THE 
SPECIAL TREATMENT 
OF 
SYPHILIS, CHRONIC RHEUMATISM 
k 
AND 
SCROFULA. 
ZEW ZDZR,. ZE. CT. GOODWIN, 
OF THE WASHINGTON SPRINGS, VIRGINIA. 
(P. 0. GLADE SPRING.) 
RICHMOND: 
PRINTED BY GARY & CLEMMITT. 
1866. PREFATORY REMARKS. 
From the frequent .failures, abuses and consequent evils arising 
from the ill adaptation of the therapeutic agents usually employed 
in cases of Syphilis, Scrofula and Chronic Rheumatism, I have for 
some time felt a desire to present the Medical Faculty and the pub- 
lic generally with the results of my observation and experience in 
the treatment of these pernicious and obstinate diseases. A know- 
ledge of the distrust with which many physicians are disposed to 
look upon every thing professing to be new light on such a subject 
has constrained me to forego this attempt until now. I shall, how- 
ever, feel amply repaid for the labor thus expended, if I shall prove 
so fortunate as to offer any suggestions by which the afflictions of 
the human race can be more effectually relieved, and a higher de- 
gree of confidence inspired in the Healing Art. 
Medical science, although progressive in its general character, 
has not for a long time made any material change or improvement 
in what has been recognized as the established remedial policy in 
the treatment of those diseases. Aside from the introduction and 
use of the iodide of potassium during the present century, nothing 
has been done since the mercurials came to be deservedly regarded 
as the most powerful and effective agents in the control of diseased 
action, as peculiarly manifested in the disorders here made the sub- 
ject of special consideration. 
L—SYPHILIS. 
Syphilis, as is well known, is a contagion, in the strict sense of the 
term, and is justly regarded as the worst form of venereal disease. 
In its constitutional phases it is exceedingly obstinate. It defies 
the highest recuperative energies of the human system. It is the 
only disease communicated from one to another, which, when un- 
interrupted in its progress by remedial agents, never yields to the 
most vigorous efforts of nature to overcome it; at leasl? I am not 
aware of any spontaneous recoveries. When, therefore, the sub- 4 
ject of this infection lias a correct knowledge of its formidable 
character, and of the uncertainty of his deliverance from its sloth- 
ful and insidious ravages, he must, as a necessary consequence, feel 
the deepest horror in view of his condition. 
It is not necessary here to allude to the source of this infection, 
or to the localities upon which it is well known first to exhibit it- 
self, the chief object being to consider it in its disposition to yield 
to the action of those therapeutical agents employed to check its 
ravages and eradicate its evils. The mercurials and the iodide of 
potassium are, at the present day, the principal remedies most gen- 
erally relied upon by all the regular practitioners of the Allopathic 
School in the treatment of syphilis. In fact, so immovably fixed 
in the minds of a majority of physicians everywhere is the old doc- 
trine that mercury carried to the extent of ptyalism is the only in- 
fallible mode of success, that it is regarded as presumptuous in any 
man to assert a contrary opinion. Before I leave the subject, how- 
ever, it may perhaps appear that I am inclined to disagree with 
those who so believe. And I wish it to be understood that I do so, 
not upon mere hypothesis, but upon the authority of rational prin- 
ciples and well-founded facts. 
Syphilis, when it passes from its local to its constitutional form, 
very soon begins to seriously interrupt the normal process of nutri- 
tion as regards both the soft and osseous tissues. The nutrition of 
the skin, mucous linings, hair, nails, muscles and bones soon be- 
come perverted. No other constitutional disorder, so far as I am 
aware, exhibits so many different phenomena in different subjects. 
To notice all these different however, as presented in 
individuals of dissimilar susceptibilities, docs not fall within the 
scope of the present design. I shall, therefore, consider it simply 
in its several grades or stages, each of which viewed separately de- 
mands a modification of treatment. 
The timely destruction of the primary chancre seems to be abso- 
lutely necessary to cut off the pass-way from its local to its more 
diffused constitutional involvement. To accomplish this, various 
topical applications arc resorted to to eradicate the syphilitic virus, 
and bring as early as possible the specific sore to a healthy granu- 
lating one. But unfortunately success does not always* crown the 
efforts to accomplish so desirable an object. Often after days of 
assiduous attention, when the happiest results are anticipated, some 
new and, to the skillful eye, more alarming phenomena are sud- 
denly presented, and the hopes of both physician and patient are 5 
gsully disappointed. Soothing washes, pungent styptics and smart- 
ing cauterants must he thrown aside at once, and the armor downed 
for a more trying and difficult field of action. 
The difficulties so frequently encountered in the effort to correct 
the infection in the grade of chancre, are such, as to render tbo 
topical mode of treatment inoperative in many instances. Hence, 
when the curative result to be brought about by this mode is pro- 
tracted, we are usually inclined to suspect, and in fact almost sure, 
to discover a constitutional invasion of the malady;-in which case 
it is necessary to adopt at once a general plan of treatment. These 
difficulties are chiefly encountered in treating concealed chancre, 
cither of the urethra, or from the condition induced by phymosis 
and paraphymosis, and also by the indurated or Hunterean form. 
Bubo—an affection of the absorbent glands of the groin—is so 
prone to accompany the indurated form of chancre, that it is almost 
impossible to manage the case with any certainty of success against 
some degree of general disorder of the system. Some tempera- 
ments also seem to be susceptible of earlier constitutional invasion 
than others. 
It has been deemed necessary to make the foregoing somewhat 
general remarks in regard to the treatment by local applications of 
syphilis in its primary form, and to the conditions and causes 
therein, which often combine to baffle the skill of the ablest practi- 
tioners, for the purpose of showing more clearly that there is a 
want, a deficiency in therapeutical resource which must be supplied 
before better success will ever attend the remedial management of 
this disease. 
Mercury, as has been already suggested, constitutes the principal 
remedy in syphilis. And to overcome the disease in its constitu- 
tional form, this remedy is often pushed so far that the whole sys- 
tem is brought thorougly under its influence, until the. cell of every 
texture is imbued with it, I might say, to a state of amalgamation. 
The fact that mercury is so employed clearly evinces a necessity 
for it—a necessity which obtains siifiply because the profession 
knows nothing which could be preferably employed to accomplish 
the object desired. I do not underrate the value of mercury in 
syphilis or any other disease requiring its use. On the contrary, 
my experience in the practice of medicine fully justifies me in 
classing it among tire most valuable and efficient agents known to 
Materia Medica. Burt while I am willing to concede all that its 
warmest advocates can justly claim for it as a special remedy for 6 
syphilis, I must at the same time take the liberty of recording my 
observations on its injurious as well as its beneficial effects. In the 
first place I shall endeavor to give some little idea suggested by 
my experience as to the difficulty of rightly understanding and 
regulating the action of mercury as a medical agent. And it is 
perhaps hardly too much to say that there is not one physician in 
twenty that can justly claim the ability to accurately graduate or 
adapt this agent to the control of diseased action. And he who 
has attained to this eminent degree of skill, will find that it is the 
result of patient study and long experience, and that he has passed 
well nigh through the most fruitful years of his professional life. 
