contracting its dimen-
sions by lacing.  It is murder in a parent to lace tightly the waist of
a female child.
   Allow me, ladies, to exhort you to study  symmetry of person, as a
great science, and achieve it in each one  of  you,  at any sacrifice  of
temporary ease, indulgence, or  long-formed habit  Without perfect
jymmetry, you cannot have perfect beauty and elegance, and  rarehj
beaith  and long life.
                   10 
210
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
TO PROCURE A CLEAR AND  BEAUTIFUL COMPLEXION,
  Supposing the symmetry of the head, neck, shouldere, spine, chest,
waist, and all  your person, to be perfect  and unexceptionable, it ia
necessary to perfect beauty, and a consequence of perfect health, that
you have  a clear, beautiful complexion,—that  the lily and the rose
God has painted upon you  should  be developed  in their full perfec-
tion, and preserved untarnished  and undiminished.   To enable you
to understand the art of doing this, I must give you some account of
our food, and those processes of Nature by which  parts of  it become
nourishing to us, and other parts of  it useless, and are rejected  from
the system.

                         THE TEETH.
  The first of that series of processes by which the food is made to
nourish  and replenish the waste of the human machine, after the cook,
or Nature, has prepared it, is to masticate it, to chew it well.   This
cannot be  done without good teeth, which leads me to speak of the
teeth in connection  with health and  beauty.  Beauty of the face de-
pends on  regular  symmetrical features,  and  three  brilliants,—bril-
liant eyes,  brilliant complexion, brilliant teeth.   Each of these brilliants
are reflections cf the health, the taste,  and the neatness of  their pos-
sessors.  No lady can be beautiful, or long healthy, with bad teeth.
The food,  in order  to a healthy digestion, should be rather slowly
eaten, and well chewed ; but if the teeth are decidedly defective, or de-
cayed, or both, mastication becomes  imperfect and painful, and dys-
pepsia follows,—more or less as a natural consequence.  As  a point of
beauty,  the mouth  is a very striking feature.  The teeth, in perfection,
and beautiful and appropriate in their forms,  and all in place, present
two perfect rows, one on each jaw, of a brilliant and exquisite  pearly
lustre.  They  become,  when the countenance is animated  in conver-
sation, or enlivened by smiles, a constant  source of delight  to the be-
holder.  But should the teeth be  discolored,  irregular, defective, or
deficient, they become at once a source of aversion and great disgust
to the observer.   With beautiful aud perfect teeth, the  smite of a
ladv is irresistible ;  should it be  otherwise, her laugh is a grotesque 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             211
with tarnished and bad teeth.   Such teeth destroy the purity of tha
breath, and shorten life.
  1 am proud to say, no country can boast better or more intelligent
dentists than our own.  In all our  larger towns, and  most of our
smaller ones, good dentists are to be found. The care of your teeth,
and those of your children, should engage your constant  attention,
aided by the advice and assistance of the best dentists.  If the teeth
are defective, they should be repaired; if not capable of repair, their
places should be supplied  by artificial ones.  Irregularity*should be
seasonably corrected.   A  good dentifrice  should be  used; at any
-ate, each day, a brush and pure cold water should be freely applied
to them.  Acids tarnish their lustre, and should be carefully avoided.
With beautiful, regular, perfect, and clean teeth, the  countenance of
no lady can be  repulsive.  In  reposo, should  her features not be
Rtrikingly prepossessing, letr her smile, and at once she receives at-
tention and admiration.

                          DIGESTION.
  The food that is more  or less  solid we chew, and  then swallow it.
It passes through a kind  of fleshy hose, or flexible pipe, which goes
down the neck behind the wind-pipe, and  is called the gullet.   (See
Pkte E, fig. 2.)   It passes behind the wind-pipe, and behind the heart
through the chest, into the abdomen, and  terminates  in a bag, which
holds from one pint to two quarts.  (See Plates  N  and  O.)  This
bag is tho stomach.  The food and  drink remain in a healthy sto-
mach from three minutes to four  hours.   During this period, by the
action of the stomach and its juices, the food is  softened to a consis-
tency like cream, when it passes out of the stomach  into the bowels.
After it has entered the bowels a  few inches, it  i*. joined by the bile,
which is a bitter soap, that unites  with the food, assisting to complete
its digestion, and facilitating its  passage  through tke bowels.   The
fluid and  digested food  now pass rapidly along the small  bowels.
(See Plate C.)   These small bowels are about  25 feet long,—that is,
almost twelve times as long as the usual  length of the trunk of the
body.  Whilst the food is in these bowels, it is  rapidly drained of all
those paits cf it that are fit for nourishment, or can  o«^r tho blcod 
iI2            DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.

                          PLATE N.
the coarse portions remain, and are hurried along to the termination
of the small bowels.   These bowels end at the right groin, in the large
bowel.  This large  bowel  (see Plate C) commences  in  the right
groin, and advances upward to the  right waist, under the lower edgfl
of the liver ;  it then  turns from the right to the left,  under or against
the lower edge of the stomach, across the body, from the right to
the left waist, when it turns  downwards, along the left groin.   At tha
bottom of the groin it passes to the right, as far as the back-bone, to
which it is tied.   It now becomes straight, and keeping along the back-
bone, it passes directly downwards out of the body, forming the back"
passage through the basket of the hips.   The large  bowel is  almost
five feet long, so that the food, from its first entrance into the mouth,
to its final exit from tho  body, passes nearly 32  feet along a  contin-
uous canal, or pipe.   The large bowel, as  a common  rale, and the
stomach, in its general effect in fulfilment of  their  functions,  exert a
most important  influence upon the complexion, and  upon the general
health.  Tliis makqa it necessary for me to say a few words upon each
of these ; and, firaV upon

                THE STOMACH—(see Plate N.)

   It is the important office of the stomach to digest the food, and pre
pare, it to enter  the  blood,  and give  nourishment to "the  body, and
furnish materials to repair the daily waste of the system.  With the
healthy action of the stomach, the health of every person is intimateii 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.               21J
connected.   Without good digestion, it is impossible  to  have health
in perfection.  The health is usually injured in proportion as digestion
is imperfect, until, if digestion ceases for  a short time, death ensues.
I have before told you. that in good digestion, and a healthy condition
of the stomach, the food, according to its character, its quantity, and
"ondition, is digested in  from three  minutes to four  hours.  Shjould
the stomach be diseased, or weak, and  unable to perform its natural
duties, the food  may remain in it three months.  I have known two
perfectly authenticated cases, where some portions  of the food re-
mained in the stomach, in one case twelve weeks, and in  the other
forty-six days ; and was in both ca^es vomited up, but little changed.
This disturbed state of the stomach, by which it digests food  imper-
ecOjrf is painfully known to thousands under the name of

                          DYSPEPSIA.
   This is known to exist in some persons by a sensation of weight in
the stomach after eating ; in  others, by  a sour stomach ;  in othere,
heart-burn: in othere, by great distress in the  stomach, after eating,
taking place in a few minutes, or in one or two hours  ; in othere, by a
great deal  of wind in the stomach ; in othere, by severe  head-acheb;
in others, by a chionic diarrhoea, the  food coming away  unchanged ;
in others, the effects are chiefly  evinced by pains in different parts of
the body, more often in the left side, or from the breast-bone, through
to the back-bone, &c.  In  others,  dyspepsia is  manifested  by great
palpitation of the heart.  In a vast many cases, true heart diseases be-
gin with dyspepsia ;  and in many others, what seems, by the great pal-
pitation and stoppage of the heart, and  irregular breathing, to be a
genuine disease of the  heart itself,  is not so, but is caused by indiges-
tion.   Some or all of the foregoing symptoms, and many more, such
as^pngh, mentioned in another place, are found to exist in dyspepsia.
I might mention sleeplessness,  nervousness,  beating  of the heart on
laying down in bed at night, often  arise from indigestion.   The effect
.*f continued indigestion is, to reduce the  strength, to take  all color
from the face, and,  in many cases to cause  the  face to become th«
color of a tallow candle.   At other times, it causes great rushing of
the blocd to the head and fcicc.  It is the fruitful parent of skin di#- 
214
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY,
 easea,  or is intimately connected with  them.   If a good deal of bila
 comes into the stomach, it is apt to cause the skin of the neck, the
 forehead, foe., to become very thick and gross, and to break out in red
 pimples, greatly disfiguring the face, and utterly destroying the beau-
 ty of the complexion.   I have only time to indicate to you a few of
 the articles of food that incline  to dyspepsia, without having time to
 name many other causes  of this disease.   To have  good digestion,
 the food should be eaten slowly, and well and perfectly chewed, or
 masticated.   If the teeth of any one  are  bad, the food shoidd be
 prepared, in cooking, so as to require but little chewing, or mastication.
 Good digestion depends very much on our choice of food.   It is utterly
 impossible  to lay down rules of diet that  do not find a great many
 exceptions  in  their application.  We  have several times had some-
 thing like a  fanaticism start up on the subject  of diet. In these
 cases, it will be found that one man attempts to apply his indiridua!
 experience to all mankind." Should his experience  happen to be con-
 trary to  universal  experience,  he will  be greatly disappointed in its
 good effects.   For example,  one has told us never  to eat meat.   On
 attempting to apply the rule of not eating meat to the general mass-
 es of men, it is found to fail, or, when attempted to be adopted, has
 produced the  most disastrous results.   It is most true, that what
 agrees with one, may not agree with another.  One can live on very
 light food ; one requires very hearty food; one  can  be   abstemious,
 others are destroyed by it;  one can eat meat,  one can  leave' it off.
 In all this, you must be directed by yTour own experience.  In gene-
 ral, you  should practise a wholesome  carelessness  about your food,
 eating a  little of anything you please, unless you know it injures you.
Eat enough, but  never indulge  in excesses.  I will mention «»ne 01
two articles often used,  that most generally have a bad effect upon the
complexion, and are most usually injurious, especially if  used befora
thirty yeare of age, or even at any period of life.   Good  fi-esh butter,
not at all rancid, and eaten without being melted, is,  in  a vast many
cases, and most usually, a very good article in the composition of our
diet.  A little pure sweet oil may be  allowed.  But all the grease
that is procured from lard, rancid butter, or animal oils, or gravies, ii
most injurious to the complexion. 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
2/1
   1 trill inform  you how it acts.  Oils or fats, on being thrown into
ihe stomach,  cannot be  digested by the juices of the stomach,  as
these incline  to  be acid, and will not digest thera well.  In order to
do this, it is necessary to call bile into the stomach, which  is a kind
of soap; and grease, fats, &c, will not digest in  the stomach, until
bile joins and reduces them to a kind of soap, so that much greasy
food for ladies will be found to make them bilious, and produce mora
or less of dyspepsia, in one or other of its forms.   Now, we find that
grease or rancid butter, or at least melted butter,  enters very largely
into the composition of pie-crust, and all  forms of pastry, and into
some kinds of cake, <fcc.   These injuriously affect the stomach.   This
is tho case with fat food, that is highly seasoned,  as pork, sausages,
etc.  So that a lady who would have a fine complexion, and good diges-
tion, must  avoid fat meats, rich fat gravies, highly seasoned  fat hashed
meats, pastry, and every species of diet where fat enters largely into
the preparation.   Again, new bread, and all hot bread, will be found
hard to digest, and,  as a general rule,  should  be avoided.  Coffee is
very generally used, and by some persons who attain to considerable
ago, and speak of it in raptures; yet, from the experience of many
thousand dyspeptics, who have consulted me,  I find no article of diet
more generally injurious to  the dyspeptic, than coffee.   Its effects are
almost universally, if much drank, to produce  dyspepsia, acidity, ncr
vousness, palpitation of  the heart, head-aches, dizziness, costiveness,
;overing the face with pimples, and making the skin of the face thick,
velb/w, coarse, and repulsive, destroying both  rose and  lily.  Its ear-
liest effect is to  destroy the  complexion, produce sallowness, and
great biliousness, when no injury whatever  is suspected.  It inclines to
produce in tliose predisposed to them, bleeding lungs, and to develop*
scrofula and skin diseases.  Children should never taste it, except at
loner intervals, say once a year, or month.  Black  tea in moderation,
milk, and also water, or milk and  water, are good articles for drink,
Late Flippers should be avoided.   Our food should never be taken
much, if  any, warmer  than  new milk.   Animals in their native  state
usually enjoy  perfect health their whole lives, yet never  take their
food any warmer than new  milk.
   In general,  a lady, who would have perfect health, and a  brillia'it 
816             DISCOURSE TO LADIEb ONLY,
complexion, should  eat as much food as she pleases, inclining to eat
jmough, and to select, indiscriminately, as her taste, or appetite, o*
convenience, or opportunity allows, fish, flesh, or fowl, fruit, '.egetables
bread, <kc.   Allowing her food to bo well cooked, and, above all, let
it be of a perfect quality, not rancid or tough.
  Table  salt, on  fi-esh provisions, she may eat as  much of as she
pleases.  Salt  is  an indispensable article of diet, and perhaps never
does harm.
  Recollect, we should eat for  nourishment, not gluttony.   Variety
in our food is desirable, but this variety should not depend on the art
of the cook or confectioner, but  on the diversified variety we select
from the markets.  Meats long  salted should not be much indulged
in.   Acids, spices, pickles, foe., should be sparingly used.
  Watch your own experience, and what you find best agrees, use it,
but let the variety from which you may choose be as large as possible.
Never run after vagaries in diet.   Never weigh youi- food, or think to
build up a constitution on one kind of food or diet.   What you ma i>
find by experience disagrees with you, leave off.  Do not  dig  your
graves  with your  teeth.   Yet do not  be finical in your  diet, eating
moderately at  times of any food, should it even be a little proscribed.

                    THE LIVER.—Plate Q.
  Many persons impute most diseases to the liver.   A genuine fcvw
Beease is rare.  When it does take place, it requires the aid of th<» 
                 DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY             811

 physician.  Oloene the rrL* of health laid down in this lecture, and
 you will rarely have any liver complaint or  any derangement of any
 of its important functions.

          GALL-STONES IN THE GALL BLADDER.
   This disease is often seen, and is productive of great mischief.   It
 often produces sudden  attacks of  dreadful pain  at the pit of the sto-
 mach, inclining to the right ride, and great tenderness is felt there on
 pressure ; at other times, a cruel pain is felt  in the back, opposite the
 pit of the stomach, extending up and down the  back  in  greater or
 less intensity and  duration.  In some cases it  occasions  distressing-
 sick head-aches, and these  periodically for a long life ;  in other cases,
 and accompanying any or  all of these, the sufferer vomits very freely
 a sour, bilious water,  often clear bile.   Appetite impaired, and very
 dyspeptic, rejecting many kinds of food ;  bowels costive, stools clay-
 colored, face more or  less yellow, aud at times the color of an, oran<re,
 &c.; kidneys do not act well, scarcity and scalding of water. Dropsy
 may result from this, and life is often only a  long struggle against dis-
 ease.  I have  known  the gall-ducts finally to become entirely obliter-
 ated, and producing death.  In some cases  the  gall-bladder is enor-
 mously distended, and if not reiki Fed, will burst, as I have seen,—of
 course, suddenly fatal.  The cure for this in  its  early stages, and in
 nearly all cases, is to drink  at the moment of getting  into  bed one
 tibl« spoonful to one gill of pure oweet oil (table oil.)  It may be ne-
 cessary to continue thii foi  some weeks, until a gallon of oil is used;
 but in many cases a much  less quantity will effect a cure.   It  is  a
 perfectly safe remedy, and if the oil is pure, is not  apt to  disagree.
 If the oil does  not  move tho bowels, next clay, you may take a little
 *enna tea, or if feverish and robust, senna  and salts, or castor oil.  By
 tiiis  treatment I have  known a Tint of gall-stones brought away in a
 &w  days, and good  health  tuturn.  The oil must be pure.  Much
 t&bta oil sold as pure olive  oil is adulterated with lard  oil,  and then
 is almost useless for dissolving gall-stones, and very much  disagrees
 with the  invalid.   These  same symptoms may occur without  any
gatt-stones being in the gall-bladder, and then the oil will do little  of
no good, yet it scarcely p; xluces any bad effects.
              10 
fi18            DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.

                      BAD BREATH.
   The breath of some dyspeptics is extremely offensive, owing to u*
digested food remaining a long time in the stomach and bowels.

   HOW LONG  THE FOOD CONTINUES IN THE  BODY.
   The human machine consumes, or, in other words, we eat and drink
from five to twelve pounds every day—in extreme cases much less, ot   w
vastly more  but this is about its medium range.   Now, all this leaves
the body after it has accomplished its  destined object.   How  do  1
know it all leaves the body  ?  I know from the very common fact
that many pereons^weigh more at twenty than they do at seventy—u
fifty years not having gained one ounce.  Some  persons  flesh  up  a^- u
little, but it  does not alter the general  rule,  for should evenaverj
small portion of our daily food be retained,  or stick to*our bodies, wi.
should become monsters in size during Along life.  Now, all thu
 food  and drink, with all its  grossness, leave* the  machine, or person,
 through five avenues only, namely, the skin, the lungs, the kidneys,
 the bowels, and the womb; and on the muturl harmony, in action and
 functions, of those five  great avenues for evacuation and unloading the
 machine, its health and long continuance must inevitably depend.
    The gross portions of the food, or that which is unfit  for nourish-
 ment, or is  undigested, passes through the small bowels and is lodged
 in the large bowei.   In  a healthy condition of the large bowel, and
 when it acts naturally, it evacuates itself every twenty-four hours.  H
 the contents of that bowel are retained longer than twenty-four hours,
 it becomes injurious to the machine, or system, and the injur]- is iu
  proportion to  the tir#* « is retained over its natural term.

                        COSTIVENESS.
    When this bowel is sluggish in its functions, the fluids that should
   pass by the bowels are thrown upon the skin, the kidneys, and  the
   lungs, loading each of these organs, and deranging their offices.  One
   of the very earliest effects is to render the skin  of the face grots,
   thick, sallow,  and unhealthy.   Its .brilliancy is lost.  The blood rushes
   more or less to the  head,  the eye becomes dim, and scon loses Its
   clearness and brilliancy.  The skin everywhere ceases to be transp* 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.            9ld
rent; an unpieasant^odcui  is exhaled from  the body -  the  breath
becomes offensive ;  the liver enlarges,  and is loaded will  blood and
bile;  the right side of the heart  is often  enlarged by it; dyspepsia
results,  and bleeding at the lungs.   I rarely ever  knew a case of
bleeding at the lungs that was not accompanied by costiven.jss.   Piles,
bearing down  pains, monthly irregularity,  disease of the womb,  en-
largement of the ovaries, falling of the womb, dropsy, apoplexy,  palsy,
spine diseases, gravel, and disease of the kidnfys, head-ache, and sick
head-ache,  flatidence, and  colic, are often produced by  costiveness,
and always aggravated by it.
   In  the winter of  1842.  I was requested  to visit an old gentleman
who was dying of an obscure disease, and to determine,  if possible,
what  was the matter.   A wealthy farmer took me to call on this pa-
tient.  We stopped at his house to change horses,  and he requested
me to see  his sister-in-law,  who was sick.   I found she  had  a bad
enlargement of the  right side of the heart.   On asking the %tate of
her bowels, I found they moved but once a week.  On going into tho
farmer'.* house,  I found his wife  sitting  in an arm-chair, uuable to
walk.  She  had lost entirely the use of her lower  extremities, from
the small  of lier back down, caused entirely by costiveness.   Here
were two sisters ; one with a heart disease, the other palsy-, caused by
costiveness  only.  The large bowel, when its  instincts  are follo\»ed."
never fails to solicit an evacuation daily.   When neglected, the next
day the call will be  less urgent, and in a few weeks  habitual costive
uess will be established.   The calls of Nature become less and less
in some cases, until the bowel will not act at all.  In the  early part  -
of March, 1844,  I  was consulted  by a member of the Massachusetts
legislature, on behalf of his sister, who had passed nine entire months
without an evacuation from the bowels, the bowels having ceased to
act altogether.   I was consulted in Boston, last July,  by a  gentleman,
proprietor of a large hotel,  for his  niece,  a young lady, who had not
uad an evacuation from the bowels for four and a half  months.   Bloat
Ing is a frequent companion of costiveness.

                 CURE OF COSTIVENESS.
   The perfect  preventive,  and the almost  infallible remedy for «f» 
&rt
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
   Iives.«s, iy habit.   Never allow a dav to pass without a free evacua
   tion.   Observe one particular exact time for it, awLat that exact pe-
   riod solicit the  evacuation.   A few days' or weeks' patient solicitation
   will usually restore  Nature to its  full health in this respect.   Should
   this not fully answer, eating  soft food,  or coarse bread,  such  as bread
   made of corn meal, or of wheat meal, unbolted.   These are  excellent
   to remove costiveness.   Chewing  a little  good Turkey rhubarb daily,
   prill often remove all sluggishness of the bowels, and, assisted  by habit,
   will entirely  cure costiveness.   Rhubarb has the rare property of a
   tonic to the bowels, and will  not lose its effects upon the bowels, or do
   them any inuiry.  I have known a lady, who had taken  rhubarb,
   more  or loss, for forty years.  It  is a safe and most valuable remedy
   for costivenoBi, if assisted by  habit.  Neither health, beauty, or purity
   of system, can be long preserved,  if costiveness exists.   It should be
   relieved at all hazards.
         «
                    KIDNEY EVACUATIONS.
     The next  gr*at evacuation from the system is from the  kidneys.
   rhe bladder  is a reservoir,  into which  is received the water, which
   <rith a variety of salts and earths, are separated from  the blood  by
   «he kidneys.  The water is conveyed from the kidneys by a pipe from
   w«Ji kidney, that conveys  it to the bladder.   (See  Plate S.)  In a
   natural and healthy state,  the proper time when the bladder should
   be  emptied is  indicated.   Should  the water bo  habitually  retained
   longer than is proper, the effect, as in the bowels,  is to lessen the ac-
*  tion of the bladder and kidneys,  and  less water is  taken  off from
   the blood.  In  this way gmve&md other diseases of the kidneys often
   take place.   It  is well  known  that tha b'Vhest  and lowest people in
   England rarely  have  any kidney dise&a* or  stone  in  the  bladder,
   whilst  the intermediate  clashes, who, from modesty,  will often retain
   the water for hours beyond its natural period, have more of stone and
   gravel  in tho bladder and kidneys.  If this  is habitual, much  less
   water will be secreted from  the blood;  bad odour of  person arises,
   loss of flesh, and a peculiar sharpness of the lines of the face, sallow-
   aess, foe.  All  these complaints  are usually prevented by never re
   pressing tho calls of Nature  in this  respect. 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
991
                     'PERIODICAL NATURE.
    Allow me to say  a few words on the great and peculiar function of
  Nature, which indicates maturity of the woman, beginning at differe"n(
  ages in different persons, dependent, on climate and  education some
  what.   In this  climate,- it eommences at about thirteen,  fourteen, fif-
  teen, sixteen,  and seventeen yeare, without injury to the female health.
  Fourteen and fifteen are the most usual periods, when it naturally re-
  curs almost with the regularity of. clock-work, continuing from thirty
  to thirty-eight years, and  ending usually between forty-four and fifty-
  two years.  By this great provision of Nature, the female is reminded
  each month that she may become a mother.   At its commencement in
  young ladies, it is at times  irregular, taking place  perhaps two or
  three times in the same number of yeare.   This is usually owing to
  effeminacy, to poor health, a low state of strength and delicacy, aris
  ing  from attacks of  sickness, from confinement in-doors, too much at
  school, and general debility.  This is  soon cured by change of air,
  out-door exercise, sea-bathing, and strengthening medicines.
    After the regular nature is fully established, any  derangement of
  it is a just cause of alarm, and  should vnzu Cs to seek relief from
  medical aid, which is generally successful m tne cure.  The effect of
  disturbed nature, irregularity or stoppage, is disastrous to the health
  and beauty of a lady ; color flies from her  countenance, her face be-
  comes lifeless in appearance, and  assumes  the hue  of a tallow can-
  dle  ; her eyes lose  their  brilliancy;  he/ buoyancy  of spirits leaves
  her; she becomes spiritless, timid, shuns society, and, when not re-
  lieved, is apt  to fall  a prey to disease, dyspepsia, consumption, dropsy,
  foc~, foe.  In  nearly all cases, it is easy to cure this state  of health,
•  and especially so at its  commencement.  Tn some cases, and  rather
  frequently, the turns are too profuse, in a greater or less degree, even
  to Hooding.   This state of things may occur to all  ladies, bat it ia
  most  usual at from  twenty to fifty.   The effect is to produce great
  sinking at the stomach, and faint feeling,  weak back,  inability to
  walk much, general  probation, even confinement to bed for montlia
  at a time.  It is very easily and perfectly cured.  I do  not recollect
  to have  ever  failed to cure such cases in a few days.  There  i3 ons
* effect  produced by  derangement of this  natural  function,  that I do 
433
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
   not recollect ever to have seen mentioned by any writer, in connecti©*
   with disturbed female health ; but which, I think, in nearly all cases,
   proceeds from a disturbance  of the monthly nature, or derangement,
   in some way, of the female funotions.  This is the formation on diffe
   rent parts of the face, the forehead, and. uppS parts of the face, most
   usually, of yellow or brown spots, occurring  more or less in extent or
   depth of color; at  one time  hardly noticed;—at another time, large,
   tvell defined spots cover half the face.  These spots  are often said to
   wise from a disturbed liver.   I think they all but always arise  from a
   derangement of the female health, or some functions of  the  womb,
   They are quite curable.  The effect is most disastrous to female beau-
   ty, for the brilliancy and clearness of the complexion is entirely lost
   A cure can certainly be obtained.

               PAINFUL  PERIODICAL  NATURE.
   ♦ In a great many  cases, the  commencement of the periodical  nature
   fe marked by vast pain, most distressing and terrible, taking all strength
   frcm the body, and often continuing a whole week.  I  never fail in
   its cure.   (See the  letter of Miss Murrav.)

             END OF THE  PERIODICAL NATURE.
    The natural close of the monthly nature is often marked by some
  'disturbance of the  health, but, by care-, keeping the bowels free, and
   ©reserving the general health, it will usually pass  away, and  a long
   ialm succeed in the female health.  This, when properly managed,
   will be scarcely marked by a single ripple upon its smooth, unbroken
   surface, until the female attains, or may attain, to one hundred years.
   Although, after the cessation of the months, she cannot again give ex-
   istence to another,  yet she can enjoy ths highest charms of  society
   and social intercourse.   She can guide the young, and everywhere en-
   liven, and  adorn, and instruct society, by the fervor of her affections to
   ker family, the brilliancy of her wit, the polish and charm of her accom-
   plishments, and  the generous diffusion  of her knowledge and expe-
   rience, resulting from the stores of her reading, and the extent of he*
   observation.  Let her preserve her health and charms in the  highest
.  Perfection, and  never  allow  inactirity to creep upon  her, or for aa 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             223
lastant allow the  thoughts of a^, to approach her,  or think herself
less useful or  attractive than she ever was,  convincing all that ap-
proach her,  by her kindness and benevolence, that time can not sear
her affections,  or damp her sympathies, or pluck a single flower o*"
loveliness from her mind.  Such a lady will find the last half of  her
sentury as pleasant,  and even  more pleasant, than  the  first.   All
places will be open to her, all hearts will welcome her.   No society can
be  complete without her;  her  children will be  proud of her,  her
friends will admire her ; she will so realize the value of her presence,
and the extent of her usefulness, that never for a moment can she be
made to feel hereelf a burden to others, or useless  in society.  She
should never retire from society, and never cease to make hereelf use-
ful, agreeable and happy.

            EVACUATIONS  FROM THE LUNGS.
   I have mentioned the lungs as one of the avenues through which
passes off more or less of what we eat or drink; and that neither by
coughing or expectoration ; but the  matter  is deposited in the  air,
and passes off by-tho breath.   To convince  yourselves of this, only
breathe a moment upon a plate of cold glass, and you will notice it
instantly covered with viscid matter.   How much the  lungs throw off
in this way,  we have no positive means of  ascertaining.  It differs in
different persons, amounting, in  some cases, I have no doubt, to some
pounds daily.  Clear, cold, dry air will take off vastly more from  the
lungs than moist, humid air.   Hence, in cold, damp, wet weather,  the
lungs are vastly more loaded and stuffed up than in  a clear,  dry  air
This will teach you the value of breathing the pure out-door air daily
frequently,  and constantly as possible.  I  have spoken of this suf-
ficiently in my remarks on forming =3 fine chest, and on the prevention
of consumption,  in another lecture, to which I particularly refer you.

                          THE SKIN.
   Having passed over these three great avenues of evacuation,—the
boweLs,  the  kidneys,  and  lungs,—I now  come to the fourth—thk
6KIX. 
224
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY
       Before proceeding wltii the general subject, I will &ay,  the top of
     the  chest is the very throne of beauty.   Its round and  voluptuout
    •swell is most seducing, winning every observer.  The skin covering it
     should be brilliantly clear and transparent.   It -is the misfortune of a
     great many ladies, to ha-?' the  chest and'neck, sometimes, but tha
     chest very often, most horribly scarred by sores, made to remove pain
     or tightness across the chest  a cough,  or a cold.   Even  little girls
     suffer from'"this practice.  No practice of medicine  or surgery,- in my
     opinion,  is more pernicious, or more  detestable than this, inflicting
     most horrible agony, and injury, in place of good,—very rare!)" bene-
»«»   fittiug any patient in the least  degree.  It was only yesterday I had
     dbcasion  to  examine  the chest of a young  lady, who, in the last five
     months,  had had tarta;  emetic sores made  on her  chest nearly ail
     over it; front and sides marked by hundreds of scars, in size from a
     small pea to that of  a four-penny piece,  without a thought of good 01
     benefit.   Rarely need you apply a blister,—-all but never setons, or
     sores.  Should you wish to remove pain, or  soreness, or stricture, rub
     the affected part well with a little stimulating liniment^ and then cover
     it with a linen or cotton cloth, dipped in cold water, wrung out so as
     not to drip  any.  Keep  it  on a few hours, then change  it.   Using
     liniment, and wearing a wet cloth a few days, save  in very rare cases,
     will remove pain, and soreness, and tightness upon the lungs, infinitely
     better than sores of any kind  end will produce no pain or prostration,
     and leave no scare.   Mothers, I beg of you,  allow no  such sores to
     be made upon the chests of your daughters, and allow none on your-
     selves.  I witnessed  one ^nse, on a lady's chest, where a tartai emetic
     sore was made on the  bre>^» bone, and continued until a hole was eaten
     entirely through the  breast-bone into  tV -jhest.  It did not heal for
     several months.
       The beauty and brilliancy of the skin  and the  whole surface of the
     body is greatly  affected by the ^ndition of the lungs,  the stomach,
     the Kver, the bowels, the  womb, the kidneys,—and  all these are great-
     ly affected by the condition of the  skin.   It is impossible for the skin
     and  completion to be healthy when any or all of these are much de-
     ranged in their functions.  It is also difficult for them to be in health
     should the  skin not  act in a healthy manner.  Our groat Creator ia 
                DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             tea

hem6&&  the skin for a  clothing and r.  protection to  the whole bodv.
Some tribes of men, at this day, wear no clothing, not a vestige, and
yet suffer no more than the animals around them.   This fact should
never be forgotten, that the skin  is itself a clothing.   Artificial cloth-
ing is intended to exclude the cold, and retain the heat aud warmth
of the pereon upon itself.   A certain annount of clothing docs all that
clothing can  do for the wearer;  ami after this,  you may pile  on i.i
much clothing  as you please, and you will only burden yourselves and
effeminate the skin, without adding one particle  to its warmth.   Tha
standard of health is rather to have the skin cool, than to have  it hot
or perspiring.   Many delicate persons are taught, that when feeble or
reduced in health, adding very much  to their clothing will contribute
greatly  to their health   They flatter  themselves, that by much  cloth-
ing and warmth, they  can fence out disease; and if in perfect healih,
a great deai of clothing will keep them so.  A sufficiency of clothing
is necessary to health, but too much is very injurious to health indeed,
and ojcatly injures the complexion,  as do heated rooms.   As little
clothing as possible is  the true rule of health and beauty,  and rooms
as cold  as possible, consistently with comfort, apd a healthy  action of
the skin.  When already habituated to very much clothing and  warm
rooms, and flannels, especially next to the skin, sudden changes should
not be attempted, and, above all, never in autumn or winter, or early
spring; but when we-propose  to reduce our clothing,  the change
should be made in .early summer,  and thus, through the warm weather
and advancing fall, we may permanently leave off all unnecessary
clothiug,  after  bathing all over in cold water, which  will tend greatly
to prevent taking cold.  I 'hrok  cotton or silk worn  next the skin in
Bummer, ar.d all the yea:-, it p-^ible, far preferable to flannel or wool-
ten.  Should one be already accustomed  to the use of woollen-flan-
nel, she  may substitute good cotton-flannel,  I think to great advan-
tage-  Woollen-flannel worn  all  tho  year, and great  quantities of
clothing, effeminate the skin  prodigiously, destroy,  the complexion,
and induce debility and great delicacy.  The slightest changes  of
v;?athi-r are felt to the innermost core of  the heart;  not a breath of
BJr  cati  blow upon her. or the  least part of  her person, or neck, of
bosom,  be exposed to  ;!:>■ air, without taking cold.    The trio rule ia 
 g26             DISCOURSE TO IADIES ONLY.

