j! $S|ffigjfjS,;>_ BWIBEmoj 1 THI FAMILY ADVISER; OR, A PLAIN AND MODERN PRACTICE of PHYSIC; CALCULATED For the Use of Families who have not the Advantages of a Physician, AND ACCOMMODATED TO THS DISEASES of AMERICA. By HENRT WILKINS, M. D. THE FOURTH EDITION, CORRECTED. To which is Annexed, Mr. WESLEY's Irtmtttbe $ REVISERVtpEsULIfsfy N NEW-YORK ! MINTED BY JOHN C. TOTTEN, EOR THE METHODISE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AND SOLD BY EZEKIEI. COOPER AN» JOHN WILSON> AT THE BOOK-ROOM. 1804. PREFACE. X HE substance of the following pages is chiefly drawn from those excellent authors, Home, Cullen, and M'Bride; whose names alone are a sufficient recommen- dation : They were compiled at the request of our friend Mr. Asbury. The work contains a good description of each disor- der, and its remote causes, as far as known. The prox- imate cause is generally omitted, being unintelligible to those who are not acquainted with medicine, of little use, and much disputed by Physicians. The cure is as lioaj'ie as possible, so as not to interfere with efficacy: few medicines being recommended, and no compounds Where they could be omitted. To this is prefixed the management of the sick, about which the attendants are usually much at a loss. Such medicines as are frequently used are put at th« end, numbered and referred to, which prevents frequent repetition j but those that are not so general, are inserted in the reading. Will not this be much more agreeable to the reader, than a general reference or a general in- sertion ? PREFACE. A few disorders are omitted, because they are not proper to this country, or because they are unmanagea- ble even in the hands of Physicians, or for other as good reasons: otherwise it comprehends as many disorders as Dr. Cullen has treated on. It is recommended to the Methodist Society in parti- cular, by their Friend, THE AUTHOR, Philacklphki, 1793. ♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦ + ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦•♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦•♦♦♦♦♦♦ THE Family Advisery &c. CHAP. I. OF FEVERS IN GENERAL. FEVERS admit of a twofold distinction : first, with respect to their duration ; as into Con- tinued, Remittent and Intermittent Fevers. Continued fevers go to their end, without any very obvious change for better or worse, in a period of twenty-four hours. Remittent fevers either obviously abate at some period or periods during twenty-four hours, or are like a number of short continued fevers link- ed together, abating once in the course of two or three or more days. Intermittents go perfectly off every day, and re- turn the next, which is called a Quotidian ; or every other day, leaving an intermediate well day, called Tertians ; or "every fourth day inclu- sive, leaving two well days, called Quartans. In this manner they go and come till they change, or finish their course. The second distinction respects the state of the system ; as Inflammatory, Nervous and Pu- trid fevers. Inflammatory fevers show more or less the symptoms of general inflammation; strong ac- tion and an absence of every symptom of putridi- ty and insensibility j they are most commonly continued. Nervous fevers show a general debility, insen- sibility, and irregularity, without any symptoms ©f the fluids tending much to dissolution ; though 6 a slight and slow tendency is observable, after they have continued for some time. Putrid fevers sometimes show signs of inflam- matory action for a while ; but these quickly give way to symptoms of putrefaction, viz. blackness of the gums and tongue ; from being lined with foetid secretions : a blackness and fcetor of what is discharged by vomiting, which usually attends: and the same appearance of many of the secre- tions and excretions, particularly the stools ; to which may be added a quick succeeding de- bility. CHAP. II. INFLAMMATORY FEVER. "^TTHIS fever most frequently attacks the young X in the vigour of their life ; such as are of a rustic sanguine athletic constitution, who indulge" themselves in living freely: though sufficient causes will bring it on in some degree, in almost any constitution and way of living. It attacks at all seasons, but most frequently in the spring and beginning of summer. Causes. Heat and cold alternately, or various- ly applied, fatigue, auger, immoderate use of spirituous liquors, watching, &c. &c. Symptoms. It discovers itself by a lassitude, with a dull sensation of the body, debility, alter- nating chills and heats, tremors, pains throughout the whole body, but more particularly about the shoulders, back, knees and head. These are suc- ceeded by an intense and burning heat, an inex- tinguishable thirst, inflamed eyes, tumefaction or fulness of the face, sickness and vomiting, inqui- '•tude, anxiety, full and strong pulse, dry skin, red (though sometimes watery) urine ; rough, dry, yellow, or dark coloured tongue, covered with a crust; difficult breathing, costiveness, cough, watching, delirium, stupor ; and if the r fever is not checked, a coma, or constant tenden- cy to sleep, tremors, partial convulsions, as of the hands, &c. hiccough, involuntary discharges of the belly and bladder take place, and close the scene in death. This is a description of it in its most violent degree. In the greatest number of cases, we meet with it far more moderate; a strong pulse, sick stomach, and thirst being the chief symptoms. Management. The patient should be confined to his bed, in a cool, dark and silent room; the coolness to be regulated by the season. He should abstain from all kinds of meats and strong drinks. For food ; panada, barley, jellies, light unseasoned puddings and pies, may be given in small quantity. For drink ; lemonade, vinegar and water, barley water, herb teas with lemon juice, apple water, tamarind water, or jelly and water, may be given largely. Cure. If the fever be violent, and the patient as described in the first paragraph of the case from half to two thirds of a pint of blood should be taken away (according to the age and customs of the patient,) vas quick as possible ; which may be repeated the next day in lesser quantity, if the fever has not abated. After the first bleeding let him take one ounce of Glauber's salts, which will frequently exclude the necessity of another bleed- ing. After this the bowels should be opened daily, if required, by a common clyster. If after ' one bleeding and a dose of salts, the fever does ^ not go off, which it seldom does, let the patient have one of the powders No. 1. every two hours provided they will remain on his stomach : bu^ if they will not, give the saline mixture No. W two table-spoonfuls every two hours ; and after this has been given some time, if the patient's skin becomes soft and moist, it should be con- tinued in, otherwise lay it aside and try the pow- 8 ders again. If these, when given for a day or two, do not lessen the fever, or if they will not remain, and the saline mixture is ineffectual, and withal bleeding has been practised as far as pru- dent ; it will then be necessary to put a blister on the back of the neck, and to soak the patient's feet in lukewarm water for an hour, if he can bear it ; after this try the powders, or the mixture again, and they will then have their only chance, and in many cases will be effectual. In the slighter cases of this fever, such as I have said, we most commonly meet with, if the patient will allow of it, one bleeding will be pro- per, after which, or in such as will not allow bleeding, give a puke ; two grains of tartar emetic divided into three doses and taken in half an hour, or fifteen grains of ipecacuana, or half a table-spoonful of antimonial wine will answer; after which give the powders or the mixture, and open the bowels with a dose of salts. After the fever has gone off, which usually is attended with a sweat, if the patient is much reduced, let him take a tea-spoonful of bark in port wine, or in water every three hours till he has taken an ounce, after which he may take one or two more at longer intervals. He should use gentle exer- cise in a carriage, and return gradually to his bu- siness and diet. There is a fever which has the name of syno- chus, which in the first stage is of the above type, »but after a tfchile quickly changes to the putrid, to be hereafter described. In such a case all the management and cure above should be relin- quished as soon as the change is observed, and ^he management and cure for the putrid imme- diately adopted. 9 CHAP. III. NERVOUS FEVER. THOSE of relaxed fibres and weak nervous system, are the persons most subject to thi& fever. Causes. Excessive evacuations, repeated sali- vations, immoderate venery, depressions of the mind from grief, watching and night study, hu- mid stagnant air of subterraneous apartments, in- digestible food, especially such as is unfit for nu- trition ; as of cold watery fruits and vegetables ; thin cloathing, rainy seasons, soft moist winter, fee. Sijmptoms. This fever approaches with dejec- tion of mind, loss of appetite, oppression, sleep* lessness, involuntary groans, repeated sighs, fear, unusual lassitude after motion, aad alternate suc- cessions of cold and heat. After some days, a swimming or pain in the head comes on with sick stomach and vomiting of insipid phlegm, great weakness, moderate heat, insensibility to thirst; frequent, weak, and sometimes intermitting pulse ; a moist tongue, sometimes red, and at other times covered with a white or yellowish tough mucus ; dry lips, op- pression about the breast and difficult breathing, pale watery or whey-like urine : a dull sense of pains about the breast and head, dozing, deli- rium, redness and warmth of the face, whilst the feet are cold ; a tendency and disposition to be easily and frequently disturbed by dreams :—af- ter these have taken place and continued some time, they are followed by immoderate sweats and wasting laxes, great dulness and slothfulnessl of the external and internal senses, anxiety and fainting. And now nature being exhausted by the disorder, the tongue trembles, the extremities from a coldishness become cold,thenails turn livid,. 10 sight and hearing perish, the delirium turns to a coma, the belly and bladder are involuntarily eva- cuated, topical convulsions come on, and death closes the scene, usually before the fourteenth day. The symptoms increase in the evening.— The delirium is only a muttering continually ; quite different from the delirium of the former fever: though in this there is generally a great insensibility, and towards the end a loss of sight amd hearing, yet at times in the beginning there is a great and preternatural sensibility to light and noise ; sometimes an eruption like millet seed appears without any alteration for better or worse. A continuance of this fever has brought on temporal idiotism, which vanished with the debility. Management. The patient should be confined to his bed in any airy darkened room, and kept agreeably warm or cool, according to the season. His room, bed and body clothes, face, hands and feet should be kept clean. His diet shouid be light though nourishing, and given frequently, rather than in large quantities at once ; it should be mild: chicken water and broth, or beef tea may be given if the patient desires it, and the ef- fect proves it to be useful ; but the general stock of food should consist of the various preparations of mild, digestible, nourishing vegetables, suffi- ciently well known to every housekeeper ; these should be suited to the patient's appetite ; and changed so as not to pall him with any one. Wine and water may be used from the beginning, though then it may only be given to allay the thirst, and should be made weak : five or six times a day a cup full may be given, even though |* the patient do not ask for it; but as the strength fails it should be made stronger and stronger, and given in as large, quantity as a person in health could take. When the wine has not the effect of increasing the symptoms and rendering the pulse 11 too quick, it may be safely continued in.—Claret is supposed to be the best. Cure. A gentle vomit of 12 grains of ipeca- cuana in a little water may be given in the begin- ning, and may be repeated the next day. The bowels should be opened with thirty grains of rhubarb, and costiveness continually prevented by small doses of the same medicine. A blister ' should be applied to the side early in the disease, and when it has drawn, the water let out, and the part dressed with a colewort leaf, or a little Tur- ner's cerate ; after this another may be applied to the other side, or to the back of the neck, pro- vided no bad symptoms follow the first; if,they do, blisters should be laid aside till a state of in- sensibility comes on, when they should be applied successively, as long as they are attended with advantage. If the patient's skin be dry in the beginning, let him take three or four grains of James's powder in thick syrup thuee or four times a day, washing it down with snake-roo% tea ; yet not so as to sweat the patient. If the James's powder is not to be had, one-eighth of a grain of tartar emetic may be used in its stead. When the debility increases, let the patient begin and take two table-spoonfuls of thy decoction of bark No. 3. every hour or two, putting a little mint water with it, and when the patient has taken this some time, let him take the bark in substance with wine : one tea-spoonful of bark in two table spoonfuls of old claret every two or three hours : this, or No. 4. should be continued in till the pa- tient perfectly recovers. When the patient has been much harassed for want of sleep, have his feet bathed at evening in * tepid water, and give him ten or fifteen drops of laudanum. This practice may be continued as long as it proves effectual in procuring sleep. In those cases that proceed from excessive evacua- 12 tions there is little hope, and scarce any thing should be attempted, but the strengthening plan. The patient should carefully shun all the causes, and use a generous diet with regular va- ried exercise of body a»d mind, and be sparing of his strength. CHAP. IV. PUTRID FEVER. THOSE who are of a relaxed habit and gloo- my disposition; those who have been debi- litated by living upon bad victuals, by venery, fa- mine, labour, or loss of rest, &c. easily take this fever, (which is caused by putrid contagion or noxious air) and difficultly emerge from it. Symptoms. An intense consuming though re- mitting heat, particularly inwards; small, fre- quent, and unequal pulse without strength ; throb- bing of the arteries that run along the neck and temples ; great prostration of strength, heaviness ] without sleep; and when sleep does take place, / little or no refreshment is gained from it; an anxious, dejected, and desponding mind, nausea, and vomiting of black bile, pain of the head and ! temples, redness of the eyes, and pain about their sockets ; dusky countenance, noise in the ears, interrupted breathing, with sighs and foetid breath; pains about the stomach, joints and back, diffi- culty of lying in one posture, trembling, delirium. At first the tongue is whitish but quickly changes blackish, whilst the lips, teeth and gums are beset with a tough disagreeable mucus ; an inextin- guishable thirst attends with a bitter mawkish taste, which is communicated to the drink. The urine, on the increase of the disorder, becomes blackish or red with a sediment: The sweats be- come foetid, the stools livid, black or bloody, and j very foetid; and if the fever goes on, a thrush and | 13 ulcers- attack the mouth and throat: blood is dis- charged from different parts, a hiccough and other partial convulsions come on, which death scarce ever fails to follow. Management. The patient should have fresh air admitted by keeping the door of his chamber open, if it is not too cold, and by opening his win- dows, if it is summer time, and the weather clear. Saltpetre or vinegar should be burned upon the hearth in winter, and boughs of trees and flowers thrown about the room in summer. His hands, face and feet should be washed daily in vinegar and water, or wine and water ; he should be shaved frequently, and shifted in bed and bodv clothes as frequently as can be af- forded, if it be daily: in fine, the greatest atten- tion should be paid to cleanliness. His food should be mostly of acid vegetables, such as plense his appetite and stomach best. His drink should be port wine diluted ; this he should drink more and more of, as he becomes more debili- tated, so as to make it his drink and medicine : a qinrt a clay maybe used ; this he should continue in for some time after he has recovered, though in smaller doses : A fresh airing every day, after recovery, will be highly useful. Cure. An emetic of eight grains of ipecacuana and one of tartar emetic, or half a table-spoonful of antimonial wine, should be given as quick as possible, beside this, twenty-five or thirty grains of rhubarb, or two drachms of cream of tartar, should be given in a little jelly, to open the bow- els, after which the decoction of bark No. 3. should be given : two table spoonfuls with a little mint water, every hour ; if the stomach bear this well, and the symptoms of putrefaction and de- bility inerease, the bark in substance should1 be used: a tea-spoonful in lemon juice and mint water every hour. But if the stomach do not B 14 bear the bark, or if the heat and fever be consi- derable, applv a blister to the breast, and give a dose of the "saline mixture, or one of the fol- lowing pills, between the times of taking the bark, viz, Camphor beat to an impalpable pow- der, with common spirits, twenty-four grains, powdered seneca root as much ; make them up with syrup. If the stomach still refuse the bark in the above ways, try it in triple quantities in clysters, or try the vinous tincture, No. 4. The bark is the only chance, we are therefore to persist in its use till a cure is made. Three drops of oil of vitriol in a glass of water every hour, may be tried where the delicacy of the stomach, or fever, will not admit any preparation of bark ; but, as it is apt to gripe, it should never be used when the bowels are affected. Clysters of salt, sugar, and decoction of bitter herbs are to be used to keep the bowels regular, or some of the gentle purges mentioned above ; but it will be often best to use first one and then the other, according to circumstances. In case this fever should be of a remittent form, the re- missions should be greatly attended to, and a dou- ble quantity of bark given if possible. Some- times a lax with distension of the belly comes on after a while, in such a case, the belly should be fomented with bitter herbs, boiled and applied warm, and one grain of ipecacuana, with five drops of laudanum, given every two hours. Sometimes spots break out in this fever, then it has been termed the Spotted Fever; at other times there is a yellowness of the skin, then it is termed the yellow or West India fever. Jn this last case the symptoms of putridity are in this country more lenient, and a considerable vomiting sometimes hinders the giving of medicine : in this case a blister to the breast and the efferves- 15 eing saline mixture have been found effectual t» stop the vomiting ; but in general the treatment is the same as recommended above. In the end of these fevers*, some physicians re- commend blisters to rouse the patient: if they be applied the skin should not be peeled off as is sometimes done, but only opened to discharge the water, and then dressed with Turner's cerate. But the beginning or first stage is the most pro- per for blisters. CHAP. V. REMITTENT FEVER. CAUSES. Exposure to the sun for hours to- gether, or the effects of a cool evening, and other similar causes after fatigue or summer heat. Thus there is no difference in the real causes of this fever and intermittents, except in the degree and mode of their application. Symptoms. Alternating cold and heat, followed by a continued heat and a fever : sometimes a de- lirium comes on at the first attack. The patient is distressed with thirst and vomit- ing, usually of bile ; pain of the head, back, and joints ; the region of the stomach swells, and be- comes painful; the tongue is white and moist, and the patient is harrassed with sleeplessness ; the skin and eyes are of a yellow cast; the pulse is sometimes a little hard, and seldom full ; the bowels are sometimes bound, sometimes loose : with these symptoms the fever usually proceeds, for 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 days, at one of which times, after a little sweat it remits, and the patient becomes evidently better. After a few hours have elapsed, commonly in the evening, the accession comes on, sometimes with, at other times without a chill, and so goes on as before t In this manner, that is, by accessions and remis- sions, the fever goes on to its final period. 16 A copious sweat and discharge of blood from the nose, or an universal yellowness, commonly attend the conclusion of it. After the fever ha§ gone off, a great lightness of the head attends, so that the patient can scarce walk : rheumatic pains, and dropsical swellings sometimes follow. Management. The patient should be kept cool and airy ; he should have plenty of acid drinks, as lemonade, jelly, tamarind water, and for food, he should have toasted bread moistened with a little tea, baked fruits, rice, sago, barley, ike. but these, though proper, will seldom have a place, as the patient can scarce ever contain on his stomach what his little appetite inclines him to take : but the toast has often been found to stay, when no- thing else would. Cure. If the vomiting be considerable, a little camomile tea may be given to promote it a mo. ment or two, that a remission may be procured to give the saline mixture No. 2. one table spoonful every hour. When this sits on the stomach pret- ty well, ten drops of antimonial wine and a little mint water may be added to each dose, and the medicine continued : but if the vomiting be only slight, the best way to procure a remission of the symptoms will be to give an emetic, one tea- spoonful of antimonial wine, may be given every ten minutes until it operates, or 12 grains of ipe- cacuana may be given at once, after which the mixture may be given in the manner directed, with antimonial wine. If the vomiting resists every thing given, or if a remission does not take place in a few days, blisters should be used ; on the breast in the first case, on the back of the neck in the last. Some- times a bundle of mint stewe.d in wine, and ap- plied to the breast, has been found useful in 0y tr checking the vomiting, therefore it may be tried before a blister. Costiveness should be regularly obviated by taking a tea-spoonful or more of cream of tartar, or by using the common clysters of salts, sugar and milk occasionally. When the patient has suffered for want of sleep, after giving a clyster, and bathing the feet in luke- warm water for half an hour, ten or fifteen drops of laudanum may be given in a dose of the saline mixture No. 2. and this should be done after noon before the increase of the fever, for it usual- ly makes some increase towards night. When the fever remits, the decoction of bark should be given, two table-spoonfuls every hour, and if the accession is postponed by it, the bark in substance should be given, as long as the ac- cession is absent; in some cases it will put it off altogether ; then, as well as when the fever ceases, the bark should be given in large quantities, until the patient recovers his strength. When a lax attends, four grains of rhubarb and one of ipecacuana with two drops of lauda- num, may be given every three or four hours in- ste:!'l of the saline mixture. When great sweats attend in the end, it may be necessary to add five drops of elixir of vitriol to each or every other dose of bark ; in case a headach follows, apply a small blister behind the ear, and repeat it if necessary. The patient should be very careful in avoiding the causes of this fe- ver, or he will experience a relapse. CHAP. VI. INTERMITTENT FEVER (commonly) FEVER AND AGUE. /CAUSES. The relaxing heat of summer, espe- ^ cially when accompanied with moisture and B2 18 bad air of marshy places, will so relax the surface and expose the extreme vessels to the air, that nothing more than the usual effects of common air is necessary to bring on the fever; at other times, when the predisposition is not so great, a cool air will produce it. Symptoms. A languor, with yawning and stretching, coldness, sick stomach, rigors and tre- mors, usually attend the commencement; the cold with shivering continues in a very considerable de- gree, for one, two, or three hours, when it begins to give way, first to flushes, and then to a continual Durning heat and fever, with a full pulse and thirst. Pain of the head and frequently of the joints, at- tended sometimes with a delirium. After this has continued for some time, a sweat breaks out, which becomes profuse, and this is succeeded by an intermission of a part, a whole, or two days, according to the type. See page 5. In the inter- mission, the patient is affected with scarce any thing but debility. The fever returns again at the end of the time mentioned, with the same symptoms, and so goes on to its end, unless it changes its form. Quotidians come on in the morning, and usually attack the delicate and irri- table. Tertians come on about noon, and usually attack the more robust and vigorous. Quartans come on in the afternoon, and most commonly at- tack the aged and torpid. Management. Sometimes the ague so reduces the patient, that it will be necessary to keep him warm and give a little wine ; but this is seldom the case. In common, nothing is necessary but to lie down. In time of the fever, lemonade and other acid drinks, or warm teas may be used ; the former will be most grateful. In the intermission, port-wine and water, and a strengthening easy-digested diet will be proper. Cure. In the beginning of the cold stage, Lf the 19 patient is able to take a puke, he should take one : three grains of tartar emetic in a gill of water, may be taken in the course of forty minutes, if required to take all: or 15 grains of ipecacuana in a spoonful of water, or a tea-spoonful of anti- monial wine every fifteen minutes; either of these may be used : the tartar is the most active and effectual, but acts too rough with some. Wrhen this has been taken, and the fever has come on, a sweating should be encouraged, by taking about three pints of warm drink in the course of two hours, to which one hundred drops of anti- monial wine may be added, to make it more ef- fectual. In case the patient cannot take a puke, let him take an Anderson's pill to open his bowels before the time of the ague, and when the fever has come on and continued a while, let him take fifteen drops of laudanum, and fifteen of antimoni- al wine, in a cup of warm tea, every half hour, for three times. But when nothing forbids a puke but the per- son's inclination, he may take just before the fit or after it is over some time, the following pow- der : twenty grains of rhubarb, and five of calo- mel in a little syrup, and when the fever comes on, take the warm drink as above. These medicines will prepare for the exhibi- tion of bark, which should be given immediately after the sweat goes off. Any of the preparations may be given, but the powder is the best; it may be given in mint water, milk or wine; one tea- spoonful every hour till the ague comes on again ; then it should be laid aside till this is over, when it is to be given again ; the patient should not cease under an ounce and an half, or two ounces. If, when this has been taken the ague does not cease, another puke should be used as before. In all cases the bowels should be kept open by An- derson's pills, or rhubarb.. 20 Sometimes twenty drops of laudanum given be- fore the ague, will put it off, and sometimes giving it just before the patient is expected to sweat, will prepare for the bark ; sometimes a quantity of snake-root tea at the same time will prove ef- fectual; and in many cases bitters, of horehound, dogwood, rue, &c. will do as well as bark. The fever and ague, after it has continued for sometime, is apt to associate custom with its causes of recurrence : and thus it will frequently continue through such seasons as it would not have begun in. In such cases as these almost any al«? teration in the system will lessen or remove it; thus keeping the patient under expectation, fear or joy, have often removed it; and thus the im- positions of old women have often been effectual, when the faith of her patient has roused his ex- pectation, and fixed his attention. Though such things may at times be allowed, yet I would cau- tion every prudent person to kt cp his skin to him- self, and not let ignorant quacks fill up their lack of knowledge upon him, with the virulence of an arsenical plaster, or a more dangerous bolus. CHAP. VII. HECTIC FEVER. f^AUSES. Violent racks of the constitution from ^ any cause, absorption of matter from ulcers, excessive relaxation, and delicacy of any part that is exposed to irritation, as the lungs, stomach, and bowels ; all these causes are attended with general debility, and particular relaxation of the parts that defend the tender extreme vessels, from the ir- ritations which act about them. Symptoms. The fever usually comes on in the forenoon, sometimes with considerable chills or coldness, which last some time ; this is succeed- ed by heat, a quick, small, and weak puke ia general, though sometimes there is some hardness in it, especially in those who are not much reduc- ed, and early in the complaint; this sometimes lessens towards evening, and again increases at night; at other times it continues on without any very obvious change till towards morning, when it intermits or greatly remits with a profuse sweat which lasts a considerable time: the sweats do not appear in the first stage, that is in profusion. A headach usually attends the fever, as also a sick stomach, both of which grow better in the inter- mission, or remission. The tongue is usually clean in this fever, the belly at first is often bound, l;it in the end a lax almost always attends. The patient wastes away gradually, his feet swell, particularly at night, his hair falls off, his nails become crooked and thick,, his face sharp, and a general failing takes place in every thing but his expectations of getting better, and his understanding, which usually remain to the last. This is the most usual form, but there is some variety, owing to the variety of the parts affected, and the state of the patient. Management. The patient should have the lightest and most nourishing food given him in small quantities at a time, and at such times chief- ly as the fever is absent or slight, thus his break- fast or dinner at ten o'clock, should contain most of what he should eat. Milk is very proper when the stomach will receive it: sometimes it may be most agreeable when diluted with water and sweetened, at other times it may sit better when boiled. Custards, light puddings, chicken water and broth, beef tea, rye mush, corn mush, with the common vegetables of the grain kind, are mostly proper. Weak wine and water in the ab- sence of fever ; barley water and snge tea at pthar times, will be proper for drink. The patient 22 should be kept clean, and when his strength ad- mits, he should be aired in a chair, and at all times have access to pure air. Cure. In many cases it may be needless to at- tempt any thing but a removal of the cause, when the fever will quickly cease : but in general both the one and the other are to be combated. For treating the causes I refer to the places where they are treated of (though some of them could not have a place in this book, as they belong to sur- gery) for the treatment of the fever alone, the de- bility should be removed and the fever interrupt- ed : for the first, when nothing forbids, bitters and bark are necessary ; also elixir of vitriol, which may be given to sixty drops a day. These are to be taken whilst the fever is off, or when it has greatly remitted, just before the time when the return is expected, and again after it has com- menced, one of the following powders may be given ; ipecacuana two grains, magnesia one tea- spoonful, mix them and give it in a little camomile tea. When a lax comes on, there is little hope, but the following may he given ; columbo root one drachm, pour one gill of boiling water upon it and in a quarter of an hour strain it off: to this twentydrops of laudanum may be added ; this may be used in the course of eight hours, and repeated* —Rice will now be the»t)est food. CHAP. VIII. INFLAMMATION OF THE EYE, r^AUSES. These act either externally or inter- *-' nally, though frequently both take place in producing the affection. The externals are, violence, dust, cold winds, changes from heat to cold, viewing minute ob- jects or bright bodies; metallic fumes, great heat, ©specially when .accompanied with moisturei B4 night reading, fee. The internal causes are, checked excretions, as the menses, fee. repulsion of some eruptive disorders, long continued ulcers dried up, immoderate use of spirituous liquors and spices, fevers, measles, scrophula, venereal dis- ease, fee. fee. Symptoms. Redness, swelling, stiffness, and pain of the ball of the eye or the lids ; both from an inflammation of the vessels that pass over and through them, being filled with too much blood, or with red blood, instead of the fine white parts of it. When the inflammation is considerable, a fever attends ; and in such cases there is dangeft>f the effects, unless speedily prevented by curing the disease. Management. In no case a cure can be hoped for, unless the causes be removed, which in many cases will be followed with an immediate cure. If any body be lodged in the eye, it is to be extract- ed, and if another disease be the cause, it must be cured by the means directed for such disease. In every case the patient should avoid exercising his eyes any more than what there is necessity for:—He should confine himself to a dark room, or apply a fold of green silk over his eyes, and use an umbrella in the summer^ His food should be light and mostly vegetable, in all cases without pepper or mustard. His drink should be cooling and acid, without any mixture of spirit. His room should be cooled with sprinkling in the summer time. Cure. If there be a fever, or if the inflamma- tion be considerable, and the patient able to bear bleeding, he should lose half a pint of blood, which may be repeated if necessary; this should be followed by a dose of salts, or if the patient's case do not require bleeding, or other circumstances prevent it, the salts then should 34. be the first thing. All this is to be done after the cause is removed, and thus in many cases where removing the cause will be the chief means of cure, they will have no place ; as where the in- flammation proceeds from the venereal disease, scrophula, &c. One of the fever powders, No. 1. when the fever continues, or the in- flammation remains obstinate, given every four hours, will be serviceable. The belly should be kept regular by cream of tartar or small doses of salts, or of jalap and nitre: of jalap fifteen' grains, nitre twenty-five, mix them.