Where is the physician that understands mercury so well that he 
can give just enough, and no more, to act as a purgative? Will it 
d'o this and no more? Will it do this and not vomit? Will it do 
this and not salivate? These are questions extremely difficult to 
answer correctly. And yet constitutional syphilis, in which this 
agent is so usually employed, is too slow in yielding to treatment 
not to require the greatest circumspection in its remedial manage- 
ment. 
The direct tendency of the syphilitic poison to speedily deprave 
and pervert ah the nutritive actions, and the recognized tendency of 
mercury in its constitutional impressions, to rapidly lower the vital 
energies, render it extremely difficult to use such a remedy in such 
a disease with entire safety and certainty of success. For my own 
part, I never could see the physiological consistency of using a 
means to the extent of producing a disease in a healthy texture, for 
the purpose of overcoming a disease known to affect a different 
texture. The fact is established beyond contradiction, that mer- 
cury, when carried to the extent of ptyalism, does pervert more or 
less the nutritive functions of the osseous tissues. And so rapid and 
violent at times is its action on these parts, that the most prompt 
and judicious interference on the part of the physician, is necessary 
to avert its ruinous consequences. To me it seems strange indeed 
and unwarranted, that a case of secondary syphilis, characterized 
perhaps by slight ulceration of the throat or cutaneous eruptions 
here and there, brought to extreme suffering and peril by the use 
of a remedy which, in its proper place, is acknowledged to be one 
of the mos t beneficial known to the medical profession. Mercurial 
ptyalism, when severe, is a peculiarly dangerous disease, as will ap- 
pear from mentioning some of its phenomena, and often ensues 
when the.object of the physician is to produce only a mild mereu- 7 
rial impression, and to maintain that impression until the remedial 
influence is satisfactorily exerted. And thus, when to syphilitic ul- 
ceration of the mucous linings of the mouth and throat, perhaps 
limited in its character, severe ptyalism is superadded, a truly de- 
plorable and alarming condition of things is presented. The tongue 
is immensely swollen, and from its increased bulk protrudes from 
the mouth, coated with a thick, yellowish white fur ; the breath is 
intensely fetid; the parotid and submaxillary glands.are frightfully 
enlarged, and quite painful; the jaws are opened with great diffi- 
culty, if they can be at all; the head has to be supported, and the 
saliva pours in streams from the mouth; extensive ulceration of 
the gums, cheeks and tongue ensue, with sometimes free and-pros- 
trating hemorrhage; the teeth shake and fall out; mortification of 
the soft parts and necroses of the alveola processes occasionally 
take place; and frequently death is the result, or if the patient re- 
covers, he exhibits a disagreeable deformity for life. That such a 
state of things should supervene upon the use of a remedial agent, 
is exceedingly deplorable, and plausibly accounts for the many bit- 
ter prejudices against mercury outside of the medical profession. 
These consequences of the use of mercury, are frequently una- 
voidable from peculiar constitutional susceptibility, yet the preju- 
dices which they excite, have much to do in calling into existence 
a certain class of quacks and quack nostrums, quite numerous in 
the land. But often after the patient has passed through these ex- 
treme sufferings, this terrible mercurial ordeal, it is not always the 
case that the syphilitic infection is eradicated. It is possible, or 
rather not improbable, that it may at some future time reappear. 
There are many instances in which the disease induced by the use 
of mercury, is thought to have associated itself with syphilis; or in 
other words, mercury has so affected the constitution as to result in 
incurable cachexia, which serves as a congenial and well fortified 
habitation for syphilis, so that it defies all efforts to dislodge it; or 
the impression itself of mercury on the constitution, diminishes 
or paralyzes the recuperative energies of nature to such an extent 
as to render remedial agents inoperative. And, hence, it is almost 
impossible to determine whether the disease will or will not return 
at some time or other, even after it has entirely disappeared through 
severe ptyalism. Indeed, from my own experience in the treatment 
of this disease, and my observations on the action of mercury, as 
commonly employed, I am strongly inclined to the opinion that 
when early success is not realized, its protracted use serves rather 8 
to harbor the disease than to- exert a remedial influence in behalf 
of nature. It so impoverishes the constitutional resources, when 
its impressions are maintained for a long time, that often evil con- 
sequences unavoidably result. And, in fact, conditions are not in- 
frequently recognized in constitutional syphilis, to which it is totally 
inapplicable, and lienee another forcible illustration of the difficulty 
of employing it with, safety and success as an antisyphilitic agent. 
And the disease, when presenting in its constitutional involvement 
these conditions, and offering unusually stubborn resistance to re- 
medial measures, has often, in regard to these unfavorable indica- 
tions, been successfully treated without the use of mercury, and 
hence, without the risks attending its protracted administration. 
The length of time required to give mercury a fair trial, in cases of 
syphilis, often tends to increase the difficulties in its subsequent 
treatment. For after weeks of valuable time have been thus con- 
sumed, it may be found that the disease is unsubdued, and very 
possibly it may become necessary to abandon this remedy alto- 
gether, and adopt some other mode of treatment, the patient in 
the mean time having been exposed to the enervating and even 
prostrating effects of the disease and the medicine. 
Another reason which induces me to doubt the expediency of 
resorting to mercurial ptyalism to displace the syphilitic infection is, 
the fact that this disease, from the rapidity and extent of its action 
in impairing the vital resources, tends pre-eminently to prepare the 
way for the easy invasion of other diseases, disposed to affiliate with 
it, and that prolonged mercurial impressions are calculated to large- 
ly increase that tendency. Such a combination of co-operating 
forces in this direction, is, in my judgment, eminently hazardous. 
It contributes much to the development of the tuberculous, scro- 
fulous and rheumatic diatheses, especially where there exists any 
predisposition to it, induced by climate, occupation or any other 
cause. 
Again, it is very questionable in my mind whether mercury has 
any greater remedial virtues in syphilis than it is known to have 
in other diseases, both acute and chronic, where it is used. Its an- 
tiphlogistic agency, its action upon the secretions in general, and 
on the liver in particular, constitute the chief and at the same time 
very important objects for which it is employed in other diseases. 
And take away these virtues, and I would venture the assertion 
that its therapeutical value in syphilis would be well nigh destroyed. 
If this view be correct, it should be administered for the same pur- 9 
poses and with the same precantions in this disease as in any other. 
I mean to say that we should not continue the use of mercury with 
the persuasion that it possesses a specific influence in the control of 
syphilis, which it does not possess in the control of other diseased 
action. Furthermore, from my observation on the results of mer- 
curial ptyalism, I have well nigh reached the conclusion that the 
use of mercury to the extent of producing this impression is un- 
warrantable in any disease and under any circumstances, and it is 
earnestly hoped and predicted that its employment for this purpose 
will be eventually abandoned by the medical profession. I am 
aware that most of the standard writers confidently recommend 
this use of mercury in the treatment of syphilis. But if this as a 
remedial means is as infallible as their views would incline us to 
believe, whence arises the necessity for the extensive use of the 
iodide of potassium? This medicine has grown much in profes- 
sional favor of late years, and seems destined to stand side by side, 
if not above, the mercurials as an antisyphilitic agent. Its benefi- 
cial influence seems to be more especially exerted in the more 
chronic grade of the disease, technically known as tertiary syphilis. 
