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PRIVATE LIBRARY of F C. WAITE Date ^JlMA- expression, as
applicable to human nature, the instinctive sympathies
of individuals for the society of each other; it is ce-
mented and powerfully strcngtliencd by the endearments
of sexual enjoyment, of which I have before spoken;
and it is crowned with both temporal and immortal du-
ration, by the mild purity and unfading lustre of the
moral virtues, and the imposing splendors of genius
and intellectual power. As I said before1, it is confined
to no particular climate, and to no exclusive region of
the globe; its benign influence is experienced, as well
among the polar snows of the north, as in the mild
gunn's domestic medicine. 59
climate of the temperate zones. It is the exclusive
guest of no particular rank in life: the rich, the poor,
the exalted, the base, the brave, are alike participant
in its> genial warmth, and heavenly influence. In the
words of Lawrence Sterne, "no tint of words can spot
its snowy mantle, nor chemic power turn its sceptre
into iron; with lore to smile upon him as he eats his
crust, the swain is happier than the monarch, from
whose court it has h^ea exiled by vice and immorality "
This is that undebascd and genuine love, which is
founded in unlimited confidence, mutual esteem, and
the mild sublimities of virtue and integrity of charac-
ter. It illuminates the countenance with the sparkling
brilliancy of soft desires; and is in fact, the safeguard
of female virtue, and of chastity itself, whenever as-
sailed by unprincipled and seductive fascination.
With respect to the passion of love, there is a com-
mon error of female education, which will also apply
to the early instruction of male«, of which I must speak
in plain terms in the conclusion of this subject. Eve-
ry human being, at a very early period of life, from
peculiar modes of instruction, and the examples pre-
sented to the mind, forms some idea of the qualifica-
tions which constitute human excellence. If, for in-
stance, at an early period, the parents and instructors of
a female impress upon her mind, that the mere decora-
tion of the person will render her an object of tender
regard, without the cultivation of her moral and intel-
lectual qualities, the result will be, and it cannot be
avoided, that aiming at what she believes to be the
great excellence of the human female character, both
her moral and intellectual energies Avill retrograde into
barrenness and insipidity: in other words, she will be-
come what the world denominates a pretty woman,
60 gunn's domestic medicine.
the idol of fools and coxcombs, but an object of com-
passion, indifference or contempt, with men of lofty
sentiments and distinguished characters. Peter the
Great of Russia, on account of her superior intellectual
endowments, chose for a wife, and made her Empress
of Russia, a woman of obscure and lowly origin.
And in more modern times, 1 had the information from
a person well acquainted with the facts, we find the
spirit, discrimination and sound judgment of Peter the
Great respecting the value of a woman of a cultivated
mind, revived in the person and character of Lord
Morgan. Sidney Owenson, his present wife, was the
daughter of a comedian on the Dublin stage; At an
early period, this youthful female discovered strong
traits of genius of a literary character, and Owenson,
though in impoverished circumstances, determined to
educate his daughter. He did so; inconsequence of
which, she became an object of strong attachment with
a man of distinguished mind, who preferred her to the
titled and the rich, and she is now Lady Morgan.
Mrs. Hamilton, a lady of some celebrity, who has
written much on female education, makes the following
remark on women: "wherethere is no intellect, there
is no moral principle; and where there is no principle,
there is no security for female virtue." This is the
truth, but not the whole truth: had Mrs. Hamilton re-
cognized religion as an essential requisite in preserving
the moral virtues of women, she would probably have
said all that was necessary on female education. The
accomplishments of women, ought always to have some
relation to their future duties in life; but it is evident
that the cultivation of their minds, cannot with justice
to themselves and society be dispensed with, no matter
what :r.ay be their future destinies. A cultivated mind
gunn's domestic medicine. 14
is a never-failing passport to the best society; it alwaj^s
insures the extension of friendship and civility, when
accompanied by correctness of conduct and a virtuous
deportment; it prevents women from becoming the
dupes of artifice, and the victims of seduction; it ex-
pands the heart to all the principles of sympathetic feel-
ing for the distresses of others, and induces a commise-
ration for the misfortunes of mankind; it holds up to a
distinct and scrutinizing examination, the real charac-
ters of men, and enables a woman to make a judicious
selection of worth, from a herd of coxcombs and foolsy
by which, if wealthy and distinguished by personal
beauty, she may be persecuted with addresses. It fits
her for the superintendence and regulation of a family,
and enables her to make correct educational impres-
sions on the minds of her offspring.
The want of mental culture, among females of all
ranks in life, has frequently led to disastrous consequen-
ces. By mental culture, I do not mean those shallow
and frivolous accomplishments which are sometimes
taught at boarding-schools; nor do I mean by a refine-
ment of the female mind, a proficiency in drawing
roses which resemble a copper coin, in thrumming a
waltz on the piano, or fidgeting through the lascivious
gesticulations of an Italian or French fandango! I
mean by mental culture, the acquisition of solid accom-
plishments; those which can be rendered useful to
domestic policy, be an example to society in the correc-
tion of its morals, and reflect honor on the national
character. Such an education always represses the
waywardness of the fancy, and lops away the useless
and often dangerous exuberance of a powerful imagina-
tion; it affords a never failing resource of comfort in
solitude, and finds a healing balm for the wounds of a
62 GUNJX's DOMESTIC MEDICINE
wayward and unfortunate destiny. In fine, no woman
possessed of a judicious education, even under the pres-
sure of the most trying misfortunes, ever yet lost the
just equipoise between her strength and sensibility, or
became the victim of a broken heart!
The exquisite miseries which spring from disappoin-
ted love, and sometimes terminate in a broken heart,
(for I am well persuaded there is really such a disease,)
always arise from visionary creations of the fancy, and
disorders of the imagination: in other words, they are
the offspring of overstrained and imaginary concep-
tions, of the qualifications of the object of attachment;
they are, in fact, the melancholy results of an over-
estimate of the virtues and perfections of human nature;
of which the woman of a cultivated mind, and really
philosophic acquisitions, stands in no possible danger.
A woman who cultivates her imagination, by the un-
limited perusal of novels and romances, at the expense
of the solid qualities of her understanding, is always
in danger of becoming the victim of a wayward fancy;
and should she live to have the errors of her imagina-
tion corrected by practical experience, will have noth-
ing of the imagination left, but the ashes of a consumed
sensibility, on which no future attachment can possibly
be predicated. A woman of cultivated mind, sees
objects as they really are—and not as they are clothed
hy an inflamed and disordered fancy; she knows that
human nature is not perfection itself, and expects noth-
ing from it, but what appertains to the natural charac-
ter of man; she knows it to be a compound of weakness
and strength, virtue and vice, wisdom and folly—and
never over-estimating the virtues and perfections of an
object of attachment, her desires are chastened by
moderation, and her loves by the high-toned philoso-
gunn's domestic medicine <63
phy of true wisdom! Such a woman, unlike the melaia-
choly victim of a morbid sensibility, and a high wrouglht
and disordered imagination, is in no danger of sinkimg
into the diseased apathy of disappointed love, and
becoming the victim of partial or total insanity, or a
disconsolate and broken heart; for which all the mere
medical remedies known to human genius and sciencje
are but miserable and inefficient palliatives. Religioijfi,
change of scenery, and attractive and interesting com-
pany, in some cases have considerable influence in
detaching the mind from the concentration of its refleo
tions on an object of deep and vital love; but, in the
more numerous instances, they have all been known to
fail, and even to baffle all the efforts of friendship and
parental attachment. In fact it seems to me, and I
have paid much attention to the subject, that judicious
education, and a well cultivated mind, acting as pre-
ventatives to the disorders of the imagination, are
almost the only and powerful specifics, against the
occurrence of the miseries of disappointed love.
GRIEF.
This depressing affection of the mind, called a
passion when experienced in the extreme, sometimes
degenerates into confirmed melancholy, despair, and
fatal insanity. It is the offspring of so many and such
various causes, that it is next to impossible to enumer-
ate them. It is sometimes caused by cheerless and
gloomy presentiments of the future; sometimes by the
heavy pressure of present evils and calamities; and not
unfrequently, by strong and vivid recollections of losses
which can never be retrieved. Against its inroads and
€4 gunn's domestic medicine.
(>ften fatal effects on the health of the physical system,
i (which are varied according to the temperament and
«character of the individual,) neither the internal nor
external exhibition of medical drugs can have much
avail.
The force and effect which grief exercises and pro-
duces, in deranging the functions of the physical sys-
tem, seem in a great degree to depend on the poignancy
and acuteness of those sensibilities which characterize
the nervous system. Where the nervous system is
tremulously sensible, and easily susceptible of external
impressions, which is generally the case with persons
of distinguished genius, there is invariably found a
constitutional melancholy, which delights in retrospec-
tions of the past, and serious, if not cheerless anticipa-
tions of the future. At an early period of life, these
persons are highly susceptible of the charms of nature,
and also of her more gloomy and sombre scenery; and
being deeply sensible of the influence of what to other
men would be slight impressions, their feelings always
exhibit themselves in the extremes of animation or de-
pression of spirits, for which they themselves are utterly
unable to account. In fact, it is not unusual to witness
in the varying sensibilities of these persons, and that
too, in the lapse of a single day, the reflective calmness
and profundity of the great southern Pacific ocean—
the urbanity and cheerfulness attendant on anticipations
of future prosperity and happiness—and those storms
of ungovernable and unsubdued passions, whose undu-
lations resemble the mountain billows of the Atlantic,
when lashed by the hurricanes and tornadoes of the
torrid zone! This is not only the constitutional tem-
perament of true and unsophisticated genius, of which
so much has been said, and so little known, but it is
gunn's domestic medicine. 65
also the soil which produces sensations of exquisite
happiness and misery; distinguished principles of mor-
al rectitude and depravity of conduct; great virtues
and great vices!
Seriousness, depression of spirits, melancholy, grief,
despair, insanity, are but the different modifications of
the same passion or predisposition of the moral facul-
ties, of whose essence we in reality know nothing ab-
stractly, only differing in degree of force and effect, in
proportion to the strength or weakness of operating
causes. For instance; seriousness and solemnity of
feeling, are always produced in a mind of sensibility
and reflection, by the sight of a dead body; of the
human limbs lopped away in battle; of the human
mind in ruins; and of human misery exhibited to us
under any form; in these cases the effects produced
are only temporary, and usually pass away with the
removal of the objects which excited them. If, how-
ever, serious and solemn feelings be often reproduced
in the mind, by reiterated exhibitions of objects capa-
ble of exciting them, their impressions will become
more durable, and soon produce a habitual tone of
feeling, denominated depression of spirits. When
this depression of spirits is habitually indulged in for
any considerable lapse of time, it is apt to gain so great
an ascendency over the active and resolute powers of
the mind, as to dispose the person affected with its in-
fluence, to seek in solitude and retirement from society
an indulgence in inactivity, irresolution and gloomy
reflections, which, becoming fixed, and, as it were, im-
moveable, settles down into melancholy. Seriousness,
depression of spirits, and melancholy, sometimes pro-
duce mental derangements; but they are generally of
a harmless, unobtrusive, silent, and inoffensive charac^
9
66
gunn's domestic MEDICINE.
ter, where the nervous system is tremulous and exceed^
ingly delicate—or where the temperament, if I may be
allowed the phraseology, is characterised by weakness,
irresolution, and timidity.
Compared with the above affections, which seem at
first view to have their seat in the imagination, and by
some are denominated hypocondria in men, and hys-
terics in women—grief and despair are certainly
affections of a more active and powerful character, and
much sooner ending in fatuity or mental exhaustion,
and outrageous or confirmed insanity.
As I have somewhere mentioned, and the probability
is that the fact will be acknowledged by all well-inform-
ed physicians, by which I mean those who have discov-
ered how little can be essentially known on the subject
of affections of the mind, the particular and direct
influence which these, and other strong passions have
in deranging the organization of the brain, cannot well
be ascertained. All we know about the matter is, that
we cannot think with accuracy and profundity of re-
search, without a well-organized brain, and that any
derangement of that organization and its natural func-
tions, produces coequal and coextensive derangements
of the intellectual or mental powers. The probability
is, that refined, susceptible, and strong organizations of
the brain, considered in the aggregate, have much in-
fluence in imparting to the mind, those refinements of
taste, susceptibilities of feeling, and superior intellectual
capacities, which we call genius, for want of a term
which can be more clearly understood. We are per-
fectly aware, that without a well-organized eye, no defi-
nite or accurate ideas can be formed of colors__forms
—dimensions—distances: that without a well-organized
and susceptible ear, no clear and distinctively correct
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 67^
impressions can be made, by what we call sounds, or
vibrations of the air, for want of a more expressive
term, on the auditory nerves; that without a well-con-
structed nasal organ, vulgarly denominated a nose, no
clear and distinct impressions can be made on the
olfactory nerves or nerves of smelling, by the effluvia
arising from bodies; that, unless the portions of the
nervous system which are incorporated with the tongue
and its appendages, be unobstructed by malconforma-
tion of the organs of taste, no distinctions of flavor
could be recognized, between sugar, gall, and vinegar;
and that unless the nerves which are spread over the
cutaneous surface of the body, and particularly that of
the hands, be perfect both in organization and tone, no
adequate or correct ideas could ever be formed of the
shape, solidity, &c. of bodies, with which we come in
immediate contact. The fact seems to be, and 1 consi-
der the theoretical conjecture inferior to none which
has been published by medical men, that whenever the
affections of the mind derange the tone and susceptibil-
ity of the senses, these derangements always bring to
the censorium, or focal point of mental impression,
incorrect and distorted ideas of external objects, which,
as in hypocondria, make us believe in the existence
of phantasmagoria of a most childish and superstitious
character. This is a species of insanity, connected with
unnatural and painful seriousness—habitual depression
of spirits—and confirmed melancholy.
On the other hand when afflictive impressions are
made upon the mind, of an unusually active and pow-
erful character, and sufficient to impair and partially
destroy the organization itself, as in the cases of in-
tense and poignant grief, or absolute and hopeless
despair, the partial dissolution of the physical struc-
68 gunn's domestic MEDICINE.
ture and organization of the brain, it is not improbable,
lead to offensive, mischievous, and terrific insanity,
amounting to absolute phrensy, and finally terminating
in dissolution. The fact is, and it is well known to
physicians, that a dissolution of the organic structure
of the frame, if that dissolution take place in any vital
organ, particularly the brain or stomach, between
which there exists a close and almost identical sym-
pathy, decidedly morbid effects are produced to the
whole system—physical, moral and mental; in fact,
the brain may be called the father, and the stomach
the mother of the system.
I have only as yet spoken of the influence whioh is
produced upon the physical functions of the system, by
the passion of grief, and other strong affections of the
same or a similar character. The same effects as
those produced by the passions above enumerated, are
sometimes the offspring of other causes, not connected
in the first instance, with the passions, but which after-
wards operate strongly upon them, and assist in destroy-
ing the nervous, vital and moral functions and organi-
zation of the system. We know perfectly well, for
instance, that there are many substances which, when
iaken into the stomach, affect the passions strongly by
irritation and excitement—produce morbid derange-
ments of the physical functions—and, not unfrequently,
moral and mental alienations. The effect of tincture
of cantharides on some of the passions, when taken
into the stomach, is perfectly well known; nor do I
believe, that if its application to the stomach were long
continued, it would ever fail to produce morbid irrita-
tions and inflammations, which would terminate in
functional derangement, and actual dissolution of the or-
ganic structure in the brain. The effect which opium pro-
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
69
duces where it is used in immoderate quantities, as
among the Turks, is well known; and that it not
unfrequently ends in derangements of the physical sys-
tem, and absolute insanity with all its horrors. Nor
is the intemperate use of spirituous liquors, used to such
excess and in such immoderate quantities in our own
country, far behind the use of opium, in producing the
same deleterious effects on the brain, through the me-
dium of the stomach. Every man who will tax his
recollections, will find his memory furnished with innu-
merable instances, in which a long train of physical
diseases have been followed by derangements of the
intellect, which hone of the boasted powers of science
or medicine could relieve or rectify, merely from the
immediate use, or rather abuse of spirituous liquors.
Have we not all witnessed instances, in which the
abuse of spirituous liquors has produced visceral ob-
structions of a most deadly character—and mental
derangements which have been confirmed and render-
ed durable to the end of life? How is this fixed and
confirmed mental alienation to be accounted for, but
upon the presumption that those stimulants, long con-
tinued, affect not only the nerves, but the organic struc-
ture of the brain? Do we not know that a fit of
intoxication is a paroxysm of mental derangement—
and that impressions often reiterated will wear their
channels in the brain, injure its unrivalled and delicate
organization, and render those effects durable ? What
are the effects which immediately follow a fit of exces-
sive intoxication? Are they not the very same as those
produced by the influence of the passions of which I
have before spoken? Are they not seriousness, de-
pression of spirits, melancholy, grief, despair, insani-
ty? This is the point at which I intended to arrive.
70 gunn's domestic medicine.
I intended to demonstrate in a plain and simple man-
ner, that disease, insanity and death, are produced as
well by moral as by physical causes; and that a phy-
sician ought to ascertain both the state of the body and
mind, if he really intends to effect a cure or removal
of the class of diseases just mentioned. I know it to
be a common practice with physicians, to listen to long
details of the physical symptoms of their patients, with-
out the least inquiry as to the moral or mental causes
of their diseases; when the fact is, that in five cases
out of ten, arising among persons of sedentary, refined,
luxurious, studious, and intellectual habits; and among
delicate females, in seven cases of diseases out of eleven,
particularly those which are obstructional, the causes
will be found seated in the mind and passions. I need
not enlarge on this subject; every man possessed of
anv experience and common sense, must have observed,
both on himself and others, the remarkable effects pro-
duced on the physical system by the mind and passions;
nor can such an individual be ignorant of the fact, that
deleterous substances when taken into the stomach, fre-
quently operate with immense power on the passions,
as well as on the organic structure of the physical sys-
tem. The truth is, that although we are well convinced
of the intimate connexion of the mind and body, and
also of the reciprocal influence they always exercise
alternately over each other, no man has ever yet been
able fully to develop the mysteries of that connection,
or the natural mediums by and through which they
operate on and influence each other; in other words
all we certainly know respecting the matters under con-
sideration, must be confined to the effects daily and
hourly witnessed, in the reciprocal and varied action of
the mind and its passions, and the body and its affec-
tions, on each other.
gunn's domestic medicine.
71
When morbid derangements of the system are de-
rived from the action of the mind and passions, the
consolations of religion and philosophy are of great
importance; because they teach mankind, in a language
not to be misunderstood, that cheerless and gloomy
presentiments of the future, only unfit us for meeting
and vanquishing present difficulties: that the heavy
pressure of present evils, and calamities which are
irremoveable, are lightened of half their ponderous
and depressing influence, by that masculine fortitude
which is derived from the inspirations of wisdom, and
that celestial hope of relief which springs from genu-
ine religion: and that it is the height of human folly
and weakness, unavailingly to mourn over losses which
can never be retrieved! When the causes of our
diseases and miseries are connected with physical prin-
ciples in some degree under our control, it becomes a
moral duty, so far as it bo possible, to remove them—
and that too by physical means: and I am decidedly of
opinion, generally speaking, and a few individual cases
which might be enumerated left out of view, that moral
causes of disease and misery are to bo combated by
moral means—and that physical causes of functional
derangement, and violations of organic structure deri-
ved from such causes, are to be combated and over-
come by physical means. I am perfectly willing to
admit, that the influences of the imagination, and of
the animating passions, are very considerable in pre-
venting disease, and removing obstructions when not
firmly seated; but I am not willing to allow, that either
the imagination or the animating passions, can ren-
der flexible the coats of an ossified artery, or remove
a stone from the bladder! The fact is, that the line of
demarcation where moral causes cease to operate, and
72 gunn's domestic medicine.
where the influence of physical ones commences, is a
mystery hitherto too profound and inscrutable for the
boldest efforts of human genius. We are well aware
that many malconformations of the human fetus take
place previous to birth, such as in cases of hare-lip,
external impressions ontheskin, &c. but at what period
of gestation such malconformations and external im-
pressions cease to be made, it is absolutely impossible
to conjecture with even a probability of truth.
The following case of the powerful effects of imagi-
nation, put by Doctor Cypricanus, is recorded in this
work, to place pregnant females on their guard, and to
exemplify the effects of the imagination on highly sus-
ceptible materials. " A female child," says this distin-
guished man, " was born with a wound in her breast
above four inches in length It penetrated to the mus-
culi intercostales, and was an inch broad, and hollow
under the flesh round about the wound; besides which,
there was a contusion with some swelling, at the lower
part of the wound inside. The child came into the
world without any violence; and consequently it did
not receive the wound in its birth; it was caused by the
strength of the imagination; for, about two months
before, the mother had by chance heard a report that a
man had murdered his wife, and with his knife had
given her a great wound in the breast—at which rela-
tion she changed, but not excessively. It is not merely
probable, but absolutely certain, that the child received
the wound in its mother's body, at the very moment she
was affrighted; because the wound was very sordid,
and the inside as well as the outside beset with slime,
proceeding from the water in which the child lies in its
mother's womb—besides which, it had every appear-
ance of an old wound.
gunn's domestic medicine. 73
The effects of grief, which is an extremely depress-
ing passion, and its morbid influences on the body or
physical system, are very remarkable. It diminishes
bodily strength in general, and also the action of the
heart in particular. It impedes the circulation of the
fluids, stagnates the bile invariably, and occasions in-
durations of the liver; or by throwing the bile into the
circulation of the blood, it produces jaundice or dropsy.
Grief also diminishes the perspiration, renders the skin
sallow, aggravates the scurvy; and is particularly
effective in producing and aggravating putrid fevers: it
also disposes persons to being easily affected with fever,
arising from excessive irritability, or constipation or
costiveness of the bowels. Its effects in changing the
color of the hair are well known; and many instances
have occurred, in which the hair has been turned from
a deep black to gray in a few hours. From grief,
blindness, gangrene, and even sudden death, or as it is
emphatically called, a broken heart, have not unfre-
quently resulted. From the excess of this passion,
persons who indulge in melancholy reflections for any
length of time, become peevish and fretful; and so ex-
tremely irritable, that their minds find new food for
sorrow in every object presented to them. Thus the
whole imagination becomes seriously affected with con-
firmed melancholy, sometimes producingnervous fevers,
or what is still more dreadful, total insanity. The
remedies usually resorted to with salutary effects, are
gentle opiates taken with caution; exercise on horse-
back; change of scene; the use of the swing, which
has in very many instances produced signally beneficial
effects; friction of the body and limbs with flmnel or a
flesh brush—this friction ought to be frequently resort-
ed to and continued, to give impetus to the blood, when
10
74 gunn's domestic medicine.
the extremities become cold; washing the body with
strong vinegar, &c. Mild wines temperately adminis-
tered may be given, and should they produce acidity of
the stomach and loss of appetite, exercise and other
tonics ought to be resorted to—change of climate is
often in desperate cases found beneficial, also a diver-
sion of the mind from its original imaginations, and par-
ticularly the frequent use of the tepid bath is recommen-
ded: and in cases of the suppression of the menstrual
discharge occasioned by grief, the tepid bath has inva-
riably been found beneficial. The powerful influence
of the mind upon the womb, when affected by grief,
can scarcely be computed by the best observers; who
generally attribute to merely physical causes, effects
which are to be sought for in the mind. But more
will be developed On this important subject, as regards
female diseases, under another and more appropriate
head.
RELIGION.
This passion or affection of the human mind, pro-
perly defined and well understood, is a deeply devo-
tional sentiment of awe, veneration and love, for that
inscrutable Being who created the universe in his
wisdom; supports it by his almighty power; and
regulates the machinery of nature, in beneficence
and love to his creatures.
Considered merely in relation to his vital and ani-
mal functions, man seems to occupy the highest point
in the scale of animated nature; but notwitstanding
this distinguished elevation, with some grand and
distinctive exceptions to the general principles of exis-
gunn's domestic medicine
75
tence, and those of a strong and decided character, he
seems in many respects to be allied to the inferior
orders of creation. Like the merely animal orders of
nature inferior to himself, he is animated by loves and
friendships, hatreds and enmities,—and by all the other
passions and propensities, incidental to the merely.
animal creation. In common with the elephant, the
lion, the dog and the fox, his heart seems to be the seat
of life or vitality, and his brain the censorium of intel-
lectual existence! Like them he is furnished with a
stomach to digest his food—and a heart to propel the
vital fluid through the arterial and venous systems.
Like the inferior orders of creation, man is suscepti-
ble of the influence of heat and cold, and all the vari-
ations of temperature incidental to the changes of the
seasons; like them he can be deluged by rains, frozen
by the snows of winter, and melted by the heats of
summer. Like them he is subjected to physical dis-
eases, which can be mitigated or removed by the same
means; and like them he is animated by strong senti-
ments of self-preservation, and entertains an instinctive
and powerful dread of both pain and dissolution! But
here the parallel between man and the inferior orders
of creation terminates; and he begins to take his
departure from their earth-born level, which they can
never emulate or even follow.
Man is the only animal in creation, who can raise
his contemplations to the Deity, and experience a
sublime sentiment of awe and veneration, for the un-
known author of his existence. The only animal in
creation, capable of experiencing a strong solicitude
for a knowledge of his own origin, or who can direct
his views and anticipations to a future existence, beyond
the boundaries of time! Fie is the only being absolute-
75 gunn's domestic medicine.
ly known to himself who can form a conception of
space, which is an abstract idea of infinity; of time,
which is an abstract conception of eternity; or of
plastic and creative power, which leads to an abstract
but infinitely inadequate conception of the omnipo-
tence of God! Man seems to unite in his moral and
intellectual composition, the human extremes of strength
and weakness, wisdom and folly. In infancy, or when
not associated with his fellow-beings, he is a naked,
defenceless* dependent and timid animal; exposed to
diseases of every multiplied character—to dangers be-
yond arithmetical computation—and to death in all its
varied and gigantic forms: yet, with all these incipient
weaknesses, and seeming imperfections of his nature,
in the plenitude of life and intellectual power, and when
associated with his fellow beings in social compact, he
has satisfied his natural wants; rendered himself inde-
pendent of every thing but his Creator; driven from
his presence, enslaved to his purposes, or destroyed by
the machinery and chemical power of his warlike
inventions, all animals hostile to his life and his preser-
vation; and compelled the earth, the air, the waters,
and the woods to yield him the sustenance and even
the luxuries of life, and to furnish him with the means
of constructing his habitation. He has done more.