—For external applications, a blister behind the ears is most ef- fectual, and to the eyes the following : sugar of lead twelve grains to half a pint of water, or as' much white vitriol to an equal quantity of water: to either of which, when the inflammation has continued, and the former remedies have been used, may be added a table-spoonful of brandy. These external applications (the blister except- ed) will be proper in every case and time. The weakness that follows requires that the patient use either a general or topical cold bath, and avoid much application and exposure, CHAP. IX. INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN. THIS is either a symptomatic disorder, as when it follows in the course of a primary af- fection : or it is original, being primary itself—of this alone I shall treat, that requiring the treat- ment of the concomitant disorder. It usually attacks in the beat of summer those of an irascible disposition, who are in their youth' and given to study. Causes. Drunkenness, watching, long exposure to the sun, anger, excessive cogitation, grief, care vehement desires, external violence, certain poil 25 sons, and suppressions of particular discharges ? as the piles, the discharge after parturition. Symptoms. It begins with rigors, which are followed by heat, pain and throbbing of the head, disturbed sleep, noise within the head and ears, inflammation and pain in the eyes, with inability to bear the light and noise, and a bloated coun- tenance—the pulse is low, oppressed and quick, often weak as well as low, though sometimes it is hard : the patient continues without any sleep for a long time, sometimes till the eighth day: the arteries along the neck perceptibly throb, and blood sometimes issues by drops from tij£ nose } great debility, anxiety and sighing attend, yet the patient is subject to anger, fierce delirium, start- ings and convulsions. When the* disorder h as ceased, a swimming and heaviness of the \e!,d weak eyes, and great delicacy of heari^in. atten£i for a considerable time. * ° Management. The patient sho;aId be confined J" fV'Tj i I Td' f^"1 '"nd c°o1 ™°m J his bed should be hard, and Hk nead somewhat raised upon it. He should 'naye lent of acid CQol ? S V1 ? a":/ mixture of sPirit« His food should be of panada> barley, jellyi &c# The causes oi 'tftc disorder must De carefuny re_ moved^ J 1 c.ure. The patient should be bled pretty free- ly, and this may be repeated again and again in less quantities, during the first 48 hours ; pro- vided the symptoms demand it, and the patient be able to bear it:—the pulse will usually be the best guide; for if this does not sink very low, there will be no danger from bleeaing. A dose of salts should be given after the first bleeding, and it may be necessary to repeat this the next day. Clysters may be given daily, such as No. 5.; one of the fever powders No. 1. may be given even- three hours, beginning after the ope- c 26 ration of the first dose of the salts. The patient's head should be shaved and washed with cold vi- negar and water. If the delirium runs on after the above evacuations, a large blister should be applied to the crown of the head, and when this has drawn, others, if necessary, may be applied to the ankles. When the patient has suffered some time for want of sleep, the feet should be bathed half an hour or twice as long, in water moderately warm, and if this is ineffectual, let him have ten or fif- teen drops of laudanum, or a tea-spoonful of pa- regoric«it night, with this care, that if it makes him worse, to discontinue it; but if it has the desired effect, to persist giving it every night, if required. A nourishing diet and the use of wine should be gradually entered into, after the symptoms of danger are perfectly gone, in order to prevent the succeeding symptoms of debility. Great care will be necessary to avoid the causes of this disorder, as slighter ones may cause a re« lapse or repetition. CHAP. X. QUINSEY. f^AUSES. The application of cold to the neck ^ or throat, a stream of cool air applied with force to the very part; as in riding and running: these causes produce their effect more certainly when preceded by heat. Exercising the parts that suffer, as in singing, and loud speaking; acrids, mechanic bodies, suppressed evacuations, or artificial evacuations, that have been long used, neglected. Symptoms. This complaint usually appears with redness and swelling of the glands situated %7 on each side of the palate ; one is usually most swelled in the beginning, and as this declines, the other increases : a pain that shoots towards the ear attends, with feverish symptoms, and a strong, full, quick pulse : The patient feels a disagreeable clamminess, and the tumour is usually tipped with whitish mucus. In some cases the external parts are much swelled ; sometimes scarce any tumour is to be perceived by looking into the mouth, and at the same time the difficulty of swallowing and pain may be very considerable ; In the worst cases the breathing becomes very difficult, the tumours closing up the passage almost entirely : then the patient sits with his mouth open, his drink regur- gitates through his nostrils, and he is ready to strangle every minute for want of a free respira- tion, which is totally impeded when the patient dies. What is usually termed a sore-throat, is a lesser degree of this same affection, therefore the same remedies maybe used, omitting the most general and powerful one of bleeding. Management. The patient should be kep* nei- ther hot nor cold : he should have a light vegeta- ble diet of a fluid preparation ; his drink should be of the acid kind, and not cold or warm, but just aired. His head should be kept up in bed, or he may sit up altogether ; speaking, and every exertion of the throat should be avoided, and the causes should be removed. Cure. The patient should be bled pretty free- ly, and this may be repeated the next clay if ne- cessary : he should take a dose of salts as soon as possible, and then a blister should be applied un- der the throat, of a slim form, so that it may reach from ear to ear : the bowels should be re- gularly kept open : before the tumour has become very considerable, fifteen grains of ipecacuana wili 28 be of great service. In such patients as do not allow of bleeding, this maybe the first medicine. Warm water and vinegar should be inspired from a proper machine for the purpose, or from a funnel put over a wooden bowl of water and Vi- negar ; the mouth should be frequently gargled with astringent washes, as sage tea and vinegar; or alum-vinegar and honey, or decoction of oak bark and saltpetre. Scarifications with a lancet are necessary where there is danger of choaking ; and likewise to let out the matter when the tu- mours have suppurated. If the patient is liable to frequent returns of this affection, I would advise him to use the cold bath daily ; at any rate to wash his neck, and ha- bituate himself to wear nothing but a very thi* stock or ribband, instead of a large neckloth. CHAP. XI. PUTRID SORE THROAT. rT~,HIS disorder has for its cause, specific cen- ■*• tagion, and therefore attacks all ages and constitutions. Symptoms. It begins with chills, which are followed by an intense and burning heat, a swim- ming and pain of the head, a troublesome sensa- tion in the throat, sickness and vomiting, loose- ness, inflamed and watery eyes, tumid and flushed face, with a stiffness of the neck, a small, fre- quent, and and irregular pulse, foetid breath, and a disagreeable taste. Very soon, white spots ap. pear on the glands each side of the palate, and these with the palate appear red, swoln and glos- sy : these spots spread and unite, covering almost all of the mouth with thick sloughs, which falling off, leave ulcers in their places ; the redness and tumour are sometimes extended tp the internal parts of the aose. 29 On the second day, or later, efflorescences ap- pear on the skin, which are sometimes in such small eminences as scarcely to be seen, but more usually spread in red patches, so as to cover the whole skin : beginning first about the face and neck, and so extending to the extremities, which feel stiff and swelled; this usually continues about four days, and then goes off with a peeling of the skin. The glands about the neck are sometimes swelled to an alarming degree. As the complaint advances, discharges of blood from different parts are frequent, and sometimes a gangrene takes place at the beginning of the windpipe, or of the oesophagus, the channel which leads to the sto- mach. The patient's voice is hoarse and flat, though his swallowing is not usually much impeded ; with these symptoms it runs on from two to seven or more days, increasing every evening. Management. For food, drinks, and general management, the same may be used as directed for the putrid fever, only a less degree of cold will be requisite in this. Cure. Ten grains of ipecacuana should be given early in the complaint: three grains of calomel in a little honey, may be given once or twice the evenings after the puke, and if the first dose pro- duces more than two stools, it should be checked by giving ten drops of laudanum. This medicine will often prove very efficacious, without pro- ducing any discharge. Some of the preparations of bark, or the powder, which is best, should be given every two hours after the puke, and to the end of the complaint. The throat should be fre- quently washed with the following: one hundred drops of elixir of vitriol or twenty drops of oil of vitriol to half a pint of water, and one spoonful of honey. Spring water coloured with indigo has been found useful as a gargle. Port wine C2- 30 should be given to a pint, or quart a day, with the bark. If the tumour in the inside of the throat he considerable, a blister should be laid on the outside. For the swelling of the legs, which sometimes follows; the patient may use eight drops of elixir of vitriol with each dose of bark, four times a day. CHAP. XII. CROUP OR HIVES. fiAUSES. Foregoing disorders, as the mea- *-' sles and the whooping cough ; cold moist air from the water. It most frequently happens to such as live in •eaport towns; and to children, from the time they are weaned to their twelfth year. Symptoms. It sometimes comes on with the symptoms of a common cold only ; but the par- ticular symptoms are a hoarseness, and a ringing sound of the voice, at the same time there is an uneasiness, or pain in the throat, and a whizzing noise in breathing, as if the passage was too much straitened for the air; the patient has a cough that is either dry, or accompanied with the dis- charge of flakes of phlegm, like a membrane ; the pulse is quickened, and an uneasy sense of heat attends. By looking into the throat, a red- ness and flakes of phlegm like those discharged, may sometimes be perceived. It has happened that the patient has been taken off without scarce any complaining, in three, four or five days. Management. The patient should not be kept cold, nor disagreeably warm, he should have a spare thin vegetable diet, with light acid, or bit- ter drinks, as teas of various herbs. In time of 31 coughing, he should be raised and assisted, to keep him from strangling. Cure. The patient should take a puke as quick as possible. (If he is twelve years old, ten grains of ipecacuana, and half a grain of tartar emetic, will not be too much, for there is a great degree of insensibility in the stomach in this complaint; if he is only four years old, let him have half as much, or one teaspoonful of antimonial wine, to be repeated every quarter of an hour, till it ope- rates.) After taking the puke, he should take four grains (if twelve years) of calomel, and ten of jalap, the evening of the same day ; after this, for three or four days, he should take one day the puke, and the next the purge; after the first puke and purge, a blister should be laid on the back of the neck. Throughout the complaint, the steams of warm vinegar, or of water in which there is»a large lump of lime slacking, (which is supposed to be a solvent) may be drawn into the throat; warm teas, and soaking the feet, may be used to restore the perspiration to the surface. CHAP. XIII. THE MUMPS. CONTAGION is the cause of this complaint. Symptoms. It makes its appearance with the usual febrile symptoms, of chills succeeding heat, and quickened pulse ; this is shortly fol- lowed by a swelling, at the corner of the lower jaw, of a moveable glandular nature ; in a little time it diffuses itself over the whole neck ; some- times both sides are affected. It continues in- creasing till about the fourth day, and then de- clines with the fever. As the swelling recedes, some tumour is apt to take place in the testes of males, and in the breasts of women. Sometimes 94 taxation of the pain and fever, should induce the patient to omit any of the above remedies, tor life and death are pretty certainly fixed to the narrow compass of a few days. If the pulse is strong, and bleeding has been omitted as long as six or seven days, it would be then better done than let alone ; but if the pulse flags, and the pa- tient has had a frequent shivering about the last days, it will then be better, if not the very safety of the patient, to forbear. At such a time a blis- ter might be applied without any injury, but if a suppuration has taken place, it will be of no ser- vice ; however those who are not proper judges had better make the application, lest there might have been an insufficient inflammation for to sup- purate in that time ; and with this the patient may use what will be proper in the last case of every pleurisy when the cough is troublesome : a tea-spoonful of paregoric in a little flaxseed, or other tea, once in four or five hours. In the lat- ter stages, it may be necessary to support the pa- tient's strength with decoctions of bark, and a light nourishing diet. Seneca snake-root tea, the pleurisy root, or common saltpetre taken to one fourth of an ounce a day, in whey or gruel, may sometimes alone, and often after a bleeding, remove a pleurisy ; but they should only be tried, when the person cannot procure the above prescribed remedies. CHAP. XV. BASTARD OR SPURIOUS PLEURISY. THIS usually attacks the aged, those of a phlegmatic full habit, who have injured their constitutions by excess of drinking, parti- cularly, and are liable to the vicissitudes of the weather, from being much exposed. I 35 Cause. The long application of cold suddenly succeeded by heat, and heating drinks; this, with the predisposition laid down above, is the chief, if not the only cause. Symptoms. It makes its appearance with chills and flushes, which are followed by a slight fever, with a soft, not very frequent pulse. The heat of the patient is not usually much increased ; a pain affects the side, or breast, which is not very pungent, but rather dull and extending ; a violent pain in the head, sick stomach, and sometimes vo- miting, are more or less present. From the begin- ning, it is common for a cough, straitened breath- ing, and spitting of tough mucus, to attend. An erysipelatous redness often appears on the cheeks, and a looseness attends the advanced stage of the disease. The patient is apt to be heavy arid drowsy ; thus though there be a pain in the side, and a fever, it is easily distinguished from a true inflammatory affection of the breast. Management. The patient should be kept to- lerably warm, his diet should be light and nou- rishing, and in the beginning, if the feverish symptoms are not considerable, he may have weak wine and water for his drink ; in the end it will always be proper, for the patient frequently becomes fainty, and is not able to take any thing besides. Lemonade may be used, when wine and water cannot be given for the fever ; and when lemons cannot be got, vinegar and water, or cyder and water. Cure. Bleeding, though it may sometimes be proper, as when the patient is of a more robust habit, and better constitution than what is de- scribed above, and when he has been accustomed to bleeding, and withal the pulse and par: are not low, yet it should be used sparingly and cau- tiously, otherwise, in ninety cases out of one hun- dred, it would be injurious. In the beginning it 36 will be proper to give ten or twelve grains of ipecacuana ; or a tea-spoonful of antimonial wine, every fifteen minutes until it operates ; a blister may be put on at the same time, as near as possi* ble to the pain ; the puke may be repeated once or twice if necessary, and sometimes it will be ne- cessary to lay on another blister close by the for- mer ; twenty grains of jalap, or thirty grains of rhubarb, or a table-spoonful of castor oil, or four or five grains of calomel, may be used to remove any costiveness that is present: this should be attended to throughout. For the cough, two drachms of gum ammoniac, dissolved by trituration in a mortar, with naif a pint of water, may be given, one table-spoonful every hour: or an ounce of syrup (commonly called oxyme) of squills, in as much water, may be given in the same way. Seneca snake-root or pleurisy root tea may be used, if those cannot be procured ; to either of these medicines at night a dozen drops of laud a- 1 num may be added, in order to allay the cough, J that the patient may rest; and if the cough is very frequent in the day, a few drops may be taken every now and then. Towards the end when the patient grows weak, he should use about sixty drops of elixir of vitriol a-day, and use a decoction of bark or some good bitters. Great care will be requisite to prevent the re. turn of this disorder, whyen the weather is fa- vourable to produce it. CHAP. XVI. i SPASMODIC STITCH, or INTERCOSTAL ; RHEUMATISM. THIS complaint is prevalent when the changes of weather are frequent, as in the spring and 3* fall. It usually attacks the young, those under forty years, those who are of a delicate, effeminate constitution, rather than those of a broken state of health. Exposure to cold, more particularly after heat and damp cloudy weather are the causes. Symptoms. It begins with a lancinating pain, most frequently about the ribs of one side ; this remits a while, and then returns again, so as^almost to make the patient scream out. After a while it becomes fixed, and does not abate, though it is apt to extend, and even to change its place, so that the muscles of the breast are frequently at- tacked, and there are pains in other parts that point out a rheumatic affection : with the above a fever, sometimes pretty smart, at other times less, attends. In most cases the pulse is not strong, but easily stopped by pressing it, to what it is in true pleurisy. Frequently a cough attends, which is apt to increase towards the end of the other symptoms, at which time it is accompanied with spitting of yellow, tough mucus ; some de- gree of costiveness usually attends, and most of the symptoms are worse at night. The breathing is not in general affected so much as in pleurisy, little or no cough attends ; the head is usually much affected with pain, and as the pain of the side declines, the knees or back are sometimes attacked, if not before. Management. The patient should be kept on a vegetable, moderate diet. His drink may be warm herb teas. Cure. If the patient be pretty full of blood, and his pulse tolerably strong, it will then be prudent and useful to take away half a pint or more of blood. A blister should be laid over the part, a dose of castor oil, or of fifteen grains of jalap and as much cream of tartar should be given to open his bowels: if the pain continues, some proper 38 sweating medicine should be given, as four grama ; of camphor beat up with honey into a bolus, to which two grains of ipecacuana may be added, this much should be taken every three or four hours, washing it down with seneca snake root tea, or warm balm tea : or in the place of these, a tea-spoonful of paregoric and twenty drops of antimonial wine may be taken every three hours ; using plenty of warm tea in the intervals. This last mixture will be proper for the cough, taken in the same quantity and times. CHAP. XVII. INFLAMMATION OF THE .STOMACH. CAUSES. External violence, high seasoned food, acrid medicine or poisons; hard bodies swallowed, as of glass or stone; cold drink, when the body is heated; distension from an over quantity of food that is of difficult diges- tion ; inflammations of the adjacent parts extend- ing to the stomach ; besides these causes, a trans- lation of affection in other disorders are causes ; as in the gout, small pox, measles, St. Anthony's fire ; but these require a treatment connected with the primary affection, which cannot be treated of here. Symptoms. A violent, pungent, and sometimes throbbing pain at the pit of the stomach, with burning and painful vomiting ; a hiccough, anxie- ty and difficult breathing ; great weakness ; after taking any thing in the stomach the pain increases, and it is discharged by vomiting: the pulse is commonly small, hard and quick. Management. The patient should be kept from swallowing any thing but mild drinks, as. barley water, milk and water, &c. he should keep him- self as still as possible in a dark room. Cure. If any thing that is acrid, or that may i n 39 jure the stomach mechanically, has been taken in, it should be evacuated as quick as possible by tak- ing plenty of warm water, and applying a feather to the throat, to induce immediate vomiting; but if the vomiting is already considerable, it should not be solicited after vomiting; if the cause be some acrid, it should be deluted with mucilaginous drinks, as gum arable dissolved in water; or oils may be given, as sweet oil or al- mond oil; at the same time it should be counter- acted by a proper medicine. Thus if it be vitriol, or spirit of salt, or aqua fortis, let the patient take a table-spoonful of salt of tartar, or if he can get none of that let him get a piece of chalk and eat it. If it be arsenic, two tea spoonfuls of precipi- tate sulphur may be swallowed. After this, or where these have not been requirecTTVom the na- ture of the cause, the patient should lose a~pint of blood, and in case the pain continues, and the pulse does not sink and intermit, half as much more may be taken away in eight hours following; a blister after the first bleeding should be applied to the left side, and clysters of oil, sugar, milk, and a little saltpetre, should be injected every three hours : four grains of sugar of lead in a little water may be given every two hours the first dav : nothing but the medicine mentioned should be applied by the mouth. CHAP. XVIII. INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES S>AUSES. Besides most of the causes of the *-' preceding disease, may be added, cold appli- ed to the belly : long and violent cholic, and her- nia, commonly termed a rupture. Symptoms. A fixed pain, sometimes spreading over the belly, at other times fixed about the navel, fever, costiveness and vomiting. 40 Management. The patient should have light, liquid preparations of vegetables for food, and his drink should be jelly and water, or apple-water, or lemonade, or molasses and water with a little vinegar: these, or any of them, may be taken plentifully. Cure, He should be bled as quick as possible : the quantity should be pretty large, proportioning it to the habit of the patient; this may be repeated in eight hours, if the symptoms demand it, and the pulse allow it. After the first bleeding, a blister should be applied over the pain, and a clyster of oil, molasses, milk, and Glauber salts injected: this may be repeated every three or four hours with small quantities of salts after the first time ; eight grains of nitre, if it does not ex- cite vomiting, may be given in a little drink every hour. If the inflammation should suppurate and discharge matter downwards, nothing should be used but the mildest, nourishing spoon-diet of broths, &c. CHAP. XIX. ACUTE INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER. S~vAUSES. External violence, from bruises and ^ contusions, especially such as have occasioned a fracture of the skull at the same time; violent passions, excessive summer heats, too much ex- ercise, cold applied externally or internally. Symptom*. A pungent pain of the right side, shooting up to the shoulder, a cough for the most part dry, tension of the right side over the liver, hard dry gums, vomiting, weakness, difficulty of breathing, watching, costiveness, hiccough, and a hard, fall, quickened pulse. Sometimes there is a difficulty of King on the 41 left side : sometimes the eyes, tongue, and urine ate tinged with bile. Management. The causes should be attended to, and removed as far as possible. Light veget- able food, and acid drinks should compose the patient's diet. He should be kept cool and still. Cure. The patient should be bled early in the disorder, and this may be repeated if necessary : a dose of salts should be given to open his bowels, after which, cream of tartar may be used constantly for the same purpose, or clysters may be used of No. 5. A blister should be applied over the pained part,after the first bleeding, and after that, the parts around may be frequently- fomented with warm stewed herbs, as mallows, horehound, wormwood, &c. If aw^r the use of these, the fever continues with the pain, the following pills may be used un- til they affect the patient's mouth : Calomel twen- ty-four grains, tartar emetic two grains, make them up with syrup into twelve pills: one of which may be taken morning, noon, and night. From the beginning, if the fever be considera- ble, one of the fever powders, No. 1. should be given every two hours, except when other medi- cine is to be given. CHAP. XX. OBSTRUCTION OF THE LIVER. /CAUSES. Intermitting and remitting fevers, exposure to frequent colds, sitting up of nights, obesity, &c. Symptoms. A dull, heavy sensation and tension of the right side, little or no fever, difficulty of lying upon the left fide, yellow eyes and costive- ness. Management. Avoid or remove the causes, live upon a simple vegetable diet, and watery drinks. Curd. If the patient be pretty full, or if accus- d 2. 42 tomcd to bleeding, blood-letting may be once per- formed : ten grains of ipecacuana may be given at the distance of two or three days, for several times. The bowels should be kept open by the pills, No. 6. taken regularly so as to answer the pur- pose : the side should be frequently fomented with a warm decoction of bitter herbs, and one of the calomel pills, in ch. xix. given every second night, till they affect the gums. CHAP. XXI. INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS. /~vAUSES. External contusions, violent, long ^ continued riding, strains of the back, Spanish flies taken inwardly, or applied outwardly on a blister, stones that have formed in the cavities of the kidney, passing out. Symptoms. Fever, pain about the part, which may be distinguished from rheumatism, by the former not being much increased by motion; a re- traction of the testicle on the same side, a numb- ness of the thigh and leg on the same side, vomit- ing, colic pains, costiveneness, redness of the urine, and small discharges of it at a time. Management. The patient should have plenty of light, mucilaginous drinks, as flaxseed tea, mallow tea, and gum arabic dissolved in water; these should he drunk warm, his food should be broths and vegetables. Cure. The patient should be bled once or twice, proportioning the quantity to the age, habit, and custom of the patient. The small of the back should be frequently fomented with warm decoc- tions of bitter herbs. His boweh should be open- ed with a dose of castor oil; and emollient clys- ters of oil, molasses, and milk should be injected, every two or three hours: besides these, sixty 43 grains of Glauber salts in lemon-juice may be given, every two hours, throughout the continu- ance of the heat and fever. CHAP. XXII. ACUTE RHEUMATISM. THIS attacks at all seasons, but rarely at any other time than the spring and fall, when the vicissitudes of weather are great. Causes. Cold applied to the body, when unusu- ally warm, or cold applied partially to the body. Symptoms. A pain affects some of the joints, and sometimes the muscles, so as to extend from one joint to another. Sometimes almost every joint in the body is effected, and then the com- plaint comes on with chills, and fever, with a strong pulse, for the most part full. In some cases, the fever precedes the pains, at other times, it is the contrary ; the joints affected become red and swelled ; the fever and pains usually increase at night. If the general affection continues long, the patient's senses become somewhat impaired for a while. Management. The patient should be kept cool, except when under the operation of sweating medicine, then he should lie between blankets ; he should be kept from all but light vegetable food, and cool acid, or warm herb drinks, which may be given plentifully; and when the complaint'has gone off, he should wear flannels till warm weather returns, and then use bathing. Cure. The patient should be instantly bled, as freely as his habit and age will bear, and his com- plaint demands ; this may be repeated in smaller quantities, for once or twice in the course of four days, if necessary. After the first bleeding, a dose of salts should be given, and when that has done operating, one of the powders, No. 1. should be given, every two hours. If this does not 44 answer, let him have twelve grains of Dover's powders (which may be had at the apothecaries* . shops) for two or three nights, lying then between blankets. If any pain.stillj continues, it maybe looked upon as verging to chronic rheumatism, and the following may be given ; one hundred drops of volatile tincture of guaiacum, in a lit- tle water three times a-day. In general, nothing can be done that will be of service as an outward application; however, a little Castile soap dissolved in water may be used \ to satisfy. In slighter cases, the bleeding may be omitted,. '■ and the salts, with a common sweat of seneca tea, used. CHAP. XXIII. CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. THE former disease is apt to terminate in this ; especially when the patient is advanced ) in years : Cold is the common cause of it. Symptoms. A pain of some of the joints, of about the junction of the bones, with a stiffness of the part. No redness or swelling, like that from inflammation affects the part, though after a long continuance an enlargement of the joints is apt to take place. Little or no fever attends here, heat lessens the pain, and cold increases it; quite con- trary to what takes place in the preceding com- • plaint. When the pains fix about the small of the back, the affection is termed a Lumbago; when about the hip, in which case the patient becomes somewhat lame, a Sciatica. ^ Management. The part 'affected, if possible, should be constantly wrapt in flaauel, the patient should use wine with any food he may chuse, J which will agree with his stomach. Cure. Ninety drops of volatile tincture of 45 guaiacum, should be taken in a little water, four times a-day : if this does not answer, the follow- ing pills may be used till they produce some ef- fect ; twelve grains of calomel and twelve grains of opium, to be made into one dozen pills, one to be taken morning and evening, washing it down with a large quantity of Virginia snake root, lig- num vitae, or sassafras tea. Besides these, there are other common remedies, which are less cer- tain, as a decoction of prickly ash, mustard whey, balsams, &c. In what is called the sciatica, twelve drops of spirit of turpentine, in a little honey, taken night and morning, is particularly effectual. The external remedies in rheumatism, are spi- rits of camphor, spirits of hartshorn and oil ; oil and spirits of turpentine, electricity applied by in- solation, and drawing sparks ; the flesh brush, cold water dashed on. However, this last is more effectual in cases that are between the inflam- matory and chronic, where one joint is chiefly af- fected. CHAP. XXIV. TOOTH ACH. fyAUSES. A general cold, cold air applied to ^ the cheeks in an unusual and sudden manner, acrids, sweets, or acids applied to the teeth, the acrid matter of a rotten tooth, extraordinary vio- lence, as in breaking hard substances, blows, &c. Besides these, there are certain disposing causes under which the usual exposure we are constant- ly liable to, is a sufficient cause ; as a nerve being laid bare, by rotting or extraction of a tooth, pregnancy, hysteric dispositions, &c. Symptoms. These are various in different cir- cumstances. In the tooth ach that proceeds from common cold, there are frequently symptoms of 46 a rheumatic affection of the adjacent parts, the pain extending from the tooth to the face, and along up to the temple, with a throbbing of the arteriesy-and redness; sometimes a little swelling of thefture, and withal, a feverishness. In most other cases a violent pain of the tooth, with a lit- tle inflammation of the gum, are the only symp- toms except that about the termination, the tace, (in relaxed habits) is apt to swell. Management. The patient should carefully a- void every cause, and confine himself to his room. In the case of rheumatic symptoms, his food and drink should be of the weakest and lightest kind, and a silk hankerchief should be applied over his face. In the other cases, the face should be wrapped in flannel, and no change made in the food ordrink. The tooth should be stopped with lint. Cure. In the first case it will be the best way to aim at the removal of the cold, by giving a dose of salts, and taking a sweat of weak whey, with a tea-spoonful of salt petre. After this a small blis- ter applied to the part will be most effectual: or instead of this, sweating the part with hot herbs, or a hot stone, wrapt in moist or dry rags, may be useful. In general, in such a case, it will be of little use to apply any thing to the tooth itself till the above has been first done, then a little lauda- num and spirits may be held in the mouth. In all the other cases, topical applications are more effectual. The chief of these are opium, camphor, oil of cloves, and other warm essential oils ; with these, electricity, burning the tooth, applying a hot iron to the ear, and many other means have been at times effectual. But it is often necessarjr with these to give small doses of laudanum, anA apply a blister, and when these fail, extracting the tooth ; which may be done at any time, by a careful trusty operator: but if this does not re- 47 lieve, the pain passing to another tooth, tbe pa- tient should not insist on that being drawn, but *' commit all to patience. The best manner of ap- plying topiqals is to insert the medicine into the hollow, and cover it with lint or wax. CHAP. XXV. THE GOUT. THE causes of the gout, for better compre- hending them, may be placed under four heads. 1st. The prime causes; which are the use of excessive quantities of high seasoned animal food, and the liberal use of wine and other spirituous liquors. These are supposed to produce their effect, by causing an action in the extreme vessels (which are employed in nutrition) in degree and constancy, above what they were constructed to bear, so that as soon as the body ceases to yield, which is at the end of growth, the vessels from being over excited, are overcome, and suffer an indirect debility and relaxation. 2d. The predisposing causes ; under which a less degree of the above brings on the complaint because they aim at the same point: they are, in- dolence, hereditary delicacy of the parts that suf- fer in the gout (from a general similarity to the parent) and that tendency in the animal oaconomy which produces a robust and gross habit. These causes would, when they'had proceeded to a cer- tain extent, bring on the gout: but it is seldom the case, that it is not helped on by what may be called 3d. The exciting causes; as venery, debauche- ry, cold applied to the the feet, indigestion, much application of mind, night watching, passions, excessive evacuations, changing of habits, debili- tating diseases, bruises or strains of the parts that 48 suffer in gout; the use of acids and acid fruits, fee. All these act by debiliating generally or to- pically, and this being always accompanied with a relaxation, exposes the injured parts to the irri- tation of the air in an uncommon manner. The irritation of the air brings about 4th. The proximate or immediate cause ; which is a superabundant afflux of the nervous or vital principle, to the parts most debilitated or most exposed (to the common irritations ;) usually the extremity of the joints, or ball of the great toe. This afflux of vital principle has two effects. 