In this stage all the phenomena of the preceding one are exhibited 
with increased aggravation. The disease manifests greater energy 
and activityin its work of destruction. Every general feature of 
health begins to disappear. Every organ and tissue, if not already 
in the monster’s grasp, is imminently threatened. Here the phy- 
sician, however skillful his manoeuvres or effective his weapons, 
finds a foe in every way worthy of his steel. Here the mercurials 
are almost totally inapplicable: for disintegration has become so 
palpable and rapid, that nothing calculated to increase it is for a 
moment to be thought of. It is here that the iodide of potassium 
comes into use and affords some degree of hope to the poor suf- 
ferer. But being inadequate of itself to meet the combination of 
difficulties presented, yet as the only means, in any material degree 
to be relied upon, the physician pushes it with all the energy which 
prudence will allow, and supports it by all the auxiliary measures 
which skill and experience can suggest. Tertiary syphilis, as be- 
fore intimated, presents the most fearfully aggravated and intracta- 
ble form of the disease, and the best remedies known to the pro- 
fession very often fail to effect a radical cure. This fact first sug- 
gested to me the idea that if there was any specific for syphilis— 
any remedy which could thoroughly eradicate the disease and re- 
store the patient to health—that remedy had not yet been discov- 10 
ered. I believed that the boundless resources of nature could fur- 
nish a better weapon with which to combat this monster of diseases, 
than had yet been fashioned by the Healing Art. 
The belief, it seems to me, is a rational one, that a merciful Pro- 
vidence has provided a special remedy for. every one of the multi- 
tude of diseases which infest the habitation appointed unto fallen 
man. And it is the peculiar province of medical science, to trace 
out these wise provisions and employ them in the alleviation of 
human suffering. The healthy action of the human body—its nor- 
mal development and support—depend upon elements abundantly 
supplied by the three great kingdoms of nature: the animal, vege- 
table and mineral, and so diseased action must be corrected by 
agents, it is reasonable to conclude, as abundantly supplied from 
the same sources. Ilcnce the inference is altogether rational, that 
many diseases, now*regarded as incurable, would not be so regarded 
had scientific investigation completed her full round of discovery. 
From the early pathological view which I took of syphilis, and 
from the perplexity and disappointment which I often met with in 
endeavoring to control the disease by the rules laid down in the 
standard medical authorities, I became ambitious to discover, if 
possible, a vegetable eutrophic which would correct the perverted 
nutritive action induced by the disease, and which could be pro- 
longed in its use, without in any degree impairing the constitutional 
resources, until the system, by its own recuperative powers, could 
emerge from the syphilitic diathesis. 
After subjecting to rigid test many vegetable agents, circumstances 
rather accidental in their nature, at length fortunately brought 
to my notice a plant, indigenous to the mountains of Virginia, but 
unknown, I believe, as yet to the United States Pharmacopoeia. 
Whether this plant is known and classified by Botanists, I know 
not, but I am fully confident its medicinal virtues have escaped the 
notice of the medical profession. Its valuable properties are found 
in the root. 
By submitting it to different pharmaceutical tests, I found that it 
yielded its active principle more completely to ether than to any 
other solvent, and that it loses much of its active principle by keep- 
ing, yielding much less readily to the action of solvents in its dry 
than its green state. I here propose to call this plant Eutrophia, as 
indicative of its effects on the system. Of* its botanical character, 
I may have more to say hereafter. Of its medicinal virtues, I have 
already made the most complete and satisfactory trial, and will now 11 
state, briefly, the result of the most careful and minute observation 
on its action. Its effects upon the system arc sensibly manifested 
by a marked tendency to stimulate almost all of the secretory ac- 
tions; it possesses narcotic properties, as is evinced by its tendency 
to produce vertigo when taken freely, and exercises over the circu- 
lation a decidedly sedative influence. When given in doses of three 
grains each, repeated four or five times a day, it displays a power 
in renovating the energies of all the nutritive functions which 
proves it in syphilis and in all other diseases of a cachectic ten- 
dency, one of the best eutrophics ever produced from the vegetable 
kingdom. So much for the Eutrophia itself. To make it, how- 
ever, fulfill more completely the object desired, I have combined 
with it, in the form of a fluid extract, the properties of stillingia and 
dulca-mara. The properties in these plants, of which I avail my- 
self, reside in their roots; the medicinal importance of which has 
not, I think, been duly appreciated by the profession. The root of 
dulca-mara is not officinal, and, if I am not mistaken, there is no 
regular officinal extract of the stillingia root. The process by 
which I am enabled to completely exhaust these roots of their valu- 
able properties is somewhat different from any known to the estab- 
lished rules of Pharmacy,—a difference necessarily imposed by the 
nature of the materials. They all lose their active principle on be- 
ing kept, but when submitted in their green, or fresh state, to the 
action of the proper solvent, at an elevated temperature, they rea- 
dily yield their entire properties, by the rule of displacement. The 
solvent which I prefer for this purpose, is proof apple brandy*. It 
seems to succeed better than diluted alcohol, (upon what principle, 
I am not able to say.) 
For a period of several years, it has cost much perseverance, pa- 
tient thought and tedious experiment, before I could rest satisfied 
with the result of my efforts to bring to perfection this valuable 
eutrophic. But I feel no regrets for the time and labor thus ex- 
pended, for I have such entire confidence in its remedial virtues, 
that I cannot but hope and believe that it will contribute very greatly 
to the relief of the sick and suffering of our race. 
I will now state in some detail the results accomplished by this 
preparation in the treatment of syphilis in its different grades. A 
majority of the cases which I have treated, for the last eight years, 
presented the constitutional phenomena, and of this grade of the 
disease, every case had been treated with the mercurials and iodide 
of potassium. In several of those cases, the “surface indications” 12 
were so numerous and extensive as to present almost an exact re- 
semblance to confluent small pox. From tlic superior border of 
the chest to the commencement of the lower extremities, the entire 
exterior was covered with a well-formed incrustation, in many sites 
discharging a viro-purulent matter. These cases were characterized 
by cachexia, the combined result, as I thought, of the disease itself 
and injudicious treatment. Persevering with a judicious system of 
medicated fumigation baths, to which I attach much importance in 
the control of such conditions, and with the eutrophic, I was able 
to discharge these cases permanently relieved. I have treated suc- 
cessfully cases that have visited the celebrated Hot Springs, in Ar- 
kansas, for relief in vain. I have treated, with complete success, 
several cases of what is called syphilitic ozama. I can say in all 
candor and truth, what few physicians can claim to say in point of 
success, that so signal has been the efficacy of this vegetable eutro- 
phic in my hands, that I do not know of a single instance of its 
failure in the many cases which have come under my treatment in 
the past eight years. 
