..*':■■■■ '•!••<»■(•'«•.'" 'L-:''-"■'■'■•' '■■•• ,/' ^: fc%?.Si2'<',iii'.;;:.;-'-:.'jr;;-"''i:-' ■; ^ '&/■. '«{Si*J*ffiE«v. ?"•:..!;.:; ;f;"'.;.v. ■ w/$H '■■ '•'■:'. <,:. ■si-:1;"-,-,. ■ * ■jff,i}ii>Kij'| '!:;! ;;fc: c'';'.-'!i!;''7' "■» ■','.:--:i::";:- Ifil p|l:-iv-."'\,',::'?i::i:'" pill ■; ISiiy;!50'>:i?:--:':-^#: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WASHINGTON, D. C. OPO 16—67244-1 THE O F POWER WATER-DOC KL S C U R V Y-^^£> AGAINST THE WITH Marks to know that Difeafe In all Its States; Instan- ces of its being miftaken for other Diforders j and .Rules of Life for thofe afflicted with it. By the late Sir JOHN HILL, m.d. Member of the Imperial Academy. If any one is ill, and knotus not his difeafe, let himfufpcft the ScuRyr. Mathiolus. FIRST AMERICAN FROM THE TENTH LONDON EDITION. S <' L E M : PRINTED BY JOSHUA C U S H I N G« i 8 o -i. THE POWER OF WATER-DOCK against the S C U R V Y. SECTION. I. THE difeafe we in England call the Scurvy, and to which we almoft all are fubjecl, is often mif- underftood where it does not appear externally, and mifmanaged where it does; many things being in common ufe, as remedies, which provoke and increafe the diforder. To difclofe it where it does not appear, and fhew a remedy which will cure it in all cafes, is the purpofe of the prefent pamphlet. Where the fcurvy fliews itfelf upon the fkin, there can be no miftake ; but where it is latent there may be a thoufand: for there is fcarce any difeafe it will not imitate. It is not a year fince this medicine cur- ed a married, honeft, miferable gentleman of pains in his legs which he fuppofed venerial. More than him- felf had been deceived: he had eftranged himfelf from his lady's bed, and been harraffed a long time with difguftful methods, when this fimple remedy cured him, without return. The 3cfQC26, [ 4 J The flomach h often weak ; and bitters are taken in vain : the fpirits are low, and recourfe is had to cordials, which inflame the difeafe ; the mind is dis- turbed, not enlivened, by them at the time, and that fhort unpleafant tumult is followed by the moft fad deje&ion. Can we wonder, when the difeafe is miftaken, the medicines do not relieve it ? The effccT: is very diffe- rent in either cafe, when this fimple remedy is taken: the ftomaeh is at eafe as foon as It is fwallowed ; the fpirits, though not elated, become at once compofed; and we enjoy that fatisfacHon which they only can value who have known the want of it—the fupreme pleafure of tranquillity. We rejoice in the prefent ceffation of the complaint; and, from that firft effect of the medicine, have a right to form the moft agrcer able prefage of cure. In cafes where thefe and other complaints from a latent fcurvy are extreme in degree, and of long con- ! tinuance, fometimes a flight eruption appears upon taking the dock : but let not this alarm the patient; he may fecurely rejoice in it. It declares, to a con^ vi&ion, the true nature of the complaint; it is al- ways flight, and never continues more than a few days. The fame medicine which drove the humour to the fkin, expels It thence by the pores in a gentle perforation: the eruption itfelf being in reality no mere than a tumultuary and over hafty effort of na- ture [ 5 ] t»re to throw it off that way, more being driven to the fkin than can find its paffage thence, till the far- ther effect of the medicine opens it a more free courfe. Where the diforder fhews Itfelf on the fkin, and the eruption is the whole difeafe, the difficulty is much lefs ; the effects of th*, dock are obvious, and every day fhews the advance made towards cure. This is obtained perfectly in a longer or fhorter time, as the diforder is of more or lefs ftrength and continuance. When a few heats appear upon the face, and there is no more complaint, thefe lofe their rednefs and itching every day as the medicine is con- tinued, and by degress vanifh entirely. Ten days or a fortnight ufually complete this cure. If there be more of the offending humour in the blood, thefe heats will be longer in difappearing j and in worfe cafes, without due care, they will be lia- ble to return. The medicine is therefore to be con- tinued longer : and if at any time after the cure the leaft heat is felt in the fkin near the place where the eruptions were, M-ecourfe muft be had to it again. But, even in the word of thefe inftances, it is no very- long continuance of the dock that is required for the cure; and as to this recourfe to it upon returns, a few days are always fufficient. There A 2 Z 6 ] Tliere "is alfo another great encouragement to fo much perfeverance as is wanted. In thofe confidcra- ble degrees of the diforder which require time in their cure, the external appearance is not the whole of the complaint ; the removal of the before-named fymp- toms, pain, ficknefs and defpondency, always in thele cafes keeps pace with