1st, As there is no sensation without the presence of this principle, so in the abundance of it, the sen- sation is exquisite, 2dly, As there is no circula- tion without it, and the circulation is in propor- tion to it, so, in the abundance of it, the circula- tion is increased to inflammation, and the tender parts are forced, and filled faster than they can propel the blood ; hence congestion, redness, and pain of the joint, and in such parts as are not plen- tifully furnished with vessels, the muscular fibres are contracted to a spasm. THE SYMPTOMS OF THE REGULAR GOUT. A CEASING of the sweat to which the feet have been accustomed, an unusual coldness of the legs and feet, a frequent numbness, alter- nating with a prickling sensation all along the course of the extremities, frequent cramps of the legs, and a swelling of the veins. Whilst these symptoms take place in the parts mentioned, the whole body is affected with a degree of torpor and languor : the functions of the stomach in par- ticular are more or less disturbed, the appetite is diminished, and flatulency with other symp- toms of indigestion felt. These symptoms take 49 place for some days before the fit of the gout comes on, but often on the day preceding the fit the appetite becomes greater than usual: The fit usually begins about three o'clock in the morning, with pain affecting one foot, most commonly at the ball of the great toe, but sometimes in other parts of the foot; with the coming on of the pain there is usually more or less of a cold shivering, which as the pain increases gradually gives way to heat and fever, which lasts as long as the pain does. From the first attack the pain becomes more violent till the next midnight, after which it gradually remits, and after continuing about twenty-four hours, usually ceases, with a sweat- ing and sleep. The next morning after the remission, a swell- ing and redness is to be perceived in the part af- fected, which after continuing some days, gra- dually abates. But though the pain ceases at the end of twenty-four hours, it usually returns every even- ing, with less and less violence and fever, and again abates in the morning: this recurring con- tinues some days, and then goes off very entire- ly, till the third, second, or next spring, follow- ing. This is the case in the first attack of the gout: but the returns become more frequent, till at length after some years the patient is never clear of it except a month or so in the summer season : After the gout has continued, the pain does not remain in one joint, but shifts about until it has attacked almost every joint in the body. After a fit is over, the patient feels himself re- cruited in body and mind. As the gout proceeds, the pains become legs severe and more continued, and the other affec- tions are more considerable, so that the stomach is very much affected with sickness. E 5(5 After the first fits of the gout, the joints remain supple ; but in the advanced state they become stiff and motionless, with earthy concretions. In those who have suffered much with the gout, a complaint of the kidneys frequently al- ternates with the gouty affections. MANAGEMENT BETWEEN THE FITS. IF it be early in the complaint, or the patient. not debilitated, gentle continued bodily exercise and a diet of vegetables and milk should be used ; but if the patient is already much injured by it, neither of the above will be safe. His exercise should then be gestation, for walking would in- jure the parts too much, and other exercise would be fatiguing: His diet should be of the most nourishing vegetables, milk and light meats, which last may be used more and in propor- tion to the debility, and if this be considerable, it will be necessary to use good Madeira, diluted for drink; otherwise, all spirituous liquors should be abstained from. The causes mentioned should as much as possible be avoided, and the patient should keep his bowels regular with a little sul- phur, castor oil, lenitive electuary, or any mild opening medicine ; which are to be used at all times to prevent or remove the costiveness. In general, it will be found useful after a fit not to rise soon, but to keep warm in bed most of the morning, and to go to bed early. TREATMENT IN THE FIT. AT this time very little can be done to advan- tage. If the patient is vigorous, and the inflam- mation and pain considerable, blood-letting may be once performed, though sparingly. Scarce any thing solid should be taken for diet, and 51 when the patient has suffered much from want of rest, fifteen drops of laudanum in one tea- spoonful of spirits of nitre dulcified, may be taken at night. Applying poultices of bread and milk to the parts, will sometimes give ease to a small extent, and in a violent case may be tried; carded wool should always be applied. When the inflammation has gone off, and a stiffness remains, it will be of service to use the flesh-brush to rub the parts with, and after the fit to take regularly some of-the preparations of steel, mentioned hereafter. OF THE ATONIC GOUT, OR GOUT OF THE STOMACH. IN such patients as have brought the gout on themselves, this peculiarity seldom happens till late in the disorder, when the system is generally debilitated, and there is little disposition to in- flammation. In such a st^te the stomach is usually much debilitated, and liable to be acted upon by a slighter cause than what would bring en an affection of a joint. From the above circumstances of debility, ge- neral and topical, as well as from the stomach be- ing defended from the application of the common air (which produces the re-action, or inflamma- tion in the regular gout) it happens that the gout of the stomach is a very different affection from the regular gout; being a case of deficient and irregular action of the part, instead of an inflam- matiotf and excessive action as in the regular; and hence requiring very different remedies. . Symptoms. Loss of appetite, indigestion, fla- tulency, nausea and vomiting, acid eructations, pains and cramps in different parts, which yield upon the discharge of wind ; costiveness, though sometimes looseness, colic pains and hypocon- 52 driac Symptoms (which consists in a great atten- tion to the slightest symptoms, and an apprehen- sion of danger) an absence of inflammatory af- fections of the joints, and of fever. Management. The patient's food should be a mixture of animal and vegetable, of the most nu- trient and digestible kind, taken rather at many times than in large quantities. Wine and water, or spirit and water, .should be his drink : It will be of great advantage to keep close to the bed, except when the patient is able, and the weather good, then he should ride in a carriage daily. Treatment. Fifteen grains of rust of steel, with as much pounded orange-peel, may be taken with mint water, or a little spirit of lavender, four or five times a day. A tea-spoonful of saline aromatic spirit will also be of service to take a few times a day. If indigestion prevails much, fourteen grains ef ipecacuana may be given every five or six days, or large draughts of strong camomile tea, which will frequently have the same effect. A third variety of the gout is, when the inflam- mation has appeared first in its usual place (the joints) but from improper treatment, bad ma- nagement, exposure, and other less observable causes, it leaves the joints, and fixes upon the stomach or.some other part. This is called the Retrocedent Gout. When the stomach receives the affection, a great anxiety, sickness and vomiting attend ; if the lungs, an asthmatic affection is the product; if the heart, fainting ; if the head, an apoplexy. When the stomach or bowels are attacked, wine, with spices boiled in it, should be given plentifully, or, if this is not sufficient, spirits with spices in large doses. In slighter cases, less doses of spirits, in which garlic has been steeped, may be given: with this the patient's feet may be 53 steeped in a strong hot mixture of spirits ana* water, and blisters laid on the ankles ; volatile aromatic spirits, and assafoetida, are also proper to be given, but they are less powerful than spi- rits and spices. When the vomiting is trouble- some, it may be encouraged with camomile tea, and afterwards restrained by twenty or thirty drops of laudanum with a drachm of spirits of ni- tre dulcified : vitriolic aether and musk are some- times useful. When any of the other parts are affected, a blister should be immediately applied, and the bath of spirits and water applied to the feet. I|f the patient is able to bear bleeding, it should be performed when the head or lungs are affected. In all cases, a gentle determination to the sur- face should be aimed at, by giving one tea- spoonful of saline aromatic spirits every two hours ; or spirits of nitre dulcified and laudanum every two or three hours. The fourth and last variety of the gout is the Misplaced. That is, when the patient, instead of a regular affection, is immediately (without any preceding affection of the joints) affected with an inflammation of the lungs, the bladder, or the lower end of the last gut; in this last it brings on the piles: when it affects the bladder, it brings on stranguary or a difficult discharge of urine. These affections are to be treated as di- rected in the chapters for them ; remembering the constitution and situation of the patient. During every species, costiveness should be re- moved by three or four grains of aloes, or twenty- five of rhubarb. And between every affection, the system may be strengthened by the following medicine ; half a wine-glass full of which may be taken twice a day, at eleven and at four o'clock ; port wine one quart, rusty iron ox iron flakes, one e 2 54 handful, cinnamon one ounee; let them remain one week, and then use them. Observations. 1st, It appears, that a primary gout is the consequence of a general injury done to the system ; but that the stomach and extremi- ties suffer chiefly, because the stomach is particu- larly injured by the prime causes, and the extre- mities are more exposed (from their distance from the heart, and other causes) to the irritation of the air, which far exceeds common notice and opinion. 2dly, It is also plain, that those who are much predisposed to the gout by hereditary constitu- tion of the parts, cannot possibly escape it ; be- cause that quantity of food which is necessary for nutrition, will produce an action, that the vessels usually injured in the gout cannot support through life. 3dly, A fit of the gout is a change in the sys- tem, which aims at a removal of the injury; only being unbounded and excessive, not produced by any internal conscientious power, but by physical laws. CHAP. XXVI. THE SMALL POX. THE small pox is of two kinds; the distinct and the confluent: As they demand a very different treatment, I shall not confound them, but treat of them separately. THE DISTINCT SMALL POX. i THE cause of this is a specific contagion. Symptoms. About eight days after inoculation, and probably the, same time after taking it the natural way, a fever appears of the continued in- 55 flammatory kind : after this has continued about three days, a distinct eruption of small pimples, like flea-bites, appear on the face; these increase and extend, so that about the end of the fifth day the eruption is completed and extended to the extremities: from the first eruption the fever usually declines, and at the finishing of the erup- tion it ceases. During the fever, children are frequently affected with starting, and if kept warm, with fits. About the eighth day after the eruption, these pimples have increased to spheroidal pustules, filled with matter, with a red margin around each. Before the pustules are quite filled, a swelling of the face takes place, which subsides as soon as the pustules are filled: a swelling of the wrists and feet succeeds the above, just in the progres- sion of the eruption ; during this period a sore throat is common. After the pustules are fully ripe and yellow, they then either pour out the matter, from a small rupture at their top, or the matter is ab- sorbed, leaving an empty flat bag: the former is usually the case with those on the face ; the latter with those on the arms and thighs ; in this way they decline till they are perfectly dried up, which takes place from eight to sixteen days (from the time they begin to decline) according to the size and number of the pustules ; pits are frequently left behind. Management. The patient should be kept cool, both by going into the air, and thinning his cloath- ing. However, the custom of exposing to bad weather, extreme cold, and pulling off from chil- dren the flannels which they havebeen long used to, has occasioned the worst consequences : a medium therefore is to be observed. Those who are in a good state of health should live 56 chiefly on vegetables, what meat they do use should by all means be fresh; but those who are weakly should not alter their food, eo as to weak- en themselves, but only choose such as they al- ways should, viz. digestible mild food. This should be the management until the fever com- mences, when they should use nothing but light spoon aliments, such as barley, gruel, panada, custard, jelly, &c. Spirituous drinks should be altogether avoided : at the'time of the fever such drinks as the following may be taken more or less, in proportion to the height of the fever, viz. lemonade, cream of tartar dissolved in water, and sweetened, jelly and water, apple tea, made by pouring boiling water on undressed red- streaked apples, sliced very thin ; the drink to be sweetened : these drinks, abstinence, and vegeta- ble food, with the directions for keeping the pa- tient cool, may be'observed until the number of pocks and favour of the disease be determined, after which they may be gradually relinquished ; the exposure first, and then the others, and the proper habits returned to. The first week in May is probably the best time for inoculation, in the states of Pennsylva- nia, Delaware, and Maryland; farther south- ward, April; farther northward, the latter end of May: but avaricious aims have been the cause of adopting an earlier season. It is upon the whole, in large towns, safest to inoculate before teething, but only because of the danger of taking it the natural way ; where that is not to be fear- ed, then from the fifth to the twelfth year is far preferable ; if any thing be amiss, we can then stand some chance of rectifying it, by suitable treatment, but with infants we can only deplore their state, when the complaint takes an unfa- vourable turn. Treatment. To those who are pretty hearty,. 57 or of a full habit, between the time of inoculation and fever, two doses of Glauber salts, or cream of tartar, sufficient to procure fourfor five stools and not more, may be given ; but to those who are lean or weakly, no purgatives should be given, only costiveness should be removed by a little cream of tartar, or the pills No. 6. If they have not a passage every day, this will be necessary ; or if they have a passage every day, and the stools should be hard and difficultly passed, the pills, or a clyster of oil, sugar, milk, and a little scraped Castile soap, which.is probably the best, is to be given. If at the commencement of the. fever, the pa- tient feels much oppression at the stomach, un- easiness and giddiness, it will be proper to admi- nister an emetic of two grains of tartar emetic, dissolved in a cup of warm water, or of ten grains of ipecacuana; at the same time he should have fresh air: when the fever has commenced, if it runs high, it will be proper to give a dose of salts, which may be taken at two or three portions : If this does not lessen the fever, take four grains of tartar emetic, and put them into a quart of apple or other tea ; three table-spoonfuls of this to be given every hour, till the eruption appears, keep- ing him cool withal. If the eruption appears nu- merous, and the pulse be usually strong, a dose of salts will be of use, as it will bring many of the pimflles to nothing ; after this nothing more will be necessary, but to keep the bowels regular with small doses of any mild medicine. When the pocks have dried away, if any sore or undulatory motion of the muscles take place, a few pills of the following form may be given : ca- lomel twelve grains, opium three grains, honey enough to form them into twelve pills, one of which may be taken night and morning. 58 If the arm inflames much, pour cold water on it daily, for ten minutes together. N. B. All the above prescriptions of medicine are for grown persons. THE CONFLUENT SMALL POX. SYMPTOMS. In this the fever is more vio- lent than in the former, the pulse being quicker and more contracted ; a disposition to coma, or a deep drowsiness, is almost always present with the incipient fever, and a delirium is a frequent symptom: infants are frequently attacked with fits in the first days ; vomiting i* here a common symptom: early in the third day, the pimples break out in clusters., and these are frequently preceded or accompanied with an efflorescence like St. Anthony's fire. When the eruption is completed, it is found to be much more numerous in the face than on the body ; the pocks are less eminent: at the end of the eruption the fever does not go off, but only remits, to increase with more violence, when the pocks have acquired their summit; this is called the secondary fever : The pimples soon turn to vesicles filled with whitish or brown wa- ter, instead of yellow matter as in the distinct: the pocks are very irregular, and run into one another in many places, so as to form one large flat pock, covering almost the whole face ; where- ever there is any space between them, it is not florid, but pale and shrivelled. The swelling of the face, that sometimes at- tends the distinct, is here always present at an earlier period, and rises to a greater height; the discharge of saliva is generally great about the same time; both subside about the tenth or eleventh day, counting from the attack of the in- 59 eipicnt fever. With infants a lax is common in- stead of a salivation. The pocks over the body, though^distinct, are generally flat, and upon the whole, there is a great tendency to putrefaction. The "management of this should be much the same as thaj directed for the distinct, except that towards the latter end, when the patient grows weak, and symptoms of putridity prevail, then the patient should have for drink, sixty drops of elixir of vitriol, to one pint of spirits and water, or wine and water, and a moderate degree of warmth should be kept up. Great attention should be given to keep the room clean, sweet, and ventilated, as directed for the putrid fever. Treatment. When the symptoms appear as laid down, with considerable fever; give one sixth of a grain of tartar emetic in apple-tea, or common drink of any kind, every hour. From the fifth day * onward, till the eruption be com- pleted, give twenty drops of laudanum, every morning and night, taking care to remove the costiveness it occasions, by giving cream of tar- tar, or castor oil daily, if necesary. When the secondary fever comes on, the same treatment with tartar emetic and laudanum should be used, until the symptoms of putrefaction and weak pulse take place, then all should be dropped, for bark and port wine, which may be given every hour, so that the patient may take a pint of wine and one ounce of bark, from morning till bed time. From the eighth day to the eleventh, when the fever is violent, blisters should be laid on suc- cessively, without any respect to the pocks ; the wrists, thighs, back of the neck, and breast, are proper places ; when the swelling in the thrpat * The day is always reckoned from the Attack of the incipient fo. vert 60 threatens suffocation, a blister should be applied over the throat, and the throat gargled with a mixture of one drachm of elixir of vitriol, to half a pint of sage tea and a little honey ; or instead of this, with vinegar and water. If the fits, that usually attack children, happen but once or twice, nothing need be done but to keep them cool; but if they are frequent, they are likely to destroy the patient; then as large a dose of laudanum as the child can take, should be given. The bark, with the vitriol and water, should be continued for a considerable time after the dis- ease, to strengthen the system, though it shouk} be used in a less quantity. CHAP. XXVII. THE CHICKEN POX. THIS disorder appears to arise from a specific contagion in the air; like the small pox, it never returns. Symptoms. The patient is generally, for one or two nights, or nights and days, affected witha fever, which almost always is slight: at no certain period, though perhaps always before the third day, the pocks appear on the face, and over the body; they are never very numerous, though sometimes pretty large. In the course of four days they are at their summit, when they are about-the size of a large blister shot, and much of the same form, filled with yellowish or white water. They sometimes come out successively instead of a great many at once. Management. The patient should be kept cool, especially when in bed ; light vegetable food, and cooling acid drinks, should be used. Treatment. If the fever be worthy attention, the bowels should be opened with a dose of cream 61 of tartar or of salts, every day till it ceases, and the acid drinks given plentifully. CHAP. XXVIII. THE MEASLES. THIS disorder arises from specific contagion, and never has been known to attack the same person twice. It usually makes its appearance about January, and again ceases at midsummer. Nevertheless, it is not altogether adherent to any particular times, for it continues throughout the year, though less extensively. Symptoms. It comes on like a common fever, with a cold stage succeeded by a hot one : a nausea, anxiety and vomiting, are pretty gene- rally atendants. Sometimes at the beginning, the fever is sharp and violent, but before the eruption it is most generally so, which happens about the fourth day; with these a hoarseness, cough, difficult breathing, swelling of the eyelids, acrid discharge from the eyes and nose, with sneezing, take place : generally a drowsiness at- tends the beginning. The eruption appears first on the face in small points like flea-bites, which soon may be observed by sight or feeling, in clusters, spreading themselves over the whole body ; the face appears a little turgid during the first two days of the eruption, after this, the erup- tion changes its colour from a scarlet to a brown, and soon goes off very entirely, leaving a scurf. The fever sometimes goes off, when this de- squamation takes place, but more commonly con- tinues with the cough for some time after the disorder has gone through its stages, and not un- frequently the cough and difficulty of breathing increase towards the end, so as to mark an in- flammation of the lungs. After the desquama- F 62 tion, a lax or sweating usually takes place, and continues for some time. Management. The patient should avoid heat, but on the other hand, should not expose himself , so much to the cool air, as in the small pox. He should live on a low vegetable diet, and cool acid demulcent drinks, such as flaxseed tea, with lemon juice: barley water boiled with prunes is also very good especially for the cough. Treatment. If the fever that precedes the eruption be considerable, it will, in adult patients, be proper to bleed, but in children a purge or two of salts will be generally sufficient. From the beginning, the drinks mentioned above and syrups may be given to allay the cough; but these are seldom sufficient: it will therefore be necessary, from the time of the eruption, to give one tea-spoonful of paregoric twice a day, and two at night in common drink. This treatment and keeping the bowels open regularly, with gentle medicine, as salts and manna in small doses, 1 cream of tartar, castor oil, &c. should be conti- ] nued in. When the desquamation or peeling of , the skin takes place, if the difficulty of breathing mentioned in the description comes on with a strong pulse, then the patient should be bled freely, and a blister laid afterwards on the side, as in a pleurisy, and with these, one of the pow- ders No. 1. may be given every two hours, or if it be a child, a sufficient quantity of antimo- nial wine, to be taken at intervals of two hours : during such a state the paregoric should be omitted. If the patient be unable to bear bleed- ing, the case, then cannot be very violent; then purging and blistering with the powders may be used : gentle riding and bark are proper to restore the patient when much reduced. 63 CHAP. XXIX. THE SCARLET FEVER. THIS complaint cannot possibly be separated from the putrid sore throat, as the affection of the throat, eruption of the skin, and low or pu- trid fever, which are the chief symptoms, are attendants on both : added to this, the same con- tagion will affect one person with what is judged to be the purid sore throat, and another with the scarlatina. It is therefore probable that the scar- latina is only an affection of less magnitude, sometimes owing to the lenity of the general con- tagion, and then causing scarlatina universally, and at other times owing to the diversity of con- stitutions attacked. Hence, for the cure, &c. I refer to what I have said of the putrid sore throat, Chap. xi. But it frequently happens that the scarlatina is so slight as to shew no putrid symptoms but rather inflammatory : then all that will be required will be a blister to the throat and keeping the bowels open with cream of tartar. CHAP. XXX. ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE. fvAUSES. A hereditary disposition thereto, ^ or a peculiar delicacy of the membrane that suffers the inflammation; passions of the mind, a sudden cooling of the body after being heated by the sun, spirituous liquors taken freely, hot drinks or hot baths, checked evacuations, moist air, and perspiration any how stopt, generally excite the disease in those predisposed. Symptoms. It commonly comes on with shi- vering and succeeding heat with fever : the pulse is generally quick, sometimes hard and full: a confusion of the head and some degree of deli- 64 rium frequently attend, but a drowsiness almost always, which sometimes increases to a comatose state. After these symptoms have .continued from one to three days, a redness most commonly on the face appears, which increases with a swel- ling, that turns white upon pressing it with the finger. This goes on to increase, though it com- monly abates in one part a little, to increase in another; in this manner it sometimes extends all over the head, and swells the eye-lids, so as to produce'temporary blindness. It is not an uncommon case for blisters to arise on the swelling, filled with yellow or whitish se- rum, which break after a while, and leave the part underneath blackish, and very ready to turn gangrenous ; the skin between these blisters peels off; matter is sometimes discharged from tlit eye-lids : the inflammation and fever usually con- tinue about ten days, and then go off; when the fever goes on violently, and the inflammation ex- tends, it is apt to produce an apoplexy. These are the symptoms of a perfect disease, but slighter affections are not unfrequent, even with little or no fever. Management. The patient should be kept cool, in proportion to the greatness of the fever : acid drinks and vegetable diet should be used throughout. Treatment. When the case agrees with what is laid down above, half a pint or more of blood should be taken away, which may be repeated, if the habit allow, and the pulse and inflammation require it: after bleeding, cooling purgatives should be administered ; one ounce of Glauber salts may be divided into four parts, one of which should b • given every two hours, mixing it with lemon juice, which covers the bad taste. This practice of administering salts may be followed for some days ; they not only open the 65 bowels, but temperate the heat and fever; in slighter cases bleeding should be laid aside, and the medicines given as directed. Whenever there are any symptoms of putre- faction, as a low weak pulse, dark colouring of the tongue and mouth, acrid and black spots un- derneath where the blisters stood: then all eva- cuations, (except keeping the bowels regular with a little rhubarb) should be laid aside, and twelve grains of columbo root given every hour ; when this can be kept on the stomach well, and does not have sufficient effect, as much bark should be given, and the dose increased as necessity re- quires, or as it will sit on the patient: wine and water, and vitriol and water, made by putting two tea-spoonfuls of elixir of vitriol to a pint of water, maybe drank alternately and freely. The patient is almost always wanting some to- pical application, for this physicians have thought that meal sprinkled on the part, is the only proper application ; this, when the inflammation is con- siderable, sits agreeably, and has some effect in softening the skin, and if sprinkled on very slight- ly when the blisters discharge, it dries up the hu- mour ; however patients are not content with it, therefore apply either of the following with a rag moistened in it: half a pint of strong tea of ca-. momile flowers, or wormwood tops, fifteen grains of white vitriol, and a tea-spoonful of laudanum or a strong solution of alum. Sometimes from neglect, the part suppurates ; then it should be poulticed with bread and milk till it is ripe, when it should be opened and dress- ed with lint spread with wax and oil melted to- gether ; this need only be applied over the sore. Bark and vitriol, with fresh air, gentle exercise in a carriage in fair weather, will be proper to brace up the habit in the end. F2 66 CHAP. XXXI. THE ESSERA, OR NETTLE RASH. THIS generally attacks those of a delicate con- stitution, especially such as have a fine skin, the excessive irritability of which appears to be a cause of the disease. From the above it would appear, that women and children are the chief subjects of it; which is agreeable, to observation. Symptoms. It usually comes on in the night, producing great restlessness and itching. In the morning considerable red eminences are to be observed on some parts of the body, usually about the upper arms, neck, and breast; their forms are irregular, some being like the stroke of a whip, others like the sting of a musqueto. It is not unfrequent for them to disappear in the course of the day, and return again at night: the time of continuance is various, as they sometimes con- tinue for a week, and sometimes for a year or more. They have never been known to have any dan- gerous effect; the itching being all that is disa- greeable, which at times is so troublesome as to prevent sleep. Management. The patient should use exercise, bathing, and every proper means to remove such a delicacy of constitution. Cure. This has been too little attended to, or perhaps we should ere this, have discovered some simple medicine that would remove it. I have seen mercury recommended, and in a few cases which I have treated, it was alwavs at- tended with success. Twelve grains of calomel, and as many of sul- phur of antimony, may be made into a do2en pills one of which may be taken for six nights follow- ing, after which they may be used only twice a- 67 week; if the patient's gums become sore, they should be omitted: uEthiops mineral is also a proper medicine, twenty grains may be used eve- ry other night for twenty days. Perhaps if common sulphur was tried every night, it would have an equally good effect. To guard against the returns of it, bark may be used ; and some weeks after using the medicines pre- scribed, the cold bath. CHAP. XXXII. BLEEDING AT THE NOSE. THOUGH this complaint attends at any age, and may trouble any constitution, yet it does not make the disorder I mean to treat cf, except when it attacks young people, and especi- ally those who are full of blood. The animal ceconomy finds it proper not to in- crease the different parts equally from then^me of conception, but increases certain parts succes- sively ; this increase is brought about by a deter- mination of blood to these parts ; hence the dif- ferent periods of life, that we see fluxes of blood making their appearance may be easily accounted for: and hence this complaint in the youthful, and the following complaint immediately after that period. It requires attention, or it will soon be accom- panied with very disagreeable circumstances. Symptoms. A head-ach, redness of the eyes, florid countenance, and throbbing of the temporal arteries, usually precede for a while before the effusion, but immediately before it a fulness of the face, and itching at the nose*take place ; be- side these, frequently more general symptoms are observable; as costiveness, pale urine, coldness of the feet, and shivering: this is a description which suits the most perfect state of the com- plaint. 68 The quantity of blood discharged is various. Management. At the time the bleeding comes on, the patient should be placed in a stream of cool air, and be supported erect; he should avoid talking or blowing his nose. In the intervals he should avoid heat, stooping his head, or walking fast, more especially after d eating: his exercise should be gentle and con- stant, and this may be partly in riding and walk- ing, and partly in the occupation of his business, if that be mechanical. The cold bath may be used daily, in which he may remain some time ; this has, beside a bracing property, a tendency to make the patient lean : a little care should be used in the beginning ; no cap should be worn on the head to keep the water from that part. He should live upon a vegetable diet chiefly, and use cold water for his constant drink. Cure^In beginning to treat the patient, if he has not already lost much blood, a few ounces may be taken from him, a little before the time of < the bleeding's coming on, and ever afterward a ! dose of salts may be used at the same time ; and it may be observed in general, that it will be ne- cessary to keep the bowels very regular. If after the salts nave been taken, the disposition is not • removed, one of the fever powders, No. 1. may be used every two hours, for two days, and large quantities of lemon juice taken between each \ dose. When the bleeding comes on, it may be suffer- i ed to continue till six ounces have been discharg- ) ed, provided,.the patient be full of blood,hut if j otherwise, it should be stopped immediately, by pouring cold water on his head, hands, and testi- cles, and by drinking cold water ; at the same time, using dossils of lint, dipt in a strong solu- tion of alum and water, or in any common astrin- gent, and applied up the nose : a piece of sponge ■'' 69 is sometimes of service : a weak solution of blue- stone ha6 sometimes stopped the bleeding, after other things have failed. But in many cases neither of the above will answer, then the pati- ent's life is in danger, and the following simple method may be used by any common person, who has the least degree of presence of mind ; take a needleful of silk, wax it and tie to one end of it a dossil of well scraped lint, about as large as a thumb, get a piece of cat-gut string several inches long, grease it a little, push this cat-gut through the bleeding nostril into the mouth, till you observe it come out near the throat, lay hold of it with a pair of narrow pincers or forceps, or in their stead, with a dull pair of scissars, and draw it till you have both ends in your hands; tie a knot in the end that you have drawn through, and to this knot fasten your silk and draw back the cat-gut till you have drawn the doss^of lint against the orifice of the passage that iWds into the throat, then you need only stop up the nostril with another dossil of lint, which will shut up the passage altogether, and hinder any more blood from coming out. The lint should be kept in for three or four days. The cat-gut is only for the purpose of getting the silk through, which is too limber of itself: In pushing the cat-gut through, you are not to push it upwards, as the nostrils apparently lead, but di- rectly backwards, aiming at the upper part of the throat where it comes out: the nostrils turn at about half an inch after you have pushed it up- wards. By the stated returns of this complaint, and the habit of the patient as well as by the quan- tity, you may easily distinguish- it from what is termed, a passive flowing of blood from the nose* In this complaint, the usual topical applications for the other kind are sufficient ; but with this the cold bath may be used, which is an effectual 70 remedy, from my own experience ; with this, or Without it, tincture of iron No. 7. may be used, CHAP. XXXIII. SPITTING OF BLOOD. fvAUSES. Besides the predisposition mentioh- ^ ed in the preceding chapter, we may consider, as exciting causes, suppressed evacuations, sud- den changes of the air, from heavy to lighter, vio- lent efforts, compression in different parts, &c. Symptoms. After some general disorder, as fla- tulency, chills, &c. a fulness is often felt about the chest. From the blood being poured out, an irritation is made, to relieve which, the patient hawks or.coughs, by which means he discharges a little frothy, reddish and somewhat saltish spittle; this sensation often returns again,and the spittle is thrownMut of a deeper red. In this manner the pa- tient ulKilly discharges the blood for some hours or daysVwhen it ceases for that period. But it sometimes happens, that the rupture is more con- siderable, and the pure blood is discharged in such quantities, as to excite vomiting: in such a case the patient's life is in immediate danger. A cough usually follows the bleeding, which returns some- times every week, and so on at every period be- tween that and a year. Management. This should be exactly as de- cribed for the preceding disorder, only that the cold bath should not be used, as we have not suf- ficient experience to recommend it, and the cold should be here very moderate, as when it is se- vere it determines the blood to the lungs which is to be avoided. Treatment. If the [patient be able to bear it, blood should be taken away, though not in profu- sion. As soon as the bleeding takes place, this should be followed by a dose of Glauber salts. 