THE DOMESTIC PRACTICE OF HYDROPATHY WITH FIFTEEN ENGRAVED ILLUSTRATIONS OP IMPORTANT SUBJECTS, FROM DRAWINGS BY DR. HOWARD JOHNSON, WITH A FORM OF A REPORT FOR THE ASSISTANCE OF PATIENTS IN CONSULTING THEIR PHYSICIAN BY CORRESPONDENCE. by EDWARD JOHNSON, M.D. NEW YORK: FOWLERS AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS, Cunton Hall, 131 Nassau Street. London : 149 Stfand. Boiton: I No. 144 Washington StJ 1 Q K A S Philadelphia: 1 ° ° * • I No. S31 Aroh Stroot. Philadelphia: No. 231 Arch Street. J"66d l?£4- DEDICATION. 1Y ihee, imia «;yed and ministering Spirit, who sittest by the hed of Suffering, dropping balm into the bosom of Sickness—to thee, sweet Smoother of the pillow, who sheddest thy gentle dews on the parched lips of Anguish, and stillest the throbbings of his heart by the soft accents of thy voice—to thee, whose home is in Heaven, but who dwellest among men that thou mayest help them in their need —who rainest down thy sympathies into the troubled soul of Affliction, watering the desert with the gushings from thy fountains—to thee, the Comforter, who borrowest the smiles of Hope that thou mayest lighten the darkness of Despair—to thee, mild-eyed and gentle Humanity, I dedicate this book. E. J. " The profession of Medicine, having for its end the common good of mankind, knows nothing of national enmities, of political strife, of sectarian dissensions. Disease and pain the sole condition of its ministry, it is disquieted with no misgivings concerning the justice and honesty of its client's cause; but dispenses its peculiar benefits, without stint or scruple, to men of every country, and party, and rank, and religion, and to men of no religion at all. And, like the quality of Mercy, of which it is the favorite hand-maid, it' blesseth him that gives and him that takes;' reading continually to our own hearts and understandings the most impressive lessons, the most solemn warnings. It is ours to know in how many instances, forming indeed a vast majority of the whole, bodily suffering and sickness are the natural fruits of evil courses; of the sins of our lathers; of our own unbridled passions; of the malevolent spirit of others. We see, too, the uses of these judgments, which are mercifully designed to recall man from the strong allurements of vice, and the slumber of temporal prosperity; teaching that it is good for us to be sometimes afflicted. * * * * After all, it is god who healeth our diseases, and kedeemeth our LIFE from DESTRUCTION." — Dr. Watson's Introductory Lecture to his Class at King's College. PREFACE The title of this work sufficiently discloses the general nature of its contents, which may be briefly particularized thus: —It contains, first, a very minutely detailed description of the various hydropathic processes, and directions as to the proper manner of performing them ; with an enumeration of the several kinds of baths in use—their comparative powers, their individual effects, their temperature, the manner and times of taking them; observations regarding diet generally, clothing generally, sleep generally, and exercise generally, with necessary cautions concerning all these subjects. Secondly, it contains general observations on the hydropathic treatment; its mode of action on the living system ; with remarks on the nature of general and local disease. Thirdly, it contains a detailed description of the symptoms by which each disease is recognized, with its appropriate treatment; and particular directions as to diet, exercise, clothing, &c. It is only necessary, therefore, to add a few words concerning the principal objects for which the book has been written. One object has been to bring the benefits of hydropathy, as much as possible within the reach of the poor. The accomplishment of this has always appeared to me in the light of an imperative duty ; and I can but regret that I could devise no better or more effectual means of achieving it, than by the publication of some such work as this. There is another large class of persons, to whom the advantages of the water treatment have been hitherto a dead letter, on account of their inability to leave their homes, by reason of the pressing claims of business. I am constantly receiving letters from persons thus situated, requesting me to conduct them through the treatment by correspondence; but, for want of some book to which I could refer them for particular directions and general instructions, regarding their treatment, I have found it almost impossible to comply with their wishes, either with advantage to them, or credit to myself. It is, therefore, one of the objects and uses of the book, to facilitate the treatment of this class of persons, at their own homes, by correspondence; and to give as much efficacy and safety as possible to treatment so conducted. It has frequently happened that some of my own patients, after having epent at my establishment as much time *s they could spare—time VI PREFACE. enough for improvement, but not for perfect restoration; and sufficient to enable me to appreciate with accuracy the nature of their diseases, the peculiarities of constitution, amount of their general powers, and the sort of treatment suitable to their cases—have expressed their desire of completing the necessary term of treatment at their own homes, under my guidance, by correspondence. To enable myself to comply with the wishes of such, with the more safety, precision, and success, has been to me a third object. There was another difficulty—and that, too, of a very grave nature— which constantly made itself felt, in all attempts to treat persons by the interchange of letters. I mean the very meagre, confused, and altogether inadequate manner in which patients reported their cases to me. In most instances, I found it altogether impossible to arrive at just