the removal of the heats upon the fkin, and does not let the patient tire upon the medicine. t In thefe more confirmed cafes, iMEfirft effect cf dock is, always throwing out more eruptions : but the patient may here alfo reft affined that thefe will be of no continuance. What nature fixes on the fkin are, more or lefs, obftinate; but thefe, which are the plain effect of the medicine, like thofe which appear for the firft time on taking it for an internal fcurvy, never remain more than a few days, and often but a few hours. The plain and certain way in which the medicine acts is this, always confidently, and always alike : Its firft effort is by infenfible perforation ; it opens the obftructed pores, gives paffage to the offending humour which is there, and throws more thither of what was in the blood, to go off in the fame way. If there be more of it than can be fo difcharged, or perhaps what is there be in its nature too grofs to pafs that way, there is then, in a few hours, a more than » [ 7 ] than ordinary difcharge of urine, and inftantly on this the whole frame and conftitution are relieved. The patient feels, by the new eafe and unaccuftomed cheerfulnefs he enjoys, that he has had more of the fcurvy than was to be feen upon his fkin ; and fets a proper value upon the means of his relief. Thefe are the effects of water-dock ; not flightly brought together, .ojohaftily fet down ; but what have been collectejffrojn a great number of inftances, all agreeing in^the fevjjral particulars, and .confirming one another. I can therefore, without hefitation, boldly and cer- tainly pronounce this medicine a remedy for the fcur- vy, in every ftate, condition and degree of that dif- eafe ; and this with the aiofl perfect innocence, for it cannot repel. Whatever could drive in the fcurvy would convert the mildeft into the worft kind of that difeafe. There need no arguments to prove that a fc'orbutic eruption ftruck in would be at leaft as bad as the fame difeafe naturally latent. This happens often from outward applications ; of which let every one take care ; and there are inward methods that may do it. I could name fome miferable inftances~whfch have come with- in my notice afterwards : but, without terrifying thofe who may have thrown themfelves into the way of fuch raifchief, it is enough to fay, that their condi- tion [ * ] tion is the fame with theirs who have a fcorbutlc hu- mour in the blood which never has yet appeared ; and that this medicine is in either cafe equally a re- medy. The effects I have feen from water-dock fupport this affertion. The perfons afflicted with this com- plaint, who have taken the effencV under my imme- diate direction, in the fpace of the l^k^even or eight years, amount to a very great numberm and every one of them has received a perfec^|JajM^fc,he words are very abfolute, and may feem ftrange to perfons acquainted with the difeafe, and not with this reme- dy ; but they relate to plain facts whieh have come within my own knowledge; and therefore I have a right to fpeak them with'the greateft certainty and freedom : if it be otherwife, thofe concerned muft know it; and I hope, for the fake of the public, they will contradict me. I can with equal truth declare, that I never faw or heard of the leaft hurt or inconvenience to any perfon, in any of thefe cafes, from taking the ef- fence of water-dock, though fo many and fo various. Such perfect fafety joined with a lefs degree of power might entitle a medicine to great regard : and that perfect incapacity of doing hurt is fo ftrictly and ex- actly true of this, that it has preferved the fame cha- racter, though taken where the fcurvy was complica- ted with many other difeafes. Indeed ^ C 9 I Indeed, by all I have feen in a vaft variety of in- * ftances, and all I have heard from many perfons in different places who have taken this medicine for a long time, and in great quantities, it perfectly an- fwers the old Greek character given of it when the powers of herbs were better know than now—." That " few medicines are more effectual, none more inno- " cent." I claim no . merit as a difcoverer of its virtues ; they were known in the earlieft days of literature, and have been handed down to us, through a fuccef- iion of ages, by the beft writers. All the praife that can belong to me is, that, at a time when chymiftry kas overrun natural phyfic, I have reftored its ufe. A 3 SECTION [ io ] SECTION II. THERE are many kinds of dock, but one fpecies alone poffeffes this great virtue: it is therefore fit it fhould be diftinctly known ; and this is eafy ; for it exceeds the reft in ftature as much as virtue. It grows only in wet places ; not ufually in water, but always near it. The leaves are half a yard long, and of a fine pleafant green ; "the ftalk is fix feet high, robuft, erect, and crimfon ; on its top grow fpikes of; greenifh