71 And ever afterwards when we apprehend from the symptoms before described, that the bleeding is about to return, we should anticipate it by the re- petition of the salts, which^I have seen attended with the best success. When the bleeding is copious, besides the management of exposing the patient to cool air, 'let him take a tea-spooonful of common salt, and repeat it when necessary. This has been often effectual, and may be carried in the person's poc- ket, when repeated small bleedings plague him, or ten grains of alum every hour. In the inter- vals nitre should be given to reduce and cool the system, ten grains in flaxseed tea may be given three or four times a day ; after the commotion has ceased,-the country air should be used. It is sometimes necessary to take a tea-spoonful of pa- regoric elixir at night, in the morning, and at noon, to quell the cough. Jh CHAP. XXXIV. CONSUMPTION. (CAUSES. A hereditary, natural, or acquired ^ debility of the lungs, may be looked upon as causes of this fatal disorder ; under such circum- stances, almost any irritation upon those parts will establish the consumption; and it is somewhat doubtful if any cause will do the same, without ■ the predisposition. Symptoms. Cough, pain about the breast, spit- ting of nauseous matter at all times of the day, which is sometimes streaked with blood ; a fever which comes on at noon, frequently with shiver- ing,andalmostalwayswith coldness, which remits towards the afternoon, to exacerbate or renew its violence at night, continuing with the other affec- tions, and after a while being followed in its se- cond fit towards morning with a copious sweat. The pulse in this fever, which is a hectic, is quick 72 and most generally weak, though in its first attack some degree of hardness is to be felt. The fever is always kindled by taking much food at a time. Towards the end of the consumption a lax takes place which generally carries off the patient. Management. The patient should live upon a light digestible diet; milk, vegetables, spoon- meats, puddings, pies, &c. are proper; these should be taken in small quantities at a time, and used the oftener, on that account. The teas and drinks prescribed for fevers are the proper drinks to be used. Exercise in a carriage or sailing, are almost in- dispensibly necessary ; the country air is so far preferable to the town, that the former will some- times alone perfect a cure, and the latter resist every means. Cold should be guarded against, and for this as well as other reasons, a flannel shirt shoul^pje worn. Cure. If the patient is not low and thin, he should be bled every week for three or four times, taking away about a quarter of a pint of blood each time, till all signs of increased action or hardness are gone from the pulse ; if they give way at the first bleeding no more is to be used. After this, or when this is not allowable, eight grains of ipecacuana should be given every four days, for as many times as they appear to be beneficial; when this has been done, the patient should take twenty drops of elixir of vitriol, early in the morning, at ten o'clock, and again after the noon fever has abated, and before the evening one has come on. To allay the cough take two ounces of paregoric, two grains of tartar emetic, or when tartar does not agree, two ounces of the spirits of nitre dulcified : two small tea-spoonfuls may be used at night, and half that quantity taken at any time in the day when it is troublesome. When the pain in the breast is considerable, blis- 73 ters may be used ; a seton should be put in the side in the beginning. The bowels should be kept regular, with small doses of castor oil, sulphur, magnesia, or cream of tartar. The above prescriptions, although the best and simplest that can be recommended, frequently fail, and when the disease threatens to resist them a sea voyage should be recommended as the only refuge. It is not unfrequent that the consumption is combined with other affections, then we must have regard to these affections, or no cure can be expected. But such cases are so complex, that they require the judgment of an able physician. CHAP. XXXV. THE PILES. A LAXITY of the gut, affected, natural, or ac- quired, disposes to this complaint, so much that slight causes bring it about. The following are found to be the usual causes, viz. much walking or riding, costiveness,long con- tinuance in an erect posture, strong purges, sup- pressed, natural or artificial evacuations ; falling down of the gut, drinking large quantities of watry liquors, grief, obstruction of the liver, preg- nancy, high-living, &c. Symptons. The symptoms of this disease being not always alike, have made some variety and distinction of it. Thus there is the blind piles, when the tumour is not visible ; the common piles, when tumours appear without bleeding ; and the bleeding piles, when they discharge blood. However, there are general symptoms which are common to all; as, a pain and swimming in the head, stupor, sick stomach with pains in the bow- els and back, which frequently precede, and in G 74 some cases a fever also: a sense of fulness and itching are the local symptoms : these are soon relieved in the bleeding piles, when that takes place, and frequently the establishment of the tu- mour, is attended with an alleviation of the symp- toms. Sometimes blood only comes away with the stools ; but at other times a considerable constant discharge alarms the patient. This affection is apt to return at stated intervals, and to increase. Management. All the causes as far as possible are to be avoided, and temperance is strictly to be observed by the plethoric ; light vegetable food, and cool acid drinks are proper during the affec- tion. Much attention should be given to regu- larity, and especially in keeping the bowels in a proper state. In lean patients a flannel shirt is often necessary. Cure. It is frequently the case, that this dis- charge is salutary, and therefore a doubt arises in the minds of some people, about administering medicines to check it. Hence, whenever the dis- charge is small, and attended with benefit, no- thing need be done to check it; but whenever it is profuse, it thenthreatens a greater injury than it is likely to relieve ; then, as well as when it re- turns often, it should be checked by applying cloths dipped in cold water or vinegar to the neck, hands, thighs, and the part itself ; if this does not relieve it, dip a sponge in alum and water, or in a decoction of galls, and apply it to the part, and if necessary, give twelve grains of ipecacuana in a little water immediately. When nothing but tu- mours are present, and they are painful or large, ' wash them with the following wash : to half a pint of lead-water add two tea-spoonfuls of laudanum. This may be used three or four times a day. Open the bowels in all cases with sulphur, or sul- phur and cream of tartar, mixed in equal quanti- 75 ties with honey ; two tea-spoonfuls may be taken every two hours : in slight cases this is frequent- ly sufficient alone. CHAP. XXXVI. IMMODERATE FLOWING OF THE MENSES, fiAUSES. High living, excess in drink and ve- ^ nery, shocks from falls, dancing, passions^ neglecting abstinence in time of menstruating, in- flammatory fevers, other evacuations checked, costiveness, cold applied to the feet, frequent miscarriages, difficult labours, neglecting to nurse, living too warm, drinking much tea or coffee, purging, &c. Symptoms. An immoderate flowing is usually preceded by head-ach, giddiness, and difficult breathing,a shuddering immediately precedes the discharge, with this also a pain in the back, and feverishness frequently attend. After a large discharge, a general debility en- sues ; the pulse becomes weak, the stomach sick, respiration difficult upon the least motion ; the leet cold and swoln, especially towards evening, when a fever takes place of the hectic kind. Pal- pitations, fainting, fearfulness are not uncommon symptoms : the whites frequently follow.. The above symptoms take place more or less, sooner or later, according to the profuseness and repetition of the discharge. Management. The causes of this complaint dis- cover to us, that it may take place in two states of the system, one when it is over-loaded or pletho- ric, the other when it is debilitated ; each of which requires seperate management. In the former case, cold, abstinence, and cool drinks should be used with vegetable diet in the intervals: in the latter good nourishing food, 70 port wine, and exercise are to be used. In all cases the causes are to removed or obviated ; motion in time of flowing is to be strictly avoided. Cure. In the intervals the management pre- scribed will be sufficient. In the period, the patient should be kept cool; ten grains of alum may be given every half hour ; sponges dipped in cool vinegar, may be applied to the small of the back, and to the parts, and if this does not answer, ten grains of ipecacuana may be given in a little water ; after this give ten drops of elixir of vitriol every hour : to correct the lax- ity that succeeds, ten grains of rust of iron may be taken four times a-day, and in cases of much debility, the Peruvian bark also. When the menses return more frequently, or flow more plentifully than natural, the patient should be on her guard, look for the causes and obviate them. CHAP. XXXVII. THE WHITES. TMTOMS. A discharge of whitish mucus flows instead of the menses, or after them, and continues longer and longer, till it becomes pretty constant. Treatment. As when this case takes place, de- bility is generally present, a nourishing diet may be used, with port wine and water, more or less in proportion to the debility, and 'gentle regular exercise. Cure. The steel, as recommended above, is one of the best remedies ; with this, topical appli- cations should be made with a syringe. Decoc- tions of Peruvian bark, oak-bark, or galls are pro- per. 5 77 CHAP. XXXVIII. OBSTRUCTED MENSES. CAUSES. Cold is one of the most common causes, either when applied to the body du- ring menstruation, or when it has at a preceding time brought on the complaint called a cold; dis- eases of much pain or action in other parts, de- bility, excessive evacuations, low passions of the mind, are also causes. As the disorder is so well marked, I need not mention the symptoms that ensue in those who have once had the menses, but shall confine my- self to the symptoms that take place in girls who have never had them, although they have passed over the proper time. This is called properly a retention of the menses. The patient after the age of thirteen, but how long after is uncertain, is affected with a loss of appetite, sluggishness, lassitude and debility ; the countenance becomes pale or swarthy, and the body universally flaccid, the legs swell, especial- lv at night, and the belly sometimes swells also, whilst pains affect the head, back, and other parts : respiration is generally laborious. Management. It is clear that neither the man- agement nor the cure can be conducted on a sin- gle plan : In the plethoric, and those who have cold as a cause, low diet should be prescribed, with thin drinks, cool air, and rest: but in those emaciated, nourishing food, wine and exercise should be strenuously enforced. Cure. In those of the former case, that is, those who are full of blood, or have much remaining strength, perhaps nothing will relieve sooner than bloodletting; with this salts maybe used, and'if the menses do not return at the usual period, at that very juncture let the patient take four grains of calomel, and as many of aloes, in a tittle honev c 2 78 and repeat the dose next night if necessary. Those who are emaciated, or have a retention, should take ten grains of steel every six hours, and a couple of doses of bark daily, till the period arrives ; and then, if necessary, take the boluses as directed. A decoction of madder has been often used with success. CHAP. XXXIX. VOMITING OF BLOOD. fAUSES. Obstructed menses, and other evacu- ^ ations suppressed ; enlargement of the spleen or liver, erosions of the stomach by poisons, small glass, &c, and violent straining to vomit. Symptoms. Some pain about the stomach, anxiety and vomiting of black grumous blood, without coughing. Management. The patient who is subject to this., should live regularly and abstemiously, and en- deavour by every means to counteract such causes as admit of assistance, and use proper medicines for the same purpose. In time of a discharge, the patient should retire from all close places, in- to cool and fresh air. Cure. Whatever may be the cause, we are to use the same means to stop an excessive discharge. Besides the treatment mentioned before, we may use gentle astringent medicines, as ten grains of alum dissolved in water, every half hour, till the vomiting has ceased some time ; after which a decoction of oak bark may be used for some days, in the same-quantity, and made in the same man- ner as the decoction of No. 3. When an enlargement of the spleen or liver is the cause, little hope remains of a cure ; but the patient sh< uld not neglect to try the Virginia sulphur s rings, which are very powerful deob- struentsi When suppressed evacuations are the 79 cause, the means directed for them should be ad- ministered ; when acrids have been taken into the stomach, they should be changed if possible, by their proper antidotes, or enveloped in some mild mucilage, as mucilage of gum arabic, or in oil, or syrups. When vomiting is the cause, a few drops of laudanum in mint water, will put a stop to it. CHAP. XL. DISCHARGE OF BLOOD FROM THE URINARY PASSAGE. CAUSES. The passage of a stone, hard riding, blows on the small of the back, suppression of the piles, acrid medicines, as cantharides taken internally, or absorbed from a blister, or some putrid diseases, as the confluent small pox. Symptoms. A quantity of red or coffee colour- ed blackish urine is discharged, sometimes with pieces of clodded blood, like a worm, sometimes the blood is diffused through the urine, and re- mains so: at other times it is deposited in the bottom of the pot; sometimes much pain attends, as when a stone is passing along the ureters, at other times there is none. Management. The patient is to be advised to lay in a reclined posture, and to avoid all stimula- ting meats and drinks ; the causes are to be re- moved, before a cure can be expected. Barley, rice, panada, gruel, puddings, and things of this sort, are to be his nourishment. Cure. A plenty of mucilaginous drinks are to be used, as barley water, flaxseed tea, wmcilage of gum arabic, mallows tea, fee. and if the dis- charge continues, alum whey may be used. In the case of putrid diseases, vitriol and bark are to be administered freely. 80 CHAP. XLI. COLD. CAUSE. Cold applied partially or generally to the body, especially after an increase of heat. Symptoms. It frequentlv makes its appearance with a difficulty of breathing through the nostrils, a sense of fulness and stoppage there ; this is fol- lowed with a pain in the forehead, stiffness and redness of the eyes and dischage from the nose. When the affection is any worse, the patient is subject to chills and feverishuess, which is con- siderable towards evening, a hoarseness, sore throat, congh, flying or fixed pains of different parts, and not unfrequently some difficulty of respiring. i The cough in the beginning is usually dry, but as the other symptoms give way, it becomes moist, more easy, and attended with a discharge of whitish or yellow mucus, which is most frequent; this goes off at different periods, according to the patient's age, state, &c. Management. The patient should confine him- self to the house, in a temperate room; and live upon vegetables and cool acid mucilaginous drinks, as barley water or flaxseed tea sweetened, and acidulated with lemon juice or vinegar. Cure. If the feverishness and difficulty of breathing are considerable, bleeding should not be omitted ; with or without this, a dose of salts should be taken, after which sweating should be practised: one of the powders No. 1. maybe given every hour, washing it down with warm whey or tea ; or instead of these, ten drops of antimonial wine, and as many of paregoric every hilf hour for eight or ten times. The latter is a good medicine to take every night to lull the cough, for this purpose, thirty drops of the wine, 81 and sixty of the elixir may be taken, when the patient is disposed to rest. If pains remain in the head, a blister to the temples is the surest relief; if in the limbs a tea- spoonful of the volatile or simple tincture ofgua- iacum may be taken two or three times a-day, in a little water. Riding in good weather, or sail ing, is of great service as soon as the patient can go about. CHAP. XLII. INFLUENZA THE cause of this is a specific contagion, pro- ceeding from some very general alteration ire the air. There is no doubt of its being commu- nicated from one person to another. Symptoms. The most common symptoms are those of the common cold described above, at- tacking a whole town or neighbourhood at once. But that is not its constant form ; for sometimes it puts on the appearance of pleurisy, with a strong pulse, at other times a pain in the side with a weak pulse, whilst in a third case it has produced all the symptoms of a low nervous fe- ver. Management. This is in general to be directed as in the common cold : but when it has the form of a low fever, wine and water should be the con- stant drink. Cure. In some of the most violent cases, espe- cially when the patient's habit has been full, it has been necess/iry and useful to bleed, and blis- ter the pained part; this latter need never be neglected, where the pain is fixed. Vomits of ipecacuana, antimonial wine, or tartar, are always serviceable, and interrupt the disorder sooner than any other medicine. Gentle sweating with whey, and a little antimonial wine is never to be 82 neglected. This is to be used after vomiting, when that is intended. The bowels should be kept regular by small doses of castor oil, Glauber salts, cream of tartar, or jalap. When the cough is trublesome syrup of squills may be used, one tea-spoonful every three hours ; or what in some cases answers bet- ter, the following mixture : paregoric elixir one tea-spoonful, antimo. ial wine twenty drops ; this may be taken twice or three times in the course of a clay. Honey and vinegar boiled together, sper- maceti and loaf sugar, extract of liquorice, &cc. are frequently useful to take in the mouth every quarter of an hour. In the case of a low fever, wine and bark are to be given freely, after giving a gentle dose of ipecacuana. If the stomach refuses bark, elixir of vitriolkis to be used in its stead, ten or fifteen drops every hour. Riding or sailing is here as useful as in the former case. CHAP. XLIII. FLUX. &TMPTOMS. Sometimes a fever makes the ^ attack, at other times the bowels are prima- rilay affected ; first, with costiveness and flatu- lency, then with gripes and frequent painful ef- forts to stool, when nothing of a natural sort is discharged, but slime of a whitish, bloody, or blackish colour, in considerable quantities. In some few instances a lax^ has preceded. Whatever is voided of the natural kind, is gener- ally in small hard balls. The stomach in general is disordered, and that from the beginning; but it goes off as the com- plaint proceeds downwards, which it generally does, till all is fixed in the lower end of the last 83 gut, where it produces that troublesome effort of it, called tenesmus. The feverish symptoms con- tinue a considerable time, remimitting and then acceding again. Whenever the disease takes a putrid turn, which it is apt to do, it may be known by the foeter and blackness of the discharges, a lowness of the pulse and general debility. Management. Great attention should be paid to cleanliness, by removing the chamber furni- ture, and shifting the bed clothes often ; the pati- ent should live upon digestible vegetables, as rice, barley &c. and milk preparations, as thickened milk, light puddings, chicken water, and light broths may also be used, if the patient is fond of them. And4for drinks, teas jelly, and water, and apple water ; which may be taken milk warm. Cure. To procure regular natural stools is half the cure^j. for which purpose a table-spoonful of castor oil is to be given every hour, till it pro- duces that effect; this may be repeated every other day, for several times, as the patient may require ; after this, if the patient is very sick, eight grains of ipecacuana may be given; after which two grains of ipecacuana may be adminis- tered every two hours, so as not to interfere with taking the oil, as long as the fever lasts. After the use of these medicines for some time, lauda- num may be given to relieve the pain, fifteen drops morning and night, mixed up with two grains of ipecacuana. If the above medicine are not handy, or ^if there is any objection to them, the following may be used; a dose of salts and manna, once or twice in the beginning, after which, put two grains of tartar emetic, or a table spoonful of an- timonial wine in a quart of apple tea, and take it in small quantities, every quarter of an hour, so as to consume the whole in a day : after taking * 84 it till the fever is removed, then use the lauda- num. When the complaint has a putrid turn, as well as to remove the debility after a common case, twelve grains of columbo root should be taken every two or three hours. If the disease leaves a looseness, a decoction of logwood ortormentil should be used. CHAP. XLIV. APOPLEXY. THIS disorder most commonly attacks the aged, such as have large heads, short necks, corpulent habits, and indolent dispositions, who have fed high and used much strong drink. If, in addition to these, they have had a suppression of any evacuation, as the piles, they can scarce expect to escape an apoplexy. Somptoms. Semetimes a head-ach and swim- ming of the eyes, with other affections of the head precede; at other times, it suddenly attacks the patient as he reclines his head, or makes some effort, with a loss of internal and external sense, and almost total deprivation of voluntary motion. The patient's face often becomes flush- ed and swoln, his eyes red, his pulse full and slow, his breathing somewhat difficult, with snor- ing. The time that this state lasts, is uncertain j sometimes the patient comes to his senses in a few hours, with a vomiting and sweat, at other times he lays days, and frequently never recovers. Management. The patient should be laid on a bed with his head raised as high as it convenient- ly can: his neck-cloth should be stripped off, and -he should be placed in a cool room. If the fit continues long, a little water may be poured down his throat, if possible, twice or three times a-day, when he is on the recovery, his diet should be as light as possible. 8$ There are some cases which may be termed apoplexy, which demand treatment only from the surgeon, as when it depends upon a fracture of the skull. Cure. The patient should be bled as freely as his constitution will allows this maybe done at dif- ferent times rather than at once. After bleeding, a clyster of Castile soap, dissolved in water should he given, one drachm of soap to a pint of water, or instead of that, two table spoonfuls ofantimo- ial wine in as much water. These may be used every six hours, for several times. If these do not bring him to himself, a large blister should be applied to the back of his neck, and sinaspisms made of mustard, vinegar, and crumbs of bread, applied to the soles of his feet. As soon as the patient is able to swallow a pill, six grains of aloes, and as much soap made into a bolus or pills, should be given him every day, so as to keep his bowels in regular motion. Gentle exercise should soon be used, and in- creased tili the patient is perfectly well: proper exercise and abstinence are the only securities against a return. When the disorder ends in a palsy,'which it sometimes does, the cure directed for palsy is to be followed. Lethargy and Coma, which are species of this disorder, are to be treated in the same way, hav- ing respect to the degree of the disorder and the patient's habit, and directing the evacuations in proportion to them. CHAP. XLV. PALSY. f^AUSES. Compression of a nerve in its origin ^ or course, .certain narcotics taken internally, exhalations from lead or arsenic in their prepara- tions, excessive venery, old age, fee. H 86 Symptoms.* A loss of sensation or ability of motion in the part affected, which is sometimes one half of the patient, as the right side, or from the hips downwards ; at other times, only a small part is affected, as the hand, the arm, the leg. Management. This is to be according to the patient's habit: If he is full, a low diet is to be used ; if he is low, a stimulating diet and spirit- uous drinks should be used. The causes are, if possible to be removed. Cure. In full habits it is often necessary to purge with jalap, or aloes, and sometimes even to let blood: when these have been used, and like- wise when they have not been necessary, stimu- lating medicines are to be used. A table-spoon- ful of mustard seed may be the first, which will give the patient a gentle vomiting; after this, any of the following may be tried, as they may best suit: from one to two tea-spoonfuls of vola- tile tincture of guaiacum in water, three times a- day; or.ten drops of tincture of cantharides, three times a-day in broth or mucilage ; ten drops of spirit of turpentine in honey, three times a-day: infusions of horse-radish and mustard ; electrici- ty ; frictions; external applications of spirit of sal ammoniac and oil; applications of flies, made by putting a lump of blister plaister* to twice1 as much common wax and oil plaster ; and lastly, by drinking the water of Berkley springs, which is probably as effectual as any. J . .' CHAP,XLVI. FAINTING. (CAUSES. Excessive exertions, heat, large eva- *-/ cuations, excessive passions, as fear, anger, joy, fee. suddenly depriving the body of any cpm-, pression, distension, or pain,, that it has been for some time accustomed to, violent pain,, affections of the stomach, disagreeable smells, sights, &c. 87 Symptoms. Sometimes a languor, an anxiety, a giddiness and dimness precede: at other times the fainting comes on suddenly ; the patient turns pale, and sinks away, appears dead; the pulse be- ing either imperceptible, or very low; the breath- ing in the same state. A cold sweat often breaks out, and stands in drops upon the patient's forehead, which is as cold as a corpse. After lying a few minutes in that state, the patient begins to recover, and vomits, or is sick at the stomach. Management. The patient should be laid out on a hard bed, in a stream of cool air. If the cause requires attention, it is to be removed as. quick as possible. Cure. The patient should have his face sprink- led with cold water, and his hands, arms, and legs rubbed in the direction of the circulation, that is, towards the heart. Hartshorn should be applied ttf the nose and temples, and twenty or thirty drops given internally. As soon as the patient begins to recover, a little good wine should be given him, and if much debility remains after- wards, it should be removed by bark. CHAP. XLVII. DYSPEPSY,OR CONFIRMED INDIGES- TION. syAUSES. The large use of coffee, tea, or any Y warm watery drinks ; of tobacco, ardent spi- rits, opium, bitters, spices, and acids; putrescent food, over eating, frequent unnecessary vomiting or purging; some disorders,as intermittent fevers, fluxes, fee. An indolent life, much application of mind, excessive venery, long exposure, with- out exercise, to cold and moist air. Symptoms. The great variety of symptoms in this affection together with the causes, is the rea- 88 son that no two persons are identically alike af- fected : but nevertheless, the general and funda- mental symptoms are always alike ; these I shall set down: a loss of appetite, distensions of the stomach With wind, eructations after eating espe- cially, heart-burns, sometimes a. vomiting, fre- quent pains about the stomach, and often a deject- ed mind. , . Management. Avoid all the causes, use the most digestible meat in small quantities at a time, avoid all flatulent vegetables, use wine and water, brandy and water, or porter, if it will sit well on the stomach ; use gentle, constant, and varied ex- ercise, taking care to avoid exposure in cold or damp weather. Cure. This is either palliative or radical; the latter is not to be expected in a short time, nor at all unless with great attention. The palliative consists in-removing the present disagreeable feelings from time to time. The most troublesome symptotns are the wind and acid on the stomach, and the costiveness: for the wind and acid, a little magtiesia* chalk* or lime water* with some essence of mint, should be taken occasionally. For the costiveness, the patient should be pro- vided with a box of pills made with jalap of rhu* barb ; or with extract of white walnut bark, these may be taken occasionally ; riding over agreeable country scats is one of the most effectual iemedle» against a dejected mind. For the radical cure, we are to attempt the re- moval of the dibility in the fibres of the stomach; for which purpose the waters of Berkley springs, or of any chalybeate springs, are the most pro- mising : when these cannot be used, any of the following medicines may be used, as shall best suit. Half a wine glass full three times a day, of the tincture No. 7. or two tea-spoonfuls o£ No, 83 8. in a little water, or in spirit and water, three times a-jday, or twelve grains of columbo root three or four times a-day; or a table-spoonful of the tincture of bark, No. 4. three times a-day. CHAP. XLVIII. LOCKED JAW. CAUSES. Sudden application of cold to the body when warm and much relaxed ; lacer- ations of the tendons or nerves of the foot, and some other parts ; exposure of the muscles to the air, after the skin has been taken off by a gangrene or otherwise. Symptoms. A stiffness of the lower jaw, and pains about the breast and back generally precede, and increase till the jaw becomes firmly closed, and the muscles of the back, or of the fore parts, are violently constricted so as to bend the patient into a bow ; after this state has continued for some time, he is seized with convulsions, in which he is generally carried off. Management. If any substance is lodged in the parts primarily affected, it should be removed immediately: the patient should be kept warm, and fed upon such food as can be got down. In some cases it would be adviseable to draw a low- er tooth, to make a passage for the food : wine and water is the most proper drink. Cure. It will be proper to remove a toe, or any small part, if that be the place of the wound, and to dress this, or whatever part may be hurt, with a strong suppurating salve, as basilicon (which is composed of rosin and wax, with a sufficiency of oil to soften it) having first sprinkled it wifch red precipitate : or if these things are not to be had, a little warm oil of turpentine. The patient's bowels should be opened with castor oii, or with jalap, and kejjt open j after h2 §6 this he should have one drachm of strong mercu- rial ointment rubbed into his thighs and arms, morning, noon, and night, till he spits freely: af- ter this it may he used every other day, so as just to keep up a spitting for a week or more, if the symptoms continue. A pill of one grain of opium may be giveti frequently to ease the pain. If the patient grows weak, he should take the bark as frequently as he possibly can, and in as great quantities as his stomach will bear, without raising the pulse too much. It Will be proper t6 continue the medicines in smaller quantities, for some time after the affection has gone off. If the sore is brought in the beginniirg to suppu- rate, the locked jaw need not be feared. CHAP. XLIX. EPILEPSY, OR COMMON FITS. fiAUSES. Wounds, and bony protuberances of *-' the,skull; ossification of the membranes of the brain ; acrimony of the fluids from contagion, degeneracy, &c. passions, as anger, fear ; strong imagination of disagreeable objects, and the sight of such, congestions of bloodi n the'braih, produc- ed by a plethoric state, by long continued suti- heat on the head; by intoxication, surfeit, fee* irritations proceeding from. worms : teething; splinters in the flesh; fractured bones ; stones in the kidneys ; the matter of ulcers ; poisons, fee. and lastly, large evacuations of blood. It will readily appear that many of the aboVe causes do not produce fits generally ; and hence there mustbe a predisposition in thdse, in whom they'will occasion them. A predisposition con- sists either in a great mobility of the muscular system, or in a relaxed state of the vessels of the brain, which allows of their being easily forced beyond their power, and admitting of congestion, £1 Symptoms. Sotnetirties the patient feels indis- posed for some time before the attack, with head- ach, giddiness, fulness ofthe head, sluggishness, 8cc. at other times the fit attacks without warning; the person falls down and is variously agitated. sometimes one side more than the other; his tongue is often thrust out of hrs mouth, and by that means is bit almost or quite through : after con- tinuing some minutes in this state, his convul- sions cease, and he lies some time in a sleepy State, and then returns to himself, not knowing what has passed. Management. It will be proper to hold the pa- tient, so as to keep him from hurting himself, and to put a piece of thick leather between krs teeth, to keep him from injuring his tongue. It is seldom or never necessary to prescribe any di- et for the patient, except in the intervals, when it is to be suited to his state. If fulness is the cause of the fits, ot he is of a full habit, a low vegetable diet, with hard exercise, should be used; bat for a contrary state, a nourishing diet and constant gentle exercise is to be-used. The causes should, if possible, be removed by operations or medi- cines suited to the cause. Cure. In full habits, a bleeding will be proper during the fit, or preceding it. However, if they frequently return, it will not do to bleed every time, but give a dose of salts in its stead, ^at the time the patient expects the return. , Be- sides this, very little can be done, except to ad- here strictly to-the management directed, and to have an issue put in the back of the neck. In those of thin habits, when several fits return quiokly after one and the other, that is in one day, it will be proper to give twenty drops of lauda- num ; to have him bathed in warm water, and a warm milk ^nd Water clyster injected twot>r 92 three times a-day. All this may be repeated if necessarv, in six or eight hours after. But the chief thing consists in removing the mobility or irritability mentioned in the cause. For this, bark, steel, and the cold bath are proper; they should be used a long while, with proper exercise and diet. In fits proceeding from some of the above causes, as from irritations, the re- moval of the cause is all that is required. But it is lamentable, that some of the causes cannot be removed; as that from bony protuberances into the brain, &c. for such there is no remedy* But it is very probable, that the number of fits will be greatly lessened by temperance, and avoid* i >ng extremes on either hand. ; CHAP L. St. VITUS's DANCE. j THIS is a convulsive affection, partly under j the influence of the will: it affects the pa- tient's leg, or arm, or both. It makes him limp along, and in taking a cup of water, or applying | it to his mouth, he usually performs some uncom- mon gestures, carrying it quickly one way and then another, before he gets it to his mouth. It ( is apt to terminate in palsy. Children from eight to twelve are the subjects of it. Ciire. The patient should live sparingly, and be purged if he is full. Besides this, cold bathing and a vomit of ipecacuana, taken two or three times, will be of service. Sometimes electricity is of service. CHAP. LI. PALPITATION OF THE HEART. IT is not when this is a symptom, but only when it is a primary affection., that it belongs to this head. 93 Causes. Obstructions in the large blood-vessels, excessive irritability or mobility of the heart, af- fections of the mind, and excessive evacuations. Management. The patient should live on a nourishing diet, if he is weak habitually, or has been weakened by disorder; much motion, sud- den starts, straining, and all exposure should be avoided. Cure. When it if certain that an obstruction m the large vessels is the cause, there can be no cure expected only palliative, and that by avoiding all excess and extremes. In the other cases, strengthening the habit with bark, steel, wine, and gently riding, are what will prove effectual to remove it; and for a temporary medicine, pills of assafostida, or a few drops of laudanum may be used. CHAP. Lit. ASTHMA. BY this I do not mean every difficulty of breathing, but only that which returns peri- odically, depending upon a certain peculiar con- stitution of the lungs. It usually observes the changes of weather in its returns, and seldom 0* never goes off entirely. Symptoms. It often begins with a tightness across the breast, flatulency, and impediment in respiration, which continues until the patient can scarcely get sufficient breath to live.. Sometimes a large quantity of frothy spit is discharged, at other times little or none. Whenever any phlegm is discharged, which the patient generally makes many effort's to do, it is attended with relief. Management The patient should use light fbbd such as will not produce flatulency: his drink should be of the cooling kind. 94 He should be in a place where there is a free admission of air, yet not exposed to cold. Cure. A v6mit of ipecacuana should be given in the beginning; after which twenty drops of laudanum in a little mint water ; this may be re- peated in six or eight hours if necessary. The bowels should be immediately opened, and kept open with common clysters. If much fever attends tl.-. asthma, it maybe proper to take away some blood, if the patient is sufficiently able to bear it; and also to lay a blister to the back. Gentle riding is proper, after the fit has passed over. As tea and coffee are sup- posed to be injurious.to asthmatics they may use milk and water in their stead. CHAP. LIII. HOOPING COUGH. THIS often begins like a common cold, but proceeds on till the cough becomes more like a convulsion; the patients breath is so forced out of his lungs, that it returns with a whizzing or hoop ; after which he often pukes and finds relief. After some time there is a considerable discharge of mucus. Management. The patient, if full, should live on a low diet for some time ; milk in its various preparations is proper, and should form the chief of the patient's diet. Gentle riding is of service in good weather. Cure. Gentle pukes of ipecacuana, or tartar emetic, should be given every two or three days for several times : after which, small doses of an- timonial wine every night: the bowels should be kept open with cream of tartar, or jalap. When the cough has continued for some time, and the patient grows weak, he should take bark daily. 