I have never found it necessary to make mercury, or the iodide 
of potassium, the basis of a plan of treatment for constitutional 
syphilis, since I have been able to bring to bear this vegetable pre- 
paration for that purpose. When I believe mercury to be called 
for in any particular case, to facilitate the remedial action of this 
preparation, my rule is to give the chloride in purgative doses, every 
fourth or fifth night, until the indications are sufficiently fulfilled; 
and I find that its employment in this way secures all the benefits 
it can bestow, without incurring any risk of the evil consequences 
so liable to follow its protracted use. When its use as a purgative 
appears inadmissablc from any contraindications in the general state 
of the system, my rule is not to use it at all. My mode of treat- 
ment in the primary grade of the disease is, first, to bring the sys- 
tem to a point not favorable to an inflammatory type of diseased 
action, whenever this step is indicated by the general condition of 
the patient. To accomplish this, I most usually rely on saline purga- 
tives. The management of the condition of chancre is in accord- 
ance with the usual rules prescribed for its treatment. I may here 
state that I use almost altogether in syphilitic ulceration the comp, 
tinct. of iodine and the salt of the sulphate of copper. I have 
found these to serve all purposes in the topical management of the 
sores. And further, in all cases of primary syphilis, I am most 
confident that the system can be fully protected against a constitu- 13 
tional invasion of the disease by a timely and judicious use of the 
vegetable eutrophic. I know of no case, under my treatment, of 
the primary form in which constitutional involvement supervened, 
even though in many instances every cause favoring this result ex- 
isted; such as indurated chancre with Imho, the conditions of phy- 
mosis and paraphymosis, and concealed chancre of the urethra. 
And this I have every reason to attribute to the eutrophic which I 
invariably use in cases of primary syphilis. In treating the more 
chronic and extended form of the disease termed tertiary syphilis, 
I use the eutrophic for the first ten days, and then the iodide of 
potassium for a week, after which I resume the eutrophic and con- 
tinue its use until the cure is completed. Every other indication 
in regard to diet, clothing, &c. is required to be strictly fulfilled. 
I have had my patients tell me that ten days’ use of this medicine, 
to use their own language, made them shed like a snake. They 
have informed me that it gave them more substantial relief in ten 
days than they had experienced from the continual use of mercury 
and potash for two years. From reliable facts furnished by expe- 
rience and observation, I am fully satisfied that this preparation 
will supply every want or deficiency heretofore so much felt to ex- 
ist in the means of successfully treating syphilis, and that it will 
very greatly increase the safety as well as the certainty of success in 
its remedial management. Mercury is too variable in the intensity 
of its action, and too difficult to properly graduate and control, not 
to be attended, under all circumstances, with the risk of most inju- 
rious and even ruinous consequences. The iodide of potassium is 
by itself insufficient to meet all the indications presented in the 
disease. But the grand principle upon which rests the therapeutic 
value and efficiency of this vegetable eutrophic is, that while it 
exerts a revolutionizing influence on every part of the system in- 
vaded by the disease, it. improves rather than impairs the constitu- 
tion of the patient, and hence can with perfect impunity be indefi- 
nitely prolonged. This cannot with equal justice be claimed for 
any of the established remedies which, according to standard medi- 
cal authorities, form the basis of their plans of treatment in consti- 
tutional syphilis. Another most important feature in the eutro- 
phic is, that when the indications require the use of the mercurials, 
it in some way shields the system against their violent effects, 
which otherwise might be produced when neither intended or de- 
sired by the physician. This protection it invariably affords when 
the mercury is given in my usual way; that is, in purgative doses 14 
every fourth or fifth night, and the eutrophic is used all the time in 
doses of half an ounce four or five times a day. 
Upon these merits alone, then, of the preparation I would ear- 
nestly recommend its adoption by the medical world as a most 
valuable and efficient medical agent in all grades of syphilitic in- 
fection. I would also urge its genera] adoption upon another very 
reasonable ground, namely: that there is on the part of the medi- 
cal profession a settled belief, or at least a tendency thereto, that 
syphilis, when fairly engrafted upon the constitution, is incurable. 
Such a belief is calculated to retard the advance of medical science, 
and to circumscribe the benefits which it bestows upon the human 
race; to lull scientific research in a field most spacious and perhaps 
fertile in remedial discovery; and to leave a large class of infected 
beings without help or hope, to drag out a wretched remnant of 
existence, and to bequeath, it may be, to innocent posterity a life- 
long inheritance of infirmity and woe. 
CHRONIC RHEUMATISM. 
The subject of special notice in the second place is Chronic 
Rheumatism. This is a peculiar and painful affection, character- 
ized by constitutional irritation and great susceptibility to external 
impressions, styled in technical phraseology the rheumatic diathesis. 
Medical authorities recognize some three or four kinds of rheuma- 
tism or rheumatic irritation. My purpose here, however, is to no- 
tice only the chronic grade, as this is another form of diseased 
action strongly inclined to induce enervation and perversion of the 
constitutional forces, though in a different mode from that induced 
by the disease just noticed. In this case the injury to the consti- 
tutional resources arises from long-continued nervous irritation 
with local pains, which are prominent characteristics of this grade 
of the disease. Chronic rheumatism is not infrequently the remote 
sequence of the inflammatory types of the disease termed acute 
and sub-acute rheumatism, and frequently its origin may be found 
in a previous mercurio-syphilitic condition of the system. The 
joints are commonly the parts affected by this disease. These are 
sometimes but slightly swollen, and rarely ever changed in external 
appearance, but are the scats of a heavy, dull aching pain, with 
which the patient constantly suffers. 15 
Rheumatic irritation is the result of two leading causes, one of 
which I consider the predisposing, the other the exciting cause. 
The rheumatic diathesis is the predisposing cause, and'may exist 
from some peculiar constitutional irritability, or may be the effect 
produced by the operation of other causes. The injudicious use of 
the mercurials in other obstinate diseases has, I think, much to do in 
producing the rheumatic diathesis; in some cases, also, the previous 
existence of syphilis exerts a strong influence in the same direction. 
With all the boasted theories about the cure of rheumatism, prac- 
titioners of medicine never make any effort to obviate the super- 
vening of this diathesis in the treatment of the acute form of the 
disease. When acute rheumatism subsides under the influence of 
the antiphlogistic agencies necessary to prevent a fatal issue, which 
is exceedingly rare, except where there is metastasis to some vital 
part, as the heart or nervous centres, the patient is left to conva- 
lesce just as in any other inflammatory affection. Nothing is done 
specially to obviate the susceptibility to the chronib forms of the 
disease which are so liable to follow the acute. My experience, 
however, has led me to believe that the system can be so managed, 
when passing through the subsiding shades of acute rheumatism, as 
to be fortified against the invasion of the chronic forms of the disease. 
I repeat, that if special attention was directed to the thorough eradi- 
cation of the disease in the acute form, when the constitutional 
forces are regaining their wonted vigor, the conclusion is altogether 
reasonable that attacks and consequent suffering from chronic rheu- 
matism would be much less frequent. How these subsequent at- 
tacks might be prevented became early a subject of inquiry with 
me. From my knowledge of the renovating influence of the vegeta- 
ble eutrophic, which has been previously noticed in my remarks on 
syphilis, I came to the conclusion that there might be a point in the 
progress of recovery from acute rheumatism, after the inflammato- 
ry symptoms had measurably disappeared, where this preparation 
might be successfully applied to eradicate all vestiges of the disease, 
so that the system would not be predisposed thereby to subsequent 
attacks of chronic rheumatism. Putting this idea into practice, 
general success, even beyond what I could reasonably anticipate, 
has been realized, since in the many cases of acute rheumatism 
which I have treated since introducing the vegetable eutrophic, no 
symptoms of chronic rheumatism have subsequently appeared. 