conclusions, either as to the precise nature of the disorder, the nature of the constitution of the patient, or the amount of his general powers. And yet a correct appreciation of the sort of constitution, and the amount of living power, is just as essential to safe and effective treatment, as a knowledge of the disease itself; for it is by these that we are enabled to apportion the dose. To remedy this evil. I have affixed to the book a Form of Report, in which are indicated the particular points on which it is necessary that the physician should receive information, in order to enable him to judge correctly as to the nature, not only of the disease, but also of the constitution, and the general state of the living powers. And, although those points are many, yet all the information required can frequently be conveyed in two or three words, tints: "The color and texture of the hair!" Answer: K dark, course, greasy, and thick." Or, M light, silky, rotten, and thin.'' By the help of this FORM, something like professional accuracy and precision may be given to the report. I had still another object. I believe, indeed I know, that there are many liberal-minded medical men who are deeply sensible of the inevitable evils inseparably connected with drug-practice, and who would be very willing (as, indeed, why should they not ?) to give Hydropathy a fair trial in acute disease, if they had an opportunity of making themselves acquainted with the details of its practice. To offer them this opportunity, therefore, has been another of my objects. Besides the difficulties herein enumerated, there were several others of a less prominent character; but all seemed to issue out of the want of some such work as this, to serve as a book of mutual reference 1 —of mutual understanding and consultation—between patient and physician ; a book which might lie open, at the same time, under the eyes of both; and which they might, as it were, read together —and so form a link of mutual understanding. A book of this sort is also rendered doubly necessary, by the difficulty which patients experience of getting any medical man in their neighborhood to consent to treat them on the hydropathic system, although those patients have no faith in any other. This is certainly a great hardship. VII FK.CFACE Having thus fairly stated what my objects are, I will now as fairly state what they are not. It forms no part of the objects of this work to lead the suffering to believe that they can altogether dispense with the services of medical men. In many slight cases, indeed, they may do so; but in severe forms of disease, I recommend no one, especially in acute disorders, to use this, or any other treatment, without professional guidance, if they can get it. So, idso, there are many forms of chronic malady—as, for instance, those of the respiratory, circulating, and nervous systems—in which the hydropathic treatment should not be administered, without first taking professional advice as to its propriety; and if proper, as to the degree in which it may be used ; and, above all, as to the sort of hydropathic treatment which it is proper to adopt. For, it must be remembered that, in diseases of these three fundamental systems, the three prime organs of life are involved, viz., the heart; the lungs; and the brain, with its appendage, the spinal marrow. Neither is it one of the objects of this work, to induce people to suppose that their diseases can be as well and effectually treated at home as at a well-conducted establishment. It must be perfectly obvious to every one, that the advantages, to the patient, of living in the same house with his physician, whose duty it is to watch the varying phases of his disease from day to day, and sometimes from hour to hour—of living and moving daily under his eye—must be very great indeed, and such as no other circumstances can supply. I am also quite aware that all written guides to treatment must be more or less imperfect. Nevertheless, some good may be achieved, though not the greatest; and a little good is better than none—and an imperfect guide better than no guide at all. How far the following pages will constitute a competent guide, may be a question— one, however, which must be decided by the public, not by me. And I am quite ready to admit that this is a very grave question, as it regards the practical success of the treatment. For that treatment, like every other, will be successful or otherwise, exactly according to the manner and degree in which it is exhibited, and the discrimination of cases to which it is applicable. And, in making this discrimination, it is not only necessary, by careful examination (wherever this is possible) to make out the precise nature of the disease of which the patient complains; but it is equally important to ascertain that there is no lurking and latent malady of which the patient does not complain ; and of which he is unconscious. Besides this, people will treat themselves at home, whether hydropatliic physicians desire it or not; and my hope is that this work, all imperfect as I acknowledge it to be, may yet have some tendency, not only to diminish the risk of self-treatment, but to increase the chances of a successful issue. I trust, too, it may have some tendency to induce medical men to take it up, though it be only in self-defence. Neither do I mean to say that the exact treatment advised herein for VIII PREFACE. each case must be, in every instance, passively and blindly followed. My object has rather been merely to sketch the character of the treatment, in each disease, leaving it to be more or less modified, according to particular circumstances, and its effects upon the sensations and powers of the patient. Neither have I meant, in whatever I have said against that profuse anci irrational and daily