95 A blister is sometimes necessary, when the pa- tient's breathing becomes much interrupted, or When the returns of coughing are violent and fre- quent. CHAP. LIV. CHOLIC. /^AUSES. Costiveness, cold applied to the bel- ^ ly or feet, indigestible food, acrids, &c. Symptoms. Pain in the belly, usually about the navel, with costiveness, flatulency, and often vomiting. Cure. When much fever attends, it will be pru- dent to bleed, but when there is nothing but a quick or frequent pulse, we need not order bleed- ing, but endeavour to open the bowels with a common clyster, or with a spoonful of castor oil, given every three hours, ptill it operates ; after which ten drops of laudanum may be given in some mint'water, every hour, for four times if necessary,,, If the pain does not abate for this, the patient should be put into a tub of warm wa- ter for half an.hour. v If the stomach does not bear the oil, let the pa- tient take a quarter of an ounce of cream of tar- tar,, and fifteen or twenty grains of jalap. The opening medicines should be often repeated ifi less,doses, to prevent a relapse, and remove the costiveness, which the laudanum occasions ; salts and manna, or manna and senna j are also very .good purges. .* The patient .should use riding, to prevent re- turns, and avoid all food that has a tendency to flatulency, or to produce costiveness. 96 CHAP. LV. CHOLERA MORBUS, OR VOMITING AND PURGING OF BILE. THIS violent disorder happens at the end of summer, usually after loading the stomach with acid fruits. Cure. The patient should take large doses of camomile, or balm, or sage tea, to wash out the stomach : after which he should take ten drops of laudanum, in some mint or cinnamon water every half hour, for five or six times if necessary. If this does not have the desired effect, a blister should be laidon the breast, and a large bundle of mint stewed in wine or spirit, laid over and about it. The patient should be kept as warm as he can, so as not to be disagreeable. Great care should be taken to avoid the night air, and aci4 ] fruits, which rather promote the secretion of bile, than correct it when secreted. This same disorder, with very little variety, is z very common to children in large towns* They should be immediately carried out into the coun#. try air, without waiting for an alteration of the disorder, and also dipt in water fresh from the .well. For a medicine, they may have, if five years old, thirty drops of ^laudanum put into half of the mixture No. 2. One tea-spoppful of this, and one of weak mint water, may be taken every I half hour, for three or four times: the mint as above may be immediately applied to the sto- mach: but the chief dependance is tobeput in port wine, given every hour and increasing the dose; one tea-spoonful is enough to begin with. After the disorder has gone off, bark or columbo, should be taken to strengthen the stomach. 57 CHAP. LVI. LAX, OR LOOSENESS. jTiAUSES. Over-eating, bad food or water, hrge ^ quantities of sweets or acids, poisons, over purging, bile in the summer time, matter dis- charged into the intestines, cold applied to the belly or feet, teething, passions of the mind, &c. . : Management. The causes, as far as possible should be removed, the patient should avoid damp or cold air, by dressing warm, as with flan- nel next the skin; all food that has a laxative •quality, should be avoided. Sago, rice, milk, eyas, light broths, and digestible meats should be used ; for drink, wine and water, and warm teas are proper, as sage, balm, mint, &c. Cure. To perform this, we should keep up a free perspiration, by givingthree times a-day half a grain of opium, with one grain ofipecacuana: let the patient lie down for one hour after taking this. After using-this prescription for some dayfe, astringents are to be used, as ten or fifteen grains of tormentil root twice a.cl, y, or thirty grains of gum kino twice a-day, or oak bark made into a } decoction, and used in the same quantities as the ' Peruvian bark, or six grains of'alum every two hours. CHAP. LVII. HYSTERICS; /^AUSES. Passions of the mind, especially ^ grief, large evacuations, obstructed menses, great irregularities, of any kind. These scarce ever fail to bring it on^ in those subject or predis- posed to it. Sy?npto?)is. Some disorder is generally felt in the belly, which is succeeded by the sensation of a ball rising up till it gets fixed in the throat: I 98 with this, the patient is also writhed to and fro by convulsions, which cease after some minutes, to return again. In the intervals, the patient some- times lies in a sleepy state, at other times comes to herself and talks. In this manner they continue for some time. Management. The patient should be kept from hurting herself during the fit; her food should be of the lightest kinds. If she is full, nothing but water drinks should be used, but if otherwise, she should have wine and water : exercise is of material consequence to prevent relapses. Cure. When the patient is of a full habit, of % when the affection proceeds from obstructed menses (provided this does not proceed from de- bility) some blood should be taken away, after ;: which the bowels should be opened with a com- mon clyster. If the convulsions still continue, ten drops of laudanum should be given in some sage tea, or mint water, which may be repeated three or four times if necessary. In lean patients, a tea- spoonful of the tincture of assafcetida given three or four times a day, is what is generally used ; sometimes a small puke of ipecacuana will put an I end to the fits. Those who are in this latter J case, should use bark, steel, (or bitters, with a < nourishing diet, and gentle exercise, to prevent ' returns ; whilst those who are in the contrary ] state, should live abstemiously, keep their bowels open, and use much^exercise* i CHAP. LVIII. BITE OF A MAD DOG, &TMPT03IS. The wound festers, and after *^ some time, seldom under a week or two, the patient becomes languid and dejected. He then begins to dread water, and cannot swallow it with- out great agonies and convulsions of the face : 99 after some time he cannot bear the sight of k. He dozes and every now and then starts from his slumber ; and sometimes raves so as to need con- finement. Cure. The wound should be cut put, if it is on a part that admits of it; if not, let it be" filled with gun powder, and this burned ; after which it should be kept open for a month, by sprinkling it with red precipitate, and dressing it with a salve made with wax, oil and rosin. But if this has been neglected, there is no way left, but to salivate r the patient, by rubbing one drachm of mercurial ointment on him every six hours till he spits free- ly ; after which it may be applied every other night, so as to keep up a plentiful spitting for a week or ten days. This, if done in time, will often prevent the affection. CHAP. LIX. DROPSY. fAUSES. Obstructions of the liver, comp.w- ^ sion of the blood-vessels from any cause, large evacuations, suppressed natural evacuations, cold and moisture long applied, hard drinking, general debility, particular debility of what is called the lymphatic system, rupture of a lympha- tic, &c. Symptoms. A suppression of urine, drought, swelling of the bell}', or the body in general, which usually retains the impression of the finger ; towards the end,fevers come on with a looseness, which puts an end to the patient's miserable life. Management. The patient should live upon light digestible food, and observe the greatest re- gularity ; his drink should be wine and water, if he is thin or debilitated: gentle exercise should be constantly used. Cure. It will be very well in the beginning, if 100 the patient's state admits of it, to give two or three small purges, composed of twenty grains of jalap, with a quarter of an ounce of cream of tartar : if this does not answer, we. should try medicines that promote the urinary secretion; for which pur- pose two grains of powdered squills may be given twice a-dav, or half an ounce of cream of tartar dissolved in a quart of water, may betaken in the course of the morning. An infusion of horse radish and garlic, in spirit, has been sometimes of use ; also strong cid^r, iron flakes, and mus- tard-seed put together. From ten to twenty drops of an infusion of to- bacco, in a little mint water, twice a-ch;y, have been used with success : also a tea-spoonful of salt-petre in a little gin, twice a day. If none of the above medicines have the desir- ed effect, there is but little chance of a recovery. However, after every thing else has been tried to no purpose, rubbing the belly, when the dropsy ' affects that part, with warm oil for a long while every day, before a fire, has proved effectual. Bitters and steel are always useful,, and should be taken with the other medicines, only atanother hour. There is a kind of dropsy which effects only the cavity of the breast, which is known by the noise the water makes, when the patient turns over; by its affecting the pulse so as to make it irregular in its strokes ; by its affecting the respi- ation, and disturbing the patientvn the night with a sensation of oppression. It is to be treated as the other dropsies. CHAP. LX. RICKETS <>YMPT03IS. It makes its appearance general* ^ ly between the ninth and twenty-fouth month, 101 in the following manner ; the child becomes se- date, and grows lean, whilst the head grows some- what out of form ; the teeth come out slowly, turn black, and fall out: in a little time the child becomes altogether misshapen, some parts grow- ing whilst others pine away; the stools are liquid; and after a considerable time a fever comes on, which continues till it puts an end to the pitiable object. But when it is not so bad, the child recovers as he grows, till he recovers all but his shape. Management. The child should not be kept longer than usual at the breast, he should have a portion of meat for his diet, much tea should be avoided; he should be carried out every day for exercise, when the weather permits, and great attention should be paid to keeping him clean, Cure. If the weather is not very cold, let the child be dipped every morning in water immedi- ately from the well: give him a tea-spoonful of the tincture No. 7. three or four times a-day, and let him take two or three grains of rhubarb, when cos- tive. Bark is also a good medicine, if the child can be prevailed on to take it. If there is much acid on the stomach, give a little crabs eyes, or magnesia. CHAP. LXI. JAUNDICE. f^AUSES. Concretions of the bile stopping up ^ the duct, tumours, spasms of the gut into - which the bile is emptied, as in cholic and ob- structions of the liver. Symptoms. An universal yellowness which be- gins in the whites of the eyes, whitish stools, and pains about the right side,and sometimes a swel ling at the same place. Management The patient should live mostly x z. 102 on vegetables, except when very thin. Go, tie exercise should be constantly used ; the drink should be_wine and water, when in the above state, but if full, nothing but water should be used. The patient should carefully avoid cold and mois- ture. Care. A gentle emetic should be tried, and if it is of service, or does not do har;u, it should be repeated ; this is best suited where there are gall- stones : but if the liver be obstructed, the patient should take one grain of calomel every night and morning, till his gums feel sore. When much pain attends, twelve or fifteen drops of laudanum may be given twice a-day. Bitters are often useful; also elixir of vitriol, to forty drops a-day. Soap has sometimes been useful, taken in pills ; but the chief dependence is to be put in diet and exercise. When there is any fever, the saline mixture, No. 2. should be used as there directed. PRESCRIPTIONS. FEVER POWDERS, No. 1. TAKE one hundred grains of clean salt-petre,. and one grain of tartar emetic; beat the salt fine, and mix the tartar well with it: divide it into five powders. . One ofthese is generally given every two hours,. in a cup of water or tea. SALINE MIXTURE, No. 2. Take two tea-spoonfuls of salt of tartar, or salt • of wormwood, dissolve it in six table-spoonfuls of w^ater, and add lemon or lime juice to it, or pure vinegar gradually, until it ceases to bubble: 103 sweeten it. Two table-spoonfuls every hour is generally the dose. | DECOCTION OF BARK No. 3. To one ounce of bark, add half a gallon of wa, tcr, and boil it in about two or three hours to I three gills: strain it through a coarse rag whilst • hot. * Dose : Two table-spoonfuls every two hours. I TINCTURE OF BARK. No. 4. 1 Pour a quart of Port or Madeira wine on two ounces of bark : in six days it will be fit for use. ■ Dose : A small wine glass full from two to six times a-day. MILD CLYSTER. No. 5. To one pint of milk add of lard or oil, molas- ses, and Glauber or table salt, each one table- spoonful : warm it to the heat of blood, and use it at once. v COMMON LAXATIVE PILLS. No. 6. Take thirty-six grains of aloes, and twenty-four of Castile soap : make them into twelve pills with ta little honey : one or two are a dose. TINCTURE OF STEEL OR IRON. No. 7. On a handful of the flakes that fly off round the anvil (in a blacksmith's shop) pour a quart of Port wine ; let it stand a few weeks and then, use fjl half a wine-glass full, once, twice, or three times iff a-day. BITTERS. No. 8. On an ounce of gentian root, finely cut, and half an ounce of orange peel, pour a pint of good brandy: let them stand five days, and then use about two tea-spoonfuls in a little water, three times a*day. 1C4 DOSES. For a grown perfon a youth of iz a child of 3 a babe EXPLANATION OF DIFFICULT WORDS. Chalybeate. That which is impregnated with iron. Coma. A disordered state like sleep. Congestion. A collection of humours. Contusion. Pressure, squeeze, crush. Constricted. Drawn together, bound. Debility. Feebleness, weakness. Decoction. That which is made by boiling. Delirium. A confusion of the internal senses. Demulcent. Softening. Desquamation. A peeling off. Exacerbate. Sharpening up, increase. Efflorescence. An appearance of ruddy spots. Exhalation. Vapours, fume. Eminence. Raised above a level. Eructation. A belching. fauces. The posterior cavity of the mouth. Flaccid. Relaxed, loose. Gestation. Passive exercise, as riding. Grumous. Clodded. Intermittent. With an interval. Laceration. Tear, rent. Mucilaginous. Jelly-like, slimy, viscous. Narcotic. That which destroys sense and stupifies Nausea. Sickness at the stomach. Obesity. Fatness. Ossify. To turn to bone. Palliative. That which mitigates, lessens. Peripneumonia; Inflammation round the lungs. 105 Pustules. Pimples with matter in them. Radically. .From the root, the bottom. Remit. To lessen or cease partially. Respiration. The act of breathing. Sedate. Given to inactivity, quiet. Sh'ighs. Mortified spots. Spheroidical. Like a sphere. Suppurate. To turn to matter. Topical. Confined to a place or part. Torpor. Slowness. Turgid. Swelled, bloated. Undulate. To proceed like waves. Ventilated. Exposed to the wind. Vesicles. Pimples with water in them, like blad- ders. ^ ®®®®®$«®o®®®®®®®®® r^s CONTENTS OF THE Family Adviser. A Page. POPLEXY „ 84 Asthma 93 Bleeding at the nose 67 Bite of a mad dog 98 Catarrh. See cold and influenza Croup or Hives 30 Chicken Pox 60 Consumption 71 Cold 80 Cholic 95 Cholera morbus,orvomitingandpurging of bile 96 Discharge of blood from the urinary passage 79 Dyspepsia, or Indigestion 87 Dropsies 99 Doses 104 Essera, or "Nettle Rash 66 Epilepscy or Common Fits 90 Fevers in general 5 f'ever, Inflammatory 6 ----Nervous g --- Putrid j 2 ----l^mittent 15 -—j- Intermittent 17 —— Hcv tic oq —- Scarlet J, flux 82 Fainting ^ UTJJNTfcJN lb. 'Gout Gout, Regular ----Atolpl ——— Misplaced ■■-" ■ Retrocedent Hives Hooping Cough Hysterics Inflammation of the eye ■i--------of thejBrain ■--------of the Stomach ------------of the Intestines . ----of the Liver — of the Kidneys Influenza Jaundice Locked Jaw Lax or Loosness Mumps Measles Menses, Profuse —-—----Obstructed Obstructed liver Pleurisy, true . ---Bastard Piles Palsy Palpitation of the heart Prescriptions Putrid Sore Throat •Quinsy Rheumatism, Intercostal - ■--------Acute --------■ ■ Chronic Rickets Sciatica Small Pox Distinct . Confluent St. Anthony's Fire CONTENTS. Spitting of Blood St. Vitus's Dance Tooth-ach Vomiting of Blood Whites 79 92 45 78 re *#&*, ^^5^ PRIMITIVE PHYSIC: ' OR, AN EASY AND NATURAL METHOD of CURING MOST DISEASES. -J- By JOHN WESLEY, M. A. Homo fum; humani nihil a me alienum puto. TUB TWEMTY-SIXTH EDITION, CORRECTED. NEW-YORK: Printed by John C. Totten, for the Methodifi Epifcopal Church, and fold by Ezekiel Coorsa and John Wilson, at the Book-Room. 1804. PREFACE. WHEN man came firft out of the handi of the great Creator, cloathed in body as well as in foul, with immortality and in- corruption, there was no place for phyfic, or the art of healing. Ai he knew no fir., fo he knew no pain, no ficknefs, weaknefs, or bodily diforder. The habitation wherein the angelic mind, the Divinse par- ticula Aura abode, though originally formed out of the duft of the earth, was liable to no decay. It had' no feeds of corruption or diflb- lution within itfelf. And there was nothing without to injure it: Heaven and earth" and all the hofts of them were mild, benign and friendly to human nature. The entire creation was at peace with man, fo long as man was at peace with his Creator. So that well might "the morning ftars fing together, and all thefons of God ihout for joy." z. But fince man rebelled againfV the Sovereign of heaven an or bit by a ferpent, or torn by a wild heart, the fathers immediately tell their children what remedy to apply. And it is rare that the patient furTers long; thofe medicines being quick, as well as generally infallible. 5. Hence it was, perhaps, that the ancients, not only of Greece and Rome, but even of barbarous nations, ufually affigned phyfic a di- vine original. And indeed it was a natural thought, that hi who had taught it to the very beafts and birds, the Cretan Stag, the Egyp- tian Ibis, could not be wanting to teach man, Sanftius his animal, mentifque capacius altse : Vea, Sometimes even by thofe meaner creatures : for it was eafy to in- fer, " If this will heal that creature, whofe fle/h is nearly of the fame texture with mine, then in a parallel cafe it will heal me." The trial was made: the cure was wrought*, and experience and phyfic grew up together. 6. As to the manner of ufing the medicines here fet down, I mould advife, as foon as you know your diitemper (which is very eafy, un- lets in complication of diforders, and then you would do well to apply to a phyficiarr that fears God) First, ufe the firft of the remedit* for that rtifeafe, which occurs in the enfuing colle&ion; (unlefs fome other of them be eafier to be had, and then it may dp juft as well.) Sxcondly, after a competent time, if it takes no effect, ufe the fecond, the third, and fo on, 1 have purpofely fet down (in moft tales) feveral remedies for each difnrder; • not only becaufe all are not <- equally eafy to be procured at all times, and in all places * but like- wise the medicine that cures one man, will not always cure another of the fame diftemper. Nor will it cure the fame man at all times. Therefore it was neceffary to have a variety, However, I have (ub- ioired the letter (I) to thofe medicines which fome think-infallible. Thirdly, Obferve all the time the greateft exaftnefs in your regi- men or manner of living. Abftain from all mixed, all high-feafoned food. Ufe p'ain diet, eafy of digeftion; and this as fpanngty as you can, confiftent with eafe and ftrength, Drink only water, if it agrcea with your ftomach 5 if not, good, clear, fmall beer. Ufe as much txercife daily, in the open air, as you can without weannefs. Sup at fix or feven on the lighteft food i go to bed early and rife betimes. To peifevere with iteauinefi in thiscourfe, isofien more than half the cure. Above all, add to the reft (for it is not labour loft) that old unfaihionable medicine, prayer. And have faith in God who " uiUTH AND MAtlTH AllVE, WHO ERINGlTH DOWN TO THK GIAVI) AND BR1NGETH UP." 7. For the fake of thofe who deftre through the blefling of God, to retain the health which they have recoveied, I have added, a few plain, eafy rules, chiefly tranfcribed from Dr. Cheyne. I 1. The air we breathe is of great confequence to our health. Thofe who have been long abroad in eafterly or northerly winds, mould drink fome thin and warm liquor going to bed, or a draught rf toaft and water. .,.',.... 1. 2 Tender people mould have thofe who he with them, or are muck about tbem, found, lweet, and healthy. 3. Every one that would preferve health, mould be as clean and fweet as poflible in their houfes, clothes'aud furniture. II. i The great rule of eating and drinking is, To fuit the quality and quantity of the food to the ftrength of our dig'ftion ; to t'k-: al- ways fuch a fort and fuch a meafure of fo ,d, as fits light and eafy oa the ftomach. a. All pickled, fmoked, or failed food, and all high-feafoned, ate alone unfit for aliment. . 3. Nothing conduces more to health, than abftinence and plain food, with due labour.- # . 4. For ftudious perfons, about eight ounces of animal food, ara twelve of vegetable, in twenty-four hours, are fufficknt. 5. Water, though the wholfomeft of all drinks, yet if ufed largely in time of digeftion, is injurious. " 6. Strong, and more efpecially fpirituous liquors are a certain, though flow poifon, unlefs well diluted aud cautioufly ufed. 7. Experience fhews, there is very ieldom any danger in leaving them off all at once; unlefs in time of particular difeafes, as of debi- lity. 8. Strong liquors donot prevent themifchiers of a furfeit,nor carry it off fo fafely as water. ,„,/•■ \ 9. Malt liquors (except clear fmall beer, or fmall ale, of a due age; , are exceedingly hurtful to tender perfons. 10. Coffee and tea are extremely hurtful to perfons who have weak nerves. EEVt-O. III. 1. All perfons fhould eat very light fuppers; and that two or three hours before going to bed. , 2. To go to bed about nine, and rife at five fhould be a general practice. , IV. 1. Aduedegreeofexercife is indifpenfably neceffary to healtli and long life. 2. Walking is the beft exercife for thofe who are able to bear it; riding for thofe who are not. The o pen air, when the weather is fair, contributes much to the benefit of exercife. 3. We may ftrengthen any weak part of tbe body by conftant ex- ercife. Thus the lungs may, be ftrengthened by moderate fpeaki ? ; the digeftion and the nerves by riding; the arnra and hams, by ftrongly rubbing them daily. 4. The ftudious ought to have ftatedtimea for exercife, at leaft two or three hours a-day : the one half of this before dinner, the other be- fore going to bed. 5. They fhould frequently fhave, and frequently warn their feet in cold water. 6. Thofe who read or write much Ihould learn to do it chiefly Hand- ing j otherwife it will impair their health. 7. The fewer clpthes any one ufes, by day or night, the hardier he will be } but the bJabit muft be begun in youth. 8. Exercife, firft, fhould be always on an empty ftomach; fecondly, fhould never be continued to weariness ; thirdlv, after it, we fhould take care to cool by degrees; otherwifewe fhall catch cold. 9. The flefh-brufh is a moft ufeful exercife, efpecially to ftrengthea any part thai is weak. A * VI lo. Cold bathing i» of great advantage to health: it prevents abundance of difeafes. It promotes perfpiration, helps the circulation of the blood, and prevents the danger of catching cold. Tender peo- ple fhould pour water upon the head before they go in, and walk in Iwiftly. To jump in with the headforemoft is too great a fhock to nature. It is beft to ufe it immediately after rifing. V. i. Coftivenefs cannot long confift with health. Therefore care should be taken to remove it at the beginning by a gentle medicine ; and when it is removed to prevent its return, by foft, cool, open diet j as of vegetables, acid or fweet. a. Obftrufted perfpirarion (vulgarly called catching cold) is one great fource of difeafes- Whenever there appears the leaftfign of this, let it be removed by gentle fweats or purges. ^ VI. i. The paffions have a greater influence on health, than molt people are aware of. z. All violent or fudden paffions difpofe to, or actually throw peo« ■ pie into acute difeafes. 3. The flow and lading paffions, fuch as grief and hopelefs love, bring on chronic difeafes, and low fevers. 4. Till the paffion which caufed the difeafe is calmed, medicine is applied in vain. 5. The love of God, as it is the fovereign remedy of all miferies, fo ' in particular it effectually prevents all rhe bodily diforders the paffions introduce, by keeping the paffions themfelves within due bounds. And by the unfpeakable joy, and perfect: calm, ferenity and tranquility it gives the mind, it becomes the molt powerful of all the means of • ■health and long life. Lonww, June 11,1747. TO THI MEMBERS OF THE Methodist Episcopal Church* Friends and Brethren, ^T1 HE grand interests of your, souls will[ever lie ■* near our hearts; but we cannot be unmindful of your bodies. In several parts of this extensive eountry, the climate, and in others the food, is un- wholesome : and frequently, the physicians are few, some of them unskilful, and all of them beyond the reach of your temporal abilities. A few small pub* lications excepted, little has been done by physical books, in order to remove these inconveniencies: and even those have been written in Europe, and do therefore^partake of'the confined ideas of the writers, who could not possibly be fully acquainted with the peculiarities of the various diseases incident to a peo- ple that inhabit a country so remote from theirs. Simple remedies, are, in general, the most safe for simple disorders, and sometimes do wonders under the blessing of God. In this view we present to you now, the Primitive Physic,published by our much honoured friend John Wesley. But the difference being in many respects great between this country and England, in regard to climate, the con- stitution of patients,and even the qualities of the same simples,—we saw it necessary for you, to have it re- vised by physicians practising in this country, who at our request have added cautionary and explana- tory notes where they were necessary, with some additional receipts suitable to the climate. In this state we lay the publication before you, and earnestly recommend it to you. As we apply all the profits of our books to chart- "... "i VI11 J table purposes, and the promoting the work of God, fk we think we have some right to intreat you (except ,'j in particular cases J to buy only our books, which are recommended by the conference, and signed with our signatures : and as we intend to print our .j Books in future within the states, and on a. 3 much larger scale than we have hitherto done, we ^ trust we shall be able soon to supply you with as many of the choicest of our publications, as the time -$ and temporal abilities of those of you, who do not \ live a life of study will require. V, We remain, dear brethren, as ever, Your faithful pastors, THOMAS COKE, FRANCIS ASHBURT. i ! A COLLECTION OF RECEIPTS. [N. B. We would inform our readers, that the receipts and notes inclofed in brackets, as this is, are inferted by the phyficians who revifed the copy for this impreffion; and alfo, that the pre- emptions marked * are better than the others.] 1. Abortion* (to prevent.) *"TX TOMENofa weak or relaxed habit should V V use solid food, avoiding great quantities ! of tea, and other weak and watery liquors. They should go soon to bed, and rise early; and take : frequent exercise, but avoid fatigue. If of a full habit, they ought to use a spare diet, and chiefly of the vegetable kind, avoiding strong liquor», and every thing that may tend to heat the body, or increase the quantity of blood. In the first case, take dailyihalf a pint of a de- coction of lignum vitae: boiling an ounce of it in »• a quart of water for five minutes. In the latter case, give half a drachm of pow- g^dered nitre, in a cup of water gruel, every five or < six hours: in both cases she should sleep on ahard "I mattrass and be kept cool and quiet. The bow- els should be kept regular by a pill of white wal- nut extract. 2. For an Ague.f Go into the cold bath just before the cold fit. Ui ■ ts' Nothing tends more to prolong an ague, than indulging a lazy indolent disposition. The patient fi might, therefore, between the fits, to take as much exercise as he can bear ; and to use a light diet, and •[In the firft cafe, the cold bath ufed-two or three times a-week, from the beginning to the fixtb month of pregnancy, is deemed effec- tual-—In the latter cafe, bleeding at the arm in the fourth and I* - feventh months may be ufed.] ( f An ague is an intermitting fever, each fit of which is preceded by a cold fhivering, and goes off in a fweat. 10 for common drink, Port wine and water is the most proper. * When all other means fail, give blue vitriol, from one grain to two grains, in the absence of the fit, aud repeat it three or four times in twenty four hours. Or, boil yarrow in new milk, till it is tende* enough to spread as a plaster. An hour befort the cold fit, apply this to the wrists, and let it be on till the hot fit is over. If another fit comes, use a fresh plaster. This often cures a quartan; * Or put a tea-spoonful of salt of tartar into a large glass of spring water, and drink it by little and little. Repeat the same dose the next two days, before the time of the fit: * Or a large spoonful of powdered Camomilei J fiowers: * Or, a tea-spoonful of the spirits of hartshorn in a glass of water : Or, eat a small lemon, rind and all. *In the hot fit, if violent, take eight or ten drops of laudanum: if costive, with an Ander? son's pills. * Dr. Lirrtl says, an ague is certainly cured ,by taking from ten to twenty drops of laudanum,' with two drachms of syrup of poppies, in any' warm liquid, half an hour after the heat begins. * t3" It is. proper to take a gentle vomit, and sometimes a purge, before you use any of thcyt. medicines. If a vomit is taken two hours befoyt theft is expected, it generally prevents that ft, and sometime? cures an ague: especially in children.-^ It is also proper to repeat the medicine (wltatevcr it be J about a week after, in order to prevent a re- lapse. Do not take Any purge soon after.—The daily use ofthefesh-brush, and frequent cold bath- ing, are of great use to prevent relapses. " % * Children have been cured by wearing a WAisinj coat, in which bark was quilted. 11 [Those fevers which abate their violence at times, that there appears an absence of the fever for a certain period between two fits, are called intermittents, says Galen. The length of the pe- riod determines the name, as quotidian, tertian, double tertian, quartan. The spring intermit- tents seldom need the grand specific remedy, viz. The Peruvian bark, in this climate, as by admin- istering a vomit of twenty grains of ipecacuana, or of eight grains of the former, and one of tartar erhetic mixed for a grown person, the succeeding heat of the season effects the cure, and often with- Hlf it medicine. The fall intermittents seldom put on a regular form at first in adults, but are gener- ■ ally remitting fevers; but even though they ap- proach nearer to a continual fever, the patient sel- ? dom needs bleeding, and perhaps never in regu- , lar intermittents. In either case a vomit as be- fore mentioned, the first opportunity in remitting, [ and two hours before the fit in an intermitting fe- ver, with warm diluting drinks in the time of the fit, and when intermitting regularly, the bark may " be applied, after the operation of the vomit, and ^the fit is over. Children generally need only to {be purged before the use of the bark, with jalap or rhubarb: the dose of these may be thirty grains for a grown person, and half the quantity for one of nine years old, and in proportion. Af- ter the fever regularly intermits, and the stomach has been cleansed and the body kept open, the Peruvian bark may be given (unless some inflam- mation or obstruction prevent) immediately after the fit, two ounces, and often one is generally suf- ficient, thus:—Divide an ounce of powder of the bark into twelve doses ; let the sick man or wo- man take one every two hours between the fits, and continue them after the return of the next; or—Boil an ounce of the bark in a pint and an half of water gently down to a pint, strain off the 12 liquid, and take a wine-glass full every two hours; or—To an ounce of the bark in powder add four or five spoonfuls of proof spirit and a pint of boil- ing water, let them infuse two or three days: to use as the former.—But it is best in substance when it can be taken.] 3. St. Anthony's Fire.* * Take a glass of tar-water, warm, in bed/every hour, washing the part with the same. I3» Tar-water is made thus.—Put a gallon of cold water to a quart of Norway tar. Stir them to- gether with a fat stick for five or six minutes. Af- ter it has stood covered for three days, pour off Vie water clear, bottle and cork it. Or, take a decoction of elder leaves as a sweat; applying to the part a cloth dipt in lime water, mixed with a little camphorated spirits of wine. fc3" Lime water is made thus.—Infuse a pound of good quick lime in six quarts of spring water for twenty-four hours. Decant and keep it for use. * Or, take two or three gentle purges.—No acute fever bears repeated purges better than this especially when it affects the head: meantime boil a handful of sage, two handfuls of elder leaves Xpr bark) and an ounce of alum in two / quarts of ferge-water, to a pint. Wash with this every night.—See extract from Dr. Tissot. If the pulse be low and the spirits sunk, nour- ishing broths and a little negus may be given to advantage: dressing the inflammation with greasy ointments, salves, &c. is very improper. Bathing the feet and legs in warm water is ser- viceable, and often relieves the patient much. * St. Anthony's fire is a fever attended with a red painful fwelling, full of pimples, which afterwards turn into fmall blifters, on the face or fome other part of the body. The fooner the eruption is, the lefs ' the danger. Let your diet be only water-gruel or barley broth, with raafted applet. 13 In Scotland the common people cover the part with a linen cloth covered with meal. 4. The Apoplexy.* * To prevent, use the cold bath, and drink only water. In the fit put a handful of salt into a pint of cold water, and if possible pour it down the throat of the patient. He will quickly come to himself. So will one who seems dead by a fall. But send for a good physician immediately. If the fit be soon after a meal, vomit and bleed. * A seton in the neck, with low diet, has often prevented a relapse. * There is a wide difference between the san- guineous and serous apoplexy ; the latter is often followed by a palsy.——The former is distin- guished by the countenance appearing florid : the face swelled or puffed up : and the blood-vessels, especially about the neck and temples, are turgid; the pulse beats strong : the eyes are prominent and fixed ; and the breathing is difficult, and per- formed with a snorting. This invades more sud- denly than the serous apoplexy. Use large bleed- ings from the arm or neck; bathe the feet in warm water; capping on the back of the head, with deep scarification. The garters should be tied very tight to lessen the motion of the blood from the lower extremities. * A scruple cf nitre may be given in water, every three or four hours. * When the patient is so far recovered as to be able to swallow,let him take a strong purge ; but if this cannot be effected, a clyster should be thrown up with plenty of fresh butter, and a large spoonful of common salt in it. In serous apoplexy, the pulse is not so .strong, * An apoplexy is a total lofs of all fenfe and voluntary motion, fcommonly attended with a ftiong pulfe, hard breathing and fnorttng. L 14 the countenance is less florid, and not attended with so great a difficulty of breathing. Hero bleeding is not so necessary, but a vomit of three grains of emetic tartar may be given, and after- wards a purge as before, and a blister applied to the back of the neck. •£7» This apoplexy is generally preceded by an unusual heaviness, giddiness, and drowsiness. 5. Canine Appetite.* " If it be without vomiting, is often cured by a small bit of bread dipt in wine, and applied to the nostrils." Dr. Schomberg. 6. The Asthma.f Take a pint of cold water every morning, wash- ing the head therein immediately after, and using the cold bath once a fortnight: Or, cut an ounce of stick liquorice into slices. Steep this in a quart of water, four and twenty hours, and use it, when you are worse than usual, as common drink. I have known this give much ease. Or, half a pint of tar-water twice a day. Or, live a fortnight on boiled carrots only. It seldom fails: Or, take from ten to twenty drops of elixir of vitriol, in a glass of water, three or four times a-day. - q3" Elixir of vitriol is made thus.