By referring his knowledge of particular facts, to the
discovery of abstract and general principles, he has
measurably unfolded the elements of science; by which
he measures the earth, and discloses the laws which
regulate the solar system:—ascertains the distances
and relative positions of the heavenly bodies; and
determines the location of his own globe among them:
—discloses the component parts of which the substra-
tum of the earth itself is compounded, and by an effort
gunn's domestic medicine. 77
of microscopic vision and profound sagacity, gives you
a satisfactory analysis of a physical atom! Nor is this
all; from obscure and imperfect original discoveries in
nautical science, he has converted the bark canoes of
the wandering savage into vehicles of burthen for inter-
national commerce, and imposing engines of war; and,,
instead of the petty barks of the ancients, by which
they prosecuted an insignificant trafic along the shores
arid inlets of the Mediterranean, he has constructed ships
of bulk and strength sufficient to master the winds of
heaven and the waves of the ocean:—to discover and
colonise new continents: and to make his way in secu-
rity, through trackless, unknown, and almost shoreless
oceans, to countries so remote as not even to be found
in delineation on the mariner's chart! Nor do the
greatness of his discoveries, nor the sublime elevations
of his character, terminate here. The progressive
improvements of man in literature, from hieroglyph-
ics, which are the signs of things, to the use of
letters, which are the signs or symbols of sounds, afford
new and astonishing demonstrations of his powers.
We have proofs before us, if we will advert for a mo-
ment to the present state of mankind, of all the pro-
gressive stages of improvement, through which he has
passed, in arriving at his present state of moral and
intellectual civilization, and scientific and literary
refinements; nor need we recur to the empire of fable,
nor the fictions of his early history, to arrive at the
truth. A collective view of the present inhabitants of
the globe, will furnish ample demonstrations of the
following facts. In a slate of savage and illiterate na-
ture, tradition, as among the Indians of our own for-
ests afforded the only means of communication, between
the present and future races of mankind. But, in
78 gunn's domestic medicine
proportion as man began to progress in discoveries
relating to the arts and sciences, he became disgusted
and dissatisfied with the errors and misrepresentations
or oral tradition and sought various expedients to per-
petuate to his posterity, authentic testimonials of his
sagacity, and dvrablc monuments of his intellectual
powers. Hieroglyphics and pyramids were resorted
to in some countries, and pillars and public edifices in
others; but knowing all these to be liable to decay, and
that their true meaning might be easily misunderstood
or forgotten, he was not satisfied with a medium of
intelligence, which would revive and perpetuate his
knowledge and discoveries to future times, until litera-
ture arose to record in unfading characters, the intel-
ligence, the improvements in science, and the fate of
past generations. The discovery of, and the progressive
improvements in letters, have enabled man to trace his
species through all anterior ages since the creation;
nor would he now, were it not for literature and the
discovery of the art of printing, be enabled to profit
at this advanced period of the world, by the records of
history, and the divine inspirations of religion, virtue
and pure morality, which are breathed forth in love
and mercy to fallen man, by holy writ! It is from
this divine and inspired work, that he derives a knowl-
edge of all the attributes of his creator; of the immor-
tality of his own soul; and of all the duties he owes to
God, his fellow-creatures and himself The reveries
of all the sages and philosophers of antiquity, with the
immortal Plate at their head, sink into cold insignifi-
cance, when compared with the divine consolations
afforded to man, by that pure and unsophisticated reli-
gion, which is derived from the word of God: and
while speaking of the pure and undefiled religion of
gunn's domestic medicine. 79
Jesus Christ, I will first show what it is not; second,
the abuses of its doctrines; third, what it really is;
and fourth, its benefits and consolations, in health and
prosperity, sickness and misfortune.
The virtues and the boasted wisdom of man, purifi-
ed and improved by the highest efforts of human
reason, would be nothing without the support and
consolations of the doctrines of the scriptures. The
magnificence, splendor and sublimity of the great
works of nature, from which alone, without the divine
inspirations to be found in the word of God, he is ena-
bled to form but an inadequate and finite conception
of the attributes of an Almighty Creator, dazzle and
confound the feeble efforts of man, in all his attempts
to grasp at the divine perfections of his maker—baffle
all the high-toned energies of his reason and intelli-
gence—and throw him to an infinite distance below
even an imaginary conception of the deity. Thus
circumstanced—thus surrounded by mysteries which
he cannot explain to himself—feeling a strong and
deep-seated natural sentiment of immortality; and yet
dreading the cold and silent horrors of the grave—the
word of God, and faith in Christ alone, can afford him
support and consolation in the hour of death; solve the
otherwise inscrutable and sublime mysteries of his own
existence; and reveal to him the dreadful enigmas of
eternity. In fact, when man surveys with an attentive
and philosophic eye, the vast and complicated machine-
ry of the universe—when he discovers that all this
complicated and boundless machinery is subject to the
irresistible influence of laws infinitely beyond his con-
ception:—when he essays to embody his own concep
tions of the attributes of that being, who created, and
who rules and governs all:—and, in fine, when he
80
gunn's domestic medicine.
makes the feeble attempt, unaided by divine revelation,
to identify his hopes of immortality and future happi-
ness with the unchangeable laws of created nature, so
vast, so boundless, and so complicated as they must be,
he shrinks back upon his own insignificance, and in-
voluntarily asks himself, "am I not a stranger to the
eternal laws of my own destiny?-—am I not a stranger
to this God,the supreme Creator of the universe?—am
I not lost in the immensity of his works, and the bound-
lessness of his power!"
Mere opinions, deduced from the boldest efforts of
the reasoning faculties of man, never yet produced that
genuine religion which absorbs his affections, concen-
trates his love and gratitude on his divine Creator,
regulates his moral and intellectual energies for the
production of his present and future happiness, and
makes him satisfied with his own prospects of futurity.
These are the reasons in all probability, why the an-
cient sages, who hoped for and partially believed in
immortality, were unable to satisfy themselves, with
rational and conclusive proofs of the future existence of
the human soul: these are also probably the reasons,
and they are founded in the wisdom and providence of
God himself why the great truths of immortality were
veiled, in all ages, anterior to the true gospel dispensa-
tion, from the boasted sagacity and reasoning powers
of the philosophers and sages of antiquity:—for, could
these men have arrived at any definite and certain con-
clusions on the future destinies of the human race,
without the moral purifications of true Christianity, the
consequences would have been dreadful to society and
mankind; as can be easily demonstaated.
Suppose a man were enabled by the unaided efforts
of reason, to demonstrate conclusively to himself, that
gunn'i domestic medicine. 31
annihilation, or an absolute and entire negation of exis-
tence, was his future and irrevocable doom:—what
would be the immediate consequences of this appalling
and dreadful discovery! Would he not feel that every
affection of his soul was dissolved—and that existance
itself was valueless? Would it not loosen every strong
tie he feels on life—and sicken him with that lapse of
time which must so soon reduce him to nothing!
Where, under this gloomy and horrid anticipation,
would be his affections for his parents, his wife, his fam-
ily, his country:—what would become of the perform-
ance of his duties as a parent, a husband, a citizen and
a patriot:—where would be the endearing suggestions
of his own self-love, and his insatiable desires of pre-
sent and future happiness, under the certain conviction
that the elevated and noble energies of his soul would
explode and be lost forever, when his carcase would
become a clod of the valley.
But, let it be supposed, that the powers of reason,
unaided by the holy inspirations of scripture, were
capable of arriving at the certain conviction of man's
future happiness in eternity; and that the decree of the
Almighty which awarded to him so auspicious a desti-
ny, was absolutely irrevocable by his own conduct:
and what would then be the consequences? With so
brilliant a career of future happiness and celestial glory
in full view, would not all the poor enjoyments of this
life fade away—and even all the splendors of the visi-
ble creation become to him a blank? Would he take
upon himself the cares of a family; assume the labori-
ous duties of providing for a numerous offspring, or
feel an interest in the common affairs of mankind?
Would he experience any of those affections and
friendships, which, under the present predicaments of
11
82 gunn's domestic medicine.
life, are of such vast importance to the enjoyments of
man? Can the eye which is accustomed to gazing at
the sun, distinguish the darker and more sombre color-
ings of earthly objects? But, with unalloyed and
interminable happiness beyond the grave in full view,
what in this life would be the feelings, emotions and
conduct, of a man subjected to the pains of disease, the
evils attendant on poverty and want, and all the great
aggregate of miseries and misfortunes, with which man
in the present state of things is destined to agonize
through life? Would he feel disposed to encounter
gratuitously, evils and sufferings from which he could
escape with impunity to happier regions?
And now let us suppose, that a man were enabled to
distinguish nothing in his future destinies, but a sub-
mission throughout eternity to the sufferings and
speechless agonies of the damned; that nothing he
could do would alleviate so dreadful, disastrous and
horrible a destiny:—and what would be the immediate
results? Where, to the eye of such a man, would then
be all the charms and fascinations of nature, where all
the varied and imposing splendors of the visable cre-
ation? What delight could he possibly experience in
the performance of his moral duties, or the practice of
virtues which must terminate in a future condition in-
finitely worse than annihilation itself? Would not
these dark and dreadful anticipations of a period which
must soon arrive, be eternally present to his imagina-
tion, with all their attendant horrors? Would they not
haunt his waking dreams of future misery, and disturb
his midnight slumbers, with special phantoms of the
sufferings of the damned, too frightful and tremendous
for delineation! But what, under these awful and
afflicting expectations, from which there were no distant
gunn's domestic medicine. 83
hopes of exemption, would be the character and con-
duct of this unfortunate and miserable victim? Would
he not say to himself:—" what to me are all the ties of
parentage, of offspring, or of kindred; what interest
have I in the affairs of life, the peace and happiness of
society, or the moral conduct and regulations of man-
kind. Before the setting of to-morrow's sun, my eyes
may close forever on the light of day, on all the objects
which once were dear to my infancy and youth, and
on all the varied and sublime beauties, which charac-
terize with magnificence and splendor, the mystic won-
ders of created nature! For me no morning sun will
ever again arise; for me no vernal music of the
groves will ever again awake; on my benighted soul,
predestined to endless torments, no distant ray of
feeble hope can ever dawn!"----Sectarians, remorse-
less fanatics, purblind bigots—you who deal with un-
sparing hand and intolerant zeal, the ineffable and
everlasting miseries of deep damnation to your fellow
beings, merely for differing from you in opinion respect-
ing modes of faith and divine worship, behold in this
faithful picture, the condition to which your narrow
and selfish doctrines would confine the great mass of
mankind? Approach and behold a picture, which
might make you shudder for your blasphemous pre-
sumptions, in judging between erring and feeble man
and his Maker; and wresting the high prerogative of
divine and eternal justice, from the hand of the Al-
mighty! If you can for a moment suspend the fiery
and vindictive delusions of your intolerance and pre-
sumption, I wish you to contemplate with a dispassion-
ate and discriminating eye, some farther results to
which your infuriated and intolerant doctrines inevita-
bly tend. If you alone are right, and if all other reli-
84 gunn's domestic medicine.
gious creeds are the offspring of error, which must of
necessity terminate in future misery—what allurements
to religion and morality do you hold out, to those who
you say are predestined from all eternity to the inflic-
tions of divine wrath: and to what a penury of benefi-
cence and love, do you reduce the mercy and affections
of the Deity to man. Do you suppose that the doc-
trines of particular and exclusive faith, are within the
arbitrium or control of the voluntary powers of human
intellect? In other words, do you presume that a man
can believe what he wishes, without divine assistance
sought with purity of heart? And that he can ever be
the voluntary devotee of religious errors, thereby sin-
ning against light and knowledge, and dooming himself
to endless and indescribable torments? To speak in
plain terms, and without any courtly affectation of lan-
guage detrimental to the interests of truth, can you
suppose that any rational being since the creation of
man, ever yet voluntarily consigned his soul to ever-
lasting misery, by the entertainment of religious
opinions which he knew to be wrong: the truth is,
that the supposition implies, not only a contradiction in
language, but an absolute and positive contradiction in
the facts themselves!
But let us suppose for a moment, that your sect or
persuasion alone are right in their faith and religious
opinions, and that all others professing different modes
of faith, and different opinions in religion, are in the
entertainment of errors which must inevitably end in
eternal punishments. Have you ever contemplated the
absurdity of this intolerent and exclusive doctrine; have
you ever viewed it with an unprejudiced and dispas-
sionate eye, and traced its malignant and desolating
spirit, on the past, on the present, and on future times?
gunn's domestic medicine. 85
If you have not, I will make the laudable attempt to
burst your narrow and intolerant prejudices asunder;
and to exhibit these disgraceful and dogmatical doc-
trines in all their native deformities.
By the Mosaical account of the creation, which we
are bound to believe authentic, the world is now nearly
six thousand years old; but of the antediluvian races
of men, and also of those who existed anterior to the
gospel dispensation, I will make none but the following
simple and plain remark; that it would hardly comport
with the common principles of justice, to consign all
those numerous races of men to eternal perdition, for
not believing in doctrines which had never been an-
nounced to them, and to which they were utter stran-
gers! Since the first announcement of the gospel dis-
pensation under our Saviour until the present time, a
period of nearly two thousand years has elapsed;
every half minute of which long period, according to
the most authentic calculations which can be made,
has witnessed the birth and death of ten human be-
ings! There are, as nearly as the facts can be ascer-
tained, about eleven hundred millions human beings
composing the populations on the globe: now—if you
will ascertain the number of half minutes which have
elapsed in two thousand years, and multiply that num-
ber by ten, you will have something like the number of
deaths which have occurred since the coming of Christ-
Under this strong, and new, and most important view
of the subject; and considering likewise, that the im-
mense and measurably unknown population of both
Africa and Asia, have never embraced the christian
dispensation; that the oboriginal inhabitants of both
North and South America have ever been in the same
uncivilized and unchristian condition; I wish you to
86 gunn's domestic medicine.
inform me, ye bigots—ye fanatics—ye fiery and intol-
erant zealots, in the cause of a God autocratical,
supreme, and infinitely merciful to feeble and erring
man how many human being?, out of the countless
myriads who have sunk into the tomb in the long lapse
of two thousand years, belonged to those little sects
who doom all mankind to the horrors of deep and
irrevocable damnation, but themselves! But this is not
all: according to the narrow and exclusive principles
of your religious doctrines, which we will bring nearer
to ourselves by an application of them to the present
age, how many human beings, out of eleven hundred
millions which are now in existence, according to the
purblind and intolerant dogmas of any one of your
exclusive professions of faith, will be doomed never
to reach the goal of infinite mercy, even through the
merits of that Saviour who died for the salvation of
all mankind! These are views of the absurdity of
some of your doctrines, and of the dreadful conse-
quences they would have in their applications to man-
kind, too stubborn for the subterfuges of sophistry, too
authentic in point of fact for refutation, and too plain
for either denial or evasion. But, let us advance a
step farther; let us contemplate the appalling spectacle,
which your wild, speculative and visionary theories of
religion, would present to an assembled universe to the
end of time! Let us suppose a period, the great day
of accounts between man and his Maker, when an
aggregation of all the various races of men, and of
all the countless myriads who have existed between the
commencement and the termination of time, would
take place; here all arithmetical computations fail:__
and the human imagination itself expires, in attempting
to grasp at so vast, so unbounded a spectacle! Sup-
gunn's domestic medicine. 87
pose also, that your paltry and disputacious conflicts
here, and your narrow conceptions of divine justice,
always inadequate and contradictory because the off-
spring of ignorance, were to be made the irrevocable
standard of adjudication by which countless and innu-
merable millions of the human race, were to be con-
signed to endless misery, ruin and dispair? Would
not so dreadful an exhibition of the consequences of
your bigotry and intolerance, destroy your holy zeal
and vindictive rage in the cause of religious and intol-
erant prejudices? Would not your sensibilities as men,
weep tears of blood and forgiveness over the miseries
of your fellow men? Would you not wish to revoke
rhose prejudices against mankind, which could popu-
late the regions of the damned with myriads of your
fellow beings—disclose to you an abortive though
divine scheme of redemption for fallen man—and tor-
ture your intellectual vision, with the spectacle of a
ruined creation and an almost solitary God!
I have now shown, and I think conclusively, that
the efforts of human reason, unaided by scriptural
divinity, are utterly incompetent to disclosing to man-
kind the great truths connected with the immorality of
man:—that without the moral purifications of true
Christianity and genuine religion, such disclosures
would have been fraught with dreadful consequences
to mankind, instanced in the cases of future certainty
as to annihilation, future happiness, and future mis-
ery. I think I have done more; I think I have shown,
as far as the moral reasoning powers of man can be
applied to incontrovertible facts, that very many of the
intolerant and sectarian abuses which have crept into
the christian religion, from the bigotry and misdirected
zeal of many of its belligerent and inflammatory
88 gunn's domestic mIEDICINE.
champions, are utterly inconsistent with christian char-
ity, truly divine worship, and the principles of eternal
justice: in fine, I think I have shown conclusively,
what pure and genuine religion is not!
As connected and incorporated with dangerous and
intolerant opinions in religion, the abusive consequen-
ces which always flow from such opinions, especially
when under the influence of the vindictive passions of
men, require dispassionate consideration. 1 have said
in another part of this work, when speaking of the
moral philosophy of the passions, that when restrained
within due bounds, and exercised only in relation to
their native and legitimate objects, they were essential
not only to the existence but to the happiness of man.
I now assert that the reverse of this proposition is
equally true; in other words, that the passions when
indulged in to excess, and suffered to produce anarchy
and wild misrule in the human bosom, are fraught with
innumerable miseries and misfortunes to mankind, in
every department of life.
In sectarian doctrines, which relate to the entertain-
ment of opinions connected with the temporal self-
interests of mankind: it is to be expected that the
passions, in all their excesses, will always have consid-
erable influence. The professors of all the sciences
which relate to the present state of man, are passion-
ately influenced to the conversion of proselytes to their
respective systems, because on the number of their
converts depend not only their wealth and fame—but
in numerous instances, the very bread which them-
selves and their families require for daily support.
The same may be remarked, in relation to the leaders
of all political partizans—and to all other zealots in
political science. In these cases, and many others
sunn's domestic medicine
89
which might be enumerated, the stimulation of the
passions, and all their disorganizing and dangerous
excesses, are proportioned to the real or imaginary self-
interests of man, and to the acute and energetic pres-
sure of his immediately real or imaginary wants. In
all these cases, we can account on rational principles,
or more properly speaking on logical ones, for the
slander and defamation with which scientific men of
all professions usually lead each other—and for all the
personal enmity, envy and malignity, with which the
low-lived spirit of groveling ambition, usually perse-
cutes a dangerous and aspiring rival! In all cases
where we can connect the excesses of the passions,
and the practice of intolerance and injustice, with the
wants and immediate self-interests of men, there seems
to be some colorable mitigation for their deviations
from virtue, justice and moderation: but in cases where
religion alone is concerned; where all the temporal
interests and conflictions of self-love are entirely out
of the question, where the religious faith and opinions
of men are accounts only to be referred to the lofty and
unerring tribunal of God himself; the gratuitous per-
secutions of men, and their sanguinary zeal in the
cause of an Almighty Power, who needs not their as-
sistance, can only be accounted for upon principles of
wanton depravity, native cruelty of temper, and innate
vindictiveness of soul! Does the Almighty require the
sacrifice of the peace of society, and of all the affec-
tions of man for his fellow beings, in the diffusion of
an immaculate and benevolent religion, which express-
ly inculcates—"peace on earth, and good will to-
wards men?" If my faith in the rectitude and purity
of my own doctrines of salvation be perfect, will the
persecution and destruction of the religious doctrines
12
90 gunn's domestic medicine
of other men, add any further demonstrations of truth
to the support of my own creed? You may as well
tell me, ye bigots, and persecutors of mankind for the
love of God, that the sun requires a lamp for the diffu-
sion of his meridian rays—or that by conHagrating the
habitation of a fellow being, you will build or repair
your own! Why then consign to everlasting destruc-
tion, and that too without attempting their reformation,
all those who may chance to differ from you in reli-
gious faith and opinion? Are not those who dissent
from you in religious doctrines and opinions, as ration-
al as yourselves? Are they less interested in knowing
the truths of genuine christian divinity, and in practi-
sing on the precepts which they inculcate, than you
yourselves are? Do you suppose that any human be-
ing ever existed, who was endowed with ordinary
principles of rationality, and common sentiments of
self-love, who could voluntarily entertain errors of
opinion in religion, knowing that the profession of such
opinions would eventually consign his immortal soul
to deep and irredeemable misery! Why, then, perse-
cute men for the entertainment of opinions which are
misfortunes and not crimes? Why, in other words
do you punish and persecute erring and feeble man,
for involuntary errors of opinion, which, according to
your own creeds, will be punished in a future life!
Where are the credentials, from which you derive au-
thority to sit in judgment between man and his Maker:
and to assist an omnipotent God, in the execution of
those laws which his own infinite wisdom, at the
creation, imposed on the universe!! Under this view
of your conduct, which I place in a strong and correct
light for your own contemplations, with the hope that
you may be induced to abandon your abuses of the
gunn's domestic medicine. 91
religion of the Savior of mankind, and to treat your
fellow-men with more lenity and compassion, I must
confess myself utterly at a loss which to be most as-
tonished at, your ignorance—presumption—or fanati-
cism. How, ye bigoted and fanatical zealots—how
do you reconcile your inquisitions, your burnings,
your persecutions, and your intolerance in opinion,
with the mildly compassionate and humane example of
the Savior of the world; he who exclaimed amidst the
protracted agonies of the cross, and while sweating
drops of blood to wash out the crimsoned iniquities of
mankind—"Father forgive them for they know not
what they do!" You are mistaken in attributing to
pure and holy zeal in the cause of religion, your per-
secutions of those who differ from you in sectarian
faith and doctrines: your worldy-minded pride of ma-
king proselytes—your ambition to become conspicuous
among men, as the defenders of the true faith—your
secret aspirations after exaltations to high clerical offi-
ces—your love of worldly distinctions and temporal
power—and not unfrequently, your dupidity and ava-
rice, respecting good round salaries for the discharge
of your official functions; these are the energetic and
inflammatory motives, which urge you to your vindic-
tive persecutions of mankind for opinion's sakse these
are the real causes of your want of charity to each
other, and to mankind in the aggregate.
I think I have now shown, in a tolerably clear and
strong point of view, not only what religion is not—
but also many of the abuses of its dectrines; let us
now endeavor to'understand something respecting what
it really is.
" Feeble work of my hand," says the Almighty to
his creature man, " I owe you nothing, but I give you
92 GUNN^S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
existence. I place you in a midst of a universe
which bespeaks my wisdom and glory, and I surroun d
you with blessings and enjoyments, which ought to ex-
cite in your bosom pure and elevated sentiments of
love, admiration and ^gratitude, to that inscrutable Be-
ing who made you for the enjoyment of happiness—•
and placed the objects of those enjoyments within your
reach. Your love can add nothing to my felicity, your
admiration to my power, nor your sentiments of grati-
tude to my glory; and I make you susceptible of these
exalted and divine emotions, that you may render your-
self happy both here and hereafter. The fidelity of
your obedience to my laws, will be the test of your
own happiness; and, when you cease to "love me and
keep my commandments," your breach of my precepts
will offend me, and render yourself unhappy."