administration of the most deadly drugs which characterizes the drug-practice of the present day—neither have I meant, I say, in whatever I have said on this subject, to join that senseless clamor against all drugs (in combination with hydropathy) which has been raised and reverberated in all the hydropathic works which I have read. I have always, in my earliest works, endeavored to show the gross folly, or still grosser dishonesty, of this cry. For this I have been censured— and not by the unlettered and unprofessional practitioner only. In his case, knowing nothing of the uses or effects of drugs, it was natural that he should seek to abolish them utterly, that so he might bring down the science of healing diseases to the level of his own knowledge and acquirements ; and we must not pry too curiously into the weak side of human nature. But the practice of administering drugs, however sparingly and rarely—however urgent the occasion—in conjunction with hydropathic treatment—has been condemned, and unworthy motives attributed by those who should have known better. And as I believe myself to be the only hydropathic writer who, at that time, openly advocated their occasional use, it is to myself only that the attribution of such unworthy motives would seem to apply. I, however, heartily forgive all this; and am glad to find that these same persons, in whose writings these erroneous doctrines stand recorded, have since seen the propriety of adopting that practice, which, in such strong terms, they then condemned. In the detail of symptoms, and general description of diseases, I have availed myself of whatever assistance I could derive from consulting the highest and best modern authorities. I have also been assisted by two of my sons, the eldest of whom, Dr. Walter Johnson, holding the appointment of Medical Tutor in the largest and wealthiest of our metropolitan hospitals—Guy's—enjoys such opportunities of studying the multiform phases of disease as fall to the lot of but very few. In describing the symptoms of disease, there are often certain expressions which will communicate the correct idea, and which no other expression is capable of conveying. Whenever I have met with such expressions in any author, I have not hesitated to adopt them, rather than diminish the truth of the picture by the substitution of another form of words. In a few instances, where I may have found a particular group of symptoms, or phase of disease, so well described that I could not make it clearer, I have taken it just as I found it. The works of Dr. Graves, Dr. Gregory, Dr. Watson, Dr. Copland, and a few others, have been chiefly consulted ; and I have added whatever my own experience could PREFACE. IX furnish. I have everywhere preferred utility and perspicuity before all things else. I have also availed myself, in like manner, of such illustrative cases as seemed to me to be valuable. My main object has been to draw the picture of each disease as graphically and concisely as possible. But the symptoms of each disease will always vary somewhat in each individual case. Such are the objects and such the nature of the work which I now venture to lay before the public ; trusting that it may not be utterly without its use. I have introduced several diseases which are never likely to become the subjects of seZf-treatment. I have done so because I think it highly proper that the non-medical public should have some clear and definite, though general knowledge of the intrinsic nature of all diseases whatever ; for, in this whole matter, that public has a far greater interest at stake than anybody else. (See p. 242.) I have just been very much gratified by the receipt of a Dutch work on hydropathy, as a present from its author, Dr. Waitz, a Dutch physician practising in Batavia, the capital of the Dutch settlement in Java, in the Indian Archipelago. After a cursory glance at the state of our knowledge concerning the curative influence of water anterior to Priessnitz, and an enumeration of those works on the subject of hydropathy, which he recommends to the perusal of his readers—those of Mauthner, Schuitzlein, Richter, Hirschel, Scouttetten, Champouillon, and my own on the Theory and Principles of the Water Cure—from which he has done me the honor to make extracts, and to recommend, in an especial manner, to the atttention of his readers—the rest of the book is chiefly occupied by the detail of one hundred and seventeen cases treated hydropathically. Of these, there are fifty-two cases of fever, of which only three died; and fourteen cases of dysentery and diarrhoea, of which only one proved fatal. The results of the whole seem clearly to establish the fact which Dr. Waitz is desirous of proving, viz. that the blessings of hydropathy are not limited to the temperate latitudes, but may be shared by those whose dwelling-places are in tropical climates. To tliose who may choose to take the Domestic Practice of Hydropathy as their guide, I particularly recommend the attentive perusal of the index, where they will meet with subjects in which they will be sure to find themselves more or less interested. They should also read carefully the General Directions, the article on Urine, and that on Stomach Symptoms. Er ward Johnson. Umberslade Hall, Hockley Heath, Warwickshire. INDEX Whenever a evmptom requires several words to express it, that part of the body in which it occurs is placed in the Index. For instance, " uneasy sensations about the lower bowel," look in the Index for " bowel."—" Twitchings of the hand," look for "hand." Abscess, lumbar, 368. Acidity, 158, 214, 359. Ague, 218. Alcoholic drinks, 60. Anecdote, xliii. Ankle,swollen, 171,243,328; sprained, 375. Antagonism, xxxvii. Antics, hysterical, 263. Anxiety, 177. Apoplexy, 134; in dogs, 192; mercurial, 458. Apoplectic fit, 134; premonitory signs of, 135. Apoplectic fulness, 135. Appetite, 135, 158, 165, 171, 174, 175, 192, 217, 237. Arms, twitchings of, 165; numbness of 136. 