 to wear as little clothing as possible, consistently with comfort.  Nevei
 wear clothing for health.—wear it for ornament,—wear it for comfort,
 bo as not to be  chilly or cold, but never, increase it for health.   The
 neck should always be,uncovered,  or with the slightest possible cover-
 mo-, unless  exposed  to very great cold.  Ladies who habitually cover
 the neck are liable to sore throat, while those who habitually keep the
 throat and neck uncovered seldom have sore throat or cold.
   A pjece of human skin,  on being  held up to  the air and viewed
 through a magnifying glass, is seen to be  perforated with innumera-
 ble  small openings  through it.   These are  the  pores of the skm.
 Through these pores, when in health, a great quantity of matter is
 constantly passing, in an extremely subtile form, and Is called the in-
 sensible perspiration.   Were a person divested of clothing, and placed
 in a glass case,  and  the air pumped all out, the body would  look  aa
 if covered with  a  cloud; upon placing yourselves in a bath,  after *
 few moments you can notice air bubbles rising from the skin, and cov
• ering it all over like  very fine pearls.   This is the insensible perspira-
 tion, and is constantly passing off through the pores of the skin.   This
 makes the skin the fourth great avenue, through which passes an im-
 portant  share of what we eat and drink.  Now it is of the  last im-
 portance to health and beauty, that the pores of  the skin be  kept in
 a healthy state,  and, in fact, that the skin be considered as a covering
 and a clothing, and as a great element for evacuating,  and unloading
 the human machine or system of its useless or effete matter.  To
 achieve these two purposes  for the skin, it must be well aired, never
 effeminated, and the pores never  allowed to be closed by its own se
 cretions  or external impurity.  I have before remarked, you must not
 wear too much clothing, as it effeminates the  skin.  All your clothing
 should allow of ventilation of the skin, and not completely confine the
 air around the body.   Some persons wear oil cloth,  or oil silk, around
 the body, over some part of their person, or next to the skin, to ex-
 elude the air entirely ;  nothing can be more pernicious or destructive
 to  health.   It  effeminates the skin  and  prostrates the  system,  and
 should  never be done.  To strengthen the skin,  and to fortify it and
 all the system  against cold or changes of weather,  and to render thfl
 skin pure and healthy,  no remedy can for one moment be compared 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             221
tr, washing the whole  surface of the body over daily with pure cold
wate*.   1 do  not refer to covering yourselves with water, or taking a
bath, but simply to washing your whole person over daily with pure
cold water, as you do your face and hands.   Extend the same favor
to your whole* person, that you do to your hands and face.  All you
require is two to four quarts of cold water, and as much more as you
please, but a common wash-basin will do, and two or three  towels.
Take one of the towels, dip it in this crystal fluid, eminently worthy
of you, and you of it;  lave well the wrists,  the ears,  the neck, tho
chest, the whole person, the lower limbs, the feet.   Dwell  much on
the chest, about the collar-bones and below them, and on all the largo
joints, and feet and  soles of the fcet.  As it will be a little difficult
to wash between the shoulders, fill a towel  full of water, and spread
it out like a shawl, and convey it over the head, and let it fall down
the back to the hips, covering all the shouldere, and  all the spine.
Let it embrace and wet all the spine well.   Now, take a good-sized
towel,  one in each hand, if you please, and commence vigorous fric-
tion, and wiping on and over all your person, rub yourselves perfectly
dry, animate all the skin by rubbing with  a dry towel.  This done,
throw the dry towel over your neck,  take the opposite corners of the
towel in each hand, draw the towel across the back of the neck, and
between the shoulders,  and down the back as far as the hips, wiping
and rubbing the whole spine well and thoroughly, and shoulders, neck,
shoulder-blades, <fec, all down.  Fill tho chest full of air as you can,
then throw the head, neck, shoulders, and chest backwards as far as
possible, and for one or two minutes walk the room, holding tho
breath, and expanding the chest to its fullest extent by drawing in all
the air you can.  By this operation your shouldere will soon lie flat to
the back of the chest, and the bosom, all untrammelled, will swell and
resume all the luxuriance of its natural form, and almost unapproach-
able beauty-   This whole  operation will not occupy you more than
three or four minutes,  when your ablutions, frictions, and expanding
the riiest, will be finished, and you prepared to resume your clothing.
The morning  is the best time of clay for bathing,—on  first stepping
out of bed, and when all the skin is in a glow of warmth.  Any other
hour of the day,  or on retiring at night,  may be selected with great 
228             DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY

advantage, as inclination  or convenience may dictate.   Ladies r.t'
accustomed to cold bathing, or who dread exposing the person to thfl
air, may, at firet, use only  a damp towel,  or merely dampened in salt
and warm water, and firet  expose oft.^ the limbs and person very par-
tially at a time, and so gradually acc-.istom  the  surface.of  the person
to exposure.  In this way7,  by exercising a little sound discretion and
care, in five to ten days the most effeminated and feeble  persons may
habituate  themselves to the free use of cold water, over all the sur-
face of the body and limbs, daily.  Should you in the commencement
take cold, you need not dread taking cold always from exposure of tho
person, or bathing with cold water.  The  value of the bathing,  save
mere purity, is derived from the cold that is in the water.   Bathing in
cold water is more valuable when the weather  is coldest in autumn,
winter,  and spring.  In summer its effects are  less striking than in
winter.  It is at this moment, ladies, I wish I possessed the highest
powers of persuasion, to induce you to adopt at once constant  daily
ablutions with cold  water  all your lives.  It  may be  done always,
whether the monthly turns are on or not.    When accustomed to it, it
may be done an hour before child-birth, or an hour after, with perfect
Bafety.   It is  hardly possible to  imagine any fever,  or  any sickness,
that forbids  your daily bathing, or washing all over with cold water.
On the contrary, in scarlet fever, measles, typhus fever,  child-bed ftv
ver, lung  fever, scrofula, spine diseases,  liver  complaint,  dyspepsia,
consumption, ague and fever, erysipelas,  and,  in fact, in almost any
ard every disease incident to the human frame,  cold bathing is itself
a p^-eat remedy,  and never can do hurt, when \rou have before been
accustomed to it.   Rarely, very rarely, will you be subject to any of
these, should you constantly and faithfully  bathe daily in  cold water.
The shower bath may be  U4o... when perfectly convenient and agree-
able.   Never use a tepid bath, anless to begin before you  use cold,—
it effeminates the whole system.   Let  the water be hot or  cold.   Hot
baths are occasionally admissible, as  a ■remedy for pffin,  fever,  01
hoareeness, either of longer or shorter duration.   For stiff jointo from
rheumatism,  lameness, pain  in the side,  and sore throat  or qoinzy,
pain and heat in the spine, swelling and  pain and heat  ii  rittor siih*
or about  the chest, there are few remedies superior  to ooti  w* **■' 
                      DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             !£9

      either poured on, or, what is  most applicable, a piece of  ^otton cloth
      folded two or three thicknesses, and laid or  bound on the painful 01
      swelled part, changed often, and kent on for hours, or days and nights
      Coarse crash ia much used.
        This application is far superior  to a blister, or tartar emetic sores;
      will remove the pain sooner,  and  make a  far more  permanent cure.
      By tying up' the neck with a handkerchief dipped in cold water, and
      kept on over-night, or for several days and nights, if urgent, or lot
      successive  nights,  you will  usually cure the sore throat in the most
      gratifying manner, without one twinge of pain, or reducing the strength
      in airy degree.   Over the wet cloths  should be  laid thick, dry  ones,
      so as to keep the parts warm and perspiring, otherwise injury would
      result from the cold. Dry friction, with a flannel, if the surface is cold,
      or with a dry towel, fine or coarse, as suits you, or with a flesh
      brush, as taste or  inclination, or judgment directs, will be found ex-
      cellent.  Friction,  to have its best effects, should be long continued,
      and for old persons it is  most valuable ; but ought not to supersede
      the  use of cold  water.   Cold water preserves  the freshness of tho
      8 kin,  and  prevents  wrinkles,  and every  thing of that kind, to a
      g- eat degree.  Followed and preceded by friction, it  is beyond all
      p jssible value.  A person who bathes in cold water freely, as I have
      directed, can hardly feel the  fluctuations of  the weather, or be liable
      to take cold, or receive any injury from atmospheric changes.   She  '
      will ever rarely  have a pain,  or be liable to fever, to rheumatism, or
      inflammation of the lungs, or pleurisy, or  quinsy, or sore throat, or
      eough, or  skin diseases,  liver complaints, or dyspepsia.   When  you
      can faithfully and fearlessly wash  yourselves all over with cold water
      daily, you  will have taken a vast, step in the commencement of a pe-
      riod of uninterrupted healti   Infants at the breast should be bathed
      in cool water daily, from  their youngest  hours.   Do not be afraid of
      doing them any injury by it.  It is Impossible, when the cold sponge
  \   bath is judiciously used.   It  is of almost inappreciable value to the
 /   chilci.  The rooms in which  you wash may be very warm indeed, if
f     you please, and should always be warm, if you are delicate or unac-
      customed to exposure of your person to the air.  The water at  first
      oi.ty be used warm or tepid, and used colder as vou can bear it, 01 
230            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
stimulated with salt.  To render the sirin soft and pure, I recommend
to my patients, to wash all over once a week, with sal aeratus and water,
cold or hot, or with super-carbonate of soda, which is the best.   The
effect of this upon the drin, used once * week, is very agreeable, and
makes the surface of the person as pure as the ros6.  The soda shouli
be the fine super-carbonate of soda, sold by the apothecaries, &c.   It
will make the skin  as  soft as the finest,  softest  velvet.   You need
never be afraid of exposing your whole person to the air, (in a warm
room, if delicate,) and of washing all over, daily, with pure cold water.
The effect is, to  give you good  health, and, unless counteracted bv
other causes, as I have already mentioned, and shall mention in anothei
discourse, uninterrupted and brilliant health. The mind will be clear,
the eye bright, and countenance  brilliant as  the first blushes of the
morning.   Lassitude, despondency, low spirits, and indolence,  will
fltid no lodgment in your  pereons.   Timidity, fear, and moroseness,
will be driven from  you. by the  courage and  resolution that result
from good health.   Your fisst great enemy is ignorance; the next,
its legitimate child, is indolence.   Overcome these, and you have be-
fore you a pleasant and beautiful world,  a long and happy life ; vic-
torious over these,  and every other obstacle to health, usefulness, or
happiness, -will retire at your approach, as darkness before light.

                          THE FEET.
   I will say one word on the condition of your  feet.   You canno
waik well, unless the feet are in good  condition.  When not properly
treated, the feet are apt to swell, and become covered more or less
with corns.  Many ladies  are  also  liable  to very cold feet, the  cold
extending even to the knees, at times.  To remedy all this, I recom-
mend putting your feet once a week iu hot water,—not a tepid, warm
bath,—but in a hot bath,—and, if you please, medicated.   I  direct
my consumptive  patients, and all my patients, and every one, to  pre-
pare, once a week, a foot-bath.  If the pereons are feeble or liable to
aight-sweats, the hot foot-bath need not be us^d, and is even iniuri-
&us if the feet are in good order.   Take three or four quarts of water,
warm ; add to this one table-spoonful of the common washing soda,
Wthe fine super carbonate, of soda, a-, you please, and throe table-spoon 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.
331
nils of common s*lt.   Now put your feet in, and gradually add hot
water, as you can bear it, for twenty or thirty minutes, until you hava
raised a very high heat upon your feet.   Now remove your feet, ana
wipe them dry.  Should  any spots of hardened skin be upon them,
scrape these off as often as possible, so as to make all the skin cover-
ing the  feet,  the  bottom and sides especially,  as  thin  as possible.
Repeat this bath once a week, and you will never have corns, or any
inconvenience in your feet,—remembering, the shoes should be most
graceful, and fit the foot  perfectly, but  never squeeze  or pinch any
part of  it, the hot foot-bath, such as  I  have described to you, is one
of the greatest medicines  for rushing of blood to the head,  recent at-
tacks of pain, neuralgia,  pleurisy, swelled face, quinsy,  scarlet fever,
rheumatism, lung fever, cold,  liver complaint,—and in consumption,
it is most valuable.   In alfcases of pains in the limbs, and deranged
circulation, the hot foot-bath is valuable.  In fits in children, and a vast
many cases of disease, quite too numerous to mention, it will never do
any injury.   In profuse monthly turns, it at times  does harm ; when
deficient or tar4y, it is valuable.   The time to use the hot footbath is
at bed-time ; and on  leaving it, retire to bed.  Ladies in perfect health
need not use the hot  foot-bath, unless they  choose.  The feet  of ail
should be washed daily in cold water, and particularly next morning
after a hot foot-bath.   Do not use it if it weakens you, or makes the feet
very tender.

                     AIR  AND EXERCISE.
   Although, in another lecture, 1 have said something of exercise, and
incidentally  much of air,  I will here say a few  words upon these most
important subjects.   Walking, riding, dancing, and all amusements in
the open ah-, contribute to form and invigorate the constitution to a vast
extent   Without exercise in the open air,  no rules for  health could
possibly be complete.   It is impossible to have rigorous health, or pre-
serve it long, without  daily exercise in the open air.   It is most unfor-
tunate, that,  in this country, ladies take so little exercise in the open
ah-, especially those who are well, and in easy circumstances, whohavn
the leisure for it.  Many  Ladies, during the long period of cold weather,
?ay nearly seven months  of  the  year, hardly go out at all.   They stay 
S32            DISCOURSE TO  LADIES ONLY.
within, in heated rooms, taking litu<s or no exercise, for many months
The effects are deplorable.   Debility all over, loss of spirits, costive-
ness, loss of bloom on their checks. The eye loses its brightness ; and
health and beauty become impossible in this state of things.   To fe-
male children it is very injurious.  The striking contrast between Eng-
lish ladies, and the French and American, and, in fact, nearly all othei
ladies in the world, is owing to outdoor exercise taken daily ; scarcely
any weather prevents it.  Should the weather be very inclement, exer-
cise is taken within-doors. In stormy weather, the Queen of England
daily takes exercise, by riding or walking in covered buildings, or ter-
races, foe., never omitting exercise, any day of the year, for herself or
children.  The ladies of England usually enjoy brilliant health.  The
very greatness oi England is intimately connected with the outdoor
exercise of their females. For a fine race of healthy children is  impos-
sible, when the mothers are effeminate, and  take  no exercise,  or but
little.  In our country, many ladies  exercise and go out in summer,
and in the beautiful weather of autumn, which, in this countrv, is un-
surpassed by any, and so gather a few roses on their cheeks ;  but the
cold, bad weather of our late autumn usually drives them in, not often
to be seen out again  until spring.   No health can be supported undei
this want of exercise.   Every lady should go out every day.   Should
the weather, by its inclemency, forbid it, then she should walk or ex
ercise on a balcony, open to the air, should this be at her^ommand—
walking one or two hours.   Exercise should be taken to the point of
considerable fatigue.  It is better to ride or walk  in the open air, in
the country or city, where the eye is refreshed, and the mind delighted,
than to walk in  a room, without these. It is also vastly- better to walk
and take exercise in company than alone.  It is better for health, not
to be solitary. But, either with  or without society, take exercise.  Gar-
dening, and tending flowers, is a pleasant and engaging  exercise to
some.   Jumping the rope is a very pleasant exercise, both for symme-
try and health.   Dancing  is the  king and queen of in-door exercise.
It is suitable to all classes,  all ages, both sexes.   It is a most elegant
and most exhilarating exercise.  It is one  of  the most ancient, and
ono of the most salutary.  1 do not speak of it as a dissipation, but &a
an exhilarating and valuable exerei-e.  Among the exercises, it is as- 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES OJfLY.             233
  cond to none.  It is extremely suitable for the sedentary, for invalids,
  and for consumptives.   I have known one of the worst, cases of con-
  sumption I ever knew cured by  dancing alone, practised daily, for
  many months.  The cure was permanent and complete.
   _ It is  deplorable that dancing and amusements of nearly all kinds
  should have fallen under the ban of the clergy, and should be preached
  against  as sinful.  It is more than doubtful whether .the morals of
  mankind are benefitted  by  forbidding all amusements,  and it is most
  certain the •health of thousands is sacrificed by it.  Who are those
  that sink earliest into consumption among ladies ?  Allow me to  say,
  it is those who take  least exercise, and refrain from all amusements,
  —who, at school, at church, at home, are marked as models ;  \vlx>se
  looks are demure, whose walk is slow, and whose conversation is always
  on serious subjects,—who  most apply themselves to severe studies,
  end protracted applicatibn in acquiring knowledge and education.
  Buoyancy of spirits, even to mirth and levity,  is infinitely better for
  health,  than to be morose.  There is  nothing better  for the lungs
  than deep, frequent, hearty laughter,  and the  laugh should never be
Suppressed unless forbidden by circumstances.  Laennec, a cebbm-
  ted French writer on consumption, relates a case that came under his
  observation in a convent of nuns at Paris.  He had witnessed all tl.j
  Inmates die  three successive  times  within a  few  yeare,  except the
  gate-keeper,  the  cook,  and the ladytibbess.   These were obliged to
  take exercise, and  so  escaped death.   Of all the contrivances ta
  diorten and destroy life, a convent of nuns is the grand climax.  Here,
  confined without exercise,  or  cheerful amusements,  and engaged in
  severe devotions, or  sedentary occupations, they fall into supine inac-
  tion.  Health, energy, and activity, all go together.  In a ^evr years
  death does his work, and their long-prayed-for, long-sought-for haven,
  Is scon obtained.  No greater truth was ever uttered, than that—

                     " Religion never was designed
                      To make our pleasures less."

  Neither in its letter nor spirit  does our  happy and  blessed religion,
  —the religion  of our Lord and  Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom be
  eterna" praise and obedience,—anywhere forbid  pure,  rational plea
                     11 
234             DISCOURSE TO  LADIES ONLY.

Bures and gratification.  '* Use the  things of this world a^ not ab»
sing them," is the injunction  of  the Apostle, and is a complete sum-
maiy of all the teaching of the whole Bible upon this subject
  It never  can be too much regretted, that the American ladies, at a
very early  period, leave off all buoyancy in  exercise,  in  spirits,.^
amusements,  and consent, before they are thirty years old, to be old
women,—taking little or no part in amusements, or social pleasures,
Uaving society to be regulated by  young ladies in their teens.  No
lady should ever leave society, or rational amusements, until deprived
of them  by absolute disease,  or until the infirmities of extreme age
utterly prevent.  But by this course, .extreme  age may be attained,
whilst its great infirmities may never be reached.   The human  frame
Is a machine that requires daily exercise in tho open air, and in society,
as far as possible. Without this it will fall into decay, and both mind
and body sink into  imbecility, whilst those* daily and constantly em
ployed and engaged are constantly and daily renovated, and kept
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty yeare in perfect health.
  Allow me to urge upon you symmetry of the whole person.   The
head and neck erect, and straight with the back; the shouldere thrown
back ; the shoulder-blades laying flat against  the back of  the chest;
the  front of the chest round, high and fidl; the waist untrammelled;
the  person straight,  never stooping^ save from the hip joints ;  the step
elastic and  buoyant; the teeth*perfect, pure, complete and  regular;
the diet wholesome,  plain, full and simple.  Exercise daily in the open
air; daily recreation and amusement as much as possible,  in  pleasant
and cheerful society ; the bowels perfectly regular and free ;  the kid-
neys unembarrassed; the person daily washed with pure, cold water;
clothing graceful, appropiiate, tasteful, light and sufficient:  all these  ,
are  entirely in your  power.  Should every one not be able  to use cold
water, use it tepid,—by all means,  use it.  These, I repeat, are all at
your command, whether your means are ample or  limited,—whether
your lot is that of  poverty or riches.   All  these are the  servants of
your bidding.   They form those  grand arts  of the toilet, and  of
health, that for  ages have found, more or less, a home in the high,
princely and noble families of Europe,—that have aided them to per-
petuate th^ii  names and lineage, from age to age, through many con 
                  DISCOURSE TO  LADIES ONLY.             935
                              »
  tvn>-5«, bestowing upon them an almost coi stant and universal exemp-
  tion from the ills, the frequent calamities, and the devastating diseases
  wlii( h have  continually preyed  upon the ignorant a id  consequently
  ignoble  classes,  everywhere.  These arts,  conferring such superior
  physical  endowments, such  striking beauty, and so  long continued,
  havH struck  mankind with awe,  and charmed their  admiration, not
  only in rude ages, but in the most favored and enlightened periods of
  our own  day.
     Ia 1837,1 had the Jionor of attending a ball in the French capital,
  given under the patronage of the Duchess  of-Roxb urgh.  Abou£
  3,500 ladies and gentlemen were present, comprising the  most dis
  tinguished English' and French nobility then  in  Paris.  Many dis
  tinguished English and French officers, of the highest  grades.  Some
  ladies wore ornaments to the value of one hundred thousand dollars.
  Two sons of Louis Philippe were present.  Here I had an  opportu-
  nity of noticing and Untying all I have before said of the connection
  ff symmetry,  health and  beauty.   Ladies of sixty hardly looking
  'hirty; gentlemen, seventy, and scarcely seeming forty.   Not a round-
 shouldered European in this  assemblage ; no lack-lustre eyes; no pale-
^wunken cheeks; no halting gaits; no balancing, first on one  foot, then
  on the other.  Nearly all the ladies wore the top of the chest  bare,
  yet no scarred bosoms were  seen; no scraggy collar-bones  stood out
  over the chest, but all was symmetry and grace, presenting the human
  machine  in  its fullest symmetry and highest elegance,  and perfect
  health.   Each lady,  besides borrowed ornaments, presented in her
  animated countenance three  brilliants,—brilliant teeth, brilliant com-
  plexion, and  brilliant eyes.

                          CONCLUSION."
    I will now, at the close of this discourse, say a few words on one of
  She moot difficult and delicate subjecte ever discussed.   I will remark
  to you,  that your frames and whole  systems are constructed for
  three parpens only.  The first set of organs are  made  to developo
  and sustain the mind ; the second set,  are  formed  to develope and
  repair and preserve the body; and  the  third  set, are'made for tha
  continuanoo of our race.  In my disccurse to gentlemen, you may ae« 
836             DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

more remarks on the treatment and developemeut of the mind ;  and
th* two discourses to ladies are mostly on the reparation of the body.
   I will now venture  a few words  on those sympathies,  foe, which
procure a continuance of  our race. -. If  our thoughts are our hearts,
then our emotions constitute the heart of our hearts.   The emotions
are parents of thoughts.  Far down  Li the innermost  depths of out
being they have their origin.  These emotions are maternal, paternal,
fraternal, filial, sexual : they are the parents of the affections—they
are the  parents  of likes  and dislikes—they  exist even  before the
thoughts.   To the sexual emotions only, do I now wish to call your
attention.   These (motions are impressed upon the female, that our
race may be continued ; they are the gift  of her great Creator, and
make her susceptible of exquisite pleasures that cannot be described.
Your  fascinating charms  attract  the other sex.   Your own sexual
emotions cause you to reciprocate them.    Deep in the female being,
the sexual emotions  develope:  in  some, truly  ardent—in  othere,
totally wanting.  It is this  that fires the eye, burns upon the cheek,
animates the mind, gives point to every impulse, and  pours burning
health throughout the system.  It bestows courage in her heart, pride
on her brow,'confidence in her step.   Her influence over the opposite
bex is irresistible, giving rise to the most exquisite impressions, and the
liveliest susceptibilities.  Wit cheerfulness, and  brilliancy surround
her, reflected from her own glowing" heart.  Her whole being knows
no cold medium.   On the other  hand, she in whom these emotions
are wholly wanting, is a firing, continuous disappointment : her  cold
eye rolls in its socket with the expression of polished ice ; she is nearly
a stranger to emotion  ; her mind is sluggish—her body more so. No
deep color burns in her cheeks, no vivacity in her thoughts ; slow and
passionless in her susceptibilities.   Her monthly nature, asually late
in its appearance, is irregular, and often entirely wanting or ceases at
an early period.  Society has few attractions for  her.   The opposite
sex is looked upon with fear and distrust, whose only attractions are
r.s providers or protectors.   The connubial bed  is far from, agreeable
to her.  As a wife, she has few attractions, and, in many cases, hei
disheartened husband  drags out a life of disappointment, or  leaves
her.  Her health is of a low grade; she possesses no powers of endu 
                DISCOURSE TO LADIES  ONLY.              33*?

ranee.   Her cliildren, if blessed with any, are apt to be a poor, feeble,
and scvoMous race.   She  has not the least  comprehension  of  the
highest pleasures of which  the female being is susceptible.   You  ask
me, if such cases  do occur,—are they common ?  I  answer, they oc-
cur in a greater or le?s degree in many, and that in all grades of so-
ciety, both rich and poor.   I will  endeavor to  point out the causes.
Mrs. A. is endowed with excellent principles,  full of piety, and good
v/orks.  She has  in her recollection cases of female indiscretion,  and
is fully  resolved her daughters shall be well  brought up;  she keeps
them mostly with hereelf;  very rarely do they speak to one  of  the
opposite sex ;  sent to schools for  females  only, never allowed much
society, or only that of elderly ladies ; they are most circumspect  and
demure in all their doings ;  great care is taken of their health.  From
tender infancy they wear a great deal of clothing, so that the hips  and
basket of the hips particularly are covered with heavy clothing in all
seasons ; nt 8 the little girls are  clothed as  if they were 20 yeare of
age.  If they go to parties, it is not to speak  to gentlemen, unless to
Borne venerable uncle, or old friend of  their father.  Daughters thus
brought up grow truly degenerate in their physical constitution ;  but
their children, brought up in the same way, are often totally wanting
iv  all sexual emotions.
   These remarks apply, as far as is known, to citizens of the United
States.   The remedy for this truly disastrous  state of things, so un-
fortunate to all concerned, but most of  all, to the  wretched subjects
themselves, often  and usually totally unconscious of any loss or  any
want, is to pursue an opposite course.  All should know  and  con-
stantly realize that men and women are formed to grow  up and asso-
ciate with each other, frorn  the  tenderest age until life itself fades in
its oldest period.   Nothing  is more dreadful  in  its consequences on
the physical constitution than a convent of nuns.  Sports and  games,
and  walks and spirited conversation,  and the merry dance, all in thetr
proper time and place, both sexes  participating,  give stimulus to  life,
glow to health, and an edge to  all er.joyments.  What God has be-
stowed, let us not rashly condemn or seek to  extinguish.  All this  is
consistent with the purest piety and the holiest  life.  Every lady should
wcollect, both for hereelf and her daughters, that the highest glon 
838            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
and the proudest privilege of a woman is to  be a beioved wife and
happy mother.   Our excellent pastors and spiritual teachers, whilst
aach week, with holy zeal and burning eloquence, they condemn all
vice and inculcate every virtue,  never mean to impress upon the fe-
male mind, or have their teachings so construed as to induce her, to
extinguish every sexual emotion.  These  remarks have been forced
npon  me from  having witnessed among these unhappy ladies so
many cases of consumption.
  My next discourse to you will be upon the symmetry of the inter-
nal organs of the body and symmetry of mind.
                  ON CHANGES OP DRESS.

  It is a circumstance particularly worthy of notice, that our cloti
ing, on being worn a short time, becomes more or less charged w:tl
electricity from the body and linen, although we may be bathed ami
wash the surface of the whole person  daily in cold water,  as I hav;i
before noted.  Our clothing, especially such as immediately invest
the person, should not be too often changed.  Thh rule particularl \
applies to all delicate pereons and invalids, and all children, any fai
ther than  absolute cleanliness requires.  One of the reasons why J\
great many children of wealthy parents are delicate, and* much roor<
eo than those of the poorer classes, is because their clothing is  tog
often changed, and thus the body is rapidly exhausted of its electri-
cal  forces.  Flannels in cold weather may be  changed once a w-iek,
or two weeks, in  some cases.  You can judge for y\,uneiw. 
PISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             8»
              DISCOURSE   FIFTH

                      TO LADLES ONLY.

 C* Symmetry of tlte Internal Organs of the Body, and or. Sytxm*
   try of Mind, as preventing Pulmonary Consumption, and ensuring
   Long Life.

 Ladies :
   The  present discourse will be upon the symmetry of the internal or-
 gans of the body.  By a "glance at Plate C, you will notice all thesfl
 organs  in their natural and appropriate places : the lungs, on each
 Bide of the chest, from the collar-bones above to the seventh rib below
 in front, and extending much  lower back.   The heart is in front
 between them.  The contents of the chest  are  separated  from the
 abdorren  by a floating curtain, called  the midriff.  The right and
 left portions of the midriff  are loose, and float upwards into the chest
 every time we breathe out  the air in the chest.   On breathing in tha
 air, the midriff of a person in health forms a floor to the lungs and
 heart, and descends until it is drawn tight, flat  and stiff across the
 body.   The midiiff  is so  arranged as  always to form rather a fast
 support to  the heart,  aiff floats below the lungs on their emptying
 out the air from the chest.   The lungs are wedge-shaped ;  the small
 ends of the wedges are uppermost, under the collar-bones, whilst the
 base of the lungs  and vastly the larger portions are at the bottom of
 the lungs,  and turned downward*  heaviiy ou  to  the  diaphragm.
 When we stand up, the lungs hang on the  wind-pipe and  large air-*
 vessels,  and on the large blood-vessels with which they are tied to the
 back-bone behind.  The lungs  float downwards into the midriff or
 floor of the lungs, and sideways against the ribs,  every time we draw
in the air.
  The heart is also wedge-shaped, and its base or large end is upper
most, whilst its small end  points downwards and sideways into the
left chest, occupying ore-third more room in the left chest than it doc* 
MO             DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

in the  right,  measuring from tita centre of the breastbone, undoi
which the heart is j)laced,  towaids its middle and lower part.  Ths
heart floats a 1-ttle with  tho midriff,  but is held securely in its place
by its attachments to the lesser midriff, by its own case, and bv the
great blood-vessels that come and go from it.  The heart and lungs
both, and all,  are enclosed in the chest, which is* a basket of bones,
formed by the back-bone behind, the  breast-bone in front, and the ribs
that go from the back-bone to the breast-bone; seven ribs are iong,
five short; the five lower ribs  are short, yet all are so tied as to be
conn ected with the breast-bone.  (See  Plate B.)  This basket of bones
« entirely open at the bottom;  only divided off from  the abdomen
by a fleshy floating  curtain.  On  looking into  the abdomen on the
plate, you notice towards the left side, below the breast and left lung,
the stomach; to the right  of this, is the liver;  below,  are the large
and  small bowels.  Nearby all the bowels are floating, and  readily
move up and down, and rush out as  quick as water, when, on stand-
ing, the avails of the abdomen are cut or broken through.  Both enda
of the  large bowel are tied fast.  The lower end of the la-g i oowe]
is tied for some distance to the back-bone, and is thus kept from float-
ing.  It forms the back passage through the. basket of the hips.

           BASKET OF THE  HIPS—(see Plate B.)
   f he basket of the hips is placed at the lower end of the waist,  and
is united to the end of the back-bone, at the bottom of the small of
the back.  This  basket is  open  above  and below, and is so placed
that its lower end opens backwards, and its uppe> part pitches forward.
(See the Plate.)   By this shape  and  position, in a  straight, .well-
formed person, the bowels  cannot fall down through the basket of the
hips, but are  stopped  on the bone that crosses the. lower  part of the
M/doinen in front.  This bone in  front  connects one side of the bas-
ket of the hips with the other.   The  bony walls  of the basket of the
hips are very thick, and very solid; the only part moveable is the lower
end of the baek-bone.   The other parts of the bony walls of the basket
of the hips can hardly be  said to have any power of being moved, or
airetehed, to a larger size,  or to be capable of being compressed to a
imaller size, offering a striking contrast to tho walls of the basket of 
DISCOURSE TC  LADIES ONLY.             24!
 the chest.   The  chest  you can  make as large as you please, or as
 small, but cannot move the basket of the hips, save in a slight degree,
 and never in any manner at will.   In young persons, by a vicious
 habit of sitting in*a veiy crooked posture, and long at a time, all bent
 into a heap, the basket of the hips may bend from its union with the
 back-bone, and  come  forward at its lower parts,  so as to make the
 basket of tho hips pitch  forward, instead of backwards.  This  is a
 great deformity, and often  leads to most deplorable consequences, by
 allowing the organs of the  trunk of the body to fall into the basket of
 the hips; by this at times pushing the womb entirely out of the body,
 and if not soon  cured, willJead to being, at least, permanently bed-
 ridden.   Tliis deformed  position of the basket of the hips alwavs
 prevents being straight in  person,  or walking well, or standing erect
 It is a great misfortune, and can always be prevented by sitting erect
 and straight, when you do indulge  in a sitting posture,  and by
 never sitting all in a heap,  and much bent, and stooping.  (See Plate
 K.)  The  evil is  aggravated by sitting long bent over on a hard seat,
 us is often  seen with girls at school.   The basket of the hips in females
 U much broader than in males, and is larger, and will hold much more
 than in males, all other things being  equal.

       CONTENTS  OF THE  BASKET OF  THE HIPS.
   The basket of the hips contains some of the most important organs
 of the body.  In front, behind the cross-bone, first,  is  the bladder;
 next, behind this, is the womb and its appendages ; behind this is the
 back passage, or lower end of the large bowel.   The  large bowel, in
 its whole length through the  basket of the hips,  is tied to the back-
 bone, or what represents  it.   The front passage  only extends from
 the upper part of the womb outwards, when the womb is perfectly in
 ks natural position.  (See Plates S and O, for a perfect view of all
 these organs in theii natural positions.)

                       THE KIDNEYS.
  The kidne}'s are not in the  basket of the hips, but above it, in the
small of the back,  each side of the back-bone.  Their office is to se-
parate the surplus  water, anc salts, and earths, from the blood.   There 
243
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
is a small chamber in each kidney, into which the water is first poured.
From the chamber of each Kidney a pipe passes downwards, behind
the bowels, to the bladder, and conveys all the water from the kid-
neys to the bladder.  (See Plate S.)

                        THE WOMB.
  The womb is  situated between the bladder and back passage, and
at the top of the front passage.   The womb has the shape and figure
of a pear,—it is wedge-shaped, with its large end uppermost, aud its
lower, or small end, pointing downwards.   Its base is upwards; its
lower end extends into the top of the front  passage (see Plates S and
0.)  The womb is kept in  its place by the soft parts around it, and
by baring no pressure at all on its top part, and by its own proper
ligaments or ties.                                         -*"■

                          OVARIES.
  On each side of the womb, and connected with it by two pipes, are
the ovaries,  tv/o balls of the size  of a small egg.   If the ovaries, or
the pipes that lead from them to the womb, are diseased, or obstruct-
ed,  so that nothing can pass from  the ovaries to the womb, the female
cannot become a mother.  (See Plate S, figs. 6-6.)

      SYMMETRY  OF  THE INTERNAL  ORGANS OF
                        THE BODY.
  I have before  described the belts that cover the front and sides oi
the abdomen (see Plate E.)
  The trunk of the body is a species of round box.  Imagine a round
ish box, the size of the trunk of the body, and that it is laid dowi
flat, and stowed full of goods, and that half its lid is made solid and
strong  as a board, and the other half of  its  lid is made  of cloth.
Now, set this trunk up on end, the cloth part of its cover being at the
lower part, all the goods will at once drag down to the lower part, and
push out the cloth cover : hence, you will see how solid and firm the
doth cover  must  be, to keep  up all the  goods, and not burst out
below.   (See Plate 0.) This is a fair parallel of the formation an<j
condition of  the trunk of the body. 
       DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY

PLATE 0.                         PLATE  P.
343
S&fc View of most of the organs of the [ Side View of most cf the important organs
   body in their natural situation.
C, Elevated Midriff, or floor of the Lungs.
G, the Bladder.  II, the front passage in
the basket of the h ips.  I, the back passage
through the basket of the hips. S, the Sto-
mach. X, Floating Bowels.
   of t lie body, which have fallen down frsni
   a relaxation of the abdominal hits.
 C, the Midriff.  G,  the Abdomen, hanging
 down.  H, the Bladder.  J, the Womb.
 S, the Stomach, fallen down.  X, Floating
[ Bowels.
1   All the organs of the trunk of the  bod}-, such as the  lungs, heart
liver, stomach, and bowels, arc kept in their.places in part by the ab-
dominal belts that enclose and form the walls  of the abdomen.   Now
then, if these belts, or walls, become relaxed, or pushed out, the effect 
 W4            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY,

 is to cause, on standing up, a dislocation, or  dragging down, rn0?fi 0!
 less, out of their places, of the hmgs,  heart stomach, liver, bow^is,
 womb,  ovaries,  and back  passage, producing  the following effects,
 more or less aggravated, as the abdominal belts are more or tess re-
 laxed, taking every degree of mischief,  from  slight inconvenience to
 instant death.  (See Plate P.)

    Effects of a relaxation  or giiing way of the abdominal belts
                         upon the lungs.
   The first effect is to take way from the floor of the lungs their sup-
 port, and they drag downwards,  causing wheezing breathing, short-
 ness of breath, asthma, a hacking cough, great difficulty, when stand-
 ing up,  to fill the lungs with air, a sense of great weakness and wear
 iness under the collar-bones, a strong inclination to briug forward the
 Bhoulders upon  the  chest, and to stoop,  on standing or sitting,—g7^
 feeling of holkrwness or emptiness at the top of the chesty great £m]&L/
 culty to get the breath, on walking fast, or on going up-hjll, or up
 stairs, or on any sudden exertion,—running is impossible.
   Bleeding from the lungs is another effect of falling  of the bowels,
 and relaxation of the  abdominal belts,  or coverings.  I have ofter
 witnessed bleeding  from the lungs in these cases.   Another effect, in
 many cases, is a collapse, or closing all up of the air-cells of the uppei
parts of the hmgs, and  a shrinking up of the  tops  of the lung-, and
thus allowing a deposit of tubercles, and formation of pulmonary con-
sumption.   Tall, thin ladies, with  hardly any development of abdo-
men, are very often subject  to falling  bowels, when very few would
imagine it possible.   In proof of this, I  have once before mentioned
the stoppage of &3  progress  of consumption  when a lady is  in
the family-way,  and its most rapid progress after  the child  is  born
This leads me to remark,  how carefully a consumptive  lady should
be supported, on getting up, after the birth of a child.  I will men
tion two or three cases  of  consumption produced by falling ot  tho
bowels.
  In September, 1843, I was requested to see a young married lady
for consumption.  I found a tall, elegant young lady, who had been
very delicately brought up; had been married thirteen months.   Ai 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
245
&e end of ten months, she  gave birth  to a daughter, and seemed
doing extremely well.   Three weeks after the birth of her child, she
was  allowed  to leave her bed without sufficient support, and went
fifty miles to visit her mother.  The want of support to the bowels
allowed the lungs to drag dowr ' bleeding from the right lung began
I saw her twelve  weeks after this, in  the  i**>i stage of hopeless con
sumption.  In those females who have never borne children, the ab
domen may remain veiy flat, and yet the bowels fall down more ci
less ;  but with ladies who have borne children, the abdominal  belts
become then  enormously stretched and extended.   After child-birth,
they usually,  in a few  days or weeks, return to  a smaller  size, but
rarely as flat  as before.  Woe to the unfortunate consumptive mother
who, after child-birth,  is allowed to rise too soon  from her bed, or is
not perfectly supported when she does  get up,   In a great many
cases of weak ladies, the abdominal belts never go back, to be small
and flat, as they  ought to be ; and  from the birth of  a child, or a
miscarriage, they  date ill healfli' ever  after.  Nearly all cases of bed-
ridden ladies  are  made so from  this cause.  In  September, 1S44, I
visited a lady at Glastoubury, Ct. who had a child eighteen months
old.   The mother could never sit up  afterwards.   At  the end of one
year, she fell  into consumption, and was in its last ste £es when I saw
her.                      V
   In April, 1845,1 was called to visit a young If Ay at Providence,
Rhode Island. She was  extremely  beautiful,  and inclined to  be I
fleshy.  fVwn after  her marriage she travelled  wffr. her  husband
through several of  the western states, and during  'be journey rode
seventy miles  in  a  stage, on a very  rough road. - On  returning to
Providence she soon found herself unable  to walk, i ud had been con-
fined eleven months to  her bed and room.  The morning of the day
I saw her, she was taken with bleeding at her lungs.   She told me
the journey to the western country,  and  especially the stage-coach,
travelling over the rough  roads, seemed to shake  and jar her insido
almost to pieces, so that she had never recovered  from the  fatigue of
the journey.  Had her  bowels been well supported, all these dreadful
effects of her  journey would have  been entirely prevented.    She had
i»ever been in the family-way   I think nearly one-third of all cob 
 146            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

 sumptions in females  are induced by falling of the bowels, and thus
 leading to a dislocation and dragging down of the lungs.