Such—according to our feeble and inadequate con-
ceptions of a God of love and mercy, are the mild
and benevolent sentiments entertained by him for his
erring and dependent creature, man—for he expressly
announce? in his holy word, " that he delights not in
the death of a sinner."—These are some of the conso-
lations of true religion, which when fully merited by
man, by a strict obedience to the words of scripture,
and a full and entire faith in the merits of a blest Re-
deemer, nothing earthly can destroy. I do not intend
to enter into a critical dissertation on the subject of
religion, further than its divine spirit is connected with
ihe moral condition of man, and his physical health
and enjoyments. We know perfectly well, from our
own consciousness, that the mere pleasures and enjoy-
ments of this world, are insufficient to satisfy the moral
desires of the human mind, when deeply impressed
with an unerring sentiment of immortality. Give a
sunn's domestic medicine. 93
man whalth and luxury unbounded; load him with
titles and worldly honors; even clothe him with what
Doctor Young calls "amortal immortality"—and, like
Csesar when crowned emperor and invested with the
imperial purple, he will exclaim—"and is this all!"—
With respect to the enjoyments of this world, I mean
those which are not connected with the future state of
existence, and sentiments of pure and undefiled reli-
gion, it is a truth that has been recognized by the
experience of all ages, that their satiation always pro-
duces indifference, and not unfrequently disgust. This
circumstance alone ought to convince us, that the de-
sires of man and his capacities for enjoyment, are not
limited to this earthly sphere; and that there must be
a future and more exalted state of being, where his
capacities for moral and intellectual enjoyment will
meet with objects suited to their elevation—and where
the boundless desires which he is conscious of in this
life, will meet with scenes of enjoyment as unlimited
as those desires. It was from this view of the subject
under consideration, and probably also from the strong
impression of the insufficiency of the enjoyments of
this life, that the great Dr. Young exclaimed in his
Night Thoughts—"man must be immortal, or heaven
unjust!" Do we not know perfectly well, that when
the physical calls of nature are satisfied, lassitude and
indifference succeed? Do we not also know, that
when all the pleasures and enjoyments of this world
are showered on us in profusion, there still exists in
the human bosom, hopes and desires connected with
sentiments of immortality, and objects of a more eleva-
ted and intellectual order of enjoyment than this world
can afford? The fact is, that the desires, the capaci-
ties, and the hopes of man as to futurity—when com-
94 gunn's domestic medicine.
pared with the utter insufficiency of the objects of
enjoyment actually under his control in this life, go
very far to demonstrate satisfactorily the immortality of
man. Do the affections of the brute for its offspring,
like those of man for his relations and friends, survive
the flight of time, and contemplate a re-union of those
affections in another state of existence? The differ-
ence between the influence of reason and that of true
religion, in relation to the future happiness and enjoy-
ments of man, may be satisfactorily explained in a few
words. Reason teaches man merely to hope for im-
mortal existence and happiness, whilst pure Religion,
supported by faith in the Redeemer, and by the faith-
ful practice of his precepts, assures him of both
future existence and future happiness. There is this
further difference between reason and religion, and 1
think it a very palpable and plain one; reason cannot
influence man's feeble hopes of immortality and future
happiness, with sufficient motives for the practice of
piety and virtue—whilst religion urges him imperious-
ly to the performance of his duties to his God, to him-
self, and to his fellow-beings, by the certainty of future
rewards and punishments. These are the reasons why
pure and genuine christians, I do not mean bigots,
hypocrites, or intolerant fanatics, are better citizens,
better husbands, and better parents, than most other
men; and these are the reasons also, why they are the
happier classes of mankind. Reason may teach the
existence of a great first cause, but it is utterly incom-
petent to disclosing his moral attributes of justice, love
and mercy, or to defining for man his particular and
indispensable duties in every department of life. The
precepts of religion are plain and easy of comprehen-
sion; they can be understood and practiced by all
gunn's domestic medicine.
95
ranks and grades of men. Reason, on the other hand,
in attempting an explanation of the attributes of God,
or the duties of man to that God or his fellow-creatures,
is eternally operating on imaginary and unknown prin-
ciples, and making hair-breadth distinctions, which
have no existence but in the sound of words without
meaning: the errors of reason are founded in the ignor-
ance of man, who knows nothing in reality of the essen-
tial or elementary principles of any one thing in heaven
or on earth. The scripture says, and any man can un-
derstand the denunciation, "whosoever sheddeth man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Now I would
like to see the champion of reason, who can demon-
strate satisfactorily that murder is a crime, and that it
is punishable with death. But I will put another, and
more general and comprisive case, which will be quite
sufficient. Municipal law is said to be founded on
reason, which we call the mother of justice. If reason
be an unerring sentinal, and if law be the perfection
of reason, as it is said to be by learned and profound
civilians, why have not six thousand years of rea-
soning been sufficient to reduce law to unerring prin-
ciples of justice; and why, at this late and refined
period of reason, do we so seldom find two persons "of
counsel learned in the law," who agree in opinion
respecting its real principles? The fact is, that in
reasoning on all subjects involving morals, all we can
possibly arrive at is a high degree of probability, which
amounts to little more than ingenious and plausible
conjecture. If the mere exercise of reason be entire-
ly sufficient to disclose to man his duties, to impel him
to the performance of those duties, and to satisfy him
respecting the r.ll-important doctrines of futurity, why
have the advocates of mere reason so many doubts
96 gunn's domestic medicine.
and difficulties on all subjects:—the enigma is easily
solved; the ignorance of man respecting first princi-
ples, the doubts he always entertains of the infallibility
of reasoning as a science, and the consciousness of
being eternally liable to error in his rational deduc-
tions, involve him in labyrinths of confusion and dis-
may, from which no merely human powers of intellect
or genius can possible extricate him. While in the
rise or day spring of life; while enjoying uninterrupted
health and prosperity; and while indulging in antici-
pations of a protracted and fortunate term of existence
here, the lordly and proud advocate of the all-sufficien-
cy of reason, may indulge in theoretical speculations
which he imagines he firmly believes in: But, let him
become unfortunate in his adventures after earthly
enjoyments, and infirm in his health; let his prospects
of exemption from disease and misfortune darken
around him; and in this situation let him approach the
unknown and mysterious confines of eternity. Where
then will be his visionary and theoretical speculations
respecting futurity; where the fortitude which ought to
support him in his descent to the cold and silent man-
sions of the dead; and where the celestial fire of hope
and christian consolation that alone can light him to
eternal happiness, relieve his gloomy apprehensions of
annihilation, and shed even a splendor around the
horrors of the grave?
Pure and vital religion, not that based on merely
bigoted and sectarian prejudices, or on frivolous and
childish distinctions respecting rites and ceremonies, is
infinitely superior to reason, in securing to man all
the moral enjoyments of this life, and in assuring him
of those blessings which reason only hopes for in futu-
rity. By pure and vital religion, I do not mean hypoc-
gunn's domestic medicine. 97
risy, which is the religion of knaves, fanaticism,
which is the religion of madmen, fear, which is the
religion of cowardice, or superstition, which is that of
fools: I mean that pure and elevated sentiment of divine
love and admiration for the Deity, which leads us to
faith in the great Redeemer of fallen and degraded
man, and to the practice of benevolence, virtue, toler-
ation, and charity for our fellow-beings. This divine
and ennobling sentiment, when experienced in all its
purity, banishes all the base, sordid, selfish, and ignoble
passions from the human bosom, and elevates man, as
it were, to a communion with his Maker. It cultivates
all the finer affections of man for his fellow-beings;
makes him a provident and tender parent; a chaste
and faithful husband; a kind and benevolent master,
and a useful, virtuous, and patriotic citizen: it makes
him faithful in his friendships, virtuous in his loves,
honest in his dealings, candid in his communications
with mankind, moderate in his desires, unostentatious,
in his charities, and tolerant in his opinions. Fanatics,
bigots, zealots, hypocrites; ye who practise fraud, vio-
lence, hypocrisy, and all the deceptions and mummery
of priestcraft on the sons of men, and yet dare to call
yourselves the disciples and followers of the immacu-
late Savior of mankind, compare yourselves with this
portrait of a real christian! There is a class of reli-
gionists in every christian country, who are impressed
with the absurd opinion, that the profession of faith
in particular sectarian creeds, and the practice of a
few frivolous rites and ceremonies, are quite sufficient
to entitle them to salvation. The probability is that
these people are deceiving themselves, or making the
profession of religion a mere mask for iniquitous designs
against the community} for, let their vicious passions
13
98 GUNN S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
or propensities be excited, and themselves thrown off
their guard, and you immediately discover the true
state of the case: in fact you soon discover them to be
sensualists, swindlers and hypocrites. These people
ought always to bear in mind, that those alone are gen-
uine christians, who know the will of God, and prac-
tise its divine precepts: nor ought they ever to lose
sight of the important and eternal truth—that it is im-
possible to deceive the Almighty. Compared with
these hypocritical and unworthy professors, whose pray-
ers are always on the " house tops," and whose devo-
tions are loud and emphatical that they may be heard,
the true christian exhibits an essentially different and
greatly more elevated character. He is modest, retir-
ing and unobtrusive, in his devotions; it is not the
mere profession of piety and religion, that stimulates
him in the performance of his duties—it is the heaven-
born consciousness that his devotional exercises are
acceptable to his Maker, and that they will render him
serene amidst dangers and difficulties, animated and
cheerful under the infliction of disease and sickness,
and resigned to the will of his Creator. To such a
man, disease, infirmities, and misfortunes in this life
are nothing; he is above their influence: they can
neither ruffle his passions, nor disturb the deep and
settled serenity of his soul. The death-bed of such a
man is not the death-bed of the sinner, even the pre-
sence of the king of terrors cannot appal the resolu-
tions, or shake the fortitude of the man whose reliance
is on the love and mercy of his God. As a physician,
I some years since, in Virginia, attended at the couch of
a devout christian, and a sincere believer in Christ;
and was impressed with sentiments which can never be
obliterated from my memory by the lapse of time.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 99
The patient was a poor methodist preacher; he had
been seriously and dangerously indisposed nearly two
years: and was evidently awaiting the summon to
" that borne from whence no traveler returns." Instead
of seeing terror and dismay depicted in his counte-
nance, which I had often witnessed in the cases of those
who were not christians, all was cheerful serenity and
mild resignation: no ghastly expression of feature be-
spoke the terror of death, no indications of mental
distress told of remorse for ill-spent life; nor did a
single shade of gloomy anticipation, pass over the eye
that was so soon to close in the cold and silent man-
sions of the dead! The last words of the innocent
sufferer were, and they are "deeply impressed on my me-
mory:—"my life has been devoted to the service of my
God, and the benefit of my fellow beings: I await
with perfect resignation to his will, the call of my Mas-
ter."-------Here was an instance of the consolatory
influence of true religion, which ought to prove conclu-
sively that it is connected with none of the gloomy and
depressing passions. In truth, it has always been
matter of much astonishment to me, that the consola-
tions which pure religion promises mankind in a future
state of existence, could ever have produced on the
mind of man any other impressions than those of
cheerfulness, fortitude and resignation. I never could
conceive how genuine religion was connected, unless
perverted to the excitement of the gloomy passions, by
misconceptions of the attributes of God, with emotions
of terror and depressing apprehensions of futurity.
Has man not assurances of an exemption from all the
evils and calamities of this life, if he be a faithful and
true christian, and a more perfect and elevated state of
being, when his corruption shall put on incorruption—
100 gunn's domestic medicine.
and when the mere mortal shall put on immorality?
Are not the doctrines of true Christianity, essentially
connected with that sunshine of the breast, which we
denominate a good conscience:-—"and which nothing
earthly can give, or can destroy!" The christian reli-
gion was never intended by the Almighty as a source
of grief, mortification and suffering: it is a pure ema-
nation of divine love and mercy towards feeble, erring,
and fallen mankind; and was surely intended by divine
wisdom, as an unfailing source of joy, consolation and
happiness, both here and hereafter, to the human race!
I have been more particular on the subject of religion,
than at first view might seem necessary to the interests
of medical science; but I have been long convinced,
that the sentiments we entertain of a future life are
not only essentially connected with the moral condition
of mankind, but with the health and many of the
diseases of the physical system, of which more will be
said under the proper heads.
INTEMPERANCE.
Intemperance is the offspring of so many and such
various causes, that it seems impossible to enumerate
them, or even to reduce them to anything like scientific
order. I will commence my remarks on intemperance,
which in its broadest signification means excess in the
gratification of our propensities, passions, and even
intellectual pursuits, by emphatically observing that it
is generally found in strong and intimate connexion,
when really traced to its origin, with the pleasures and
enjoyments, as well as with the miseries and misfortunes
of mankind. I have before remarked under another
gunn's domestic medicine. 101
head, that with regard to the elementary principles of
the passions, propensities, and intellectual powers of
man, we know absolutely nothing with certainty; and
that all we can possibly understand with respect to
them, is derived from our consciousness of their exis-
tence, and from the effects they daily and hourly pro-
duce for our observation.
Every capacity or power of the human system,
physical and intellectual, when exercised in moderation,
and with strict conformity to the laws of nature, is pro-
ductive of enjoyment and happiness: this natural and
moderate exercise of our propensities, passions, and
mental energies, when matured into habits of life and
character, we call temperance; and, it is the abusive
degradation of those same intellectual powers, pas-
sions and propensities, by their unrestrained and exces-
sive indulgence to the destruction of health and happi-
ness, that we call intemperance. I will give some
familiar examples of the application of these princi-
ples, in order that they may be fully comprehended by
those for whom I write. We are all liable to hunger
and thirst; and all of us require sleep, for the renova-
tion of our bodily and mental powers when fatigued.
These are natural wants; and their gratifications are
always essential to health and happiness. We all know
perfectly well, for instance, that when we satisfy our
hunger and thirst in moderation, and renew the strength
of our system, of mind and body, by sleeping no
more than the requisite time for producing those effects,
the satisfaction of these natural wants invariably pro-
duces healthy action of body and mind, attended with
enjoyment and pleasure. But, on the other hand, when
in eating or drinking, we overload and surcharge the
stomach with meat and drink, and when in sleeping
102 gunn's domestic medicine.
take more repose than is required for the renovation
of our bodily and mental systems, our excesses are
always productive of nausea, uneasiness, indigestion,
and stupidity, and we habitually become gluttons,
drunkards and sluggards, and are a disgrace to our-
selves and society. The same doctrine and mode of
reasoning may be applied to the passions of mankind.
When they are indulged in with natural moderation,
and never suffered to run into riot and excess, they are
always conducive to health; and productive of many
of the enjoyments and pleasures of life; but, when
they gain the ascendency of the moral feelings and
rational powers, when they prostrate the bulwarks of
religion and morality, and are indulged in all their
debasing and destructive excesses, the progress of the
passions proclaims the premature decay of health,
strength, and happiness—and emphatically announces
to the unfortunate victims of excess, that they are
fallen indeed! In truth, what has just been remarked
with regard to the natural wants and passions of men,
may with strict justice be applied to the lofty and pow-
erful energies of the mind itself. It has been truly-
remarked by an acute and profound investigator of
the faculties of the mind, that "he who thinks with
great; intenseness and profundity, will not continue to
do so for many successive years"—and in proofs of
this, [ will note some instances which will have much
weight in demonstrating me fact. Sir Isaac Newton,
who was probably the greatest astronomer and mathe-
matician of his own or any other age, several years
previous to the close of his life, was utterly unable to
comprehend the meaning of his own works; in addi-
tion to which I will notice as a well authenticated fact
that the celebrated Dean Swift, the energies of whose
gunn's domestic medicine. 103
mind were inferior to those of no literary man of the
same age, several years previous to his death became
a driveler, and confirmed idiot. Whether it be true,
that intense, subtle, and powerful intellect, acts upon
the mere carcase as a sharp sword does upon the
scabbard; or whether the mind itself becomes exhaust-
ed and worn out, by an overstrained and continued
excitement of its powers, I leave for metaphysicians
to determine:—but we certainly do know, and the ex-
perience of all ages and generations proves the fact,
that excessive mental exertion not only produces fa-
tigue and lassitude in a few hours, but that if such
exertion be continued for a few years in succession, it
invariably blunts and wears down the keenest and
soundest intellectual energies of man. The broad and
comprehensive view I have just given of temperance
and intemperance, in regard to the physical wants,
passions, and intellectual powers of man, I believe to
be the only correct exposition on general principles that
can be given; because it embraces all the destructive
excesses to which man is prone, and refers all those
excesses, to the abuses and degradations of his eleva-
ted and noble faculties.
I commenced with remarking, and I wish the princi-
ple to be kept in view by the reader, that the vices of
intemperance when fairly traced to their origin, will
always be found in connexion with the enjoyments and
pleasures, as well as with the miseries and misfortunes
of mankind.
Mankind may be distinguished into two great classes
or divisions: First, those whose pleasures and enjoy-
ments, and whose pains and miseries, partake so great-
ly of a physical character, as nearly always to be
referable to corporeal or bodily functions and sensa-
104 gunn's domestic medicine.
tions: this class is composed of men who are properly
denominated sensualists; in other words, they are
individuals who can only be rendered happy or misera-
ble^through the medium of the senses* Second, those
whose general characters partake more of the nature
and habitual influence of the intellectual powers; and
of the emotions and passions of the mind; and whose
enjoyments, pleasures, sufferings and miseries, are more
intimately connected with the mind and imagination;
these may with much propriety be denominated men-
talists. Among the great aggregate of mankind, the
reality of the distinction between animal and intellect-
ual man, as regards the native bias of the human
character towards one or the other extreme, is demon-
strable from the following facts. Hunger and thirst,
for instance, are corporeal wants; they are essential to
the health, strength and support of the physical or bodi-
ly system; and may be called corporeal or bodily
passions, when they become so powerful as to impel
men to gluttony and drunkenness:—desires and propen-
sities being nothing more, when considered in relation
to the corporeal system, than slighter shades of the
physical wants and passions of men. Love and ambi-
tion, on the contrary, are passions of the mind and
imagination^they are the offspring of refined sensibili-
ty, and deep-toned energies of intellectual character;
and when acting in their native sphere, are so far ab-
stracted from all corporeal considerations, that they
only occasionally act on the physical wants and pas-
sions, and then only for the attainment of specific
objects. When the passion of love, for instance, is
directed to the perpetuation of the human species,
which I will remark in passing, was not the case in the
love which existed between Jonathan and David, the
gunn's domestic medicine. 105
intellectual passion of love only acts on the sexual and
corporeal functions; but, I would ask any sceptic on
this point, whether the love of literature, mathematics,
astronomy, or any other science or intellectual-pursuit,
has any connection whatever with propensities, wants
and passions, founded on the merely corporeal or bodi-
ly functions of mankind. And surely it will not be
questioned, that the food and nourishment required for
exercising, giving pleasure to, and strengthening the
mind, are essentially different from those required for
the sustenance, health, and strength of the body: and
we all know perfectly well, in reference to the corpo-
real and intellectual functions and capacities of men,
that the strong predominance or either class operates
unfavorably and sometimes destructively to the other.
The fact is, that we oftentimes find the loftiest and
strongest passions and mental energies, connected with
delicate and sometimes feeble corporeal organization,
debility of stomach, and prostration of strength: nor is
it unusual to observe, that those who possess uncom-
monly high health and physical strength, are frequently
on the other extreme, as regards the exercise of the
mind and passions. But further; every man who has
acquired any experience, respecting those states of the
physical system when the mind and passions act with
the greatest force, must know that a full stomach al-
ways blunts the mind and feelings; and that inanition
or emptiness of the stomach, is favorable to intellectual
operations. This fact is so well known, that the Creek
Indians, in all their public deliberations on important
national concerns, use what they call the black drink,
made of the parched leaves of the spice-wood boiled,
which vomits them copiously and produces the inani-
tion just mentioned} without which, they allege, they
106 gunn's domestic medicine.
are inadequate to deliberating on their national affairs.
Some medical writer has remarked, that physical de-
bility, and a diseased state of the system, impart, as it
were, a preternatu ral excitement to the mind; and in-
stances the cases of Boilieu, Erasmus, Pascal, Cicero,
Galba, Pope, and several others, who were as remark-
able for the feebleness of their physical constitutions,
as they were for their gigantic energies of intellect: the
same writer also remarks, that abortive, feeble, and
sickly children, almost invariably display powerful
characteristics of intellect when grown to maturity;
and instances the cases of the great Lord Littleton and
Mrs. Ferguson, both of whom were seven months'
children: to which he might have added the case of
Richard the Third, who, according to Shakspeare's
account, was " deformed, unfinished, and sent into this
breathing world scarce half made up." On the other
hand, it has frequently been remarked by men of acute
and scrutinizing minds, that high health, great corpo-
real strength, and uncommon muscularity of frame, are
seldom remarkable for subtle and profound genius, or
for an attachment to purely intellectual pursuits. This
is so notoriously true, that the opinions generally form-
ed by the vulgar, of the persons of men who are con-
spicuous and renowned for great intellectual powers,
are almost invariably the very reverse of what may be
called the corporeally contemptible realities. In de-
monstration of this fact, innumerable instances mi^ht
be given, in addition to those found in the persons of
Alexander of Macedon, Frederick, king of Prussia
John Philpot Curran, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamil-
ton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jack-
son, and lastly the late emperor Napolean, who was
nicknamed by his own soldiers, from his contemptible
HUNN*S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 107
stature and proportions, the little corporal. I will here
make an observation on this subject, which I do not
recollect to have seen in any writer. We are always
to presume, that the soundness and strength of the
physical constitutions of men, lead to great longevity or
length of days: and it is a fact as notorious as true,
that such men are seldom or never possessed of much
mind; in other words, the sword is not sufficiently
sharp to cut the scabbard. I am acquainted with a
man, a pauper, of this county, who is said from good
authority to be one hundred and ten years of age, who
I was informed an enquiry, never even in the meridian
of life had more than a a very ordinary mind: and
Thomas Parre, who died in London on the 16th No-
vember, 1635, aged one hundred and fifty-two years, it
is said was greatly noted for having been a man as
remarkable for his deficiency of mental energies, as for
his lascivious and sensual propensities. "It was ob-
served of him," says the London Medical Museum,
" that he used to eat often, both by night and by day,
taking up with old cheese, milk, coarse bread, small
beer, and whey; and which is more remarkable, he
ate at midnight, a little before he died. Being open-
ed after his death, his body was still found very fleshy;
—his breast hairy; his genitals unimpaired, which
served to confirm the report of his having undergone
public censures for his incontinency," &c. &c. I
would by no means wish to be understood, that there
are no individuals possessed of high health and great
physical strength, who are remarkable for strong intel-
lectual powers; Newton, Johnson, Shakspeare, and a
thousand other instances might be given as exceptions
to the general rule just noticed; but we are all well
convinced not only that high health and strength lead
108 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
to corporeal amusements and pursuits unfavorable to
intellectual improvement—but that debility and disease
act in various ways extremely favorable to accessions
of mental strength. In the first place, debility and
disease lower the tone of those passions which impel
us to active exertion and amusement; in other words,
they impose a powerful restraint on the physical appe-
tites and propensities—circumscribe us to amusements
and pursuits connected with the operations of the mind,
confine us to the company of our elders, whose superior
experience and knowledge are beneficial to our intel
lectual improvement; and "by keeping up an action in
the brain, in common with other parts of the body, they
tend to impart vigor to the intellectual faculties."
From what has been said, I think it will appear
evident, that from both natural and accidental circum-
stances, there is a distinction to be drawn between
those men whose pleasures and pains are connected
with physical or corporeal character, and those whose
enjoyments and miseries are more intimately associated
with the powers and passions of the mind: and it was
for these reasons that I alleged in the outset, not only
that intemperance was the offspring of various physical
and intellectual causes, but that when traced to its
origin, it would generally be found in strong and inti-
mate connexion, as well with the pleasures and enjoy-
ments, as with the miseries and misfortunes of mankind.
This is a view of the subject of intemperance and its
causes, which I presume has never before been taken
by any writer; and although it must of necessity, like
every thing else human, be subject to imperfections
both in data and conclusions, yet it may have some
salutary tendencies. It may possibly invite the atten-
tion of the learned, to further and more satisfactory
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE
109
investigations of the subject; it may exhibit the neces-
sity of seeking for the real causes of intemperance, in
removing its habits and effects from the human system;
and it may invite society to the exercise of more lenity
and compassion, when laboring for the reformation of
its unfortunate and melancholy victims. Abuse and
degradation were never yet influential in reforming the
intemperate; for, what interest did any man ever yet
feel, for the preservation of that which he has been
convinced, by abuse and degradation, was of no esti-
mation or value? Intemperance is confined to no rank
in life; to no particular grade of genius and intellect-
ual power, between a Socrates and an idiot; it is
found in the hut of the savage, the haunts of the learn-
ed, the hovel of the beggar, and in the palaces of
kings; its causes are as various as the capacities of
man for enjoyments and pleasures, and as multiplied as
the various miseries and misfortunes to which he is
subjected through life; what a farce then it must be,
for any physician to attempt to remove the different
causes of intemperance, without knowing that these
causes are, and by the application of one specific reme-
dy to such an infinite variety of causes. Would you
attempt to remove diseases of the mind, by merely
physical remedies? Would you, on the other hand,
hope for the removal of merely corporeal diseases, by
the application of intellectual means? Would you
sooth the mental anguish of remorse, without the con-
solations of religion, and assurances of divine forgive-
ness? Would you, in other words, attempt to destroy
a poisonous variety of plants, without striking at the
roots of their existence and vitality?
The mere pleasures of sense, as well as those of
the intellect, are susceptible of being rendered more
110 gunn's domestic medicine.
intense, by the application of stimulants: in the varied
and endless catalogue of stimulating powers, are to be
found all the great allurements to dissipation and con-
firmed intemperance; but it will hardly be contended,
that one grade of stimulants, possesses the same
strength and adaptation of allurement, with all the
varieties of mankind. Physically speaking, one man's
system is excited to pleasurable sensations by snuff, the
system of another by tobacco, of another by wine, of
a fourth by spirits and opium, of a fifth by highly sea-
soned and stimulating food, &,c. &c; and we are all
perfectly aware, that a persistency in the use of any
or all the above stimulants, will sometimes degenerate
into a confirmed habit of intemperance in their use,
too strong for the restraints of either the moral or in-
tellectual energies of the self-devoted victims, You
will frequently hear the devotees of any or all the
above excesses, execrating the very agents they employ
in wearing down their constitutions with incidental
diseases and premature decay, and moralizing with
the finest touches of elocution on the heinousness and
immorality of such dangerous and degrading excesses;
and what does all this prove? Why it demonstrates
conclusively, that the habits of dissipation and intem-
perance, like all other derelictions from the standard
of nature and philosophic moderation, are to be resis-
ted in their first formation, and before they can
acquire the resistless force of torrents, before which all
human resolutions, and efforts of preservation, sink to
rise no more! There are two periods of human life:
there are two marked and distinct periods in the pro-
gressive excesses of dissipation and intemperance. In
the rise of life, we act upon every thing around us
from a confidence in our own strength, and a conscious-
gunn's domestic medicine. Ill
ness of being able to master and shape our own desti-
nies: in the decline of life, when the physical, moral,
and mental energies begin to fail, we act upon less
resolute and less confidential principles; in other
words, we merely act on the defensive, and resort to
expedients for warding off diseases, dangers and death.