138, 309. Arsenic, 439. Arsenical fever, 439; eruption, salivation, flatulence, loss of appetite, thirst, nausea, vomiting, purging, griping, furred tongue, cough, emaciation, irritable stomach, headache, giddiness, sleeplessness, 440; falling off of hair and nails, poisoning, 441; inflammation of head and face, 442. Asthma, 147. Attraction, heterogeneous, 66. Bandage or compress, wet, 75, 84. Bath, temperature of, 51; shallow, 70; half, 71; pail douche, 71; cataract, 72; sitz, 72; vapor, 81; derivative, 72; compound, 82; plunge, 72; wet friction, 73; washdown, 73; upstanding sheet, 73; foot, 73; foot shallow, 73; hand, 74; head, 75, xlii. Baths, relative strength of, 83; compound, xliv. Bathing, times for, 49; manner of, 50. Bed-clothing, 52, 54. Bees, 376. Belly, prominent, 105, 171, 217, 227, .324; pain in, 217; inflammation of. 31(5. Belladonna, dangers of, xxx Bilious, vomiting, 175; headache, 238. Blanket, packing, G2. BIcar-eye, 369. Blindness, transient, 136; mercurial, 458. Blood, spitting of. 213, 256, 263, 327; diagram of, 257; course of, 245. Blood diseases, 419; ancient notions of, 420. Bones, pains in, 161. Bowels, distended. 153. irritable, 400; loose. 163, 176, 198; forcing of, 196; mercurial inflammation, 447. Bowel complaint, common, 200. Bowel, lower, 399; itching at, stricture of, 399. Boils, 225. Brain Disease, 139; its mental effects, 139; premonitory signs of, 214. Brain, water on, 227, 358. Hrc&kfcist 5T Breath, offensive, 165, 171, 217, 227. Breathing, difficult, 148, 157,159, 162, 171, 242,273, 327, 359. Bronchitis, acute, 157; chronic, 162; mistaken, 163. Brows, knitting of, 166, Bruises, 277. Bugs, 376. Burns, 277, Butter, 50. XII INDEX Calomel, lady killed by two grains af xxx, 456. Capillaries, diagram of, 141. Case illustrated, 222. Catalepsy, 265. Cataract bath, 72. Catechism, 104. Cautions. 64, 65, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, xxxviii, 186, 293, 297. Cell-force, 331. Cheeks, rosy, 325. Chest, narrow, 334; pain in, 327; sudden pangs in, 359. Chicken-pox. 435. Children, education of, 289, 344. Child's life, business of, 345. Chilblains, 267. Chilliness, 157, 100, 174, 273. Chlorosis, 170. Circulation, languid, 154, 173, 324; diagram of, 246. Clothing, 53; bed, 52, 55. Clumsiness of children, 165. Cocoa, 60. Cold water a stimulant, 191. Cold in the chest, 157; in the head, 160. Combe, Dr., on medical quackery, 117. Compress, wet, 84; heating, 84. Complexion, dusky, 243, 325; pale and pasty, 321. Condiments, 57. Convalescence, xxv. Convulsions,208, 401 j case cured, 403. Consumption, 323. 327; vast importance of skin in, 332; mortality from. 375; preventive measures, 329, 333; in rabbits, 332. Confusion of thought, 136, 154. Constipation, 141,165,171,174,192, '227, 886, 899. Corpulence. 135, 139. Coroners' inquests, xxxii. Cough, 149, 157, 161, 203, 270, 273, 320,102; winter, 102; old man's, 162. Counter irritation, xxvii. Cradle, sweating, 64, xli; drawing of, xli. Cramp of the leg, 151, 173; of the stomach, 176, 359. Craving for food, 174. Crisis, 83, xxviii. Danger of too much treatment, 76 —79. Dance, St. Vitus'. 164. Death, 106. Deafness, transient. 136. Debility, general, 154, 163; case of, 155; of nursing mothers. 216. Delirium, 158; tremens, 189. Diagram of capillaries, 141. Diarrhoea. 163,200, 328; chronic, 198, Diabetes, 192. Diet," 55,154; reducing, 278; popular error in, 57. Dimness of sight, 136, 171. Directions, general, 49. Dirty roads, 338. Discharges, cessation of, 140. Disease, 106; local, 107; general, 91; causes of, 109, 122, 124; incurable, 85. xxv ; prevention of, 86; erroneous notions of, 91, 116. Douche, the, 75; head douche, 75. Double vision, 136, 138, 174. Dreams, frightful, 243. Dreamy sleep, 280, 314. Drinking water, 06. Drinks, alcoholic, 60. Dropsy, 230; blood letting in, 233; case of, 237. Drowsiness, T35. Drugging, 141; effects of, 154, xxxi, 226, 233, 254; death from, 153. Drug treatment 116. Drug diseases, 437. Drying body, manner of, 50. Dysentery, 196. Dyspepsia, 174, 178; moral causes of. 179; among the temperate, 182; illustrative case, 182. Ears, noises in, 136, 171,314; eruptions behind, 309. Ear-ache, 294. Elbow joint, scrofulous, 370. Emaciation. 163, 198, 328; in ohildren, 217. English disease, 332. Epilepsy, 207; curious case of, 209. Eruptions repelled, 151. Eructations, '203. Erysipelas, 203. Exercise, 55. Examination, importance of, xxxvi, 282. 312. Experiment on the skin, xxvi. Expectoration, 149, 158,161,162, 163, 270. 326. Eyelid, dropped, 136, 138, 309; puffy, 171. Eyelashes, long, 325. Eves, grey or blue, 325; pained by reading, 136, 314; green circle round. 171 ; black specks before, 171,174.282; watery,272; yellow, 278; inflammation of. 304, scrofulous inflammation, 305; chronic 306,369; soreness and heat in. 313. INDEX, XIII Pace, red, 135, 139; twitchings of, 164; swollen, 232. Face-ache, 293. Faintings, 171, 359. Fancies, nervous, 289. Fat, 135, 139. Fatness and fulness, 297. Feet, cold, 173. Fever, hay, 270; hectic, 163, 216, 327; gastric, 216; worm, 217; rheumatic, 361; common continued, nervous, brain, typhus, 389; scarlet, 424; Dr. Bateman on, 428; Dr. Stanger on, 430; Foundling hospital, -130; arsenical, 439; mercurial, 447; from iodine, 443. Feverishness, 160 ; general, 215. Fingers, 136 ; twitching of, 165. Finger-ends, clubbed, 325. Finger-nails, hooked, 325. Fish. 56. Fits, 207 ; hysteric, 261. Flatulence, 174, 192, 214, 359. Flannel, 53. Flushing, 287. Fomentation, 84. Form of Report, vi, 465. Friction, wet, 73. Gastric fever, 210. Giddiness, 135, 171, 174, 213, 314, 359. Glandular swellings, 220. Glands of the neck, 309. Gnats. 