This subject, although of great importance, has never received the 
attention of Physicians. Instead, therefore, of leaving my patients 16 
to recover their health under the ordinary tonic treatment, and take 
all the chances of the sequents of the disease, I adopt a course of 
treatment to protect them, if possible, against its recurrence in a 
chronic form. To accomplish more effectually this end, the follow- 
ing is my mode of practice. Laxatives are used for two or three 
weeks, and with them the vegetable eutrophic, from four to six 
weeks, for the benefit of its general tonic influence. The laxatives 
commonly selected, are the bitartrate of potassa and flowers of sul- 
phur, in doses sufficient to keep the bowels open, without retarding 
the action of the recuperative forces. In addition to this, there is 
invariably enjoined the strictest attention to the condition of the 
skin, which is required to be daily sponged with weak ley and bran- 
dy, and often with luke-warm water, with chloride of sodium dis- 
solved in it. "When the strength of the patient will justify it, baths 
are used of warm or luke-warm water, and frequently medicated 
vapor baths, such as are deemed serviceable. I am more of a hy- 
dropathist in the treatment of rheumatism than most other physi- 
cians. This course of practice I pursue in the declining stages 
of acute rheumatism, when the patients would generally be dis- 
charged as needing no further medical attention. 
I must mention the fact again, that in all the cases of acute rheu- 
matism, which I have thus treated, no symptoms of chronic rheu- 
matism have thus far appeared. This, I believe, is mainly due to 
the influence of the eutrophic. I am confident, therefore, from 
careful observation upon the action and effects of this preparation, 
that it can be employed in the convalescing stage of acute rheuma- 
tism as a protecting agency against subsequent chronic conditions 
of the disease, with the happiest results. 
I will now advert to the special mode of practice which I pursue 
in the chronic form of rheumatism, and will do so with as much 
brevity as justice to the subject will allow. To set forth more clear- 
ly what I regard as the remedial policy most successful in thorough- 
ly correcting the rheumatic habit, I must necessarily consider its 
two grades somewhat together. Rheumatic irritation in the sub- 
acute form, is located in the muscles. And while it is more dis- 
posed to change its locality, and on this account more liable to fatal 
metastasis, than either of the other types, it nevertheless generally 
yields more readily to the control of remedies. Sub-acute rheuma- 
tism may exist almost any where in the system, but it is most fre- 
quently seated in the muscles of the lumbar region, in those of the 
walls of the chest, and of the face and neck, presenting lumbago, 17 
pleurodynia, torticollis, &c. The disease, in this form, is often re- 
cognized as existing in the muscles of the hip, and sometimes in 
the ligaments of the joint and pelvis, and perhaps also in the neu- 
rilemma of the sciatic nerve, constituting what is called sciatica. 
The heart is very liable to be attacked by rheumatism in this form, 
and no doubt many instances of sudden death occur in consequence 
of violent attacks upon this important organ, by which its mus- 
cular action is at once suspended. There are many other internal 
localities which may be visited by the disease in this form, which 
need not here be noticed, my object being to notice the disease in 
its general aspect. 
The treatment of sub-acute rheumatism involves the use of quite 
a variety of remedies, both general and local'. This arises, in part 
at least, I have no doubt, from the different opinions which prevail 
among standard medical authorities as to the true nature of the dis- 
ease. The mercurials, colchicum, and the alkaline mode of treat- 
ment, all have their zealous advocates. The want of success in 
treating the disease, is due to the fact, that what is done often 
amounts only to a mere palliation, instead of a radical cure of the 
disease. The treatment fails because it is discontinued before a 
thorough cure is effected, or the remedial plan itself is defective. 
The plan of treatment which I have found to be most satisfactory 
and successful, involves the use of both general and local remedies, 
and is as follows: opium and colchicum are given in large doses 
combined, for the purpose of overcoming the rheumatic exacerba- 
tions ; the vegetable eutrophic and laxatives, with the assistance of 
vigorous hydropathic measures, are employed to destroy the rheu- 
matic diathesis. With these potent agencies I have been able to over- 
come the most obstinate cases of this form of rheumatism. With 
regard to chronic rheumatism I feel justified in asserting the opin- 
ion that it can be more successfully treated than is in any wise be- 
lieved by even the most distinguished practitioners of medicine. 
Generally speaking, failure is as much due to want of perseverance 
and confidence, in the final result, as to any deficiency in medical 
resources. Physicians fail as much from not persistently continu- 
ing to do what is necessary to secure permanent relief as from not 
thoroughly comprehending what is necessary to be done. I must 
be allowed to state here, as the result of observation, what seems to 
me a common professional fault: namely, that physicians generally 
expect too much—anticipate too important curative results from 
peculiar isolated modes of treatment. I have been brought into 18 
contact with physicians of high reputation, who were not long in 
manifesting a decided leaning to some particular hobby—a marked 
partiality for, and confidence in, some particular remedy or mode 
of treatment suggested by, or, at any rate, in harmony with their 
own idiosyncrasies. 
Much time is often unnecessarily consumed in treating chronic 
affections, for the simple reason that results are looked for, which 
the remedies and plan of treatment adopted cannot accomplish. 
In this way not only is much valuable time lost, but the disease 
actually gains ground, while the patient’s hope of recovery declines, 
and his confidence in the skill and honesty of his physician is 
weakened. Time is a most important matter in the control of all 
kinds of diseased action, and the too great loss of it is often the 
cause not merely of failure but of a fatal issue. 
I consider the vegetable eutrophic a very important addition to 
the remedial means for the treatment of the chronic forms of rheu- 
matism. And having an honest desire, as every right-minded phy- 
sician especially should have, to contribute whatever I can to the 
alleviation of disease and suffering, I feel it to be nothing less than 
an imperative duty to recommend to others a preparation in which 
I have such entire confidence myself. I am fully persuaded that 
whoever will give the eutrophic a fair trial in the treatment of chronic 
rheumatism will have no cause to condemn it for want of efficiency. 
Its great value in this disease is due to its renovating influence on 
the neutrition of the system. It corrects and reinvigorates the neu- 
tritive functions which have been perverted and enervated by dis- 
ease. Whether it exerts this most important influence immediately 
on the digestive and assimilative functions, or more remotely on 
the circulation at the point where it gives up the material for the 
respective tissues I am not prepared to say. 19 
SCROFULA. 
I shall in the third and last place notice some of the phenomena 
presented in the tuberculous or scrofulous diathesis. This is a con- 
stitutional affection characterized by depression of the vital ener- 
gies and a persistent tendency to organic dissolution. It has given 
rise to a great deal of speculation among medical observers, who 
have manifested much laudable ambition to excel in ascertaining its 
true nature. But the most diligent medical research has thus far 
failed to settle the question. It is quite foreign to my present pur- 
pose to indulge in any speculations on this part of the subject, as 
the ground has already been so thoroughly explored by the most 
scientific of the medical profession. But whatever may be its true 
pathological history, much more can be done on its therapeutical 
management than is generally conceded by medical authorities. 