These two periods are strongly marked in the lives and
characters of all men; from the General, who achieves
victories in his youth, and sustains defeat in his old age,
to the man of intellectual powers and pursuits, who,
like the immortal Milton, writes a "Paradise Lost," in
the meridian of life and intellectual resolution, and a
"Paradise Regained," when the tremors of old age and
irresolution have crept over him. This is a faithful
picture of a man of dissipation and intemperance. At
first he adventures on an excess, partly from the attrac-
tive force of the allurement, and partly from the con-
sciousness of moral and intellectual resolution to with-
stand any temptation to dangerous indulgence. In the
formation of intemperate habits, this is precarious and
hostile ground: the scripture says, "let him who stands,
take heed lest he fall." The habit of intemperance is
of slow or rapid growth, in proportion to the strength
or weakness of our resolutions to withstand temptation.
Where many and strong motives combine to retard
our progress in excesses of intemperance, we advance
slowly and almost imperceptibly to self-destruction.
When the animations of youth, and the convivialities
of conversation, are sufficient for the production of
pleasurable sensations: when we are highly suspectible
of impression from the varied charms of nature; and
while the brilliant prospects of a long and animated
life, seem "to bid an eternal Eden smile around us "
the temptations to degrading intemperance are only
ti'2
gunn's domestic medicine
those which enhance the intensity of other pleasures.
But, in proportion as all these fairy prospects fade on
the vision; in proportion as the repetition of these en-
joyments causes us to lose the sentiment of novelty,
and especially when satiety of such enjoyments produ-
ces lassitude and coldness, we invariably descend to
more sensual and intense expedients, for renewing sen-
sations of pleasure: and unfortunately for mankind,
those expedients are too often connected with the dis-
sipations and intemperance of the glutton, the epicure,
the opium-eater, and the drunkard. This descent to
confirmed habits of intemperance, in all its varied
stages of degradation, need not be delineated; these
graduated debasements are visible in every department
of society, and are so common, as almost every where
to have lost their novelty and impression.
I have not yet spoken of those dissipations, which
seem to be connected with the energies and passions of
the mind; and compared with which, the intemperate
excesses of the mere animal appetites and passions of
man, dwindle into a comparatively insignificant and
ordinary character. Where the character of an indi-
vidual is decidedly intellectual, there always will be
discovered at an early period of life, a strong native
propensity to an indulgence in intellectual pleasures,
and in those passions which are more closely allied to
the mental powers, I mean here those pleasures of
the mind, which have their rise in the memory, the
understanding, the imagination, &c. and those which
are the offspring of an indulgence in those passions of
the mind, which we call love, hope, ambition, &c.__
With regard to the pleasures of memory, they are as
various and unlimited as the objects by which we are
surrounded in nature; they comprise every thing cog-
gunn's domestic medicine. 113
nizable by all the senses of man, the impressions of
which can be stamped upon the retentive faculty; and
they embrace also, those recollections of our own con-
duct, which are fraught with the pleasures of a good
conscience. It is absolutely impossible to define or
limit the pleasures of memory, they embrace our pa-
rents, our early friends, and all the objects of our youth-
ful attachments; the houses in which we were born
and educated, the haunts of our youthful and innocent
diversions, and all the objects of our early pursuits.
The pleasures of memory also comprise all we have
learned of the heroism, the magnanimity, and the in-
telligence, of the great warriors and sages of antiquity;
they in fact embrace all the recollections of the mind,
in its recognizance of all the objects and events which
have ever been pleasing to us; and they particularly
afford us happiness from a review of a well-spent life.
But are there not pains, as well as pleasures of mem-
ory? There are; and here commences the cata-
logue of dissipations, the first impulse to which is to
be found in the mind. Was it an inherent baseness
and brutality of native character, that rendered Robert
Burns intemperate? Was it a bestial love of the
liquid poison which finally destroyed him, that origin-
ated and confirmed those habits of intemperance which
sent him to an early grave? No: his dissipations
commenced in the convivialities and pleasures of a
refined, delicate, and superior mind: and were con-
firmed into habits of intemperance too stubborn for the
control of his moral energies, by the lowliness of his
fortunes, the poignancy and valgarity of his sufferings,
and the pains of his memory! Why do we see a
man like this, the prey of a morbid and confirmed
melancholy? And why do we hear him warbling
15
114 gunn's domestic medicine.
forth his distresses, when contemplating objects yet
dear and painful to his memory, in the following in-
spired and tender strains: "ye mind me of departed
hours—departed, never to return!" The fate of Ro-
bert Burns, has been the fate of thousands whose names
are lost to fame, and who have sunk into obscure and
lonely graves, unpitied and unknown. Thomas Faine
once remarked, that one of the greatest miseries of
human life, consisted in not being able to forget what
it was painful to remember. Mr. Paine's character was
highly intellectual; his whole life had been devoted to
conferring political benefits and moral miseries on
mankind: and it is not merely possible, but highly
probable, that the desertions of society on account of
his theological writings, and the pains of his memory,
led to those confirmed habits of dissipation and intem-
perance, which ultimately destroyed him. But, the
instances just submitted to the reader, are but two out
of thousands which might be adduced, to prove the
influence of the pains of memory, in originating and
confirming fatal habits of dissipation and intemperance.
How many millions have sunk into the vortex of in-
temperance, from the influence of those pains of mem-
ory, called an accusing conscience? Physician—
"canst thou minister to a mind diseased," by medical
prescriptions which can only affect the body?
The pleasures and pains of the understanding come
next under consideration; and present such a field for
the investigation of philosophy, as can only be delinea-
ted in outlines. Curiosity is the first passion, or rather
emotion of the human understanding; it leads the mind
to the investigation and scrutiny of all the objects of na-
ture and art which present themselves to man, betwixt
the cradle and the grave; the emotion or passion of
gunn's domestic medicine. 115
curiosity does more; it leads us to the investigation of
objects beyond the boundaries of time, and impels us
to attempt a revelation of the great enigmas of eternity
itself! The mind of man is naturally attached to truth,
and always experiences pleasures in the discovery of it,
when the disclosure is found beneficial to comfort,
health, fame, or to enjoyments of any description; in
all these cases, and innumerable others, we experience
what may be called the pleasures of the understand-
ing. But has not the human understanding also its
pains? I think so; we all know perfectly well, that
the period of death must arrive: and does not this cer-
tain anticipation give pain to thousands? Is not the
fear of death painful? I will admit that the uncertain-
ty of the moment, wisely and benevolently hidden from
us by Providence, in some measure blunts the painful
anticipation of death; but what are the menial pangs
of the convict,, who is given to understand that he
must be executed to-morrow! Both the pleasures and
pains of the understanding, have relation to the dis-
covery of truth. Suppose a man be bitten by a serpent
of whose character he knows nothing; is he not alarm-
ed? Suppose that he immediately discovers the reptile
to be harmless; do not the mental pains of alarm
cease: and does he not experience pleasure from the
consciousness of security from danger? Here the
pleasure of the understanding is derived from a benefi-
cial discovery: but suppose he ascertain that the reptile
by which he has been assailed is of a venomous and
fatal character, and that he clearly understands his
immediate destiny to be death, are not his mental pan<*s
identified with the pains of the understanding? I have
not space, in a work like this, to go into a philosophi-
cal detail of the important truths connected with this
116 gunn's domestic medicine.
subject; and regret to be compelled to differ from the
authority of the great1] Doctor Rush, who alleges that
the pleasures of the understanding ha\ e no antagonists
in pain. A knowledge of facts, is the aggregate amount
of the truths acquired by the operations of the under-
standing: where these acquisitions of knowledge de-
velop consequences beneficial to human enjoyment and
happiness, they are always productive of pleasure to
the mind, through the medium of the understanding:
but where by the operations of the understanding, the
mind is brought into a full view of dangerous and
disastrous consequences, the results are always painful
and unhappy. This I believe to be a full and fair
statement of the case; and were it not, I would like to
know, what influence in the religious reformation of
mankind could possibly be derided from faith in the
belief of future rewards and punishment! Ignorant
of consequences, what to man would be the happiness
or misery of either prosperity or misfortune? And
how are either to be calculated without the operations
of the understanding?—can a man even calculate the
results of a plain question in arithmetic, without the
operations of this mental power? It is alone by the
pervading and subtile powers of the understanding, that
we are enabled to feel the realities of either intellectu-
al pain or pleasure, happiness or misery. The memo-
ry of man, acts upon nothing but facts and events
which are past and gone; but the understanding oper-
ates also on the present condition and circumstances
of mankind, and even extends its views to futurity; and
these are the reasons why the pleasures and pains of
the understanding, are more intense than those of the
memory. These are also the reasons why we are led
astray by the festivities of present dissipations and in-
gunn's domestic medicine. 117
temperance; and these are also true reasons, why
we resort to the banquet and the flowing bowl, to drown
both past and present sorrows connected with the mind.
Thus we see, that both joys and sorrows are capable
of producing habits of intemperance and dissipation:
Physician, can your medical drugs restrain those joys,
or remove those sorrows which spring from the mind
itself, when all the maxims of moral wisdom and philo-
sophy have failed? No; you must resort to the restrain-
ing powers, and the consolations of religion and
morality.
The pleasures and pains of the imagination, com-
mence where those of the memory and the under-
standing terminate: and, there is this specific differ-
ence between them; the powers of the understanding
and memory operate on facts and probabilities, while
those of the imagination riot in the wild excesses of
fiction, romance and absolute improbabilities. The
range of the human imagination seems to be unlimited;
and what is very extraordinary, and something difficult
to be accounted for, its vigor and creative powers,
seem to be proportioned to the weakess and want of
cultivation of the understanding. All the records
which have descended to us from very ancient times,
seem to favor the presumption that the empire of ima-
gination, fiction, and romance, in the dark periods of
antiquity, gave a tone and character to the human
mind; and that the early records of history only teem
with romantic fictions which defy belief, and with
delineations of prodigies which never existed, because
the philosophic investigations of the understanding
had not yet corrected the errors of the imagination.
It was probably for these reasons, that Homer in his
"Illiad" admits and describes a plurality of Gods; and
118 gunn's domestic medicine.
that Ossian's fancy saw the ghosts of departed heroes
who had been slain in battle, half viewless among the
clould of night. Had the progress and improvement
of Homer's understanding, enabled him to arrive at
the sublime conclusion which announces the existence
of one great first cause, he never could have delinea-
ted in poetic numbers the distinctive characters of his
fictitious deities; and, had Ossian not been ignorant
enough to believe in ghosts, his imagination never
could have deceived hsm in the belief, that those of
his forefathers were witnessing from the clouds, the
sanguinary horrors of his battles? The fact seems to
be, as I have said before, that the empire of imagina-
tion commences where the matter of fact and philosophic
operations of the understanding and memory cease;
for I think it will not be contested, even by men of
ordinary intelligence, that it is impossible to imagine
the existence of a thing which we are convinced has
no being; or to fancy a thing to be true, which we
know to be a falsehood. Can any man imagine that
sugar is bitter, gall sweet, or that two and two make
five? No: the truth is, that a knowledge of facts and
realities destroy all the frost works of fancy and fic-
tion, and demonstrates clearly that philosophy and
science have nearly extinguished the fire of poetic ge-
nius. In other words, few men can be poets in this age
of philosophic improvement, who will not borrow or
steal from the old writers, or who cannot find subjects
of poetic inspiration, on which little or nothing is or
can be certainly known. Newton or Locke, would
have cut as contemptible a figure in poetry, as Homer
and Ossian would have exhibited in astronomy and
metaphysics.
We all know that the fire of the imagination is
gunn's domestic medicine. 119
weakened and destroyed by old age and experience;
and that those who always deal in fictions are always
the victims of folly. The pleasures of imagination are
always the most brilliant and powerful in the youthful
mind; and the reasons are obvious. This is the peri-
od when all impressions made on the mind, by disclos-
ing to us the opening beauties of nature, and the
imposing splendors of creation, are entirely novel and
without alloy. This is the period when none of the
cares and anxieties of life, overshadow and begloom
the fairy prospect of fancied and endless felicities to
come; and this too is the period, when our youthful
friendships are untainted by a knowledge of the base-
ness and selfishness of mankind—and our loves of the
supposed divinity of the female character, are unalloy-
ed by those appalling discoveries of experience, wisdom
and philosophy, which teach us that every thing human,
is imperfect, and unworthy of our idolatrous devotions!
These are the reasons why many modern philosophers
have been of opinion, that the state of savage and un-
cultivated nature, as regards a more refined condition
of the human mind, is much more conducive to human
happiness than any other; for say these men, "where
ignorance is bliss, it is surely folly to be wise." If
these delusive fascinations of the imagination could
continue through life, uncorrected by the bitter lessons
of experience and wisdom; or if man could be so
educated, as never to seek or experience happiness but
in the realities of life and nature, the wild delusions of
fancy would never lead his judgment astray in the pur-
suits of happiness; nor would he ever be discontented
with the moderate enjoyments which the realities of
existence afford him. But, one of the most difficult
lessons in wisdom and philosophy, is to be able to ac-
120 gunn's domestic medicine.
quire and preserve through life that balance of charac-
ter which preserves to us the innocent delusions of the
fancy, without suffering them to interfere with, and
ultimately to destroy our rational attachments to the
colder realities of life. It is the want of this just equi-
poise, between philosophic moderation and strength of
judgment, and the acute sensibilities allied to a cultiva-
ted imagination, that constitutes the real vortex in which
so many men of enlightened and lofty genius have sunk
to rise no more. Relying on the pleasures of imagi-
nation for happiness in early life, never dreaming that
they are in a world of sad realities, which will in-
volve them in misfortunes against which nothing but
the exercise of prudence and judgment can guard them
and continuing to enjoy the present moment, without
looking forward to the probable and untoward contin-
gencies of futurity—they are never aroused from their
brilliant and illusory visions of fanciful and imaginary
happiness, until they are overwhelmed with real mise-
ries and misfortunes, and pressed upon by those impe-
rious calls of want and necessity, which cannot be
silenced by visionary or imaginary means. Here com-
mence those pains of the imagination, those lacerations
of sensibility, and those horrible anticipations of real
and unmitigated suffering, which no human language
can describe, and which are so often seen to goad the
man of genius and superior endowments to dissipation
and intemperance, and precipitate him to all the despe-
rations attendant on ruined fortunes, and an early grave!
This is the vortex that has swallowed thousands of the
greatest men that ever existed; this is the bottomless
ocean that has engulfed millions of the brightest and
most useful men that ever had existence. It is useless
to speak of the love of liquor being the cause of intern-
gunn's domestic medicine. 121
perance, as applied to men of lofty and powerful ener-
gies of mind, and it is worse than useless to attempt
the reformation of such men, without knowing and
reaching the real causes of their derelictions. Nearly
all that has been written on the subject of intemper-
ance, has been superficial and nugatory, and confined
to the mere contemplation of its effeets. Would you
prescribe remedies for the mere effects of a disease,
without knowing and striking at the real causes?
Would you attempt to guard yourself against the point-
ed dagger of an assassin, without paralyzing the arm
that held it to your bosom? I will admit that you
may remove the diseases and habits of intemperance,
where they are merely connected with the corporeal
system and physical senations of men, and have noth-
ing whatever to do with the mind, by the administra-
tion of medical drugs, which will acton that corporeal
system, and by the substitution of new bodily habits for
old ones; but beyond these points you cannot go by
physical means, when you advance on the confines of
the mind, and the intellectual passions. Here you are
in a new region, and must adapt your means to the
origin and nature of the disease, you must employ the
moral powers of dissuasive eloquence, the divine con-
solations of religion, held out by scripture to erring and
repentant man, and its denunciations against the con*
duct of the self-destroyer; you must employ the max-
ims of philosophy, and the admonitory precepts of true
wisdom, you must soothe the victim of intemperate
despair, with reasonable hopes of a better fate, instead
of irritating him by abusive and degrading denuncia-
tions, &c. &c. But, as this is a most important subject,
I will endeavor to elucidate it a little further. When
the causes of disease are connected with the mind and
16
122 gunn's domestic medicine.
its passions, mere physical restraints and even punish-
ments will amount to nothing in attempting a cure.
There is a class of mankind, I will admit, who, like
children whose moral susceptibilities cannot be acted
upon, must be restrained from excesses, and even the
commission of crimes, by ignominious corporeal terrors
and punishments; this class of men always possessess
more of the physical or corporeal, than of the moral
and mental character, and must be acted on by pillories,
whipping-posts, and sometimes gibbets. But terrors
and punishments which merely affect the body, have
no influence with those men whose minds and passions
are morbidly affected, or those who are under strong
moral impressions of rectitude of conduct. The whole
range of martyrs, who have suffered unspeakable tor-
ments in the cause of religion and patriotism, demon-
strates these facts. Would you then attempt to restrain
from intemperance, by mere corporeal and physical
means, the man whose mind and its passions are affect-
ed? Certainly not; every man whose character is
decidedly intellectual, feels that his native dignity is
outraged and degraded by corporeal and ignominious
restraints or punishments, and will in nine instances out
of ten, destroy himself to escape from his own senti-
ments of degradation. While the genius of conquest,
in the person of Napoleon, was lowering by successive
victories all the national banners of Europe, a French
soldier of the line presented himself to the Emperor,
and desired to be shot. When interrogated as to his
reasons, he replied that he had been sentenced to
receive ignominious corporeal punishment for some
misdeed, rather than to submit to which, he preferred
death: the impression made on the mind of Napoleon
was sueh, that ignominious corporeal punishments
gunn's domestic medicine 123
were immediately abolished throughout the French
armies.
It is almost needless to remark, on those passions of
the mind, called hope, love, ambition, &c. &c— they
are all productive of pleasures and pains, in proportion
as their influence is bounded by moderation, or char-
acterised by excess. The pleasures of hope have
been finely celebrated by Campbell; and are well
known to have a powerful influence in blunting the
miseries and misfortunes, of mankind during life, and
even in illuminating their anticipations of a happy im-
mortality beyond the grave! But the pleasures of hope
have their counterpoise of evils and miseries; and
when indulged in to excess, or founded on visionary
and impossible principles, frequently terminate in dis-
appointment and dispair. Here wisdom, fortitude,
religion and philosophy, are probably the only essential
and efficient preventatives, against these intemperate
palliatives of disappointed hope, which have led thou-
sands to drown themselves, their fortunes and their
miseries in the bowl. The miseries of dispair and
disappointed hope, are seldom the portion of those
whose educations have been moral and judicious, or
who have been early taught to distinguish the realities
of life, from those illusive and visionary expectations
of it, which never can be realized even by the greatest
prosperity. The visionary gildings with which youth-
ful feeling and animating anticipation invest the untried
scenes of life, always dissolves before the lessons of
wisdom and experience; and where these privations
are followed by positive misfortunes from which there
exists no hope of redemption, intemperance 'almost
invariably succeeds, as the only remedy by which tem-
porary alleviation can be obtained. Bat this conduct
124 gunn's domestic medicine.
is founded in short-sighted and desperate policy; be-
cause, to the mental pangs of misfortunes, are always
added the miseries of corporeal disease.
Love is likewise an an intellectual passion, and, like
hope, is productive of pleasure and pain, happiness and
misery. I have before spoken of this passion, as con-
nected with the enjoyments and happiness of man; it
now becomes my duty to take a brief view of the
sombre colorings of the picture, and to develop some
of the causes with which its miseries are connected.—
Love is always founded on perceptions of real or ima-
ginary perfections; when this elevated and ennobling
sentiment is based on the perception of qualities which
really exist, it invariabbly leads to happiness, and is an
unerring indication of superior wisdom; but when it is
founded in errors of the imagination, and in the false
perception of merely visionary qualities which have no
existence, it generally eventuates in misery, and is a
decided mark of overweening stupidity and folly. The
first step to misery, in wedded love, where the qualities
of either of the parties are not sufficiently noble to sus-
tain the passion, is the discovery of blemishes of
person, disposition, mind or character, which were not
known previously to marriage. This discovery produ-
ces a chill of the affections, which leads to a more
narrow and scrutinizing investigation of the causes of
our having been deceived. If they are found to have
originated with ourselves, we invariably undervalue
and detest our own judgment, which would suffer us
thus to be deceived, and immediately become dissatis-
fied with ourselves; and it requires no great exercise
of wisdom to know, that those who are dissatisfied with
themselves, are displeased with all those around them.
On the contrary, if it is found on investigation that we
gunn's domestic medicine. 125
have been deceived by the hypocrisy of the individual
to whom we are tied by bonds which death alone can
dissolve, contempt and detestation are the inevitable
consequences; for it is no more possible for a man or
woman of moral discernment to love an unworthy ob-
ject, knowing it to be such, than it is for a human being
to hate the presence of virtue combined with peerless
beauty. Here then commences that series of domestic
and conjugal miseries, which defies and baffles the
power of mere language to describe: and the parties
soon become estranged from, and perfectly hateful to
each other. Home becomes a hell; the tavern and
gaming tables are resorted to; to bad company habits
of intemperance succeed, and the event is, death by
confirmed habits of intoxication, or life embittered by
negligence, disease, poverty and want! I am the more
particular in mentioning the effects of "love to hatred
turned," and in tracing those effects to their causes, not
only because the picture which is true to life may be
instrumental in preventing deceptions and hypocrisy
in courtship, but because it may have a tendency to
illustrate the eternal truth, that no miseries can ever
be drowned in the midnight bowl, unless the chalice
contain the poison of death itself!----1 said that love
was always founded on the perception of real or vision-
ary perfections; with that founded on amiable and noble
qualities, I have here nothing to do, because it is al-
ways permanent, and always unshaken by misfortunes.
This position requires no further poof than can be
found in every country, and in the sphere of every
man's observations on life. Where, however, the at-
tachment is founded on illusory perceptions, it is not
only short-lived in itself, but eternally liable to destruc-
tion by variations of fortune. Some persons, indeed
126 gunn's domestic medicine.
all individuals of the human species are formed by"
nature for enjoying the felicities of attachment and
love. With these elementary principle?, and with a
heart alive to the tenderest sensibilities, the devourer of
novels and romances, in which the human character is
invested with perfections that never pertained to it, is
peculiarly liable to miseries and misfortunes in love. I
say once for all, and wish it to be borne in mind by the
reader, that no inordinate and excessive passson, not
even that of love itself, was ever the offspring of cor-
rect perceptions of human nature, such as it really is.
Where is the man or woman of reflection, who does
not know that human nature is not perfection; and
who is not perfectly convinced, that it is a compound
of personal and moral beauties and imperfections.
Those who areuin time made acquainted with these
philosophic truths, and have early learned to know that
man is a compound, to say the best we can of him, of
virtue and vice, strength and weakness, wisdom and
folly, will never experience any of the passions in their
extremes. Their loves and hatreds, their friendships
and enmities, and indeed all their other passions, are
true to nature, and therefore always characterized by
moderation. Loves and hatreds are only felt in the
extreme, because in the former case we are blind to
imperfections which really exist; and because in the
latter instances, we shut our eyes against many noble
traits of character, which would mitigate our unquali-
fied hatreds. The samemay be said of our friendships
and enmities, and indeed of all our other passions:
even the sneaking scoundrel avarice, if he did not
overrate the object of his desires, would abandon his
swindling propensities, and relax his gripe on the mise-
ries and misfortunes of mankind. It is the immoderate
GUNN'S DOAiUSTIC MEDICINE. 127
overrating the objects of our passions, that produces
all their excesses; against which no human being can
be guarded, unless through the medium of wisdom and
intelligence, which alone can stamp the genuine value
on every object of human desire or pursuit. Few in-
stances are to be found on record, where the miseries
of disappointed love have; been experienced in the
extreme, by persons whose errors of imagination had
been corrected by experience, and the acquisitions of
true wisdom; and even where all the agonies of dis-
appointed love have been felt in their excesses, they
produce different effects upon the different sexes. On
woman, they induce a disposition for retirement and a
solitary life, which sometimes ends in confirmed melan-
choly, sometimes in insanity, and not unfrequently in a
broken heart. With man, on the other hand, the ex-
cesses of unfortunate love produces very different effects
they urge him to mix in crowded assemblies, in the
hum of business, and in the haunts of men; they dis-
pose him to attempt a forgetfulness of his miseries, by
exploring new scenes of life, in countries to which he
is a stranger, by encountering the dangers of the field
and flood; and by drowning the memory of his mis-
fortunes in the oblivion of the bowl!
Of the miseries of ambition, and the excesses to
which they lead, the space allotted will not allow much
to be said. Like love, the passion of ambition, both
in moderation and excess, depends for strength on the
value we set on subjects of ambitious desire. To those
whose wisdom teaches them the true value of earthly
objects, the passion of ambition is always productive of
enjoyments; but when an over-estimate of the objects
of ambitious pursuit, arises from false though dazzling
perceptions of those objects, the passion always
128 gunn's domestic medicine
acquires an uncontrolled dominion in the human breast,
producing misery to the individual, and frequently the
most dreadful desolations to society and mankind.
When ambition is confined to moral bounds, in other
words, where it is restricted to doing good, it becomes
a powerful auxiliary to religion and morality, and to
the peace and happiness of mankind.
"But talents angel bright, if wanting worth,
Are shining instruments in false ambition's hand,
To finish faults illustrious, and give infamy renown!"
Where ambition is laudable, and restricted to benefi-
cent and moral objects, it serves to dignify and adorn
the human character: and even where thus character-
ized, it meets with failures and disappointments, it pro-
duces no serious and lasting miseries to its votaries.
The real passion of ambition is of a heaven-born char-
acter; it is founded in a strong desire to be remember-
ed with gratitude and admiration by posterity and
future ages—and is the legitimate offspring of a vital
and deep-seated sentiment of immortality! We see
ts indications in every department of life, and in every
*age of the world. The monumental inscriptions of
ancient times: the mummied catacombs, and the great
pyramids of Egypt themselves bear witness of the
universal prevalence of this all-absorbing sentiment of
immortality, and of the dreadful contemplations which
accompany the anticipations of being swept from hu-
man memory by the hand of time! The desire to be
remembered, is as obvious in the school-boy who in-
scribes his name on a tree or a rock, as in the lofty and
headlong careers of Charlemagne, Alexander and
Napoleon:—who desolated nations and overturned em-
pires, to give their achievements to posterity and future
ages.—When the passion of ambition, of whatever
grade, or to whatever objects directed, is disappointed
gunn's domestic medicine. 129
in its expectations, it invariably leads to dissatisfaction
with life and mankind, and frequently plunges its vota-
ries into the vortex of intemperance and debauchery.