370. Gout, 357. Green sickness, 170. Hands, 136; twitching of, 165. Hay fever, 270. Head, determination of blood to, 183, 287; head large, 325; water in. 2j37, 368. Headache, 135,160,171,174, 227,243. 272; bilious. 238; sick, 238; nervous, 239, 286. Head-douche, 75. Head symptoms, xxxiii. Heart-burn, 174. 192, 214, 359. Heart, organic disease of, 231; acute 239; chronic, 242. 246; mechanism of, 243; heart a pump, 244: action of, 244. Hearing, dulness of, 136. Health, 106. Hectic fever, 163, 216, 327. Hiccup, 263. Hip disease, 368. Hoarseness, 157, 161, 273. Hooping Cough, 320. Hydropathic trickery, 349; experiments, 353. Hydropathy, advantages of, 133.280; mode of action of. 129; a preventive measure, 86; a tonic, 155; effects of hydropathy, xxiv; .on skin, 333; on pulse, 351, 355; on animal heat, 355; abuses of, xxxii; hydropathy can do two things, 334. Hysterics and Hysteria, 261. Imitation, effects of, 209. Indecision, 137. 177. Indigestion, 170, 174, 178; moral causes of, 179; illustrative case, 182; among the temperate, 183; ending in apoplexy, 186; in paralysis, 186; habits of classes, 185. Indulgence, sensual, 177. Intemperance. 139; stomach, 183; brain, 183. Influenza, 272. Inflammation, external, 277; of the lungs, 347. Iodine, xl, 142; nausea from, heat of stomach from, loss of appetite from, obstruction of monthly periods from, salivation from, wasting of the breasts from. 442; discoloration of skin, headache, giddiness, drowsiness, convulsions, vomiting, purging, fever, thirst, palpitation, emaciation, cramp, dry cough, death. 443. Itch, 388. Jaundice, yellow, 278. Joints, pain in, 361. King's evil, 368. Knee, white swelling, 368; inflammation of, 398. Lady shoplifters. 265. Lassitude. 136, 154, 157, 161, 174. Lead, 445; palsy, colic, poisoning, 445. Legs, weakness of, 136; swollen. 232; sore, 407. Life, 94, 105, 109. Limbs, pain in, 157. Lips purplish, 135, 158, 213; white, 170; swollen and chapped, 369. Liver, chronic inflammation of, 283. Lock-jaw, 401. Lumbar abscess, 368. Lumbago, xlvi. Lungs, inflammation of, 347. Measles, 442. XIV INDEX, Medical opinions of drug treatment, 120, xxi. Medical men, character of, 460. Medical heroes and heroic practice, 187. Memory, failure of, 136. Mental labor, 139. 177. Mental vagaries, 170, 263, 264. Mercury, 446; action of, 113, xl; test for, 457; mercury found in the blood, in the perspiration, in the saliva, in the mucus of the bowels, in discharge from sores, in the bowels, in the brain, in the joints, in the chest, in the humors of the eye, in the cellular tissue, in the lungs, 446, 447. Mercurial fevers, 447; inflammation of bowels, 449; skin disease, 450 ; cachexia, 451; tremor, 451; salivation, 453; melancholy, 458; list of mercurial diseases, 457,458. Mesenteric disease, 368. Milk, 60. Mistakes, medical, xxxiii, xxxvi, 177, 186, 263, 265. Motions, grotesque. 165. Monthly periods, irregular, 171. Mucous Membranes, 400. Mumps, 167. National habits and stomach symptoms, 377. Nature not to be stormed, 345; curative powers of. 111. Nausea, 136, 171. Neck, short. 139; glands of, 369. Nervousness, 183, 283. Nervous headache, 239, 286. Nettle-rash. 405. Neuralgia. "3§3; Mercurial, 458. Nitre, effects of, on the blood, 458. Nose, bleeding from, 213 ; defluxion from, 160,270,272; picking, 217. Nostrils Stuffed, 160,272; ulceration, 370. Numbness of fingers, toes, arms, &c., 136, 138, 307. Observations, general, 85. Opium, effects of, 159, 191 Objects of this work, v. Operations, surgicol, xxv. Optical illusion, 209. Paleness, lot. Palpitation, 171, 174, 242. 359. Paralysis, 30G; partial. 135,138; premonitory signs, 313 ; mercurial 458. Pains, local, 277; nervous, 294. Pastry, 56. Perspiration, 64, 145, 161. Piles 399. Picking at the nose, 217. Pleurisy, 340; blood-letting in, 344. Popular error, 56. Preface, v. Prejudice, force of, a law of nature necessary to man's welfare, 462. Preventive measures, 125. Prostration of strength, 273. Pudding, 56; gluten, 58; brown bread, 58; fruit, 59; rice shapes, 59. Pulse, 327; strong. 135; quick, 157; intermitting, 171, 243, 272. Pupil of the eye, 136, 138, 313, 325. Q.UACKERY, 118. Quinsy, 168. Reasoning, crooked, xxxviii. Remarks, preliminary, xxi. Remedies, 112. Rest, 52. Restlessness, 133. Retching. 136. Rheumatic fever, 361. Rheumatism, acute, 361; thrown upon the heart, 362; subacute, 366; chronic, 367; hot and cold, 367. Rickets, 36iv 369. St. Vitus' Dance, 161. Scahls. 277. Scarlet fever, 424. Sciatica, -J93. Scrokui.a, or consumption, signs of, in childhood, 325; in youth, 325, 368; plan for diminishing scrofula in this country, 375; mortality from. 368. Sheet, upstanding. 73. Sheet, wet-packing, 64; mode of using in fevers. 69; its mode of action, 65; mode of warming in, 152. Sheet, hall-wet, packing, 70. Shingles, 268. Shoulders, writhing of, 165. Sickness, 136. 170, 192, 359; green, 170. Sick head-nchc. 238. Side, pain in, 213; little blisters on, 269 ; stitch in, 376. Sight, dimness of, 136, 171. Skim, 130; yellow. 278; transparent, 325; uses of. 333; tingling of, 406. Skin and lungs relation between, 333. Skin disease, chrome, 387; mercurial, 450. INDEX. XV Sleep, 51; disturbed. 174; In children, 217, 227; dreamy, 236,313; starting and twitching in, 136. Small-pox, 430. Smells, bad, 135, 138. Sneezing, 161, 270, 273. Snoring, 135. Soda, 437. Soreness nil over, 157, 161. Spasms in stomach, 214. Speech, inarticulate, 136, 138. Specks on the eye, 369. Spirits, low, 174. Spitting of blood, 243, 255, 263, 327; diagram, 257. Spine, crooked, 368. Spinal weakness, 373. Sprnins, 375. Squinting, 136, 138. Stomach, pnin in, 174; gnawing in, 174 ; irritable, 400. ?Stomach symptoms, 313, 376. Stools lumpy, 192; bloody and mucous, 196 ; foul in children, 217, 228. Stimulants, 183. Stitch in the side, 376. Stings, 376. Stomach and brain disease confounded, 386. Strength, prostration of, 273. Suicide, 291. Suppers, 56. Sweating cradle, 64, xli. Sweating blanket, 62. Swelling behind the jaws, 167. Sweats, mercurial, 457; clammy, 158; nocturnal. 