Here, too, physicians do not make that patient and vigorous effort 
to relieve the poor sufferer which ought to be made, but on the 
other hand are most likely to exercise their professional shrewdness 
in concealing their inability to successfully manage the disease. 
After prescribing the remedies usually recognized as the most bene- 
ficial, if the disease exhibits much obstinacy, they, perhaps, after a 
sort of half trial, usually become careless, while the patient looses 
confidence, and hence the disease holds unopposed possession of the 
field. The symphatic glands, both external and interna], are the 
parts most usually affected by this disease. Most generally the 
scrofulous inflammation is first evidenced by slight enlargement of 
some one or more of the glands of the neck, which has perhaps 
come on very gradually, with little or no uneasiness in the affected 
glands or its immediate vicinity, often not sufficient to attract the 
attention of the patient specially to the point attacked. Glandular 
inflammation at first frequently appears to be fluctuating: that is, 
the affected gland sometimes perceptibly increases in bulk, then 
seems to be stationary for a while, then again increases, until reme- 
dial interference is demanded to check it, otherwise it will continue 
to increase, until destructive consequences, either locally or gene- 
rally, and sometimes both, ensue. If the remedial measures are too 
long delayed, the disease is almost certain to go on to its suppura- 20 
tivc stage, which is frequently a slow process, months being re- 
quired for the matter to form and vent itself. The abscesses thus 
created in the glands and cellular tissue are difficult to heal, and 
continue to discharge their peculiar matter for a long time. Many 
of the superficial glands are often affected at the same time, produ- 
cing, in many instances, an unsightly deformity in the region affect- 
ed. The constitutional involvement seems to be wanting in some 
cases, while in others it is quite well marked even before the tume- 
faction of the glands is perceptible. The indications or symptoms 
of external scrofula arc quite various, and are manifested in different 
localities. By these the medical observer may determine its pro- 
bable degree of activity; that is, whether it is slow or rapid in its 
movements. The conditions by which the scrofulous diathesis is 
thought to be marked may be said to consist of the following, a 
bloodless aspect of the complexion; the face and upper lip espe- 
cially in a bloated condition; frequently running sores in the poste- 
rior regions of the ears, and vesicular eruptions on the neck, and 
sometimes on the outer coats of the eyes, acid secretions from the 
skin; the bones soft and weak, pulse feeble and excitable; muscles 
wasted and flabby: slight swelling and hardness of the glands of the 
neck; tonsils inflamed and swollen, and general debility, indicated 
by an accelerated pulse and hurried breathing, consequent upon any 
exertion, such as walking up a hill or up stairs. Frequently there 
are paroxysms of febrile action, indicated by excited pulse and rest- 
lessness at night. These symptoms often attend or precede the 
deposition of the peculiar tuberculous matter known as the tubercle 
of phthesis or consumption. The scrofulous habit may not ex- 
hibit all these symptoms ; that is, it is not necessarily required that 
they all exist to constitute the scrofulous habit proper. Yet they 
do exist to a greater or less extent in the external form of the dis- 
ease. I could mention other localities favorable, and even accus- 
tomed to the invasion of external scrofula, but deem it unnecessary, 
as my chief object here is to explain the mode of treatment which 
has proved so successful in the cases of this disease which have come 
under my control. 
This general morbid condition of the system evidently depends 
on some peculiar effects or impressions upon the constitution, pro- 
duced, no doubt, by a combination of causes, which may be con- 
sidered as both inherent in the system itself, and adventitious. The 
constitution can receive such impressions in the incipient germinal 
stages of its organization, that the morbid condition of the strumous 21 
adult is not inaptly represented by the crumbling of an ediffice 
built of originally imperfect and unsound materials. The morbid 
phenomena everywhere presented in the system, seem to indicate, 
as it were, a general running down of the machinery of vitality— 
a kind of exhaustion of the vital forces and functions, as if all had 
been fulfilled, of which they were originally capable. This exhaus- 
tion or paralysis of the constitutional energies in scrofula is often 
prematurely induced by the operation of external and adventitious 
causes tending to produce general debility of the system, such as 
foul, damp air, scanty and meagre diet, indolent habits, excessive 
and exhausting indulgencies, mental depravity, and the effects of 
certain diseases, such as small pox, measles, syphilis, &c. And no 
doubt even where there is no hereditary predisposition to the scro- 
fulous habit, it may be brought on by a combination of causes, which 
tend to lower and impair vital action, and alter and impoverish the 
blood. 
A most important and even essential point in the treatment of 
scrofula is to correct the constitutional habit, from which the tuber- 
culous deposition or other marked phenomena of the disease are 
produced. If this condition is suffered to remain unremoved, no 
plan of treatment will ever result in any permanent benefit, but may 
be productive eventually of serious injury; for it has been often 
observed that the topical treatment of the scrofulous tumors, to in- 
duce their recession, has been followed by pulmonary consumption. 
There is danger, therefore, of doing the patient serious damage if 
much effort is made to remove the external phenomena of scrofula. 
As a preliminary step, imperatively necessary, in order to secure 
every possible advantage which may be derived from the special 
treatment of scrofula, we should enjoin a thorough change in all the 
circumstances and habits of the patient, which are in any degree 
favorable to, or promotive of, diseased action; such as a sedentary 
occupation, confinement to crowded apartments, habitual exposure 
to sudden changes of temperature, &c. The remedies, or at least 
medical preparations employed in the treatment of scrofula, in its 
external form, make up quite a considerable list; and a judicious 
selection and combination of these, with a discriminating application 
of them, according to the indications presented, furnish the best 
evidence of professional skill, and the best assurance of success. 
Of these remedies I may here mention some of those considered by 
medical authorities the most efficient and reliable as the various 
preparations of iodine: such as the iodide of potassium, iodide of 22 
iron, biniodide of mercury, and iodine uncombined in solution. 
For the impoverished state of the blood, with the consequent 
anaemic condition of the system at large, the preparations of iron 
are brought conspicuously into use. These are numerous, and quite 
efficacious in a debilitated state of the system. In short, the tonic 
plan of treatment is the one usually adopted to control this wasting 
disorder. The revolutionizing agency of mercury cannot be em- 
ployed here, because it is too much inclined to associate itself with 
the disease in the pernicious work of disorganization already going 
on. I will add, that cod-liver oil and the anodynes complete the list 
of principal remedies in scrofula. 
The plan of treatment for scrofula, wdiich, in my experience, has 
been crowned with signal success, involves the use of only three 
remedies—the vegetable eutrophic, Lugol’s solution of iodine, and 
cod-liver oil. These I am honest in the belief, constitute, to so ex- 
press it, a ternary specific, adequate to the complete eradication of 
the scrofulous habit; at least they embrace all that I have found 
necessary to permanently relieve obstinate cases of this disease. 