 WEAKNESS  AND   LOSS OF  VOICE FROM FALLING OF
   TIIE  BOWELS,  OR  WEAKNESS  OF THE ABDOMINAL
   BELTS.
   Weakness of voice,  and, at times, total loss of voice, arise from re
 taxation of the abdominal belts and consequently falling of the bow-
 els.  In  this case,  the  lungs  do  not fill, the wind-pipe is dragged
 down, and  weak voice and sore throat  are  the consequence.   The
 person cannot sing or  talk long, or read  a.'oud, or speak in jrublic,
 without excessive fatigue, and  very soon cannot  speak at all, unless
 reheved.  A great many females and female teachers, who stand long
 and talk much, from weakness  across the  abdomen, lose their voices,
 become hoarse, take a sore throat, and if not reheved, are soon forced
 to leave their occupation.
   In March, 1845,  I was consulted in  Providence, Rhode Island, by
 a very accomplished lady, who was a teacher in a large school, but
 for four months past had been forced to leave her school, because of
 sore throat and great weakness  of voice.   She called on me,  and
 asked me if I could relieve her in four days, because,  if I could, she
 could return  to her  school at that time.   I had the extreme pleasure,
 by God's blessing, to restore this lady to her school in four days, and
- to good health in a short time.  (See letter of Mrs. Kingsley.)

               PALPITATION OF THE HEART.
   Several causes may produce palpitation of the heart.  One of these
 's falling of the bowels, &c.  On taking much exertion, or walking,
 w  sitting long in church, or being in a crowd, if weak across the bow-
 els, palpitation of the heart will come on  in  ladies of all a<res.   In
 July, 1844.,  I was  consulted at Weathersfield, Connecticut, by two
 ladies,* for palpitation  of the heart, from which both suffered greatly.
 One  was a married lady, mother of eleven children ;  she was shor*
 and very fleshy.  The other was a young single lady, about seventeen
 years old, tall and very thin.   Both had  palpitation  from  the sam«
 C&ure, and both were  cured by abdominal support 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.            941
                       FAINTING  FITS.
   Many ladies, more especially young ones, are liable, on taking much
«xertion, to be suddenly overcome and to faint; also, to faint in church,
or in a crowd.  This, in nearly all cases, is produced by abdominal
weakness.  The heart is not well supported, and readily stops its ac-
tio*: for a short time.  This explains why  a lady faints on standing,
walking, or sitting up, that never f-tints whilst lying down.

  SINKING, ALL GONE AT  THE PIT OF THE STOMACH,
             FROM FALLING OF THE BOWELS.
   Many ladies, and especially  those who stand much, experience a
most distressed and sinking feeling at the pit of the stomach—a feel-
ing of being all  gone there,  a  place which seems quite empty, and
which nothing will fill. Eating a full meal will, for a short time, usual-
ly stop this feeling, but it soon returns, and the lady feels as if she
had eaten nothing, and a faint,  exhausted feeling, takes away all her
spirits, or ambition to do anything.  She experiences a sense of great
weakness at the pit of the stomach, and a disposition to stoop. Stoop-
ing, at first, seems to relieve her a little,  and she stoops more and
more, until nearly bent double.  I saw a tall lady,  a few months ago,
who began stooping, as I have said, and continued the habit until she
was bent nearly double, bending Inom her hips so as to carry her head
and chest and abdomen as low a* her hips, producing a most distress-
ing deformity. In othe* cases, the ady feels as if cut in two at the pit
of the stomach. At other tunes this weakness or sinking feeling is ex-
perienced in  the  side, either  right or left, or both.  If this weakness
occurs on one side only, the lady will stoop more or less to that side.
This great weakness and sinking at the pit of the stomach and sides,
is usually much aggravated on walking or lifting, or on taking  any
active exercise.  The lady i3 soon  obliged to lie down, to recover her
breath and strength.  At other times the weakness  is  felt in front,
opposite  the hips, below the  middle of the stomach, and at times it
is felt in tho chest, under the  collar-bones  or about the  throat
  All this is often relieved or perfectly cured by abdominal support
T have witnessed and cured a  great many cases of this kind.
  This weakness at the pit of  the stomach often leads to dyspepsia oi 
248
DISCOURSE  TO LADIES ONLY
indigestion of the food.  The food often, after eating, lays very heavy;
feels a load; at other times the stomach bloats, and the lady feels an
if she could not breathe.  At other times the food sours in the stomach
sooner or later after eating, and many kinds of food cannot be eaten.
In others, in a longer or shorter time afte' eating, distressing pain ia
felt in the stomach.

                   CHRONIC DIARRHCEA.
   In some cases, falling of the bowels from a relaxation of the abdomi-
nal belts, will  produce a constant diarrhoea or looseness of the bow-
els, more or less urgent, which in many cases induces great debility.
The stomach participates, more or less, in the weakness, and the food
badly digested passes into the bowels and  ferments there, caushig
flatulency and  looseness.  A vast many of these cases are helped or
cured by abdominal support.

                       COSTIVENESS.
   In some cases, falling of the bowels causes them to be extremely
sluggish, and acting very slowly indeed,  so as to seem almost  as if
dead; often having no passage for days together, and frequently a
rumbling and moving of wind in the bowels, a bloating of them, foe.,
&c.  Costiveness is usually very much helped, and often entirely cured,
by abdominal support

   LIVER COMPLAINT,  CA'J^ED BY  FALLING OF THE
                   BOWELS—(see Plate Q.)
   The liver is very heavy and solid,  a^d strongly inclines  to drag
down,  and fall low in the abdomen,  if the  abdominal belts are  not
strong and firm.   I have known one-  case of a person who  had very
weak bowels.   By riding on horseback, without baring proper ab-
dominal support, the liver broke partly in two,  and the person died
in a few hours.  This remarkable case I shall relate in my discourse to
gentlemen. . Jarring, and dragging down of tho fiver,  will always,
more or less, disturb it, and often causes it to secrete a great deal of
bile: at other times,  very little; at other times, the natural.position of
the liver is changed, and the bib does not get out of the  gall-bladdei 
               DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             3*9

and liver as readily as it should do, and gall-stones are formed in the
gall-bladder, thus producing jaundice, and almost every form of liter
complaint   All these  causes should receive  our earliest attention,
and if any weakness of the abdominal  belts is suspected,  abdominal
support should at once be employed.

   PAIN IN THE  SIDE AND BREAST,  PRODUCED  BY
                FALLING OF THE BOWELS.
   A vast many cases, of pain in  the side are caused by weakness and
relaxation of the abdominal  belts.   Pain  in the breast is  also pro-
duced by the same cause.   I have witnessed such a vast number of
cases of this kind, that  I think two-thirds of the instances of  pain in
the side and breast in ladies arise from a falling of the bowels.  When
pain in the breast, or either, or both  sides, is occasioned by weakness
 rf the abdominal belts,  and consequent falling  of the bowels, it is raro-
1/ mujjh helped by blistering, or  setons, or issues, or sores, but is con-
Bt antly apt to return in a short  time after being stopped by any of
tirese  remedies.  In those cases, the only  permanent euro is derived
from abdominal support.   I have cured cases  of pain in the side, of
many years standing, after repeated bleeding, blistering, setons, emetic
tartar sores,  foe., had  entirely failed to  remove the pain.  In fine,
where the abdominal muscles, or *v>lts, are much relaxed,  or dragged
down, all thoir upper ends, or attachment*, are more or less liable to
pain, and 'at times all over them.

WEAKNESS, PAIN AND HEAT  IN THE BACK AND SPINE,
   PRODUCED BY WEAKNESS OF THE ABDOMINAL BELTS,
   AND DRAGGING DOWN OF THE BOWELS.
   By looking at Plates B and A, you will notice, that for a consider-
able distance  the small of the back has no ribs going from the spine,
by which  it is  strengthened, but that  it  consists of one  column of
moveable  bones, and the ends  of a considerable portion of  the ab-
dominal belts are tied to it; so that in this way the spine of the smalj
of the back is obliged to bear up  all the contents of the abdomen. Iu
a straight person, who does not stoop much, this weight is but little;
Syt in a person who  stoops much, and whose  abdominal belts axe ra 
250            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY

iaxed, it is greatly felt, producing great pain in the small of the back,
that may extend up the spine, to the neck, causing heat in the spine,
and soreness, and every symptom of a true spinal disease, in its earlier
and milder forms.  Abdominal support in all these cases is required.
I would here remark,  that the abdominal supporter should perfectly
relieve the spine, amd not bear on it, or cover it, or heat it at all; but
the pads should go up on the ribs, and down on the hip bones, so  aa*
to completely relieve the spine of any pressure or swaddling whatevei
Some of the worst spine diseases I ever saw, were produced by pads
of trusses, and supporters, resting in the small of the back,  and press-
ing on the spine.

       GRAVEL PRODUCED BY FALLING OF THE
                        BOWELS, &c.
   By looking at Plate S, you will see the position of the kidneys
each side of the spine, just above the point of  the hips, and behind
all the other  contents of the  abdomen.   You will notice, also, two
pipes that go,  one from each kidney, forwards and downwards, behind
the floating bowels, and down into the basket of the hips, to the back
of each side of the bladder.   These pipes, five to eight inches long,
cany  the water from  the  chamber of each-kidney to the bladder.
Now,  then, when the floating bowels roll downwards,  they often fall
upon these pipes,  and close them, more or less,  so that the water  is
prevented from passing into  the  chambers  of the bladder.  This
throws it back into the kidneys, and soon fills up the kidneys.  The
water usually  has salts, and earths, and acids, &c, which it holds very
lightly in solution.  These  salts,  when  the  water stands for any
length of time,  soon separate from it, and fall  down.  This you can
daily see in the chamber-vessels.   These earths,  in a short time, will
glue together, and form masses, more or less large,  from the size  of
grains of fine sand, to lumps  that weigh several ounces.   At times,
all the walls  of the caambers of the kidneys,  and the pipes that
cany the water from them to the bladder, are  encrusted over with
this sand. When this earthy matter is in the form of fine sand, it ia
called gravel.   If it comenti  into masses larger than small peas, it ia
called stouc.  The pires  that  carry the water, from tho kidneys t» 
DISCOURSE  TO LADIES ONLY.             Kl

            PLATE  S.
            Kidneys, Ureters, Large Bowel, and Womb.
 U l, the Midriff, or floor of tlic Lungs. 2, 2, the Kidneys.  3, 3, the Ureters, or pipe* thai
  flerrj the water from the Kidneys to the Bladder.  4, the upper end of the straight Large
  Bowel, or back passage through the Basket of the Hips.  5, the Womb.  6, <5, the Ot»
  ries (see page 242). 7, the Bladder

 the bladder, are called the ureters ; they have no popular name, that
 I have  ever heard of.  When  the  ureters are  obstructed, and the
 water thrown back into the kidneys,  its earliest effect is to cause great
 heat in the small of  the back, and, at times, great soreness each side
 of the spine,  just above the hip.  Sometimes  almost feeling as if in
 the hip, and even  lameness in the hip will at times take place.   If
only one pipe is obstructed, one kidney only will be  affected.   Gravel
Ls one of the most painful diseases  to which we  are  liable.   Some-
tames pieces of stone  will pass from the kidneys along the water-pipea
to tli9 bladder, and, if large, usually  causing the most distressing and
insufifcrable pain of which  we aro  susceptible,   The sufferer .nexi u 
252            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
said to have  fits  of gravel.  More usually,  the gravel passe in tLi
form of white and red sand, which in a short time falls down to tha
bottom of the chamber-dish, or rests on its sides.  Along with the
sand, more or less, is often seen quantities of thick, soft, soapy-look-
ing matter, or mucus, that also settles to the bottom of the dish.   At
times the water is very thick, and scanty; at othe^times,  for longer
or shorter periods, the urine is nearly white, and  very  much  of it,
and its quantity causes great weakness in some ladies;  occasionally
great heat and scalding are felt in passing water,  and a frequent in-
clination  to do so, and sometimes, but rarely, the water  cannot be
retained but  a short time, or {asses off involuntarily.   Sometimes
the water is brown or dark colored, and has a bad smell,  ard stains
the linen.   Gravel occurs in ail ages and conditions, from infancy to
extreme age.   Frequently sudden stoppages of the water occur,  and
none passes for hours, and even days, causing horrible pain and great
danger.
   Gravel,  in  some ladies,  produces, if much aggravated, the rn^st
distressing weakness  and  fever  in  the small of the  back, so as
wholly to prevent walking, and to confine the lady to her  bed for
months, and  even years.   In July, 1845,  I was  consulted at  Fall
River, in  Massachusetts, by Mrs. Mary F. Ga*-diner, (see  her letter
Case III.) : she had been confined to her bed four months, unable to
walk or  stand,  nor could she  rise  from  bed without  assistance;
in fact, having to be. lifted entirely ow* on  a sheet.  She had  fal!
ing of  the womb  and bowels, and, v.'in it, very  bad gravel.   SIim
had consulted several  eminent phy^.cians,  without obtaining  relief
I  gave her  her  remedies, and saw her twiw.   In  three  months,
she was  perfectly cured.  Gravel is  easily cured;  in  some  per-
sons, it requires  a  perseverance  in  the use of suitable remedies
for several months.   It  is  a dangerous  disease  for  ccnsumptive
persons,  as I have mentioned in  another  place.  I  do  not recol-
lect eveV to  have met  a case of gravel, however aggravated,  that
1  did  not  cure, when my  remedies  were faithfully used, and  per-
severed in for a sufficient length of time.

   Having  now  referred to most of  those diseases  in  the trunk  of 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY
253
 the  body, that at times arise  from falling of the  bowels, inluced
 by relaxation of  the abdominal belts, I will proceed to notice  some
 diseases  of the   organs  or  parts  in the basket of  the  hips.  The
 firet of these I  will notice  is,

                             PILES.
   The disease  called piles has its seat at or near the lower  ex-
 tremity of the back  passage.  Rarely  does it extend up the pas-
 sage  more  than one  or two inches.  I  am  disposed  to  think that
 piles, in  nearly  all cases,  arise from  Ming  of the bowels.   By
 referring  to  the  plate S, you will see that the  large bowel, just aa
 it enters  the basket of  the hips, is tied to the  back-bone, and  all
 its course through the  basket of the  hips  is straight and smooth,
 and tied  nearly  its whole length to the solid bone : it is  called the
 straight bowel, and  forms the back passage through the basket  of
 the hips.   The  bowels,  when  they  fall down,  in a  great  many
 cases,  fall directly upon the large bowel,  where it is tied  to the
 back-bone,  and   by  pressing  upon it  prevent the  blood from  re-
 turning up  the  large bowel.   You  will understand  in a moment
 how  this can, and does  take place, by  tying  a  piece of thread
 tightly  around the finger ;  in a short time you will  notice that the
 end of the finger swelLs,  and is  soon almost ready  to buret.   Should
 you allow the string to remain  long on the finger, blood would  be
 se,en oozing out  from under the njiil, and inflammation and a dread-
 nd sore  would  be the consequence   Exactly in this way piles are
 p/oduced.  Should a  person have any  humor  in the blood,  such
 as scrofula or salt rheum,  it might settle on the part  affected  by
 the piles, and in such  a  case  would  greatly aggravate the piles,
 and  make  them vastly worse than  they otherwise would  have
 beon.   Ladies in the family-way  are  often  cruelly  afflicted  witti
 piles,  because the womb falls on the upper part  of the  back pas-
sage,  and  prevents  the  return of the blood, as  I have  before ex-
 plained.   Piles are a  very disagreeable  disease,  and often  are  so
bad  as to greatly injure  health,  and in this  way  predispose  to con-
sumption.   At times, great quantites of  blood will be poured out,  so
'hat the sufferer is threatened with death from this cause.  Most di* 
254            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY
agreeable itching is often produced.  I have never yet seen a case  of
piles I could not cure.  It may be cured temporarily,  for months,  oi
even yeare, by an ointment or by internal medicines ; but a  perma-
nent cure is perfectly insured, by perfect  abdominal support  Pita
should always be cured, and not allowed to break down the genera]
health, and thus lead to other diseases.   Very rarely is any operation
required.
  Both internal or blind piles,  and  external, arise  from the same
causes.

           FALLING OF THE  LARGE BOWEL
  Falling of the large bowel, or  back passage, at times takes place,
and is most unpleasant and frequently very dangerous.  I have known
one most distressing death from  this cause, in a single lady of thirty-
five yeare old.   The bowrel will,  at  times, fall very much out of the
body.   A perfect cure is  obtained by proper support.  In severe
cases, ointments are also required for a  short time, to give strength
to the bowel, so that it will stay  up in its place, also baths.

  PAINS IN THE  LIMBS, PRODUCED  BY FALLING OF
                      THE BOWELS.
  The bowels falling down, will  often  press  upon the great nerves
that go out of the basket of the  hips, and so down the lower limbs,
foe.  (See Plate V.)   I was consulted, two yeare ago, by a middle-
aged lady in Connecticut, for most dktressing pains in her limbs, cc
curring on walking or standing long, or sitting for any length of time.
Occasionally these  pains were all but insupportable, obliging her to
lay  down, and have the limbs rubbed for  hoars together, before the
circulation would return, and the  pain leave the limbs.  She was
cured in less than one week by abdominal support.

SWELLING OF TnE LIMBS, AND, MORE OR LESS, DROPSY
      IN THE FEET, BY FALLING OF THE BOWELS.
  By refening to Plate V, you will see the large veins that come  up
from the lower extremities, and pass through the walls  of the abdo-
men. . Now, when the abdominal belts are relaxed, and tho floating 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES OlXLt
<jm
OoweJs fall down, they occasionally fall upon  the large veins that
jome up from the  lower limos.   The effect of this obstruction, even
»?hen slight, in some persons,  is to cause greater or less swelling of
the feet and legs.   This is partly the reason why the feet of a great
many ladieo swell, on standing or walking for any length of time.  I was
consulted in August, 1844, by a lady in  Weathersfield, Connecticut,
on account of great swelling of her feet and ancles, that occurred on
standing or \v.\Iking for any length of time.  She  was  perfectly, and
entirely, and povmanently cured in a short time, by wearing an abdo-
minal supporter.

 SWELLINGS OF TOE VEINS,  OR  WHAT ARE CALLED
                     VARICOSE  VEINS.
  The same causes that produce swellings in the ancles and feet, <fec,
will, in some  ladies, though  more rarely, produce swellings, greater
or less, of the veins of the legs and feet.  The veins, in some pereons,
in place of being the size of a knitting-needle, or a little larger, attain
the size of a large goose-quill, and  become hard,  and run together in
knots, feeling  to the fingers like bunches of worms.  These swellings
are disagreeable, and at times dangerous.  Instances have been known
of these vessels bursting, and the persons bleeding to death.  Abdo-
minal support is useful in the early stages.

              BAD SORES  ON THE  LEGS,  <fec.
  At times, very large,  obstinate,  running sores will occur on one of
both ancles, or feet, or legs.   These  sores arise from the same cause,
in a great many cases,—which is a stoppage of the blood ascending
through the abdomen.   These sores can always  be cured by sidtable
remedies, joined with abdominal support.

             INCONTINENCE OF THE URINE,
   Or  Inability to retain the Water for any length of time, from
                   Falling of the Bowels, <kc.
  By referring, for one moment, to Plate S, you will see how easily,
in some cases, the bowels  may fall  down, so as  to press upon the
Madder, and, in this way, make the bladder tender and irritable, and 
 25t>             DISCOURSE TO LAD'ES* O^LY

 so reduce its size that it can hold very little wate*-,  thus oiligir.g tin
 sufferer to pass water every few moments, or caurir^ it to p.«ss off in
 drops,  or suddenly,  in an involuntary maimer, foe, &e.  This  un-
 pleasant state  of things occurs, in some cases, with ladies who  are
 quite young.   Abdominal support, with suitable medical  remedies,
 will cure this truly mortifying trouble in a very short time.

                  STONE IN THE BLADDER.
   1 have before explained to you how falling of the bowels  will, at
 times, produce gravel, or cause it to form in the kidneys, water-pipes
 and bladder.  Falling of the bowels, by stopping the water  and mak-
 ing it thick, will often take a  part in causing stone in the bladder,
 with all its distressing symptoms, characterised by,  at  times,  too
 much water, then  too little, or again an entire stoppage of water, or
 it vill begin to pass well and stop suddenly, with still the most urgent
 desire to  pass it;  also, urgent desire  to pass the water very often ;
 heat and scalding of the water and burning;  bloody discharges,—
 often pure blood;  mucous discharges;  discharges of matter; thick,
tfkark settlings  in  the water on its standing a short time ; very  dif-
 ficult to ride  on horseback or in  a carriage; pain and heat in  the
 bladder, <fec.
                            The Cure.
   Most physicians  have an idea that stone in the bladder cannot be
 removed without being cut out,—a most terrible and dangerous ope-
 ration,—or  else it  must be broken  up in the bladder by instruments,
 so that it can be washed out/  This last operation is dangerous, and
 very often impossible to be done.   It is always very painful.   I know
 from positive experience,  and observation,  that stone in the  bladdei
 can be dissolved by suitable medicines, and so  entirely washed out
 It may require twelve to twenty-four months to do this in a rrentte
 way, without giving pain  or producing  any bad consequences what-
 ever, and keeping  the person in a state of tho greatest  comfort, until
 the stone is  finally dissolved by little and little, and it all comes away,
 Should we  find with  this a falling  of the bowels, after  all tendernesj
 ia removed from the bladder, we may put on an abdominal support©/ 
               DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             251

but whilst heat and tenderness are found in oi about the bladder, an
abdominal supporter will do hurt instead of good.

 WORMS  IN THE BACK PASSAGE,  OR LARGE BOWEL,
          WITHIN THE BASKET OF THE HIPS.
   I have, in another place, spoken of worms, and their bad effect*
upon tho health.   I  only now speak of a worm that chiefly stays and
breeds in the larger bowel at  its lower part.  These worms are  not
much larger than a knitting-needle,  and hardly longer than a grain
of rye or barley.   They occur in pereons of all ages,  in children and
in adults, and in old persons, producing very great derangement of the
general health, and often most  intolerable itching in the lower bowel.
The usual remedies  employed,—namely, cathartic medicines,  aloes,
and strong physic, and injections,—will bring away great numbers of
them, but will rarely cure them, so that they will soon come again in
great numbers, as before.  I have had the pleasure of discovering
within the last three years, a remedy that will expel these worms en-
tirely without the use of physic,  injections, or causing  any pain or
inconvenience to the patient  They should not be allowed to remain,
but be removed.   All worms are easily cured and expelled.

 FALLING OF THE WOMB,  PRODUCED BY A FALLING
                   OF THE BOWELS, &c.
   I have before told you of the situation of the womb,—that it ia
..situated at the top of the front  passage, and between the bladder and
back passage.  The  womb (uterus) is  in shape like a pear, or like a
balloon; the small end, or neck, is dowuwards, hanging into the front
passage.  The womb is closed, save at its lower small end, where there
is a small opening.   The large end of the womb is uppermost, when
in its natural place. (See Plate R.)
   The ovaries are  two little yellowish balls, situated  on each side of
.he womb, at a little distance from  it,  and communicate with  tha
womb by little pipes, that go from the balls to the womb, and entei
the womb on each side near its top.   (See Plate S.)  I shall speak of
che use of the ovaries in another  place. 
S5.3
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
       The womb,  in its natural posithn, is situated exactly in the centre
     »f the basket of the hips, towards its  top.  It does not sway ob«
     side more than another,  nor  does  the  womb fall backwards on th«
     back passage, or forwards upon the bladder,  nor  does it fall dowD
     wards into the front passage, if in health, and in its natural place.
r  " '   No organ or part of the female  frame is so liable to dislocation a*
     the womb, and this dislocation, if  much,  prostrates the female, ani
     produces great injury to the powers of life.   The slightest changes it
     the position of the womb may affect the female health, and make her
     an invalid in a short time.  I will now mention some of the changea
     that take place in the position of the  womb, and  the  consequences
     arising from them.
       The womb is always disposed to keep exactly in its  place, if not
     pressed upon by other bodies.  I believe, in ninety-nine cases out of
     a hundred, the womb is never moved from its place, unless the bowels
     from above fall down upon its  largest and  uppermost end.  Some-
     times by bad falls, such as being thrown out of a carriage, and falling
     sideways on the hips,  or  flat on the back, or on the stomach, the
     womb may bo thrown to one  side, or  backwards, or forwards ; but
     these cases  are very rare.  The almost universal cause of dislocation
     of the  womb,  is the  falling  of the bowels from above, upon the
     womb.  Sometimes the womb is  congested, and  greatly enlarged,
     from miscamages, and other  causes, so  that its weight is much in-
     creased, and it falls down by  its own weight.  By looking at Plate S,
     you will see that the womb is very large,  and  broad  at its top, and
     presents a large surface, on which the falling or dislocated bowels,  or
     any part  falling into the basket of the hips, may strike, or impinge.
     The womb hangs in the basket of the hips, by ligaments.  It is moved
     out of its place with difficulty by anything that comes against it from
     below, but almost the slightest touch from above, striking on its large
     end, will  move it out of its place.   By this, and by falls, the top of
     the womb may be thrown backwards, upon the back  passage, dou-
     bling on itself, or it may, in the same manner, fall forwards upon the
     bladder.   At other times, whilst the top of the womb falls on the
     back passage, the neck, or lower end,  will pass over against the blad
     der   Sometimes  the womb  falls to one or  other sides of  the bask« 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.            259
 ui (tie fiips.  This is often the case where the womb fails downwards
 much.  The most common change, by far, is when the womb falls
 directly down  into the front passage.  I will now speak more parac
 olaiiy of some of these changes in the position of the womb.

   TOP OF THE  WOMB  FALLING BACKWARDS, AND
           STRIKING ON THE  BACK PASSAGE.
   This change is not very frequent; when it does take place,  the un-
 fortunate lady experiences the most horrible pain in the small of the
 back,—almost total inability to sit, stand, or walk, or even lay down.
 In her agony,  after trying eveiy position, she usually finds most re-
 lief by putting herself on her knees in bed.  In this position she will
 often remain hours,  and whole nights and days,  until the womb falls
 back to its  place.  Hysteric fits, at times, take place from the extreme
 agony and  pain.   I once knew a very accomplished English lady, who
 had a falling of the womb in this way, at times, for years.  She con-
 sulted the  most eminent medical men  in London, with little or no
 relief; nor  could they explain to her the cause of her malady.   After
 firing a terrible sufferer for six yeare, she visited Philadelphia, and
 consulted a medical gentleman there, who, on examination, discovered
 that it was a dislocation of the top of the womb,  and its falling back •
 wards on the  back passage.  The use of suitable remedies  soon re
 lieved her.

  FALLING  OF THE TOP OF THE WOMB FORWARDS.
  When the top of the  womb falls forwards, it strikes on the top and
 back part of the  bladder,  usually causing  a  total  inability to re«
 tain the urine.   Either it passes off involuntarily,  or she is forced to
 pass it every few minutes.  Great pain is felt in the bladder,  and in
 the stomach, and, in fact all over her.  Relief is usually obtained tera
 porarily by laying on the back.

      FALLING OF THE  WOMB INTO THE FRONT
                         PASSAGE.
  The womb falling directly down into the front passage, or downward*,
•r a little to one side, is by far the most common form of falling of the 
860             DISCOURSE TO L.ADIES ONLY.

womb, am. is nearly always produced by the filling of the bowels frcifc
above upon the top of the womb, by which accident the womb is pushed
downwards, into the front passage, and, at times, entirely out of the
body.  At times, it falls, because its weight is much increased by dis-
ease and enlargement of it, from child-bearing, or miscarriage.

       SYMPTOMS  OF THIS FORM OF FALLING OF
                         THE WOMB.
  The following are some of the prominent symptoms of falling of the
womb : Extreme weakness in the small of the back ; pain and heat in
the same part;  inability to walk much, especially going up-stairs, or
up 2 hill;  easily, very easily fatigued, on exercising much ; appetite ca-
pricious,—sometimes good, and again none at sll.  The lady, on first
rising in the "morning, feels usually quite well;  on going about, or at-
tempting a little exercise, she, in a short time, begins to feel indisposed,
and, shortly after, must sit down, quite exhausted, and out of heart,—
spirits all gone,  believing that she must always be sick.   She is ner-
vous, .easily overcome, and subject, on much hasty exercise, or unusual
exertion, such as lifting a weight, to be seized with tremblings all over;
her inmost flesh seems to tremble in all its  parts; she is listless and
Languid, and feels disposed  to spend much of her time in bed.  Some
times she will experience the most excruciating pain at  the  very  end
of the back-bone, weakness across  the hips, and across the  bowels.
She feels an indescribable sense of sinking at the pit of the  stomach.
and all gone.   She has a feeling, as if cut in two, below the  pit of the
stomach.  She often has most distressed head-aches ; at times, great
heat in the top  of the head; at other times, she feels  as if a heavy
weight was pressing down on the top of her head,—ringing in her ears,
Rpecks  float before her eyes, distressing pains in the limbs, <fec.  Some-
times does not sleep well;  sometimes complains of a cold spot on her
head, foe., foe.  All these,  and many others, are felt at  times, not all
at once.  Rarely does any  one lady ev-^r fo-d all these symptoms; but
they are all found in eveiy ten ladies who have falling  of the womb.
Bearing down k one  of the most comnnr and distressing symptoms,
—a feeling, on walking, or standing,  as r5 %very  thing was coming old
of the body.                                         ' 
              DISCOURSE TO LADIES O.Xi.Y.              3S»

  DISEASES PRODUCED B\ A FALLING  OF THE WOMB.
   Falling of the womb is very apt to induce more or less disturbance
 of the bladder, and trouble in passing water.  Great heat and scald-
 ing is felt in the front passage at times.   Besides these inconvenien-
 ces, the following diseases may be produced  in persons  predisposed
 to them, or to a  humor, or to scrofula:

 3P1NE DISEASE, PRODUCED BY FALLING OF THE WOMB.
   In nearly every  case of falling of the  womb, pain  and heat are
 felt in the small  of the back ; yet, in the  early periods  of this misfor-
 tune, there is no spine disease, and  bleeding, cupping and blistering,
 and tartar emetic sores, in place of doing good, only do hurt;  but
 after  a long time, in those who are  scrofulous and in any way predis-
 posed to spine disease, it will take place, and tenfold  aggravate the
 other complaint.

            LEUCORRHffiA, OR FLUOR ALBUS.
   This most disagreeable disease is, in nearly all cases, produced by
 a falling of the womb.  Even when the womb is but slightly moved
 from  its place, leucorrhcea will at times  be produced.  -In some in-
 stances this complaint causes very profuse discharges, and greatly
 weakens the lady.   By its debilitating effects, it often tends  to con-
 sumption.  To cure leucorrhcea, besides abdominal support,  a little
 medicine at times  is  required.  It is easily cured, and never should
 be allowed to afflict the female. Many a family is rendered wretched
 by this disease, and many a lovely woman childless.

                        BARRENNESS.
   Barrenness can hardly be called a disease, but is usually considered
 a great misfortune.   I will endeavor to explain how it is produced
 by a falling of the bowels.   I have told you, that on each side of the
 womb is  placed  a  little ball, that is connected with the womb by  a
pipe.  (See  Plate S.)  Now, in order to have children, at least  one of
tiiese  pipes  must be open.  It happens, at times, that these pipes
are closed, and kept closed, by the  bowel ■  falling down upon them
\n some cases, when  long coutinued,  these pipes grow entirely up. 
2(52
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
and thus occasion hopeless barrenness.   This is not the only cavse of
barrenness, but is one of its causes.
  Barrenness, at times, is produced by a closing up of the neck of the
womb.  I have had the pleasure, by recommending suitable remedies,
to see ladies have children who had thought it impossible,  and in »
vast many cases,  after many years of unprolific married life.

   MISCARRIAGES FROM  FALLING  OF THE BOWELS.
  One of the greatest misfortunes that can visit any lady, is to have
ihe  fruit of her womb  torn from her by an  untimely birth.  From
such she usually dates  broken  health,—oftentimes sinking  into con-
sumption, suffering, at the time of the miscarriage, the most danger-
ous floodings,  inflammation of  the  womb, &c.  No lady ever sutlers
a miscarriage  that it is not at the peril of her life.   I firmly believe
that ninety-nine cases out of one hundred of miscarriage are produced
by falling of the bowels,  and may  be perfectly prevented by proper
abdominal support.   All ladies, whilst in a family-way,  should have
the abdomen well supported, so that even a severe fall will not induce
a miscarriage.  After one miscarriage, medical treatment is required,
besides abdominal support.
  After a miscarriage, the lady in all cases should employ abdominal
support,  and take  all  measures  for the perfect  restoration of  her
health.  At least one half, and  in many cases nearly all, the bad con-
sequences of a miscarriage arise from bad or injudicious treatment
after it.   I have had many hundred cases of ladies who had suffered
by one or more  miscarriages.  I  do not recollect a case where  they
were not restored to health, when they followed my directions, and I
have frequently seen them become happy mothers of many  children,
born at the full  time.   Among many hundred cases I will mention
one only.  I was consulted in April, 1845, by a lady at New Bedford,
Mass.  She was rather  young and had suffered several miscarriao-os.
Some montlis before I saw her,  she miscarried,  and lost an immense
quantity of blood; her general  health was before wretched,  but  after
the last miscarriage she could do nothing,  and could with difficulty
ride in a carriage, could walk very litt'e, and hardly lift a book.    Foi
y<«rs a physician  called at her house from three times a week to three 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             265
times a day.   I gave her her remedies.  I saw her six months after-
wards in perfect health, such as she used to enjoy when young.  Her
husband said to me, it was a matter of more surprise to him than he
was able to express, to be able to say that they had not been obliged
to consult a physician once since I prescribed for his wife, six mcuth*
before.   (See Case II. this Discourse.)

    FLOODINGS FROM  FALLING  BOWELS  AND  LOW
                     GENERAL  HEALTH.
   Many single ladies suffer very much  from excessive  discharges ot
blood.  Many married ladies suffer the same, especially  those whq
have suffered miscarriages.   Ladies, after fifty yeare, often suffer very
much from these discharges.  The effect is to reduce the strength, and
prepare  the way  for a  rapid  decay, in many cases.   Consumption
often arises from  this cause, and dropsies,  foe. foe.  The affection is
easily cured.  (See Letter, page 276.)  I do not now recollect a case,
that by a little medicine, and proper abdominal support, was not soon
cured.
   I have now enumerated a  long  fist  of frightful diseases that are
usuully caused by falling of the bowels, and  relaxation  of  the  abd>
minal belts.   Some are peculiar to  married  laches, but nearly all an
incidental to  both married  and single  ladies.  All are dangerour.
All tend to decay of the  system, and incline to cut off the thread  of
female life at an early day.   All are certainly and infallibly curable
if taken at the proper time, and not allowed to go on for many yeare,
until the powers of life  are destroyed.   I will remark, that all these
diseases are not found in every case  of  falling  of the bowels, but in
each case of falling of  the bowels, some  of  the diseases I have men
tioned to you take place.  Allow me to repeat, all diseases arise from
'<oss of symmetry, external  or internal,  or from poison.   Nearly  ai!
slow and waiting diseases arise from loss  of symmetry and poison,
especially all those I  have mentioned.   I would  urge you  to  seek
lymmetry of person, both external and internal, as a grand guarantee
of good  health and  long life.  It is in the power of every lady to
possess it 
|64              DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

             PLATE M.                PLATE L.
    Back View of the Supporter.           Front View of the SupporCtr.
1,1,1,1, the back pads of the Supporter.      2, 2, Springs that go from the front pad,
8, 2, Ends of the Springs that come from        up around the waist.
 1 the waist.
                ABDOMINAL SUPPORTERS.
  It is proper that I should speak to you a few words upon the in
r'ruments that  should  be used for abdominal  support.  Although
you may perfectly understand that you may be cured by abdominal
fcupport, yet, if the instrument you use is not properly designed and
constructed, and then made of a suitable size, and properly fitted tf
the patient, it will do little or no good, and often produces a great de,i]
of mischief. In many  cases, a supporter may be worn without pre ■
n'ous preparation.  In other cases, the patient requires to be aided by
other remedies, before using the supporter.  A great many abdomi ■
nal supporters  have beeu made and worn, some of which have some
merit, and others very little; I cannot pretend to describe these sup-
porters, but will tell you what they ought to be and do.   Ycu will
recollect the supporter should perform a twofold* object;  one is to
rapport the spine of the small of the back, and the other object is to 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.            263
hft the bowels upwards, and not press  tnem down, as a flat pressure
upon the abdomen would do.   Supporters woi n within the front pas-
sage, I do  not  use in one  case in five hundred patients.  In a vast
many cases, supporters worn within the person produce incurable dis-
ease of the womb, and change a most  curable  disease into one that
never can be cured, and renders the  lady a  distressed invalid whilst
she lives.   All the supporters  I use, save in exceedingly rare cases,
are worn outside the person.   They consist of a neat and well-stuffed
pad,  that  rests  against or  rather under the  abdomen, just above the
cross-bone in front.   The pad  is so  formed, and  so presses, that it
lifts the whole abdomen  and bowels upwards, aud does not press in
Biuh a manner  as to lay flat on the bowels, and  so press a part of
thom downwards into the basket of the hips:  thus causing the very
evil we wish to prevent.  To  this pad in front, two delicate watch-
spring tempered steel springs  are attached.  These  springs go up
entirely above the Lips into the waist,  and around into the small of
ihe back, so as not to touch the hips, or interfere with  them  at alL
They do not go around the hips, but go entirely above them.   In the
*mall of the back are four smail pads connected with the springs of
the front pad.  The small pads do not rest in the small of the back,
but two of them rest on  the flat part of the hips behind, and two of
them rise up on to the short ribs at  some distance each side of the
Bpine. Nothing is allowed to press into the small of th i back, or to
press at all on any part  of  the  back-bone.  The instrument is neatly
covered and padded, so  as  to  produce  no unpleasant pressure  any-
where.  The only feeling is that of support.  The instrument weighs
about four  ounces, and is *o perfectly elastic  as to embrace each part
-like a well-fitted, beautiful gfove.  (See Plates L and M.)   In a very
Bhort time, not the least  sensation is experienced, except a  feeling of
perfect support.   No fatigue is produced, or the least disposition to
take the instrument off.   On taking off the instrument, so elastic is it,
that it folds itself entirely up, all of its  parts coming together.   The
pressure is  equal on both sides of the waist, and not more on one side
than another, so that it  does  not make the  wearer bend over to one
side, as some supporters do.  No feeling  is  produced that one side
mt the supporter is stronger  than another.   No heat is produced any
                   12 
306
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
  where.  The instrument is worn  over the linsn, and not next to th*
  person.  It produces no sensation of being tied up, or swaddled up,
  as some instruments do.  Twelve months ago, 1 gave one of my sup-
  porters to a very accomplished lady, who had suffered greatly from
  falling of the womb, and its  consequences.  In a few days, she told
  me, that in a residence of many years in London and Paris, and  this
  country, she had never found any instrument that could compare with
  mine, for its perfect support—the absence  of all inconvenience what-
  ever, allowing her to ride, walk,  and dance, with no other conscious-
  ness of the presence of the instrument than its perfect support.