163. Symptoms, 139, 174, 178, 182. Tastes, bad, 135, 13S. Ten, 60. Teeth, grinding, 217, 227. Temperature of baths, 51. Temper, irritable, 137, 243. Terror, or nervous dread, 136,137,138 177, 243, 286. Thirst, 157, 102. Theory, mistaken notions of, 420; the parent of facts, 420. Thront. constriction of, 136; relaxed. 157; sore, 161, 168. Thrush. 328. Tic-douloureux, 293. Toes and fingers, numbness of, 136 138, 308. Tooth-ache, 303. * The reader's attention is particularly requested to this subject. Tongue, sensations in, 135; foul, 135, 165, 171, 192, 217, 227. Towel friction, 73; ditto packing, 70. Treatment, excess ofT 146. Tubercles, scrofulous, 370; diagram of, 372. Tubercular disease, 370. Typhus fever, 389. Ulcers, 368; of the leg, 407. Urine, 408; excess of, 192,201; darkcolored, 278; great importance of, 415. Healthy urine, 409. Hysterical, 410. Of pregnnncy, 410. Diabetic, 411; tests for, 411. Albuminous, 411; tests for, 411. Bloody, 412; diagram of, 412. Bilious, 413; tests for, 413. Mucous, 413; diagram of, 414. Purulent, 414. Brickdust sediment in, 414. Red sand in, 415; diagram of, 416. White snnd in, 416 ; diagram of, 417. Mulberry, deposit in, 417; diagram of. 418. Vision, double, 136, 138, 174; half vision, 136. Vitus'. St., dance, 164. Vital principle, 331. Voice, loss of, 157. Vomiting, 174, 175, 228, 263, 359. Wakefulness, 136. Wasps, 376. Water drinking, 60; temperature of, 51. Water-brash, 176, 214. Water on the brain, 227, 368. Weeping, 136, 138. Wheezing 148. Whiteness, chalky, of face and lips, 170. White of the eye, pearly white, 325. White swelling, 368, 370. Worm fever, 217. Worms, 217. Wrists sprained, 375. Yellow skin, 278. LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. M.ME Sweating Cradle xli Head Bath xlii Diagram illustrating the operation of the Wet Sheet, figure 1 . 67 Ditto, figure 2 68 Cataract Bath 72 Diagram of the Capillaries 141 Diagram showing the circulation of the Blood through the heart and lungs 246 Diagram showing the passage of the Blood from the left lung to the heart 257 Diagram representing tubercles on the Membrane which lines the walls of the belly 372 Five Diagrams representing diseased Urine .... 412 to 418 Mercurial test 457 INDEX OF GROUPS OF SYMPTOMS. The principal object of grouping together into one view the more marked symptoms of some of the more important and insidious diseases, is to assist persons to obtain as early warning as possible of approaching disorders of a severe kind ; and to enable them to ascertain the particular kind of disease of which they probably stand chiefly in danger. All the symptoms, however, of each group will never be experienced in one and the same case. Premonitory signs :— Headache ; Giddiness ; Transient blindness; Partial or transient paralysis; Double vision ; Inarticulate speech; Numbness of one or more fingers ; Dropped eyelid ; Strange failure of memory; Fanciful terror; Small, contracted, fixed pupil; One pupil dilated while the other is contracted; Semi-vision; Great nervous alarm ; Confusion of thought; Unnatural sounds in the ears. Early premonitory signs op the commencement of SOME KIND OF BRAIN DISEASE. Bilious vomitings or sick headaches ; Severe or dull pain in the head ; Flatulence ; Sudden attacks of shivering and fever; Creepings over the skin; Severe pains in the legs or arms; Confusion within the head ; Constipation ; Nervousness ; Inability to apply the mind; Throbbing of the temples ; Whitish foul tongue; Dreamy sleep; Occasional giddiness; Neuralgic pains in the heels: Hot head ; Disposition to weep on slight occasions; Constriction across the brow or throat; Craving appetite and other painful and indescribable sensations about the stomach; Hard, lumpy stools. APOPLEXY. APOPLEXY. EPILEPSY, PARALYSIS, OR SOME OTHER BRAIN AFFECTION. XVIII GROUPS OF SYMPTOMS. Premonitory signs :— Loss, or caprice, or voracity of appetite; Foul tongue; Offensive breath; Tumid belly ; Torpid bowels; Unnatural stools ; Pallor of face ; Wasting; Heaviness; Languor ; Dejection ; Fretfulness and irritability of temper. It will be observed that though the disease is in the brain, nearly the whole of the early symptoms are experienced in the stomach and bowels. ACUTE HYDROCEPHALUS, OR WATER IN THE BRAIN IN YOUNG CHILDREN. ASTHMA. Dyspepsia, extreme difficulty of breathing and sense of impending suffocation, occurring in paroxysms. Loud wheezing respiration, and tightness of chest —terminating with an expectoration of mucus. Cough, shortness of breath, expectoration of a frothy, | transparent, and tough mucus, tightness of chest, and fe- L verish excitement. | ACUTE BRONCHITIS. Cough, shortness of breath, expectoration of an opaque, 1 yellow, friable phlegm. No fever. ( CHRONIC BRONCHITIS. Dry stuffing of the nose ; Sneezing; Oppression over the eye-brows, and watery eyes. Defluxion from the nose, at first thin, watery, and irritating, and then thick, opaque, and yellow. Shivering, feverishness, and soreness of the skin. J Premonitory signs in children: — Pale, pasty, or dark and muddy complexion; harsh skin; large head; narrow chest; protuberant belly; soft and flabby muscles; languid circulation; large, sluggish pupil; sluggish and dull intellect; or, light or red, silky hair; grey or blue eyes; large sluggish pupils; long, silky lashes; brilliant, transparent, irritable skin, and rosy cheeks; > white of the eye of a pearly lustre ; great liability to chilblains ; eager temper; ardent imagination ; quickness, and precocity of intellect; sometimes blear-eye; chronic inflammation of eyes; swollen chapped lips; redness and swelling about nostrils; moist eruption behind ears; enlarged glands. COMMON COLD. CONSUMPTION OR OTHER