These effects are not only confined to the ambition of
men possessing lofty and powerful energies of mind,
whose objects of ambition are correspondent in eleva-
tion, but they are discoverable in all the inferior orders
of society, and in all the subordinate ranks of intellect-
ual power: they are in fact as observable in the Ccesar
who is disappointed in the possession of an imperial
crown, as in the humble votary of literature and
science, or the hook-fingered and swindling devotee of
avarice, with whom wealth is the idol of adoration!
Let any of these men, be finally and permanently dis-
appointed in the first and great objects of their ambi-
tion, and if they are destitute of resolution, fortitude,
wisdom, and philosophical energy of intellect, they
invariably sin!: in the whirlpool of intemperance, de-
bauchery, and sottishness:—Alexander the Great died
from the influence of a fit of intemperance, because
probably he had no more worlds to conquer; and it is
needless to advert to the thousands of instances which
every where present themselves, of men of all ranks
and grades of life, who sink into insignificance, and
obscurity, from the effects of intemperance, brought on
them by disappointed ambition.
I have now, I think, shown some of the various
causes of intemperance, and probably to the satisfac-
tion of reflecting men, traced some of them to the
physical and mental constitutions of men: as far as it
is practicable to be done by observations of mere
effects. In this brief essay, by no means correspond-
ent with the importance of the subject, I have neither
followed nor profited by the hacknied theories which
17
130 gunn's domestic medicine.
have heretofore been published; I have endeavored to
view human nature such as it is, and to remark the
developments of the causes of intemperance, such as
they have appeared to me in my medical pursuits; and
if I have not been as successful as might be desired by
medical men who aro the real friends to humanity, I
may at least have furnished some materials which may
be useful to such fathers of the profession as Mitchell,
Physic, Hossack, and many others, who are engaged
in developing the mysticisms of medical science, and
rendering them intelligible to mankind.
REMARKS,
preliminary to the
MEDICAL PORTION OF THIS WORK.
I have now done with the passions most material to
be thought of in a work like this. I think I have
spoken of them as they deserve; and as being the real
causes of very many and obstinate diseases; and I
also think, without any sort of vanity on the subject,
that I have taken views of them which are not only
new, but such as will be satisfactory to men who are
pleased with common sense, and matter-of-fact dis-
closures, instead of visionary theories, and old doctrines
that have been worn thread-bare by repetition. Where
I have found the essences of the passions beyond the
reach of investigation, I have freely confessed the truth;
being determined not to veil my ignorance of what is
most likely hidden from us by divine wisdom, by long
sounding words which when explained would make
men of common sense laugh at medical quackery, and
by technical language which means next to nothing.
I have spoken of the passions as I have seen and wit-
nessed their effects on the human system, and on the
peace and happiness of society generally; and particu-
larly as regards intemperance, or rather excess in
fear—joy—anger—jealousy—love—grief—religion-
gluttony and drunkenness, I have ventured to go as far
into some of the remote and constitutional causes of
132 gunn's domestic medicine.
them, as I possibly could without running into mere
theories, not supported by the experience of mankind.
In treating of them I have been limited much by want
of space; and have therefore in some instances, been
compelled to comprise as much information as possible
in a few words: and I must also observe here, that on
intemperance, religion, love, jealousy and anger, I have
extended my remarks further than on the rest of the
passions; because I consider them of vastly more im-
portance to the health and happiness, and to the dis-
eases and miseries of mankind, than all the rest of the
passions put together. I have classed religion and
intemperance under the head of the passions, because
all our desires and aversions become passions, when
they become too strong to be controlled and moderated
by moral sense and reason; and if even these were not
the facts, mere names are nothing but blinds, frequent-
ly placed by the learned between the reader and the
realities of things, to conceal the naked poverty and
barrenness of the sciences, as professed by literary
men. If our education consisted more in a knowledge
of things, and less in a knowledge of mere words than
it does, and if the great mass of the people knew how
much pains were taken by scientific men, to throw dust
in their eyes by the use of ridiculous and high-sound-
ing terms, which mean very little if any thing, the
learned professors of science would soon lose much of
their mock dignity, and mankind would soon be unde-
ceived, as to the little difference that really exists be-
tween themselves and the very learned portion of the
community. I am the more particular on this subject,
not because I wish to lower the public opinion respect-
ing the real value of medical knowledge, but because
the time has arrived when the hypocrisy which has
gunn's domestic medicine. 133
attached itself to religion, the pettifogging dissimula-
tion which has crept into the practice and science'of
law, and the quackeries which have so long disgraced
the practice and science of medicine, are about to be
scattered to the four winds of heaven, by the progress
of real knowledge, and the general diffusion of useful
intelligence. The great body of the people are begin-
ning to find out as I remarked in substance in my dedi-
cation—that when we take from the learned sciences
all their technical and bombastic language, they imme-
diately become plain common sense, very easily to be
understood by all ranks of men. I have also said in
that same dedication, and I how repeat it, that the
really valuable materials in medicine, and those which
are the most powerful in the cure of diseases, are few
and simple, and very easily to be procured in all coun-
tries; and on this subject I will say something more
which may probably be considered new. I not only
believe, that every country produces, or can be made
to produce, whatever is necessary to the wants of its
inhabitants—but also whatever is essential to the cure
of diseases incidental to each country; it is by no
means probable, that an all-wise creator would create
man with wants he could not supply, and subject him
to diseases for which there were no remedies to be
found in nature, and in all the different countries and
climates of which he is an inhabitant. If such were
not the facts, how miserable would be the condition of
the human species; eternally harassed by the calls of
wants which could not be satisfied, and afflicted with
diseases for which they could find neither the means
of alleviation nor cure! How did the Indian nations
of this country become so populous and powerful, un-
less from finding the means of supplying their wants,
134 gunn's domestic medicine.
and of mitigating and curing their diseases, on the soil
and in the countries which gave them birth? The fact
is, that this country, like all other countries, produces
spontaneously, or can be made to produce by the
genius and industry of its inhabitants, all that is requir-
ed by the wants of the people, and all that is essential
in medical science; and the sooner we set about find-
ing out, and fully exploring the resources of our own
country, the sooner will we be clear of the abuses and
countless impositions in the adulteration of medical
drugs; and the sooner will we be exempted from indi-
vidual and national dependence on other nations.—
There are many drugs that come from abroad, that are
made good for nothing, by adulterations or mixture
before they reach us, or lose their virtues by long stand-
ing and exposure: and any professed druggist if he
will tell you the truth, will tell you the same; and
these among many others, are the reasons why I mean
to be very particular in showing you, as respects the
plants and roots, &c. of this country, not only how
great are our resources, but how easily we can evade
roguery and imposition, and obtain pure and unadul-
terated materials in medicine, if we will be industrious
in developing the real resources of this country. The
science of botany, like many others I could name, has
dwindled into mere mummery and hard sounding
names of plants, &c. I can find you, indeed you can
easily find them yourselves, very many individuals pro-
foundly learned in botany, who can tell you all about
the genus and species of plants and herbs, and can
call them individually by their long Latin names, who
can tell you nothing whatever about their use to man-
kind, or whether they are poisonous or otherwise; and
I want to know whether such information, or rather
gunn's domestic medicine. 135
such want of information, is not mere learning without
wisdom, and science without knowledge. But why
need I speak of of the science of botany alone, as having
sunk into frivolity and superficial nonsense; the same
may be said of many other of the sciences, which were
in their origin and early progress useful to mankind.
Real knowledge consists in understanding both what
is useful and what is injurious to mankind; and true
wisdom amounts to nothing more than appropriating to
our use whatever is beneficial, and avoiding whatever
is injurious to our enjoyments and happiness: this is
the true distinction between common sense and non-
sense; or if you will have the same idea in finer lan-
guage, between wisdom and/ My. For the common
and useful purposes of mankind, the refined fripperies
and hair-drawn theories of mere science, are of no use
whatever; indeed they never have had. much other
effect, than to excite a stupid admiration for men who
pretended to know more than the mass of mankind:
and it is this stupid admiration, this willingness to be
duped by the imprudent pretensions of science and
quackery combined, that has led to impositions and
barefaced frauds upon society, without number. Wher-
ever artifice is used, it is either to cover defects, or to
perpetuate impositions and frauds; and if you wish to
know how much of this artifice is in vogue in the
science and practice of medicine, ask some physician
of eminence to give you in plain common English, the
meaning of those mysterious and high-sounding names
you see plastered on bottles, glass jars, gallipots and
drawers in a drug storq, or doctor's shop. There you
may see in large and imposing capitals—Datura Stra-
monium, which simply means Stinkweed, or vulgarly
Jamestown weed: Tanacetum Vulgare, which in Eng-
136 gunn's domestic medicine.
lish means Common Tansy: Chenopodium Anthel-
menticum, good heaven! what a name for Jerusalem
Oak: Spigelia Marilandica, which means nothing more
nor less than Pink Root: Alium Sativum, which means
Gloves or Garlic: and who would ever suppose, unless
he were previously initiated into the sublime mysteries
of the "Physicians' Materia Medica," that Cantharides
Vittata was the Potato Fly—that Hedeoma Pulegioides,
was merely the common plant Pennyroyal: that Phy-
tolacca Decandra was nothing but Poke weed: that
Panax Quinquefolium was nothing but Ginseng: that
Rubus Villosus meant in plain English, the Blackber-
ry: that Euppatorium Perfoiiatum was nothing but
Bone-sett that Polygala Seneka was Snake Root: that
Laurus Benzoin was no more than Spice-wood: that
Asarium Canadense was Wild Ginger: that Babtisca
Tinctoria was only another name for Wild Indigo:
that Hydrastic Canadensis was nothing but Yellow
Root: that Podophyllium Peltatum was merely the
May Apple, or common Jalap of the shops: Sanguina-
ria Canadensis, was no more than the Puccoon or
Blood Root, well known to every old woman in the
state: that Cornus Florida was nothing but Dogwood:
that Gilleni^. Frifolliata was merely Indian Physic: that
Symplocarpus Fcetida was nothing but Skunk Cab-
bage: that ^nthemis Cotula was the Wild Cammo-
mile: that Lobelia Inflata was nothing but Wild To-
bacco: that Comptonia Asplenifolia was only the Sweet
Fern:—andjso on to the end of the chapter. But, on
consideration of the importance of this information, I
will add a few more instances of the shameful imposi-
tions practised on the mass of the people, by the quack-
eries connected with Medical Science. They are as
follows:—Oleum Ricini, meaning Castor Oil: Un-
gunn's domestic medicine 137
guentum Picis Liquidse meaning Tar Ointment:
Oleum Tereginthina? meaning the Oil of Turpentine:
Zanthoxyium Clava Herculis meaning the common
Prickly Ash of our country: Sal Nitre meaning Salt
Petre: Tartarized Antimony meaning Emetic Tar-
tar: Sulphate Soda meaning nothing but Epsom Salts:
Ruta Graveslens meaning our common Garden Rue:
Salva Officinalis, the common Sage: Sambucus Ni-
gra, common Elder: Serpentaria Virginiana, Vir-
ginia Snake Root: Myrtis Pimento, common Pepper:
Ulmus Americana, meaning Red Elm: Aqua Calcis
meaning Lime Water: and Carbo Ligni, Charcoal of
Wood!! These, I think, are fair specimens of the use-
less technical terms and phrases, with which the
science of medicine has been encumbered by a policy
hostile to the interests of every community; in which
the reader will easily distinguish, if he will look one
foot beyond his nose, not only that big words and high-
sounding phrases are not superior wisdom, but that
three-fourths of the whole science of physic, as now
practised and imposed upon the common people,
amounts to nothing but fudge and mummery. In fact
it has always seemed to me, whenever I have reflected
seriously on this subject, that all these hard names of
common and daily objects of contemplation, wore ori-
ginally made use of to astonish the people; and to aid
what the world calls learned men, in deceptions and
fraud. The more nearly we can place men on a level
in point of knowledge, the happier we would become
in society with each other, and the less danger there
would be of tyranny on the one hand, and submis-
sion to the degradations of personal slavery on the
other: nor are these all the benefits that would certain-
ly arise from a more equal distribution of useful
IS
138 gunn's domestic medicine.
information among the people. We all know perfectly
well, and if we do not we ought to do so, that there
are two ways of acquiring a greater name than com-
mon among men. One is by putting on affected airs
of superior wisdom, and the concealment of weakness
and ignorance, to which all men are subject: and the
other is, by exhibiting to the world, great and useful
energies of mind and character, of which nothing can
be a more decisive proof, than success in our under-
takings. But this is not all; the less we know of the
weaknesses and imperfections of what the world calls
great men, the more we are disposed to overate their
merits and wisdom, and to become their humble follow-
ers, admirers, and slaves. This is the reason why I
wish to impress upon your minds, the simple and im-
portant truth, that there is not so great a difference
between men as there appears to be; and that you are
always to find out in the characters of men, the differ-
ence between impudent presumption, which seeks to
blind you to defects, and modest and unassuming
merit, which is above hypocrisy and deception. On
the other hand, I wish you to remember, that the more
we know of the innorance and weaknesses of great
men, ignorance and weaknesses which they all have,
however they may try to hide them, the more easily
we will feel ourselves on a level with them, the less we
will be compelled to think of their assumed superiority,
and consequently the less danger there will be of our
becoming their most humble followers, their tools of
dirty purposes, and in fact their slaves. The fact is if
we would always strip the fine coat, the ruffled shirt
the well-blacked boots, and what would be better than
all, the hypocrisy and presumption, from abouftjiose
who pretend to lord it over us; and if we could alwavs
gunn's domestic medicine. 139
hit the true medium of truth and justice, in forming
our opinions of each other, there would be much less
fraud in this world than there is: for you may rest
assured, and I desire you most particularly to fix it in
your memory, that no man or junto of men, ever yet
attempted to cheat or impose on your credulity, with-
out first forming a contemptuous opinion of your dis-
cernment; in other words, all attempts to cheat and
deceive you, are direct insults to your understand-
ings. With these remarks, in which I have been as
plain as possible in point of language, in order that
you might the better understand my meaning, I will
now go on to describe to you, in as plain language as
can be made use of, all the diseases we are most lia-
ble to in this country, and all the best remedies for
those which are brought to us from other countries. I
intend also to describe particularly all the roots, and
plants, and so on, which we have about us in our gar-
dens, barn-yards, fields and woods, which are useful in
the cure of diseases. These will be important consid-
erations, because I am convinced we have many
things the most common about us, that as medicines
are as good as any in the world, and the knowledge
of which by the people themselves, will enable them
to cure their own diseases in many instances, and avoid
many and great expenses. The language I will make
use of, as I said before, will be extremely plain, the
object of the work being, not so much to instruct the
learned as the unlearned; nor will I regard in the
slightest degree, any of those petty critical remarks,
which may be made on such language, provided I
succeed in adopting language which can be understood
by those for whom this work is intended. And here I
cannot avoid remarking, that since this work of mine
140 gunn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
was commenced, and measurably finished, I have
received from New York, the first number of a period-
ical work on the same plan that this is, to be written
by some of the greatest medical men in the United
States, some of whom are Mitchell, Hossack, Mott,
McNeven, &c. These gentlemen, as well as myself,
are convinced that the time has come, when all the
mysteries and technical language of the science of
medicine, must be made plain to the people of this
country, and when the old frauds and quackeries of
the profession must be laid down, and discontinued in
practice. 1 am gratified, that men whose names have
so much weight, have undertaken to make the science
of medicine plain; because otherwise I should have
stood alone in the great attempt, and had to contend
with all the petty critical remarks, of all the petty pro-
fessors of the science, and all those who wish to make
a mystery, of what every man in the community is fully
able to understand if well explained.
Before concluding these observations, it may not be
improper to make some remarks, intended for the more
youthful portion of those into whose hands this work
may fall. Some of the diseases 1 am compelled to
mention and explain, necessarily relate to a sex whose
weaknesses and delicacies of constitution, entitle them
to the highest respect, and the most lender considera-
tion: nor can any youth be guilty of a more flagrant
breach of humanity, nor more completely disclose a
brutal and unfeeling disposition, than by manifesting a
wish to turn into unfeeling ridicule, the diseases and
calamities of women: I would at once pronounce such
a young man a brute, a poltroon, and a coward. But
I am confident there are few if any such in this coun-
try, because there are few or none who will not recol-
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MED1CTNE. Ill
lect, that their venerable mothers were of the female
sex, and that they have probably sisters and other rela-
tives of the same sex. I wish the younger portion of
my readers also to recollect, and I most respectfully
request them to do so—that when perusing my book,
on the various diseases to which the human body is
liable, as to their uncertainty of life, and the slender
thread on which it hangs, I wish them to remember,
how unknown to them are the vicissitudes of the world;
how easily they may be thrown into strange lands,
desitute, friendless, and afflicted: I wish them to en-
grave on their minds, that sacred rule of doing all
things to others, which they would wish others should
do unto them: that they would always let the tear of
sympathy drop for their fellow creatures in affliction
and distress, and always let their hearts melt at the
tale of human woe, for which God will bless them in
all his works.
ON SLEEP.
"What better name may slumber's bed become?
Night's sepulchre, the universal homo.
When weakness, strength, vice, virtue sunk supine,
Alike in naked helplessness recline,
Glad for a while to heave unconscious breath,
And wake to wrestle with the dread of death."
To exist as it were between death and life; to rove
in imagination, unfettered by the cold and strong reali-
ties of waking existence, through a boundless realm of
visions which seem real; this is what we call sleep,
without knowing much of any thing about its causes.
The real cause of sleep has been a matter of much
guessing and speculation with medical men; even very
learned philosophers have disagreed in opinion re-
specting the cause of sleep, and nearly all the little we
know on the subject is, that when the sable curtain of
night is drawn around us, the mind and body worn out
and exhausted by the fatigues of the day, sink into soft
repose.
Napoleon, whose genius seemed capable of seizing
every subject of contemplation with a giant grasp, re-
marked, while distinguishing between sleep and death,
that sleep was the suspension of the voluntary powers
of man:—and that death was a suspension of those
that were involuntary. This was probably the most
correct distinction between sleep and death that has
ever to my knowledge been drawn by any man- and
I will endeavor to explain as clearly as possible what
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 143
I think he intended by it. When we lie down to sleep,
we voluntarily exclude the operation of the senses; in
other words, we see nothing, hear nothing, feel noth-
ing, smell nothing, and taste nothing, and endeavor to
think of nothing—this is as far as we can go in the
matter, for no man can possibly tell when he falls asleep
or in other words, when an entire suspension of the
voluntary powers of the body and mind t; ke place.
While in this situation, however, we know that the
sleeper breathes, that his heart beats, that the blood
circulates, that the stomach digests its food, and that
perspiration takes place: now, as the will of the sleeper
has nothing to do with these matters,they depend upon
the involuntary powers of the human system, and when
these powers cease, death takes place. This is as far
as we can go as regards sleep and death, for as to
dreams and their causes, all we can tell about them
simply is, that during sleep the mind and imagination
act with such brightness and power, as to leave strong
impressions on the waking memory; I say the mind
and imagination, because we not only distinguish ob-
jects as if they were present, but because we can and
sometimes actually do reason about them and that too
very correctly.
It is impossible for us to enjoy good health, unless
blessed with sound and refreshing sleep: without sleep
the whole frame is thrown into disorder, and a strong
disposition to disease; and the mind is much confused
and weakened. Without the due repose of sleep, the
appetite for food is depraved and sometimes lost; the
health and strength fail; and the spirits become dis-
tressed and melancholy in the extreme. The acrid
matter is thrown off during sleep, insensible perspira-
tion is increated, and the body increases in growth in
144 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE
a greater degree than when awake and actively em-
ployed. You are much taller in the morning when
rising from a refreshing sleep, than during or after a
day of severe fatigue. Sleep assists much in the cure
of diseases, and may bo considered, if sound and
refreshing, a favorable symptom of recovery in sick-
ness. It is a welcome visitor in fevers, because it
diminishes the rapid motion of the blood, and conse-
quently cools and refreshes the system. It is of infin-
ite benefit in dysentery or flux, because it restrains the
frequency of the stools; also in female diseases—in
consumptions, rheumatisms, pleurisies, and in flooding;
in fact, the cure of almost all diseases requires sound
and refreshing sleep, and so well known was this fact
to a physician of great eminence, that he seldom or
never gave his patients operative medicines, before he
had produced sound sleep by the administration of an
opiate. The body receives nourishment during sleep;
and this is the reason why the growth is greatly promo-
ed by sleep: all men who are inclined to obesity or
fatness sleep much. All young plants grow in the
night time; indeed all young animals grow in the night
while sleeping, and this is the reason why children
require more sleep than grown persons.
I have already told you in my introduction, that man
is a. creature of habit, and may therefore accustom
himself to almost any thing by practice. Napoleon
had an. alarum watch, for the purpose of awaken in'-'
him at any hour he chose. During a campaign, one of
his field officers entered his tent at two o'clock in the
morning, having some important business with him.
Contrary to his expectation, he found the emperor uo
and dressed, and employed in laying off the plan for
the battle of the next day, and addressed him thus:__
GUNN^S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 145
"You are up late, emperor." "O no," said Napoleon,
" I have just risen; my sleep is over." After calling
for his coffee, his usual practice immediately on rising,
he communicated to the officer the method he had fol-
lowed to ascertain the time of sleep required by his
constitution. "I had," said he, "been accustomed to
awake every night, after sleeping five or six hours, and
to continue awake during the remainder of the night.
This led me to believe that I remained longer in bed,
than nature and my constitution required; and deter-
mined me by this alarum watch, to abridge my hours
of sleep ten minutes each night, by rising ten minutes
earlier. I soon discovered how much sleep nature
required by the length of time I slept soundly, which
was only five hours. I have since continued this prac-
tice, and find my health good, and nature sufficiently
restored and refreshed by it. When in actual service
and my mind much employed, my usual time of sleep
is but four hours, from eleven till three inclusive, &c."
As in all other cases, too much or too little sleep, pro-
duces injury to health and strength of body and viva-
city of mind and feelings The bed in which we
sleep for comfort and health is very important: the use
of feather beds, particularly in the summer season, is
extremely unhealthy; and how persons can lie snoring,
soaking and sweating, in a large feather bed for eight
or nine hours at a time, which is usual with many of
the wealthy people of the western country, is to mo
perfectly astonishing; and I wish them to understand
distinctly, that by so doing the following consequences
inevitably follow:—their flesh becomes soft, flabby,
pale, and weak: the digestive organs of tho stomach
become relaxed, feeble, and of no account, as is proved
by the want of appetite; in fact, the whole muscular
19
146 gunn's domestic medicine.
and nervous systems, becomes so impaired and lost in
tone and vigor, as to be incapable of performing the
duties assigned to them by nature. A matress made
of shucks, nicely cleaned and hackled, forms a delight-
ful bed for summer; and if you would enjoy sleep to
the extent which is essential to health and strength,
avoid a feather bed as you would a plague, and sleep
on matresses of some kind, or on a straw bed, or even
pick out the softest plank in the floor and stretch your-
self on it. It is worthy of observation that most per-
sons who sleep hard, are more healthy and lively than
others: look at the Indians who sleep on deer and
bear skins: look at soldiers who sleep on blankets; and
at wagoners, who always on journies, sleep on hard
matresses on the floors of houses, or on the hard
ground in tents. And it is worthy of particular re-
mark, that a hard bed promotes digestion, and prevents
incubus or night-mare, that demon of indigestion which
is a scourge of thousands. All asthmatic persons, or
in other words, those who have the phthisic, should
sleep hard, and in refreshing and pure air; feather
beds in close rooms are murdering thousands of these
people by inches. Many people are subject at night,
to palpitations of the heart, shortness of breath which
seems to threaten suffocation, great anxiety and depres-
sion of spirits, uneasiness for which they cannot ac-
count, tremors, and so on, usually called nervous.
These people ought always to sleep on hard beds and
in pure air: and they ought always, in warm weather,
to wash or sponge their bodies with cold water, taking
care immediately after to wipe themselves dry with a
coarse towel, and then to use the flesh-brush; this
course of proceeding will, just before going to bed
produce sound and refreshing sleep. Warm bathing
gunn's domestic medicine. 147
of the feet before going to bed, is of infinite service in
causing sound sleep; the bath ought to have a little
salt in it, and to be continued fifteen or twenty min-
utes; after which the feet ought to be wiped dry, and
well brushed with a flesh-brush: persons subject to
cold feet, and those much advanced in age, will find
much benefit from the flesh-brush, and from wrapping
their feet in well dried flannel before going to bed.
When we lie down to sleep every painful thought and
unpleasant circumstance, should if possible be banish-
ed from the mind; and we should always endeavor to
turn our meditations into channels, which will leave
tranquil and soothing impressions behind them when
we fall asleep. Dr. Franklin's rules for sleeping well,
and having pleasant dreams, are very plain: he says—
"Eat moderately during the day, and avoid heavy sup-
pers; sleep on a hard bed with your feet to the fire,
especially in very cold weather; and above all, during
the day take sufficient exercise. If you awake from a
sense of uneasiness or accident, and cannot again
compose yourself to sleep, get out of the bed and throw
open the bed-clothes, and expose your naked body to
the action of the cold air, there is no danger of taking
cold. When the cold air becomes unpleasant, return
to bed; your skin has by this time discharged its per-
spirable matter, and you will soon fall asleep, and your
sleep will be sound and refreshing. I have frequently
tried this method with success, and find after exposing
my body to the cold air, a quick desire to sleep. I
therefore recommend it as free from any danger of
taking cold. Persons Unaccustomed to this method
should gradually accustom themselves to a free circu-
lation of air. The higher and more airy the bed-
chamber, the bettor for health." As man is the crea-
148 gunn's domestic medicine.
ture of habit, he may bring himself gradually to bear
almost any exposure; but great and sudden changes in
our habits should always be avoided. Small close bed
rooms, and particularly bed curtains, should always be
avoided, and for this reason, in close rooms and cur-
tained beds, you breathe unchanged air, which has
become impure from previous breathing. As boiling
water does not grow hotter by long boiling, if parti-
cles that receive greater heat can escape, so living
bodies do not putrify and become corrupt, if the parti-
cles as fast as they become corrupted, can be thrown off.