—Drop gra- dually four ounces of strong oil of vitriol into a pint cf spirits of wine, or brandy : let it stand three days, and add to it ginger sliced, half an ounce, and Jamaica pepper, whole, one ounce. - In three days more it is fit for us a • An infatiable defire of eating. ■f- An Aftbna is a difficulty of breathing returning at intervals, ■from a diforder in the luags. In the common ^or moift) afthma, the patient fpits much. 15 O f into a quart of boiling water, put a tea- s' oonful of balsamic aether, receive the steam in- to »hc lungs, through a fumigator, twice a day. ' GO* Balsamic aether is made thus.—Put four ottfices of spirits of wine, and one ounce of balsam of t-jlu, into a viol, with one ounce of aether. Keep it well corked. But it will not keep above a week. For present relief, vomit with twelve grains of ipecacuana. 7. A Dry or Convulsive Asthma Juice of radishes relieves much; so does a cup pf strong coffee: or garlic, either raw, or pre- served, or in syrup: Or, drink a pint of new milk morning and even- ing.—This has cured an inveterate asthma. Or, beat fine saffron small, and take eight or ten grains every night.—Tried. Take from three to five grains of ipecacuana every week. Do this, if need be, for a month or six weeks. Five grains usually vomit. In a vi- olent fij, take fifteen grains. In any asthma, the best drink is apple-water i that is,.boiling water poured on sliced apples*. The food should be light and easy of digestion. Ripe fruits baked, bo'Led or roasted, are very proper; but strong liquors of all kinds, especially beer or ale, are hurtful. If any supper is taken, it should be very light. * All disor ders of the breast are much reliev- ed by keeping the feet warm, and promoting per- spiration. Exercise is also of very great impor- tance ; so that the patient should take as much every day as his strength will bear. Issues are found in general to be of great service. Dr. Smyth, in his Formula, recommends mus- tard-whey as common drink, in the moist asthma; and a decoctiouof the madder root to promote spitting. 16 «3* The decoction is made thus.—Boil one ortnse ffmaddir, and Vivo drachms of mace, in three pints of water, to two pints, then strain it, and take a tea-cupful three or four times a-day. 8. To cure Baldness. Rub the part morning and evening, with onions, till it is red, and rub it afterwards with honey. Or, wash it with a decoction of box-wood: Tried. Or, electrify it daily. 9. Bleeding at the Nose (to prevent.) Dissolve two scruples of nitre in half a pint of water, and take a tea-cupful every hour, if the patient is plethoric. * To cure it, apply to the neck hehind and on each side, a cloth dipt in cold water: Or, put the legs and arms in_ cold water : Or, wash the temples, nose, and neck with vine- gar. Or, snuff up vinegar and water. * Or, foment the legs and arms with it: Or steep a linen rag in sharp vinegar, burn it, and blow it up the nose with a quill: - * Or, apply tents made of soft lint dipped in cold water, strongly impregnated with a solution of alum, and introduced within the nostrils quite through to their posterior apertures. Or, dissolve an ounce of alum powdered, in a pint of vinegar ; apply a cloth dipt in this, to the temples, steeping the feet in warm water. In a violent case, go into a pond or river. Tried. -—See extract from Dr. Tissot. 10. Bleeding of a Wound. Make two or three tight ligatures towards the lower part of each joint: slacken them gradually : Or, apply tops of nettles bruised: 17 Or, strew on it the ashes of a linen rag, dipt in sharp vinegar and burnt: Or, take ripe puff-balls, break them warily, and save the powder. Strew this on the wound and bind it on. I.—This will stop the bleeding of an amputated limb. [Or, take of blue vitriol and alum, each an ounce and a half, boil them in a pint of water till the salts are dissolved, then .filter the liquid a,nd add a drachm of the oil of vitriol: a soft rag may be dipped in this, and applied up the nose ; or any bleeding we can come at.—Buchan.—Or, use tht agaric cf the oak. 11. Spitting of Bipod.* Take two spoonfuls of juice of nettles every morning, and a large cup of decootion of nettles at night, for a week ; Tried. Or, three spoonfuls of sage-juice in a little honey. This presently stops either spitting or vomiting blood; Tried. Or, twenty grains of alum in water every two hours. 12. Vomiting of Blood. Take two spoonfuls of nettle juice. OCj* This also dissolves blood coagulated in the stomach.)—Tried. Or, take as much salt-petre as will lie upon half a crown, dissolved in a glass of cold water, two or three times a day. 13. To dissolve coagulated Blood. Bind on the part for some hours, a paste made of black soap and crumbs of white bread: Or, grated root of burdock spread on a rag: re> new this twice a-day. f [Eat atable-fpoonful of fine common fait every morning fa ft in J, or a tea-fpoonful every three hours, u»t.i the bleeding ftops.J L 2 18 14. Blisters, On the feet, occasioned by walking, are cured by drawing a needle full of worsted through them, clip it off at both ends, and leave it till the skin peels off. 15. Biles. Apply a litde Venice turpentine : Or, an equal quantity of soap and brown sugar well mixt. Or, a plaster of honey and wheat flour : * Or of figs : Or, a little saffron in a white bread poultice. —— 'Tis proper to purge also. 16. Hard Breasts. Apply turnips roasted till soft, then mashed and mixed with a little "oil of roses. Change this twice a-day, keeping the breast very warm^with flannel. 17. Sore Breasts and Swelled. * Apply lead water. Or, boil a handful of camomile, and as much mallows in milk and water. Foment with it be- tween two flannels, as hot as can be borne, every twelve hours. It also dissolves any knot or swel-' ling in any part, where there is no inflammation. v 18. A Bruise. Immediately apply treacle spread on brown paper: Tried. Or, apply a plaster of chopt parsley mixt with butter: Or, electrify the part. This is the quickest cure of all. 19. To prevent Swelling from a Bruise. * Immediately apply a cloth, five or six timts 19 doubled, dipt in cold water, and new dipt when it grows warm : Tried. 20. A Burn Or Scald. If it be but skin deep, immediately plunge the part in cold water, keep it in an hour, if not well before. Perhaps four or five hours : Tried. Or electrify it. If this can be done presently it totally cures the most desperate burn. Or, if the part cannot be dipt, apply a cloth four times doubled, dipt in cold water, changing it when it grows warm. 21. A deep Burn or Scald. * Apply inner rind of elder well mixt with fresh butter. When this is bound on with a rag, plunge the part into cold water. This will sus- pend the pain till the medicine heals. Or, mix lime-water and sweet oil, to the thick- ness of cream, apply it with a feather several times a-day. This is the most effectual application I ever met with. Or, put twenty-five drops of Goullard s extract of lead, to half a pint of rain-water ; dip linen rags in it, and apply them to the part affected. This is particularly serviceable if the burn is near the eyes. 22. A Cancer.| * Dissolve four grains of white arsenic in a pint of water, one table-spoonful every morning in molasses or milk must be taken. 23. Chilblains (to prevent.) * Wear socks of Chamois leather, or silk. + A cancer is a hard, round, uneven, painful fwelling, of a black- ifhlr leade. colour, the veins round which feem ready to burft. It comes commonly with a fwelling; as b.g as a pea wh.ch does not at fcft give much pain, nor change the colour of the fkin. 20 Bathe the feet often in cold water, and when this is done, apply a turnip poultice. 24. Children. *To prevent the rickets, tenderness, and weak- ness, dip them in cold water every morning, at least till they are eight or nine months old. No roller should ever be put round their bodies, nor any stays used. Instead of them, when they are put into short peticoats, put a waistcoat under their frocks. Let them go bare-footed and bare-headed till they are three or four years old at least. 'Tis best to wean a child when seven months old, if it be disposed to rickets. It should lie in the cradle at least a year. No child should touch any spirituous or fer- mented liquor before two years oid. Their d' k should be water. Tea they should never tas e till ten or twelve years old. Milk, milk-p>rridge, and water gruel are the proper breakfasts for • children. 25. Chin-Cough, or Hooping-Cough. Rub the feet thoroughly with hog's lard, before the fire, at going to bed, and keep the child warm therein : Tried. Or, rub the back, at lying down, with old rum. It seldom fails: Or, give a spoonful of juice of penny-royal, mixt with brown sugar candy, tiwce a-day: Or, half a pint of mrlk, warm from the cow, with the quantity of a nutmeg of conserve of roses dissolved in it every morning. Or, dissolve a scruple of salt of tartar in a quarter of a pint of clear water: add to it ten grains of finely powdered cochineal, and sweeten it with loaf sugar. Give a child within the year, the fourth part of 21 a spoonful of this, four times a-dhy, with a spoon- ful of barley-water after it. Give a child two years old half a spoonful: a child above four years old, n spoonful. Boiled apples put into warm milk maybe his chief food. This relieves in twenty-four hours, and cures- in five or six days. * Or, take two grains of tartar emetic, and half a drachm of prepared crabs claws powdered : let them be mixt very well together. One grain, one grain and a half, or two grains of this composition, may be added to five or six grains of magnesia, and given in a small spoonful of milk and water in the forenoon, between break- fast and dinner, to a child a year old. * At night, if the fever is very high., half the former dose of this powder maybe given, with from five to ten grains of nitre. In desperate cases, change of air will have a good effect. 26. Cholera Morbus, i. e. Flux and Vomit- . ing of Bile.J * Boil a chicken an hour in two gallons of water, and drink of this till the vomiting ceases: Or, decoction of rice, or barley, or toasted oaten-bread. * It' the pain is very severe, steep the belly with flannels dipt in spirits and water. * The third day after the cure, take ten or fif- teen grains of rhubarb. 27. Chops in Women's Nipples. Apply balsam of sugar : X [After the bowels are well emptied by large and frequently re- peated draughts of the ift and 2d prefcriptions under this head, in- ftant. relief, in an extreme low fainty ftate, may be obtained by taking from 15 to 30 drops of liquid laudanum in aglafs of mint tea- This is a dofe for grown pe:fons j if under 15 years of age, it enuft be pro-, portioned accordingly.] 22 *Or, apply butter of wax, which speedily heals. them. 28. Chopt Hands (to prevent*) Wash them with flour of mustard. * Or, in bran and water boiled together. 29. (To Cure.) Wash them with soft soap, mixed with red sand : Tried. Or, Wash them in sugar and water . Tried. 30. Chopt Lips. Apply a little sal prunellae. 31. A Cold. Drink a pint of cold water, lying down in bed s Tried. Or, a spoonful of treacle in half a pint of water; Tried. , Or, to one spoonful of oatmeal, and one spoon* ful of honey, add a piece of butter, the bigness of a nutmeg: pour on gradually near a pint of boil- ing water : drink this lying down in bed. 32. A Cold in the Head. Pare very thin, the yellow rind of an orange. Roll it up inside out, and thrust a roll into each nostril. 33. The Cholic (in the Fit.) Drink of camomile tea : Or, take from thirty to forty grains of yellow peel of oranges, dried and powdered in a glass of water. * Or, take from five to six drops of oil of ani* seed on a lump of sugar. * Or, apply outwardly a bag of hot oats: 23 * Or, steep the legs in hot water a quarter of an hour : * Or, take as much Daffy's elixir as will pre- sently purge. This relieves the most violent cholic in an hour or two. £^ Daffy's elixir is made thus:—Senna two ounces, jalap one ounce, coriander seed half at} tunce: Geneva, or proof spirit, three pints; let them digest seven days ; strain and add loaf sugar four ounces. 34. The Dry Cholic (to prevent.) Drink ginger tea. 35. Cholic in Children.* Give a scruple of powdered aniseed in their meat: Tried. Or, small doses of magnesia. * Or a drachm of anisat.d tincture of rhubarb, every three hours till it operates. 36. Bilious Cholic.f Drink warm lemonade : Or, give a spoonful of castor oil. J 37. An Habitual Cholic. * Wear a thin, soft flannel on the part. • ^Children fubjeft to daily ard fevere cholic pain?, fhould take the bread fparingly, ana chieflv he fed on fimple chicken brotb. Strong rmllows root tea, taken every now and then, is an excellent medicine in this complaint.] f This is generally attended with vomiting a greenifh or fr^'hy matter, with feverilh heat, violent thirft, a bitter talte in the mouth, and little and high-coloured urine. X [Takeon' table-fpoonful of Gaftor oi!, mixed wiih a fpoonful of lemon-j'jic«or fharp vinegar fwcetned, every hour, until it purrts. This is a fare, e^ , and effectual purge, not only in all thofe com- plainu wiieie t'u. bowels are the leat of difeafe, but alfoin the inter- mitting a.iJ re.,.iuing biiious fever* incidtut to wdim climates.] 24 "8. An Hysteric Colic* Mrs Watts, by using the cold bath two and twenty times in a month, Was entirely cured of an hysteric cholic, fits, and convulsive motions, con- tinual sweatings and vomiting, wandering pains in her limbs and head, with total loss of appetite. * Take 10, 15, or 20 drops of balsam of Peru on fine sugar: if need be twice or thrice a day : Or, in extremity, boil three ounces of burdock- seed in water, which give as a clyster : * Or, twenty drops of laudanum in any proper clyster ; which gives instant ease. [In this disorder there often is such a vomiting, that no medicine for the present can be contained on the stomach long enough to be advantageous. A little warm water may be given at first; then cover the sick with an extraordinary quantity of bed-clothes; when she becomes warm, the vo- miting ceases; then a grain of qpium may be taken, and if the 'complaints are not relieved thereby in half an hour, it may be repeated.—A day or two after a warm purge should be taken: Tried.] 39. A Nervous Cholic.f Use the cold bath daily for three or four weeks. 40. Cholic from the Fumes of Lead, or White Lead, Verdigrease, &.C. In the fit, drink fresh melted butter, and then vomit with warm water: * To prevent or cure. Breakfast daily on fat broth, and use oil of sweet almonds frequently. Smelters of metals, plumbers, &c. may be in a * Is attended with a violent pain about the pit of the ftomach, with great finking of the fpirits, and <• ften with greenifh vomitings. f This fome term the dry belly-ach. It often continues ieveral days with little urine and obftinate coftivenefs. A cholic with purging fome term the watery gripes. 25 good measure preserved from . the poisonous fumes that surround them, by breathing through cloth or flannel muffles twice or thrice doubled, dipt in a solution of sea-salt, or salt of tartar, and then dried. These mufflers might also be of great use in many similar cases. 41. Windy Cholic. Parched peas, eaten freely, have had the most happy effects, when all other means had failed. 42. To prevent the ill effects of Cold. The moment a person gets into a house with his hands or feet quite chilled, let him put them into a vessel of water, as cold as can be got, aiad hold them there till they begin to glow. This they will do in a minute or two This method likewise effectually prevents chilblains. 43. A Consumption. One in deep consumption, was advised t© drink nothing but water, and eat nothing but water-gruel, without salt or sugar. In three months time, he was perfectly well. , Take no food but new butter-milk, churned in a bottle, and white bread.—I have known this successful. Or, use as common drink, spring water and new milk, each a quart; and sugar-candy two ounces. Or, boil two handfuls of sorrel in a pint of whey. Strain it, and drink a glass twice a-day; Tried. Or, turn a pint of skimmed milk with half a pint of small beer. • Boil in this whey about twenty ivv-leaves, and two or three sprigs of hyssop. Drink half over night, the rest in the morning. Do this, if needful, for two months daily.—This has cured in a desperate case; Tried. M 26 Or, take a cow-heel from the tripe-house ready dressed, two quarts of new milk, two ounces of hartshorn shavings, two onnces of isinglass, a quarter of a pound of sugar-candy, and a race of ginger. Put all these in a pot, and set them in an oven after the bread is drawn. Let it continue there till the oven is near cold; and let the patient live on this.—I have known this cure a deep con- sumption more than once. Or, every morning cut up a little turf of fresh earth, and lying down, breathe into the hole for a quarter of an hour.—I have known a deep con- sumption Cured thus. " Mr. Masters of Evesham, was so far gone in a consumption, that he could not stand alone. I ' advised him to lose six ounces of blood every ^ day for a fortnight, if he lived so long; and then every other day ; then every third day ; then every fifth day, for the same time. In three months he ji was well."—(Dr. Dover.) Tried. This prescrip- 1 tion will not be safe in any case but where the j pulse continue pretty strong, and there are signs , of inflammation. Or, throw frankincense on burning coals, and receive the smoke daily through a proper tube j into the lungs : Tried. » Or, take in for a quarter of an hour, morning and evening, the steam of white rosin and bees- ,'• wax, boiling on a hot fire shovel. This has cured > ■'), ene who was in the third stage of a consumption. ^ Or, the steam of sweet spirit of vitriol dropt , into warm water. Or, take morning and evening, a tea-spoonful of white rosin powdered and mixt with honey.— This cured one in less than a month, who was very near death. Or, drink thrice a day two spoonfuls of juice of water-cresses.—This has cured a deep con- sumption. 27 In the last stage, suck a healthy woman [daily. Tried by my Father. * For diet, use milk and apples, or water-gruel made with fine flour. Drink cyder-whey, barley- water sharpened with lemon-juice, or apple-water. So long as the tickling cough continues, chew well and swallow a mouthful or two, of a biscuit, or a crust of bread, twice a day. If you cannot swallow it, spit it out. This wiil always shorten the fit, and would often prevent a consumption. See extract from Dr. Tissot, page 28. 44. Convulsions. Use the cold bath: * Or, take a tea-spoonful of valerian root pow- dered, in a cup of water, every evening. * Or, half a drachm of misselto powdered, every six hours, drinking after it a draught of strong infusion thereof. 45. Convulsions in Children. Scrape piony-roots fresh digged. Apply what you have scraped off to the soles of the feet. It helps immediately. Tried. 46. Convulsions in the Bowels of .Children. Give a child a quarter old, a spoonful of the juice of pellitory of the wall, two or three times a-day. It goes through at once, but purges no more. Use the syrrup if the juice cannot be had. 47. Corns (to prevent.) Frequently wash the feet in cold water. [48. Corns (to cure.) Apply fresh every morning the yeast of small beer, spread on a rag: #. Or, after paring them close, apply bruised ivy- £ leaves daily, and in fifteen days they will drop out: Tried. 28 Some corns are cured by a pitoh plaster. ^ All are greatly eased by steeping the feet in hot water wherein oatmeal is boiled. This also helps dry and hot feet. 49. Costiveness. Rise early every morning: Or, boil in a pint and a half of broth, half a handful of mallow leaves chopt; strain this and drink it before you eat any thing else. Do this t frequently, if needful. Or, breakfast twice a week or oftener, on water- ( gruel with currants : Tried. * Or, take the bigness of a large nutmeg of cream of tartar mixt with honey, as often as you I need. *Or,take daily two hours before dinner, a small tea-cupful of stewed prunes : Or, use for common drink, water, or treacle 1 beer, impregnated with fixed air ; /« Or, live upon bread made of wheat flour, with '- all the bran in it. Or, boil an ounce and a half of tamarinds in three pints of water to a quart. In this strained, | when cold, infuse all night two drachms of scna, J and one drachm of red rose leaves. Drink a cup -; every morning when costive.—See Dr. Tissot. < 50. A Cough. Make a hole through a lemon'and fill it with ' honey. Roast it and catch the juice. Take a tt a-spoonfulof this frequently : Tried. [Or, take a table-spoonful of molasses each night and morning, and drink, in common; mo- lasses and water: Tried.] Or, take Spanish liquorice two ounces, salt of - tartar half an ounce; boil the liquorice in three pints of water to a quart. Add the salt to it when it is blood-warm. Drink two spoonfuls of thi3 29 every two hours. It seldom fails! Tried,—t have known this cure an inveterate moist asthma. Or, at lying down keep a little stick-liquorice like horse-radish between the ceek and the gums.—I believe this never fails. Or, peal and slice a large turnip, spread coarse sugar between the slices, and let it stand in a dish till all the juice drains down. Take a spoonful of this whenever you cough : * Or, take a spoonful of spirit of horehound, morning and evening: Tried. Or, take from fifteen to twenty drops of elixir of vitriol, in a glass of water, thrice a-day. This is useful when the cough is attended with costive- ness, and relaxation of the stomach and lungs. Or, powder an ounce of spermaceti fine. Work it in a marble mortar with the yolk of a new laid egg. Mix them in a pint of white wine and take a small glass every three hours. Or, drink water whitened with oatmeal four times a-day. Or, keep a piece of barley.-sugar, or sugar-can- dy constantly in the mouth. 51. Violent Coughing from a sharp and thin Rheum. Work into old conserve of roses, as much as you can of pure frankincense powdered as fine as possible. Take a bolus of this twice or thrice a- clay. It ease's presently, and cures in two cr three weeks. Or, take half a grain of the inspissated milkv juice of sowthistle, once or twice a-dav. It has the anodyne, and antispasmodic properties of opi- um, without its narcotic effects. Or, it maybe made into laudanum, in the same manner that opium is, and five or six drops taken on a lump of sugar, thrice a-day. The milky juice of all the sowthis- tles, dandelion, and lettuces, have nearly the'same virtues. m 2 30 * Or, use milk diet as much as possible. 52. The Cramp (to prevent.) Tie your garter smooth and tight under your knee at going to bed : I never knew this fail. Or, take half a pint^of tar-water, morning and evening: .♦ * Or, be electrified through the part that uses to be affected. This generally prevents it for a month: sometimes a twelvemonth. Or, to one ounce and a half of spirits of turpen- tine, add flour of brimstone and sulphur vivum of each half an ounce ; smell to it at night three, or four times. 53. The Cramp (tocure) * Chafe the part with hungary water : Or, hold a roll of brimstone in your hand. I have frequently done this with success. 54. A Cut. Keep it closed with your thumb a quarter of an hour. Then double" a rag five or six times, dip it in cold water, and bind it on : Tried. 55. Deafness. Be electrified through the ear : Tried. Or, use the cold bath : Or, put a little salt into the ear: Or, drop into it a tea-spoonful of salt water: *Or, three or four drops of onion-juice, at ly- ing down, and stop it with a little wool. 56. Deafness from Wax. * Syringe the ear with warm water: Tried. 57. Deafness with a dry Ear. *■ Mix brandy and sweet oil: dip black wool in this, and put it into the ear. When it grows ^ 31 dry, wash it well in brandy : dip it and put it in again. 58. Delivery. ' After delivery in child-birth, the mother's milk is the only proper purge for the child. Let it be- gin to suck ten or twelve hours after the birth. 59. Diabetes.*. Drink wine boiled with ginger, as much and as often as your strength will bear. Let your drink be milk and water. All milk-meats are good : * Or, drink three or four times a-day, a quar- ter of a pint of alum posset, putting three drachms £; of alum to four pints of niilk. It seldom fails to [ cure in eight or ten days. (Dr. Mead.) 60. The Dropsy.f Use the cold bath daily, after purging: » * Or rub the swelled parts with sallad-oil by a .warm hand, at least an hour a-day. This has done wonders in some cases : Or, cover the whole belly with a large new sponge dipt in strong lime-water, and then squeezed out. This bound on often cures, even without any sensible evacuation of water. Or, apply green dock-leaves to the joints and soles of the feet, changing them once a-day. Or, mix half an ounce of amber with a quart of vinegar. Heat a brick (only not red hot) and put it into a tub. Pour them upon it, and hold the parts swelled over the smoke, covering the tub close to keep in the smoke. The water will * A diabetes is a frequent and large difcharge of pale and fweetifh urine, attended with a conftant thirft, and a wafting of the whole body. •j- A dropfy is a preternatural collection of water in the head, breaft, belly, or all over the body. It is attended with a continual thirft. The part fwelled pits if yon prafs it with your fingers. The urine is pale and little. 32 come out incredibly, and the patient be cured: Tried. Or, eat a crust of bread every morning fasting: Tried. Or, mix a pound of the coarsest sugar with a pint of juice of pellitory of the wall, bruised in a marble mortar. Boil it as long as any scum rises. When cool, bottle and cork it. If very bad, take three spoonfuls at night, and two in the morning, it seldom fails : Tried. Or, make tea of roots of dwarf elder. It works by urine. Every twelve or fourteen minutes (that is, after every discharge) drink a tea-cupful. —I have known a dropsy cured by this in twelve hours time. One was cured by taking a drachm of nitre every morning in a little ale. Tar-water drank twice a day has cured many ; so has an infusion of juniper berries roasted, and made into a liquor like coffee : , Or, three spoonfuls of the juice of leeks, or el- der leaves: Tried. * Or, half a pint of decoction of butchers broom (intermixing purges twice or thrice a-week.) The proper purge is ten grains of jalap, with six of powdered ginger. It may be increased or lessen- ed according to the strength of the pstient. Or, of the decoction of the tops of oak-boughs. This cured an inveterate dropsy in fifteen days: Or, take sena, cream of tartar, and jalap, half an ounce of each. Mix them and take half a drachm every morning in broth. It usually cures in twenty days. This is nearly the same with Dr. Ward's powder. I suppose he took it from hence. He says it seldom fails either in the wa- tery or windy dropsy. Or, steep half an ounce of jalap in a quarter of Geneva for twelve hours. Draw it off. Divide it into three parts, and take it every other morn- 33 jng. Then put a large spoonful of syrup of marsh mallows into half a pint of stale beer, and when it has boiled a little, cool it, and drink it at lying down in bed. Do this three times. This has cured many. Or, be electrified •, this cures dropsies supposed incurable. _ 03- How amazingly little is yet known even oj the hunnm body ! Have not dropsical persons been continually advised to abstain from drink as much as possible? Buthorvcan we reconcile this with the pfollowing undeniable facts,published in the medical transactions ? Jane Roberts, aged twenty, was at last con- strained to take to her bed by a confirmed ascites anasarca. In this desperate case, she drank as much as she would, first of small beer ; and when that failed, of thin milk. After a while her skin cracked in many places : and she continued drink- ing and leaking till she was quite well. A middle-aged man in the west of England, drank every day fivo or six quarts of cyder : and without any other medicine was totally cured m a few weeks time of a dropsy long supposed to be incurable. ' A farmer aged seventy, in a confirmed ascites, was given over for dead. Being desperate, he drank three quarts of cold water, every four and twenty hours, His whole food meantime was 6ea-biscuit, sometimes with a little butter. For 'SiKteen days be seemed worse. Then he dis- charged for near a week a vast quantity of water, and was soon free from his disease, which never returned. 61. Drowned. Rob the trunk of the body all over with hot salt. It frequently recovers them that seem dead.—See extract from Dr. Tissot^ page 150. S4 And blow into the lungs. 62. The Earach, without Inflammation. Rub the ear hard a quarter of an hour: Tried. * Or, be electrified : Or, put in a roasted fig, or onion, as hot as may be : Tried. Or, blow the smoke of tobacco strongly into it. But if the ear-ach is caused by an inflammation of the uvula, it is cured in two or three hours, by receiving into the mouth the steam of bruised hemp-seed, boiled in water. 63. Ear-ach from Cold. Boil rue, or rosemary, or garlic, and let the steam go into the ear through a funnel. 64. Ear-ach from Heat. Apply cloths four times doubled and dipt in cold water, changing them when warm,for half an hour. 65, Hard Wax in the Ear, Is best dissolved by warm water. 66. Eyes bleared. Drop into them the juice of crab-apples. 67. A Blood-shot Eye. * Apply linen rags dipt in cold water two or three hours : Or, blow in white sugar-candy,finely powdered: Or, apply boiled hyssop as a poultice. This has a wonderful efficacy. 68. A Bruise in the Eye. Apply as a plaster, conserve of roses. 69, Clouds flying before the Eye. Take a drachm of powdered betony every morning. 35 * Or, be electrified. 70. Blindness, Is often cured by cold bathing : Or, by electrifying: Tried. This has cured even a gutta serena of twenty-four years standing 71. Dull Sight. Drop in two or three drops of juice of rotten apples often. 72. Films. Mix juice of ground-ivy with a little honey, and two or three grains of bay-salt.—Drop it in morning and evening. 73. Hot or sharp Humours. Apply a few drops of duble-refined sugar, melt- ed in brandy: Tried. Or, boil a handful of bramble-leaves with a lit- tle alum, in a quart of spring-water, to a pint. Drop this frequently into the eye. This likewise cures cankers or any sores. Or, lay a thin slice of raw beef on the nape of the neck: Tried. 74. Eyes or Eye-lids Inflamed. Apply as a poultice, boiled, roasted or rotten apples, warm. Or, wormwood-tops with the yolk of an egg: This will hardly fail. * Or, beat up the white of an egg with two spoonfuls of white rose-water, into a white froth. Apply this on a fine rag, changing it so that it may not grow dry, till the eye or eye-lid is well: Tried. * Or, dissolve an ounce of fine gum arable in two or three spoonfuls of spring-water; put a drop into the inner corner of the eye, from the point of 36 a hair pencil, four or five times a-day. At the same time take as much salt-petre as will lie upon a six-pence, dissolved in a glass of water, three or four times a-day ; abstaining from all strong liquids as much as possible, till cured.—White bread poultices applied to the eyes in an inflamed state, frequently occasion total blindness. * After the inflammation is subsided, if weak- ness still remains dip a finger in the white cop- peras eye-water, and rub round the eye three or four times a-day.—N. B. All acrid eye-waters, ^ and powders, put into the eyes when they are in- flamed, horribly increase both the pain and in- flammation. 75. A Lachrymal Fistula.* Apply a poultice of fine leaves of rue : Or, wash the eye morning and evening with a * decoction of quince-leaves. 761. Pearl in the Eye. Apply a drop of juice of celandine with a fea- i ther thrice a-day : * Or, dissolve a little sal ammoniac in rose-wa- ^ ter. - Keep this three days in a copper vessel. '} Drop it twice a-day into the eye. Or, reduce separately, to the finest powder possible, an equal weight of loaf-sugar, cream of jj tartar, and bole armoniac; mix them together, and put a little into the eye (without blowing it in) three or four times a-day. 77. Sore Eyes. Drink eye-bright tea, and wash the eyes with it. 78. An excellent Eye-water. * Put half an ounce of lapis calaroinaris pow- * This diforder in the inner corner of the eye, ciufers the tears to | ftow involuntarily. When it is confirmed, only a furgeon can cure it.' 37 dered, into half a pint of French white wine, and as much white rose-water, drop a drop or two into the corner of the eye. It cures soreness, weakness, and most diseases of the eyes. I have known it cure total blindness. 79. Another. * Boil very lightly one tea-spoonful of white copperas scraped, and three spoonfuls of white salt in three pints of spring-water. When cold, bottle it in large vials without straining. Take up the vial softly, and put a drop or two in the eye morning and evening. g? It answers the intention of almost all the pre- ceding medicines: it takes away redness or any soreness whatever: it cures pearls, rheums, and often blindness itself. 80. Another. Stamp and strain ground-ivy, celandine, and daisies, an :equal quantity: add a little rose-wa- ter and loaf-sugar. Drop a drop or two at a time in the eye, and it takes away all manner of in- flammation, smarting, itching, spots, webs, or any other disorder whatsoever, yea, though the sight were almost gone. 81. An Eye-water, which was used by Sir Stephen Fox, when he was sixty years of age, and could hardly see with the help of spectacles ; but hereby in some time he recovered his sight, and could read the smallest print without specta- cles, till above eighty. . Take six ounces of rectified spirits of wine, dissolve in it one drachm of camphire, then add two small handfuls of dried elder flowers. In twenty four hours after it is infused, it is ready for use. Take out a little in a tea-spoon; dip your finger in it, and bathe your forehead, over K 38 your eyes, and each temple with it several times, morning and night, and twice more in the day constantly. Mean time dip a soft rag in dead small beer, new milk warm, and daub each eye a dozen times gently, morning and evening. If it is a watery humour, you may with your finger wet the eye-lids two or three times a-piece : but be sure to shut your eyes, for it makes them smart and burn excessively. If you have the tooth-ach or swelled face, rub it well on the part, and it will take away the pain. It will cure any bruise also, if used immediately; Tried. It will cure any inflammation in the eyes. 82. Weak Eyes. *" Wash the head daily with cold water: Tried. [Or take of white vitriol half a drachm, rose water six ounces to dissolve it, and filter the wa- ter ; to touch the eye often.—The temples and round the eye may be touched with camphorated " r spirits. N. B. If the eyes are inflamed; the patient should be blooded or purged ; and if necessary, blisters behind the ears, or a seton to the back of the neck.] 83. Fainting on letting Blood. Is prevented by taking before it some good broth : * Or, by lying on the bed during the operation. 84. The Falling Sickness.* Be electrified : Tried. * Or, use the cold bath for a month daily: Or, take a tea-spoonful of piony-root dried and grated fine, morning and evening for three months: - * In the Falling Sicknefs the patient falls to the ground, either quite ftirT,>or convulfed- all over, utterly lenfelefs, gn-ifhing his teeth, and foaming at the mouth. 39 * Or, half a spoonful of valerian root powder- ed.—It often cures in twice taking: Or, half a pint of tar-water, morning and even- ing, for three months : Or, a glass of juice of pellitory of the wall, every morning: 'I ried. Or, take five or six drops of lrudanum fasting, for six or seven mornings. This has cured many: * Or, use an entire milk diet for three months : it seldom fails. Or, leaves of assarabacca powdered,—odr This is the famous Major's snuff. One who is subject to the falling sickness, may prevent a fit if he feels it comiujfc by this simple experiment. Let him always carry with him a piece of metal as broad as he is able to hold be- tween his teeth, when his jaws are stretched to the utmost. When he feels the fit approaching, let him immediately put this between his teeth, so as to keep his jaws at their utmost stretch. In about a minute this will bring him quite to him- self, and prevent the fit for that time. If one put this metal between the teeth of one that is in the fit, and force them open, till his jaws are at their utmost stretch, the fit will im- mediately go off, and the patient very soon reco- ver. 85. The falling of the Fundament. Boil a handful of red rose-leaves in a quarter of a pint of red wine : dip a cloth in it and applv it as hot as can be borne. Do this till all is used.* 86. A falling down-of the Womb, May be cured in the manner last mentioned : * Or, wear a pessory of cork, aud take twice * [Oil or greafe the ends of the fingers well, ani reduce it immedi- ately by a gentle continued prellure on the part. This can always eafily be done as foon as the accident happens.] 40 a-day a tea-cupful of the decoction of the bark, with ten drops of elixir of vitriol. 