SCROFULOUS DISEASE. GROUPS OF SYMPTOMS. XIX Premonitory signs in young persons :— Large sluggish pupil; clubbed state of the ends of the fingers; convex, thin, adunque. or hooked noils, bent over the ends of the fingers; irregular roughened teeth; thick upper lip; soft, red, or light colored, fine, silky hair; or thick, coarse, dark hair; redness of the edges of the eyelids; dark, muddy complexion; or fair, brilliant, transparent skin; glandular swellings; erruptions on the skin; blue or grey eyes; pearly whiteness of the white of the eye; narrow chest; proneness to chilblains ; general delicacy of frame and of constitution ; crooked spine ; weak ankles. Cough; spitting of blood; shortness of breath; slight pain in the chest; emaciation ; diarrhoea; night sweats, and copious expectoration of a thick, yellow matter; hoarseness; rapid pulse ; hectic flush on one or both cheeks. A frequent and urgent desire to pass motions, but an inability to discharge anything beyond a little mucus tinged with blood. Want of appetite; nausea, or vomiting ; flatulence; acid eructations; uneasiness of the stomach alter eating; rising of the food; heartburn, or spasm of the stomach; constipation, with hard, lumpy, but sometimes relaxed stools. Dyspepsia; severe pain in a small joint, most commonly the ball of the great toe; heat, tenderness, swelling, and glistening redness of the part. High-colored urine, depositing on cooling a brick-dust colored sediment; motions pale, or of a dark green color. Pain or uneasiness in the left side ; Palpitation ; Cougli; Spitting of blood ; Shortness of breath ; sometimes hlueness of the lips and nose. Irregular pulse; Coldness of the hands and feet; sometimes dropsical accumulations in various parts. Pain in one or both, loins, passing clown to the thigh; Frequent desire to make water, which is coagulable byheat, of a smoky brown color, or sometimes blood-red ; Skin dry; Sickness and retching; and sometimes dropsical swellings; Dyspepsia. CONSUMPTION OR OTHER SCROFULOUS AFFECTIONS CONSUMPTION DYSENTERY DYSPEPSIA, OR INDIGESTION GOUT. HEART disease mamfaL DUSK A SB, XX GR0UP8 OF SYMPTOMS. Fulness, weight and tenderness, in the right side; Preference for lying on the same side; Yellowness of the eyes and skin; Sometimes dropsy; Urine dark brown, or with a pink deposit; Stools of the color of clay when jaundice is present ; Paul in right shoulder sometimes. LIVER DISEASE. Premonitory signs : Weakness of the .egs ; Tingling or numbness of the toes ; or of the legs; or of the lower parts of the body ; a feeling as though ants were crawling on them; straddling or unsteadiness of gait; pain in the back; great sense of weariness in the loins; dilated pupil. PARALYSIS. Premonitory signs :— Shivering, followed by a great heat of the skin, and a hard, frequent, bounding pulse; Severe pain in the back and head ; Nausea, or vomiting; An eruption of small red pimples. SMALL-POX. Uneasiness at the pit of the stomach; Swollen belly ; Flatulence; Colicky pains; Itching and picking of the nose; Itching of the fundament; Foul breath ; Grinding of the teeth during sleep; and other convulsions; Appetite scanty, greedy, or variable; Action of the bowels fickle and motions of a foul odor; Great emaciation of the body. WORMS. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. I shall preface the observations I have to make under this head, by quotations from the published works of some of the most eminent among the present heads of the profession of medicine—gentlemen holding posts of honor in our various metropolitan hospitals —lecturers on the science of medicine —the teachers, in fact, of the rising generation of medical practitioners. These quotations will amply verify what I have said in some of my former works, viz.: that it is not among the higher ranks of the professors of medicine that hydropathy is decried —nor amongst the higher intellects. It is among the lower intellects, and chiefly among the lower ranks. But by lower ranks I do not mean lower professional grade, but those whose practice, and therefore whose experience, is small. The first quotation is from the great work of Dr. Pereira, called the " Elements of Materia Medica" —a performance of stupendous labor and research—two volumes of nearly one thousand pages each. The quotation will be found on page 33, vol. i. Third Edition. "The cold water cure, or hydropathy, though not yet admitted by the medical profession among the legitimate means which may be beneficially employed in the treatment of diseases, undoubtedly includes powerful therapeutic (i. e. healing) agents; which, in the hands of the educated and honorable practitioner, might be most beneficially resorted to as remedial agents. It does not confine itself to the use of cold water only, but includes dry sweating, diet, exercise, and regulated clothing." And, on page 31, he says: "The douche is one of the remedies emplyed by hydropathists. It is a powerful and dangerous stimulant, and requires great caution in its use and application." On the same page, he adds: " Topical douches are applicable in some cases of local disease requiring a powerful stimulus; as old chronic affections of the joints, whether rheumatic, gouty, or otherwise; para- XXII PRELIMINARY REMARKS. lytic affections; sciatica; old glandular swellings; chronic headache ; deafness, CAL AND GENERAL DISEASE. 