From my experience, therefore, in regard to scrofula and the extra- 
ordinary success which I have met with in the cases treated with 
these three remedies, I am fully persuaded that there is no certainty 
of success in treating the disease without them. I mean to say that 
these three remedies, judiciously applied, will cure the great majo- 
rity of cases, where the system is not too much impaired or ex- 
hausted to avail itself of offered aid. With these and the vis ncedi- 
catrix naturae, I have been able to do what other physicians considered 
medical impossibilities; with these I have raised patients abandoned 
by friends and physicians as hopeless; with these, not only I, but 
whoever else avails himself of their power, will be able to conduct 
others out of this strumous slough of despond into the flowery path- 
way of health. 
I will now mention, somewhat in detail, a few instances of the 
successful treatment of cases considered by physicians incurable. 
I was called to visit a married lady, of some forty years of age, who 
was confined to her bed with prolapsus and ulceration of the womb, 
which had all the while escaped detection on the part of her other 
medical attendants. This being my first practice in the family, I 
felt, as was natural, quite anxious to discover the true cause of her 
protracted illness. I treated her for the conditions already men- 
tioned, and her health was restored. On account of my success in 
this case, my attention was called to a negro girl, who, I was iip 23 
formed, had been afflicted for some two years, and had been treated 
by several of the best physicians in the country without receiving 
any permanent benefit therefrom. Her general appearance was 
delicate and unhealthy, and both her eyes were shaded with little 
curtains of oil silk. On removing these, I discovered quite a diffu- 
sed opacity of the conjunctiva, induced by lymphatic infiltration, 
from the active inflammation which had been allowed to go on for 
some time. This condition of her eyes was what is called, techni- 
cally, strumous ophthalmia. The lymphatic glands of the neck 
were much enlarged and indurated, some having passed to the sup- 
purative stage, and still discharging the puroloid matter. Iler pulse 
was rather quick, and quite feeble, and her skin dry, and of an ashy 
appearance. Her condition, I was informed, was hereditary. Her 
owner proposed to give me half her value if I would restore her to 
perfect health. I thought him inclined to overtask my professional 
skill by asking me to undertake what then seemed to me an impos- 
sibility. I proposed, however, with his-consent, which he readily 
gave, to try the effect of a favorite prescription, which, if it did no 
good, would do no harm. I therefore put her on the use of the 
eutrophic and the iodide of starch, as I found her stomach too irri- 
table to bear the more active preparation of Lugol’s solution with 
the cocl-liver oil. I also blistered her temples repeatedly. In the 
course of two months her troubles all disappeared, and she grew up 
to be a stout and healthy woman. No indications of a return of 
the disease has appeared during the seven years which have elapsed 
since the case was treated. 
The next case which I shall mention was a white girl, about six- 
teen years of age, who had been neglected on account of her in- 
ability to pay for medical attention. When I first saw her, it was 
believed by her neighbors and friends that she would not live be- 
yond two weeks. Upon close examination I found her suffering with 
alarge femoral abscess, indeedthemost extensive I had ever witnessed 
in any similar case. The muscles of the entire femoral region had 
been lost in the sweeping suppurative movement,, which extended 
from the hip joint to within three or four inches of the knee joint. I 
found that the abscess was discharging by an outlet just posterior 
to the femoral vescles, and in front of the protuberance of the 
ischium. By proper incisions I discharged the purulent collection 
on the outer portion of the thigh, which amounted to fully three 
pints. I found her general condition quite anaemic, and accom- 
panied with an active hectic fever. There was a bottle of cod-liver 24 
oil in the house, which some charitable friend had sent her. She 
had taken a portion of this, but, from her great aversion to it, bad 
abandoned its use. I insisted that she should at once resume its use 
in smaller doses, after taking her usual meals; and I also put her 
on the use of the eutrophic in half the usual dose before eating. I 
allowed her the most nourishing diet her condition would justify, 
and ordered the application to the femoral abscess of cloths, soaked 
in a strong decoction of oak bark twice a day. The poor girl, under 
this course of treatment, began to improve rapidly about the time 
every one who knew anything of her condition had predicted she 
would die, and it affords me pleasure to say that she entirely re- 
covered, and is now in good health. Iler right leg, however, is 
slightly retracted from some contractions in the posterior muscles of 
the thigh. Her system seems to continue entirely free from any 
symptoms of returning scrofula. 
The third case which I noticed is that of a negro man, whose scro- 
fulous condition was superinduced by the constitutional effects of 
syphilis, and perhaps injudicious medical treatment. He was 
twenty-five years of age, of yellow complexion and slender habit. 
This case presented the following conditions : general cachexia, ex- 
tensive suppuration from most of the superficial lymphatic glands of 
the neck, groin and axilla; considerable ulceration of the skin from 
its own morbid condition, pulse rather feeble and frequent, appetite 
variable. This man had been under treatment two years for con- 
stitutional syphilis, and had taken freely of the mercurials. I put 
him on the eutrophic cod-liver oil and Lugol’s solution, and he was 
restored to health in about two months. These three cases are cited, 
because they were considered hopeless. They are all to-day living 
monuments of the success of the above treatment. I might instance 
many other cases to prove the value and efficiency of the eutrophic 
in the control of the strumous type of diseased action, but deem it 
altogether unnecessary. 
A majority of the cases of scrofula, in which I have been em- 
ployed, had been treated by other physicians. The remedies they 
employed, such as the various preparations of iodine, cod-liver oil, 
&c., and their course of treatment generally, was, in most cases, 
such as is recommended by standard medical authorities. I do not 
doubt at all that a majority of physicians who have had the advan- 
tages of a liberal professional education, and of any experience in 
practice, are capable of applying judiciously the prescribed reme- 
dies. In fact, the symptoms of external scrofula are too well de- 25 
fined, its morbid phenomena too plainly visible and too easily un- 
derstood, to allow us to attribute the frequent failures attending its 
treatment to incorrect diagnosis, or to a want of skill or energy in 
selecting and applying recognized remedies. Of the cases treated 
by other physicians, and subsequently by myself, there was none, so 
far as I remember, in which their diagnosis did not correspond with 
my own. And yet their treatment, owing to some cause or other, 
failed. Now where and what is the difficulty ? If the course of 
treatment recommended by eminent medical authorities, however 
skillfully directed by the practitioner, results in frequent failure, it 
is certainly an important inquiry to ascertain the true cause of this. 
It cannot be anything else, it would seem to me, but a deficiency in 
remedial resources—a deficiency which has existed, and been felt to 
exist, by physicians ever since scrofula, in its fearful proportions, 
has been added to the afflictions of mankind. And if this view be 
correct, whatever will supply this deficiency cannot but be regarded 
as a most important accession to the means of alleviating human 
suffering. And this I believe the vegetable eutrophic will do. I 
have subjected it to rigid and thorough trial in the worst cases of 
scrofula, and the results prove it to be an invaluable, and, in my 
judgment, an indispensable remedy in this disease. It exhibits a 
power and efficiency in correcting and counteracting the morbid 
tendencies peculiar to scrofulous affections, far superior to any other 
known remedy in this disease. I have invariably observed, as a 
part of its beneficial effects, a rapid improvement in all the nutri- 
tive actions, evinced by general pallor, giving place to the hues of 
health, the wasted muscles increasing in size and solidity, the feeble 
and excitable circulation becoming strong and regular, and the hair 
ceasing to fall, and taking on new growth and vitality. In a majo- 
rity of instances there is too strong a tendency to organic dissolu- 
tion in the scrofulous diathesis for iodine, the iodides, &c.,to accom- 
plish all that is required to counteract the morbid movements so 
general and persistent in the system. These remedies, it seems, fails 
to meet all the indications presented in so wide a range of morbid 
action as is manifested by the constitutional phenomena of external 
scrofula. 