Nature always expels much bad and corrupted mat-
ter, by the pores of the skin and lungs: you may easily
prove this to yourself, if your nose is sufficiently sharp,
by catching a scent of the breath and sweat of many
persons. In a free and pure air, the corrupted perspi-
rable matter from the skin is immediately carried off;
but in a close room or bed, or in a dirty bed even in
pure air, these particles of bad matter are not carried
off, and sickness is nearly always the consequence.—
Dirty rooms and beds cause a great deal of disease,
and persons cannot easily be too cleanly in their babits
if they wish to be healthy; but I will say more on this
subject when I come to speak of baths. In close
rooms or dirty beds, we breathe the same bad and
corrupted air, over and over again, so that at every
moment it becomes more injurious. Confined air,
when saturated or filled with perspirable matter, must
remain with us, and produces many of our diseases.
Persons who are inclined to be fat, or who are in reali-
ty so, should sleep on hard beds—take a great deal of
exercise—never sleep more than five or six hours—and
use well the flesh-brush, particularly over the joints.
By these means, together with a proper regimen, which
gunn's domestic medicine. 119
means food and drink, the bulk of the body may he
reduced, and the flesh made firm and strong.
Nothing undermines and destroys the health and
constitution with so much rapidity, as want of sleep:
gamesters, courtezans, debauchees, and in fact all those
who lose much sleep, prove by their pale and sallow
complexions, the want of " nature's sweet restorer."
Many instances have been known in London and oth-
er large cities, where the waiters and servants in gam-
ing houses, have become absolutely insane or crazy
for want of sleep. A person by long sitting up and
losing ,sleep, may at length become unable to sleep,
from extreme irritability of the nervous system; there-
fore persons of an irritable habit should always be
cautious of such circumstances. I have known many
instances of apoplexy being produced by want of sleep:
persons should, therefore, when such cases are appre-
hended, bathe their feet in warm water when thev
lie down, and take a dose of cooling medicine, such
as Epsom Salts; or in case of fever, loose a little blood,
and take a slight opiate. More, however, will be said
on the subject of sleep, and its diminution and excesses,
under the head of exercise.
EXERCISE.
If you would enjoy health, take exercise and be
temperate, and if you attend to these things properly,
you will have but little use for either physicians or
medicines.—Temperance, exercise, and rest, are the
sure guarantees of sound health and vigor, if you have
naturally a good constitution, and almost the only sure
means of amending and preserving a weak and defi-
150 gunn's domestic medicine.
cient one. Persons who take proper exercise, and
combine that exercise with temperance, are seldom
sick; and those who fly to medicines on every trifling
cause of complaint, in nine cases in ten, might relieve
themselves by abstaining from food for a short time,
living on light diet, and taking as much exercise as
will cause perspiration, without impairing their strength
by excessive fatigue. Exercise, for the purpose of
producing perspiration, and throwing off the excremen-
titious or bad matter from the system, is much better
than any merely medical means; not only because it
is the means which nature herself prescribes, but be-
cause, unlike medical drugs generally, it strengthens
instead of weakening the system. We are always to
suppose, from the fact of the horrible fetor or stench,
which arises from the bodies of those on whom fevers
have just been broken, that the retention of that bad
matter in their systems contrary to nature, was the
real cause of their febrile or feverish disorders; and
does it not follow, that by getting clear of that matter
by natural means, before it has time to accumulate and
produce malignant and obstinate diseases, is much
better than to force the vital organs into a destructive
action for producing the same effect? In other words
—do you not know, that when you force the stomach
into laborious action, or indeed any other vital organ
of the system, that you always weaken and impair its
energies, and lay the foundation of many diseases to
which the system under other circumstances would be
a stranger? A person of common size and in good
health, will perspire or sweat, from three to four
pounds' weight in twenty-four hours, if proper exercise
betaken;and the fact is, that there is more in propor-
tion of all the fetid matter of the system, discharged
gunn's domestic medicine. 151
from the skin in perspiration or sweat, than there is by
the stool and the urine combined: and can you not as
easily see as I can tell you, that unless that bad matter
is thrown off from the body by exercise and perspira-
tion, that the fluids of the body will become greatly
corrupted, and all its vessels oppressed and morbidly
irritated, and that disease must and will follow? There
is no witchcraft about the diseases to which we are
all liable; they are all matters of plain reasoning be-
tween the causes and effects, to the full understanding
of which, every man is as competent as any other
man. Are we not witnesses daily and hourly, of the
beneficial effects of exercise, in the cure of diseases in
which both medicines and medical men have failed?
Half the diseases of delicate women, and in fact near-
ly all the diseases connected with hysterics and hypo-
chrondria, arise from want of due exercise in the open,
mild, and pure air. Instead of stewing in a close room,
and indulging in moody and gloomy anticipations, and
instead of lying in a huge feather bed until nine or ten
o'clock in the morning, dosing through morbid dreams
and vainly courting sleep, the woman of delicate
nerves and infirm health, and the gloomy hypochon-
driac, who has probably not sweated for months togeth-
er, ought to spring from the feathered couch at daylight;
view the opening and brilliant landscapes of nature,
just kindling into life and beauty under the beams of
the rising sun—and breast the pure mountain breeze!
I have just told you, that exercise will not only pre-
serve your health if you have a good constitution, but
that it will frequently give healthy action and streno-th
to a weak and deficient one. Cicero is described by
Plutarch, as being at one period of his life, thin and
weakly; so much so indeed, from the debility of his
152 gunn's domestic medicine.
stomaeh, as to be able to eat but once a day, and that
a very small quantity. In this debilitated and weakly
condition, he travelled to Athens for the recovery of
his health, and so great were the effects of his exercise,
that together with the gymnastic exercises of the place,
he became firm and robust, and his voice, which had
before been squeaking and harsh, was changed for
melodious, deep and sonorous tones. The same wri-
ter, Plutarch, describes the great Roman warrior,
Julius Caesar, as being originally of very delicate
health, pale and soft skin, and of very feeble constitu-
tion by nature, and subject to fits; but that by a military
life, using coarse diet and great exercise, he not only
became inured to the hardships and exposures of war,
but healthy, active, vigorous and strong. It is not
worth while to give any more instances of the powerful
influence which exercise has on the human system; if
you wish to know more about it, look at the brawny
arms and strong chests of sailors, who are always
pulling ropes, and contending with the winds and
storms of the ocean; look at the strong figure of the
sturdy woodman, who makes the forests bow to the
sound of the axe; and indeed all those persons who are
engaged in active and laborious callings: and then, by
comparing these people with those who are always
confined to their houses, to books, and sitting postures,
and trades which prevent them from moving about,
you will be able very easily to see the effects of exer-
cise much better than I can describe and tell you of
them. I feel confident in saying, thatUy exercise on
horse-back for women, and exercise on foot for men
together with some attention to food and drink this
dreadful disease called dyspepsia or indigestion
which paralizes both body and mind, and makes exis-
gunn's domestic medicine. 153
fence itself a burthen, together with the whole train of
nervous diseases to which we are subject, may be cured
completely without the aid of medicine, by laying
down and following systematic rules of exercise, rest,
and diet.
All the quack medicines for cleansing the blood,
which you perceive in the newspapers, are mere im-
positions on the public. Such medicines have their
day, and then die off to make room for new catalogues,
without any benefit except enriching the imposters who
invent them. The sure remedies for impure blood,
and consequent eruptions of the skin, are those which
nature prescribes, and which simply are, exercise,
temperance, and cleanliness of person; if you will
mind these things, you need care nothing about cos'
metics and lotions, and such nonsense, which always
sooner or later do immense injury. We see daily and
almost hourly, persons who have been accustomed to
exercise and labor in their youth, changing their for-
mer modes of life for those of ease, refinement, wealth,
and idleness, &c.—and we very soon also see, that
these persons immediately begin to sink into all the
diseases which arise from corrupted habits of body,
merely for want of their accustomed exercise and ac-
tive habits; diseases to which they would probably not
have been liable, had they continued in their original
habits of exercise and useful industry. We see them
immediately laboring under morbid eruptions of the
skin, jaundice, nervous irritability, palsy, indigestion,
consumptions, and heaven above knows what more
diseases too tedious to name. In all these cases, let
me urge upon you the vast, unspeakable importance of
exercise, and regular diet, by which last I mean, never
touching spirituous liquors of any kind. Follow the
20
154 CPUNN9* DOM»«TIC MEDICINE.
French rules in thess respects, and you will enjoy all
that sprightly vigor of mind, and buoyant elasticity of
health and feelings for which that people are celebrated
in all parts of the world. The French people, from
their habitually taking exercise, and nearly always
being temperate in eating and drinking, are exempted
in a great degree from those diseases which arise from
want of exercise, gormandizing on strong food, drink-
ing spirituous liquors, and sleeping immoderately and
in close chambers. In these respects, nearly all the
rest of the world ought to take lessons from them. We
all know very well, that due exercise and rest, combin-
ed with light and temperate eating and drinking,
always produce cheerfulness and serenity; and how do
they do so? Why, simply by preventing obstructions
in the system; and by removing them whenever they
present themselves You seldom find a Frenchman
gloomy, oppressed in his feelings, despondent—no; and
for these good reasons, he seldom omits to be active in
his movements; to take exercise and proper rest, and
above all, he seldom eats heavily, and immediately lies
down to snore away ten or twelve hours, to the exclu-
sion of exercise beneficial to health. We all know
very well, that sluggardism or sedentary habits, and
want of exercise in proportion to our strength, produces
uneasy and bad sleep, costiveness of the bowels, a dry
and feverish skin, and a thousand other things connect-
ed with obstructions; and we all know just as well
that exercise duly taken, will always produce sound
and easy sleep, that it has a tendency to open the
bowels and to keep them open and regular, and to
remove obstructions of the skin, of the lungs o'f the
liver, &c. &c. to the end of the chapter: and yet we
will lie in bed, or sit about in a close warm room
gunn's domestic medicine. 155
breathing an atmosphere sufficient to poison us, and
gorge our systems with medical drugs, enough to
destroy the whole tone and energies of the stomach
and bowels! I say again, instead of the medicines
always used to remove obstructions, to make sweat
flow, to make the blood circulate freely, and to excite
all the healthy sensations and excretions, take exercise
in the pure air, live temperately on light diet and drink,
never provoke sleep by any other means than natural
ones, and sleep no more than is necessary to renovate
the system. Under such circumstances as these, you
will have no use for mercurial purges, or any medicines
save thoso of a simple and harmless character. Morn-
ing and evening are the proper hours for taking exer-
cise: rise early and walk from one to two miles; in
the evening also devote an hour to exercise in the open
air. You may also use weights of from five to six
pounds, which when taken into the hands are to be
thrown backward and forward so as to produce an
action in the chest; this exercise is properly adapted
to persons of weak breasts, and particularly to females.
I have frequently seen persons so extremely weak in
the chest, and what we call short-winded, as to be
unable to ascend the smallest hill without getting out
of breath, and who by the use of those weights a short
time, have become so much improved as to be enabled
to ascend the highest hills without inconvenience or
oppression of the chest. The great objects of exercise
and it will always have those effects when judiciously
taken, are to increase and regulate the secretions and
excretions, by the skin, the kidneys, &c. &c.—to give
power to the muscles, to impart tone and strength to,
the nerves, and where a person is fat and unwieldy m
size, to reduce the superfluities of flesh and fat; to
150 «X7NN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE
reduce the quantity of blood, and to make it thinner and
lighter. The other benefits resulting from exercise are,
good appetite, good and easy digestion, tranquility and
serenity of mind and feelings, pleasant and refreshing
sleep, astonishing increase of health and wind in
breathing, &c.—I have seen a boy on the Meditera-
nean, his carriage being filled with passengers, run by
the side of his horses at considerable speed for ten and
fifteen miles together, without being fatigued at the end
of the journey, or being the least oppressed for want of
breath. These boys subsisted on a few bunches of
grapes, and a small flask of wine, daily, both of which
they carry suspended from their necks. The cheerful
disposition of these poor boys, and their great breath
and strength convinced me fully of the great benefits
arising from diet and exercise. The advantages of the
training system, are not confined to pedestrians or
walkers—or to pugilists or boxers alone; or to horses
which are trained for the chase and the race track:
they extend to man in all conditions; and were train-
ing introduced into the United States, and made use of
by physicians in many cases instead of medical drugs,
the beneficial consequences in the cure of many disea-
ses would be very great indeed.
WARM OR TEPID BATH.
It is impossible to find language to express in ade-
quate terms the importance of this powerful preserver
and restorative of health—this great and almost inde-
scribable luxury, the bath.
Considering its importance to the preservation of
health and the cure of very many of our most afflict-
SUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 157
ing diseases, I am truly astonished that the warm or
tepid bath should be so little used in the western
country.
Warm baths are such as have a temperature be-
tween the 76th and 98th degrees of the thermometer;
but persons having no thermometer, indeed there is no
need of one for regulating the temperature of the
water, have only to consult their own sensations in
entering the bathing tub; because their own tempera-
ment in contact with the water will immediately advise
them of the temperature required: the only inconveni-
ence that can ever be experienced in using the warm
bath, will be in being compelled to leave its comforts.
The usual time of bathing is from twenty minutes to
half an hour; but with regard to time, it is not
material: the feelings and sensations of the bather will
better determine this point than I can tell him. The
Warm bath, contrary to the general opinion, does not
heat the body; it has on the contrary an opposite effect,
inasmuch as it obviously abates the quickness of the
pulse, and reduces the pulsations in proportion to the
time we remain in the warm water.
When persons have travelled a long journey, and
feel much fatigued, or overheated by exposure to the
sun, or their minds are much disturbed, the bath will
be found an excellent remedy for invigorating the
whole system, and at the same time reducing the
irregular and quick action of the blood. Indeed I feel
confident, that in thousands of instances, if the bath
were used in the first symptoms of those irregular and
feverish feelings which prey upon the mind and body,
very many persons would escape sick beds. During
my practice in Virginia, I escaped the fever prevalent
in Botetourt county, called the lick fever, in several
"158 GL'NN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
instances after having felt distinctly all the symptoms
of that disease, by the speedy use of the warm bath and
gentle purgatives of epsom salts. Had I not used the
bath, I feel confident' I could not have escaped this
dreadful and malignant disease, being exposed during
its prevalence, in attendance on a great many patients.
The warm bath is of very great utility, to persons
troubled with eruptions or breakings out of the skin,
such as itch, and indeed venereal sores. In hypochon-
driacal hysterics, and in insane cases—and in fact on
persons laboring under madness, the beneficial effects
of warm baths are always visible: in scorbutic and old
ulcers or sores, when attention has been paid to regi-
men, the utilities of the bath are equally great. In
palsy and all nervous diseases, I recommend warm
bathing as one of the most effectual remedies.—Doctor
Charleton, of Bath, in England, states, that out of nine
hundred and ninety-six paralytics, most of whom had
resisted the powers of medicine, eight hundred and
thirteen were benefitted by the application of the warm
bath at the hospital of that city. In a great variety of
chronic or inveterate complaints, such as bilious disea-
ses, derangements of the liver, and of the stomach and
digestive functions, it is impossible to describe to you its
useful effects; and I solicit you with every sincerity of
heart, to use the warm bath individually and in your
families, as one of the efficient preventives and cures of
disease which is in every man's reach. In using the
bath with some system and regularity, you will ward of
many hours' confinement by ill health, save the expense
of many a doctor's bill, and prevent you from having
a ruined constitution, and a stomach worn out by
swallowing medicines: for I do assert, without fear of
contradiction, but by the ninnyhammers of the pro-
DUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE 159
fession, that if the warm bath were more frequently
used, with proper abstinence from food, on the approach
of fever, and many other diseases which I sh; 11 enu-
merate under their proper heads, in five cases in ten,
medical assistance would not be required. In all
cases of debility from spasms—in pain—in choh'c—in
cramp—and in anxiety and restlessness, the bath will
relieve and tranquilizc the system. In hectic or con-
sumptive fever, I have found it of great benent from
the fact of its lessening the heat: and most particularly
beneficial, when the liver was connected with this
dreadful disease. In dyspepsia or indigestion, this
terrible disease which makes life itself a burthen the
bath is a valuable assistant and comforter in the cure.
All young persons who manifest a disposition to stop
at a premature point of growth, in other words to
remain pigmies for life, should use the bath; because it
always promotes the growth of the body, increases the
proportions of the limbs, and adds much to the muscu-
lar powers. On the subject of barrenness I have
reflected much, and as it seems to be the anxious wish
of many of the wealthy to have offspring, the remark
or seasonable hint, that the bath is admirably adapted
to the want of increase of family, may be quite suffi-
cient without descending to particulars.
The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Germans, as well
as the Persians, Turks, and modern Egyptians, enjoy
the comforts and benefits procured by bathing, in a
degree of which we can scarcely form an idea. The
French o Te much of their cheerfulness and vivacity of
disposition to the warm bath; and you could not inflict
on Frenchmen, or French females, a greater punish-
ment than to deprive either of the warm bath which
they always prize as a component part o.r their existence.
1€0 GUNN'S DOMESTIC UlEDIClNE.
The soft, delicate and beautiful skins, for which the
French females are so much celebrated, are uery much
owing to the tepid bathing, being far perferable to all
the cosmetics and other preparations sold for the pur-
pose of whitening aud beautifying the skin. The habits
of persons are very different as to perspiration or
sweating: some perspire very much, and others very
little: from some no offensive effluvia arises in perspir-
ing, whilst from bodies of others there arises a perfect
fetor—and I must here say, that of all possible putrid
smells, that arising from the perspiration of the human
body is the most dreadful; and to such persons as have
a fetid perspiration, I do most certainly know, that the
frequent use of the warm bath would be of immense
service. It would not only prevent strangers becoming
disgusted with their society, but be a great auxiliary in
promoting their health, and removing that most un-
pleasant smell which salutes the nasal organs with a
perfectly sepulchral stench! This uncleanliness, or want
of cleanliness, exhibits itself as frequently in the draw-
ing rooms and festooned halls of the great and wealthy,
as in the humble cottages of the obscure and needy;
and sometimes produces disgusts which neither time
nor circumstances can remove. Let me, then, a^ain,
and with every desire for your happiness, and every
delicacy of sentiment I am master of, urge upon you
the simple fact, that cleanliness is the very best of per-
fumes—and that all those which are imported from the
east, are inferior to the pleasant and native smell of the
skin, when perfumed by the use of^soap and water. I
ought here perhaps to close my remarks, but I feel it a
solemn duty I owe to my feliow beings to be candid,
and as I have pledged myself to do, to inform them
plainly of whatever I know to their advantage. I have
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 161
absolutely known many matches in wedlock, complete-
ly destroyed by the discovery of a want of cleanliness
—and many married persons rendered miserable and
highly obnoxious to each other, by this lazy, indolent,
and I will add this dirty trait of character: for it is
well known to all keen observers of mankind, that
moral purity and cleanliness of person, are nearly
always found combined.
Every family, rich and poor, ought to have a bathing
machine, improperly called a tub. It is easy of con-
struction, and very simple, being in shape like a child's
cradle without rockers, about six feet in length, and of
width sufficient easily to admit the body, with a hole
in the bottom near the foot, to let the water pass off
after being used; it maybe constructed of wood or tin,
and if of the latter, ought to be painted to prevent rust.
Where it is made of wood plank, the seams or cracks
ought to be filled with boiling tar or pitch to prevent
leakage. Rocks properly cleansed previously to being
heated in the fire, afford very easy means of heating
the water to any temperature, and will always enable
the bather to take the bath with very little trouble.
Most wealthy persons imagine, when they have
furnished their mansions with splendid mirrors, Tur-
key carpets, sophas, and various other decorations,
which soon tire after the novelty of seeing them ceases,
that all things are complete; but, I say, that unless they
have a small room appropriated to bathing, in which
the necessary apparatus can be found fitted up for use,
their houses want one of the most necessary appenda-
ges of comfort and health; and that they ought to be
charged with the responsibility of many diseases which
afflict their families, for want of this fountain ofliealth.
The construction of public baths has, from the remotest
21
162 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
ages, been considered an object of national attention;
and most sincerely and ardently do I desire, that Nash-
ville—a city of public spirit and cordial support of
every thing useful—a city whose kind hospitality en-
dears it to the warm recollections of every stranger
who visits that metropolis—may shortly construct a
Public Bath, whose beautiful structure will be admired
as a public ornament, and its utility fully established as
the harbinger of health to its citizens, which may ope-
rate as an example in the introduction of this luxury
into the western country.
The warm or tepid bath should be used about twice
or three times a week in summer; in winter once a
week is sufficient. It ought to be used in the morning,
at noon, or when going to bed.
Having now given a concise account of some of the
benefits of this bath, I shall next show, by a brief state-
ment of facts, the method of bathing practised by the
hardy Russians. They have sweating or vapor baths,
which are resorted to by persons of all classes, rich
and poor, free of expense, because these baths are
supported and kept up by the government. Here min-
gle together the begger, the artisan, the peasant, and
the nobleman, to enjoy the luxuries of the steam or
sweating bath, in both sickness and health. The
method pursued to produce the vapor bath, is simply
by throwing water on red hot stones in a close room,
which raises the heat from 150 to 168 degrees, making
when at 168—above a heat capable of melting wax,
and only 12 degrees below that for boiling spirit of
wine. In this tremendous and excessive heat which
on an American would produce suffocation, the Rus-
sian enjoys what to him is a comfortable luxury of the
vapor bath, which shows clearly, as I have before
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDfCINE. 163
observed, the wonderful force of habit among mankind.
In these bath houses are constructed benches, on which
they lie naked, and continue in a profuse sweat for the
lapse of one and sometimes two hours, occasionally
washing or pouring over their bodies warm or cold
water. During the sweating stage, the body is well
rubbed or gently whipped with leafy branches of the
birch tree, to promote perspiration by opening the pores
of the skin. A Russian thinks nothing of rushing from
the bath room dissolved in sweat, and jumping into the
cold and chilling waters of an adjacent river: or dur-
ing the most piercing cold to which his country is liable
in winter, to roll himself in the snow; and this without
the slightest injury. On the contrary, he derives many
advantages from these sudden changes and abrupt
exposures; because he always by them hardens his
constitution to all the severities of a climate, whose
colds and snows seem to paralize the very face of na-
ture. Rheumatisms are seldom known in Russia:
which is certainly owing to the habit of thus taking
the vapor bath. The great and sudden transition from
heat to cold, seems to us very dangerous and unnatural;
but I have no doubt the Russians owe their longevity,
their healthy and robust constitutions, their exemption
from certain mortal diseases, and their cheerful and
vivacious tempers, to these baths, and their generally
temperate mode of living. A learned writer has justly
remarked, and not without cause, that it is much to be
lamented " this practice of bathing should have fallen
into such disuse among the modern nations of Europe;
and that he most sincerely wishes it might again be
revived in our towns and villages." When we look
back and see the benefits that the old physicians deriv-
ed from this remedy of nature's own invention,—and
164 gunn's domestic medicine.
the many cures formerly effected by the use of the
bath, and that Rome for five hundred years together
had few physicians but baths, we cannot avoid being
astonished that they should ever have fallen into disuse,
from the prejudice and negligence of mankind.
COLD BATH.
The cold bath is one of the most important medicin-
al remedies presented from the friendly bosom of nature.
The cold bath means cleansing or washing the body
with cold water, of a temperature varying from the
33d to the 56th degree of Fahrenheit's thermometer,
or the usual warmth of our river water during the
summer months: but the entrance of spring-branches
into the river should be avoided by persons bathing,
because it produces a sudden change of temperature,
from an agreeable warmth to a cold and chilling sen-
sation.
Bathing in cold water during the warm season, is a
preventive against diseases, particularly fevers, by les-
sening the heat of the body; it cleanses the skin from its
impure and acrid contents, thereby removing a prima-
ry source of disease: the bath braces the solids which
were before relaxed by heat, restoring and tranquilizihg
the irritability of the nervous system, and greatly
exhilirating and cheering the spirits with an increase of
strength and bodily power. If the bath has been ser-
viceable, you will quickly feel after leaving the water
and rubbing well with a coarse towel, the most pleasant
glow or increase of heat, with a delightful serenity and
cheerfulness; but if the bath has been injurious, you
will feel the contrary effect to that which I have
gunn's domestic medicine. 165
described: and you must of course discontinue its use,
and apply the tepid or warm bath in its stead: the
effects produced by the cold bath when they prove
injurious to the bather, are directly the contrary to
those which 1 have before described—such as heavi-
ness and depression of spirits—respiration or breathing
becomes impeded—livid or dark appearance of the
skin—nails purple—the lips change their florid appear-
ance to a pale or purple color—and the countenance
assumes a cadaverous or ghastly color, accompanied
with headache. In such a case, the bather should
immediately take plentifully of warm toddy, made of
spirits of any kind; or if a cramp in the stomach, which
sometimes takes place from the cold bath, thirty or
forty drops of laudanum for a grown person, with
warm toddy,—together with the application of warm
salt to the stomach, will give immediate relief. Moder-
ate exercise should always be taken after bathing, so as
to restore the equilibrium of the circulation, and pro-
duce a reaction in the vessels and muscles. The
morning is the best time for bathing, or two hours be-
fore sunset, if in a river, as the water has then from the
rays of a summer sun, acquired an agreeable warmth.