      WHAT A SUPPORTER  SHOULD NOT  BE,  OR DO,
                 AND NEED NOT BE, OR DO.
     A supporter  should not be heavy, or cumbersome, so that any sen
  sation of weight, or fatigue, is  produced by wearing it.   Again, a sup-
  porter should not press at all on the back-bone, anywhere.   As  bad
  spine diseases as I ever saw, were produced by the supporter pressing
  on the spine, or back-bone.  Again,  a supporter should not be made
  to swaddle up the hips and small of the back, so as to  produce heat   ( j
  about the back-bone especially, or stomach, or hips.  The India rub-   '
  ber supporters,  or those made  wholly, or in part, of the  elastic India
  rubber stuffs, are extremely objectionable,  from the heat they cause ;
  and in this way tend to produce great weakness and debility of the
  back, and loins, and hips, and abdominal belts.   Finally, a supporter
  bhould not be so contrived as  to wear it next the skin.   It  should bfl
  worn  over the linen.  Sometimes a small pad is carried clown below,
  and in this case it is worn next the skin, but it is only a perineal pad.

    EFFECTS PRODUCED  BY WEARING A  SUITABLE  AND
             PERFECT ABDOMINAL SUPPORTER.
 t    The effect produced by wearing a suitable and perfectly-adjusted
 j abdominal supporter, is often  nearly miraculous.   1 he weak voice  is
/ strengthened ;  the  weak lungs supported ; the heart ceases its paloi-
/  tations; the food sets better on the stomach; costiveneps is relieved k   v
  chronic dianhoea is stopped;  piles are cured; sinking, all-gone feeling
  at the lungs, stomach, or sides, is reheved ;  bearing down stopped J 
                  DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             9tfi

  miscarriages prevented ; floorings stopped ;  leucorrhoea cured;  spin«
  gets stronger.  The lady whc could  not walk, is  soon able to walk
  well.  She who could not even sit up, save for  a few minutes, can
  now eit up all day, or as long as any one.  Falling of the womb ia
  cured;  and, in longer or shorter periods, loses all its tenderness and
  weakness, and goes  permanently back to its place.  Barrenness, in
  some cases, gives place to  fruitfulness.  The  female constitution  is
> renovated, and a way is prepared for yeare of good health.

     Will the supporter do all this without medicines, or any other aid ?
     In reply to this question, I answer, that before disease begins, the
  supporter will usually prevent all the  diseases, or  affections, I  have
  mentioned;  but, after actual disease or disorder is present, in nearly
  all cases the patient requires medical advice, and more or less of suit-
  able and appropriate medicines.  I employ an abdominal supporter
  as a most valuable and  indispensable medical or surgical assistant;
  but in nearly all cases, it does not, and cannot, be so effectual as to
  preclude other remedies. In fact, in a vast many  cases, all the reme-
  dies require  to be  used in order to be certain of a cure.  One secret
  of the great success with which I have been favored, is, in doctoring
  all diseases which a person  may have  at once, and at the same time,
  and neglect none.   In this way, all will often get well together, and
  the sick be restored to perfect health.   To give one example, I  once
  doctored a lady who had ulcerated lungs,—true consumption ; besides
  this, she  had very bad dyspepsia, chronic diarrhoea, bad piles, falling
  of the womb, leucorrhcea very bad, partial stoppage, and scalding of
  the urine, lame, weak back, <fcc.   Here were seven distinct diseases,
  besides the consumption ;  and each one might exist without any of
  the others.   Xow,  were I to doctor  one or two of these, and let the
  others alone, I might help the ones I doctored, but  the cure would
  hardly ever be  perfect.  As  soon  as  the  medicines are left off, the
  old diseases  not cured would bring the others o 1.  Many persona
  would start at the  idea  of  taking several kinds of medicines  on the
  eame day.  Herein is shown the skill of the physician, to prepare hia
  medicines so that  no one will prevent the goxl effects of the other,
  bat all  help each  othv-r, and be so suitable to the diseases as  to cur? 
908
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
thera, and so mild and gentle in their effects, as not tt weaken ordi*
tress, or in any way aggravate tLe patient's sufferings, but  to sooth*
and relieve them all.

   Who should wear an abdominal supporter ?   When  should they
be worn?
   I reply, that every delicate lady, and, in fact, every female, should
have a perfect, and pleasant, and well-adjusted supporter at her com
mand,—one that fits her well;  and, whenever she feels any of the
weaknesses I have mentioned, she should wear her  supporter.   La-
dies who  stand a great deal, or  take long walks, or who go up  and
down-stair* much,  who take long and fatiguing journeys, who are
Dursing, who lift  much, or are debilitated from any cause, should wear
a supporter.  Some ladies should  wear a supporter one month in a
year,  and others are required to  wear it nearly all the  time.   Its
timely aud judicious use will contribute vastly to prevent the ap-
proaches  of disease,—will confer much comfort, and add many yeare
to life.

  SYMMETRY  OF  MIND ESSENTIAL TO HEALTH  AND
                         LONG LIFE.
   In conclusion,  I  cannot pass over  the vast importance  to health,
ihat the mind, in all its part0, should be well balanced,—no one at-
tribute of mind  acting at the expense of the  others.  A  disordered
and distempered mind is totally incompatible with health  and long
life.   It soon  destroys the body of its  possessor.   Tranquillity and
repose of  mind are indispensable to  health  and long life.   It  is an
interesting fact,  that all the vices contribute to disturb  the mind,
whilst all  the rirtues contribute  to its repose and  tranquillity.   The
effect of vice is to shorten life, and destroy health whilst we live.   On
the other  hand,  virtue, in all its demonstrations, inclines to lemrthen
the duration of human life.   Now then, ladies, allow me to urge you
to cultivate symmetry of mind.   Repel from your minds all corroding
cares, all  unnecessary anxieties,  and  every thing in the shape of secret
vices.  Secret vices are like that  destructive vermin that  establishes
itself in the heart of tho choicest and most t remising fruits, and cats 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             2b9
Dut all  their virtue and  substance.  Never allow remorse, revenge,
envy, hatred, or malice, to take possession  of your  minds.  These
conditions of the mind deepen all the lines of the face, sharpen all ths
features, and  give to their possessor the appearance of  premature age,
and call down upon her, who should and could be the delight of all
eyes, the epithet of " hag."   But, on the other hand,  internal purity
and the practice of benevolence, the exercise  of generosity, of kind
ness to  all, " thinking no evil,"  practising no evil, cultivating the full-
est cheerfulness, will soothe and soften the  coarsest brow.   Above all,
the whole mind requires an anchor that shall stay it in all the storms
vicissitudes, and troubles of life.   This anchor i? obtained in pure and
undefiled religion,—a constant  reliance, in all trials,  upon God  oui
Saviour.  Practise, judiciously, the precepts of health I have taught
you, for your bodies.   For your minds,  " never be wise above what ia
written," but learn and practise all  the teachings of our blessed Sa-
viour, and your pereons will be fall of strength and beauty; your days
will be filled with joyous health, and your lives  be long,  prosperous,
and happy.

   Ladies, in concluding these two lectures,  I take the liberty to pre-
sent to you a few letters, selected  out of a large number of the same
character, from  ladies who have realized benefits  by pursuing the
course  I have indicated in the foregoing lectures.   The object is to
obtain  your perfect confidence,  so that  you may preserve your health
 during  a long life, and should sickness  invade that, that you may
 never despair of a perfect recovery.  Without a share of your confi-
 dence,  vou will not be induced to follow the  directions pointed out in
 the lectures.
   To ensure this  confidence, I subjoin a few letters from intelligent
 ladies.   In  reading'them, you may perceive a mirror, reflecting whol-
 ly, or in part, your own cases, and learn by the gratifying results how
 much you,  yourselves,  may be benefitted.  To some of  these letten
 I have appended a few explanatory remarks.

                  CASE I.-—Jtf **. A. W. Kinr/sley.
  ' Id February, 1845,  this lady called on me in Providence, RhcxU 
570            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.

Island.  She is one of the most accomplished female teachers in that
city.   In the arduous pursuit of her laborious profession,  she had
greativ impaired her health ; had nearly lost  her voice ;  experienced
a very bad sore throat; great pain and weakness about the top of her
chest.  These symptoms became so aggravated, that in October,  1S44,
she was obliged to relinquish her profession  altogether,  and for five
months past had been an invalid.   She called on me on Friday morn-
ing,  and after  stating her case,  told me that the next  Monday tho
spring terra of  her school would commence,  and said it woidd give
her infinite pleasure could she then resume hsr duties in the school.
I gave her her remedies, with careful directions.  On  Monday follow-
ing, she resumed her occupation in the school, and although the samo
occupation  that had previously made her ill,  yet so effectual and ap-
propriate were  the remedies, and so persevering her use of them, that
in a few weeks she recovered her  health.   The next  May I received
the following letter from her:

   Copy of a letter from Mrs. A.  W. Kingsley to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                                 "Providence, May 21st, 1845.
   " Dear Sir,—I should have written to you before this, but my direc-
tions got mislaid,  therefore I was unable.   My health is very good :
there is no  soreness in the throat,  but some pain, if  I read aloud, a
shor.. time, although  it does not  trouble me at all in my daily occu-
pation ; therefore  I have great cause for encouragement and thank-
fulness.   On the whole, I have not enjoyed such good health for more
than a year, and your supporter I can speak of in the highest terms;
I should not be willing to part with it on any account.  I think it
has done more for the improvement of my health than  all the medi-
cine  I have taken.  It appeare to  support the whole frame.   Your
patients, Misses Angell (see page 151)  and Tyler, are improving in
health,  especially Miss A.   She has not been so well for a long time.
1 must speak of the  inhaling tube  you gave  me, which I consider a
valuable present, and am greatly obliged to you.
                 " I  am. with resnoc*, /ours,  &c,
                                          " A. W. KlNOSLBT.". 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
271
              CASE II.—Mrt, Efneline M. Howland.

   Ihis Why called on me at iSew-Bcdford, in April,  1845.   He*
 m dth had become so impaired, that foi a year previous to consulting
 me, she had been unable to do anything in her family, and was nearly
 alt the time under the  care of her physician.   She called  on me on
 Saturday evening",—on  Monday morning following she resumed her
 duties in her fondly.  I saw this  lady six months afterwards, accom-
 panied by her misband.  She called on me;  she had become fleshy,
 and was in perfect  health.   Her husband told me, that for many years
 some physician or other had visited their house professionally, from
 once a week to three times a day; "and now," said he,  "to our utter
 astonishment, when we  think of it, no physician  has been called to
 visit us since my wife received her remedies from you."

 Copy of a letter from Mrs. Emeline M. Howland to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                          "New Bedford, Mass., June 23, 1845.
 ( Dr. Fitch :
  " Health is a blessing that I have not enjoyed since a child, and fo*
 ihe last eight years have suffered much, and never expected to enjoy it
 again ; and have expected to drag out a miserable existence, and find
 in early grave.  Often have I desired  a quiet night's rest, but in vain.
 You have only to turn to your notes, and view what my situation was
 when I called on you, a  few weeks since, with but little faith, and small
 hope.  I took your supporters, medicine, and directions,  and returned
 home,  encouraged by your advice.  With great resolution and perse-
 verance, on my own part, and trom your supporters, medicine, and ad-
 vice, I have  received great benefit.   I now enjoy good health.   I feel
 that I  have just began to live.   I can  rest sweetly all night.  I think
I never enjoyed life so well before.   In truth, I must say, the benefit I
have received from your medicine cannot be expressed.   Accept this
slight testimony of my gratitude, for the benefit I have received from
your directions.  I think I shall never  be afraid  of cold  water again.
 Miss  Anna Bunder is much better, especially as regards her throat
than when you were here.     Respectfully yours,
                                     u Embuxe M. Howla.^d." 
872
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
              CASE JU.—Mrs. Mary F. Gardiner.

  In July, 1845,1 was requested to visit this lady.   I found hei in a
very bad s&te of health, a helpless invalid.  She had been confined tc
tier bed upwards of four months, and was  wholly unable to stand  oi
walk ;  she could not rise from her bed; two or three persons were re-
quired daily, to lift her in and out o" bed.   She experienced great pain
and weakness in the small of her oack, suffered excessively from gravel,
falling of the womb, foe.; on being placed in an upright posture, ex-
perienced excessive bearing down, and disposition to  faint, with utter
prostration of strength.  All the medical a;d she could obtain had en-
tirely failed to relieve her; she utterly despaired of ever being able to
walk  again, being strongly predisposed to hereditary  consumption.
Her case was extremely critical.  In September, I received the follow-
ing letter, and about the middle of October, twelve weeks after I first
saw Mrs. Gardiner, I met her brother, who informed me that his  sis-
ter was now in excellent good health, and was able to walk about towni
and attend to her dutk* as well as any lady.

Copy of a letter from Mrs. Mary  F. Gardiner to  Dr. S. S. Fitch
                            re Fall River, Mass., Sept. 7th, 1845.
u Doct. S.  S. Fitch :
   " It is with great pleasure that I  avail myself of this opportunity, to
inform you respecting my health.   It is greatly improved in some res-
pects, since I began to take your medicine, six weeks ago last Wednes-
day night.   I have not been so well of costiveness for nearly two yeais,
as at  present.   My appetite is good, and  causes very little heaviness,
or distress in my stomach, to  what it did.  My head is better than it
has been for more than two years, yet I am still weak,  and have to lie
down once  or twice in the forenoon, and as many times in the after-
noon.   In three weeks from the time I began to take your medicine,
I walked out of doors as  far as the gate, and have been, since that, to
the nearest neighbor's.   My greatest weakness is now in the small, and
low clown in my back.   I have tried to be as careful as I could, but by
Borne  means, I cannot tell how, whether it is the sudden changes of the
weather or what, I have had a bad cold about a fortnight, and cougk 
DISCOURSE TO  LADIES ONLY.
273
eo that I could not rest when I lay down.   I think I should feel quite
smart, if it were not for this.   I foci thankful that you have been  the
means, under our Heavenly Father's blessing, of restoring my health
as much as it is ; and now, according to promise, I want you to send
me all the instructions you can.  I want you  to  send me word how
soon you are coming, and if soon, there are some things I have  not
mentioned, that I wish to tell you;  and  if not,  I will write again.
Your visit to Fall River has been blest to others as well as me, and we
have the promise, that if we do all the good we can, we shall be blessed
both in  a temporal and spiritual sense.  This is the sincere wish  and
prayer of her who  addresses these lines to you.   Please to return an
answer, as soon, as  you receive  this.        " Makv F Gardiner."


                           CASE IV.

  Copy of a Utter from Miss Betsy A. Beedom to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                          "New Bedford, Mass., June 10,  1845.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—After a considerable period of ill health, I was attacked
in January, 1845,  and lost several quarts  of  blood, that reduced mo
greatly  ; confined  to my bed  five weeks; and gradually regained u
little strength, so as to go about my room and the house, but not  abL
to do any work.'  April 19, 1845, I first saw you ; my situation  was,
then as follows :—Pale as ashes ; unable to do any work;  my fooctf
soured,  and remained undigested in my stomach; bad dyspepsia; alf
broke off,  and sinking at the  stomach, ah" gone there;  costive all tiro
time; very short breathing ; scarcely  able to walk;  weak stomach ,<
i.-v-cold feet; small of the back very weak;  pain in  the small of thei
back  and  shoulders; female  irregularity.  I could have hardly ex-
pected to  have  been  alive at  this time.   The supporter, braces,  and
medicine,  produced a rapid and happy change in my  health, strength,
and looks.   I have now been able to work for five weeks past.  I am
in excellent health ; every bad symptom either entirely gone, or so
alight as not to be noticed.   My best thanks  to you.
                                         " Bstsy A. Bebdcs." 
874
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY,
                          CASE V
   Copy of a letter from Mrs. Abigail Gibbs to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                             ■  Providence, R. I., July 29, 1845.
* Dr. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—When I came to you,  I had been suffering from com-
plaints of long standing, from which  I had failed to obtain relief.  I
was glad, when hearing you lecture, to know you had supporters, aa
well  as  medicine, to strengthen the  system.  When I  commenced
taking your remedies,  I was very hoarse, often  fainting,  could not
walk any distance without being oppressed for breath, was very weak,
with a  pain in  my side, and  a cough that troubled me very much.
I am positively very  much benefitted from wearing your abdominal
supporter, and shoulder-braces, which, with the medicine I have taken,
have nr;>i»-ted to me a degree of  health to which I had been long a
stranger.  I feei  convinced that, under Providence, I owe my recovery
from distressing prostration  and suffering, entirely to the agency of
your medicine.   This testimony I  give with  the most heartfelt grati-
tude for the  kind interest which you manifested for me, and which I
shall evei remember.  Yours, with  respect,
                                           "Abigail  Gibbs."


                          CASE  VI.
Copy of a letter from Mr.  Peter Fayerweather to Dr. S. S. Filch.
                          "Bridgeport, Conn., Feb. 24th, 1845
"Dr. S. S. Fitch:
  " Being out of business this  winter, I have been out of town moet
of the time.  This  is my  apology.  We have not  forgotten  your
kindness to  us last  fall.  No,  we feel under lasting obligations to
you.   My health is quite good, considering  my depression of mind.
Your remedies I found, in eveiy particular, good.  Mrs. Fayerweather
is almost entirely freed from all her old difficulties.  Her countenance
is brightened up.  She feels active and young, as she did ten years
ago..   She has fleshed up, and, in  short, she  is almost the entire pic-
ture of health.  She wishes  to bo  remembered to you in a particular 
               DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.             275

manner.   She says she owes to  you,  through God,  all the cheerful-
ness and enjoyments of thid  life.  Oh :  how vain are all things here
below, without health.  I remain yours,  in the bonds of gratitude,
                                    * Peter Fayerweather."

                   CASES VII. AND VHI.
Copy of a letter from Mrs. Betsey A. Jenney and Mrs. Lyditt
                  French,  to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                         " New Bedford, Mass., Nov. 1st, 1P45.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
  " Dear Sir,—From six months' experience in use of your supporters,
shoulder-braces, and medicines, and instructions for the formation of
health, I can speak in the highest terms  of approbation of them.  I
am  now in excellent health.  Your supporter  is an admirable instru-
ment.  I have fully experienced the truth of all you promised.  From
wretched and  long-continued prostration,  I  am  returned  to good
health.                                 " Betsey A. Jenney."
  ■' I can say ditto to the above, and send you my best thanks.
                                       " Lydia French."

                          CASE IX.
  Copy of a letter from Mrs. Harriet G. Taber to  Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                         "New Bedford, Mass., Nov. 3d, 1845.
u Dr. Fitch :
  " I am glad to add my testimony, with many of my friends in this
town : perhaps it may be of  use to your patients.   I will here state,
tbat you have  cured me of weakly complaints, which I never expect-
ed to  be freed  from.  I had a lame side for two years, and, at  times,
it was very much swollen.  After I had given your medicine a fair
trial, it not only cured my side, but other complaints.  I have been
acquainted with some of your patients  in  this place,  and take the
liberty to recommend you to  all  those who  have curable diseases.  I
feel  a" debt of gratitude  to you that wov'ds  cannot express, and hope
that you will receive your reward in  the life that now  is, and in that
which is to come.                   " Mrs. Harriet  G. Taber." 
876
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY
                          CASE  X.
   Copy of a letter from Mrs. Lois S.  Smith to Dr. S. S. FitcK
                          "New Bedford, Mass., Nov. 4, 1845.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—In November  last l  was attacked with flooding, at«
tended with universal pain all over my  sides, back, loins,  <fec.; palpi-
tation ; loss of appetite; sour stomach; costiveness; distress across
me ;  inflammation  of the womb, foe.; pale as ashes ; and was con-
fined chiefly to my bed for nearly six months.  On the 20th of April
last, you saw me ; I am now vastly better than I was.   I am able to
do all my own work—can walk miles if I please—have good appe
tite, and very good health for me.  I have not followed your direc-
tions very  strictly, but as far as I have  done, have derived vast bene-
fit.  I feel under vast obligations to  you.   The supporter  is a valu
able assistant, and I have gained nearly nil my flesh.
                " Accept my best thanks,       Lois S. Smith."

                          CASE  XL
   Ctfry of a letter from Miss Mary Nutter to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                         "Portsmouth, N.  H.,  Feb.  26, 1846.
" Dr. Fitch :
   " Kind Sir,—My health has for many years been on  the decli»»e,
I am now happy to inform you it is much improved.  That com
plaint for which I consulted you in December last, I live in hopes  I
am about well of.   I have experienced  much benefit from  your  sup-
porter and medicines, for which please accept my humble thanks.   I
rest well at nights, and have a good appetite.   I  think  I feel about
ten years younger.   I have  found much benefit  from  the cold  and
warm baths.  I try to stand, and sit, and walk, as upright as possible.
I hope you will be the honored instrument,  under God,  of restoring
thousands  to health;  and when your labors on earth are ended,  may
you be so happy as to join that land where  the  inhabitants  thereof
will no more say they are sick!                " Mary Nutter.
   " If you should have occasion to write to me, please address to care
of Robert Smith." 
DISCOURSE TO  LADIES ONLY.
2T!
                         CASE  XII.
Cj^j, oj i letter trom Mis? i!v.<~*< T. Waldron to Dr. S. S. Fitch
                              '' Taunton, Mass., Oct. 8th, 1846.
" Dr. Fitch :
  " I take ray pen this morning to tell you the past and present state
of ray  health.  In April, 1841, I was taken with low bilious fever,
that confined me to my room four weeks.   On  the 2*7th of  August
my fever returned.  I then sent for Dr.-----, of Easton ;  he is called
the best we have with "»   Pa said  I had the liver  complaint.  In
two days my skin was as yellow as an Indian.   In seventeen  days
my fever was gone.   I grained strength, so that I  could sit  up one
hour in a day,  ana thougnt * snould soon  be able  to  sew again.  I
was  then taken with dysenterv. that  so reduced my strength, that I
could not walk about uie iiou&e for three months.   I  did n*.t walk ?
step in the streets for eiant moDtns.   In eight months more I gained
strength enough to-sit up an aav  Dut I could not work.   In  1843, I
was introduced to in.-----.  or ivorton, a homoeopathic doctor.  I took
his medicine one year,   it mucn improved my health, so that I went
to work, yet I never saw a wen aav.   A soreness at the pit of my
stomach, palpitation oi tne neart, lameness through the chest and
shoulder-blades, ana pam ana weaKness in  the back :  from all these I
have been a daily  suneier, ana never  expected to be relieved until my
immortal spirit took its Ldgn- to mat  blessed world above, where sick-
ness and sorrow never are Known.
   " October 17th,  184o, . caneu to see you.  You furnished me with
a supporter, shoulder-biace ana medicine.   My back was immediately
relieved, and, to my unexoectea  joy, in six days I walked  a mile,
spent  the day and waikea nome again at  night, with ease.   I have
not  walked  so far in one aay ior five yeare.   The soreness in my
stomach and chest is  gone,  i nave suspended all  medicines, and
feel well.   Your remedies ±  have  strictly  followed.  My  strength
daily  increases,  and  my  sKin iooks clear.  Use  my name, if you
please, for  your own special Denent,  and for the afflicted also.  Ex-
cuse ail the mistakes in spelling, for this is the first letter I have
written in  four years, confusion in my head prevented it.  T  recom-
 mend  your  supporters ana shouider-braces to alL 
878            DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
    " Please to write me a line, for then 1 shall know if you have re-
  ceived mine.  My  mother and sisters join with  me  in  returning
  inanks to you for my speedy recovery.
                  " Yours, with respect,
                                       " Susan T.  Walpron h


                           CASE XHL
    £vpy of a letter from Mrs. G. P. Van Ness to Dr. S. S. Fitch.
                                 "New York, April  22nd, 1851.
    i.)r. S.  S. Fitch :
    ' Dear Sir,—I feel it my duty as  well  as  my privilege to express
  my gratitude, that you have been the means of restoring health to
  me, with the blessing of  God.   When I came to you in January,
  1850, my health had been  very poor for several yeare.  I had been
  °*ue to go out most of the time  till June, 1849,. when  I was attacked
  with  the cholera,  and that, with my old complaints, reduced my
  rtrength  so that  I was confined  to the house  and my bed part of the
—Jftne till  I called to see you.  I had severe turns of sick head-ache,
  occasional sore throat, and at times a slight cough; very bad dyspep-
  sia : great sinking, sick, all-gone feeling at pit of stomach;  constant
  »ain in my back, loins, and linibs ;  falling of the womb ; bad piles ;
  very bad female  weakness ;  great heat on top of  my head, bowels,
  and limbs;  very nervous,  and  almost eveiap- thing else that would
  make me feel low-spirited.  I had not walked  a block at a time, or
  even across the room without the greatest fatigue, for six months.
  A friend lent me your Lectures; after reading them I had faith to be-
  lieve I should be benefitted by trying your remedies; accordingly I called
  on you,  took one of your supporters, braces  and medicine, resolving
  to be faithful in  taking them.    I commenced very carefully according
  to directions, as  I did not feel any woree on taking them.  I followed
  vour advice strictly, till some time in September, when I found near-
  ly all my bad symptoms gone.   I have enjoyed better health this
  winter than I have done for years.   The only trouble  I have left ia
  my bowels, they are not  as regular  as the.y should  be ; my strength
  Is increasing fast.  I hope ere  long to  say I am entirely well    I 
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
279
have stated my case ju4 as it has been, and if these few linea can be
of any service to you, you are welcome to use them as you please.
I would not be without your supporter for any money, its effect has
been wonderful in helping me  to gain my health, and to walk with
all ease.  Please accept my best wishes for your future welfare.
                   w I am yours, with esteem,
                                   " Mrs. G. P. Van Ness,
                                u 119 Madison street, New York."

                         CASE  XIV.
                                " Saybrook, Ct., May 29, 1850.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Dear Sir,—I write to give an account  of the wonderful effects of
your Abdominal Supporter on  Mrs. Lay.  She could walk very little,
indeed, and felt as if her bowels and back  fell  apart; very costive.
At once the Supporter helped her so  as to walk ail about,  even  half
a mile at a time, and to church, <fec.  She is most delighted, and is
nearly 80 yeare old.  She has almost renewed her ago, and it  does
her good every day.
                                           " Helen M. Lay."

                          CASE XV.
                     "Unicn Village, New-York, Feb'y 10, 1850.
 «*Dn. S. S. Fitch:
   " ] )ear Sir,—Five yeare ago next July, I was attacked with a curva-
 ture of the spine, just as it leaves the ribs.  This was followed by two
 lumber  abscesses, which confined me to  my house over  two  years,
 often to my room, and had vast pain in my back, bearing down  and
 terrible  female troubles.  The abscesses at last got well,  leaving my
 Sack very weak and painful, with no probability of ever walking
 much, as walking or attempting to walk  almost killed me.  In  fact,
 [ could not walk or stand erect without a cane.   My right limb  was
much shortened or  drawn up.   On trying to stand erect,  1 was taken
with  shortness of breath and faintness ;  I  could not ride at all,  on ac-
count of the  jarring motion.   In this deplorable state I  read  youi 
280
DISCOURSE TO LADIES ONLY.
Lectures, and  got your Abdominal Supporter, which  I have  « >ra
every day since.  Its effect was almost magical: I was soon  able to
ride and walk without any inconvenience.   My back is all but weH,
my limb is nearly restored to its usual length;  and <. am now almost
in perfect health.   No person can overrate th*» extreme value of your
Abdominal Supporter-      Yours, with msi*z.y thanks,
                                       M Harriet Cleaver,"

                         CaSS XVI.
            "Housatomc, Berkshire Co., Mae&, Nov. 20th, 1850.
" Dr. S. S. Fitch :
   " Very dear  Sir,—Your letter and box of medicines, though wholly
unexpected, met with a hearty welcome.  You will please accept of
my most sincere and  grateful acknowledgment for  this act of kind-
ness ; sympathy to the afflicted must ever be acceptable,  but when
accompanied with acts of kindness  and benevolence, it cannot but
make a deep impression, and when such  favors are conferred by stran-
gers, upon whom we have no claim, the motive must be pure,—the
heart must be right.   Thus I  have reasoned;  then once more with
lively feelings of gratitude, let me  say I thank you.  The Succeda-
neum, I think,  is acting favorably.  You  will see m<\ or hear from me
ajjain by the fourth.or fifth of December.
         " With sincere esteem, yours,  truly,
                                   "W. V. S  WORDW0BTH." 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
Oft
              DISCOURSE  SIXTH.

                   TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

 On  the  mode of forming a noble, manly chest, and fine erect car'
   riage.—On the best manner of preventing decline of animal strength^
   and of invigorating the male constitution, so as to preserve health
   and life to an hundred years.

 Gentlemen :
   "  Mens sana in corpore sano," (a sound mind in a sound body,) ia
 one of the oldest apothegms of antiquity, and was  considered, after
 existence itself, the greatest gift of God to man.   All will grant that
 a sound mind is the first best gift, and  after this, a sound body is the
 next greatest possible gift to us.   Throughout all the  civilized and
 Berai-civifized portions of the world, we find temples, schools, and col-
 leges raising their time-honored and world-renowned  spires to heaven,
 cathedrals, basilicks,  churches, chapels, temples, mosques,  schools,
 seats of sacred and secular learning, where are taught the knowledge
 of God, and  the way to heaven, a knowledge of all things  earthly,
 comprised in the sciences, the professions, the arts, all devoted to ex-
 panding the mind,  and so far assisting the body as to  attempt  the
 cure of  diseases when they occur;  still, in all  the earth, as far as I
 know, there  is not one temple devoted to health.  The schools  of
 medicine can  scarcely be called schools of health.  Few physicians
 are acquainted with health; few are able accurately to define it.   They
 are introduced  to man in a  state of disease.   From this point, they
 study him.  It is their province to remove or crush the disease, which
 is often  not done, or done so bunglingly as to crush the patient,  on
so imperfectly as to leave its impressions  upon him for life.   This is
the greatest fault of all our medical  teachings.   The medical student
should first of all be made  a perfect adept  in  the science of health ;
he should study every organ in its  healthy state, and all its  healthj
relations, and, when perfected in this, he  should be made acquainted
with each in  a state of disease, and see iem when  all are involved 
282          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

in disease, or when onlv one is actino- to confuse the functions of lift
or disturb the harmonious action of all the rest.   This would perfect
bis medical education, and more than double his usefulness.   As it is,
now, whilst many physicians can check or cure disease,  few are able to
lead back their patients from a sick bed to perfect health.   This they <
too often ignorantly leave to time and nature.  Also, in the first sligh I
beginnings of change  from perfect health  towards disease, how few
physicians can promptly detect it,  and remove  it by means that in
stantly arrest the change without injury to  the person.
   In 1835, a fire took place in this city, which destroyed a vast many
public buildings,  stores, dwellings,  and merchandise,  amounting in
value to seventeen millions.  At  one time in the history of this great
conflagration, one bucket of water would have extinguished it.   So it
is with all disease: the beginning is very slight, almost  imperceptible;
and then the merest triflo, if the right thing, would correct it.  Who
should then  study health 1  Man—all men,  all  women, all children,
as soon as their minds can understand it or appreciate teaching.   There
is always a period  longer or shorter, from  the commencement of the
first slight changes of health up to the moment when disease is so
imminent or developed as to demand the aid of the physician ;  and
in nearly all cases there is some time when the changes  are known
only to the  patient; and again, after the disease is crushed or cured,
and the fatigued and enfeebled patient is left by  his physician to pick
his way back to health, as time or nature or accident may lead him,
often  a long period; when  the patient is  the  only witness of those
fluctuations that  retard his progiess, or, what is veiy common, throw
him back into a state of disease, evan woree than when first attacked.
These conditions cry aloud that all should intimately know the whole
science of health,  and the art of arresting  slight indisposition, when-
ever  occurring, and the mode of  preventing disease and confirming
health whenever enfeebled from any cause.
   These considerations, if fully understood, will impress  any  mind
that the complete and true science of health, and all those  accidents
or agents that reduce or prevent it, and all the laws of life by which
our systems  arc ruled, physical energies produced, and our days de-
lermined, form a subject of study second to none in importance, after 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
283
a knowledge  of  those holy teachings that elevate our  minds to con-
templations and duties that shall insure us a happy immortality when
our earthly career is closed.
  The whole science of health has been extremely neglected.  It haa
not been considered strictly within the province of the physician, and
woo to his standing among his fellow, if he writes any popular book
on medicine or health directed to popular readers, and not clothed in
a learned tongue.  This has much retarded the science, still many
benevolent and  c^od physicians have given valuable maxims, almost
accidentally,  on  this  useful  subject.  Within  a few yonrs,  in  the
United States, we have had a good many lectures delivered by men
more or less competent to instruct, and although some error has been
taught, and some  human weakness  displayed,  still  a great  deal of
good has been  done,  and, in  proportion to the  increase of light
amongst the people, will  teachings be appreciated and errors be re-
jected, coming from any authority.
   Clergymen have  occasionally referred to the  consequences of
vicious .habits upon health; but I think not as often and prominently
as the subject demands.
   The agitation of  temperance  questions, and  their bearing upoa
health, has done very much good.
   All have been useful, as agitating and preparing the universal micd
for higher advances, and more mature and systematic teachings of all
the science of health and life.
   I believe and hope the  time  is rapidly approaching, when all  pa-
rents will consider the teaching  of the whole science of health,  and
the knowledge of  the human system, in its anatomy or construction,
 wid the laws that govern its existence, and perpetuate its continuance,
 ind the causes that produce disease and shorten life, as of the great-
est importance to their children, and of the first necessity after moraV
teaching; as also as a most powerful agent of moral instruction, by
showing to their children how virtue tends to perpetuate health, and
vice to destroy it; and no education will be  considered  at  all  well
founded that does not very early communicate the whole science of
&e and health.  Finally,  tbat good health is the greatest wealth.
   No people on earth exceed the Anglo- American in their uaiversa. 
284         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
 spirit of enterprise ;  few obstacles can deter them, few barriers arrest
 them.  With courage indomitable they grapple with the greatest
 difficulties, and usually overcome them ; their sails whiten every sea,
 their ships cross every ocean, in the pursuit of prosperous commerce,
 or in the  accomplishment of hardy adventure.   In the mechanical
 arts,  no people display greater  ingenuity, exercise better judgment,
 ar apply more accurate science.   In education, its universal diffusion
 is.scarcely equalled by any people.  But on the subject of health, no
 people  are more behind what is known, than the  Anglo-American.
 Even the rude savages of our continent are far better instructed in
 the principles of health, and likewise in tb^ knowledge of remedies
 curative of disease, than our most intelligent, best educated, and best
 informed citizens, who are not professed physicians.   Let a sick man
 enter an Indian camp, and nine out of ten adult men and women are
 capable of prescribing  for his disease,  and in general  successfully t
 The preparation of our food is an art of the highest importance, con-
 nected with the preservation of our health, and yet not one American
 gentleman in a  thousand can be found who is capable of  preparino
 his own food.  Yet in many parts of Europe,  and nearly everywhere
 among  the gentry,  the  art of cookkig  is well understood, both  in
 theory and practice.  A vast many European gentlemen can be found,
 who know perfectly well when a dinner is properly cooked, and in a
 case of emergency,  are  capable  of cooking it themselves.  In the
 symmetry of our persons, in making the human figure what it should
 be,  or what it is capaable of being, few people, savage or  civilized,
 are  behind the people of the United States.  In this country, sym-
 metry of figure is almost entirely neglected by every class of people,
 high or low,  rich or poor, ignorant or  educated.  In many parts of
 the  United States, a perfectly formed m?n is a great rarity; seldom
 very seldom seen.  If there is one designation that applies to us more
 than another,  it is that of a round-shouldered stooping race.   Con-
 sidering the high intelligence of  the people of this country, the uni-
 versal neglect of these  great subjects  seems  almost unaccountable.
The results are truly appalling, filling our country in  its whole length
 and  breadth with chronic diseases.  Few,  very few, of our peopl«
enjoy uninterruptedly good health from  youth  to age.  Numbera an 
DISCOURSE TO  GENTLEMEN ONLY.         283
cut off in the spring-time of their existence.  Premature old age in-
vades vast multitudes, whilst  a hale, hearty old man is rarely seen.
From ignorance of the best principles of health, errors  in di6i, and
neglect of symmetry in our persons, result liver complaints, dyspepsia,
and pulmonary consumption,  and numerous other diseases that now
pervade our country to an alarming extent, and awfully shorten the
duration of human life. Why  this ignorance on these great subjects ?
Because it is everywhere considered too effeminate for a man to at-
tend to the subject of health.  This is reserved for invalids, and they
very rarely regard it until far  too late for their own restoration; and
although they may lift their voice of  warnbg, their  words usually
pass by unheeded.  In general we possess a most beautiful climate,
and the best materials for food, in the most superfluous abundance,
and every material for our  physical formation, and the means of pro-
ducing the most perfect cc istitutions, so as to  create the healthiest
and longest lived race of r jn  in the world.  To eflect this, to banish
premature disease from  our  land, to  bestow universal and  perfect
health, and grant the lowest continuance and endurance to ou>- lives,
all that is required is «L correct knowledge on the subject of  health,
and the knowledge of fifose facts and principles from which human
health is derived a--J by which it is continued.  The human frame
is a machine as mechanically formed as a watch.  It is mechanically
formed, and acts  upon mechanical principles, and all its operations
are capable of being understood ; if not as yet perfectly understood
in all its parts and operations, it is probably not  owing to anything
incomprehensible in its physical or corporeal structure.
   Had the human frame never been described by any  pereons, ex-
cept mechanics, and those  descriptions  never clothed in  any lan-
guage, save  the simple language of each country, it  is more than
probable that a general knowledge of the human frame, and its dis-
eases, would have  been  advanced hundreds of years., The human
machine is made for long endurance. It is endowed with the highest
powers of self reparation ; and, were it not  for the continued war of
ignorant, luxurious, and effeminated man on his  own frame, the hu-
man machine would always last, bamng accidents, from one hundred
to two hundred years.   I beiieve  I may assert, without the lea3t feai 
S&6          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY;