As regards the vegetable eutrophic, ! will add that I have no 
disposition whatever to exaggerate its therapeutic merits, for this 
would only tend to excite prejudice against it, and retard its general 
adoption as a remedy in the diseases which I have noticed, But I 
have given it a complete and satisfactory trial, and from careful 26 
observation of its remedial action on the system in syphilis, chronic 
rheumatism and scrofula, and more especially from the general re- 
sults of the course of treatment, of which it constituted an impor- 
tant element, I have every reason for confidently recommending its 
adoption by the medical profession as a most valuable accession to 
the standard remedies for these obstinate and pernicious diseases. I 
feel assured that if it receives a fair trial, it will increase rapidly in 
professional favor, and will contribute very greatly to the relief and 
restoration to health of a large class of the diseased and suffering of 
our race. STTFJPLEIkZEElSrT- 
I have entered into such arrangements with the proprietors of the "Wash- 
ington Springs as will enable me to offer my special services to all persons 
afflicted with syphilis, chronic rheumatism, and the external form of scro- 
fula, who may desire to place themselves in my charge as medical adviser. 
From my general success in the treatment of these diseases, I ha ve been re- 
peatedly urged to so situate myself that the benefits of my medical disco- 
veries might be accessible to a larger number of persons than fall within 
the range of a physician’s general practice. In selecting a place for this 
purpose, I aimed to consult mainly the interests of the afflicted, who may 
choose to avail themselves of the advantages I offer. 
The Washington (formerly known as Leech’s) Springs are at the base of 
Walker’s mountain in Washington county, within two miles of the Glade 
spring depot, Virginia and Tennessee railroad. In variety and combination 
of medicinal properties, these springs are superior to any yet discovered in the 
mountains of Virginia. Those whose watershave been subjected to chemi- 
cal analysis are, the chalybeate, alum, magnesia and sulphur. The result 
in part of the analysis shows the following properties: protoxide of iron, 
sulphate of alumina and potassa, sulphur, magnesia, soda, potassa, sesqui 
oxide of aluminum and potassium, hydrochloric acid, carbonic acid, pro- 
toxide of magnesium, and potassium and protoxide of sodium. The dis- 
eases in which these waters are ascertained to be beneficial, are general de- 
bility, derangement of the digestive functions, affections peculiar to females, 
chronic affections of the kidney, bladder, prostate gland, faulty action of 
the liver, and weak lungs. 
I shall also, when deemed necessary for the good of the patient, be able to 
employ various kinds of baths, such as cold, warm, hot, vapor and medica- 
ted fumigation baths. In addition to the varied and extensive remedial 
resources which will here be made available for the relief of the afflicted, 
change of locality, relaxation from business engagements, and separation 
from domestic relations and interferences, contribute much to facilitate a 
restoration to health. 
That my motives may not in any way be misconstrued, I will here state 
that no charge will be made for services rendered where I fail to give satis- 
factory relief. This will be honorably and strictly observed in all cases of 
syphilis, chronic rheumatism and scrofula, when received after proper exami- 
nation. 28 
I would also recommend to all persons suffering from chronic bronchitis, 
chronic diarrhoea, chronic gastritis, old ulcers, chronic irritations of the blad- 
der and urinary passages, such as frequent and painful urination and in- 
continence of urine, enlarged prostrate gland, seminal weakness, with great 
mental despondency, all derangements of the uterine function, such as pain- 
ful and irregular menstruation, utero-spinal irritation from ulceration and 
falling of the womb, to visit the Washington Springs, as I feel confident that 
with the varied medical resources at my command I can be of much ser- 
vice in relieving them. 
I will state further, for the information of all concerned, that from two 
years careful observation of the therapeutical action of these mineral wa- 
ters, I am convinced that in the chronic affections, in which they are so pecu- 
liarly serviceable, they can as remedial adjuncts be used with as much benefit 
in the winter as in the summer. Patients, therefore, who may wish to visit 
the Washington Springs, and avail themselves of my professional services, 
will be received at all seasons of the year. 
Boarding accommodations will be furnished at five dollars ($5) pei' week, 
specie rates. Two or three weeks will be given to test professional skill, &c. 
But I wish it to be understood by the medical profession, and the public 
generally, that a special object in view, is to introduce, on a more extended 
scale, the use of the vegetable eutrophic, which has been previously noticed, 
and to establish by actual, practical results, its pre-eminent utility in the 
treatment of the diseases referred to in the preceding article. I am per- 
suaded that as soon as it is thoroughly tried, and its virtues become known, 
it will be speedily adopted as a standard remedy, and will do much toward 
obliterating quackery and quack nostrums. 
Physicians are respectfully informed that an effort will be made to keep 
on hand a supply of this medicine, which will be furnished them for the 
use of their patients in such quantities as they may desire, at a cost of three 
dollars ($3) per bottle, the bottles each containing thirty ounces. TlEFEJFlEnxrCE- 
We, the undersigned, physicians of Washington and Smyth counties, 
would state that we are personally acquainted with Dr. E. J. Goodwin; that 
he is a regular practitioner of medicine, and that he has been unusually 
successful in the treatment of the diseases noticed in the preceding article. 
His success, we have reason to believe, is attributable to some important 
addition which he has made to the remedies commonly employed in these 
diseases. 
From an examination of patients, who have recovered under his treat- 
ment, we find in their statements, and in the cicatrices left on their persons, 
abundant evidence that there had been a thorough constitutional invasion 
of the disease. Some of these cases, we are informed, had been treated by 
other physicians with the usual remedies without success. 
We, therefore, take pleasure in recommending to persons afflicted with 
these diseases to apply to Dr. Goodwin for medical advice and treatment, 
which they can do without incurring the risk of having impositions practiced 
upon them. 
W. L. DUNN, M. D. 
S. DUNN, M. D. 
N. SNEAD, M. D. 
R. F. SMITH, M. D. 
M. P. WATSON, M. D. 
ALEXANDER BEAR, M. D. 
H. J. GARRETT, M. D. 
W. T. THURMON, M. D. 
WM. H. BRAMBLITT, M. D. 
W. H. KEFFER, M. D. 
Glade Spring, December 22d, 1865. 
From the testimony of other intelligent and observant physicians, and of 
persons who have themselves experienced the cures, I am not left a chance 
to doubt the remarkable skill and success of Dr. E. J. Goodwin in the treat- 
ment of the specialties, wherein he claims pre-eminence. 
E. LONGLEY.