When the sun has disappeared, or evening begins to
throw her mists over the waters, it is imprudent to
bathe, owing to the dampness of the atmosphere, which
is apt to produce a chill followed by fever.
The rules for bathing are, to enter the bath on an
empty stomach; or, in other words, some time after
eating—wet the head first, and if the bathing-place is
free from impediments, dive in head foremost, so as to
make the impression uniform; for you will feel the
shock less by boldly entering it, than by reflecting and
acting slowly and timidly, by which you might produce
166 gunn's domestic medicine.
dangerous consequences by propelling the blood from
the extremities to the head, inducing appoplexy.
The time of remaining in the bath should always
be short, and must be determined by the constitution,
and the feelings of the persons themselves, as healthy
persons may continue in the bath longer than those who
are weakly and in bad health. It is improper and un-
safe to remain in the cold water longer than a quarter
of an hour at most, during the hottest day in summer,
as the principal object in cold bathing is the influence
and effect produced by the impression made on the
system:—and should the cold bath be advisable in
spring or autumn, which is sometimes the case, one or
two minutes at most will be sufficient; when the bath is
necessary at these seasons, it will be advisable to use
the shower bath as hereafter described.
On the use of the cold bath considerable judgment
is required, as many serious and lingering complaints
have been produced by the injudicious use of this
remedy, and many diseases brought to a fatal termina-
tion by its improper application. I shall, therefore,
describe as plainly as possible the different effects pro-
duced in the different constitutions, and the diseases for
which it is beneficial.
On aged and thin persons it acts more powerfully
than on corpulent and fat persons; therefore a fat and
young person can remain double the time in the bath to
one that is old or of delicate constitution. The remark
which I have before made should be attended to by
persons of stout or corpulent habits, particularly those
of short necks should always wet the head and enter
the bath courageously, so as to prevent the determina-
tion of blood to the head: persons of sanguine temper-
ament should be particular as to these instructions.
gunn's domestic medicine. 167
Persons whose lungs are affected, or those laboring
under breat complaints, should by ail means avoid cold
bathing;—because by using it they always advance the
disease, and cut short the thread of life. In oppressions
of the breast, or difficulty of breathing, short or dry
coughs, &c. the bathing in cold water is highly detri-
mental and improper—obstructions also in women, or
stoppage of the menses or courses—also persons of a
scorbutic habit, or those afflicted with old sores or ulcers
or vitiated state of the system, gout or rheumatism, preg-
nant women—in hemorrhages or discharges of blood
from the lungs, in all kinds of inflammation internal and
external, the cold bath is dangerous, and frequently con-
firms disease which ultimately results in dissolution or
death. Its benefits are always found in a debilitated
state of the system, when unconnected with the diseases
I have mentioned; particularly those whose systems
have been relaxed by sedentary habits, requiring tonic
or strengthening remedies. I have frequently in one
or two dangerous cases used the cold bath with females
in an advanced stage of life, when nature was about to
leave them, or in other words, when a heavy flooding
from the womb was about to take place.
The application of cold water, and frequently ice,
has been resorted to in profuse discharges of blood from
the womb, with considerable advantage, cold water
being a powerful astringent. When infirm or aged per-
sons take the cold bath, they ought to take moderate
exercise before using it, so as to increase or produce
the action of the vascular system, for by this moderate
heat, you produce reaction under the shock, which
might not otherwise take place. Understand me, I
mean gentle exercise, not such as to produce sweating,
although it is perfectly safe to enter the cold bath after
168 gunn's domestic medicine.
a moderate walk or ride. It would be highly danger-
ous to go in the water when sweating, or laboring under
fatigue; because your body, from fatigue, is losing heat
rapidly by swoat; but it would by this lose suddenly
what remains of heat; and, therefore, you counteract
the benefits which would otherwise result from a judi-
cious use of this valuable remedy if properly applied;
therefore neither previous entire rest, nor exercise to
overheat, can possibly be proper. But go between these
points moderately and you will receive all the advan-
tages the cold bath of this description is capable of
bestowing on the human species.
The cold bath is sometimes used as a shower bath
with great success; it means the falling of the water
from a height of seven or eight feet, in a shower similar
to rain. The construction of this bath is very simple:
fix a box that will hold water, or a large tub will
answer; bore the bottom full of holes with a large
gimblct—let the box or tub be placed above your head,
the distance above mentioned, and let the water be
thrown in, you being stripped of your clothing—or from
delicacy to exposure of your person, have a box made
with a trap-door underneath, so that by pulling the string
the trap-door will fall by a hinge, and permit the water
to fall on your body. In the northern cities the shower
bath is constructed in this way, so that the water is
always ready in the box, while you are preparing by
stripping yourself, when by pulling the string when you
are ready, you will receive the bath on your body. The
shower bath produces the best effects when used early
in the morning, after which you should take a moder-
ate walk, or exercise on horseback. By making the
water salt, that is with common salt, well mixed, it will
be doubly beneficial, answering the fine effects produced
gunn's domestic .medicine. 169
by sea bathing. In such a case, the salt should be
boiled the night before with water, to give it the strength
and qualities of sea water. A fter leaving the bath, rub
well with a coarse towel. The advantages of this
method are greatly superior to the other methods of
bathing, where the effects required to be produced are
powerful; for although the bathing in a river covers
the surface of the body more uniformly, yet this cir
cumstance by no means detracts from the excellence of
the former, because those intermediato parts which the
water has not touched, receive an electric and sympa-
thetic impression, in a degree similar to those brought
into actual contact, and as every drop of water from
the shower bath operates as «». partial cold bath, its
vivifying shock to robust individuals is more extensive,
and better adapted than any other method of bathing.
I will now describe why this bath is better than the
common method of bathing, together with its safety and
advantages. In the first place, the sudden falling of
the water may be used as often as you like—prolonged
or shortened at pleasure according to your feelings,
your constitution, your disease, or your gratification.
Second:—your head and breast are much secured, and
as it descends to your hands and feet, the circulation is
not impeded, breathing is less difficult, and a determina-
tion of blood to the head and breast is prevented.
Third:—when the water falls in this way by single
drops, gliding in succession over the body, it produces
the most thrilling and delightful sensations, stimulating
the whole system. It being always easily obtained and
near at hand, gives it additional advantages, Lastly:
—the degree of pressure from the weight of water is
prevented, nor is the bath dangerous—the fluids and
circulation never being interrupted by it. Besides—it
170 gunn's domestic medicine.
is free from injuries to which bathing in rivers and
creeks exposes us. In closing my directions, and ad-
vantages from the shower bath, I recommend the salt
bath particularly, as one of the finest remedies in fits,
in deafness, and for rickety children, or those afflicted
with a disease called St. Vitus' dance, a nervous affec-
tion. The great benefits resulting from the judicious
use of the shower bath, have been fully felt and ac-
knowledged in the city of New York, by the first and
ablest physicians of that city of improvements and great
discoveries in medical science.
FOOD.
Food means any thing, which, when taken into the
stomach, goes to the support and nourishment of the
human mody; and we all know perfectly well, that all
other animals, as well as man, require food to give
them support, health, and strength. All animals below
man, seem to be confined to particular kinds of food to
support them; and this appears to be the reason why
naturally wild animals are confined to particular
climates, unless under the care of man: and the simple
truth, that man makes use of so many different kinds
of food, shows that his Maker intended him to live
every where, and to have dominion over all the beasts
of the field, the fowls of the air, &c. as the scripture
expressly says. But I will endeavor to explain this
matter a little further, so as to be more easily under-
stood. Fish cannot live out of the water, birds cannot
live out of the air; nor can any mere land animals
such as the elephant, the lion, the horse or the cow live
in either the air or the water: and further still, on this
gunn's domestic medicine. 171
same subject, we see very plainly, that a sheep cannot
eat meat, a wolf or lion cannot eat grass, &c. In
fact, you may look at all the animals in nature, and you
will see as I said before, that all below man, are con-
fined to the particular countries and places where they
can find food and shelter from their enemies; and that
to man alone is given the whole surface of the globe,
because he can live every where on it, and easily find
subsistence or food to support him. He can eat fish
from the waters, he can eat birds from the air, he can
eat the animals of the land—the herbs, and vegetables,
and roots, and grains, of the field and woods, &c. &c.
I shall now endeavor to explain as plainly as possi-
ble, because every person is interested in knowing it,
what physicians call the '"process of digestion," which
means, in other words, the changes which our food
goes through when taken into the stomach. First, the
food being masticated or chewed, and mixed in the
mouth with the spittle called the saliva and air, is next
received in the stomach, where it is exposed to the
action of a kind of liquid called by physicians gastric
fluid, which is a powerful solvent of animal and vege-
table matters. After remaining in the stomach a short
time, it becomes a soft gluey mass, having undergone a
change or decomposition in the stomach, which may
be termed fermentation. From the stomach it passes
into the intestines, where it is subjected to the power or
action of the bile: here it undergoes still further chan-
ges, by forming a white milkly fluid, called by medical
men chyle. This milky fluid is sucked up by a numer-
ous quantity of little vessels called, medically, absorbent
lacteals. These little vessels are in the intestinal canal,
and all the food as it passes is subject to the influence
of the mouths of these little vessels, which suck w.\
172 gunn's domestic medicine
this milky fluid called chyle. These little vessels have
many communications; so many that it is impossible
to trace them—being formed with such delicacy of
structure, and so very small:—after many communica-
tions with each other, they at last end in one common
trunk, from which the chyle is conveyed into the blood
near the heart. It is here mixed with the blood, and
becomes subject to the power of the heart and arteries,
or, in other words, large blood vessels. It is then cir-
culated through the lungs: here many changes take
place by breathing the air or common atmosphere.
After this it joins with the great circulating mass, and
becomes itself blood, this being the great fountain from
which the body is formed and strengthened.
Food, then, we see very plainly is intended to sup-
port nature, promote the growth, and to give strength,
and to renew the waste of the system. The structure
of man's body, his inclinations, his instincts, and the
gastric fluid, intended to digest both animal and vege-
table food, show that the Creator has intended man to
receive his food from the animal and vegetable king-
doms. But of vegetable and animal food, animal is the
most nourishing. It is putrescent and stimulating, and
highly injurious to live on any length of time, without a
due proportion of vegetables; for it overheats and stim-
ulates so much, as at length to exhaust and weaken the
whole system, which in the first instance, it gave vigor
and support to. Persons who have lived for any length
of time on meats, become oppressed, heavy and lazy:
the tone of their systems is impaired, the breathing is
hurried on the least exertion, the digestion is destroyed,
the breath smells bad, the gums swell, the limbs lose
their action and become swelled, and soon break out in
sores, (this disease is called scurvy,) and sailors are
gunn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 173
much subject to it on a long voyage when deprived of
vegetables.
A German received a premium of twenty thousand
pounds sterling for introducing sour krout or pickled
eabbaj.re into the British navy. This vegetable is an
ante dote or preventive against this dreadful disease
called scarry, which for a length of time destroyed
thousands of seamen on long voyages, who were com-
pelled to subsist on salt provisions. All acids are con-
sidered good in scurvy. A diet of vegetables entirely
is not sufficient to raise the human system to all the
strength and vigor to which it is susceptible: and
when used alone without any meat produces flatulence
and acidity of the stomach, muscular and nervous
debility, and a long train of hysterical and hypochon-
driacal disorders. This shows the importance of a
proportion of each being intended for man. We find
some Eastern nations, who live entirely on vegetables,
seldom robust but very active. This accounts in part
for the cheerful disposition of the French, whose vege-
table and animal food are generally mixed, and boiled
to the softest consistency. A mixed diet of vegetable
and animal food is therefore best suited to the nature of
man. The proportion of these must be regulated
according to the manner in which they agree. Persons
who are fat, plethoric, or sanguine, should use but little
animal food: those, on the other hand, who are weak
and nervous, may use more animal food: In all inflam-
matory and acute diseases, where inflammatory action
exists, meat is hurtful. Meats which I shall hereafter
describe are beneficial, more so than vegetables, for
persons who are subject to indigestion; particularly
wild meats such as venison, or any wild game such as
birds whose flesh is white; the patridge, quail, pheasant.
171 gunn's DOMESTIC (IEDICINE.
wild turkey, &c: the flesh of these is of a most
agreeable and delicate flavor, little heating, and when
young, very nourishing and easily digested. In fact, all
wild animals are more easily digested than tame ones,
with the exception of water fowls, and such as live on
fish, &c. whose flesh is oily, strong flavored, but heavy
and difficult to digest, &c. By the abuses of cookery,
by which I mean the uses of high seasoning and sau-
ces, the simplest food may be rendered heavy and
indigestibie. The frog is not used in this country, but
looked upon with disgust, and to name it as an article
of food would almost turn the stomachs of many. In
France, on the contrary, it is considered as one of the
greatest delicacies, and frequently sells at a guinea a
dish. The hinder legs alone are made use of in France,
and other countries where it is made an article of food.
The flesh has a white and delicate appearance, and
there are men in France who obtain a livelihood by
catching them. I have frequently seen them engaged
in this employment, which is very simple: they bait a
hook with a piece of red flannel or silk, at which the
frogs will bite like fish, and are thus as easily caught.
I have merely mentioned this, not by way of recom-
mending them as a diet, but to show the variety of
tastes and habits of different countries. The flesh of
the soft-shell turtle, which is caught in our own waters,
is tender and nourishing, and more to be considered as
one of the delicacies of Tennessee, than any thing else
we have; and if properly dressed, affords a most
excellent dish, and one very easy of digestion. The
flesh of all young animals is the best and most easily
digested: mutton or lamb, next to the flesh of the kid,
is superior to any known. Veal is delicate, and better
than beef as to digestion: but neither can be good for
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE 175
persons of weak digestion. I have mentioned venison
as being very easy on the stomach; indeed it is so very
easy of digestion, and I think dyspepsia itself might
be cured by it, when accompanied by the exercise of
hunting the animal which affords it. Pork is a food
which is too much used in Tennessee, by persons of
delicate and feeble constitutions. There is more pork
meat used in East Tennessee than in any part of the
United States of the same population; and it is to this
voracious habit of gormandizing pork at evey meal,
we are to attribute the many serious forms of conges-
tive fever which prevail here, to say nothing about
scrofula, palsy, appoplexy, indigestion, and so on.
Pork is a food highly nutricious, but from the fnt with
which it abounds, by no means easily digested. It is
in fact the strongest of all animal food, producing to
weak and delicate stomachs, acidity and unpleasant
belching or eructations; and, therefore, should be cau-
tiously used by peisons laboring under dyspeptic symp-
toms or indigestion, and those whose bowels are weak.
Pork can bo alone adapted to men who labor hard,
because it requires activity and great exercise to digest
it. Bacon is a coarse heavy food, and also difficult of
digestion: and like pork, only fitting food for persons
who have to labor hard. Ham is also a heavy and
strong food, and should be careful'y avoided by all per-
sons of weak stomachs, even when it is cured in the
very best manner. The young pig is more wholesome,
and affords a much more delicate and light food than
the old animal. The rabbit and squirrel afford an
excellent dish, easily digested, and admirably suited#to
the stomachs of those who are delicate and yet require
animal food. But the fact is, all persons who have an
impure state of the blood, those who have sores, or
17e» gunn's domestic meoictne.
wounds, or breakings out on the skin, should by all
means refrain from the use of all animal food, and
particularly from pork. Fish, as a diet, is difficult of
^digestion; it is of all animal substances the most
■putrescibie, and ought not to be allowed to weak
patients, or persons recovering from acute diseases—
and the reason why dyspeptic persons should avoid it
is, that the fat of fish is harder to digest than the fat of
any other animal, and quickly becomes rancid. It
frequently disagrees with many constitutions—produ-
cing flatulence or wind—sickness and weight at the
stomach—and sometimes vomiting: and I have fre-
quently known it to produce a general disorder of the
whole system, accompanied with short but regular
paroxysms of fever, and sometimes a breaking out on
the body resembling the nettle rash. It is a very com-
mon saying, in allusion to the uso of spirits, after eating
plentifully of fish, that it requires something to swim
in;this shows that it is a dangerous diet to more than
sickly, delicate, and dyspeptic persons. Fish which
abound in oil, called the red-blooded fish, are more
stimulant and nutritive than any other; but much
heavier and more apt to disagree with the stomachs of
weakly persons than any other:—the fact is, that dys-
peptic persons ought to avoid fish altogether, and under
any possible forms of cookery. Diet depends very
much upon the manner in which it is cooked. The
most simple food may be converted into poison, by
the pampering and studied artifices of epicures and
cooks. This is the reason why the French cookery is
superior to that of the English, or even to our own-
The French use all the innocent herbs and plants of
the garden, while the English and Americans season
their food with highly stimulating spices, calculated to
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE, 177
destroy th« coats of the stomach. During my resi-
dence in France, I recollect but two cases of dyspepsia
or indigestion. This is certainly owing to the manner
in which the French live. The qualities and quanti-
ties of our food, with the manner of cooking it, should
be strictly attended to; and by so doing we would
escape some of the most dreadful diseases incidental
to human life. The more simply we cook and dress
our food, the less of it the stomach requires to be satis-
fied ; for by stimulating the stomach with seasonings,
we produce an artificial appetite, and rouse it to the
requisition of more food than the system requires; and
by overloading and oppressing its powers, weaken and
finally destroy them. To enjoy good health, we ought
always to leave the table with some appetite; nor
ought we ever to partake of any dish, however palata-
ble, which we know from experience to disagree with
us. The more plain the food we use, the more easily
will it be digested, and the less we will desire. The
various dishes given at parties, consisting of pies, pud-
dings, tarts, ice creams, floating islands, sometimes
called, and very properly, trifles, &c. &c. are just so
many poisons calculated to destroy the stomach, and
intail upon the dyspeptic a life of misery and disease.
In the western country I have witnessed, especially
among females, that the disease called dyspepsia or
indigestion prevails very much. I would, therefore,
particularly urge upon them, as they value their health
and lives, to avoid all this farrago of fashionable des-
serts; for by so doing, and living temperately and
abstemiously, they will establish firm constitutions,
which will be entailed on their offspring, extend to
themselves the inestimable blessing of health, and
enable them to reach the winter of good old age.
23
178 gunn's domestic medicine.
FEVER; AND GENERAL REMARKS.
It is almost impossible to describe fever correctly,
because it shows itself in so many various ways and
forms. To judge of its presence, we are to notice par-
ticularly the following appearances and indications:—
the state of pulse—the skin—the color of the face
—the change of feature—the eyes—the tongue—the
breathing—the appetite—the state of the stomach and
bowels. There is generally great thirst, and pain in
the head—soreness all over the body, as if beat with
a stick, or as if a person were fatigued after a hard
day's work—a desire to sleep constantly—and some-
times a great increase of strength accompanying fever.
By these symptoms you are to judge of this disease.
The most distinguished medical men have differed
in opinion as to the cause of fever: and to this day, I
must honestly confess, that physicians are much in the
dark as to this subject. Doctor Brown, a distinguished
physician of Europe, thought it arose from a want of
stimulant in the blood vessels—or an excess of it.
Doctor Rush, our distinguished countryman, thought
there was in fever but one disease; morbid or convul-
sive action in the blood vessels. Doctor Chapman,
Professor in the University of Philadelphia, thinks that
most diseases originate from the stomach. My experi-
ence in medicine convinces me that this eminent prac-
titioner of medicine is correct. The first impression is
made on the stomach by medicine, which acts instantly
by sympathy. It is the general reservoir which receives
those medical remedies by which the disease is to be
subdued; consequently there is great sympathy between
the stomach and the whole system—and many cases,
supposed to be liver diseases, on a minute examination,
you will find to originate in the stomach. It is impos-
gunn's domestic medicine. 179
sible to describe the close connexion between the liver
and the stomach. On this subject particularly, pay
attention to the stomach first, and you will discover the
primary cause of the disease: I will therefore describe
plainly and faithfully, the symptoms of such fevers as
are common amongst us, so that with a little care and
common judgment, the reader will be enabled to dis-
cover by the symptoms, the causes of such fevers as
prevail amongst us: nor do I consider that those fine
and hair-drawn opinions of fever, given by physicians
generally, are of any benefit to mankind, but, on the
contrary, serve to bewilder and lead astray. The great
secret of medicine is to discover the first cause of
disease, and in the next place to apply the remedies
properly; and to do these things as they ought to be
done, let your judgment be exercised with clearness,
caution and firmness; and to give you firmness, be
conscious that you are endeavering to act for the best
—as there is not so much difficulty in medicine as
many imagine, if you will but attend to the causes of
the diseases, and watch the effects of the remedies.
The fact is, that a man of good common sense and
judgment, who will take his station at the bed-side of
the patient—be minute in his enquiries as to the habits
of that patient—know when and how he was taken
sick—ascertain all the apparently small particulars as
to the pains first complained of; and without what is
called a learned college education, you will, in nine
cases out of ten succeed, when mere theorists who
prescribe for the names of diseases, without under-
standing them, will absolutely fail. On conversing with
a sick person, ask the following questions, if the situa-
tion of the patient enables him or her to answer; and
after waiting the subsiding of any strong excitement
180 gunn's domestic medicine.
your presence may create. How were you taken?
When were you taken? Where did you feel the first
pains? What were your feelings for several days
previously to being taken? Is your mind disturbed in
anyway? What are your general habits? Are you
temperate in eating and drinking? What have you
eaten for several days before being taken sick? How
and when have you been exposed? Do you recollect
how you felt when you were taken sick? What has
been your general health? Or,if the patient be a fe-
male; have you been regular in your monthly peri-
ods? Is there an impression of urine? This is a
delicate matter with females; because from delicacy
of feeling they frequently conceal it. How is the state
of your bowels? These are important matters, and
require candid statements from the sick. By thus
minutely enquiring into the state of the system, you
strike at the root of the disease, and get on the right
track; for thousands have been killed by physicians,
for want of this accurate knowledge, or mistaking the
disease. There are many other circumstances which
should be known; and which your good judgment will
not fail to point out to you: and I need not add, that
the necessary information should be obtained from
some experienced person of the family, if the patient
should be in a delirium, or too young, or too sensitive-
ly delicate to give it. From what I have before ob-
served, that fever shows itself in so many various forms,
you will see at once the necessity of knowing the true
causes, if possible, which assisted in producing the
disease. Let me, therefore, implore you not to be
alarmed in administering medicine in fevers, or in fact
any other diseases where good and sound judgment is
required; you need not fear, if you will but pay good
gunn's domestic medicine. 181
attention, and have confidence in yourself: I allude to
such diseases as are common amongst us, because
there are cases which require a very excellent physi-
cian; and under such circumstances, the heads of
families need not be told the absolute necessity of hav-
ing such a one. To give an evidence of the insuffi-
ciency of mere theories, with which boys come froni
colleges, I will take the liberty of stating an occurrence
of early life, which transpired with myself, in the prac-
tice of medicine. In the State of Virginia, my first
patient was an old gentleman of distinction, Col. Willis.
His unbounded confidence in me, when taken sick,
induced him to employ mo in preference to his old
physicians. The Col. was a man of full plethoric
hibit, and had been taken with violent bilious fever.
I bled him copiously; puked and purged him, with
small doses of emetic tartar, to determine to the sur-
face, or in other words to produce a moisture on the
skin, and thereby lessen the fever. But all my reme-
dies were unsuccessful; for the truth was I did not
know his constitution, or habit; and to describe to you
my feelings on this occasion would be impossible—and
here vanished all my theories, for want of a little sound
judgment and practical knowledge. To the informa-
tion given me, however, by a faithful servant who had
attended on him more than thirty years, I was indebted
for his recovery. He stated that while he was in
Philadelphia with his master, he had a similar attack,
and was attended by Doct. Rush: that the Doct. had
given him warm brandy toddy—for, said he, "my mas-
ter always loved a little brandy, and most generally
enjoyed himself." I took this seasonable hint from
honest Bob, whose information had destroyed all my
college theories, and taught me to scrutinize the consti-
182 gunn's domestic medicine.
-. tution and habits: for in little more than fifteen minutes
after I had given him some warm toddy, he broke out
into a fine sweat, and soon entirely recovered. I after-
wards related the anecdote to the Col. himself, who
after laughing heartily at the joke, assured me that
Bob was certainly right. I shall close these general
remarks on fever, by giving you the key to medicine,
or the art of distinguishing the true state of the system,
without which it would be impossible to administer
medicine with certainty of success.
THE PULSE.
This is indeed the key of medicine; for without
authentic and minute information on the subject of the
pulse, it is impossible for you to proceed to administer
medicine to the sick with any certainty of success.—
But I shall describe it to you plainly, and in words of
such common use, that any person of common sense
can understand this great secret of medicine in the
art of judging disease.