flowers, and after, thefe large feeds of a redifk brown. Thefe are a few plain characters, but there need no. more; if the plant be examined by them, it cannot be miftaken. The time of the great water-dock's flowering is in j June, July and Auguft : it is at that feafon the eafi- eft known, but it has then little virtue : the root is the only part of ufe ; and this muft be taken up, at an earlier period. The courfe of nature in the plant is this : the feeds which fall in autumn produce young fhoots with a few finall leaves only ; and thofe foon after wither : in fpring more leaves rife from thofe young roots, and they ftand the fummer, and, if the weather be mild, the winter alfo. £.11 this time the root is increafmg in fize and virtue. The ftalk is not to rife till the May C » ] May following; and it is when nature is preparing for that great effort, but has not yet begun it, that the root has its full virtue. Therefore in the middle of April the roots fhtfuld be dug up, taking only thofe of a year and half's growth, and which have not yet flowered. They are at that time a foot long, and more than an inch in diameter; of a ruddy brown on the outfide, and, when cut, of a dc-p orawge colour; It is beft to know the plant; but even if the roots be bought, they may be trufted when-they have thefe .characters. Beware of what are fold by fome in the markets: they are knobby and fpungy ; reddifh, not yellow, within ; and are. the roots, not of the great water- dock, but of the common fharp-pointed dock ; a plant excellent for ointments, but internally not to be fpo- ken of, in comparifon with the true great water-dock, f©r virtue- There is too much caufe for guarding againft thefe roots, for they come fometimes fupport- ed by what might., be called authority. Some years fince I gave a great quantity of water-dock-root to a country practitioner, and was told afterwards that what I fent was not the right, for that the root of water-dock was bulbais. I fuppofe the irregular, fpungy maffes of the fharp-pointed dock-root had paf- fed for bulbs ; and he who made the ignorant re- mark had feen no other. When [ 12 ] When the true kind Is found, and the roots of a due age are taken up, in April, they are to be wiped with a clean coarfe cloth, and fpllt. The inner bark alone contains the virtue of the plant, as I have found by manifold experience. Therefore the hard, woody part in the middle of the root is to be taken out as •ufelefs; and the bark being again rubbed well with the cloth,, the outer rind, which is thin and tender, will come off, and only the ufeful irjcer bark remain. This is to be dried in an airy room, where the fun does not fhine, and afterwards powdered- In this is the whole virtue of the plant: and it is a cure for the fcurvy, even more certain than the bark is for an ague. The effence is made from this inner bark, by a method which I have never concealed from phyficians, and which I fhould add here, but that it would be of no ufe, either to private families, or to the preparers of medicines ; requiring a bark bed, fuch as we have in ftoves, and other implements not ufed in the common operations ; fo that it is altoge- ther impoffible they fhould make It. In a few words, it is nothing more than this bark of the root, prepared before drying by a vaporous penetration, as ginfeng in China, and falep in Turky; and afterwards diffol- ved by that gentle but continued heat, in a fpirit, of a middle degree of ftrength, between what is called rectified, and proof. What C 13 1 What I have endeavoured is, in a few plain words, fupported by facts in the courfe of a number of years, and of all which I believe there are living witneffes, to fhew that there is no degree or kind of that difeafe we call the fcurvy, but may be cured with certainty by this fimple medicine ; and that the ufe of it is free even from the poffibility of harm. There requires no fkill in phyfic to know that nothing can do hurt in the fcurvy, unlefs it can repel; and that is a quality not only not exifting in the dock, but perfectly contra- dictory to its nature. SECTION III. NO particular regimen, or courfe of life, is re- quired on account of this medicine, nor any preparation of the body for it: nay, thefe things are not only needlefs, but I have found them hurtful.. Bleeding tends to draw' m that humour which it is eur bufinefs to keep out, fo long as any of it remains in the conftitutlon ; and purges have fometimes brought on diforders in the bowels which nothing could relieve. I am afraid many lives have been loft this way, when the true caufe was never once fuf- pected. For thefe reafons I have always begun the cure with this medicine, without any thing of what is cal- led L H 1 led preparation ; and, inftead of directing a ftfict manner of life, 1 hav:, in all common cafes, defired the patient to live in his ufual way. Thofe