93 pursuing a shadow; because, in looking about for a cure for cancer, they have been only searching after a cure for a symptom. Had they succeeded in discovering such a remedy, it would have profited nothing. As fast as they cured one cancer, another would have appeared in the same or a different place. Daily experience has proved, and still continues to prove, that even when a cancer has been extirpated, root and branch, by the knife of the surgeon, another is almost sure to be formed in some other part of the body. The cancer is to the system what the dirt-heap is to the Irish cabin. The dirt-heap grows bigger and bigger by continual additions of dirt thrown out at the door. Clear away the dirt-heap, and block up the door. What then ? Why, a new dirt-heap will appear on the other side of the cabin, which will be formed and will grow by continual additions thrown out through a new door, or through the window. How, then, is this Irish dirt-heap to be cured ? Why, by turning the pigs, and the cows, and the cocks and hens out of the cabin, to be sure, and so keeping the cabin clean within, in order that there may be no dirt to be thrown out. The Irish dirt-heap may be called a local disease, if you will; but it clearly depends upon the general disease of the cabin—that is, the general filthiness within. The dirt-heap is only the result of the general internal dirtiness. All local diseases, therefore, with the exception of accidental injuries, some virulent poisons, and malformations, are only the symptoms, that is, the morbid results, of general disease. It will at once be obvious to the reader, therefore, that it is this general disease which should chiefly occupy the attention of medical men, and to which their remedies should be chiefly addressed. Let us examine a case of inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach, from the habit of drinking alcoholic drinks. This inflammation does not come on at once ; it does not occur at the commencement of the habit. At first the membrane and whole system are only excited, and this excitement subsides during the night, and the injury is repaired by the curative principle. But by time and by degrees, the general health suffers, the nervous energy is weakened, the secretions are suppressed, the blood is defiled, the organs become congested, and the curative principle is enfeebled. The drinkino; goes on, but the enfeebled curative principle is no longer able to repair the mischief which the daily drinking daily inflicts. There is now, therefore, as it were, an accumulating mischief. The excitement and subsequent nervous 94 LOCAL AND GENERAL DISEASE. exhaustion produced in the stomach on Monday is not repaired by Tuesday. And thus, the Tuesday's mischief is added to the Monday's mischief. And this goes on until permanent chronic inflammation is set up. Here, then, it will be observed, that the local disorder was not established until the general health had begun to fail, and the vital energies had become impaired. Now let us consider a little what are the conditions of the tenure on which man holds the lease of his earthly life. These are obvious enough. They are food, air, drink, sleep. These conditions must all be fulfilled, or he inevitably dies. The privation of any one of them is equivalent, to the privation of life. Now these conditions may all be fulfilled, but they may be fulfilled imperfectly. He may be supplied with food, but it may be bad food ; or it may be excessive or deficient in quantity. He may have drink, but it may be unwholesome drink; air, but it may be impure. It is, I think, sufficiently clear, without further argument, that the life which results from the imperfect fulfilment of these conditions will not be precisely the same as that which results from their perfect fulfilment. It will be something different.. We will not stop just now to inquire wherein the difference will consist. But there will clearly be a difference; and this difference, whatever it be—this state of the living machine which results from the imperfect fulfilment of the conditions of life, and which is different from that state which happens when those conditions are fulfilled perfectly—will not be a better, but a worse state. If we designate (for the present) that state which results from their perfect fulfilment by the term health, then that different state which results from their imperfect fulfilment will be something which is different from health : in one word, it will be a diseased condition, or disease. And since that difference will not be confined to any one part or place, but will pervade the machine generally, it will not be local, but general disease. But though food, air, drink, and sleep are all the conditions absolutely necessary* to sustain life, experience has demonstrated that there are other conditions which are absolutely essential to the maintenance of health: these are, the proper exercise of all the voluntary functions— a proper manner of supporting the temperature at the surface of the body—and peace of mind: and that life shall not only be supported by food, drink, air, and sleep, but that the food shall be wholesome, sufficient, and not in excess— LOCAL AND GENERAL DISEASE. 96 the drink wholesome, sufficient, and not in excess—the sleep sufficient, and not in excess—and the air pure. Now it is obvious that these other conditions, which are the conditions of health, may or may not be fulfilled. And it is equally obvious that if they be not fulfilled, a state of body will result, which is different from that state in which they are fulfilled ; and this different state will not be a better, but a worse state; in a word, it will be a diseased state—and that disease will be general, not local. We will now inquire wherein this important difference consists —this difference between perfect life and imperfect life—between general health and general disease. The most ample and unquestionable experience has proved that, whenever any of the conditions of life and health are imperfectly or improperly fulfilled ; that is, whenever we eat too much or too little —whenever we eat unwholesome food, drink unwholesome drinks, breathe impure air, take too little or excessive exercise, whether of the limbs or of the brain, too much or too little sleep,