tif contradiction, tbat no human being ever yet  died o°>rd age, antil
he had passed one hundred yeare.  Death occurring sooner, nearly
always results from previous errors of life, or from accident or disease.
Man is confessedly the lord of creation; and can we, for a moment,
entertain the idea that he is created to be far shorter-lived than many
of the  brute  creation?   It  is  well  known  to naturalists,  that
many birds and animals have lived to over one  hundred years.  The
raven is one of these, and the eagle is another.  It is but a short
time since, that an eag\(\ apparently in the most vigorous health, was
shot  upon the Jura Mountains, in Frence,  havmg around bis neck a
gold ring, which, by the date upon it, showed that the eagle had
worn it upwards of eighty yeare.   I do not recollect the history  of
any animal whose real or reasonably supposed age is as great as that
of the well authenticated age of many modern  men.
   To prove to you that the human machine is  made to endure from
one hundred to one hundred and fifty, or more, years, I have only to
present to you one well authenticated instance of this age having been
attained by man.   But, in place of one instance, thousands of instan-
ces can be adduced;  and where one case of longevity is  recorded,
there is no doubt that hundreds die unnoticed, and unrecorded.  Nov?
then, allow me to ask, is God  unequal ?  Are his laws made for each
individual life, or for all lives ?  And are we so constructed, that the
name principles,  the same circumstances,  and the  same causes, that
allowed one man to reach one hundred and fifty years, will  not allow
every other man to do the same ?  I answer, that the laws of life and
the causes of longevity are applicable to every human being; and
if thoroughly and universally understood, and correctly and  faithfully
applied, all men might  easily attain to old age, and the average of
human life, instead of thirty-three years, might take its place at one
hundred years,  thus trebling  the duration of  our earthly  existence.
The  object of this lecture is to adduce  instances of longevity, and
present those  rales by  which, saving accidents, it  may always  be
attained.
   Passing overfthe antedeluvians, whose  ages  come down  to us ex-
tended to evei nine hundred yeare, and given to us under the highest
authority, we descend to men of modern times,- -within the reach of 
          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY.      287

modern history.  Thomas Parr, as recorded by Lord Francis /■>•;■-' ,,rx~
was born in 1483, and died  in 1635, aged one hundred and fifty-two
years.  He  died, not from  the disease or decay of a single organ,
but from too great fullness of blood, caused by more than usual in-
dulgence in eating and drinking.   He had led an active country
life, and enjoying country air and exercise;  but was invited to Lon-
d'n, where luxurious eating and drinking  soon finished him.   His
body was examined by the celebrated Dr. Harvey, discoverer of the
{circulation of  the blood, who has left an account of the examina-
tion.   Parr enjoyed good health for a century avid a half.
   Thirty-five years after the death of Parr, Henry Jenkins, of York-
shire, England, died, aged one hundred and  sixty-nine years.  He
was born in 1501, and died  in 1670.  His age  is fully authenticated,
and is the greatest among the moderns.   John Effingham, of Corn-
wall, England, died, aged one hundred and forty-seven years. James
Lawrence, a Scotchman, lived one hundred and forty years.  About
the year 1790, Joseph Surrington died at Bergen, Norway, aged one'
hundred and sixty years.  In 1712, a man named Drakenburg died
in Denmark, in  the one hundred and forty-seventh year of his age.
In 1825, Pope Leo XII. granted to a poor  man living near lake
Thrasimene, in Italy, a pension on account of  his great age; he waa
then an hundred and twenty-five years old.  He died aged one hun-
dred and thirty years.  In 1830, a man died at St. Petersburg, aged
one hundred and thirty years.  I knew a man in the island of Cuba
who was  an hundred and twenty yeare old; he was able to ride on
horseback sixty miles in a day, and return home the next.  We will
now come to our  own country.  In 1820, a man named Henry Fran-
cisco died at Whitehall, in the state of New-York, aged one hundred
and thirty-four years.  He beat, the drum at the coronation of Queen
Anne, and was then sixteen  years of age ; he did not die of old age,
but of  the ague  and fever.   I forgot  to mention the name  of Dr.
Mead, who was consulting physician to Queen Elizabeth, and died at
the age of one hundred and forty-eight yeare.   John Hightower, re-
siding in  Marengo county, Alabama,  died January, 1845, aged one
hundred and twenty-six yeare.  William Prigden, of Maryland, died
October,  1845, aged one hundred and twenty-three years.  The Rev 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  OHJLY.
,     HENRY  FRANCISCO,
           Uwd1 ifWhitchall, in the State of New-York, October, 1820,
                          aged 134 years.

I?:. Harvey, a Baptist clergyman, residing at Franktort, in tha Stata
of New-York, is now in the active and useful discharge of his clerical
duties, at the age of one hundred and eleven years.   This very yeai
he presided at a convention of the Baptist clergy, and is perhaps the
oldest  clergyman in the world who is. able to  discharge his clerical
duties.  A Mr. Blakewell, residing  near  Greenville,  Noith Carolina,
was living a short time since, at the age  of one hundred and thirty-
six years.   A colored man named  Syphax, in fine vigorous healSh,
was living last year  in Cimberland county, Virginia, at the age of 
            DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          «89

one hund ed and seventeen  years.   The Montreal Time's, October,
184,6, translates  the  following from  the Revue Canadienne:  "An
old man died at Wexford, Upper Canada,  a short time since, named
Daniel Atkin, but rejoiced in the soubriquet of Black Dan.   At the
time of his decease, he was one hundred and twenty years  of age;
and during his life had contracted seven marriages, by whom he  had
had an incredible  number of children,  grand-children,  and great
errand-children, in all about five hundred and seventy—three hundred
and seventy of whom are boys, and two hundred girls."  Mr. John
Van Hoozer,  of  Jefferson county, Tennessee, died at his residence,
about the  1st of August, 1850, aged  122 years.   A great many men
are now living in this country who are over 100 yeare of age.
   I have already enumerated as many cases as our purpose demands.
They show to us conclusively, how  long the human machine may
cominue its existence—by how long it has been known to continue,
I think no fact is better proved, than that the human frame is formed
to last over one hundred years, that no man ever died of old age un-
til after one hundred years, and that, barring accidents, every man may
live to one hundred years, provided he does not war upon  his  own
frame, and provided, as I have before remarked, that he follows judi-
ciouslv the laws of health, commits few errors in his diet, awd preservea
the symmetry of his person.
   Let us now discuss a few of the principles that form the  basis of
health, and indicate the path  of longevity.

           GRAND DIVISIONS  OF THE FRAME.
   In tho firet place, allow mo to remark to you, that the human  sys-
tem, upon  examination, falls at once into three great divisious, each
diviuou, in its object and purpose, totally distinct from all the othere.
The first of the divisions is found in the brain, comprising the organs
of the intellect, through which, or by which, the mind of man receives
knowledge, and retains it, and acts upon it; and, through the Medium
of the will, and the connections of the  nervous system, governs the
whole frame of man.   The organs of this  firet division reside exclu-
ri /ely in the region of the brain, and are waited upon by the senses,
their servant.   The  second great division is found  in all those or-
                 1 Q 
  890         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

  gans that give the power of self-reparation to tho human nVL5h«i
  making this machine totally distinct  from any niaehine ever in<tQnted
  by man, as it is capable, when supplied with its proper food,  >f re-
  pairing its own waste, and thus perpetuating its own existence  for a
  great many yeare. ' Those parts of the body included in this division,
  or the principal parts, are the lungs,  the heart, the stomach, the bow-
  els, the kidneys, tho  bladder, and the limbs, with their subordinate
  connections.   The next great division is  those organs  that serve  to
  propagate the species.  Allow me to recapitulate,  that the three di-
  visions are,—firet, to supply food to the mind; secondly, to repair
  the body; and, thirdly, to propagate the species;   Now, analyze man
  as much as you please,—investigate  him as minutely as you  choose,
  —scrutinize him from every point of view,  and you will  find this ia
  all there is of him, and all you can make of him.  All his almost in-
  finitely varied pursuits, occupations, and excitements, will be found to
  fail into one or other of these divisions;  and that  all the impulses of
  life, and stimulus to action,  owe their origin to one or other of these
  divisions.  On their harmony with  each other, very  much depends
  the continuance of life.  To have all these  organs in full deveiopo-
  ment, no one outstripping the others, nor acting at the  expense of
  tho others, is a grand  desideratum, and forms  the  basis  of health,
  and lays a sure foundation for longevity.  I  have  in previous lectures
  referred to the uses of tho lungs. Allow me again  to remark, that
  pure, healthy air is their natural food,—that they strive for  the  air,
# and continually pant for it.—that no ]>crson  can  have good health
  tor any length of time, unless he breathes pure, wholesome air, and
  a plenty  of it;  and hence the exceeding value of  a change of air  to
  the sick,  to invalids, and to pereons  worn down by continued  labori-
  ous occupation.  It is for this reason that a change  of air will often
  do more for sick andp*vorn-out persons, tlian  all the  medicines  in the
  world.

            MANNER OF FORMING A FINE  CHEST.
     I have, in my lecture upon the uses of the lungs, remarked that tka
  chest is a basket of bones, so constituted and framed as to be most
  remarkably  under the government of the  will,  and,  totally unl'ki 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.         29|

any ethct bony cavity of our bodies, it can be enlarged or dimin
ished at pleasure.   (See Plates A  and B.)   The  first  and natural
mode of enlarging  the chest,  is  by breathing,  by  inhaiing the
air.  The lungs, I should say, ase air-bags, hung up on each side of
the chest, and folded into cells comparable to the  honey-comb, and
capable of being immensely expanded, or correspondingly contracted.
The largest lung may be made to hold a gallon, or so reduced as not
to hold one gill.  Now, the larger the hmgs, and  the more air  they
can receive and digest, the stronger  and healthier they will be.   They
will also enjoy an exemption from disease, almost exactly in the ratio
of their large and full  developement.    These  changes in the  lungs
would, of course,, produce corresponding changes in the basket that en-
closes them,—the chest becoming broader, larger, and fuller.  No.one
Bhould be afraid of the air, but consume as much of it as possible, by
taking long breaths ;—draw in all the air you can.  Make a practice,
many times a day, when in pure air, and especially when in pure, cold
air,  to suck in all the air you can, and, in this  way, strain the  chest
open to its utmost dimensions, and  hold the air in the  chest as long
■<is you can, and blow strongly upon it, not allowing it  however,  toes-
cape from the mouth until forced to  do so.   Should the person be of a
stooping figure, or of a contracted, narrow, stooping client, let him, on
rising from bed  in the morning, and as many times during the day aa
he pleases, draw in the air as long as he can, and fill the chest  to iis
utmost capacity ; now hold in the air, and throw  back  the head and
neck as far as possible, and, at the same time, throw back  the  turns
and shouldere with sudden jerks, as if to tear the shoulders from the
back of the chest, at the same time  retaining the air in the lungs.  If
the  lungs are kept full of air during this exercise, on throwing back the
head, neck, and shoulders, the air in the lungs becomes an elastic cush-
ion, that acts powerfully on the inside of the chest, lifting the ribs and
breast-bone outward, upward, and backward, and, in this way, rapidly
enlarging the chest, and greatly assisting to give it full size and per-
fect symmetry.
   This exercise of the  chest should  be practised on rising from bed,
and repeatedly during the day.   Another great assistance in forming
i large chest, is to habituate ourselves  always to speak or sing from a 
Ox  ; ,     DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

full chest,—that, is, when singing or speaking, we should  never  sing
or speak from a half-tilled chest.   We should always remember, tbat
the vocal organs, in singing or speaking, are placed in a proper posi
Lion, and then a current, of air is more or less forcibly dashed upon them
from the lungs, and that the strength of the tones and the power of
the voice depend upon the volume, the density, and the momentum
of this current of air.  Now, any speaker, or singer, who attempts  to
speak or sing from a half-filled chest, will soon greatly injure his vocal
organs ; his voice  will become weak, his throat become  irritable and
inflamed, his windpipe injured, the upper part of his chest  become flat
and contracted, and much pain at the  top of the chest: to these, sing-
ing and speaking is a  great injury ; but to those  who  always,  when
singing, or speaking, do so from a chest well filled with  air, these ex-
ercises rapidly enlarge the  chest, and give great power and firmness
to the vocal organs.   I met,  two yeare since, a young  gentleman,
who, alone, and unassisted, gave  a concert  in a largo hall at New
Haven, in Connecticut.  He told me that, originally, he  had a very
small, contracted chest, and was a teacher of the  piano forte ; neces-
sity compelled him to become a teacher of vocal music;  but his chest
was so narrow and contracted, and liis voice so weak, that he almost
despaired of being able to  accomplish singing ; yet, by practising  as
I  have mentioned,  and  inhaling  the  air, his chest began rapidly  to
expand, so that, in three years, his voice acquired a power and com-
pass tha>t enabled him to pronounce  words  so as  to  be  heard dis-
tinctly one mile.    His chest  was one. of the  largest I ever*saw.
Pereons who pursue a sedentary occupation, and students and scho-
lars, besides taking long breaths while sitting, should,  at least once
or twice an hour,  rise up from their seats, walk about the  room for a
few moments, and fully and thoroughly expand the chest, and throw
the shouldere off of the chest, as 1 have before directed.   Those per-
sons who have very considerable weakness about  the chest, and more
or less pain, should commence  these  exercises kindly and carefully,
and gently habituate the chest  to gradual changes, so  that it will
become freely and fully enlarged, without occasioning  pain, or pro-
ducing any inconvenience whatever. 
            DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          293S

THE  PROPER CARRIAGE AND POSITION OF THE CHEST.
  The next step to the possession and continuance cf a fine cl»est, ia
to learn to carry it well, and choose such a position for it as never to
allow  it to fall forward.  In this respect, there is a most astonishing
difference  between the Anglo-Americans and the Europeans.  The *
latter, as a general rule, have straight, erect chests, whilst the Anglo-
Americans most commonly have  stooping, flat  chests.   In walking,
dancing, and all pedestrian exercises,  the chest  should be kept per-
fectly erect, and rather falling backwards; at the same time the head
and neck  should stand  plumb to  the spine, not in a stiff and formal
way, but in an easy and graceful manner, which habit wili soon enable
us to  do.  In sitting on horseback, or in a carriage, the chest and per-
son should, at all events, be kept perfectly straight, and not allow the
head, neck, chest, and spine to be  bent and crushed forward, like tho
half of a hoop, as we may notice every  day.
  The  drivers and conductors of coaches, in England, are  usually
among the straightest men we meet, and consumption is very rarely
met with among them.  They usually sit perfectly straight and erect.
In this country, I have been repeatedly consulted by stage-drivers, in
confirmed consumption, brought on,  or  at least  strongly predisposed
to  it, by sitting in a contracted, bent  position while  driving their
horses. Persons pursuing sedentary occupations, such as clerk's, stu-
dents, watchmakers,  and  men pursuing  sedentery  and  otherwise
liirirt  occupations, boys at school, foe., are apt, and that most unneces-
barily,  to bend the chest forward, throwing the shoulders upon the
chest, (sec Plate T,) in this manner extremely  contracting the chest,
especially at its base,  and  in this way rapidly predisposing to pulmo-
nary  consumption.  One would suppose, by the position of  writing
masters and students, at the writing-desk,  that they supposed the
shoulders or eyes,  or head, had something to do vvith the mechanical
performance of writing.  The hand and fingers alone are called into
exercise while writing.
   During a series of years in the occupation  of writing, far  more
may  bo done  by choosing a  perfectly erect posture, not bending tha
head or chest at all, and with not one half the  fatigue   In all those 
W4   2-f>     DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
tccupations, the elegance of the person may be perfectly preserved
the symmetry of figure not in the least impaired, the natural form oi
the chest may be continued, and round shoulders prevented;  at the
same time more labor can be performed with vastly less fatigue.   To
correct this false position taken  by students, clerks, artificers, cfec,
the tables at which they sit  should be raised up very high, teaching
nearly or quite  to the arm-pits, and then sitting or standing dose to
the table, but without pressing the breast against it.  They wiii soon
find that the chest will expand instead of e Nntracting, while employed
at  the writing-desk  or work-bench.  Yot?.  that  arc fathers, should
follow your children to the sellool-houei?j &ad be most particular tbat 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.         293
   BAD EFFECTS PRODUCED BY A VICIOUS POSITION
                      OF  THE  CHEST.
   I have in a former lecture pointed out the pernicious  and destru«-
 cive  eftects produced upon  the lungs, by allowing  the basket of tha
 chest to contract around  them.  ®nt  it is not the lungs  alone that
 Buffer from this contraction  of the chest.   Tlie heart laying partly un-
 der the breast-bone, (see Plate O,) is the great centre of the circubi-
 tion of the blood.   It is a large fleshy organ, and quite  unlike the
 lungs,—allows no pressure upon it with impunity.  I am  inclined to
 think that three-fourths of the cases of heart disease are produced  by
 pressure of the ribs, or breast-bone, upon it, so that the heart has not
 room to play, and  freely perform its functions.  Pressure upon tho
 heart may produce immediately heart disease; or,  by retarding tho
 circulation of blood, it may produce dropsy ;  or, by preventing the re-
 turn  of the blood from the  head, will produce apoplexy, or fits.  As
 men  advance in life, they nearly alb more or less, acquire more flesh,
 and with it somewhat an enlargement of the heart.  Now, if, at the.
 same time, by a stooping, contracted position, the chest is allowed  to
 press upon the heart, distressing consequences are apt to ensue ;  liver
 complaint, dyspepsia, palpitation  of the heart,  shortness  of breath,
 para'.ysis,  &c, may take  place, in addition to the  diseases I have al-
 ready rtamod.  (See Lecture II., for two cases of heart disease,  pro-
 duced by the breast-bone falling upon the heart)
   I  will here hazard a remark that I have  often made,  but  which
 may not be universally correct.   It is, that tailors, either fi-om  pride
 or ambition, or from some other cause, have  much better figures than
 shoemakers, whilst their occupation differs buc^ery little in the amount
 of stooping Practised by  them.  I have uc  doubt that tailors  and
 shoemakers may pureue their <~>ccupations durirsg a long life, and yet
 perfectly preserve their figures, and u this way preserve their health.
 tt is  only  to habituate themselves to sit perfectly  straight at  their
 work.  To prove this, I  will give one case:—In April, 1844, I was
 consulted at Springfield,  in  Massachusetts, by a young  shoemaker
 He told  me that his father died of consumption, and that he was'hiro-
wlf early placol at the occupation of shoemaking, and had contracted 
29€          DI8C0URSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

the habit of stooping at his work, as much as any  other  shoemaker
At twenty-one years of age he  found his health rapidly declining
with cough, and every symptom of commencing  consumption.   H«
was  fully aware that his occupation was very injurious to him, and
that this injury was produced by  stooping, and excessive  contraction
of the chest while at his work.  To remedy  this,  he  determined
to sit up perfectly erect, and not to bend his necfc,  chest,  or the
small of his back at all,  whilst pursuing his occupation.  He told
me that no ?ne~could tell  what he suffered for the first six months, at
the end of  which time he had entirely broken up the habit of stoop-
ing, and could work and sit up erect the entire day, without experienc-
ing anything like the former fatigue,  produced whilst stooping.   He
could do quite as much work as at any time before.   This change of
position at his work soon relieved him of all symptoms of consump-
tion.  When he called on me he was»  enjoying excellent  health, and
freedom from all difficulty abcvt the  *hest.

              POSITION OF THE  SHOULDERS.
   One great antagonist to peifect symmetry of the  chest i? often
found in the position of the shoulders.   When the-human figure is ia
peifect symmetry, the shoulder-blades lay flat against the  back of the
chest, and the arms hang  from the shoulders in such a way that  the
weight of the arms and shouldere falls behind the chest, and  thus
drags the front part of the chest upwards and backwards.  (See Plate
A, fig. 1.)   To keep the  shouldere and  shoulder-blades  behind the
chest, and not allow them to press upon it, the great Architect of the
frame of man has placed two  firm bones, extending from the top of
the breast-bone, on  each side, outward and backward, to  the  under-
side of the outer and upper point of the shoulder-bone.  These are
the coDar-bones.  (See Plate A, fig. 2.)
   These c-.Jlar-bones are natural  shoulder-braces.  Now, \fian,  aa
long as we  habituate ourselves to carry the arms and shouldeu. bclrnd
the chest, or in such a  manner that their weight falls  beh nd  the
shest, we shall always preserve its symmetry, and have fine fu 1 chests,
This is  the case with the American Indians, and contributes to bestow
upon them  their straight, commanding and symmetrical figures.  XJy>* 
              DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          291

 noticing any of your children, who are u.ider three years of age, un-
 less deformed  by disease,  you  will find that their shoulders  lay  'Jat
 upon  the  back  of  their chests, and tbat when walking, standing oi
 sitting, the weight of the shouldere and arms falls behind the  chest,
 and not before it.   Our-ehildren  seldom show  any  indications of
 round shoulders until after they aw sent to school, where, in general,
 they rapidly  learn  to contract the chest  and round the shoulders.
 Unfortunately for civilized  people, and particularly the citizens of the
 United States, these great truths are very little known, and of course
 very little appreciated. A At a Aery  early period,  with scarcely  a
 thought of its bad consequences, either upon health or  elegance  of
 figure, at nearly all of our occupations, relaxations, and even amuse-
 ments, we  commence stooping and throwing tho  shoulders forward
 upon the chest.  This forward  movement of the shouldere is, in some
 degree, arrested by  the natural shoujder-braces, the collar-bones,  but
 not entirely so.
   The pressure upon these bones causes tnem to bend, in some cases,
 very considerably.   The weight of the pressure of the shouldere  for-
 ward is transmitted by the  collar\bones,  and  contributes verv  much
 to press the breast-bone downward  and backward,  and with it all  the
 ribs that are attached to it, thus lessening the size of the chest, and
 causing it to press upon  the heart  and lungs.  During  this process,
 the spine of the neck is  more  or less thrust forward, and the shoul-
 der-blades  are thrown outward,  upward and forward, so as, more or
 less, in proportion to these  changes, to make the person hump-backed
 or round-shouldered.  This sets the arms permanently forward, and
 instead  of hanging  perpendicularly at the side,  rather behind  tho
 chest, so that all  their weight,  together  with the whole weight of
 tho  shouldere, is  thrown  behind,  and drags the chest backward.
 The arms  are  thrown  downward and  forward,   obliquely,  across
 the  chest,  carrying with  them  all  their  own   weight  and   the
 weight of the shouldere  and shoulder-blades, with all their fleshy at-
tachments,  forming a very great weight,  crushing down the chest,
contracting and  lessening it everywhere, especially  at its base.   Such
a pc-ison, in walking, standing, or at his  occupation, carries an  abso-
lute i-ack upon his back,  little less fatiguing to bear than  that of any
                    13* 
aee         discourse to  gentlemen only.
foreign body that he may choose to p.ace upon his shoulders.   Fully
one half of the fatigue of walking, standing, or of all light occupations,
is produced by the weight of the shouldere and arms upon the chest
This pressure of the shoulders and arms upon the chest is extremely
apt to produce pain between the shoulder*  and under the shoulder-
blades, and a sense  of exceeding weariness  in the shouldere   Pain
in the bones of the neck, down the whole length of the  spine, in the
small cf the back, <fec, very  frequently arises from this  dragging of
the shouldere forward.

         THE REMEDY FOR ROUND  SHOULDERS.
  The remedy for round shouldere I have partly indicated  before,
when I directed you, in order to form a fine chest to take long breaths,
and in this way fully to expand the chest, and at the same time to jerk
the shouldere downward, backward, and off of the chest.   I also di-
rected you to cany the chest perfectly erect and  straight, and never
voluntarily to stoop, and thro* .he chest forward, either  in standing,
walking, riding, or sitting, nor to stoop whilst writing, studying, or at
work-bench occupations.   Now, in addition  to these,  I will mention,
that tying the shoulders together is a powerful assistant in preventing
their displacement; for you will recollect that the shoulder-blades, in
order to go forward, and upward, also pass very much outward.   Now,
tying them firmly together will almost entirely prevent this change in
'heir position.  This leads me to introduce to your notice

                    SHOULDER-BRACES.
  The object of  these instruments is to prevent  the shoulder-blades
from spreading apart, and to keep them in their natural  position, flat
against the back of the chest, and thus prevent  their rising upward,
and falling forward.  The shoulder-brace  should, at the same  time,
firmly support the whole spine, and the small of the back. Shouldei-
braces do not perform their whole duty, unless they fully support the
small of the back, as a disposition to stoop frequently commences by a
weakness in the small of the back.   Shoulder-braces are not a new in-
dention; they have been worn by civilized people for hnndreds of years,
*nd evan [>y uncivilized people.  I was consulted about two years ago 
             DISCOURSE to GENTLEMEN ONLY.          29S