are fal- lacious cures which depend upon a reduced diet; and I have always found, that when the perfon fo relieved returned to his former method of living, the difeafe- returned.alfo, and often with more violence. There are, however, .certain general rules, which people of fcorbutic habits ought always to obferve. Thefe do not relate fo much to diet, as to other par- ticular circumftances and accidents of life ; and thefe I fhall endeavour to lay down, for the fervice of .the patient: not from what has been written by others ; for, what with the confufion of names, and mifcon- ftruction of fymptoms, I think no difeafe has been treated fo imperfectly •.; but from the condition of j thofe who have been under my care, and the parti- -j cular things which I have found mod. to. relieve'cr hurt them.-, A good air is of great uTe in the cure of every dif- eafe, but of none more than this. People who live in low and marfhy grounds always require more time in the cure of the fame degree of fcurvy, than fuch ass breathe a drier and purer air,: Thofe who live in fait marfhes are very fubject to the difeafe, and yet more difficult of cure. . it is not meant that people cannot be cure«l who are fixed by j their.r '; [ i5 ] their way of life and circumftances in thefe places j but they muft expect their relief to be more tedious. - Let thofe to whom it is indifferent where they live, if they have any caufe. to fufpect the fcurvy, remove from them.. Air that is fouled by the breath and perforation of many perfons kept clofe together, is yet much more hurtful.- It is for this reafon, I fuppofe, that few are cured of the fcurvy in an hofpital: indeed," if it were* poffible, more care ought to be taken of■ the air in thefe charities ;. for, befides rendering this difeafe un-i tractable, they often bring on hectics and confump-, tions, in thofe .who elfe would not have fallen into* them. It as in thefe bad-airs, and almoft in thefe only* that I have found the extreme degrees of the fcurvy., In. the inhabitants of fait marfbes, offenfive breath and decaying teeth.are. common.fymptoms; and in. hofpitals, the eruptions, which would naturally have been followed anly by a dry fcurf .or.fcale, have fixed into moift and permanent fores.: Even in the worft cafes of the marfh fcurvy,. I have feen this medicine, cure; and it is particular, that the God of nature, who. does' nothing in vain, has fixed the plant in thofe grounds moft abundantly ; that the foil, together'with the mifchief, might bring'forth the remedy. A Z i« I A fedentary life is another great caufe of mifchief from the fcurvy. Exercife not only carries off a great deal of this troublefeme humour, fo univerfal in our conftitution, but drives out a great deal more ; and where the taint is in the blood, the next good to dif- charging it is, keeping it upon the furface. It dif- gufts and teazes there, but it deftroys within. A red face, or crufted arms or legs, or fiery pim- ples on the back or breaft, are the moft ufual troubles that attend the fcurvy with a life of exercife ; but thefe eruptions being out, the patient enjoys health and fpirits; nay, the more out the more *, and add to this, the cure is much the eafier. On the other hand, the fame degree of the fcorbu- tic mifchief in the conftitution of a lazy or over-at- tentive man> a voluptuary, or a fcholar, who, doating' on his clofet or his eafy chair, gives nature no affif- lance in difcharging or but attempting to difcharge it, preys inwardly, and* brings on a long and mifera- ble train of fymptoms; often mifcalled by the names of other difeafes, but its legitimate offspring. That the unhappy patient of this character may know his cafe, and avoid at leaft the mifery of mifta* ken applications, I fhall lay down a detail of them. His nights are paffed either with perplexing dreams, or tirefome watchfulnefs ; in the morning he feels [ 17 3 feels a drynefs of the throat, difficulty of breathing, and a confufed numbnefs in the head ; till a great deal of tea, or fome other weak, warm liquor, diffolve the concretions of the night, and bring on a flight, uncertain, fhort relief. Soon after this, as the weather, diet of the preced- ing day, or fome other accidental caufe, determines, comes one or other of the following fymptoms, and fometimes feveral of them together :—A pain under the breaft, a fullen head-ach, drowfmefs, a fwelled ftomach, and now and then a dread of fuffocation; dejection of fpirits, with a miferable want of ftrength and vigour ; palpitation of the heart, with flutterings, and tremblings of the limbs, not permanent, but re* turning on the moft flight occafions. Thefe are a kind of tranfitory fymptoms, which from time to time take the place of one another; but there are fome alfo which are continual. Thefe are, weakneffes of the ftomach, and a want of appetite, hiccups and four