87. Extreme Fat. * Use a total vegetable diet. I know one who was entirely cured of this, by living a year thus : she breakfasted and supped on milk and water (with bread) and dined on turnips, carrots, and other roots, drinking water. 88. A Fever. (In the beginning of any fever, if the stomach is uneasy, vomit; if the bowels, purge ; if the pulse be hard, full, or strong, bleed.) Drink a pin^%nd a half of cold water lying down in bed: 1 never knew it do hurt. ■ Or, thin water-gruel sweetened with honey, with one or two drachms of nitre in each quart. CjT The best of all julaps in a fever is this: Toast a large thin slice of bread, without burning; put it hot into a pint of cold water : then set it on the fire till it is pretty hot. In a dry heat it may be given cold, in a moist heat, warm ; the more largely the better:—Tried. Or, for a change use pippin or wood-sorrel tea: or pippin posset-drink : or wood-sorrel posset- drink. (To prevent catching any infectious fever, do not breathe near the face of the sick person, nei- ther swallow your spittle while in the room. In- fection seizes the stomach first.) * Or, use Dr. Boerhave's fever powder, viz. eight ounces of nitre, a quarter of an ounce of camphire, half a quarter of an ounce of saffron, and eight grains of cochineal. These are to be powdered, mixt together and kept dry in a bottle. Ten grains taken on going to bed ifbates feverish heat, and procures rest. Ten grains are to be taken every three or four hours for a continued fever. 41 89. A High Fever, Attended with a delirium and vigilia, has been cured by plunging into cold water ; which is a safe and sure remedy in the beginning of any fever. Such a delirium is often cured by applying to the top of the head, a treacle plaster: Tried. 90. A Fever with Pains in the Limbs. . Take twenty drops of spirits of hartshorn in a cup of water twice or thrice in twenty-four hours: Or, drink largely of cinquefoil tea. 91. Rash Fever. Drink every hour a spoorJsM of juice of ground-iv\. It often cures in twAuy-four hours. —Use the decoction wh n you ha*, e not the juice. 92. A Slow Fever. Use the cold bath for two or three weeks daily. [In putrid or nervous fevers, though they do not* intermit, yet after proper evacuations, the bark may be.advantageously giyen, thus: Take of the powder of the bark two ounces, orange- peel an ounce and a half, Virginia snake-root three drachms, English saffron four scruples, co- chineal two scruples; infuse them in twenty ounces of best distilled spirits : and the sick may take from a drachm to half an ounce occasionally in his lucid intervals.—Huxham.—Tried.] 93. A Worm Fever. Boil a handful of rue and wormwood in water; foment Ivj belly with the decoction, and apply the boiled herbs as a poultice ; repeat the application night and morning. This frequently brings away worms from children, who will take no internal medicine ; and is likewise serviceable, if the fever be of the putrid kind. U2 42 94. A Fistula. Wash muscle shells clean : burn them to pow- der ; sift them fine ; mix them with hogVlard; spread it on clean washed leather, and apply it. This cured one that was thought to be at the point of death. N. B. This cures the piles. Or, have a vessel so contrived that you may • sit with the part in cold water, a quarter of an hour every morning. I have known a gentleman of seventy years cured hereby. Or, put a large stone of unslacked lime into four quarts of water, let it stand one night; take i four ounces ofiAoch-alum, and four 'ounces of white copperas, calcine them to dryness, then \ powder them as fine as possible ; take three pints of the above water, and put the powder into it, and boil it for half an hour, then let it cool and : bottle it for use. Let thejfistula be syringed with \ this often, a little warm : and make a tent to fit the place, and dip it in the water, and apply it twice a-day. Cover it over with a plaster of dia- culum. This water will destroy the callosity of the edges of the fistula, which otherwise would pre- vent its healing, and if managed as above, will heal it up at the same time; but an operation is the only certain means. 95. To destroy Fleas and Bugs. Cover the floor of the room with leaves of alder, gathered while the dew hangs upon them : ad- hering to these, they are killed thereby. Or, powder stavesacre, and sprinkle it on the body, or on the bed. 96. Flegm. To prevent or cure, take a spoonful of warm water, the first thing in the morning. 43 97. Flooding (in Lying-in.) Cover the body with cloths dipt in vinegar and water, changing them as they grow warm. Drink cooling acid liquors. This is a complaint wljich is never to be thought little of. Sometimes a violent flooding comes on before delivery; and the only way to save both the mother and child, is to deliver the woman immediately, which being done, the flooding will generally cease. Sometimes a slight flooding comes on.some weeks before labour; and here, if the patient be kept cool, her diet light, and small doses of nitre often repeated (an ounce divided into thirty parts, and one given every four hours) she will frequently go her full time and do well: but if it should become excessive, delivery should be effected as soon as may be. * If a flooding should come on after delivery, the patient should be laid with her head low, kept cool and be in all respects treated as for an ex- cessive flux of the menses. Linen cloths which have been wrungout of vinegar and water, should be applied to the belly, the loins, and the thighs. These must be changed as they grow dry; and may be discontinued as soon as the flooding abates. Sometimes the following mixture will do great things, viz. syrup of poppies, two ounces; acid elixir of vitriol one drachm. Mix and take two table-spoonfuls every hour. But large doses of nitre given often (a scruple every hour) is generally the most efficacious. But when all other things seem to have no effect, cold water dashed Jupon the patient's belly will stop the flooding immediately. 98. A Flux. Receive the smoke of turpentine cast on burn- ing co ils. This cures also the bloody flux, and the falling of the fundament- 44 Or, put a large brown toast into three quarts of water, with a drachm of cochineal powdered, and a drachm of salt of wornrwood. Drink it all in as short a time as you conveniently can. fcj* This rarely fails to cure all fluxes, cholera morbus, yea, and inflammations of the bowels: Tried. Or, take a spoonful of plantane-seed bruised, morning and evening, till it stops : * Or, ten grains of ipecacuana, three morn- ings successively. It is likewise excellent as a sudorific. Or, boil four ounces of rasped logwood, or fresh logwood chips, in three quarts of water to two; strain it and drink a quarter of a pint, sweetened with loaf sugar, warm, twice a-day. It both binds and heals : Or, take a small tea-cupful of it every hour: this is to be used in the end of the complaint. Or, boil the fat of a breast of mutton in a quart of water for an hour. Drink the broth as soon as you can conveniently. This will cure the most inveterate flux: Tried.—See Dr. Tissot, 99. A Bloody Flux, [Is attended with a fever, griping, or great pain in the intestines,—As this fever is nature's .effort to discharge some offensive matter by stool, there* fore often it will be necessary to assist her by bleeding and purging, or laxative medicines ; or else it will be unsafe to stop the flux, but when the former medicines have been used with mut- ton broth ; the drink may be water boiled with one fourth milk, and drank told. In old dyscn- tries, fruit and milk may be a proper S'tt: Tried.] Or, take a large apple,' and-at ib<- top pick out all the core, and fill up rhe place with a piece of honey-comb (the h<>ney being 6trained out) roast 45 the apple in embers and eat it, and this will stop the flux immediately: Or, grated rheubarb, as much as lies on a shill- ing, with half as muchof gratednutmeg, in a glass of white wine, at lying down every other night: Tried. Or, take four drops of laudanum, and apply to the belly a poultice of wormwood and red roses boiled in milk. In a dysentry, the worst of all fluxes, feed on rice, saloup, sago, and sometimes beef-tea, but no flesh. To stop it take a spoonful of suet melted over a slow fire. Do not let blood. 03* A person was cured in one day, by feeding on rice-milk, and sitting a quarter of an hour in a shallow tub, having in it warm water three inches deep.—See Dr. Tissot. 100. To prevent (or stop a beginning) Gangrene. Foment continually with vinegar, in which dross of iron (either sparks or clinkers) has been boiled. ** 101. The Gout in the Stomach. " Dissolve two drachms of Venice treacle in a glass of mountain wine. After drinking it go to bed. You will be easier in two hours, aud well in sixteen." (Dr. Dover.) Or, boil a pugil* of tansey in a quarter of a pint of mountain. Drink it in bed. I believe this never fails. * To prevent its return, dissolve half an ounce of gum guiacum in two ounces of sal volatile. * A pugil is as much as you can take up between your thumb and two fore-finders. 46 Take a tea-spoonful of this every morning in a glass of spring-water. OCj" Tki.< helps any sharp pain in the stomach.—. Dr. Boerluuzve. N. B. I knew a gentleman who was cured many times by a large draught of cold water. 102. The Gout in the Foot or Hand. Applv a raw, lean beef-stake. Change it once in twelve hours, till cured : Tried. 103. The Gout in any Limb.f * Rub the part with warm treacle, and then bind on a flannel smeared therewith. Repeat this, if need be, once in twelve hours. c3" This has cured an inveterate gout in thirty- six hours. Or, drink a pint of strong infusion of elder- j buds, dry or green, morning and evening. This has cured inveterate gouts. a Or, at six in the evening, undress, and wrap \ yourself up in blankets. Then put your legs up to the knees in water, as hot as you can bear it. As it cools let hot water be poured in, so as to k*eep you in a strong sweat till ten. Then go in- to a bed well warmed, and sweat till morning— I have known this cure an inveterate gout, in a person above sixty, who lived eleven years after. —The very matter of the gout is frequently de- stroyed, by a steady use of Mynsicht's elixir of vitriol. [Or take gum guarac-um four ounces, salt petre two ounces, dissolve them fourteen days in two pounds of Jamaica spirits ; take two spoonfuls morning and evening. But the grand medicine will be temperance and exercise.] f Regard them not who far, the gout ought not to be cured. They mean it cannot. I know it cannot by their regular prefcriprions. But I-have known it cured in many cafes without any ill effects fol- lowing. I have cuied mvfelf fcvei.il times. 47 104. The Gravel. Eat largely of spinach: Or, drink hugely of warm water sweetened > with r.aney: t Or, of pellitory of the wall tea, so sweetened : Or, infuse an ounce of wild parslc-v seeds in a pi : of white H'iuc !cr twelve days. Dri' k a glass of it fasting, three months. To prevent its re- i turn, breakfast tor three months on agrimony tea. It inurely cured me twenty years ago, nor have I ; hadHre least symptom ol" it since. 105. The Green Sickness.^ . Take a cup of decoction of'»gaum guaiacum, l (commonly called lignum vitse) morning aud B evening: I Or, grind together into a fine powder three K ounces of the finest steel-filings, and two ounces ■>■ of red sugar-candy. Take from r. srrupl?- to half a drachm every morning. I----Ser Dr. Tissot. 106. To kill Animalcula that cause the Gums to waste away from the Teeth. Gargle thrice a day with salt and water. 107. To make- the Hair grow. Wash it every night with a strong decoction of 1 roesmary. Dry it with flannel: Tried. 108. TheHead-ach. Rub the head for a quarter of an hour : Tried. Or, be electrified : Tried. Or, apply to each temple the thin yellow rind ©fa lemon, newly pared off: * Or, pour upon the palm of the hand a little i % [Is known by a depraved appetite, fhortnefs of breath, pallid countenance, foft fwelling of the body, palpiu:ion of the heart and [ retention of the mealies.] . 48 brandy and some zestj of lemon, and hold it t» the forehead : Or, a little sether: Or, if you have catched cold, boil a handful of rosemary in a quart of water. Put this in a mug, and hold your head (covered with a napkin) over the steam as hot as you can bear. Repeat this till the pain ceases : Tried. Or snuff up the nose camphorated spirits of lavender: Or, a little juice of horse-radish. Q 109. A Chronical Head-ach. Keep your feet in warm water a quarter of an hour before you go to bed, for two or three weeks : Tried. Or, wear tender hemlock leaves under the feet, changing them daily: * Or, order a tea-kettle of cold water to be poured on your head, every morning, in a slender stream: |Or, take a large tea-cupful of carduus tea, with- out sugar, fasting, for six or seven mornings: Tried. 110. Head-ach from Heat. Apply to the forehead cloths dipt in cold water, for an hour: Tried. 111. A Nervous Head-ach. Dry and powder an ounce of marjoram and half an ounce of assarabacca : mix them and take them as snuff, keeping the ears and throat warm. This is of great use even in a cancer : but it will suffice to take a small pinch every other night, lying down in bed. r f % Zeft is the juice of the peel fqueezed out. 49 112. A Violent Head-ach. Take of white wine vinegar and water, each three spoonfuls : with half a spoonful of hungary water. Apply this twice a-day to the eye-lids and temples. 113. A Hemicrania.* Use cold bathing. Or, apply to that part of the head shaved, a ' blister. v ^ 114. Stoppage in the Head. Snuff up juice of primros-e, keeping the head warm. 115. The Heart-Burning.f i Drink a pint of cold water : Tried. j. - Or, drink slowly decoction of camomile flow- ; ers. Or, chew five or six pepper-corns a little: then swallow them: Or, chew fennel or parsley and swallow your spittle.—Sometimes a vomit is needful. Or, a piece of Spanish liquorice. 116. The Hiccough (to prevent.) Infuse a scruple of musk in a quart sfmountain >■ wine, and take a small glass every morning. 117. (To Cure.) Swallow a mouthful of water, stopping the mouth and ears : Tried. Or, take any thing that makes you sneeze : Or, two or three preserved damsons : * Or three drops of oil of cinnamon, on a lump of sugar: Tried. T * This Is a head-ach which affecTjsbu* one fide of the heaJ. V *-»t A warp, gnawing pain in the orifice of tut ftomsch. O 50 Or ten drops of chemical oil of amber dropt oa sugar, and then mixed with a little water. 118. Hoarseness. Rub the soles of the feet before the fire, with garlic and lard well beaten together, over night j The hoarseness will be gone next morning, j Tried. Or, take a pint of cold water lying down ; ' Or, swallow slowly the juice of radishes : Or, half a pint of mustard-whey, lying^pwn : Or, a tea-spoonful of conserve of roses, every « -night: Tried. Or, dry nettle roots in an oven. Then pow- ) derthem finely, and mix with an equal quantity j of treacle. Take a tea-spoonful of this twice a- ; day: Or, boil a large handful of wheat-bran in a •quart of water; strain and sweeten it with honey. 9 Sip of it frequently. '3 119. Hypocondriac and Hysteric Disorders. * . Exercise, and a little good wine. Five grains 1 of asafcetida, twice a-day. * Or, cold bathing.* J 120. The Jaundice. Wear leaves of celandine upon, and under the feet. Or, take a small pill of Castile soap every morning for eight Or ten days: Tried. Or, beat the white of an egg thin: take it morn- ing and evening in a glass of water. /. Or, half a pint of strong decoction of nettles :-.j Or, of burdock-leaves. Or, bo'il three ounces of burdock-root, in two quarts of water to three pints. Drink a teafrcupful \ of this every morning. • * In the abfence of an attack. 51 121. Jaundice in Children. * Take half an ounce of fine rhubarb, powder- ed. Mix with it thoroughly, by beating, two handfuls of'good well cleansed currants. Of this give a tea-spoonful every morning. 122. The Iliac Passion.f * Apply warm flannels soaked in spirits of wine : Or, hold a live puppy constantly on the belly. (Dr. Sydenham.) Or, immerge up to the breast in a warm bath ; Or, take, ounce by ounce, a pound and a half of quicksilver.—See Dr. Tissot. a Inflammations in general are more certainly / abated by smart purging than by bleeding.^ 123. An Imposthume. * Put the white of two leeks in a wet clotlr, and so roast them in ashes, but not too much. Stamp them in a mortar with a little hog's-grease. Spread it thick, plaster-wise, and apply it, chang- ing it every hour, till all the matter be come out. /. 124. the Itch.(j Wash the parts affected with strong rum : Tried. Or, anoint them with black soap. * Or, steep a shirt half an hour in a quart of water, mixed with half an ounce of powdered brimstone. Dry it slowly, and wear it five or six days. Sometimes it needs repeating: Tried. Or, beat together the juice of two or three •\ In this violent kind of cholic the excrements are fuppofed to be thrown up by the mouth in vomiting. X [Bendes the ufe of the firft, fecond and third prefer!ptions under tbis head, take caflor oil, as directed in the note to Bilious ChoHc.] || This diftemper is nothing but a kind of very fmall lice, wr.'.ca burrow under the fkin. Therefore inward medicines are abfolutcly •eedlefs. Is it poffiblc any phyfician ihould be ignorant of this.? 52 lemons, with the same quantity of oil of roses. Anoint the parts affected. It cures in two or three times using. 125. The King's Evil.1T ' Take as much cream of tartar as lies on a six- pence, every morning and evening : Or, drink for six weeks half a pint of a strong a decoction of devil's-bit: Tried. Or, use the diet drink, as in the article Scorbu- tic Sores. I have known this cure one whose J breastwas as full of holes as an honey-comb : Or, set a quart of honey by the fire to melt. ; When it is cold, strew into it a pound and a half of quick-lime beat very fine, and sifted through a f* hair-sieve. Stir this about till it boil up of itself ■■ into a hard lump. Beat it when cold, very fine, ancj '4 sift it as before. Take of this as much as lies on ' a shilling, in a glass of water, every morning fist- ing, an hour before breakfast, at four in the afterr t:\ noon, and at going to bed : 4 Or, make a leaf of dried bnrdock into a pint of \ tea. Take half a pint twice a-day, for four months. I have known this cure hundreds. The best purge for the king's evil, is tincture of jalap, which is made thus :—Jalap in powder, three ounces : Geneva, or proof spirits, one pint. Let them infuse seven days. A tea-spoonful or two is sufficient for a child tern years old, In a morning fasting : and repeated once a week, so ;.s to keep the stomcah and bowels clean, will frequently cure the king's evil. But all violent purges, or when repeated too often, are pernici- I ous. • * ^f It commonly appears firft, by the thicknefs of the lips, or a ; ftubborn humour in the eyes, then come hard fwellings, in the neck ehiefiyj then running fores. S3 126. Lameness from a fixed Contraction of parts.* Beat the yolk of a new-laid egg very thin, and by a spoonful at a time, add and beat up with it three ounces of water. Rub this gently into the parts for a few minutes, three or four times a-day. 127. Legs Inflamed. Apply fuller's earth spread on brown paper. It seldom fails : Or, bruised turnips. 128. Legs sore and running. Wash them in brandy, and apply alder leaves, changing them twice a-day. This will dry up all the sores, though the legs were like an honey- comb : Tried. Or, poultice them with rotten "apples : Tried. But take also three or four purges. 129. Leprosy.-j- Use the cold bath : Or, wash in the sea often and long: Or, mix well an ounce of pomatum, a drachm of powdered brimstone, and half an ounce of sal prunellse ; and anoint the parts so long as there is need: Or, add a pint of juice of house-leek, and half a pint of verjuice, to a pint and a half of posset- drink. Drink this in twenty-four hours :—It * [Anoint the part well with fweet oil, and rub it in with the hind, continuing the friction for half an hour or an hour, every night and morning, until well. Or, bind the caul of a newly killed animal dofe on the part; to be repeated if neceffary.] f. In this difeafc, the fkin In many parts is covered with rough, whicifh, fcalypuftulcs 5 and if thefe are rubbed ciT, w;'h a kind: of fcaly fc«rf. 0 2 54 often cures the quinsy, and white swellings on the joints: ' Or, drink half a pint of celery-whey, morning and evening. This has cured in a most desperate case : Or, drink for a month a decoction of burdock- leaves, morning and evening: Tried. 130. Letnargy.* Snuff strong vinegar up the nose : Or, take half a pint of decoction of water-cres- ses, morning and evening. 131. Lice (to kill,) Sprinkle Spanish snuff over the head. Or, wash it .with a decoction of amaranth. ; 132. For one seemingly killed with Light- J ning, a Damp, or Suffocated. ' T| * Plunge him immediately into cold water: <& * Or, blow strongly with bellows down his ja throat. This may recover a person seemingly «J drowned. It is still better if a strong man blows 9 into his mouth. q 133. Lues Venerea. Take an* ounce of quicksilver every morning, and a spoonful of aqua sulphurata in a glass of water, at five in the afternoon. I have known a person cured with this, when supposed to be at the point of death, who had been infected by a foul nurse; before she was a year old. rj3» I insert this for the sake of such innocent sufferers. 134- Lunacy. ! Give decoction of agrimony four times a-day : A * [A lethargy is a conftant inclination to doze, or he afleep, with f litde oi no fever.J 55 Or, rub jthe head several times a-day with vine- gar : in which grourid-ivy leaves have been infus- ed : * Or, take daily an ounce of distilled vinegar: Or, boil juice of ground-ivy wTith sweet oil and white wine into an ointment. Shave-the head, anoint it therewith, and chafe it in warm every other day for three weeks. Bruise also the leaves and bind them on the head, and give three spoon- fuls of the juice warm every morning. X If this be really a nervous difo.der, what wcr.der if it fhou.d be , cured, by cold bathing. iox an hour. Then bind some salt upon it for t-.velve hours. N. B. The author of this receipt was bit six times by mad dogs, and always cured himself by this means.. O*, mix powdered liver-wort, four drachms: black pepper two drachms: divide this into four parts, and take one in warm milk for four morn- ings fasting. Dr. Mead affirms he never knew this fail; but it has sometimes failed. Or, take two or three spoonfuls of the juice of rib-wort, morning and evening, as soon as possi- ble after the bite. Repeat this Jfor two or three changes of the moon. It has not been known to fail. [To prevent the disorder in those that have* been bitten :—Cauterize the wound, and dress it twice a-day with digestive, and once a-day with mercurial ointment. Tissot. Wash the wound well, and dress it every day with salt. Keep the wound open 40 days.] 137. The Measles.t CCJr Immediately consult an honest physician. * Drink only thin water-gruel, or milk and" water, the more the better: or toast and water. If the cough be very troublesome, take fre- quently a spoonful of barley-water sweetened with oil of new almonds newly drawn, mixed with syrup of maiden-hair. * After the measles, take three or four purge* and for some weeks take care of catching cold, use light diet, and drink barley water, instead of' malt-drink. See Dr. Tissot. 138. Menses Obstructed. Be electrified: Tried. f This diftemper is always preceded by a violent cough, often fourteen days before the red fp-.ts come out. 57 Or, take half a pint of strong decoction of pen- ny-royal, every night at going to bed :. Or, boil five large heads of hemp, in a pint of water, to'half. Strain it, and drink it at going to bed, two or three nights. It seldom fails : Tried. * Or take from three to four grains of calomel, in a pill, for two or three nights, taking care not to catch cold. It purges : Tried. * Let any of these medicines be used at the" regular times as near as can be judged.----See Dr. Tissot. 139. Menses Profuse. Drink nothing but cold water, with a spoonful of fine flbur-stirred in it. At that time "drink a glass of the coldest water you can get, and apply athick cloth dipt in cold water : Or, put the feet into cold water : Or, apply a spunge dipt in red wine and vine- gar: ■ Or, bleed in the arm. Stop the orifice often with the finger, and then let it bleqd again r Or, boil four or five leaves of the red holy-oak in a pint of milk, with a small quantity of sugar. Drink this in the morning ; if the person can af- ford it, she may add a tea-spoonful of balm of Gilead. This does not often fail: * Or reduce to a fine powder half an ounce of alum, with a quarter of an ounce of dragon's blood. In a violent case, take a quarter of a drachm every half hour. It scarce ever fails to stop the flux before half an ounce is taken. This "alsocures the whites. [If the strength will admit take a little blood from the arm ; the body should be kept loose. Let her take a tea-cupful of alum-whey every three or four hours—made thus: Put two drachms of powdered alum into a pint of milk, boil it till the curd is well separated, then strain off the wh^ and bottle it. The like medicine i:; .loodings, 53 and in the whites has been found often useful: Tried.] 140. To resolve coagulated Milk. Cover the woman with a table-cloth, and hold a pan of hot water, just under her breast; then stroke it three or four minutes. Do this twice a day, till it is cured. 141. To increase Milk. ' Drink a pint of water going to bed : Or, drink largely of pottage made with lentils. 142. To makeMilk agree with the stomach If it lie heavy, put alittle salt in it; if it curdle, sugar. For bilious persons mix it with water. 143. A Mortification (to stop.) * Apply a poultice of flour, honey,, and water? with a little, yeast. [A gangrene is, when any part of the body, from the violence of the inflammation is not ac- tually dead, but is in a state of dying.—Galen. The inflammation should be abated by bleed- ing, if the fever admit, and by cooling, opening medicines : the parts around touched with vine- gar, lime-water, or camphprated spirits, and sca- rified. Apply a poultice of biscuit of fine wheat flour toiled with milk to the gangrened part, and take.the bark freely. N. \j. No oily substance should ever touch a bone, sound or unsound, but foul bones should be dreiisid with spirits, as tincture of myrrh, See,] 144. Nervous Disorders. When the nerves perform their office too lanr guidlyva good air is the first reqnisite. The pa- tienfalso should rise early, and as soon as the dew is off the ground, walk : let his breakfast be 59 mother of thyme tea, gathered in June, using half as much as we do of common tea. When the nerves are too sensible, let the person breathe a proper air, let him eat veal, chickens, or mutton. Vegetables should be eat sparingly; the most in- nocent is the French bean; and the best, root, the turnip. Avoid all sauces. Sometimes he may breakfast upon a quarter of an ounce of the pow- der of valerian root infused in hot water, to which he may add cream and sugar. Tea is not proper. When the person finds an uncommon oppression, let him take a large spoonfnl of the tincture of valerian root. -ir.:> are generally mod violent as fjun as yuu are v.Jim iu bed. - n CO three or four times a-day. This seldom fails. ■■ See Dr. Tissot. In a stubborn rheumatism, let your diet be bar- ley-gruel, with currants, roasted apples, fresh whev, and light pudding. [Rub an ounce of camphire, with two ounces ofllorence oil, in a mortar, till the camphire be entirely dissolved, to rub the parts affected.—Buc~ han.] - *Take of Florence oil, an ounce; spirit of hartshorn, half an ounce; shake them together.. Pringle say?y a flannel moistened with this, and applied to the pained part in rheumatism, or to the throat in quinsy, is generally efficacious.] 168. To restore the Strength after a Rheu- matism. Make a strong broth of cow-heels, and wash the parts with it warm twice a-doy. It hasrestortd oie who was quite a cripple, having no strength left either in his leg, thigh, or loins. * Or, mix gum guaiacum (in powder) with honey or treacle : take two or three tea-spoonfuls or as much as you can bear without purging) twice or thrice a-day. This is the best medicine I have met with for the chronic rheumatism : * Or dissolve one ounce of gum guaiacum in three ounces of spirits of wine. Take sixty or eighty drops on loaf sugar two or three times a- day.—This is Dr. Hill's essence of bardana. * Or, drop thirty drops of volatile tincture of guaiacum on a lump of sugar, and take this in a glass of water every four hours. It usually cures in a day: Tried. 169- Ricketsf (to prevent or cure.) * Wash the child every morning in cold water. f [In the rickets the child isemicated, except the head, knee* aad Icily, v-.hich are fwellsd, and ike ribs are deprefl'ed.J 67 1 70. Ring-worms.* Apply rotten apples : or pounded garlic : 0.-, rub them with the juice of house-leek : O.-, wash them with hungary water camphorat- ed : Or, twice a-day with oil of sweet almonds and oil of tartar mixed. 171. A Rupture.| Foment with hot aqua vi tse for two hours. Or, take agrimony, spleen-wort, Solomon's- seal, strawberry-roots, a handful of each ; pick and wash them well; stamp and boil them two * Vulgarly called tetters. X f A rupture, if old and irreducible, is to be fubmittcd to, and can only be allevi.ted by fufpenfion in a bag-tvufs made of foft linen. If recent, its reduction fhould be attempted inftantly by gentle con- tinued preffure on the part : this is beft done by the perfon's own hands, while his body is thrown into a recnmbent pofture. If this. does rut fucceed, try the laft article under this head, and if the rup- ture ftil! cannot be replaced, but a confiderable degree of pain comes on, with ficknefs at the ftomach, and fever, draw a pint of blood from the arm, and if the perfon's ftrength will at all admit it, repeat it again- in fix hours, take one table-fpoonful of caftor oil every hour until it works, continue the ufe of the above-mentioned article, and inject a pint of the decoction of mallows or camomile in milk and water,, flrained and well fweetened with brown fugar, as a clyfter. If after twelve or fourteen htwrs, all thefe methods fail either to re- turn the rupture or procure fiools, and the pain and ficknefs at the ftomach rather increafe, with a beginning reftleflhefs, the cafe be- comes highly alarming and dangerous, and no time is to be loft : fteep a quarter of an ounce of ftrong tobacco in a pint of boiling water an hour, (train h off and inject it as a clyfter. This may caufe great ficknefs and faintnefs, fo as to alarm the by-ftanders not a little^ but iinot dangerous^ and will frequently fucceed when every thingelfe fails. After the rupture is reduced, a well-fitted fteel truf. fhould after- wards be always worn, and the omiflion of it for an hour, while in an erect pofture^may be,fatal. It is ftrongly recommended, in every recent cafe ef this kind, to call in a phyfician of experience as early after the accident as poffible, as achirurgicsl operation may be abfolutely receffary to fave the per- fon's life. The :bove directions are intended chiefly for thofe who cannot be benefitted by the immediate attendance of a phyfician of fkill and reputation, no other fhould be trufted to ir. a cafe of fa much importance. 68 hours, in two quarts of white wine in a vessel close stopt. Strain and drink a large glass ot this every morning, and an hour after drink ano- ther. It commonly cures in a fortnight. A good truss mean time is of great use. u I place," says Dr. Riviere, " a br^ad plank sloping from the side of the bed to the ground. On this I lay the patient upon pillows, with his head downward. Then I foment the part for , half an hour, with cloths four times doubled, steeped in cold water, gently touching it with my fingers. Afterwards I bind on it, many times v doubled, a cloth shaped like a triangle, wet in cold - wat.-r.—The gut is generally restored to its place in-a few hours. If not, I repeat the operation twice a-day, and in two.or three days the disease is cured." 172. A Rupture in Children. Keep its bowels open with rhubarb and apply a. soft band. 173. A Scald Head. Apply daily white wine vinegar : Tried. Or,'a little b'ue ointment. After the cure, give two,or three gentle purges. If a proper regard was paid to cleanliness in the head and apparel of children, the scald head- would seldom be seen. 174. The Sciatica,"j: Is certainly cured by a purge taken in a few hours after it begins; Or, use cold bathing, and a sweat,.together with the flesh-brush twice a-day : Or, boil nettles till soft. Foment with the liquor, then apply the herb as a poultice---1 have X Thefciatica is a violent pain in tha hip, chieily in the joint of the thigh-bone. 69 known this cure a sciatica of forty-five years standing : Or, apply nettles bruised in a mortar : Or, a mud made of powdered pitccal and warm water. This frequently cures sores, weakness of limbs, most disorders of the legs, swelling and stiffness of the joints. It cured a swelling of the elbow-joint, though accompanied with a fistula, arising from a caries of the bone.' See Dr. Tis- sot. 175. Inflammation and Swelling of the Scrotum. Apply lead water. 176. A Scorbutic Atrophy4 Use cold bathing:—Which also cures all scor- butic pains. 177. Scorbutic Gums. * Wash them daily with a decoction of Peru- vian bark, adding a little tincture of roses, with a solution of myrrh. ' *[Wash them with cold water, then with tinc- t ire of red roses, with as much sweet spirit of salt mixed with it as can be conveniently borne : Boerhaave. Or, wash them with tincture of myrrh : Tried.] 178. Scorbutic Sores. A diet-drink.—Put half a pound of fresh shav- ed lignum guaiacum (called by the block-makers lignum vitse) and half an ounce of sena, into an earthen pot that holds six quarts ; add five quarts of soft water, and lute the pot close. Set this in a kettle of cold water, and put it over a fire till it has-boiled three hours. Let it stand in the kettle X Scch a d-gree of the fcurvy as caufes the fiefh to waft? away like ,un,fump'aon. 70 till cold. When it has stood one night, drink- daily half a pint, new milk warm, in the morning, fasting, and at four in1 the afternoon. Wash with r. little of it. In three months all the sores will be dried up : Tried. 179. The Scurvy.$ Live on turnips for a month : Or, take tar-water morning and evening for three months: Or, three spoonfuls of nettle-juice every morn- inp: Tried. Or, decoction of burdock. Boil three ounces of the dried root in two quarts of water to three pints. Take half a pint daily, unless it purges loo much, if so, take less. A decoction of the leaves (boiling one leaf four minutes in a quart of water) has the same effect : Or, take a cupful of the juice of goose-grass, in a morning, fasting, for a month: it is frequently called hariff, or cleavers. Last year I knew ma- ny persons cured by it. Or, pound into a pulp of Seville oranges, sliced, rind and all, and powdered sugar, equal quanti- ties. Take a tea-spoonful three or four times, a- day : Tried. ' Or, squeeze the juice of half a Seville orange into a pint of milk over the fire. Sweeten the whey with loaf-sugar, and drink it every morning, « new mi k warm. To make ary whey, milk should l>e skimmed,after it is boiled. * Or, pour three quarts of boiling water, on a quartof ground malt; stir them well, and let the mixture stand covered close, for four hours: strain it off and use this as common drink: in hot X The fcurvy is known by heavinefs of body, ^.rinrfs, rotten- nefs of gums, and yellow, lead, or violet-coloured fp0ts on the leas or arms. / N. B. A fcurvy attended with coftivenefi (which m mnft r„m™„„! i* termed a hot fcurvy : one attended with iL^,™^™^ 71 weather, brew this fresh every day. It will Jiard- ]y fail. Or, take morning and evening, a spoonful or two of lemon juice and sugar. " It is a precious remedy and well tried."—Dr. Macbride. Water and garden cresses, mustard and juice of scurvy- c'":''^, help in a cold scurvy. When the re is a continual salt taste in the mouth, take a pint of lime-water morning and evening. ^ 180. A Broken Shin. Bind a dry oak-leaf upon it: Or, put on a bit of white paper moistened with spittle. It will stay on till the place is well: Tried. This cures a cut also. 181. Shingles.i -* Drink ser.-v.ater every morning for a week ; toward the close, bathe also : Or, apply pounded garlic. [It is necessary that the body should be purged and kept loose, then touch the part twice a-day with the following: Take mustard-seed powdered fine, and best writing ink, as much as will make it into a linament: Tried.] 182. Sickishness in the Morning. Eat nothing after six in the evening: Or, drink half a pint of water impregnated with fixed air. 183. Sinews shrunk. Rub them with warm oil. X A kind of Ring-worm, which encircles the body i'.ke a belt of a kind's bieadih. 7S 13 4. Slcin rubbed off. Apply pounded all-heal.—It seldom needs re- peating. Or, a bit of white paper with spittle. 