 cy an old Indian woman, for a pain in her back, which she had had for
 fourtei n yeare, and  could obtain no  relief.   1 had  the  pleasure «'
 curing her in a few days.  She enjoyed a high reputation in her tribe as
 a doctress.  She imparted to me a knowledge of many  of her  best
 •emedies, as a grateful return for the  assistance I had rendered  her.
 kraong other things, she told me that forty  yeare before, when she
 ras a young woman, she had experienced a great deal of pain in and
 between her shoulders, and also weakness and pain in her spine.   At
 :bat time, aided hy advice from no one, but resulting from her  own
 reflections, she  had come to the conclusion, that by making  shoulder-
 braces that should confine her shouldere closely together,  and support
 the spine, they would entirely cure  her spine of weakness, and all the
 pain iu her shouldere and spine.  She made and wore the  shoulder-
 braces, and they effectually cured her, so that she had no more pain
 or weakness in her back for  twenty-six yeare.   Shoulder-braces are
 very often worn by officers in  the  European armies. Raw recruits,
 who are crooked iu person, and ungainly in  their appearance, often
 have stout shoulder-braces put upon them.   This greatly assists in
 making them straight, and thus  gives them a fine, manly,  and erect
 carriage.   Should they carry the head too much forward, or bend the
 oeck too much, this is corrected by a wide, stiff, leather stock, that is
 ■•nade to encircle the whole length of the neck, and lift up the chin.
~~~ An objection  has been raised by interest or ignorance against shoul
 der-braces, and  any artificial support;  that  God  has made  us so
 therefore the crooked or feeble, or deformed, should bo content or fret
 relief without artificial assistance.   One  says, having worn  shoulder-
 braces, you can  never leave them off; they will  become necessary to
 you.  This is a  mistake, you  can leave them  oft* whenever you choose,
 and when well you will not feel the least need of them.   This is also
 trio of the Abdominal Supporter, and all other artificial support used
 only by those who require assistance. Restore any part of the bodv
 to its natural place, and hold it there  by artificial support, and if  this
 is made of suitable materials,  properly fitted, no injury can follow, snd
 when the deformed or displaced part is strong and well,  the artificiai
 support may be  withdrawn, and health will continue, and no injury
 possibly result.  These same objections might be made to artificial teeUk 
<W0          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY.

or rupture trusses, but  they are not true or deserving of notice, nc*
should they for one instant prevent our using artificial support when
required.
  When I first began to employ shoulder-braces, I had them mad«
with elastic water-proof stuff, that covered the whole spine,  from th«
small of the back to the root of the neck.   But I soon found this caused
a great deal of heat in the spine, and tended to weaken it very much,
so that I now never employ india rubber stuff between the  shouldeii
and the small of the back.  I have particularly cautioned every person
to avoid wearing any shoulder-braoea made of water-proof stuff,  and
constructed to cover the whole spine, from the neck to the loins, which
will greatly heat the spine, and prevent perspiration from passing away
from it, so that the spine will be very rapidly weakened  and injured.
By confining the shoulders firmly back, and tying them together, we
cannot, by any possibility, bring them forward, so that they will crush
in the front of the chest, but they will constantly keep the  shouldere
behind the chest, and thus cause the whole weight of the  shoulder*
and arms to fall behind  it, and so contribute rapidly to expand, instead
of contracting it.   Many persons use one hand, arm, and shoulder,
much more than the other.  When this is done, it very often causes
weakness and pain in that shoulder, and a much greater sense of fa-
tigue is experienced in it than in the one less us^d.  The shoulder tnus
used is very often dragged forward, out  of its place, and  frequently
drags the spine to that side, thus producing spine disease between the
Bhouldere.  The preventive of this is a weil-adjusted pair of shoulder-
braces.   By thus tying the shoi'Jders together, tiny are marde to  bear
p.ach other's burdens ; and thus their labors are equalized, so that no
deformity of the shouldere, or disease of  the spine, can take place,
whilst a sense of weariness, or fatigue, will not be felt in one more than
in the other.  I have recommended shoulder-braces to  almost every
class of persons, and almost every occupation, and uniformly with ben
tfit,  where they were needed, and judiciously employed,   I have ic
commended them, with advantage, to clergymen, lawyer*?, physicians,
.lecturers, professors in colleges, teachers, students, watch -makers, machi-
nists, workers in cotton mills,  stone-masons, carpenters, bricklayer^
draymen, teamsters, stage-drivers, and, in fact, almost every profowfo^ 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY.          30J

 trade and occupation.  I have had plain laboring people declare to me,
 over and over again, that the use of shoulder-braces took orl one-half
 the fatigue of their labor,  v^ne of the eaily effects of shoulaer-braces
 is to remove pain from between the shoulders, and about the neck; and
 in the spine of the neck, removing it from about the top of the chest,
 and in the chest, and very often taking away ah pain and weakness
 from the small of the back.   They are a most valuable article for deli-
 cate boys going to school, and  for students  in colleges,  and delicate
 lads, and young men who are  employed in stores, counting- houses
 hotels, foe.
   Sometimes the shoulder-braces are  drawn too tightly at first, so as
 to malie them irksome to the  wearer.   This should never be done,
 but time should be taken to habituate ourselves to their use,  so that
 in a moderately short time they will become exceedingly pleasant and
 agreeable.   I have known  the chest enlarged around its base, five
 inches in circumference, in six months, by no other means than wear-
 ing shoulder-braces.  To persons who have deficato chests, and who
 in any way apprehend  consumption,  I would  most particularly re-
 commend, in addition to shoulder-braces, the use of the inhaling tube.
 (For  a description of which,  and its effects, see Discourse  II., on
 tho prevention  and cure of consumption.)   Many pereons have rc-
•marked to me, that it might be very easy  to enlarge the chest, ar.d
 restore the shoulders to their places, in young pereons ;—but say they,
 can this be done  with persons later  in life ?  I answer that I  have
 most  satisfactorily accomplished the enlargement of the chest at the
 nge of  fifty-six yeare.  I am fully of the opinion, that a contracted
 ;hest can be enlarged and restored to symmetry, in persons of every
 a<re up to. sixty-five years.  In  November,  1843,  I was consulted by
 a very respectable man at Manchester, New-Hampshire.   He was
 fifty-six years of age, had a bad cough,  and considerable pain about
 his chest.  His breast-bone was very much depressed, so as to  form
 a very deep depression and hollow in the bottom of the chest.  By
 the use of shoulder-braces, <kc,  in a few months his chest was restored
 to peifect symmetry.  The breast-bone was raised up entirely to its
 place.,  snd the  depression in it  entirely obliterated.  The p>ain in hia
 e'-.^t  and his cough were soon cured.  In fine, I must say that no 
502          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
roan unler .ixty-five years need despair of having a fine, healthy, and
perfect chest, in a moderately short time, by the use of the means 1
have indicated, especially wearing shoulder-braces, and using the in-
haling tube; by which means nearly every case of chest disease may
be cured, or prevented.
  It always gives me great pleasure to  address intelligent men on
Lhese subjects,  and especially mechanics,  and  persons practically ac-
quainted with  mechanical   laws.   Man, in  his formation,  is  in-
tended to stand and move in a  perfectly upright  position:  the  head,
neck, and other parts of the spine, standing perfectly perpendicular
to the hips, whilst tho spine at the small of the back, in  place </
bending outward and backward, as occurs in crooked pereons,  natu-
rally bends inward and forward.  That this is our natural position ia
proven in the  forms of all our children under three years of a«e, or
who have not yet had their pereons deformed by attending school, or
by manual labor.   The same fact is noticed in all  savage nations with
tfhom we  are acquainted : the Indians of America, the native  Afri-
cans, and the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands.  All travellers are
everywhere  struck with the fine figures of these people.   An excep-
tion to this is found only in  those savages, who, from necessity,  or in-
dolence, reside in caves or very low huts, where they cannot stand or
sit erect  Among  these are the Hottentots, of South Africa, and
some othere.   These only form solitary exceptions.  So that man, in
his  person, when standing  or sitting,  represents  a straight, upright
column.  Allow me to asK you, who are mechanics, how much  more
weight a stooping column  can bear than a straight one, and how
much longer will a stooping column last, supposing it made of per-
ishable materiak,  than if it stood upright.  There  can be but one
answer,  and that is immeasurably in  favor of the upright column.
Whilst the upright column  will  support almost any weight, a trifling
pressure crushes the stooping one to the earth.   Now, we will suppose
a man carries his  head, neck  and  shouldere  perpendicularly,  as in-
tended in his formation;  he suffers no fatigue from this position, and
experiences no  wear and tear of bis system, however long continued
In fact, this position is constantly consolidating the fnime of the sy&<
iem, harmonizes with every part of it  and confers upon it the greafe 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
3C3
e»t firmness and durability.  So perfectly does  this accord with uni-
versal experience, tbat upon beholding  a straight symmetrical man,
we at  once and almost involuntarily associate  with him the idea of
long fife.   On the contrary, take  a man who  throws his head and
neck forward, and observe to what a  mechanical  disadvantage it ia
supported.   It  becomes at once  an absolute burden, and, although
habit makes us quite unconscious of it, yet  its  bad effeets are sliown
by the far greater fatigue, and far  less power of endurance, that such
a person suffers over one who carries his head and neck erect.    It
is  n source  of constant wear and tear to the system.
   Now extend the case still farther, and in addition to the head and
neck, bend forward  the shoulders and  spine, and the eviis are still
more increased, just in  proportion  to the deformity, so that a crooked
man, especially if young, and even at anj' period of life, at once gives
us the  impression of disease, weakness, and debility, and especially of
age ; the young man looks much older than he is, and the older man
quite anticipates his yeare.

                  PREMATURE  OLD  AGE.
   Besides  the diseaaes I  have  mentioned,  resulting from deformity
and crookedness of pereon, there is one effect that  always takes place
in all cases, and that  is premature old age.   I am fully aware that
occasionally many very old people are seen, who, at  the same time,
arc very crooked.   Such  pereons should know that  their lives are
always shortened by being crooked.  Most persons think, that to be-
come crooked is incident to old age.   Bowed down with years, is a
]>oetical expression ; but man was never yet made crooked by age.
Crookedness of pereon always results from habit, occupation, debility,
or disease.   To demonstrate this, I can point out numbers of very old
people, even to one hundred years, who are quite straight (see por-
trait of Henry Francisco, page 288,) in their pereons, and could we find
onlv one old  person straight, this would prove  that we are- not made
crooked by old age.  The  disposition to stoop is  a matter of habit,
and creeps  upon us in a  most insidious manner. We often stoop
from mare  indolence.   Disease, by inducing debility, most usually
irclines us  to lie down  or  to stoop forward,  when standing or walk 
504          DISCOURSE TO  GENTLEMEN ONLY.

ing.   I will remark, that man's  natural  position Ix'ing to staud up
right, all the bands, belts, ties, and fastenings of the different parts
and all their coverings, aud moving powers, are arranged for a straight
perpendicular position.  The faces of all the bones at the joints, as
they meet each other, are  arranged  to this perpendicular structure
and face upon  each other accordingly.  Now then, when we bend
forwards, and continue so permanently in proportion as we do it, we
put some  of the fleshy parts upon  the stretch; others are relaxed,
some  are made  shorter and othere longer than  natural,  and all are
thrown out of their correct bearing.   Were it not for the great power
of self-preservation, possessed by the  system, and its ability to adapt
and re-arrange  itself to meet great changes in its form,  thougn al-
ways  to its injury and disadvantage,  the machine would  soon cease
to act altogether, and  life  become  extinct.   I think I  have  said
enough on this  subject, and will  leave  it to you, and especially to
those of you who are mechanics, to fill up what I have omitted, by
your own judicious reflections.

             POSITION  WHEN LYING DOWN.
   1 have mentioned, that in sitting or standing, the pereon should be
kapt perfectly straight, and as much so as possible at all of our occu-
pations.  I am  farther inclined  to the opinion,  that children and all
young persons should be taught to lay flat upon then- backs, with the
head as low as  the shouldere, without any pillow at all.  This would
contribute  most powerfully to  make  young pereons  straight.  By
sleeping  upon pillows, much raised, it inclines  young persons to be-
come  crooked.   I know tbat the functions of life and the circulation
of the blood are most easily carried on when we lay down upon a level
bed, with the head as low as the shouldere.  This is shown in persona
who are very low in fever, or who  have lost a great deal of blood, or beep
greatly reduced from any cause  : lay  them flat  down on their backs,
with the  head  fully as low as  the shouldere, and life will continue,
when,  at the same time, were you to place them in an upright posi-
tion,  they would immediately die.  Men, who from long  habit have
boen accustomed  to lie with the head very'much raised,  will find it
renr irksome or impossible to he with their heads low.  Fleshy men, 
                     RSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLV.     ♦   303

and those with very short necks,  find it indispensab-e  to lie with the
head high, so that the blood shall enter the brain with difficulty, and
leave it easily.  By this means the circulation of the blood is mechani-
cally obstructed towards the head; but in all young persons, and all
those spare of flesh,  there is no  objection to laying with  the head
low, and many positive advantages will result from it.

            SELF-REPARATION OF THE BODY.
  In my first lecture, I fully pointed out the uses of the lungs, which
are, in the f rst place, to give the moving power to the human ma-
chine ; and, in the second, to purify the blood.   It is the office of the
heart to  circulate the blood.  We now come to consider that set of
organs whose duty it is to prepare and change our food, so as to rnak<s
it into blood, or,  at least, ail the  nutritious parts.   These organs are
the teeth, the stomach, the liver,  and bowels.  The food, after being,
if solid, thoroughly masticated, or chewed well, is first mixed iii the
mouth with the saliva, its natural moisture.  Some  parts about the
mouth are so prepared, that upon receiving solid food into the mouth,
streams  of  peculiar water are thrown upon  the food, and  mix with
it, whilst chewing, and go with it  to the stomach when it is swallowed.
It is of vast importance to man,  both to his health and continuance
of his  life, that he have good teeth; and, for this reason, they should
be carefully preserved.  The teeth are never lost, except by accident
or disease.   A vast deal may be done to insure their preservation, and
cure their diseases, by calling in  the aid ef  the  skilful surgeon-den-
tist.  You can scarcely confer a greater favor upon your young sons,
than to place their teeth under the  care  of a judicious and skilful
dentist by which  means they will be certain to have, when grown up,
their teeth healthy, regular, and perfect.   You can scarcely do your-
selves a greater favor, than to preserve your teeth, by the aid of the
dentist  Decayed teeth should  be either extracted or plugged, and
the te*th should always be kept clean.   The loss of the teeth, so that
food cannot be well  chewed, or masticated,  is a great calamity, and
always contributes, more or less, to shorten life.  The food, after being
masticated, in the firet movement of swallowing, passes into tho gul-
iet which is a long fleshy tube,   that lays behind the windpipe, and 
SOT>         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

passes downward, entirely through the whole length of the chest, in»<
the left  side of the stomach.  (See Plate E)   In  swallowing, food
either solid or liquid,  passes down this tube, into the stomach.

                       THE STOMACH.
  For a view of the  gullet stomach, bowels, and liver, see Plates E,
N, 0, and Q.  On the Plates, you will have a much better  idea of
these organs than can be given by an oral description.   I will remark,
that the stomach has a good deal the form of a hunter's bom, its larger
portion being towards the left side, at the upper part of the abdomen,
and separated from the heart and lungs by the midriff; c r diaphragm,
which is a  fleshy curtain that divides  the abdomen from  the chest
(See Plate 0.)  The inlet to the stomach is on the top, at its left side;
the outlet is at its right end; much the larger portion  of the  stomach
hangs below its outlet   This  arrangement prevents  the food  and
liquids from passing out  of the stomach, by their  simple weight
(done.   The stomach will  hold  from one  pint to two quarts.  Its
walls are very thin, generally, and are capable of being very consider-
ably stretched.  This is one of the  causes of its  difference in size.
Those who eat and drink a great deal at a time, are apt to have much
larger stomachs than moderate  eaters  and drinkers.   The  food re-
maiiis in  a healthy  stomach from half an hour to four hours.  Aa
soon ar  the food is swallowed, commences a process by which a con-
sideral le portion  of it  is eventually  converted into blood.  This,
considered in all its  steps, is one of  the most  mysterious processes
known to us. How portions of a potato, for instance,  can be so mo-
dified and changed as to become flesh, is very difficult  of explanation.
We know it takes place, but exactly  how, is difficult to determine.
   It is  the purpose of  the  lungs to  give us the power of action,
whilst it is the duty of the stomach to make  such changes in the
food, that this  shall form the substance and growth of the body,  and
serve  to repair all the waste of  the body.  It is of  vast assistance
x> our stomachs, that the food is.well chewed or ground up  before it
is swallowed, so that  when it comes into the stomach it shall be in a
Btate of fine, minute division. When the stomach is unhealthy,  food
ma' remain in it a great length of time.  The late Dr. Dwight,  Pre- 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONL*\          SOI
lUent of Yale College, vomited  up a piece of boiled carrot that had
remained in his  stomach twelve weeks.  A gentleman  in Virginia
told me last summer, that he knew a boy to vomit up some persim-
mon seeds that had remained in his stomach forty-six clays. Thus in
weak stomachs the food may remain a long time without being much
changed; or it may ferment and form a strong acid, at the same time
generating  air more or less foul, at times producing  an exceedingly,
unpleasant breath. These unnaturaJ changes and decay of the  food in
the stomaeh, attend the disease called dyspepsia.   This is occasioned
by various  causes, but chiefly in  grown-up persons  it  arises foem
badly masticating  the food, from  debility of the stomach itself, bu^
above every tiling, and more than all other  causes combined, it arises
from eating more than the waste of  the system  requires.  For wo
must always bear in mind, that after the human frame is fully formed,
all the object and purpose of food is to  repair its waste, or the loss of
its substance which is daily tiking place. Now, the system, when not
under the influence of disease, experiences the greatest waste and loss
of substance by hard and long-continued labor, such as is experienced
by all the out-door laboring population,  and by many in-door laborers.
Hard and long-continued out-door labor, unless too excessive,  greatly
invigorates  the  system, improves the appetite, and  strengthens the
Btomach, at the same time producing great waste of the substance of
the body; the stomach,  now greatly invigorated, is  called upon to
furnish  the supplies, to repair all this waste; it is under these  circum-
stances  that the  stomach  is able to do its best performances; it seizes
upon any, even the plainest and coarsest food, and rapidly converts it
into materials for the healthiest blood, so that the waste of the per-
son of the laboring man  is promptly repaired.  So active  is  his sto-
mach, that he is obliged  to eat coarse  and hearty food, that it may
not pass off too rapidly.  Now, the idle, the effeminate, and all thosa
that pursue sedentary occupations, experience  but a  small share of
the wa-te of the body that is suffered by the laboring man. Hence it
is, that they are called upon to eat vastly less food and much lightei
in its quality, and easier of digestion,  than the laboring man.
  The great secret of preventing dyspepsia is never to eat any mora
than the waste of  the  body recuires.  now much or how littlo  thi* 
Ws         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

s, can only be  determined by the  experience of each individual,
There is no laying down any positive rules on this subject.   Each in-
dividual will learn, that if he eats, even for a short period, more food
than the waste of his system  requires, or  its growth demands, tha
stomach may at lirst  digest this surplus food, but in a short time, aa
if possessed of an intuitive perception that these extra supplies are not
wanted, it will refuse  to prepare thara.—refusing, of course,  to digest
this surplus quantity of food.
  As I may speak again, in another place, upon the subject of diet, 1
wffl say no more of dyspepsia now.

    PROGRESS OF THE  FOOD,  AFTER LEAVING  THE
                         STOMACH.
  The food, after remaining in  a healthy stomach from half an hour
to four hours, passes out  of the right opening of the stomach.  The
process of digestion having reduced the food to a homogeneous con-
sistence, very much  like cream in its  substance, after  leaving the
stomach and going a short distance, it unites with the bile.  A por-
tion of stimulants and liquids go from the stomach into the  blood.
  The bile is a bitter  soap, the object of which is to produce still far-
ther  changes in the blood, and facilitate its passage through the
bowels.   The presence of  bile  is  indispensable to perfect digestion
We  presume it  to be of great consequence  in the animal economy
from the immense size of the organ, or machine employed to prepare
it.  It is the duty of  the liver to prepare tho bile.  The stomach is
placed in the left upper  side of the abdomen, and partly under tb«
short ribs.   The  liver occupies the right side of the top of the  abdo
men, and is  divided into several lobes or divisions, lying  partly  undei
the short ribs; a flap  of it extends on  the left side, considerably upon
the stomach.  The liver  weighs a number of pounds, say from five U
ten times as much  as the empty stomach.   It is by far the heaviest
organ of  the interior of  the body.  (See Plate Q.)   The food, aftei
uniting wkh the  bile,  now rapidly passes down into tha

                       SMALL BOWELS.
  (For a view  ;>f these bowels,  see Plates C and R.)—Thev are about 
            DISCOURSE TC GENTLEMEN ONLY.         309

25 feet long, and after a great many turnings and eonvchitions, ter-
minate in the large bowel at the right groin, and are  separated from
the large bowel by a valve.  The  food passes rapidly through these
Final. bowfcb.   Those parts of it suitable for blood, are drawn out from
the small bowels, through a vast many small ducts, that, like worms,
have their ten thousand mouths, opening into these small bowels, and,
sucking out the nourishing parts of the food, immediately carry it into
the blood-vessels.   The coarse portions of the food, or such parts as
are undigested, or are unfit for food, pass through the whole length of
tho small bowel, snd are discharged into the large bowel.

              THE LARGE BOWEL, OR  COLON.
   (For a vie?w of this bowel, see Plate C.)—The large bowel commences
at the right  groin, within the abdomen; it is about  the size of the
wrist, and sometimes larger.   From the place of ns beginning, it at
first rises upward, passing inside of the right hip, and above the loins,
until it reaches tho under odge  of  the liver.  It now makes  a  great
turn to the left and passes urder the edge cf tho stomach, to the left
side.  It now turns, and goes downward past the loins, and inside the
left hip-bone, for some distance downward, when it turns to the right
and crosses the left side of the abdomen, to the back-bone, or  to a
point opposite  the centre of tho back-bone, where it is tied.   At this
point it now turns downward, and continues straight down, lying close
to the bone, until it passes out of the body.  This bowel, in its whole
length, is about five feet long, and, in some pereons, will hold nearly
a  gallon, or more.   The coarse portions of the food remain in this
bowel about hventy-four hours in a healthy person, when it is evacuated
from the body.  Should the food  remain in the bowel much longer
than twenty-four hours, it produces that disease, or condition of the
system, known by the term

                        C0STD7ENESSi
   The human system is endowed with peculiar appetites, and appa-
rent instincts, and is  remarkably under the  control of habit; for
example, one  person will dine at twelve o'clock in the day,—othert
will dine at two, four, or six o'clock.   Now,  any person at the how 
MO          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
of his meals, whether it be  dinner,, breakfast, or supper, when ia
health, will usually, more or less, feel the calls of hunger, and have a
disposition to eat  But if not regular in his hours of eating, will
either be  hungry nearly all the time, or will have no  appetite  at all,
or be very capricious  in his appetite.  So with  the stomach: food
thrown  into it  at regular intervals, and not  too frequentiy, nor too
much of it,  will usually be well digested.  The stomach, as if by in-
stinct, expects it, and is prepared to receive it, and to digest  it at
these stated  periods.   But let a person be irregular in the hours of
eating, and  he will very soon,  if I ma? use  the expression, destroy
the instincts of  his stomach, and greatly  impair the powers of diges-'
tion.  Now, this influence of  habit upon the instincts and calls of the
system,-  is in no respect move remarkable than in  the  periods cf the
evacuations.   There is no doubt that these periods,  in every child or
man, are distinctly experienced every day, and might always take place,
unless checked by the  will, or by gross  inattention to them.  Hence
I infer,  that costiveness is, in nearly every  case, produced by not
attending to the calls  of Nature at stated periods.

             BAD EFFECTS OF COSTIVENESS.
  When the coarse portions of the food, or, we might call it excre
mentitious matter, is too long retained in the large bowel, very injuri
ous consequences result from k.   We  eat and drink from four to
twelve pounds, and, in some instances, much more, every day ; and all
of this must  leave the body, after having  performed the offices as-
signed to it   You can ask me,  how I know all leaves the body.   I
reply, that I know this is the case, and,  of course,  refer to adults,
from the fact, that the greater' portion of mankind weigh very littie
or no more,  at  seventy-five  ;<«ir8\>f age, than at twenty-five,  and
very often, they Weigh much  -cad.   During  tne long period of fifty
years, they may have eaten and drank something like 150,000 pounds
weight of liquids and  solids,—so much does  it require  to replenish
the  daily waste of the  human system for fifty  years.
  Now then, there are only four great avenues though which the sys-
tem  relieves  itself of  its effete or  redundant supplies.   These are
ti rough  the VK>rcs of the skin, through tho lungs, through the boweh 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          31

and through the kidneys, bladder, foe.  A very insignificant discharge
is also obtained from  the nose and internal surface  of the  mouth
These are all the avenues of refief to a loaded system; and, on their
harmorlTouB and equable action, greatly depends health, and, with it,
length of life.   It is very true, that one of these may be very defi-
cient in the, discharge of its appropriate office, and the others will do
duty  for it.  But, ia a tolerably short period,  if either of these ave-
nues  is blocked up, the others will refuse to do duty for it; and then
general disease will invade the whole system.   This is exemplified in
the BAD EFFECTS OF COSTIVENESS.
   When the excrementitious  portions of food are retained too long
in th i large bowel,  the fluid parts that should pass by the bowels are
thrown upon the kidneys, lungs, or skin, and contribute to produce
disease  of those parts in any person predisposed to them.   Thus,
suppose a person to be inclined to  disease of the lungs^ or to raise a
good deal  from them, costiveness will always  aggravate  or increase
this,  and,  very often,  is the  principal or entire cause of  it  In  the
commencement of disease of the  lungs,  costiveness is almost always
present; and  the same remark may apply to the condition of  the
kidneys.  I do not recollect to have ever witnessed a case of bleeding
from the lungs,  that was not preceded,  more or less,  by costiveness.
The symmetrical or equal circulation of the blood is often impaired
by costiveness, and its circulation is very much retarded through  the
lower bowels.   It is often one great cause of determination of  blood
to the head, and thus producing obstinate head-aches and vertigo,
swimming in the head, dropsy in  the brain, and a disposition, in  some
persons, to apoplexy, and is one great cause of it, and of paralysis, or
palsy, either partial or general, and also of impaired vision, or weak-
ness and even  loss of sight.   It  is rarely,  if ever, that thase  affec-
tions of the head &ecur, unless costiveness is present; or, at least  we
nearly always,  at this time, notice a sluggish state of the bowels.  Tha
nervous system is greatly affected by costiveness.  Indeed, the almost
constant effect of continued costiveness is to produce great  debihty of
the nervous system,  making  the sufferer peculiarly nervous.  Tbj
mind is more  or less clouded, and  quite incapable of great or  lcmjj
xmtinued effort. 
MB          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
                 DEPRESSION OF SPIRITS.
   There is no one accompaniment of costiveness more frequently db
nerved than depression of spirits, especially in persons a little advanced
in life.   It  seems to cloud  the  whole mind,  and to destroy every
pleasure, to take away all elasticity and buoyancy of the feelings, and
to produce a distressing sense of impending woe to come, in the form
of poverty, calamity, or disease.
   Universal fullness of blood is often  produced ; and this, at tinier
eads to dropsy, either partial or general   Diseases of the heart are
always aggravated, and sometimes produced, by castiveness.   I havi^
frequently observed an enlargement of the right side of the heart, ii
persons long habituated to sluggish, costive bowels.  In nearly everj/
case of heart disease, scarcely anything aggravates it more than cot
tiveness, and few remedies relieve  it so much as free  bowels.  Slug
lish bo web are a very efficient cause of dyspepsia.   It  is  true, that
you will sometimes witness obstinate dyspepsia when chronic diarrhoea
is present.  But in  nineteen cases out of twenty, costiveness  seems
the cause of dyspepsia.   In fact, it is exceedingly rare to witness good
digestion, when  the  bowels are costive.  Nothing  contributes, as  a
general thing, to relieve dyspepsia more than to have a free state of
the bowels.  Liver complaint is often produced by  costiveness.  The
liver is apt to become enlarged, and engorged with blood, and to pass
off its bile badly.  It is true, that  a disease of the liver will frequently
produce costiveness, or, rather, that a want of bile in the bowels will
produce it.

                          JAUNDICE
Is often produced by costiveness: at any rate, jaundice  and  costive-
ness are nearly always  found existing together ; and relieving  the
bowels tends very much to relieve the jaundice.

                            PILES.
Are often produced by costiveness.   The accumulation of matter in
the lower bowel  prevents the return of blood from that bowel,  «s><]
thus very often causes pile*. 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.         313

                      A BAD BREATH
h almost always present in pereons of an habitually costive habit
From the pores of the skin, in cases of long-continued costiveness, the
most unpleasant odor often arises, or is thrown out, rendering the un-
'*apjy subject almost a nuisance.

                        SEA-SICKNESS
Is almost always aggravated by costiveness, and almost prevented by
having the bowels free.  In fact there is not a function of the whole
system that may not be greatly impaired hy costiveness.  Let me for
a moment refer you to some other machine.  Take,  for ^mple, a
locomotive steam-engine,  and  suppose  the fireman did not clear the
ashes from his fireplace, how long,  think you, could he thus run his
engine ?   Every part would soon become clogged; little fire  could be
made ; no steam could be generated;  and thus no power would be
ivoived, and  his engine  would become, to all intents and purposes,
useless.   Such, also, is the comparative  effect of habitual costivenesa
upon  tho human machine ;  every  part is clogged by it, and every
function is embarrassed.  It aggravates most diseases, and  tends to
produce lr any.   The  bowels  must be  kept tolerably free, to insure
good he^th and long life.  I  have  referred to the fact, that  costive-
ness ij u' aally produced by repelling the daily instincts of  Nature.
After v.e have broken up regulai nabits in this respect, the calls of Na-
ture come to us at longer  interval:, and with feebler influence, so that
eno week, two weeks, and even one  month, will pass without an evac-
uation, until  the  bowels  seem to have lost all power of action.  I
nave known one case where no evacuation  was had  for  four months
and a half, and another case of  nine months.  Nothing  in either of
these  cases could procure an evacuation, so nearly dead had the bow-
els become.  The last pereon  most unexpectedly recovered.   I have
not beard the result of the former.   I once knew a young man, whilst
on shipboard and  very  sea-sick, who suffered himself to remain
three weeks without an evacuation.   Ho came veiy  near losing his
life by it.  .Great accumulations  will sometimes take place in the bow-
eh, and  produce  sudden death.  Mr. Legare, of Charleston, S. C,
8 Mr eVary  of State under President Tyler, died  suddenly from th»
              14 
314
DISCCURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
cause, at Boston, in June 1843.  I witnessed another deatk from th«
same caase, m Boston, and another in London.

           MANNER OF CURING COSTIVENESS.
   As costiveness exerts such a pernicious influence upon the system,
and contributes so much to shorten life, it is most desirable to know
how to prevent it  The best, and  most desirable mode of curing it,
is  om restoring the habit.   Let the costive pereon, exactly  at the
same time every day, solicit an evacuation, and that most persever-
ingly for at  least one  hour,  should  he  not succeed sooner, at the
same time  leaving off all medicine.  So  much is the system inflii'
enced by habit, aided by the will, that in  nearly all cases obstinate
perseverance in this course, and never omitting it afterwards, will en-
tirely cure their sluggish  state,  ancl the bowels become as free as is
desirable, and the calls of Nature become as regular ancl urgent as if
they had never been  interrupted.   There are some persons, however,  -
who seem, or pretend to believe, that they still require further assis-
tance.   These will find themselves greatly assisted by eating  rather
coarse food, such as coarse bread, rye and  Indian  bread, and  iTread
made of wheat meal,  or, we might  call  it  unbolted flour, sometimes
called bran bread, and at other times Graham bread.   Some persons
derive great benefit from eating fruit.  Almost  all  the summer fruits
are found useful,—apples, foe.,—throughout the year.   Othere  derive
great benefit from tho free use of vegetables, <fec.  All will be bene-
fitted by avoiding the use of wry  tough  meat, and very haid salted
meat.  I rarely recommend any other medicine to correct costiveness,
than the use cf a very small quantity of rhubarb. '  That which  should :'
be selected, if practicable, is  the best Turkey rhubarb, either  in tho
form of the root, or  powder; the root is apt to be the purest.   A
few grains of this  taken daily serves to improve digestion, strengthen
the bowels, and remove costiveness.  Rhubarb  has the rare property
over  all other medicines with which I am acquainted, in a vast many
cases, of never  losing its effect.   A great  many medicines taken to
open the  bowels  soon lose  their effect, and require the dose to b«
««erv much increased;  until, finally, they will not act in any dose,  and
leave the bowels  much woree than  whea the patient  commenced 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
3IS
J&ing them.  But this is not the case with  rhubarb,  as  a general
things  I knew one  gentleman in Philadelphia, who  took a portion
of Turkey rhubarb every night for thirty yeare.  This gentleman, on
account cf obstinate costiveness, began with taking sixty grains every
night, and when he related to me his case,  he found it necessary to
use only four grains every night  The  late  Dr. Physic, of Philadel-
phia, told me he  had many  patients  in that city who had used rhu-
barb to  great  advantage, very much of the time, for forty years orr^
more.
   In concluding this part of our subject, allow me to say to you, that
to have  the bowels in perfect order, and  acting freely and kindly
every day, is most desirable,  and  may be said to be indispensable to
health ancl long life, and with this the happiness, the delights, and
the  pleasures of existence.   A free,  healthy state of  the  bowels is
truly a pearl of great price, and a condition of inestimable value to
the possessor.  It is true, that some  persons of costive habits live to
old age,  whilst  thousands  and tens of thousands arc destroyed by it
The fact  only proves under what disadvantages  the system will labor
on, and continue its functions.  Let mo  repeat  that, habit, habit, is
the  great cure-all.   Assist this, if necessary, 'by regulating the diet,
and, as a last  resort,  use a little rhubarb,—but assbt all by habit.
Wearing my Abdominal Supporter  is most valuable for sluggish
bowels.
   Allow me to say one word to those who are fathers, husbands, and
beads of families:  that in the arrangement of water-closets or neces-
sary out-buildings, a good deal of art or discretion should be used, so
that the  delicate and modest mem here of your families may not from
tet r  of exposure, inconvenience, <fec,  be deterred or  prevented from
obeying the calls  of Nature.  Sometimes these buildings are so ex-
posed  to  the cold or cutting winds, while* passing to them, or ever
exposure to  wot or damp whilst in the builing, that some of you,-
beloved and delicate ones are deterred from visiting them when they
should.   Besides one or more rooms, as the number of inmates may
demand,  these  buildings  should  be  kept clean, perfectly accessible,
>ind free from exposure.  In no one particular is the intelligence, th«
rivilizatioa, and the refinement of a  people, or an individual famd^ 
  316         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY,

  more  strikingly marked than in the preparation  of these necessary
  buildings.   No people on the face of the earth  equal the English na-
  tion, in the attention, the  expense,  and the skill  in the arrangement
  of these conveniences.  If I dared, or  the subject would admit of it
  I could enter into a great many details connected with this subject,
  that I have witnessed in the cities of Italy, and in most parts of France,
  and in some portions of  this country, that would contrast most un-
  favorably with what I have said of the English ; but I forbear, with
  me remark that I have no doubt, and indeed I have the best reasons
  for knowing, that many a father has witnessed the ruined health of
  the members  of  his  family, caused wholly by inattention to this one
  subject   My  subject would not be  complete, were I to omit speaking   .
  one word to you upon the evacuation of water.   I mentioned to you
  that the system unburdened itself through the bowels, kidneys, lungs,
  and skin.   An immense amount is carried off by  the kidneys.

      THE OFFICES OF THE KIDNEYS, BLADDER, &c.
     Those solid portions of meat we eat and drink, not  entering  into
  the blood, are required to pass off by the bowels.  But it is the office
  of the kidneys to separate a vast amount of fluids from the blood,
  and with  these fluids, and dissolved in them, they throw off a great
  quantity of earths, acids, and salts, which, if not taken from tho blood,
m would soon destroy life.

                         THE  BLADDER
  Is  a natural reservoir for holding the water until periods convenient
  for its evacuation.  The water is brought  from  each kidney by a long
  pipe, that extends  from the chamber cf each kidney to the bladder.
  The kidneys are  situated in the small of the back, one on each side of
  the back-bcne: the bladder is placed low down in the baskeC*of the,.
  hips, and immediately behind the front cross-bone.  (For a view cf
  the kidneys, and the pipes that convey the  water to the bladder,  ana
  the bladder itself, see Plate S.)   The bladder  is capable of  being
  enormcnisly distended, by the h-'bitof retaining the water too long.
     There arc  many parsons, who,  from carelessness, and sometime* 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY          311
from modesty, do not evacuate the bladder when called to do so.  If
this habit is long continued, extremely pernicious effects are apt to re
suit.  One of these is to ..produce more or less a distension of the blad-
der, the effect of which is greatly to lessen the  secretion of water.
The kidneys, if  I  may use the  expression, being informed that tha
outlet is obstructed, cease to secrete as much water as they otherwise
would; and hence much  less urine is secreted from the blood.   The
skin, the lungs, and the bowels, will then be called upon to do duty
for the kidneys,  and to uike out tho earths, salts, and water from the
blood.  It is, however  «5hiefly thrown  off through  the  skin.  Any
pereon who has witnessed a stoppage of water for any length  of time,
Is immediately struck with the smell of  urine that comes from  every
part of the skin of such a person.   The  next evil, I will mention, re-
sulting from too long  retaining the water, is  that  the water  accu-
mulated in the bladder, and remaining there for some time, allows the
earths, salts and acids, that it holds in solution, to fall down and settle
at the bottom and sides of the bladder,  and thus lays the foundation
for gravel in the  kidneys and bladder, and  stone  in the bladder.
Much, very much, of all this mischief is prevented by never retaining
the urine when  we are called upon to discharge it   Any considerable
obstruction in the action of the kidneys  and bladder,  especially if long
continued, in a great many cases leads to dropsy.  At all  events, we
' rarely ever notice dropsy, without at the same time observing that
the kidneys are  slow in their action, and pass off much less than their
usual quantity ot water.  Although gravel is  usually  readily cured,
yet it is better to  prevent this and all other diseases  of the  kidneys
and bladder, by  never omitting to evacuate the  water when  called
upon to do so.  It was long ago observed i^. England,  that the  high-
est and lowest classes of society were always far  nwie exempt from
stone  hi the bladder, than tho  intermediAle passes, and  they  could
only account for it from the  fact, that the highest and lowest classes
of society  there are perfectly easy in their manners, and not deterred
by modesty, cr  want of convenience, from evacuating the  bladder
whenever they choose.   Somewhat the  reveree of this in found in the
middling classes, and  hence  their greater liability to stone in  th«
niadder. 
M8          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

               THE  SKIN AND  ITS OFFICES.
  Iu order to insure perfect health, great attention should be paid te
the state of the akin.  The skin h the external covering of the body,
and is to man a natural clothing.  There are yet some nations of the
earth known to exist without wearing any artificial clothing whatever
[ mention this as merely showing the amount of protection derived
from the skin.  That  it  is a covering or protection, we have only to
notice those  parts of our pereon that are exposed to the air, such aa
the hands and face, which are usually uncovered: these meet the ait
with perfect  impunity,  in aaJition to being a clothing,  the skin is
pierced with an innumerable number  of very small holes, through
which constantly pass a vast quantity of fluids from the body, *>ithei
in apparent  or  invisible  perspiration.   Sometimes we will see  great
irops of perepii-ation  standing on  every part of the  body ; at other
times it is not visible to the eye, yet it is always passing off in great
quantities when in health.   Were the clothing to be removed entirelj
from a man, and his  body placed  under a  glass case,  and the aii
pumped off,  he would seem to be covered entirely with a cloud oi
vapor.   This is the insensible perspiration.  The same thing may bt*
noticed  on first entering a bath: in a moment or two after the person
is under the water, upon looking over the surface of the body covered