belchings, wandering pains, and fometimes a peculiar cough, on which the common medicines take little effect. At times a pricking pain is felt in many parts of the flefh, and an itching of the ears ar.d gums, a heat and drynefs in the hands and feet, and fluflungs in the face, with a kind of burning. Thefe r is- ? Thefe laft are efforts nature makes in certain fa- vourable circumftances to throw out the humour, or at leaft to tell the patient the true nature of his ill— nefs: they fhould-be attended to with care, and feized with eager earnsftnefr, and the cure attempted imme- diately by medicine ; for this will take tenfold eiTect whennature thus affifts. Let no one flight her notices ; they are always true, and often critical. I have feen cures performed under fuch circumftances in fo little time, and with' fo-perfect a fuccefs, as has exceeded all expectation r and, on the contrary, it muft not be concealed, that I have feen, upon the neglect of thefe friendly inti- mations, this latent fcurvy change into fome difeafe of a much more terrible nature. In young people, epileptic fits are fometimes the confequence ; in thofe advanced in years, a fettled comatofe ftupidity ; and. often inflammations of the vifcera, which medicines try to affuage in vain. When the efforts of nature are feconded by this medicine the cure is always par- ticularly eafy ; nay, the mifchiefs brought on by neglect, are alfo remedied by it.. One very particular cafe of this kind came fome time ago within my knowledge. A perfon of the middle time of life, a gentleman and a-fcholar, ac- cuftomed to the common fymptoms of a latent fcur- vy,- felt all at once, one morning as he was writing, a fluffing flufhing in his face, a tingling in his back, his arms and legs, and burning heat in his feet, infomuch that he could not fit; but, riling in great uneafinefs, ram- bled an hour or more about the apartment. In this" time all the fymptoms went off, except the burning in the feet, which laftei till the evening. The event was very fmgular. He then felt himfelf unufually hungry, and complained of a gnawing at his fto- mach, which was too impatient for the fupper of the family, and forced him to call for any thing that was in readinefs. He eat vaftly. more than he had ever done at once ; nay, as himlelf' fays, more than he ever eat at three times in his life ; and yet in the-.- courfe of the night he grew hungry again. From this time a ravenous appetite pofFeffed him for feveral years : he, who had ufedto eat lefs than moft people, devoured as much as three or four, and even this without fatiety. The name of a canine ap- petite is better known than the cure : his country apothecary, a very able man, gave every thing that is ufual, without effect; at length, to blunt, if it were poflible, the keenness of this everlafting craving, -he took every day, half an hour before dinner and fupper, a draught compofed of two ounces and a half of oil of almonds, with fome marfhmallow fjrup. This cured him of the gravel, t© which he had been long fubject ; but as to the complaint for which he took r 20 ] took it, that remained as it was. This particular medicine, for fo uncommon a difeafe, 1 have mention- ed the more exprefsly, becaufe, though not fuccefsful in the prefent cafe, the apothecary had feen it iri an- other perform a cure, under the hands of a phyhciun of great characler.* On his applying to me, I advifed the water-dock : the original of the complaint appearing plainly to be a fcorbutic humour, which nature not being able to- throw out, had fixed upon the ftomach. As the long burning of the" feet (hewed the great effort for perforation to have been made there, I directed him to wear woolen under ftockings, and to line his fhoes with flannel. The event juftified my opinion: a flight rednefs appeared upon his cheeks foon after taking the dock, and the voracioufnefs of appetite ceafed. The rednefs of the ckeeks lafted about a fortnight; and he is now well: the medi- cine in this cafe having taken away the excefs of hun- ger, though in all other cafes I have feen it has in- creafed the appetite. There is another thing which it grieves me to ac- cufe, and yet it muft be named, nay, and ftrict cau- tion muft be given againft it, as injurious in the fcur- vy : this is ftudy. The pleafure of reading is not the thing meant here, but that fixed attention of mind * Dr. Alexander Stuart, phyfician to the late qusen t at ] mind which accompanies the refearches into fcience. The mathematics are of the number of thefe ftudies, and that extent of mind by which men have fome- times endeavoured to comprehend within one view the whole of vifible created beings, and, by arranging them in their true place, to underftand, as it were, the purpofes of God. Thefe are ftudies under which the mind, fixed VO one point, converfing in itfelf, and bufied with its own ideas, forgets