185. Small Pox. i Drink largely of toast and water. Or, let your whole food betnilk and water mix- ed with a little white bread: Or, milk and apples. Take care to have a free, pureT and cool air. Therefore open the casement every day: only do not let it chill the patient. " There may be pustules a second time coming out and ripening like the small pox, but it is bare- ly a cutaneous disorder. " In violent cases bleed in the foot; bathe the legs in warm water, twice or thrice a-day, before and at the eruption; and apply boiled turnips to the feet. Never keep the head too hot. * " In very low depressed cases wine may be given; and if the pustules lie buried in the skin, a gentle vomit. In many cases a gentle purge of manna, cream of tartar or rhubarb. " In the crude ichorose small pox, a dish of coffee now and then, with a little thick milk in it, has often quieted the vexatious cough. "-After the incrustation is formed, change the sick, but let it be with very dry warm linen." Dr. Huxham. 186. Along running Sore in the Back. Was entirely cured by eating betony in every th'fog: Or, take every morning two or three spoonfuls of nettle-juice, and apply nettles bruised in a mor- tar, to the part. This cures any old sore or ulcer. / 73 187. A Sore Leg. Bind a diaculum plaster, an inch broad, round the leg, just above the sore, and foment it morn- ing and evening, with hot water. Any sore is healed by a plaster of mutton-suet: even though it fester or breed proud flesh. 188. A Sore Mouth. Apply the white of on egg beat up with loaf-su- gar : Or,gargle with the juice of cinquefoil: * Or, boil together a pound of treacle, three ~ yolks of eggs, an ounce of bole armoniac, and the quantity of a nutmeg of alum, a quarter of an hour. Apply this to the sore part: Tried. 189. A Sore Throat. Take a pint of cold water lying down in bed : Tried. " Or, apply a chin-stay of roasted figs : * Or, a flannel sprinkled with spirits of harts- horn to the throat, rubbing hungary-water on the top of the head : Tried. Or, snuff a little honey up the nose- An old sore throat was cured by living wholj^ . "Upon apples and apple-water. * Lay nitre and loaf-sugar mixed on the tongue. 190. A Putrid Sore Throat. Lay on the tongue a lump of sugar dipt in brandy: Tried. [This fatal disorder, especially among young .children," begirrs with an ague and sore throat, sometimes a gangrene is begun in the palate, or near it in twelve hours, and it sometimes kills in 24 hours: a vomit should be given as soon as the disorder is known, and occasionally repeated, the body kept loose; a gargle used of barley-wa- 74 ter'and honey (or honey of roses) and salt petre ; and when the gangrene is discovered, the mouth- water should be made as strong as the, patient can bear it, with volatile spirits of sal armoniac, or some other volatile spirits;. and the little pa- tient often have his mouth washed with it, and sollicited to drink barley-water, and take a prepa- ration of the bark : Tried.] 191. A Spram. *HoId the part in very cold water for two hours: Tried.] * Or, apply cloths dipt therein, fpnr times doubled, for two hours, changing them as they grow warm : ^ > * Or, bathe it in good crab-verjuice: * Or, boil bran in wine-vinegar to a poultice, Apply this warm, and renew it once in 12 hours. 192. A venomous Sting. Apply the juice of honey-suckle leaves : Or, a poultice of bruised plantane and honey: Or, take inwardly7, one drachm of black cur- rant-leaves powdered. ^It is an excellent counter- poison. 193. The Sting of a Bee. Apply honey. 194. Sting of a Nettle. Rub the part with juice of nettles. 195. Sting of a Wasp. Rub the part with the bruised leaves of h©UK« leek, water-cresses,- or~rue: Or, apply treacle, or sweet oil: Or, bruised onions, or garlic* 75 196. Sting of a Bee or Wasp in the eye. Apply carduus bruised, with the white of as ^egg: renew it if it grows dry. 197. Stipg in the Gullet. Beat well together, with a spoon, some honey and sweet oil with a little vinegar; swallow a spoonful every minute till ease is procured. 198. A Stitch in the Side. , Apply treacle spread on a hot toast: Tried. 199. Accidental Sickness, or pain in the ' • Stomach. "y* •■■»»- Vomit with a quart of warm water. , s 20b. Pain in the Stomach from bad diges- tion; A •; Take fasting, or in the fit, half a pint of cam- momile tea. Do this five or six mornings : v Or, drink the juice of half a' large lemon im- ,mediately after dinner, every day.—Dr. Mead. V, * Or, from twenty to forty^drops of eJiXir^ of vitriol in snge-tea, twice or thrice a-day: Or, in the fit-a glass full of vinegar: * Or, take two or three tea-spoonfuls of stom- achic-tincture, in a glass of water, thrice a-day. £f The tincture is made thus:'Gentian-root sliced, one ounce;. orange-peel dried, half an ounce; cochineal fifteen grains; of proqf brandy, one pint ; in three or four days it is fit for use. This is useful in all disorders that arise from a ...r^Jaxed stomach. . 201. Choleric hot Pains in the Stomach, Take half a pint of decoction of ground-ivy. with a tea-spoonful of the powder of it, five or six mornings. /. 78 202. Coldness of the Stomach. Take a spoonful of the syrup of the juice of carduus benedictus, fasting, for" three or fou* mornings: /. Or, chew a leaf of carduus every morning,. and swallow the spittle : Tried. 203. Pain in the stomach, with coldness. and wind. Swallow fiVe or six corns of white pepper, for six or seven mornings: Tried. 204. Stone (to prevent. ) Eat a crust of dry bread every morning : Tried.. Qr, drink a pint of warm water daily, just before dinner.- After discharging one stone, this will prevent the generating of another. Stoop down and raise yourself up again. If you feel pain, as. jf«ht.} 0.2 210. Sunburn (smarting*)" Wash the face with sage-tea. 21L A fresh surfeit. Take about a nutmeg of the green tops of worm-wood. 212. To stop profuse sweating. ' * Mix an ounce of tincture of peruvian bark with half an ounce of spirit of vitriol, take a tea-' spdonful morning and night, in a glass of water. 213. Swelled Glands in the Neck. * Take sea-water every other day. V 214. Indolent Swellings, L Are often cured by warm steams. 215. Soft and flabby Swellings.1 Pump cold water on them daily : • Or, use contant frictions : or, proper bandages*, 216. A white ^welling (on the Joints.) Hold the par,t half an hour every morning,. utder a pump or cock. This cures also pains, in. the joints. " It seldom fails : Tried. Or, pour on it daily a stream of warm water : Or, a stream of cold water one day, and warm the next, and so on by turns: Use these remedies at first, if possible. ' It is' likewise proper to intermix gentle purges, to, prevent a relapse: , '■-..' ;'n .: Or* boiled nettles. 217. To dissolve white or hard Swellings/; Take white roses, elder-flowers, -leave* of fox«^. gloye, and of St. John's wort, a handful of each :.• mix them with hog's-lard, anu make an oint«- ■e«ct« ' ►•* 79 0r* hold them morning and evening m the-, steam of vinegar ^ poured on red-hot flints. . 218. To fasten the Teeth. Put powdered alum, the quantity of a nutmegs in a quart of spring water,, for twenty-four hours. Then strain the water and gargle with it: Or, gargle often, with phyllerearleaves- boilecfc with a little alum in forge-water. v*j».. 219^ To clean the Teeth. . * Rub them with ashes of burnt bread. \u 220. To prevent the Tooth-ach. * Wash the mouth with cold water ev«ry- morning, and rinse the.m after every meal. * 221.. To cure theTouth-ach. Be electrified through the teeth:. Tried. ' '* Or, apply, to the aching.tooth an artificial mag- Bet; ^ Or, rub the cheek a quarter of an hour : • > Or, lay roasted- parings of turnips, as hot as may be, behind the ear ; .Or, put a leaf of betony,. bruised, up the nose f v . Or; lay bruised or boiled nettles to the cheek : Tried. Or, lay a clove of garlic on the tooth : Or, hold a slice of apple, slightly boiled, be« tween-the teeth.: Tried. Qr,dissdve a drachm of crude sal ammoniac in two draihms of lemon juice ; wet cotton hereij* and apply : Or, ketp^the* feet irr warm water, and rub them well .with bran, just, before bed-time: Tried. {3*The first twenty teeth generally last till the sixth o» seventh year: After that till the four- 80 teenth or fifteenth year, they fall out'one by one, and are stteceeded by others. The shedding of the teeth is wisely intended, and brought about in a singular manner. Their hardness will not admit of distention like other parts of the body. Hence after an enlargement of the jaw-bone, the original teeth are no longer able to fill up the cavities' of it. They must stand -V unsupported by each other, and leave spaces be- tween them, tinder the first teeth therefore is * placed a new set, which by constantly pressing upon their roots, rob them of their nourishment, 'T and finally push them out of their sockets. ♦ 222. Tooth-ach from cold air. Keep the mouth full of warm water. 223. Teeth set on edge. Rub the tops of the teeth with a dry towel. g3* 'J'here is no such thing as worms in the teeth. Children's using coral, ,is always useless, '' often hurtful. . « " Forcing the teeth into order is always dan- '. *' gerous. Filing is generally hurtful. "i " All rough and cutting powders destroy the teeth: so do all common tinctures. " Sweetmeats are apt to hurt the teeth, if the mouth be not rinsed after them.——Cracking nut$ , ,( often breaks off the enamel: so does biting thread' *;jw in two. '\ * « Constant use of tooth-picks is a bad prac- ire : constant smoking of tobacco destroys many -od sets of teeth." Mr. Beard more. *'&^i. Extreme, Thirst (without a Fever.) Drink spring-water, in which a little sal pru- nella is dissolved. .*! 225. Pain in the Testicle*. Apply pellitory of the wall beaten up into a poultice, changing it morning and evening. »■ ■ 226. Testicles inflamed. Boil bean-flour in three parts water, one part, Vinegar. N 227. To draw out Thorns, Splinters,, and Bones. Apply nettle-roots andsah.:. Or, turpentine spread on leather. 228. Thrush,* Mix juice of celandine with honey, to the thickness of cream. Infuse a little powdered saff- Ton : let this simmer a while and scum it: apply , it (where needful) with a feather. At the same t?me give eight or ten grains of rhubarb ; to a j.- grown person, twenty : '_ Or, take an ounce of clarified honey; havirg scummed off all the dross from it, put in a drachm k of roch alum, finefy powdered, and stir them well together. Let the child's mouth be rubbed we'll. * with this, five or six times a-day,- with a hit of rag tied upon the end of a stick : and even though it be the thorough thrush, it will cure it in a few days.' I never knew it fail.. [As they generally prdceed from too hot a re- gimen or the child being deprived of its mother's milk', or from acid Humours, the child should be purged. Five grains of rhubarb and thirty of magnesia alba may be rubbed together, and divi- ded into six doses, one of which should be given every four- hours. Then take fine honey, an ounce; borax, a drachm ; burnt alum half a *■ Little White Ulcers in ths Mouth.. w drachm; rose-water, two drachms ; mix them t» touch the parts with : Buchan.] 229. Ton^els swelled. - Wash them with lavender-water. 230. Torpor ? or, Numbness of the Limbs. •Use the cold bath, with rubbing and sweat- ing. 231. Twisting of the guts. Use injection of tobacco smoak. 232. Tympany ; or, Windy Dropsy. Use the cold bath With purges intermixed i Or, mix the j uice of leeks and of elder. Take two or three spoonfuls of this, morning and evening: Tried. Or, eat a few parched peas every hour. 233, A Vein or Sinew cut. Apply the inner green rind of hazel fresh scra- ped. h 234. The Vertigo, or swimming in the Head. * Take a vomit or two : * Or, use the cold bath for a month : t ty", in a May morning, about sun-rise, snuff up daily the dew that ifs on the mallow-leaves : Or, apply to the top pf the head, shaven, a plaster of flour of brimstone, and whites of eggs : Tried. Or, take every morning half a drachm of must- ard-seed : Or, mix together, one part of salt of tartar, with three parts of cream of tartar. Take a tea- . spoonful in a glass of water, every morning, fast- 85 ing. This is serviceable when the vertigo springs from acid, tough ; hlegm in the stomach. 235. Vigilia, Inability to Sleep. Apply to the forehead, for two hours, cloths four umes doubled and dipt in cold water. I have known this'appli6dto a lying-in woman, and her life saved thereby : ' ■ ■■ Or, take a grain or two of camphire. Asafatida, from, tea to thirty grains, likewise will in most cases answer. 236. Bite of a Viper or Rattle-Snake, Apply bruised garlic : Or, rub'the place immediately with common oih-^—. •*' ■ Quere, would not the same cure the bite of a mad dog 2 Would it not be worth while to make the trial on a dog ? [Or, take a quantity of hdre-hound, bruise it well m amortar,*atid squeeze out the juice ; like- wise plantane in like manner a table-spoonful of itheseliquids mixed together, in equal quantities, is to be taken every'three hours till the infection . is done, and the beaten herbs arc for a poultice to the part, having first cleansed it well: Or, apply the liver and guts of the serpent to the wound. Good in the bite of any serpent.] *.. ■ 237. To prevent the Bite of a Viper. y'y Rub the hands with the juice of radishes. \ ': 238. An Ulcer. Dry and powder a walnut-leaf, and strew h ob, and lay another walnut leaf on that: Tried. Or, boil walnut-tree leaves in water with a lit- tle sugar. Apply a cloth dipt in this, changing it once in two days. This has done wonders. Or, foment morning and evening with a decoc- 84 t*on of walnut-tree leaves, and bind the leaves on. This has cured foul bones : yea, and a lep- rosy : Tried. Ulcer in the Bladder or Kidneys. Take a decoction of agrimony, thrice a-day. Or, decoction, powder, or syrup of horse-tail: 240. Ulcers in the Gum or Jaw. Apply honey of roses sharpened with spirit of vitiol; Or, fill the whites of eggs boiled hard and slit, with myrrh and sugar-candy powdered. Tie them up, and hang them on sticks lying across a glass. A liquid distills, with which anoint the sores often in a-day. 241. A fistulous Ulcer. Apply wood-betony bruised, changing it daily. 242. A bleeding t varicous Ulcer in the Leg, Was cured only by constant cold bathing. 243. A Malignant Ulcer. Foment morning and evening, with a decoction of mint. Then sprinkle on it finely powdered rue : Or, burn to ashes (but not too long) the gross stalk on which the red coleworts grow. Make a plaster with" this and fresh butter. Change it once a-day: * Or, apply a poultice of foiled parsnips. this will cure even when the bone is foul : Or be electrified daily : Tried. 244. An easy and safe Vomit. - '/ Pour a dish of tea on twenty gr a ins of ipecaott ana. You may sweeten it if you please. When ,85 it has stood four or five minutes, pour the tea clear off, and drink it. 245. To stop Vomiting. Apply a large onion slit across the grain, to the pit of the stomach : Tried. * Or, take a spoonful! of lemon-juice and six grains of salt of tartar. 246. Bloody Urine. Take twice a-day a pint of decoction of agri- mony : Or, of decoction of yarrow. .247. Urine by Drops with Heat and Pain. Drink nothing but lemonade : Tried. Or, beat up the pulp of five or six roasted ap- ples with near a quart of water. Take it at lying down. It commonly cures before morning. 248. Involuntary Urine. Use the cold bath : Or, take a spoonfull of powdered agrimony in a little water, morning and evening: Or, a quarter of a pint of alum posset-drink every night: Or, foment with rose-leaves and plantane- leaves, boiled in a smithes forge water. Then apply plaisters of alum and bole armoniac, made up of oil and vinegar : Or, apply a blister to the os sacrum. This sel- dom fails. 249. Sharp Urine. Take two spoonfullsof fresh juice of ground- ivy. 250. Suppression of Urine, Is sometimes relieved by bleeding : Or drink largely of warm lemonade : Tried. R 96 Or, a scruple of nitre, every two hours : Or, take a spoonfull of juice of lemons sweet- ened with syrup of violets. 251. Uvula* inflamed. Gargle with a decoction of beaten hemp-seed : Or, with a decoction of dandelion ; Or, touch it frequently with camphorated spi- rits of wine. 252. Uvula relaxed. Bruise the veins of a cabbage-leaf, and lay it hot on the crown of the head : repeat, if needed, in two hours. I never knew it fail. * Or,gargle with'an infusion of mustard-seed. 253. Warts Rub them daily with a radish : Or, with juice of marigold-flowers : it will hardly fail : Or, water in which sal armoniac is dissolved j Or, Apply bruised purslain as a poultice, changing it twice a-day. It cures in seven or eight days. 254. Weakness in the Ancles. Hold them in cold water a quarter of an hour, morning and evening. 255, A soft Wen. Wrap leaves of sorrel in a wet paper, and roast them in the embers. Mix it with finely sifted ashes into a poultice. Apply this warm daily. Dr. Riviere says, vt 1 cured a wen as big as a large fist, thus .: I made an instrument of hard wood, like the stone with which the painters grind their colours on a marble. With this I rubbed it half an hour twice a day. Then I laid * This is ufually called the Palate of the mouth. 87 on a suppurating plaister very hot, which I kept on four or five days. The wen suppurated and was opened. Afterwards all the substance of it turned into matter, and was evacuated. Thus I have cured many since." 256. The Whites. Live chastly. Feed sparingly. Use exercise constantly. Sleep moderately, but never lying on you'i back. Or, boil four or five leaves of the white holy- oak in a pint of milk with a little sugar. Then add a tea-spoonfull of balm of Gilead. Drink this every morning-----It rarely fails: Or, make venice turpentine, flour, and fine su- gar equal quantities, into small pills. Take three or four of these morning and evening. This also cures most pains in the back : Or, take yellow rosin, powdered, one ouRce ; conserve of roses, half an ounce; powdered rhubarb, three drachms, syrup, a sufficient quantity to make an electuary. Take a large tea-spo©nfull of this twice a-day v in a cup of com- frey-root tea. Or, in a quarter of a pint of water wherein three drachms of tamarinds and a drachm of lent- ish-wood has been boiled: when cold, infuse sena, one drachm, coriander-seed and liquorice a drachm and a half of each. Let them stand all night. Strain the liquor in the morning, and drink it daily two hours before breakfast. 257. A Whitlow. Apply treacle : Tried. Or, honey and flour : Tried. Or, a poultice of chewed bread, shift it once a-daj': Or, a poultice of powdered pit-coal, end warm water. 88 258. Worms.* Take two tea-spoonfuls of brandy sweetened with loaf-sugar: Or, a spoonful of juice of lemons ; or two spoonfuls of nettle-juice: Or, boil four ounces of quicksilver an hour in a quart of clear water. Pour it off and bottle it up. You may use the same quicksilver again and- again. Use this for common drink : or at least, night and morning, for a week or two. Then' purge off the dead worms with fifteen or sixteen grains of jalap. Or, take two tea-spoonfuls.of worm seed, mix- ed with treacle, for six mornings : Or, one, two, or three drachms of powdered fern-root, boiled in mead. This kills both the flat and round worms. Repeat the medicine from time to time. Or, dissolve an ounce of hepatic aloes, in a pint of §trong decoction of rue. Take a tea-spoonful or two, in a niorning fasting. This destroys both round worms snd ascarides : * Or, give one tea-spoonful of syrup of bear's foot at bed time, and one or two in the morning, for two or three succeeding days, to children be- tween two and six years of age : regulating the dose according to the strength of the patient. Syrup of bear's foot is made thus:----Sprin- kle the green leaves with vinegar, stamp and strain out the juice, and add to-it a sufficient quantity of coarse sugar. This is the most pow- erful medicine for long round worms. Bruising the green leaves of bear's foot, and smelling often at them, sometimes expels worms: Or, mix, and reduce to a fine powder, equal « A child may be known to have the worms by chillinefs, pale- nefs, hollow eyes, itching at the nofe, ftarting in flcep, and an unufu- al ftinking breath. Worms are ne»er found in children that live wholly upva milk. 89 parts of rhubarb, scammony, and calomel, with as much double refined sugar, as is equal to the weight of all the other ingredients. The dose for a child, is from six grains to twelve, once or twice a week. An adult may take from twenty grains to forty, for a dose. Or, boil half an ounce of aloes, powdered, with a few sprigs of rue, wormwood, and camo- mile, in half a pint of gall, to the consistency of a plaister: spread this on thin leather, and apply it to the stomach, changing it every twelve hours, for three days ; then take fifteen grains of jalap, and it will bring vast quantities of worms away, some burst' and some alive. This will cure, when no internal medicine avails. See extract from Dr. Tissot. [Or, take ten grains of camomile, thirty grains of rhubarb, and as much finely powdered chalk, or oyster-shells, for six powders when rubbed together : one to be taken every morning, noon, and night ; for a child five years old. Keep hirnv from cold water. Take two drachms of quick* silver, boil it in half a piat of water till half is consumed, pour off the liquor and give him half a table-spoonful thrice a-day, aud lay by thfc quicksilver.} 259. Wounds. If you have not an honest surgeon at hand, Apply juice or powder of yarrow : /. Or, bind leaves of ground-ivy ypon it: r Or, wood-bettony bruised. This quickly heals even cut veins and sinews, and draws out thorns and splinters : Or, keep the part in cold water for an hour, keeping, the wound closed with your thumb. Then bind on the thin sic in oi an egg-shell for dars -or weeks, till it falls off of itself. Re- gard not, though it prick or shoot for a time* x. 2 90 260. Inward Wounds. Infuse yarrow twelve hours in warm water. Take a cup of this four times a day. 261. Putrid Wounds. Wash them morning and evening with warm decoction of agrimony. If they heal too soon, and a matter gathers underneath, apply a poultice of the leaves pounded, changing them once a- day till well: , * Or, apply a carrot poultice; but if a gan- grene comes on, apply a wheat-flour poultice (af- ter ithas been by the fire,till it begins to fferment) nearly cold. It will not fail. [One of the best poultices for separating or suppurating, will be found to be made of biscuit of fine weat flour, boiled in milk : and most addi- tions or refirtements on it only lessen its value; sometimes it may be proper to touch it over with a little sweet oil or fresh butter ; and in extreme pain, in other eases, with liquid laudanum.] 262. Wounded Tendons. Boil comfrey-roots to a thick mucilage or jel- ly, and apply this as a poultice, changing it once a-day. 263. To open a Wound that is closed too soon. Apply bruised centaury. 264. Daffy's Elixir. Take of the best sena, guaiacum, liquorice slic- ed small, aniseeds, coriander-seeds, and elicam- pane-root, each half an ounce; raisins of the sun, stoned, a quarter of a pound: let them all be bruised, and put into a quart of the best brandy. Let it stand by the fire for a few days, then suaix* it.——See page 23. 91 265. Turlington's Balsam. Take of balsam of Peru, balsam of Tolu, An- gelica-root, and calamus-root, of each half an ounce ; gum storax in tears, and dragon's blood of each one ounce ; gum Benjamin, an ounce and a half; hepatic aloes and frankincense, of each two drachms ; let the roots be sliced thin and the gums bruised : and put all the ingredients into a quart of spirits of wine ; set the bottle by the fire in a moderate heat for eight or ten days, then strain it for use. This is indeed a most excellent medicine, for man or beast, and for any fresh wound. I knew of none like it- 266. Stoughton's Drops. Take gentian-root, one ounce ; cochineal and saffron, one drachm ; rhubarb two drachms; the lesser cardamom-seed, grains of paradise, zedoa- ry, snake-root, of each half an ounce ; galengale one ounce; slice the roots, and bruise the seeds ; then infuse them in a quart of the best brandy, and add the rinds of four Seville oranges. When it has stood eight days, clear it off; and put a pint and a half more of brandy to the same ingre- dients till their virtue is drawn out. This is greatly helpful in disorders of the stomach.— See stomachic tincture, page 75. 267. Dr. James's Powders. Instead of. giving half a crown a packet for these powders, you may, at any druggist's get Dr. Hardwick's fever-powder, for a shilling an ounce, which (if it be not the same) will answer just the s,ame end. 9£ COLD-BATHING Cures Young Children of /CONVULSIONS* ^-/ Cutaneus inflammations, pimples, and scabs Gravel Inflammation of the ears, navel, and mouth Rickets* Suppression of urine Vomiting Want of sleep. It prevents the Growth of Hereditary Appoplexies J King's Evil Asthmas Melancholy Blindness Palsies Consumptions Rheumatism* Deafness Stone Gout It frequently cures every Nervous,* and every Paralytic Disorder; in particular Ague of every sort* Atrophy Coagulated blood after bruises Convulsions* Convulsive pains Epilepsy* Hysteric pains Incubus Involuntary stool or urine Lameness * And this, I apprehend, accounts for its frequently curing the Kite F a mad dog, efpecially if it be repeated for twenty or thirty days fuccefiively. 93 (Old) leprosy Lethargy Loss of appetite Nephritic pains Pain in the back, joints, stomach Rheumatism (chronic) Rickets* Rupture Suffocations Sciatica Surfeits (at the beginning) Scorbutic pains Swelling on the joints Torpor of the limbs, even when the uaa- of them is lost Tetanus* Tympany Vertigo St. Vitus's dance Vigilia Varicous Ulcers The Whites * Wise parents should dip their children in cold water every morning, till they are three quarters old; and afterwards their hands and feet. * Washing the head every morning in cold water, prevents rheums, and cures oldhead-achs, and sore-eyes. Water Drinking generally prevents * Apoplexies, convulsions, gout,, hysteric fits, madness, palsies, stone, trembling. To this children should be used from their cra- dles. The best water to drink, especially for those who are murh troubled with the wind, is rain-w^i- ter. After it has settled, draw it offjjlear into # 94 another vessel, and it will keep sweet for a long; time. Electrifying in a proper manner, cures Blindness Blood extravasated Bronchocele Burns or scalds Coldness in the feet Contraction of the limbs Convulsions Cramp Deafness* Falling sickness Feet violently disordered Felons Fistula lachrymalis Fits Ganglions Gout Head-ach Involuntary motion of the eye-lida Knots in the flesh Lameness Wasting Weakness of the legs Restores bulk and fulness to wasted limbs Locked jaws or joints Leprosy Menstrual Obstructions Ophthalmia Pain in the stomach Palsy* Palpitation of the heart Rheumatism* Ringworms Sch y> ©5 Shingles Sinews shrunk Spasms Stiff joints Sprain, however old Sore throat Tooth-ache Ulcers Wens Drawing sparks remove thosetumours on the eye-lids, called barley corns, by exciting local inflammation, and promoting suppuration. Nor have I yet known one single instance, wherein it has done harm ; so that I cannot but doubt the veracity ©f those who have affirmed the contrary. Dr. De Hean positively affirms, " it can do no hurt in any ease :" that is unless the shock be immoderately strong. Fasting-spittle outwardly applied every morning, has sometimes relieved, and sometimes cured Blindness Contracted sinews from a cut Corns (mixt with chewed bread and ap- plied every morning) Cut (fresh) Deafness Eye-lids, red and inflamed Scorbutic tetters Sore legs Warts Taken inwardly, it relieves or cures Asthmas Leprosy Cancers Palsy Falling sickness ] Rheumatism 06 Gout Scurvy Gravel Stone King's Evil Swelled liver The best way is to eat about an ounce of hard bread, or sea-biscuit, every morning, fasting two or three hours after. This should be done, in stubborn cases for a month or-six weeks. CONTENTS or TBM PRIMITIVE PHYSIC. •» 1 XIlBORTION to prevent PAGE» 9 2 For an Ague ibid S St. Anthony's Fire 12 4 Apoplexy 13 5 Canine Appetite 14 6 The Asthma ibid 7 A dry or convulsive Asthma 15 8 To cure Baldness 16 9 Bleeding at the Nose (to prevent) ibid 10 Bleeding of a WQund ibid 11 Spitting Blood 17 12 Vomiting Blood ibid IS To dissolve coagulated Blood ibid 14 Blisters 18 15 Biles ibid 26 Hard Breasts ibid 17 Sore Breasts and Swelled ibid 18 A Bruise ibid 19 To prevent swelling from a Bruise ibid 20 A Burn or Scald 19 21 A Deep Burn or Scald ibid 22 A'Cancer ibid 3*3 Chilblains (to prevent) &c. ibid 24 Children 20 25 Chin-cough, or Hooping-cough ibid 26 Cholera Morbus, i. e. Flux and Vom iting 21 27 Chops in Women's Nipple* ibid s 98 NO. * PAGr" 28 Chopt Hands (to prevent) 21 29 ___.-------■ (to cure) ibid 30 Chopt Lips 'hid 31 A Cold 'bid 32 A Cold in the head ibid 33 The Cholic (in the fit) ibid 34 The Diy Cholic {to prevent) 23 35 Cholic in Children jbid 36 Bilious Cholic ibid 37 An. Habitual Cholic ibid 38 An Hysteric Cholic 24 39 A Nervous Cholic ibid 40 Cholic from the fumes of Lead, White Lead, Verdi grease, &c. ibid 41 Windy ^ 25 4i. "^ - ■ U effects of cold ibid ibid 2f -45 Co. hildren ibid 46 Coi he bowels of Children ibid 47 Corn . at) ibid 48 ---- (to ibid 49 Costiveness # 28 50 A Cough ibid 51 Violent cough from a sharp and thin rheum 29 52 The Cramp (to prevent) 30 53 ---------(to cure) ibi d 54 A Cut *hid 55 Deafness ibid £6 Deafness from Wax ibid 57 Deafness with a dry ear ibid 58 Delivery - 31 59 A Diabetes ibid 60 The Dropsy '* . ibid 61 Drowned 33 62 The Ear-ach without inflammation, , # 34 63 Ear-ach from Cold ibid 64 Ear-ach from Heat ibid 99 KO. PAGti. %5 Hard Wax in the Ear 34 66 Eyes bleared ibid 67 A* Blood-shot Eye ibid 68 A Bruise in the Eye ibid 69 Clouds flying before the Eye ibid 70 Blindness 35 71 Dull sight ibid 72 Films ibid 73 Hot or sharp Humours ibid 74 Eyes or Eye-lids inflamed ibid 75 Lachrymal Fistula 36 76 Pearl in the eye jbid 77 Sore eyes ibid 78 An excellent Eye-water ibid 79 Another \ 3f 80 Another jbid 81 An Eye-water, &c. ibid- 82 Weak eyes . m 38i 83 Fainting on letting blood ibid 84 The Falling Sickness ibid 85 The falling of the Fundament 30 86 The falling down of the Wpmb ibid 87 Extreme Fat ' 4a 88 A Fever ibid 89 A high Fever # 41 90 Fever with Pains in the Limbs jbid 91 A rash Fever jbjd 92 A slow Fever ib>d 93 A Worm Fever ibid 94 A Fistula . *2 95 To destroy Fleas and Bugs ibid 96 Flegm xb,d 97 Flooding (in lying-in) 43 98 A Flux lbld 99 A bloodv Flux . 44 100 Toprevent(or stop abeginning) gangrene 45 101 The Gout in the Stomach ibid 102 The Gout in the Foot or Hand 46 100 wo. p*<**- 03 The Gout in any Limb 46 04 The Gravel 47. 05 The Green Sickness ibid 06 To kill Animalcula that cause the Gums to waste away from the teeth ibid 07 To make the Hair grow ibid 08 The Head-ach ibid 09 A Chronical Head-ach - 48 10 Head-ach from Heat ibid 11 A Nervous Head-ach ibid. 12 A violent Head-ach 48 13 A Hemicrania ibid 14 Stoppage in the Head ibid 15 The Heart-burning ibid 16 The Hiccup (to prevent) ibid 17---------(to cure) ibid 18 Hoarseness 50 19 K3pochondriac and Hysteric Disorders ibid 20 The Jaundice ibid #1 Jaundice in Children 51 22 The Iliac Passion ibid 23 An Imposthume ibid 24 The Itch ibid 25 The King's' Evil • 52 26 Lameness from a fixed Contraction of the Parts 53 27 Legs inflamed ibid 28 Legs sore and running ibid 29 Leprosy ibid 30 Lethargy 54 31 Lice (to kill) ibid 32 For one seemingly killed with Lightning, a Damp, or Suffocated ibid 33 Lues Venerea ibid 34 Lunacy ibid 85 Raging Madness 55 36 The Bite of a Mad Dog ibid 7 The Measles » 5.6 101 S9t PAGE. 138 Menses obstructed 56 139 Menses profuse 5P 140 To resolve coagulated Milk 58 141 To increase Milk ibid J42 To make Milk agree with the Stomach ibid 143 A Mortification (to stop) ibid 144 Nervous Disorders - ibid 145 Nettle Rash 59 146 Old Age ibid 147 An old Stubborn Pain in the Back 60 148 The Palsy ibid 149 Palsy of the Hands ibid 150 Palsy of the Mouth 61 151 Palsy from working with White-lead or Verdigrease ibid 152 Palpitation, or Beating of the Heart ibid 153 Phlegm (see Flegm) ibid 154 The Piles (to prevent) ibid 155-------(to cure) ibid 156 The inward Piles 62 157 Violent Bleeding Piles ibid 158 The Pleurisy ibid 159 To one Poisoned 63 160 Polypus in the Nose ^ ibid 161 A Prick or Cut that festers ibid 162 Ptyalism 64 163 An easy Purge ibid 164 A stronger Purge ibid 165 The Quinsy • ibid 166 A Quinsy of the Breast 65 167 The Rheumatism ibid 168 To restore the strength after a Rheuma- tism 66 169 Rickets (to prevent or cure) ibid 170 Ring-worms 67 171 A Rupture ibid 172 A Rupture in Children 68 173 A Scald Head ibid s 2 « «■ ** 9 102 174 The Sciatica 68 175 Inflammation or Swelling of the Scrotum 69 176 A Scorbutic Atrophy ibid 177 Scorbutic Gums ibid 178 Scorbutic Sores ibid 179 Ths Scurvy 70 J-80 A Broken Shin 71 181 Shingles ibid 182 Sickishness in the morning ibid 183 Sinews Shrunk ibid 184 Skin rubbed off 72 185 Small Pox ibid 186 A long running Sore in the Back ibid, 187 A Sore Leg 7S 188 A Sore Mouth ibid 189 A Sore Throat ibid 190 A Putrid Sore Throat. ibid 191 A Sprain 74 192 A venomous Sting • ibid 193 Sting of a Bee ibid 194 Sting of a Nettle ibid 195 Sting of a Wasp ibid 196 Sting of a Bee or Wasp in the Eye 75 197 Sting in the Gullet ibid 198 A'Stitch in the side ibid, 399 Accidental Sickness, or Pain in the Stomach ibid 200 Pain in the Stomach from bad Digestion ibid 201 Choleric hot Pains in the Stomach « ibid 202 Coldness of the Stomach • 76 203 Pain in the Stomach with Coldness and Wind ibid 204 Stone (to prevent) ibid 205 In a raging fit ibid 206 Stone (to ease or cure) v—^1 ibid 207 Stone in the Kidneys 77 2©8 Stoppage in the Kidneys , ibid 209 The Stranguary ibid 103 NO« PAOTt. 210 Sunburn (smarting) 78 211 A fresh Surfeit ibid 212 To stop profuse Sweating ibid 213 Swelled Glands in the Neck ibid 214 Ind«lent Swellings ibid 215 Soft and flabby Swellings ibid 216 A white Swelling (on the Joints) ibid 217 To dissolve white or hardlSwellinga ibid 218 To fasten the Teeth 79 219 To clean the Teeth ibid 220 To prevent the Tooth-ach ibid 221 To cure the Tooth-ach ibid 222. Tooth-ach from cold air 80 223: Teeth set on edge „• ibid 224 Extreme Thirst (without a fever) ibid 225 Pain in the Testicles - 81 226 Testicles inflamed ibid 227 To draw out Thotns, Splinters, and Bones ibid 228 Thrush ibid 229 Tonsils swelled 82 2S0 Torpor, or Numbness of die Limbs ibid 231 Twisting of the Guts ibid 232 Tympany, or Windy Dropsy ibid 233 A Vein or Sinew cut ibid 234 The Vertigo, or Swimming in the head ibid 235 Vigilia, Inability to Sleep 83 236 Bite of a Viper or Rattle-Snake ibid 237 To prevent the Bite of a Viper ibid 238 An Ulcer . ibid 239. Ulcer in the Bladder or Kidneys 84 240 Ulcer in the Gum or Jaw ibid 241 A Fistulous Ulcer ibjd 242 A Bleeding varicous Ulcer in the Leg ibid 243 A Malignant Ulcer ibid 244 An easy and s-afe Vomit ~'i$U* 24-5 To stop Vomiting ?:> 246 Bloody Urine^ iu*U a 104 PAGE. NO. », oe 247 Urine by drops with heat and pain 85 248 Involuntary Urine ^1° 249 Sharp Urine ?£!*} 250 Suppression of Urine 1D1^ 251 Uvula Inflamed ?6 252 Uvula relaxed ?™bid 262 Wounded Tendons ibid 263 To open a Wound that is closed too soon £|* 264 Daffy's Elixir ibid 265 Turlington's Balsam ?* 266 Stoughton's Drops *bid 267 Dr. James's Powders ibid THE FOLLOWING BOOKS Are published under the patronage, and for the ufe of the Methodijl Epifcopal Church, in the United States o£i America ; and to be had of Ezckiel Cooper and John Wilson, Superintendents of the Book Rufinef9 for the faid Me- thodift Church, and of the Methodift Minifters and Preachers in their feveral Circuits. THE Methodift. Pocket Hymn-Book, containing 320 hymns, at 50 cents. The Form of Methodifi Discipline, co cents. The Minutes of the Methodift Conferences, for 22 years, from 1773 t° l794» inclufive, 50 cents. The Family Advifer and Primitive Phyfic, 50 cents. Law's Serious Call to a Holy Life, 50 cents. Alleine's Alarm, and Baxter's Call, 50 cents. The Experience of Mrs. Hefter A. Rogers, 50 cents. The Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. Peard Dickinfon, 50 cents. do. - - do. lettered, $6 cents. The faints' Everlafling Reft, 87 1-2 cents. The Life of ThomasWalfh, aad Journal of John Nelfon, 87 1-2 cents. Spiritual Letters, by, the late ftev. John Fletcher, paftoraU- familiar, ^fcc. 81 cents. Appeal to:Matter of Faft and Common^fe, by the Rev. John Fletcher, 70 cents. -*' ''\ The Portrait of St.>Paul, by the Rev. J. Fletcher, now in the prefs. * - • v•■ -• * - The Experience and Gofpd Labours of Benjamin Abbot,7 O cents. Thomas a Kempis, or Chriftian's Pattarn, 28 cents. M*s. Rowe's Devout Ewrcifes, abridged, 2$ cents. • f * LIST OF BOORS. Bifhop Beveridge's Chriftian Refolutions, 30 cents. Journal of Bifhop Afbury, frem January 1, 1770 to September 3, 1780, 27 cents. The Methodift Magazine, in numbers, 12 1-2 cents. A Vindication of the Right of Infant Baptifm, by Da- vid Boftwick, 12 1-2 cents. A Scriptural Catechifm, 6 1-4 cents. Band Rules, 2 cents. With other Books and Pamphlets. As the profits of the above mentioned Books, are for the Benefit of the Methodift Epifcopal Church, in the United States, and to be applied to religious purpofes, it is recommended to the Minifters and Members of the faid Church, to promote the fa'e of the faid Books; and not to purchafe any Books, which we publifh, of any other perfons, than the aforefaid Exekitl Cooftr and John Wilfon, and the Methodift Minifters and Preachers, or fuch ptrfoos as fell them by their confent. ColumbianPrinting-Offtch New-Tork, February, 18C w z Wb84* 190.4- c I