by the water, we  will  notice vast numbers of little air-bubbles, seem-
ing to stick  to the skin.   The minute openings  through the skin are
called its pores, and through these pores vast quantities of fluids, and
even solids, pass off.   It is perfectly indispensable to health,  that tho
skin be kept in a healthy,  vigorous condition, and that its pores be
always  entirely unobstructed.  It is not desirable that the skin have
too much clothing placed upon it; indeed, we  should wear as little
elothing as possible, consistently with comfort  This will depend upon
each person's_experience and early habits,  it is well known to every
observer, that those children who go barefooted through all the warm
months of the year, and wear little more clothing than a linen or cotton
shirt and trowsers would be upon boys, and continue this light cloth-
ing and bare foot  for as  many months as possible in each year, and
during all the years of childhood, have much better constitutions, and
•njoy far better health in after-hfe, than those who are more delicateh 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY         319

brought up.  The same thing applies to the continued preservation oi
health in adults.  The more the surface of the body Is exposed, and
the lighter the clothing,  if they can bear it, the more health they
will have.  An old man in New-Hampshire, who had attiined to
nearly his  ninetieth year,  remarked to a friend, that of late he had
become very effeminate.   " No>» "  iaid he,  " I am obliged to wea»
Bhoes more than two months of The year, when for the most part of
my life I have been able to go barefoot the whole year."  I knew an
old man at Bristol, Coin.., who was eighty years old, that never wore
stockings upon his fee'. Mid only India rubber shoes through the sea-
son of snow.   All his other ciotbing was correspondingly light.  He
enjoyed perfect health, and spent a large part of every twenty-four
hours in active out-door employment.   It is well  known what excel-
lent health the American Indians enjoy, and how impatient they are
of clothing.  For nearly or  quite eight months of the year,  in ow
cold climate,  they wear very little clothing.  For this reason, I think,
cotton next to the skin is better than woollen.   I will, however, leave
this subject to every man's experience, fully believing that the lesu
clothing  we wear, consistently with comfort is  most  conducive to
health.  I  would particularly urge  every  man not to increase his
clothing, unless forced to do so by actual suffering.

                          BATHING.
   The skin should be kept clean, and the best mode of invigorating
it, besides  exposing it to the air,  is to bathe  the surface of the body
frequently with cold water,—this at all seasons of  the year.   To men
who are delicate, and not accustomed to bathing, and exposure of the
person to the air, I would  particularly recommend  to them, when
they commcwfce bathing, if in cold weather, to do so in a well-heated
room.  This abiution of the body with coIJ water, I think  should be
done every day of  the  year.  Many persona  shudder at the idea of
mm* cold water upon their persons in cold" weather.  I think it k ■
then most useful.  In the very cold winter of 1835-6,  the Rev. Mr,
Abercrombie, D. D.,  oue of tiV- '-Idest Episcopal clergymen in Phila-
delphia, called at my house on && of the coldest days.  The old man
n-as about ueventy-five-ysare ef age, and of a very light, thin fig ire 
320         DISCOURSE TO GEMTLEMEN ONLY.
In the course of conversation he chanced to remark, that ho did noi
feel aa well as usual that day, because he  had forgotten to take hh
bath in the morning.  " Why," said I, " Doctor, you do not take a
cold bath such weather as this V   'l Yes,"  said he,  " I have been in
the habit of bathing in  cold water  every day, iu all seasons of tha
year,  for more than fifty yeare."   Few men ever enjoyed "more unin-
terruptedly good health during t> king life than Dr.  Abercrombie.
  In January, 1845, I was called  upon at Norwich, in Connecticut
by a gentleman seventy-two  years of age.   He told me that he had
not heard my lectures, but  that he had heard of them, and my re-
marks upon bathing  in cold water.  He said to me, " My neighbors
call me crazy, because I go out  in  all weathers, and never wear an
over-coat;  and here," said he, opening a thin cotton shirt upon lna
bosom, " is  all the covering  I wear for my breast save  my coat and
waistcoat;  and farther," said he, " I balhe a great deal in cold wjfter
I prefer bathing in the river here."  Tho water in the river at Nor-
wich is salt, or brackish.   He said, " If  I omit bathing for a week, I
become indisposed; and it is very frequently the case, in winter, that
the bay is frozen a long way out.  In such cases," continued he, " I
very often, without any regard to the weather, walk  out on the ice as
far as I can'go, and there take off my clothes, deposit them upon the
ice, and crawl upon my hands and knees over the edge of the ice into
the water, and stay there as long as  I please, and generally till I feel
better."   The old gentleman enjoyed excellent health.   Now, this is
an extreme case, and one that I do not hold up for imitation, but only
to show what may be done in the most  highly civilized communi-
ties and with apparent advantage.  Dr. Abercrombie told me, that
he had hundreds of times found tho water hi his bathing-tub frozen
over, and would place himself iu the wate*, <50vered  withroating ice.
Now I would not recommend this course to any one as judicious.  1
rather question its propriety, or very much doubt whether it could b«
universally  employed without injuring some persons.  I think, all, oi
nearly  all,  the benefits of cold bathing can be  obtained, and wi'J
vastly less trouble, and mueb less inconvenience, by the use of
A WET TOWEL, SPONGE,  OR THE HANDS. 
             DISCOURSE  TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          321

  I recommend to my patients, and others, the following method of
managing the surface of the body, every day, morning or evening, of
at any hour that is most convenieaV —l  rather prefer  the  time of
rising  from bed in the morning,   *uz room should be warm, unless
you are robust and accustomed tr bathing and exposure of  the per-
son.  Throw off ail your clothing  *-«d with a brush, or hair-gloves, foe,
or one or two coarse crash towelr, rub the whole pereon over in the
most thorough manner, exciting a fine life and glow  upon every part
of the covering of the body and  limbs.   After  this is done, take a
sponge or  towel,  and  dip it in  cokl water, and, with  one of  these.
rapidly wet over  the whole  surface of the'body and limbs, dwelling
much  upon the neck, chest, and  all the spine, and the larger joints.
In lieu of a wet towel, use the naked  hands, and wash all over with a
sponge or wet towel as you need it.  Now take one or  two towels,
and wipe every part of the person dry.   Now rub the skin  all ovei.
bo as to excite a  fine glow upon it, and then resume your clothing
observing  that the shirt worn through the night should not be won
through the day,  if convenient to you  The whole time required fo>
this bath need not be more  than from three to five minutes.   To bo
sure,  you  may occupy as much  time as  you please; but an  activ*
pereon can accomplish it in the time I have mentioned.
  Some  persons  are so delicate  or sensitive, that they cannot be*
the shock  of cold water.  These pereons will usually find themselves
greatly benefitted by using  a tepid bath.   I also recommend to m)
patients, especially those of a scrofulous habit or those having a low
condition of the system, to stimulate the water, more or less, as they
choose, by  adding to it icasalt, oi rum, brandy, gin, or any spirituous
liquors, or cologne wate.,  foe.

                        SEA  WATER
Is a  most  valuable article in bathing, ancl should be used whenevei
convenient.   About once a week, great benefit may  be  derived, and
beauty, softness, and purity of the skin be greatly promoted, by add-
ing to pure soft water some sal seratus, or  super-carbonate of soda.
Either of these will confer an alkaline property on the water, and th'jj
purify tho skin in a most effectual manner.
               U* 
193         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
       EFFECTS  OF  WATER UPON  INFLAMED  OR
                   DEBILITATED PARTS.
  Allow me to trespass upon yovr time a few moments, that I may
name some of the benefits of w^r applied  to inflamed, swelled, oi
debilitated parts.  I now very seldom recommend the use of blistere
to inflamed or painful parts; but, in  place of blisters, I recommend
the application of cloths dipped in cold water, or cold salt and water,
and  sometimes I use warm  water, or very hot water.  In most cases
of pain in the side, breast, or throat, or in a  joint, I find the applica-
tion  of a wet cloth,  and  worn some time, even for'weeks, in old cases,
will produce a far more effectual, certain,  and permanent  cure than
blisters, leeches, or  any  species of sores.
  In cases of

                        WEAK EYES,
Or slightly impaired vision, or inflamed eyes, or eye-lids, when pain-
ful, foe., particularly in students, oi  'arsons  of scholasticr habits, I
scarcely know a more effectual remedy to cure or prevent these affec-
tious of the eye, than dipping the  forehead, eyes,  and nose a great
many times a day in cold water, and holding them there as long as
possible.  This  course will serve greatly to strengthen the eyes.  In
cases cf rush of blood  to the head,  great heat about the  head, or
head-ache, there is  no remedy that will compare with the use of cold
water, and the water made as cold as possible, by the addition of ice.
This will often relieve the head, when every other remedy fails.   The
head should be dipped  in the ice-water, and held  there as long as
possible, a great many times a day, according to the urgency of  the
case.  Another  mode of applicatkca is to sponge the forehead and
temples  frequently with cold water,  keeping them wet, <fec.  Some-
times advantage is derived from using warm water,  in place of cold;
at other times a bladder of ice.

                      SORE THROAT.
  The neck is a very sensitive part, and the application of blisters ia
apt to produce a great  deal of pain and  nervousness of the system.
In many case2, the suffering becomes quite insupportable, a high fevei 
              DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          3SJ

 wing excited, foe.   In every case of sore throai, that I have evjr me.
 with, whether a putrid sore throat or inflamed tonsils, or where the
 windpipe itself is affected, I have usually found the happiest effects in
 ths use of water,  by bathing,  and also  by wrapping a towel, wet in
 cold water, around the throat at bed-time, and continuing it on all
 night.  It is very rare to meet with a sore throat that will not yfeld
 to this remedy  in a short time.  Where the  windpipe is affected, a
 wet cloth  should be worn upon it all the time, day and night   Last
 summer, at Red Sulphur Springs, in Virginia, I prescribed foi * gen-
 tleman for disease of his lungs, and also of his windpipe.  His voice
 was nearly lost   Besides medici nos, inhaling tube, &c, I recommend-
 ed him to dip a cloth in cc.lcl water, and apply it over  his inflamed
 windpipe,  and  wear  it there all the time.   In about two months, I
 met him at Richmond, Va.; I found him  nearly well.   He told  me
 he had derived  immense benefit from the wet cloth; it had almost
 entirely restored his voice, which was before nearly lost
   In many cases of recent sore throat of a short continuance, and
 especially  in cases of quinsy sore  throat,  and those  disposed to it,
 in addition to putting a cloth dipped in cold water around the throat,
 it is most beneficial to gargle the throat freely with strong ginger tea,
 or red pepper tea, or strong tincture of myrrh, or all combined.  Be-
 fore putting on  the wet cloth, rub the throat well with a strong lini-
 ment,  made by  mixing a little sweet oil and turpentine,  or sweet oil
 and strong spirits of hartshorn or ammonia, or my pulmonary liniment,
 all over the throat and top of the chest.  Always over the wet cloth
 wrap a thick dry towel or napkin, so as to  keep the neck warm and
 perspiring.  At the same time it is well to take a little physic, so as to
 move the  bowels freely,  foe.  Such a course will usually cure all re-
 cent sore throats in a very short time.  If of an old date,  other reme-
 dies -will be required.  The wet clc th in old cases usually had better not
 be carried back farther around the throat than the back of the ears, and
 not laid on the spine  of the neck.   This course will usually arrest all.
 recent sore throats in persons of all  sexes and ages, even the younges*
eliildren.  It will not disappoint.  After the throat is well of its sudden
attackj and to make it strong  ancl free from irritability, and also tc
•jrrivenj  an} stricture  about the throat and vocal organs, wash tha 
324
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
throat  most freely in cold water, stretch the neck backward so as to
carry the head as far between the shoulders, and the chin as far from
the breast, as possible.  In this position rub it wash it most thorough-
ly with the naked  hand, with cold water.   Now  draw  in all  the
breath  possible, and blow hard upon it, but do not let it escape from
the throat, and powerfully blow on it.   This will wonderfully enlarge
the throat.   Do this often, always, and you will have a flexible healthy
throat.

               WEAK  AND PAINFUL SPINE.
   The  spinal marrow which nins down the whole length of the back-
bone, is in some respects very much of the nature of the brain.   (See
Plate U.)   Many pereons are subject to sick  head-ache, and a good
deal of habitual pain in the head, more  or less  in all parts of  it, ac-
companied with heat, &c.   These head-aches are mostly produced by
the state of the stomach,  by indigestion, by errors in diet, and by the
condition of the liver, costiveness, &c.   Now, every  experienced and
well-informed  physician knows that general  bleeding, or blisters ap-
plied to the  head, or tartar emetic sores, or  anything of that kind,
made upon the head, are of little or no use, and sometimes  incre%ce
C*e  head-ache ten-fold, because these head-aches may be said to be
purely  nervous and often  result from mere  debility.  The head is per-
fectly innocent, because of the diseases being  in some other part; now
the same state of things  very often exists in the spine.   In fact, true
spine  disease  is exceedingly rare,  but heat,  debihty in some degree,
and nervous and rheumatic pains in the spine, are exceedingly com
mon.
   The cause of  this not being in the spine itself, but in other distant
parts, another analogy is  seen.  We all know that the head should be
kept cool, it is the same fact in regard to the spine; hence, pereons sliauld
never  sit or stand much with their  backs to the fire.   The application
of harsh .remedies, much blistering, and, above all, tartar emetic sores,
applied over the spine, when pains exist in it, caused by  debility, ner
vousness, rheumatism, gravel, falling of the womb, <fec, will often pro-
duce the most distressing prostration, deprivation of the power of walk
tag, and in Many cases cause persons to be bed-ridden, even for yearn 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          Ml
              PLATE U
              Posterior view or the Brain, Spinal Marrow, and Nerves
                   that go to the arms and lower limbs.

Some physicians are constantly on the stretch for spine diseases. Upoa
the least pain in the back, it is at once subjected to the ordeal of a
severe examination ; strong pressure is made upon every part of  tha
Bpine, and even pounding the spine, to seo if a tender spot can be de-
tected  anywhere.  Now, I am disposed to think that tender places
ean be found upon the spine,  in this way, in more than half the peo-
ple we meet at the same time that no spine disease whatever exists.
But some physicians, upon finding a slightly tender place upon any
part of the  spine, immediately announce spine disease, and recom-
mend the most excruciating tortures knowu to us, such as excessive
blistering, cupping,  and, above all, horrid tartar emetic sores.  The
truly robust and healthy can bear this without great injury;  but  the
ntrvou?, the feeble, and the delicate pereons are very apt to be over-
come by it.   In  June, 1845, I was consulted  at Nantucket Massa-
chusetts, by  a lady * ho suffered considerably from female complaint* 
 12G          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

 and weakness of her spine   She told me that, seven years before, at
 the recommendation of her physician, she took a very powerful tartar
 emetic for a slight pain in her stomach.   She vomited for twenty-fou»
 hours, which greatly wrenched her back, so that she could scarcely
 straighten herself for nearly two days.  Some time during the second
 day, her physician called  to see another sick pereon in the house, and
 also spoke to her.   She  told him  that the emetic vomited  her very
 much, and had  given her a lame back.  The physician said at once
 he thought  she must  have the spine  disease.   On examining her
 spine where it had been nearly wrenched off, he found  some tender*
 cess, and  told  her  she had a spine disease, and  urged  immediate
 measures for its cure.  To effect this he gave her a box of strong tar-
 tar  emetic ointment, directing her to  spread a plaster  about  the
 width of three  fingers, to extend  from the root of the neck to the
 lower extremity of the spine, to be snugly applied, saying to her, that
 the longer  she  kept it  on the better, even all night if she  could
 bear it.
  Her  sister told me, that by midnight the very bedroom seemed
 heated by the heat from the sufferer's back.  She, however, were the
 plaster until the doctor came the next morning, and removed it   Her
 Bister told me, that on taking off the plaster, the whole length of her
 back presented  the  appearance of  a cullender, the  skin being per-
 forated by a great many holes, eaten by the emetic tartar.  The lady
 did not walk again for  three years; but at last, by laying aside  all
 medicines whatever, Nature gradually and  slowly so far  triumphed
 over the skill of the physician, that, at the end of six yeare from the
 time of using the fatal plaster, she was  able to walk  in the street.
 For one year before I saw her, she had been able to take short walks
out of doors. The physician was one of the oldest and most respec-
table in Nantucket.   The lady had enjoyed fair health all her life
before.  In almost every case of disturbance about the spine, a towel,
or piece of cloth, dipped in cold water, or cold salt  and water, 01
even warm water, if cold is rejected, ancl laid on at bed-time, and fas-
te»ed upon that part of the spine,  so as to remain  there all night,
 will, in nearly all cases, in a short time entir lv cure  the disturbance
about tho spine,-and thai  without occasioning  any debility, sutfoiing. 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          39D

or prostration whatever.  In addition to this, the spine should b«
Bmartly rubbed, and washed with cold water, every night and morn
ig.

                       RHEUMATISM.
   Warmth is generaly recommended, and warm applications, in the
cure of rheumatism;  and most people would say at once, that warmth
would prevent it,—and this, no  doubt, is  to a certain extent true.
But it is best prevented by keeping up an equal and vigorous health.
Nothing does this better than the rules I have pointed out, and, in
addition, wash the body all  over with cold water eveiy day.  The
shower-bath, plunging-bath, and sea-bathing, may be used by every-
body at their pleasure; but for convenient, general, constant, and
universal use, I think the sponge-bath far the best, unless we excepf
Bea-bathing; and, a«  a  preventive of rheumatism, I  consider  the
sponge-bath far the best,—this,  however, will depend  more or less
on each indiridual's  experience.   In the cure of rheumatism, after it
Is actually present, I know that  pouring cold water upon the parts
affected is one of  the  best remedies.   I have  known some cases of
old, obstinate rheumatism, where the patients were reduced to their
crutches, and  become perfect cripples, to be completely restored to
health  by rubbing the parts thoroughly, and pouring cold water upon
them every day.

                       WATER CURE.  '
   I will say a few words  here upon water cure, in general, for con-
sumptives.   As far as my information extends,  I think the water cure
alone for consumptives is a total  failure, as  regards a  cure.   Fever*
and night sweats, and many bad symptoms of consumption, are often
alleviated by the water cure, whilst the  disease itself is no* arrested,
and in  many cases  hardly retarded at all, and never cured.  I have
witnessed many cases of feeble, delicate consumptives, with very little
blood in them, subjected to the rigors of the water cure, besides re-
q'ured to take or  attempt exercise far beyond their strength ;  and, ia
addition to this, attempting to live on food not suitable to them, dis-
pensing with  meat, salt, &c, until, in a  few weeks,  vitality  ia alb 
 SVJ8          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

 most soaked and starved out of them.  Vigorous pereons, and thos«
 abounding in humors, will often find great  benefit from the vvatei
 cure.  Pereons with congested lungs or very short breathing, or heart
 disease, or extensively palsied, should never go  under water much,
 as it may be fatal to them soon.  I have witnessed  three such cases
 of immediately fatal consequences.  In old pereons,  more or less par-
 alyzed, I have noticed the worst effects from the water cure long con-
 tinued.
   The intelligent water cure physician, win  take  great care to dis-
 criminate between rheumatism  and  palsy,—between a pereon lame
 or crippled by rheumatism or palsy.   In the  last,  as far as I know,
 water may do great harm, employed extensively as  may be done at a
 water cure establishment, whilst in  rheumatism it is often  of great
 benefit.                                             j

                TREATMENT OF  THE FEET.
   I  cannot leave this subject without adverting to the  proper man
 agement of the feet  It is almost  indispensable to health and Ion
 gevity that we take plenty of exercise.   One of the very best of thestj
 is walking out of  doors as well as within.   But if our feet are not iu
 good order, this important exercise cannot be taken, nor will the sym-
 metry of the body be perfectly preserved, if we cannot walk, or can*
 not walk well.  The feet are mostly affected by corns  and enlarge
 ment of the joints, &c.  One  of the best things to prevent corns and
 enlargement of the joints, provided the boots or shoes are properly
 fitted, is,  at least once a week, to put the feet in hot water, and th.19
should be  excessively hot, as much so as can be  borne.   I   usually
 recommend to my patients to put the feet  in hot water once a week,
keeping them in the water from fifteen to thirty minutes, and  adding
hot water every few minutes :  to the water you may add  salt, wood
ashes, sal-aeratns, or soda, as you choose.   On  taking the feet from
 the water, they should  be rubbed  perfectly dry, and scrape  off the
thick parts of the  skin madi. soft by the hot water.  The  skin should
be made as thin as possible.   Most  pereons will find that this wili
keep their feet in good order.  The hot foot-bath is  a most excellent
thing for the general health;  for colds and pain anywhere, it ia  ex- 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          329

eehenr, and does not foebi^ washing the feet in cold water every day.
The hot foot-bath  should always be taken at bed-time, and the  next
morning the  feet washed thoroughly in cold water, and daily washed
in cold water.  Pereons in consumption, with night sweats and feeble,
Bhould not use a hot foot-bath much, as it often reduces their feeble
strength very much.

                              DIET
   I have mentioned to you that the reparation of the body, and sup
plying the waste of its substance, is a duty that devolves upon  tha
stomach, and all those parts engaged in tte process of digestion..  It
is of great importance that the food be taken at regular intervals, and
that it be  such as agrees with the  system.   On the subject of diet
what kind of food  we should eat, and how much, veiy discrepant
rules have been laid down by authors and lecturers.   At one time we
have a crusade* preached  against  all  meat, including  fish, flesh, and
fowl; at other times, the war has raged against tea and coffee; and
now it runs against every description of stimulant, from pure brandy
down to the mildest family home-brewed beer.   On  these subjects,  I
look upon it as dangerous to run entirely against the experience of all
past generations, and especially on the subject of our eating.  Violent
and sudden changes in our diet, especially if engaged  in exhausting
occupations, I consider as very dangerous.  Generally speaking, I bo
lieve the experience of every  nation, for centuries past, on the subject
»f eating, to  be a very fair guide to each nation.
   To exemplify what I mean, and to exhibit the pernicious  effects cf
sudden changes in our food,  I will mention one case.  A few  years
ago, a regular war was set up in Massachusetts and elsewhere against
the use of  meat as an article of food.   Everything in the shape of
fish, flesh, or  fowl, was attempted to be repudiated.   Lecturers,  men
learned in medicine, and most eloquent, stood forth to vindicate the ex-
clusive use of vegetables, and to announce to the thunder-struck people,
that ail kinds of meat were in their very nature deadly poison, and the
cause of almost all our diseases.  Under  the term meat, was included
all fish, and every species of shell fish; all flesh meat, fresh or salted;
all fowls, and all game j  in fact, everything that had ever possessed 
GO          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

animal life.  Experience of a thousand yeare was at once cast to th«
moles and the bats. Rumor earned something of these great discoveriei
in diet to Andover Theological Seminary.  The students  of this re-
nowned institution summoned to their halls  a gentleman who  was a
very learned physician, to enlighten them on the  important subject
of diet.  Several  pereons have described to me the effect  of these
eloqueht lectures,  and something of the doctrines  taught.   One old
Bea-captain told me that he attended all  the  lectures.  The number
he represented to  me as being incredible, and " as for eating," said
the old man, " he left us, as wholesome, nothing to eat but  the pav-
ing*tones upon the sea-3hore."   This is no doubt  very hyperbolical,
yet it is certain that the bill of fare was greatly abridged.
   Mr. Farley, the very worthy keeper of the students' eating-room,
told me, that at the conclusion of the lectures the  committee on diet
had a meeting,  the result, of which was to direct him to discontinue,
henceforth  and forever, from  their  table,  all meat of every sort.
" Why," said Mr. Farley, " we have perk and beans on Monday, shall
I not  continue that salutary dish^"  " No," said they, " nothing but
the simple  beans."  Mr. Farley at  oncfe told "his wife he  should di«e
by himself, for his experience of fifty yeare and upwards was decidedly
in favor of flesh as an article of diet.  One young theological student,
of rather herculean proportions and.western growth, expressed to Mr.
F. the greatest regret that he had ever tasted of a mouthful of meat
m his  life ;  saying,—" that  he believed, if he had not  done so,  he
might have anticipated a tolerably long life ; "but," added he,  a what
I have done was  from ignorance,  and nefcer will I taste meat-again
while I five."  The vegetable diet commenced eight weeks before the
end of the term, and was'kept up in its greatest rigor for those eight
weeks.  Such was the  disastrous effects upon the  health of the stu-
dents,  that Mr. Farley told  me he  believed that its continuance four
weeks longer would  have  broken  up the school.   As it was, about
thirty young men lost their healths -, nearly all of whom became dys-
peptic, and  several sunk into  consumption.   The herculean  young
man was one of the sufferers: his  head and nervous system became
bo much affected,  that he could not possibly study.   After trying a
change of air, and everv means  to regain his health, he found it  im 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          53t

f»y»ibla to continue his studies, so following " the star of empire," ha
■/ended his way west  to Michigan, where he is now a useful farmer.
Hie school re-assembled at the expiration of four weeks, and then th«
committee on  diet having somewhat the fear of vegetables before
their eyes, ordered more meat  than had ever been  known  before.
Here  and there a solitary instance can be found  of a person well
sustained  by vegetable diet only; but in general, meat in moderation,
is  everywhere  considered a salutary article of diet  by those able to
procure it.  The amount of food required to be eaten by adults, must
always  be determined by the waste of the substance  of the body
when in health.  The  amount of this waste depends  on the greater
or less degree of exercise and labor.  Out-door exercise and out-door
labor causing more waste than in-door labor a~d exercise.
   The appetite of a person in health and regular habits is a very fair
criterion of the  amount of food required to supply the waste of the
substance of  the body.  This amount every pereon should eat,  and
no more,  so that all human beings will vary, more or less, in the re-
lative  quantity they eat; and the  same individual will differ  from
himself, in proportion  as the amount of his labor and exercise differ.
In general, a varied and simple diet is the best, consisting of pure,
wholesome food.   No rancid meat or butter, no spoiled vegetables, or
the flour of bad grain, should ever be tasted.  One of the  great se-
crets of the health and longevity of the noble families of  England,
France, Italy, Germany, and, in general, of all Europe, is owing to
the great care in the quality and selection of  the articles composing
their food,, its sufficiency, its variety,  and in its preparation and cook-
ery.   There is no  laying down rules of diet that will  suit every one,
either in kind or quantity.   I recommend indulging in every variety
of food that we find is not absolutely pernicious.  For kind, be guided
far more  by experience than by precept; and for  quantity,  be go-
verned, in moderation, by the requirements of  a well-regulated appe
tite; but  be  sure that all the food you eat is perfect in its kind.
Above all things,  avoid taking up notions or crotchets upon the sub-
ject cf  diet;  should you do this, you will soon  find the tone of the
Btoruach impaired, and the variety of food you  could otherwise eat
greatly abridged.  In general, the mass of mankind follow a corceel 
S3*          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY

experience on the subject of diet.   Never indulge jn gluttony, as ev
cesses in eating are often very dangerous.  I knew a young officer of «.
the U. S. Army enjoying  excellent health, who was  killed by an ex<
cessive supper.
   I believe nearly aH cases of persons found dead in their beds, who
have retired in apparent health, may be  traced to some  error in diet,
I wrlUeave the subject to the  judicious  experience of every one.   I
think the substitution of coffee, in lieu of milk, for our children, to
be very pernicious indeed.  No scrofulous  pereon should drink much
coffee.   No consumptive, no asthmatic, no dyspeptic, no person with
heart troubles  or head troubles,  or costive, nervous or diarrhoea, or
liver complaint,  or bilious, or troubled with any humor, rheumatism,
or neuralgia, or kidney troubles, should ever touch coffee.   Let it afone.
If you can have pure black tea and pure cocoa, or chocolate, from
which all its oil has been perfectly and completely  removed,  you may
Use them if they agree with you.   Children under  fifteen  years of
age never should drink coffee, at the most  only once in a week, and
then very sparingly.  Milk ia best for them.

                          EXERCISE.
   I have told you that the human frame is  a machine.  Now, this
machine, like many machines of human  invention, suffers greatly by
continued repose. Every day, when in health, exercise should be ta-
ken sufficiently to excite, in moderation, every part of the body.  Foi
this purpose, we may adopt walking, riding both  on horseback and
m a carriage, nearly every species  of rural labor, and many  kinds of
in-door  labor, pureued in  moderation.   Dancing, both for males and
females, is one of the finest exercises of  which we have any know-
ledge.   It is one of the  oldest  known to  us, and one  of  the best
Taken in the open air, it is better  than in-doore ; but either  in or out
of doore„ when accompanied by the harmony of music, it at  once dis-
sipates the tedium of life, excites,  in  high  activity, the circulation of
the blood, exercises every part of the body, and vivifies the whola
nervous system.   I do not speak  of  the dissipation  of  dancin^—fai
from it; I only speak of it when practised in moderation,  as an ex
crease.   For the delicate,  the  sickly, and the sedentary, it ia im aiu 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY.          333
able, xnd may be practised every day, and  at all seasons of .he year,
and, uf course, in all weathers.   All the out-door athletic exercises
practised by men are valuable in promoting robust  health, and may
'always be taken, when circumstances will allow.

        ANIMAL  PLEASURES—PROPAGATION OF
                        THE SPECIES.
,   Perhaps there is  no subject upon which a lecturer can speak that
itf more delicate than this, which I have referred to as the third great
object of  the  human machine.  Every man knows his own history
and his own peculiar excitements.  All that I will say,  is, that exces-
sive indulgence in secret rices, animal passions, and unbridled lusts,
is ap?., especially if  indulged in when  young, to destroy the nervous
systejQ, frequently  producing affections  of the  spinal  marrow and
brain,  and early insanity, and premature death.  At its best, it often
breakj down all the powers of the system, destroys the  voice, and in-
duces  dyspepsia, throat disease, ancl pulmonary consumption.  Later
in fife, these excesses produce imbecility and premature old age.  In
all theae respects, study purity—sin not  against your own  body—in
dulge in the refined enjoyments of marriage—and from these sources
you will receive no*impediment to the continuance of health and the
attainment of  long  life.  Extinguish the burnings of passion  in the
Bacied delights of  marriage, and you will find the most noble and
rxquisito pleasure in the society of your wives and  tho love of your
vhiklren, towards whom you should be a Providence, Protector, Pro-
phet, and Priest.

       SYMMETRY OF THE INTERNAL  ORGANS OF
                         THE  BODY.
   Extreme gratification  is always conferred upon  me when I have
an opportunity of  addressing  a body of  intelligent and reflecting
men,—men of mature age, who can take  up the subject on which I
lecture, dispel  all crudities and hyperboles, and treasure up the teach-
ing-, noticing  if their amplication is pernicious  or useful, and thus, by
observation and experiment, determine what is false  and what is tru •,
and evjr after retaining and diffusing whatever h true ancl  impwtant, 
334
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY
ba. the early part of this lecture, I* spoke to you on the importai.ce of
preserving the external form of the  human machine in perfect sym
metry, keeping the head and neck, the shoulders, the chest, the .spine
limbs, foe., all in the admirable perfection of their natural formation *
when  no deformity has been introduced by ait, by incorrect habits,
&c, foe.
   I now come to speak  to you of the symmetiy of the  internal or-
gans of the body.   I mentioned to you, that symmetry was the very
key of health ; that the human system is a machine put together and
acting upon mechanical principles; that each part has its appropriate
bearings, every part  being constructed to a symmetrical arrange
ment.  These remarks applying to  the external form of the pereon,
also apply with equally great force to the internal parts of the body,
I believe that all diseases proceed, from two causes only:  one is los*
of symmetry, either in size, position, functioa, or integrity; the othei
is from poison.  The  human person  may be  likened to a box oi
trunk.  Now, suppose this  trunk, the pereon, to be laid flat upon tho
back, we should then find the bottom and sides mostly solid, whilst
tke top or covering of the trunk would be solid only at one  end,
across the chest whilst the  lower part of it is covered with elastic
belts.  Now fill this trunk  full, as it  is laid flat on the back, and sot
it up on end, we shall find that every thing inclines to settle down to
the lower part, and press against the elastic belts ;  now, unless these
belts are extremely firm, they will become relaxed or stretched, and
allow the different parts of the inside of the body, more or less, to fall
down out of their places.   On examining the trunk of the body, we
find the lungs, the  hearty with the blood-vessels, air-pipes, <fec, besides ^
some small glands, filling up the whole chest.   These  parts possess
considerable weight  The chest is  a basket of bones, entirely open
at the  bottom, or  its only floor  is a loose, fleshy, moveable  curtain,
that floats up and  down between the chest and  abdomen.  At  the
top of the abdomen, towards the left side, and stowed up  against the
loose floor of the chest, we find the stomach, that, when full, with its
contents, weighs several pounds.  We find, ajso, the  liver, at the top
of the right side of the abdomen, a solid, heavy mas' of several pouncU
weight. 
              DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          339

   Beneatu these, we have the  large bowel, which, with its couteuts,
 ia very heavy, and besides these the caul, and the small bout-Is.   All
 these, in some large persons, weigh fifty or  sixty  pounds, or  even
 more.  Now all this immense weight, checked only by slight  fasten
 mgs, is at  last fully supported  by tho  abdominal belts, by the  belt*
 that cover the front  of  the abdomen, which take their origin or in
 Bertion from the lower edge of the breast-bone, from the lower edge of
 all the short ribs, from the back-bone in the small of the back, and  from
 ♦he upper edge, ail around the  basket  of the  hips.   (For a view of
 these  belts, and their  situation, see  Plate E.)   Whilst in perfect
 health, and whole, these belts keep all the different parts of the :,nsidc
 of the body fully and snugly up to their places ;  but when broken
 anywhere, very promptly, we see the bowels gushing outr and drag-
 ging everything inside out of its place;  and if  any way considerable,
 the individual can neither stand nor walk.  This is exemplified in the
 wse of ruptures.   I once  knew a sturdy blacksmith who had an im-
 mense rupture, and wore a truss.   While the truss was well adjusted
 and kept the bowels in  their place, he  got along tolerably well; but
 if the truss moved  out of place, great quantities of the bowels would
 instantly glide out,—at  once causing  loss of strength and faintness,
 leaving him no resource but to throw himself  flat on his back, when
 the bowels.would stop falling dwwn ; he would then have' to push the
 bowels back into place,  and adjust his truss  so  as  to keep them
 up, when he could at once go about his business.  Now, from a  mul-
 tiplicity of causes, although there will  be found no open space through
 the abdomen, yet the belts covering it become stretched or relaxed,
 ancl do not keep the  iiTOrnal parts of the body in their places; and in
 this way, the stowage of the internal parts of  the body, and all the
 internal organs, experience jarring, ancl settling downwards, producing
 a condition I shall denominate
                FALLING  OF  THE BOWELS.

  Now,, the falling of the bowels occasions a vast amount of sickness,
of which, when I speak, will be- mentioned as  caused by falling of
the bowels, whilst the falling of tho be  vvels is, itself, produced by re-
laxation, or  »trotching,  or weakness of the  abdominal belta.   (See 
»<S         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
PLATE  R.
Plates 0, P,  and R, and notice all the different organs of the body
there.)   As you see them in their places, you will observe how readily
their forms will incline them to fall downwards, which, if they do, will
produce some or all of the following d:,reases of the system, depending
Dn the extent of the  relaxation of the b^ts, and falling of tb*» bowela
at one time producing some one of the symptoms in only a blight
degree,  and at other times causing the mosfHerrible effects, and cer-
tain death.   I will now mention some of the effects produced by this
upon the large organs.   Firet, the effect cf falling cf the bowels

                     UPON  THE LUNGS.

  By looking at Plates D and C, you will observe that the lungs are
wedge shaped.  Their points, or sm/Jlest portions, are highest up
under the  collar-bones,  whilst their heaviest  and largest parts are
lowest, and rest on the ffoor of the ohost, and greatly incline to drag
downwards.  It  ia  entirely indispensable to  perfect  health of the 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
381
rungs, that the bowels be well kept up, so that there shall be-ao un-
natural falling down of the floor of tha lungs.  The effect upon the
lungs of the falling of the bowels is to cause a sense of extreme weak-
ness and sinking feeling at the top of the chest  The breath enters the
lungs, and seems to be lost—the sufferer being unable to fill up the top
of the chest; and thus, as I said in  my chapter upon the causes of pul-
monary consumption, if any part of the lungs js not kept well expand-
ed, it lays the foundation for pulmonary cons .mption, so that falling
of the bowels is a very frequent cause of consiunption; and the lungg
being allowed to fall downwards, engorgement of the top of the hmgs,
or a secretion of tuberculous matter there, will rapidly take place.

                BLEEDING  AT THE LUNGS
Often arises from a falling of the bowels; the top of the lungs being
bo dragged down, that the blood does not circulate well through them.
Tho sense of weakness at the top of the chest, a^d of being all gone
there, causes the pereon to stoop very much, and t oring the shoulders
forward.  I never attempt to cure pulmonary consumption without
using means to  have the bowels well brought up to their places, and
thus have the floor of the lungs well  supported.  A great many con-
lumptions  arise from falling of the bowels,  particularly  in delicate
pereons.

WEAKNESS AND LOSS OF VOICE,  AND DISEASE OF THE
  AIR-PIPES, PRODUCED BY FALLING OF THE  BOWELS.
   It will be very  obvious to  you, that  if the lungs  are  not well
tiled with air, that their dragging down will bear heavily and at once
npon the small air-pipes, the windpipe, and the organs of the voice,
bo that one of the earliest effects of falling of the bowels is to produce
weakness, and even loss of voice; the voice at times becoming hoarse
and husky, and weak, falling to a whisper.  Talking or reading aloud
occasions great exhaustion, a soreness in the throat, dryness and heat
in the windpipe. The efforts to speak greatly strain the windpipe.
Public speakers  are, in this way, rapidly driven from their desks, and
their usefulness destroyed.   Many  of these broken-down men, I have
restored  to usefulness by the aid of few med'cines,  and giving perfect
              15 
J38         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

abdomiaa. support, so that the lungs should be well lifted up, in ordot
that no dragging down of the windpipe,  or vocal  organs, can take
place.  Some clergymen, who are sagacious observers of themselves, I
have known to eure all weakness of voice in themselves, by inverting
and applying support to the abdomen.  To permanently euro *eik«
ness of voice,  and disease about the windpipe, I deem it indV^nsa
ble to have the abdomen perfectly supported.

     SHORT BREATH, AND DIFFICULT  BREATRlAfO
                         AT  TIMES,
May be  said to be an  universal accompaniment—indoeJ,  'iiey a>«
among the first  symptoms or indications—of falling of Ct*j bowels.
Short breathing in men, especialb/  after the middle pfiiod of Hfe,
panting  upon any inconsiderable exercise,  and for thers i orisons greal
difficulty in walking fast, whilst running and dam^n/  aie nearly im-
possible,  and  next to  impossible to lift a heavy -f t'ujht.  In April,
1845, I  was consulted  at New Bedford, Mass., by i man who was a
resident of Westport, Mass.  He owned  and re/died upon a sm?l]
farm,  but was  unable  to do any labor whatever.  His  lungs wsr-i
very much  affected, bleeding at the lungs, coug%,  <fec.  He had not
been able to do any work for four years,  and w;«s not able  to sto^p
down and raise  up  a 4 lb. weight.  He was in consumption.
   His was an aggravated case of falling of the bowels.  I gave him
Buitable  remedies for his lungs, and an abdominal supporter.  I saw
him in July following.    He walked four miles on a warm afternoon,
to see me.  He told me he was in perfect health, and could lay stone
wall fifteen hours in a  day.  In October,  1846,  he informed me, by
letter, that he continues in fair health.

             PALPITATION  OF  THE HEART,
And disturbance of its functions, are very often  produced by falling
of the bowels, even  stoppage of the heart and fai/iting, when the pep
•on falling, or  being laid down, the  heart  resumes  its action.  1
nave often witnessed apparent heart-disease  enred  simply by an ab»
dentinal  supporter,  but usually medical remedies are reauired. 
DISCOURSE  TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          331
  SINKING} FEELING, AND ALL-GONE AT THE PIT OF
                       THE STOMACH.
   This is one of the most common symptoms of falling of the bowel*
an extreme sense of exhaustion, as if there was a large empty space m
the stomach, that nothing could fill.  The food, upon eating, seems to
pass away and to leave the same hollow, empty feeling.   This is par-
ticularly  the case with men who stand a great deal at a work-bench.
I was consulted in April, 1844, at Springfield, Mass., by a tin-worker,
who told me that he had suffered this distressed feeling about the pit
of the stomach for six yeare.  He  supposed it was occasioned by
standing  so continually at his work, which was no doubt the case.   1
g».ve him his remedies.  The second day after, his wife called to see
mo, with a message from her husband, saying, that he had not spent
wwh an agreeable day fort six years as the firet day that he had used
til my remcvuies.  All the functions of the stomach  are more or less
fir paired by falling of the bowels; and the person feels at that poim
us if cut  in two, and is greatly disposed to stoop.

    INFLUENCE OF THE  FALLING  OF THE BOWELS
                     UPON THE LIVER.