the body ; and in thefe cafes the body always languiflies, and often in the end perifhes entirely. Thefe men feem to act every day the laft fcene of Archimides, and bid death ftay, as he bade the.foldier, till they .have finifhed the demonftration. Perfons of this kind deferve our admonitions moft of all men, and they want them moft ; nor do they ever need them more than when they have a fcorbu- tic taint in the blood ; for under this courfe of life it Is always latent. I have been willing to think that it was not the effect of ftudy, but the want of exer- cife attendant on this kind of life, that gave fo much occafion to diforders; but inftances have come be- fore me proving it otherwife ; and 1 think one of the moft obftinate cafes that ever I have known was of a geometrician, whom I directed to ufe exercife as much as could be needful, but in vain. ' I dare not rank myfelf among fuch men as thefe ; but fmce n« experience is fo certain as that one feels within I « 3 -within one's own body, I fhall venture to add, in confirmation of this, that, notwithftanding all the exercife I have been able to take, and of every other good regulation that I know, fome time fince, while I was intent upon arranging plants in the method of nature, a fcorbutic humour, which had never before been very troublefome to me, grew to fuch a height that it required a five weeks' courfe of dock, and I took it in large dofes too, by which means I got the tetter of it. > Upon thefe confiderations, and the foundation of fo much experience, which I am very fure has been .carefully attended, I may propofe fome general rules of life whyrh will be ferviceable to all fcorbutic pa- tients, whether they undertake their cure by this re- remedy or by any other, or whether they leave them- felves, as many do, to nature, and a vain hope from time. This hope deceives them always ; for howfo- ever the difeafe may more or lefs appear, yet, where- ever it is in the conftitution, it will, while neglected, be gathering ftrength ; and, what is worfe, the older we grow always the more tedious will be the cure. The firft thing then to be fought by the fcorbutic patient is a good air; and of all good qualities the greateft in this cafe is, thcu it be dry. The fide of a hill, upon a gravelly foil, with a weft afpect, is the moft deferable ; the top of a hill, or an expofure without I 23 ] without fhelter to the north, I have always found tend to fix eruptions upon the face, or other uncover- ed parts of the body. Exercife proportioned to the ftrength, and at the beft hours of the day, will prove highly ferviceable j and moft of all fo in a courfe of the effence of water- dock : walking or riding out always after taking the dofe ; which therefore fhould be taken in thefe cafes at hours moft proper for exercife. This increafes that perforation which the dock naturally brings on, iind, with care not to get cold after it, will make one defeas effectual as two or three. The amufement of reading will be as ufeful as to© much fixed attention would be bad ; always be- ing upon the guard that this does not intrench upon the hours of exercife. Meats eafieft of digeftlon are beft : the,lefs of fak- ed things are eat, at any time, the better ; but during the ufe of any medicine for the cure of this com- plaint,fuch things fhould be more particularly avoid- ed. Pepper is beft let alone, and fpirituous liquors, Tvhich inflame the diforder always, and in many in- ftances fix it in the face in the moft troublefome man- ner. As to wine and malt liquors, no cure of the icurvy, as has before been faid, will ever be lafting which C 24 ] which depends upon the abftalning from thefe; for upon the return to them the difeafe itfelf will follow. This is the general ftate of fcorbutic diforders, and their cure ; but in this difeafe, as in all others, there will be here and there a Angular inftance, where, ei- ther from the natural confirmation of the fkin, pecu- liar in fome particular fubje^s, or from an heredita- ry, or perhaps a mixt, taint in the blood, a more than ordinary obftinacy is found in the complaint; but even in thefe, of fo many of them as have come be- fore me, I have never found the addition of any other medicine neceffary. A warm bath has fome- times opened the way to a cure ; and if the fair be- ginning made by that has feemed to fail afterwards, I have known a flannel waiftcoat next the fkin anfwer •the purpofe. Once, and only once, I have feen a cafe where no- thing but abftaining from meat and fermented li- quors would give the medicines their due efficacy; and when the cure was thus obtained, I was in con- ftant apprehenfion of a return, upon the ufual courfe of life being refumed.. But this was done very gra- dually, the dock being at times continued, and the patient, though near three years are now paffed fince, continues well. FINIS, Me.