  The weight of the  liver  is so  considerable, that, unless the abdo
tninal belts are very firm, it is apt to fall down, more or less, out of
i'cs place,  sometimes so as to obstruct the bile-ducts, inclining, partially,
to induce jaundice, and to stop the regular passage of the bile from
the liver.   When the falling of the bowels is excessive, the effect upon
the liver  is, at  times, deplorable, as it may become very much dislo-
cated, and even torn, so as to produce fatal effects.  I have no doubt
but that inflammation of the liver  is  very often  produced by its not
being well supported.  To prove this, I will  give one example.   A
few yeare ago, a gentleman visited  Saratoga Springs for  his health.
Ho had a diseased liver.  He recovered his health very rapidly.  At
th-i end of four weeks, proposing to return home, he started on a hard-
trotting horse.   The gentleman rode  eighteen miles the first after-
noon, and, at the dusk of evening, stopped at a  tavern, disposed of
bw  horse, and immediately retired  to bed.  Tho next morning h« 
 J40           LECTURE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.

 was found dead in his bed.   His body was examined by Dr. Steele,
 of Saratoga, when it was found that bis liver had been recently healed
 of ulcers, and that the old  and new portions of liver,  by the  hard
 trotting of the horse and consequent jarring and falling of the liver,
 bad beea torn apart causing a considerable loss of blood, that flowed
 into the cavity of the  abdomen, and  produced  death.  Proper ab-
 dominal support would have entirely presented this.

 BREAKING AWAY OF THE BOWELS THEMSELVES,  BY
       RELAXATION OF THE ABDOMINAL BELTS.
   I have repeatedly witnessed cases vrhere tho large bowel has  been
 Warn out of its place, more or less, from lifting heavy weights, or from
 excesses in exercise, or accidents, or  severe  straining of the bowels.
 In these cases, weakness and pain are ap^to continue a great many
 years.  I was consulted at Worcester, Mass., by a tall, delicate young
 man, who, by walking many miles on  a very hot day, had caused a
 very severe dragging down  of the liver and breaking  away of the
 bowel at its great turn in the right side.  (See the situation of this
 bowel  on  Plate  C.)   He had  great heat and. smarting, and weak-
 ness in the side,  inability to walk  far,  and unable to perform  any
 hard labor.  I witnessed another case where this bowel was broken
 away in front, and another in the  left  side,  causing a great deal of
 pain, weakness, ancl debility.   After continuing  a year or two, the
 sensation is that of hopeless debihty in the affected part.  One case
 I witnessed where the  pain  and suffering had continued  for thirty
 yeare.  All these cases were promptly cured by a few suitable medi-
 cines and perfect abdominal support.  A relaxation of the abdornmal
 belts and falling of the bowels will often produce great weakness and
 debility in  the bowels  themselves.  This leads,  in many  cases, to
 HABITUAL  COSTIVENESS.
  At other times, the very opposite state of the bowels will be pro-
duced,  and the patient will suffer  greatly from  a chronic diarrhoea,
Both of these states of the bowels, so opposite to each other, it is well
known  often arise from the same cause,—thai, is, debility and want
of tone in the bowels, which  are produced or greatly aggravated bf 
DISCCURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          S4J
a relaxation of the abdominal belts.  Suitable  medicines and abdo-
minal support will usually effect a speedy cure.

                    UMBILICAL HERNIA,
Or rupture  at the  navel, I have  repeatedly  cured, by the use of
the abdominal supporter.

                            PILES.
  This disease, which gives trouble, disquietude, and suffering', pro-
ducing very severe illness in some pereons, I believe is nearly always
caused by falling of the bowels.  By referring to Plate S, you will
notice that the large bowel, just as it becomes straight, is tied to the
centre of the back part of the basket of the hips, and passes through
it to go out of the body.
  Now, when the bowels fall down, they are exceedingly apt to fall
upon  the large bowel, where it is tied to the back-bone, pressing it
more  or less, hard against the bone, and thus preventing the return
of the blood from the lower portion of the large bowel.
  Piles may be greatly aggravated by the condition of  the liver,
by scrofula, or by a humor in the  system, and by costiveness ; but
I believe the grand producing cause '** %lmost  always a falling down
of the floating bowels upon the straight bowel, after it is tied in  its
place  to the bone, as it commences to become straight, «fec.;  and upon
this condition  of things will  result the various  kinds of piles, as
blind  piles, bleeding piles, external  piles, etc., all produced by the
same  cause, that is, the bowel is so obstructed  above, that the blood
which enters it  cannot  return, and hence  results this disease.
In nearly every case, this is relieved and  often cured by  removing
costiveness, and using a suitable ointment.  But  for a radical and
permanent cure, support is usually required to lift the bowels up to
their place.
  I have had the pleasure of curing a vast many cases of piles, and
do not recollect to have ever failed  doing so, where the patient fol-
lowed my  directions.   By  tying  a string around a finger, yo«
will notice how soon the end  of the finger will begin to swelL «nd 
342         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
if the string is kept on any length of time blood will ooze out from
under the nail;  precisely in the same way piles are produced, be-
cause obstruction prevents the return of the blood.

 GRAVEL PRODUCED BY  FALLING OF THE BOWELS.
  In another place I have spoken to you of the cause of gravel  in
the bladder, as  occasioned  by the urine  being long retained in  it
I then explained to you the situation of the bladder, the kidneys,
and the pipes that convey the water from the kidneys to the blad*
der (for a view of which, see Plate S.)  Now, when the  bowels fall
downwards, they are exceedingly apt to fall upon the pipe* *hat
convey the water from the kidneys to the bladder, and thus obstruct
the passage of water from the chamber of the kidneys, so that it
deposits its earths, salts, and acids in the  kidneys, thus producing
gravel in these organs in a great many persons, causing a great deal
of heat, pain, and weakness in the small of the hack.   Sometimes the
affection will be  confined to one kidney, which is shown by pain and
heat on one side only.  At times, gravel in  the kidneys is not only
produced, but other diseases of the Jtidneys, inflammation, ulceration
of the kidneys, foe.  To cure these, requires suitable medicines and
abdominal support.

PAIN AND  WEAKNESS LN TOE SMALL 017 THE  BACK,
     WITH THREATENED  DISEASE OF THE SriNE.
  By referring to Plate S, you will see that  the abdominal belts are
tied to the back-bone, in the small  of the back, and that where it
is  quite weak and unsupported.  Now, when the abdominal belts
become relaxed,  and  tho bowels sway down  considerably, they pro-
duce severe pressure upon  the spine of tho back, this very soon
renders the back so weak ancl  painful, that  much difficulty is  ex-
perienced in walking, and great weakness is felt over all the lowet
parts of the body, so that in some persons  the water will pass off  in-
voluntarily and  they may become perfectly impotent.  All this is  re*
lieved by a suitable supporter, and by such medicinesas give strength
to the spin 9, 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.          US
PLATE V.
Heart and Blood-Vessels.
  PAINS IN  THE LIMBS  PRODUCED  BY FALLING OV
                      THE BOWELS.
  I have often witnessed great pain in the limbs produced by falling
wf tho bowels upon the iargw nerves that  go out from the basket of
the hips to the lower extremities.
  In September, 1844, at Bristol, Conn.,  I  was consulted by one of
their most enterprising men, on account  of  very great pain he suf-
fered in tho lower limbs, which was so great as to threaten to deprive
him of all power to  pursue  his farming occupations.  He was quite
astonished when I told him I thought it  proceeded from a falling
down of the bowels, and that I thought he  could soon be cured, aa
he had began  to despaii of all relief.  Having taken a great deal of
medical advice and medicines, and used many remedies without the
least benefit, I had the pleasure of relieving this gentleman in oc« 
344         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN  ONLY.
 week, by a few medicines and supporting the bowels.  I believe near <
 or quite ail similar cases would yield to the same treatment.

        SWELLING  OF  THE LOWER EXTREMITIES.
  By looking at Plate V, you will have a view of the  large blood
vessels that go down out of the basket of the hips to the lower extre-
mities, and also a viewrof the large vessels that return from the low«
extremities  through and into the basKe*  rf  the hips, to  go to tne
heart.  Now, when the bowels fall  downwmus, they are very apt to
press upon these large blood-vessels, and obstruct the return of the
blood, causing swelling of  the lower extremities, and an  obstructed
cheulation of blood in them, and a sensation as it' the limbs  were
asleep.  At times so intense is this feeling  as  to become very dis-
tressing indeed.  Even coldness of the feet and legs will often  arise
from this cause.  Swelling of the large veins  of the legs and feet ia
often produced by falling of the bowels.  All may be cured by abdo-
minal support

                 ABDOMINAL SUPPORTER.
  Many instruments have  been invented  and  used to support tha
boweLs.  We should recollect that the object of a supporter is to  raise
up the bowels to their place, and keep them there.  Some abdominal
supporters arc  objectionable,  because  they press fla'Jy against th«
bowels, and do not lift them up more than they press them down,
and thus sometimes aggravating instead of relieving the  disease for
which  they are employed:   Other  supporters are objectionable, be-
cause they swaddle up the hips, and prevent free walking.  Othere
are so formed as to press upon the spine of the back, thus occasioning
some  of the worst cases of spine disease  I have ever seen.  Others
are made to be stiff and rigid without any elasticity, not  allowing any
movement of the bowels after they  are once put on.  Others, again,
act more upon one side of the person than the other, having a spring
upon one side and a strap upon the other, and=;n this way preventing
an equal action.   Othere are most inconveniently cumbersome and
weighty, or produce far too much heat.   Now,  all these  objections
are  perfectly unnecessary in  a good supporter.  The instrument I 
             DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY,          348

employ for supporting the bowels is made of steel springs, Weighing
only a few ounces, and perfectly  elastic, and prepared with suitable
pads,  so  as  perfectly  to  support  *nd  lift up the bowels.   The
pads  at the back  do not touch the spine or go very near it;  nor
do they touch the  small  of the  back, but rest upon the short ribs
above, and the hip-bones below, so that while the bowels are perfectly
supported and kept in their places, the spine of the small of the bad
is completely  relieved from  any pressure.   The  springs  do not g«
round, or press upon the hips, but rise on both sides above them, sc
that no obstruction whatever is experienced from them in walking,
in working, in dancing, or in any  kind of exercise.  By the elasticity
of the springs, and their easy but effectual pressure, nc  chafing 01
suffering is produced anywhere, yet the bowels and the back are per
fectly supported, whilst -the instrument,  yielding  to every movemen
of the body, seems  perfectly alive, and keeps all  the parts in syEJ
metry.  After being worn one or two days, its presence gives no incot
venience whatever, and is remembered only from its constant support
Jt is worn with the pleasure of a well fitted glove.  I scarcely need n
mark, that it is not necessaiy to wear the supporter in bed; it  is  n> i
worn next to the pereon, but over some part of the clothing.   (Sc e
Plates L and M.)   If from any cause the bladder is  much inflamed,
the  abdominal supporter  cannot be worn until this inflammation is
relieved, when it may be most usefully worn.

                     SLEEP AND BEDS.
   I look  upon sieep as  ono of the  appetites.  It  is  most eminently
connected with all those organs that repair the waste and  exhaustion
of the body, allowing them perfect  liberty to exercise their restora-
tive functions, whilst  when  perfec4, it lays  at rest all  those organs
which, when in action, exhaust the system, or waste the substance of
the body.   Hence the limbs,  the  senses, the brain, are  all at rest Id
perfect sieep :  and so is  the whole nervous system, except  those parts
of it that  give action to the repairing organs, which never sleep, and
are chiefly the lungs, heart, blood-vessels, stomach, towels, kidneys,
the skin, tho liver, and the appendages or these different prrts.   Con-
sidering sleep  as an appetite,  we find that, like hunger, it comes to ua
              15* 
**&           DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN OJNL.V.

when in health, at those times when  tho  waste or exhaustion of tha
body requires it.   As the waste or exhaustion of the bedy differs in
every individual, so, like the food, there is no  laying down any rules
to determine the amount of sleep that any individual requires ; and
tie must be governed by a well-regulated appetite for it
   Laying upon  soft downy beds much  of the  time,  is very apt
to produce effeminacy and loss of strength.  As a general principle,
our beds should be rather hard than soft, and  more or less elastic, if
possible.   Straw, hair mattresses,  foe., make  excellent  beds  for the
warm and temperate periods of the year, and  in winter  feather beds
are often employed to advantage.  In Italy  I saw  most excellent
mattresses for beds, that were made by preparing the outer covering,
or husks, or shucks, of the ear  of Indian com.  These, on being
combed or split into fine threads, serve to form most delightful  mat-
tresses.   Too much clothing should never be  employed  in bed, yet
every person should be warm and comfortable while in bed, but not
bo warm  as to be kept in a state of perspiration.   The time foi sleep
is, by the universal consent of all  nations, allotted to the hours when
the sun is below the horizon.   In very hot countries, the people sleep
more or less in the day-time.  The loss of sleep, and  the dissipation
of late hours, are usually found highly pernicious.  Early rising is re-
narked to be an almost universal habit of old people.  To this I have
never met with  but  one  exception.  This gentleman  was seventy-
seven years old,  and indulged in sieep to  rather a late hour of the
morning.


                        CONCLUSION.
   I have new detained you, gentlemen, as long as ycur patience or
toy time  will permit.  I could introduce  other subjects, or  enlarge
each one upon wnicli we have spoken, to a full discourse, and so am-
plify and exemplify the subjects as to swell  them to an  indefinite ex-
tent ; but I forbear, contenting myself with throwing out the ideas,
and leaving to your experience and intelligence the task  of supplying
what I have omitted.   I again repeat to you what I have before said,
that few die of old age until after one 1 undred years, and many, verv 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY          341
many, have lived far on towards two hundred years.   All may live to
reach  the utmost verge of longevity, provided accidents do not oc-
cur—diseases are obviated, and premature exhaustion of the system
does not take place  from our own war upon it  In  order to attain"
to long life, we must have  health  every day.  Excesses of all kinds
must be avoided.  The symmetry of the body, both external and in-
ternal, must be preserved.  We must study the capability of each
part of our system,  and over-work or exhaust no part.  In this coun-
try,  many suffer most from over-exertion, not allowing their systems
time for  self-reparation.  Our systems can  bear much, and Eve  on,
but there is a  limit  to their powers of endurance, beyond which they
cannot pass.  The amount  that can be safely accomplished differs in
each, yet the weak  often endeavor to emulate +he strong, and crush
their own systems by their excessive labors.  Th^s is strikingly exem-
plified in many of our schools of learning.   What one there accom-
plishes in two years with ease, another, to do it with safety, requires
four years.  Yet emulation, or supposed necessity, prompts the last
one also  to finish the task in two yeare.  Now the midnight oil is con-
sumed ; now the taxed brain reels under its efforts; now the nervous
system begins to falter; now, the organs of reparation, faithful friends
to those who treat them rightly, lose their power to supply the waste
and exhaustion of the system, and very soon the brain, the lungs, the
heart, the  stomach, or the bowels,  one  or all, cease their wonted
healthy action,  until the human frame, like a noble ship, that instead
of resisting  the elements and making them subservient to  her pur-
poses,  yields to their blows,  deviating from her course, and is driven
madly and rapidly forward to destruction.   This is the  fate of millions,
not only of students  and  scholars,  but those of every occupation.
Everywhere pereons may be found, who, for a while, do two days'
work in one; but in a short period the machine breaks down, and the
imprudent person becomes an invalid, or is cut  off in the midst of hia
days.  I will repeat to you, tax no organ beyond its powers; preserve
all, and life will roll on,  in a smooth, unbroken current, until a century
b marked upon the  dial of  our years. * If any of you discredit what
I say of excesses upon  tho human machine, go and   survey all thi 
 348          DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY

 operations  of machinery of human  invention, and ask the keepers
 how long will last a piece of machineiy driven  beyond its powers 1
 And again, ask how long would the same machine endure, when only
 required to do a reasonable duty, when promptly repaired on discov-
 ering tho slightest defect, and always judiciously preserved ?  The
 answers will fully satisfy you that what I have said of the human ma-
 chine is correct.   Study, as you value hfe and health, a just equilibrium
 between rest and exercise,  between repose  and labor,  between repa-
 ration  and exhaustion, and between the supplies and waste of the
 ovstem, and never tax any organ that is in a state of  disorder or de-
 oility.   No animal can endure as much as man.  The  care  that ia
 bestowed upon a favorite horse, if extended to ourselves, would giv<
 us good health.


        THE EFFECT OF VICE UPON LONGEVITY,
  One word more,  and I  will conclude.  Allow me to speak of the
 effects  of wickedness, viee,  and immorality upon  longevity.  It is a
 very interesting fact, and a very curious one, and to my mind a very
 strong argument,  that the same mind that dictated those precepts of
 morality which we find enjoined upon us in the Old and New Testa-
 ments,  was also  the  framer of the  human machine.   This curious
 fact is,  that everything laid down in the sacred volumes of the Old
 and New Testaments, as vice, is most strongly and strikingly opposed
 to longevity, and most fully justifies the expression of the inspired
 penman, " that the wicked shall not live out half their days."   On the
 contrary, all the virtues enjoined and recommended  in those sacred
books are most strikingly conducive to long life, to length of days, "to
 longevity.  I speak this to you, gentlemen, not as a moral preacher,
 but as a physician, as an observer of those agents which  destroy or
shorten life,  or which promote and  continue it.   Now, we will take
 those three great purposes  for which the human  body was formed.
 In the first  place, the mind, in order to its full development and high-
 est attainment,  requires unruffled tranquillity; this will prevem  iti
 destroying the frail brain by which it acts. 
DISCOURSE TO 3ENTLEMEN ONLY.          ¥4*
Notice the effects of—	And on tho contrary, tb(
Anger,	Kindness,
Jealousy,	Confidence,
Remorse,	Peace,
Hatred,	Love,
Envy,	Good will,
Covetousnees,	Generosity,
Revenge,	Forgiveness.
Despair,	Hope,
Profanity,	Reverence,
Fraud,	Integrity,
Fear,	Courage,
Thieving,	Honesty,
Cruelty,	Compassion,
	I Contentment
Discontent,	( Patience,
	( Cheerfulness,
Grief,	Resignation.
  Now let any person  reflect upon the  state of mind produced  by
anv of those vices, the  excitement of the brain, and the tendency of
this excitement to produce apoplexy, fever, inflammations, <fec.  How
mtov lives have been lost by sudden fits of anger, or burets of passion.
How often the heart itself has been buret by a  fit of anger.  I have
known a pereon reduced to a perfect skeleton by a fit of remorse,  and
witn it  every symptom of  rapid dissolution, and   the same person
restored to good health in an equally short time, upon obtaining for-
giveness for the crime that had occasioned the remorse.   Again, we
have seen  fear turn the hair  perfectly white in twelve hours.  The
eftects of these different vices or passions are to break up the human
machine, and suddenly cut off life.  Even profane swearing is caleu-
lawd to  produce an undue  excitement of the  system.   So that all
these too much excite or depress the functions of the brain, and thus
remove that organ, and the nervous system, far from that repose and
tranquillity necessary to health and longevity.   Run the eye ovor the
list of virtues, and notice how beautifully and sweetly they harmoni/se 
550         DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.
with all the  functions of the system.  They produae perfect peace to
the whole human machine.
  When 1 read the moral law, found in God's Holy Word, for Man's
guidance,  and then contemplate the laws that govern the  human
frame, I am  forced to exclaim tho same mind dictated them both ; sa
perfectly congenial are  they tc each other, that no human being can
break God's  moral laws without injuring himself.   The keeping of
those laws is alwa)7s beneficial to the human system.
  Again, let us notice the vices which concern those organs that effect
the reparation of the body.
  We find them to be—         Opposed are—
         Prodigality,                     Economy,
         Indolence,                      Industry,
          Gluttony,                       Temperance,
          Drunkenness.                   Sobriety.
  1 have repeatedly had occasion to remaru to you the effect of these
vices upon health and longevity.  All of them are most fruitful causes
of eaily death.   What is more prolific of disease, ot shortens  life
sooner,  than gluttony,  drunkenness, and excesses ?  As for indolence,
it produces a very rust of all the  organs of the system, and contri-
butes greatly to shorten life.  Again, look at the opposites of  these,
temperance,  sobriety, prudence, industry, and economy, and see how
perfectly they are  adapted  to the well-being of the system,  and how
indispensable they are  to  long life.
  Look at the third great   division of the purposes of the human
frame.
  Notice the vices—             Opposed to these are—
          Impurity,.                       Purity,
          Fornicatun,                      Restraint,
          Lust,                            Virtue,
          Adultery.                      Chastity.
  The sword has slain its thousands, but these vices have slain their
raillions.  Go to the gallows, to the state prison, to the murderer's
grave, to the resting-place of the suicide, to the hospitals  for the in-
iane, to the  residence of the outcast, and they will tell you,  in word* 
DISCOURSE TO GENTLEMEN ONLY.           351
Dot to be mistaken, the effect of these vices.  The disease* engendered
by them are among the  most terrible the human system suffers.  It
is out of my power now to tell  you the number of deaths annually
arising from these vices.   But, taking the whole habitable globe, the
number is absolutely incredible, and contributes greatly to  shorten
human life. On the contrary, see how peculiarly friendly tc longevity
is chastity, purity and virtre   No triumph can be greater than thrt
pf the ardent man over hit> passions.  And this triumph greatly con-
tributes to lengthen his days.  Let me also say, that, in general,  alJ
our vices  unite together, and contribute to strengthen each other,
and whether few  or  many, they are always  at war with the peace
and health of  the  body,  and  contribute largely to shorten human
Hfe.  But none of them are do incorporated with the system as to be
uncontrollable,  and cannot be said, in any respect, to form a part of
the human system ; they being entirely under the control of the will,
and, whenever present, exist as abuses, none of thera ever  being
committed involuntarily, we must always consent before we practice
them.   Again,  all the virtues unite together and support each other,
Each triumph  we  make over any vice, powerfully strengthens ovj
virtues; and they contribute to the well-being of thi; human system,
giving a mighty preponderance  to  those elements that strengthen
and fortify it, contributing to  confer upon it ir.'..uunity  frorr.  Jiseat^
*nd assisting to bestow upon it g'reat length^f day?. ?'.c.< uie day
designed in its original formation, which I  believe to be tZoia one ta
two hundred years.  It ia as a physician, that I have thus noticed
inese facts in relation to  virtue and vice.  Allow me uzvr to add,
that  I  delight in  them  as a  Christian    They  assist  much to
itrengthen my  belief, that  when  that change  omes to me, which
will come to us all, my eyes will be opened upon that other and bet-
ter state of existence, whose glories and grandeur are heightened  bj
the fact, that there can be in it  no change  except from  giomj
glory, and  in which tha  great endowments are health, punK
immortality. 
                HENBY JENKINS.
tea in England, la the year 1601, died in 1WJ{ *ged 189 yaatt.
f6t>1
U,H
iTfBB^
A 
                      DR. S. S. FiTCITS

               SIX  LECTURES


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                A  NEW   WORK

    ON    THE    HEART.
   Sent by mail, and no pay required until the book is received, read
 and approved of.
   This is a bound volume of 133 pages,  illustrated by six fine en-
 gravings, and containing much valuable informitioti for a large class
 of invalids.   It treats upon Heart Disease, Amplexy, Palsy, Dyspepsia,
 Softening of the Brain, the True Manner of Preserving Life and Health,
 &c.  The reader is shown how the above diseases  may be avoided,
 and, wl»#n contracted, how relief may be obtained.  From a number
 of well-authenticated facts, drawn from the author's own practice, it
 is proven that Heart Disease, a disease  which is prevalent, and of
 of which  thousands die, may be cured.
   Price 50 cents.  It will be scnt'by mail for that sum, postage paid.
   Apply,  giving name of Post-olHoe, County and State, mentioning
 the title of the book wanted, to     Das. S. S. Fitch & S >x,
                                  714 Broadway, New York.


                     DIL S. S. FITCH'S

    FAMILY    PDYS1CIAN.
  A book of 90 page*.  IX'M-iib^ diseases  nnd their remedies.   Sent
free of charge  to any address.  Apply to
                                Dits. S. S. Fn-cu & Son,
                                  714 Broadway, New York. 
                 S.  S. FITCH  fr GO'S
     SILVER-PLATED, COMBINATION-PAD
SUPPORTER-TRUSS.
   This is a new Truss, constructed upon a novel plan, and is undoubtedly
 without  exception the best instrument for supporting Rupture now in use.
   It is really a great misfortune to have a Rupture, not so much because, when
 it is well supported  by a good truss, it is cither dangerous or much annoying
 but because it is difficult to find a good truss—one that will perfectly hold the
 rupture,  and, at the same time, can be worn with comfort. The very uni-
 form expression of those who have worn this truss is, that it gives entire
 satisfaction. It is made so as to give no annoying pressure anywhere. No part
 of it crosses the back ; it supports the  whole abdomen,  thus  avoiding the
 danger of a second rupture where there is but one, and supporting botli per-
 fectly where there are two.  It has an upward as well as inward pressure, thus
 imitating the action of the hand,  and  rendering a less degree of pressure re-
 qtiisitc to hold the rupture than where the pressure  is only directly inward,
 as is the  case with other trusses.  Wherever a radical cure is possible by the
 use of a truss, this one will effect such a cure.
  An important feature of this Truss is, that it  may be made  to  serve tha
 iouble purpose of both Abdbminal Supporter and Truss; and it is the only
 instrument made which gives the required support to the abdomen, in'cases
 <jf falling of the bowels, and at the same time acts perfectly as a truss.  It is
 therefore, in fact, indispensable to tliose who  must wear both a supporter and
 a truss.  We  would earnestly rei-ommcnd those afflicted with Rupture to
 make trial of this instrument.
  We will send it by express to any part of the country, or fit it to the per-
 son at our office.  If application is made by letter, send the size about tho
person  just below the  hips, in a line with the rupture,  and state size and place
oi" tbe rupture.
  Price 110.00 for Single Rupture Truss, and $12.00 for Double Rupture.
           Apply to
                           Das S. S. Fitch & Son.
                                          714 Broadway, New York. 
DR. S. S. FITCH'S
SHOULDER   BRACES.
  These braces are  exceedingly efficient, while, at the same time, they are
worn without annoyance.  Being furnished with a flexible elastiome/a/ spring
In the back, to which the straps are attached, they do not lose their elasticity
as do those which are made of india rubber, and are therefore much more du-
rable ;  and, while they yield to pressure sufficiently to permit the shoulders,
arms and chest to be moved at pleasure with ease, they, at the same time,
act continually to keep the chest erect, to hold the shoulders back, and effec-
tually prevent stooping.  They are made to perform the office of both shoul-
der braces and suspenders.
  All persons who are inclined to stoop,  or have weak lungs, should wear
these braces, particularly those who belong to consumptive families.  They
should be  worn by  ail  sedentary  persons,  students, children at school, cler«
gymen, lawyers, literary men and others, whose occupations oblige them to
Bit or stoop.
  Prwe $;i.00.   Apply, giving height, and size around the chest, to
                                Dbs. S.  S.  Fitch & Son,
                                            714 Broadway, New York.



    THE   INHALING   TUBE.
  It is impossible to overstate the importance of this little instrument to
those who have weak or diseased luugs.  It is a well-established fact, tha*
there are cases known in which its  use alone has cured tnic consumption.  It
is designed to inflate and strengthen the lungs, enlarge the chest, and cause
the person  employing it to use habitually more air.  In all casef> where there
is any weakness of the lungs, tendency to  take cold and have it go to tha
lungs,  with cough, shortness of breath, pain or a feeling of stricture about
the chest, or where the person has  a small, narrow, chest, or a stooping figure,
—it should by all means be  used.  It should especially be used by all per-
Bons who belong to consumptive families, or who, from any cause, are in-
clined  to lung disease.  Being made of pure silver, it  does not contract oi
hold impurities from the breath, is easily cleared, and  will last a life-timo.
(Be* page 90.)   Price $3.00.
  B-ant by mail, on application to      Das. S. S. Frrcu & So.v,
        7     '     **                       714 Broadway,  New York. 
D2J. S. 3. TITOU'S
ABDOMINAL   SUPPORTERS
      Beck V<r*> of the Supporter.             Front View of the Supporter.
\, 1,1,1, the bocX pads of tho Supporter.      2,2, Springs that go from the front put
1,2, To* Springs that come around the waist       up around the waist
                  FOB THE SPEEDT BELIEF AND CUBE OF

          FALLING   OF  THE  BOWELS,

ProbpNusUteri,or Falling of the Womt),&c.

  This instmment has been frequently referred to iu the foregoing Iiecturea.
The above f*<rures will give the reader a tolerably correct idea of what it u
and how it *s worn.  It is light, elastic, fits like a glove, gives support in the
right place and the right direction, and may be worn while sitting, standing,
walking, running, dancing, riding on horseback, or exercising in  any other
way, without any annoyance, and with only a delightful feeling of support.
  Many rr*ople have the impression that the Abdominal Supporter is designed
to be  worn only by females, and by them only for derangements and weak-
nesses peculiar to the female organization.  This is a great mistake.  It does,
indeed, afford in  most cases immediate relief in  female complaints, and ii
well-nigh essential to their cure.   But its benefits  are by no means confined
to this class of complaints. In almost all diseases where there is a relaxing oi
weakening of tho Btrength, it ia of lervi^e.  Whei«evei  the muacctar fwoo of 
th© general rwstevn is impaired, the abdominal muscles being  weakened with
the rest, there is apt to be more or less falling of the bowels, with its train ol
ills, greatly aggravating whatever disease the patient may be laboring under
There  are thousands,  both  males  and females, who need to wear the Sup-
porter., but who do  not know it.
  All who have Weak Lungs, a tendency to Sore Throat, a sinking all-gone
feeling at the pit of the Stomach, a dragging heavy sensation about the front
of the Chest  and Shoulders, inability to  stand or walk without fatigue, a
dragging-down  feeling cCbout the Abdomen, &c.,  and all Females  with any
kind  of  Uterine trouble, will find immediate relief in the use of this Sup-
porter.   (See page 264.)
   Persons desiring the Supporter can be fitted either by calling at our office
in New York, or by sending their size around the waist  just above the hips;
■lid it may be sent, by express  or otherwise, to  any part of the country.
   The price iB $5.00 and $8 .00.
                   Apply to
                                    Das. S. S. Fitch & Son,

                                                 714 Broadway, New York.
WnATIS  SAID  OF  T1IIS  BOOK.
                          From the N. Y Daily Tribune.

  In concluding a lengthy article, the Tribune says—" We must stop here, for wo can  ra/efj
speak at even this length of a work treating of diseases and remedies. Tho great importance ol
the subject, Hie general presumption that Consumption is incurable,  and our confidence do-
rived from personal knowledge and  personal benefit in Dr. Fitch's suggestions, hajfa impelled
os to make an exception  in this raso.  We trust, though we. have confined our     -iks to a
Btna I portion of the contents of tho  book  before us,  wo have said  enough to induce those
afflicted or threatened wl.h Consumption, to procure and read Dr. Fitch's book.

                         Fr»m the Boston Religious Ti umpet.

  This is truly a valuable book.  It  treats very lucidly on tho great subject of health, and
Ihows the insidious manner in which tho most appalling diseases creepupon us,  which, v-nb ^
little care, might bo avoided.   How  great a good would it accomplish, if its doctrines *en
written on tho heart of every youug person I

                   From John Neal, Editor of the Portland Gazette.

  Mr E  P Bcrbavk :  Dear Sir—Ilerewith yon will  receive a book, by Dr. S. S. Fitch, nt
whom I  hue tho highest opinion.  It oimht to be iu every family  ; and every person at all
subject to afiVctions of tho chest, lungs, throat, e'.c, ought to have it always lying within  caih.
I advi-e you to see him ;  ca.-es  like  yours ho has had hundreds of, and  knows better how to
deal with them than any man living.                                     JoH2<  Neal-

  •« <*  S  Fitch ft Co 7!4Br  dwav, havo published an admirable work, which  treats upoe
consumption, asthma', disea -es of the  «»rt, anc; various other coadjutant subjects, in a useful
able, and aduii.able .-tylo."— iVew l'oik Oi*.ite of tke Union.

  11 Hi< lrgh po«'tion, combined with his  large practical experience, would certainly  reota-
Bend this work to tho al:entive perusal of our readers. '—Philadelphia Sat. Evening P^t.

   •' Ills  book  i* readablo, practical in its details, and thoiougbly conservative in its vie
 P  ilaJr.t'hia PuUic L-:d-w 
                              DR. S.  S. FITCH'S

/    BILIARY  CORRECTOR,
                                     OR,

            ANTI-BILIOUS   MIXTURE,
     Fvt  disorders of the Liver, Stomach and Bowels ;—for Colds, Skin
                                Diseases,  SfC
      This medicine was prepared by Dr. Fitch solely for use in his own practice,
     with no thought of its being put out on general sale.  But it has been found
     by his patients, and others to whom  it has been recommended by his patients,
     eo very valuable  in all disorders of the Liver, Stomach, Bowels, &c, that
     upon  the earnest recommendation of many who have been benefited by it, he
     has consented to have it placed in the hands of Druggists and others on sale.
      We will state candidly and truthfully the complaints which it may be rep-
     lied upon to relieve and cure :—1st.  ALL FORMS OF BILIOUSNESS—shown
     in marly cases by constipation, yellowness of the skin and eyes, a dull, drowsy
     feeling,  depression of spirits, pain iu the right side or across the centre of the
     body, sluggish circulation of the blood, tendency to diarrhoea, &c.  2d. For
     DYSPEPSIA it is almost a specific.  When used as directed, we have hardly
     known it to fail to cure this  most distressing .com plaint. It acts beautifully in
     almost all forms of indigestion, but best where the dyspepsia arises from or is
     complicated with any form of  biliousness.   We feel it a duty to urge the  dys
     peptic to make trial of it. 3d. For SICK-HEADACHE, There are thousands
     who suffer terribly from this peculiar affection, and probably they have been
     able to find no effectual relief.  We do not know that this Mixture has failed
     to cure Sick-Headache in one instance where it has been  fairly tried, and it
     Das been tried  in a large .number in  Dr. BYs own practice.   4th. It will pre-
     vent  the  FEVER AND AGUE, and all  those diseases incident  to bilion*
    climates. It will cure the JAUNDICE.  5th. For COSTIVENESS, Diarrhoea,
^  Summer Complaints,  Acid Stomach,  Flatulence, Oppressed Feeling at thh
""■^BaAST, uiih bad circulation, disturbed sleep, bad dreams, Sfc.  Sudden Colds, Hu-
    mors,  impurities of the blood, blotches and sores  on the face, hands, or elsewhere, and all
    thin diseases.  Many persons are inclined, in the spring or early summer, to
     "run  down,"  to get "bilious, weak,  debilitated," &c.  This Mixture will
     " right them up," renovate the system, and give  them vigor, strength and
    ■prightly health.  6th. Finally, as  a FAMILY MEDICINE, to cure those
    many forms of poor health and more  serious sickness, resulting from deranged
    bowels, stomach and liver, from humors, colds, worms, &c, it is exceedingly
    valuable.
      The Biliary Corrector may generally be found at all respectable Drug-
    gists ;  but, if not found conveniently, apply for it directly to the undersigned
    It is put up in  two sized bottles, large and small, the prices  of  which an
    respectively $1.00, and GO cents.
                                  Drs. S.  S.  Fircn & Son,
                                              714 Broadwaj,  N«w Keck. 
tm.  a. S. FITCH'S
    HEART     CORRECTOR,
                           FOR THE CURE Of

PALPITATION   0!F  THE   HEART,
AM irregular action—fluttering,  jumping,  throbbing, momentary stop-
  ping of the beating of the heart, sluggish  circulation of the blood,
     nightmare, licavy oppressed feeling in the left breast and side,
              and  the various forms of Heart  Disease.
  This beautiful  remedy acts almost magically.  Its effects are prompt, im«
mediate and most delightful.  It controls and regulates the action of  the
heart, subdues its excited pulsations, and soothes and quiets it.   If, however,
the heart is weak and circulates the blood too feebly, it gently stimulates it
to action, and relieves all distressing symptoms.  The Heart Corrector  has
long been known to  the public. Thousands have used it, .and speak of it with
enthusiasm.  Being aware how much suffering,  of both mind and body, there
is in the community from Heart Disease, we consider it a duty  to spread aa
widely as possible the fact that there is a safe and efficient remedy for it.
  This Medicine was  only prepared for,  and  designed  to be used \r.  Dr.
Fitch's private practice for the treatment of Heart Disease, and like the Bili-
ary Corrector, has  been put into the hands of Druggists for sale, for tha
reason that it has been found to be an exceedingly efficient and  perfectly  safe
Medicine.   Dr. FiTcn could not resist the appeal of a large number of his pa
tients, who,  having  experienced the most complete and delightful relief from
its use, tirged him to put it within the reach of as great a number as possible
of those who suffer from Heart Complaints.
  Wc append a single letter, showing the tenor of a great  number  received
from those who have URed the Keaft Corrector.
                   " No. 8 Forty-Fourth St.,  New York, Jan.  20th. 1856.
   " Dr. S. S. Fitctt  : Dear Sir—I do really desire that every one of the thou-
sands who are suffering from disease of the heart, may be made acquainted
with the fact that you can cure it.   One year ago I called upon  you, with a
disease of the heart,  which had been pronounced incurable by several physi-
cians of this city. My mother had died of the same disease, and others of my
relatives were affected with it.  I had the most distressing palpitation of the
heart, with terrible  pain in the side and chest; at times I had turns of faint-
ing, when Hie heart would beat for a time most violently, and  then seemed
tocease boating altogether, and I was completely prostrated, and nearly  de
prived of consciousness.  You gave me two bottles of your Heart Corrector,
and I took the medicine.  The effect was truly astonishing.   It seemed like
magic ; my distressing feelings were speedily relieved. In  a word the medi-
cine cured me, and  I  have remained well. Let me say, too, that  my aunt,
Mrs. Marv Thompson, of West Haven, New Haven county, Conn., has also
experienced the most marked relief from this same disease by the use of your
Heart Corrector.   I  repeat the wish  that all who need it  should know the
viitr.s  of this wonderful  medicine.  I am satisfied that it would save hun-
dreds of lives if it were only known as it deserved to  be.   Accept my warmest
lhanks for the renewed health you have been the means  of giving me.
            " Respectfully yours,          " MARY Yi.  HURLBURT."
  Apply to any respectable Druggist.  If not found,  send directly to us  P«it
■p in $1.60, and in  75 cent bottles
                             Dita. S. 8. Fitch &  Fon,
                                            714  Broadway, Dew York. 
CONSULTATION  AND   TREATMENT,
                                             Offick of Dr. Samuel S. Fitch,
                                               714 Broadway, New York,

        I always prefer to have the opportunity of a personal  examination of p»
       Cents, whenever it is practicable, and for this purpose desire that they should
       fiat rue at my office when ';hey can -;onveniently do so.
        But a personal examination is not indispensable.  A statement of the symp«
       toms and condition of the patient, v itb a full history of his disease, will en-
       able me to prescribe and »pply my t oatment successfully without seeing him.
        My remedies can be sent, with full directions and instructions,  to any part
       ol the country by expres* or other wis*.   Then, by hearing frequently  from
\      the patient, I can by lette   conduct fie treatment.  In all cases when a reply
       to any letter written to m 8 is expected, a stamp to pay postage mutt be enclosed.
  \     The invalid who wishes  to consult me, is requested to answer all the foi-
   '    lowing quections that in any way relate to his case, and state any other cir-
       cumstance or facts necessary to a full understanding of the case.

1                            QUESTIONS TO INVALIDS.

        Give name,  age, residence, oc -upation f family cmisumptive, or what com
       plaints subject to ? where brrn ind brought up ? married or single ? strong
       or delicate ? lean or fleshy ? kill )r short ? straight or stooping, or deformed f
       height and size around the *aist, two inches above the hips?  color of hair f
___,  complexion? have  you an/hiu? or, scrofula, cancer, skin-disease, headache,
       cough, asthma, rheumatisn, or pain  anywhere? loss of  voice,  hoarseness,
       catarrh, dropsy, expectoral e much, raise blood, feyer or night sweats, chills,
       confined to bed. or house, palpitation, nervous fits, palsy, bad dreams, sow
       or sick s'omaeh, dyspepsia, flatulence, distress at stomach, colic, all-gone feel
_      ing anywhere, costiveness, diarrhoea, appetite good or bad,  piles, fistula,
_y     gravel, heat of urine, or scanty, or sediment ?  If a lady—married ? had any
       female complaints ? irregidarity ? weak back ? pain anywhere ? any bloating f
       bilious, worms, indigent >»r eatiy circumstances? any bad fits of  sickness?
       taken much medicine ?
        The patient is particul irly requested  to state what are  his circumstances,
       as I have found that the  pecuniary condition of the invalid usually  has a
       great influence upon health.  To judge correctly, therefore, in relation to the
       Krobability of  cure, and V> be able to adapt remedies and treatment in tha
       est possible manner, it is essential that I should know what this condition is.
        Those alfiicted with disease of the lungs or throat, I would recommend to
       read my "Six Lectures on the Causea.  Prevention, and Cure of Consumption,
       and the Laws of Life," contained in this volume. I will send a copy by  mail,
       postpaid, to any one requesting it, with the price,  $1.00.
        In writing me, always give your address in full—Name, Post-office, County
       and State—and enclose a stump to pay postage in reply.
        All letters asking counsel or advice, (provided a stamp  to pay postage ia
       enclosed,) receive prompt  attention, and  a candid opinion is always given,
       when requested, as  to the  nature of the disease and the probability of a cure.
                  Addre»                    B, 8.  Frrcn, M.D.,
v                                                  714 Broadway, New York. 
?/
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NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
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