The meaning of the pulse, is the beating or throb-
bing of an artery; there being no pulse whatever in
the vains. The meaning of an artery is a large blood-
vessel, branching out into smaller ones, which carry
the blood from the heart to the ends of the body; in
other words, to the points of the fingers and toes, where
they join with the veins, which bring the blood back
again to the heart: as I said before, the arteries throb
or beat, and the veins do not. By pressing your mid-
dle finger hard on the vain, you will feel the artery
beat under it distinctly. Every time the heart beats, it
throws a column of blood into the arteries; then again
gunn's domestic medicine. 183
the heart contracts or draws up, and a fresh portion of
blood is forced on into the arteries. Reflect for a
moment on this wonderful machine, the heart; it goes
with greater regularity than any watch, and at the rate
of about four thousand one hundred and fifty strokes
every hour. The swelling and contracting of the arte-
ry, then, constitutes what I m ean by the pulse: and
therefore you may find the pulse in any part of the
body where the artery runs near enough to the surface;
for instance at the wrist—the temple—bend of the
arm—under the lower end of the thigh—under the
lower jaw—and on the top of the instep cf the foot
In different persons, although in perfect health, you
will find the pulse differ very much: the usual standard
of health, however, is from 75 to 80 strokes in a
minute.—In children it is much quicker; and in old
persons it is more slow and weak. Owing to the
decreasing energies of the heart as you advance in age,
it becomes less and less capable of propelling the blood
through the arteries, which occasions the medical term
debility, meaning weakness. By running, riding,
walking, jumping, eating, drinking, speaking, joy, anger,
&c. you increase the pulse: and in like manner you
diminish the pulse, by fear, grief, depression of spirits,
want of food, frequent stools, flux, or any thing else
that tends to weaken the system. In feeling the pulse,
you mus. make allowance for all these things; and
always wait until all momentary emotions of the mind
and passions have subsided and passed off
1st. A full, tense, and strong pulse, terms used by
physicians, is when you find that the artery resists the
pressure of your fingers—feels full—and swells bold-
ly under their pressure. If, added to these, the beating
be rapid and quick, the pulse is called full and strong:
18-i gunn's domestic medicine. ,
if slow, it i^ called weak and fluttering, and an irreg-
ular pulse.
2d. A hard and corded pulse, is that in which the
artery feels like a string drawn tight; and when you
press it with your fingers, it gives considerable resis-
tance.
3d. The soft and intermitting pulses, give their own
meaning by name, and are very easily distinguished
from each other; as is in cases of great weakness, lan-
guor of circulation, or on the approach of death.
4th. When the stomach and bowels are oppressed,
it frequently produces an intermitting pulse, which
sometimes also arises from an agitation of the mind.
A vibrating pulse, acting under the fingers like a
thread, as if the artery were smaller, with quick pulsa-
tions, but very weak and irregular, may be considered
as proving a highly dangerous state of the system:
you will know this pulse by its being accompanied with
heavy and deep sighs, difficulty of breathing, and a
dead and heavy languor of the eye. By being atten-
tive to the instructions given above, no man can be at
a loss to distinguish the different states of the pulse, by
which different diseases are indicated, as well as their
different stages.
AGUE AND FEVER,,
This disease generally makes its visit in the fall
season of the year; and those who live on the rivers or
low lands, are more than others subject to its ravages.
There are three stages of this disease, which are in
substance the same thing, differing only in the intermis-
sion or length of time in which they make their attacks.
gunn's domestic medicine. 185
The first—is that which comes on every twenty-four
hours:—this is called by Doctors, quotidian.
The second—is that which comes on every forty
hours:—this is called tertian.
The third—comes on every forty-eight hours, and
is called by physicians, quartan.
I have merely mentioned these stages, in order that
I might describe the disease more plainly, for the
remedies and the treatment for the cure are the same;
and the only difference between them simply is, as to
their severity and time of coming on. If very severe,
the remedies should be the most active:—on the contra-
ry, if mild and gentle, remedies less active and power-
ful will answer.
I have said above, that there are three stages of this
complaint—the cold—the hot—and the sweating.
In the first, there is much yawning and stretching, the
feet and hands become cold, the skin looks shrivelled,
you seem to lose the use of your limbs by weakness,
your puhe is small and frequent, you dislike to move
and finally take a chill succeeded by a cold shake.
This shake continues about ten or fifteen minutes,
according to the severity of tj^e attack. In the second
stage, as the chill and shaking go off, a pain in the head
and back comes on, succeeded by" flushings of heat.—
You now begin to burn with heat and thirst, and desire
that the covering be removed that you may feel the cool
air. Your face is red, your skin dry, your pulse be-
comes regular, hard and full. In severe attacks, where
the blood determines to the head, I have frequently
known delirium for a time. In the commencement of
the third and last stage, the intense heat begins to sub-
side, moisture begins to break out on the forehead,
gradually extending itself over the whole body, the
24
186 gunn's domestic medicine.
fever abates, thirst diminishes, breathing becomes free
and full, desire to make water, which deposits a sedi-
ment in the urinal or pot:—you then feel considerably
relieved as the sweat increases, which soon restores
you to your usual feelings and sensations, except great
weakness and extreme prostration of strength.
REMEDIES.
In the cold stage, take warm teas of any kind, pro-
vided they are weak—such as sage, balm, hyssop,
ground ivy, &c. kc: make hot applications to the feet;
and if you will apply a bandage, wound round the
right foot and leg, from the toes to the groin, and anoth-
er bandage, wound round the opposite or left hand and
arm, from the fingers to the shoulder, drawing both
pretty tight, so as to compress the muscles without
impeding the circulation of the blood, the shake will
be much shortened by it; but you must not omit to
loosen these bandages gradually, as the shake is going
off. In many instances, the Ague and Fever can be
entirely cured, by taking immediately from fifty to
sixty drops of laudanum, with a few drops of pepper-
mint, in warm tea of any of the kinds mentioned above,
on feeling the commencement of the chill; and as
soon as the hot stage approaches, continuing to drink
the warm tea plentifully, with a little acid of any kind
in it. If during this hot stage, the fever runs very high
with considerable pain in the head, the loss of some
blood would be proper. The object being, however, to
bring on as early as possible the sweating stage, put
into a pint of the tea or warm water, from four to five
grains of tartar emetic, and give two or three spoon-
fulls occasionally, so as to produce slight sickness of
the stomach, which will promote and aid the sweating
stage. My practice in this disease is, on its first ap-
gunn's domestic medicine. 187
pearance to give a puke of tartar emetic—for dose
refer to tiie table. After cleansing the stomach, I give
an active dose of calomel and jalap—and if that is not
sufficient, I follow it with some mild purge, such as
salts, castor oil, or senna and manna. Supposing, then,
that the stomach and bowels are freed from their im-
pure contents; the skin moist, and the body kept
moderately open by gentle purgatives: it will then be
proper to give the dogwood bark, the wild cherry-
tree bark, and poplar-tree bark, I allude to the large
swamp poplar. These three kinds of bark are to be
boiled in water, until their juices are extracted, and the
water then given cold to the patient, and in such quan-
tities as the stomach will bear. This disease is some-
times succeeded by alow7, lingering, and constant fever;
this must always be removed before the extract of the
different kinds of bark just mentioned is given; nor
ought it ever to be given in any paroxysm of fever,
however slight—because in such cases it invariably
does material injury. From causes depending on the
constitution at the time of taking this disease, it is
sometimes extremely difficult to cure; and persons who
have had it more than twelve months, have placed
themselves under my care. In these cases, when the
various remedies above noticed have failed, I have used
with great success the cold salt bath, as directed under
the head of cold bathing. When a bathing machine
cannot be had, a strong brine poured over the naked
body in the morning when rising, is the best expedient
that can be used; always taking care to wipe the body
perfectly dry with a coarse towel; after which it might
be well to return again to bed for an hour, before
taking the morning meal, im mediately before which
any common bitter, such as tansy in spirit?, may be
188
gunn's domestic medicine
taken. When the disease is of long continuance, elixir
vitriol is a good remedy, and may be given in doses of
eight or ten drops, in a wine or stem glass of cold
water, during the days on which the cold bath is used.
I do not think it necessary to take the barks, as before
described, when an ague-cake or hardness, termed by
physicians an enlargement of the spleen, has taken
place; in such a case, use a tight broad bandage round
the belly, with a padding of wool or cotton immediate-
ly over the hard cake in the side, and take care two
or three times a day to rub the place well with a coarse
woolen cloth or flesh-brush. This is called friction
by physicians, and friction will be the more properly
kept up by the wearing flannel next the skin.
It will be proper here to state, that in some cases
where the dogwood bark, the wild cherry tree bark,
and the swamp-poplar bark, prepared as I have men-
tioned, disagree with the stomach, which is sometimes
the case from long sickness, the tea or decoction may
be rubbed on the skin of children or delicate persons,
and will produce an excellent effect. Another method
of operating by the skin, with children and delicate
women, is as follows: have a jacket made to fit the
body, line it with the kinds of barks mentioned, which
can easily be done, and cause it to be worn next the
body. Both these modes of operating by the skin, have
been known to produce fine tonic or strengthening
effects, in cases of obstinate and long standing.
I shall now conclude these remarks, by giving the
method of treating this disease by the Spaniards in the
island of Cuba. I there witnessed its unbounded
success; and in no instance in which the remedy was
fairly tried, did I ever know it to fail of success.
Make a good sized cup of strong coffee, sweeten it
gunn's domestic medicine. 189
well, and mix with it an equal quantity of lime or
lemon juice. This juice may be had at ; ny of the
stores, doctor's shops, &c.—the dose to be taken just
before the shake is expected to come on, and must be
drank warm, and on an empty stomach. This simple
and always practicable preparation, may be relied on
as a most valuable remedy. But the Spaniards of the
island of Cuba, are not the only persons acquainted
with this powerful and efficient remedy. It is noticed
in Doctor Pouqueville's travels in the Morea, as fol
lows:—"I have often seen intermitting fevers subdued
entirely, by a mixture of strong coffee and lemon, or
lime juice, which is a successful remedy all over this
country. The proportions are three quarters of an
ounce of coffee, ground fine—with two ounces of lemon
juice and three of water, the mixture to be drank
warm and fasting."—I quote from memory, but with a
perfect assurance of being right.
It may be well before quitting the subject of Ague
and Fever, to mention for the information of my read-
ers, the late practice of physicians—which is as
follows:—as soon as the chill has somewhat subsided,
take a good dose of calomel— see the table. Next—
when the fever goes off, and you commence sweating,
take two grains of quinine, which is the extract of
Peruvian bark. This quinine or extract of bark, must
be mixed with a tea-spoonful of Epsom or other salts,
and taken in water as you would take common salts.
Take this dose every two hours, until you take five
doses; but you must omit to put in the salts, so soon
as the bowels have been freely moved; because a con-
tinued looseness of the bowels would carry off the bark
before it could operate on the system. Should the fever
not go off in six hours, take a dose of castor oil to
190 gunn's domestic medicine.
carry off the calomel—and then as soon as the fever
has left you, take the quinine or extract of bark, as
before directed.
BILIOUS FEVER.
Bilious Fever is nothing more nor less than the
A cue and Fever just before described, under some-
thins of a different modification or character:—that is
to say, in Ague and Fever there is at certain times an
entire intermission or stoppage of the disease; whereas,
in Bilious Fever, there is nothing more than an abate-
ment or lowering of the fever for a time. The analogy
or likeness between them is so strong, that in both
cases the patient is taken with a chill; and the little
difference that does exist between them in the outset,
consists in the simple circumstance, that the pulse in
Bilious Fever is more tense and full. If, however,
the attack of Bilious Fever be severe, the skin becomes
very hot after the chill, and sometimes of a yellowish
hue; there is likewise great pain in the head; the
tongue changes from white to brown, as the fever in-
creases the eyes acquire a fiery color and expression,
and the whites have a yellow tinge; the light becomes
painful to the patient, and he requires the room to be
darkened; his bowels are very costive, and his urine
highly colored; by these symptoms, any man of com-
mon sense may be enabled to distinguish bilious fever.
REMEDIES.
This formidable and dangerous disease, may in
most instances be easily subdued, if you will divest
yourself of irresolution and timidity in the commence-
ment of the attack:—I make this remark, because I
gunn's domestic medicine 191
have witnessed many instances, in which timidity ahd
over-caution in the treatment of this disease, have
proved fatal to the sufferer.—You are to depend on the
lancet; and in the next and most important instance,
on purging weli with large doses of calomel and
jalap. On the first appearance of this disease, give a
good puke of tartar emetic, so as to cleanse well the
stomach—taking care to make its operation fully effec-
tive, by giving warm camomile tea. When the fever
comes on bleed freely, and regulate the quantity of
blood drawn, by the symptoms and the severity of the
attack: then give or administer, if to an adult or grown
person, twenty grains of calomel and twenty of jalap;
and if that is not sufficient, repeat the dose with thirty
grains of calomel, and work it off if necessary with
castor oil—salts—or senna and manna: for dose see
table of medicines. By these active purgatives, given
in time, you will, in nine cases out of ten, give relief in
a few hours; nor keep your patient lingering perhaps
for weeks, and at length lose him. The administration
of small doses of calomel, say of eight or ten grains,
has been productive of all the injury that has disgraced
the profession respecting the use of calomel, for several
years past. A large dose always carries itself off,
whilst a small one remains in the system, and frequent-
ly does much mischief, if neglected to be carried off by
castor oil, or some laxative medicine; therefore, let me
urge you, as you value the recovery and life of your
patient, to give active and powerful purgatives of
calomel. The only danger in this disease, arises from
giving tonic or strengthening medicines, before the
stomach and bowels arc completely cleansed by an
evacuation of their contents. If the fever should still
continue, notwithstanding the administration of the
192 gunn's domestic medicine.
foregoing medicines, mv plan is to follow Dr. Rush's
famous prescription, of ten grains of calomel and ten
of jalap; the frequency of which prescription with the
Doctor, procured him among his students the ludicrous
nickname of "Old Ten-in-ten." But the fact is that
this dose, after the stomach and bowels have been
dioroughly cleansed, acts well upon the skin, and as a
.purge, and drives the sweat from every pore, thereby
lessening and finally breaking the fever.
During this fever, generally speaking, the skin is
obstinately dry; and it therefore becomes important,
that a determination should take place to the surface
—in other words, that a moisture or sweat should take
place on the skin, for the purpose of breaking the fever:
therefore the nitrous powders should be given. The
directions for making them are: to sixty grains of salt
petre, add sixteen grains of calomel, and one grain of
emetic tartar. Mix them well together by pounding
them very fine; divide them next into eight powders;
and give one of them, in a little honey or syrup, every
two or three hours. Emetic tartar, made weak with
water and given at intervals, will produce the same
effect; antimonial wine and sweet spirits of nitre, mix-
ed equal quantities, and a tea-spoonful given occasion-
ally, or every hour, will have the same effect; for
antimonial wine is nothing more than emetic tartar
mixed with wine, and sweet spirits of nitre is made
from salt petre. Ipecacuanha, in doses of one or two
grains, repeated every two or three hours, is also a
good remedy to produce sweating. In this disease you
will sometimes have an obstinate, severe and tedious
case; in which you will find that the most active pur-
gatives will not answer your wishes and expectations.
Here the warm bath combined, will be found excellent
gunn's domestic medicine. 193
in relaxing the system and taking off the strictures of
the vessels: and when you make use of the bath, be
particular in making it of a temperature pleasant to the
patient. Always follow the bath with injections or
glysters, made of warm soap-suds; or molasses and
water, pleasantly warm but not hot, to which may be
added a little vinegar; these injections will cool the
bowels, and remove from the larger intestines any
offensive matter.
When the fever is on, the sponging or wetting the
body with cold vinegar and water, will reduce the heat
of the body, and be a great source of comfort to the
sick person. If there is a pain in the head, cold appli-
cations of vinegar and water will be of much benefit
in relieving the violence of the pain. On the decline
of this fever, night sweats sometimes occur; in these
cases use elixir vitriol, and gentle exercise in the open
air. In Bilious fevers, a want of sleep and watchful-
ness often occur: the warm bath and a pillow of hops,
and the room kept dark and all things quiet, will no
doubt procure the desired tranquility; and if no in-
flammatory action or considerable fever exists, a dose
of laudanum may be administered. The misfortune
in the country is, that many persons who come to sit
up with the sick, talk so incessantly as to prevent the
sick person from having the repose necessary for pro-
moting a speedy recovery:—and it may be important
here to remark, that whenever laudanum or opium is
ces, which means the stool—by suddenly stopping the
perspiration, or sweat—or from getting the feet wet__or
from exposure—or from worms—and lastly, from the
application of poisons to the stomach, of a metallic
nature—by which I mean metals under various forms
and preparations.
gunn's domestic medicine. 201
REMEDIES.
If the colic is produced from wind, which you will
know from belching, or from a rumbling noise in the
bowels, or from the ease you experience by a discharge
of wind, a tumbler of warm whiskey toddy, made with
warm water, sugar and spirit—to which may be added
peppermint, or strong mint tea, or tea made of ginger,
calamus, dog wood blossoms, give relief. The appli-
cation of warm salt to the belly will give ease immedi-
ately, or until more powerful remedies can be given.
If the stomach is much distressed, an application of
garden mint made warm by stewing it, and applying it
to the pit of the stomach is excellent. You will then
immediately, if necessary to the relief of the person
afflicted, give a simple clyster, made after the following
directions: a quart of thin gruel, made of corn meal
and strained; to this add a table-spoonful of hog's
lard, and another of common salt, which must be
thrown up about milk-warm into the bowels. For
further directions as to clystering, look under that head
for instructions, as to the apparatus to be made use
of. If the pain still continue, and the person be corpu-
lent or fat, bleed and give the warm bath immediately.
If you have no bathing vessel, or tub large enough to
put the body in, apply cloths dipped in hot water and
wrung out, as warm to the belly as they can be borne.
If the above remedies fail, give a tea-spoonful of castor
oil, and in it put fifteen or twenty grains of calomel; and
if there is yet no relief, give one grain of opium and
ten grains of calomel, and continue the clysters. But,
if the pain does not yet abate, laudanum must be given
in large doses, both by the mouth and by mixing it in
the clyster. The doses of laudanum must be increased
gradually until relief is obtained; and I 1 ave ^.ivan as
26
$02 gunn's DOMESTIC HEDIxJINE.
much a.-3 a table-spoonful before I could effect my
purpose, if the misery be excruciating, to a grown
person I begin with fifty or sixty drops in mint tea—
and when relief is obtained, I give a good dose of
castor oil, and clyster to open the bowels: this prac-
tice has been generally successful. The practice of
the Baltimore Institution, as directed by Doctor Pater-
son when professor there, was in desperate cases to
give a simple clyser as before mentioned, omitting the
salt and lard—reducing the quantity to half a pint of
gruel, and putting into it fifteen or twenty grains of
emetic tartar and injecting it into the bowels. This
remedy I tried in Virginia, in two or three desperate
eases of colic, with perfect success; but it should never
be used, unless the situation and violence of the case
demand its administration: it is an active and power-
ful remedy, and may be relied on in urgent cases.—
Persons who are subject to this dangerous complaint,
should be very cautious as to their diet or food, abstain-
ing from every thing that disagrees with them; and
above all, they ought to avoid costiveness, or in other
words they ought to go to stool every day at a certain
time, and solicit nature to perform her duty—for by so
doing, a habit of evacuation will be at length .produced,
which will overcome the most obstinate costiveness:
and to produce a stool, a piece of hard soap about half
tie length of the finger, may be introduced up the
rassage. In all obstinate cases, which seem not to
yield to common remedies, examine the passage of the
fundament with the finger, so that if there beany hard
lumps of excrement they may be removed—for while
they remain, all your purges and clysters will be
ageless.
A spirituous infusion of the berries or of the bark of
gunn's domestic medicine 203
the prickly ash, is made use of in Virginia in violent
colic, and is a good remedy. This tree is a native of
Jamaica and other tropical countries, as well as of the
United States, and grows to the height of sixteen feet,
and is about twelve inches in diameter. It somewhat
resembles the common ash, and the bark is covered
with sharp prickles. The fresh juice expressed from
the root, affords certain relief in colic, and what 13
called dry belly-ache. The important fact was dis-
covered in the West Indies, by watching a female slave
who collected the root in the woods, and gave two
spoonsful of the juice to a negro suffering under that
colic called the dry belly-ache, at intervals of two
hours. It occasioned profound and composed sleep for
twelve hours, when all sense of pain and suffering had
vanished; and the cure was completed by giving an
infusion of the expressed root in water by way of diet
drink.
CHOLERA MORBUS, OR PUKING AND
PURGING.
This disease is generally produced by the food
becoming rancid or acid on the stomach; and if from
an over quantity of bile, the purging and puking will
show it, by the discharges being intermixed with a
dark bilious matter. This disease is also produ-
ced from breathing damp air; or from being expos-
ed to inclement weather; or from getting the feet wet:
—but mostly from eating such food as disagrees with
the stomach and bo-■< els. The mind has a powerful
influence in this complaint; and I have frequently
observed in my practice, that the disease was produced
204 gunn's domestic medicine*
in many cases of females in delicate health, by the
passions of the mind, as well as by sudden stoppages
of the menstrual discharge. The disease generally
commences with sickness of the stomach—painful
griping, succeeded by heat and thirst, quickness and
shortness of breathing, with a quick and fluttering
pulse. When the case is dangerous the extremities
become cold—the perspiration or sweat is clammy and
cold—there is also cramp, and great changes and
irregularities of the pulse, which, when accompanied
with hiccupping, are strong evidences of the approach
of death.
REMEDIES.
Apply to the stomach and belly cloths steeped in
warm water, or in spirits in which camphor has been
dissolved; or you may apply a warm poultice, made of
garden mint stewed; or a poultice made of mustard
and strong vinegar, will he found of great service
applied to the stomach; or a blister of cantharides or
Spanish flies: and in extremely dangerous cases, where
it is not practicable to draw a blister in the usual way,
do not hesitate to scald the part with boiling water, at
the same time applying hot rocks or bricks to the feet.
Give hot whiskey toddy, or that made of any other
kind of spirit; let it be strongly mixed with peppermint,
or ginger, or calamus; and let chicken water or thin
gruel be freely taken by the patient. Give clysters
made by pouring boiling water on the inner bark of
slippery elm, or those made of flax-seed tea, either of
which must be thrown up into the bowels mi Ik-warm.
See under the head of clystering, for the manner of
administering this operation.—The first object in this
dangerous complaint is, to cleanse the stomach and
bowels of any offensive matter—after which the giving
gunn's domestic medicine. 205
of thirty-five or fifty drops of laudanum in mint tea
will be proper; and if these should not arrest the pro-
gress of the disease, make a clyster of a table-spoonful
of starch and a half a pint of warm water, in which
put a tea-spoonful of laudanum, and throw it up the
bowels as directed under the head "clyster." If this
does not give relief in fifteen or twenty minutes, repeat
it again'—and again.
If the person who is attacked is of a full habit, that
is, fat, stout and vigorous, the loss of some blood by the
arm, and the arm bath will be necessary. If the
attack be moderate, a good dose of calomel will gener-
ally put a stop to it—for this will evacuate the bowels,
operate as a stimulous, and remove the diseased action.
Very frequently this disease appears as a symptom
of fever; and then of course you are to treat it as you
would any other kind of fever. In all cases, after using
laudanum to relieve your patient, particularly when
you have used it to an extent, it is proper and necessa-
ry to give, after relief, a good dose of castor oil. Per-
sons who are subject to this sudden and dangerous
disease, should be cautious as to what kind of food
they indulge in; and should be very particular in avoid-
ing the causes which produce it; because by impru-
dence, the disease may return with double violence and
danger.
The rapidity with which cholera morbus proceeds,
requires the remedies to be promptly applied; for the
disease is, generally speaking, highly dangerous, and
soon terminates the life of the sufferer, unless relief is
speedily obtained. A few hours' suffering, in severe
cases, weakens the patient surprisingly; and, therefore,
you will easily see the great importance of nourish-
ment of a light, stimulating, and strengthening kind,
206 gunn's domestic medicine
being given. Besides attention to nourishing diet, wine
with any kind of bitter ought to be given, or cold cam-
omile tea three or four times a day, the dose a wine or
stem glass full, or elixir vitriol, ten drops three times a
day, in the tea made of black snake-root, or Virginia
snake-root: besides all which, flannel ought to be put
on next the skin of the patient. But, in concluding my
remarks on the treatment of this complaint, I must urge
the particular necessity of the warm bath and clysters,
as almost certain means of relief, if properly and timely
administered.
RHEUMATISM.
This painful and excruciating disease, in which the
poor sufferer drags out a miserable and wretched exist-
ence, is quite frequent throughout the western country
—and particularly in East Tennessee. I shail commu-
nicate respecting this disease, in which I have had much
experience, such remedies as will, if properly managed,
succeed in entirely removing it from the system, unless
anchylosis of the joint has been formed; for in such
a case nothing can possibly be done with it. Anchylo-
sis means a stiff joint: this state of the system is exhibi-
ted generally under the form of Chronic Rheumatism, of
ten or fifteen years standing. In every case where the
patient can, in the slightest manner, move the joint, I
have no hesitation in saying the cure can be made,
if attentively and properly managed, according to the
various methods of treatment laid down, which are as
follows. Embracing the general mode of treatment as
used by physicians, and the method I have invariably
followed with unbounded success in Virginia and Ten-
gunn's domestic medicine. 207
nessee, hundreds are now living in both states who can
attest or prove, that they have been entirely cured of
this disease by me, of many years standing, after they
had become entirely helpless, and unable to walk or
move without assistance. There are two diseases, or
rather two different stages of this disease: one of which
is called inflammatory, and the other chronic—the first
is accompanied with fever, and the other, the last, is
nearly or quite without fever, and of long standing.
Rheumatism is brought on by exposure to the cold
and wet; by sleeping in damp places; by remaining too
long on the damp ground; by sleeping in a current of
air at night, immediately under an open window; by
exposure to the night dews; by taking off a warm dress
and putting on a thin one; by being greatly heated, and
becoming suddenly cool, thereby checking the perspira-
tion or sweat.
There is a disease called by physicians, Rheumatic
mercurialis, which means Rheumatism produced by
the improper use of Mercury; that is, by permitting
the Mercury to remain in the system, without giving the
proper remedy to carry it off, which is flour of sulphur.
This flour of sulphur is nothing more than Brimstone
purified, and pounded or ground very fine like flour; it
is the true and certain antidote against mercury; as you
will find explained under the head of Sulphureous Fu-
migation—or a sweat produced by the use of sulphur.
First.—Inflammatory Rheumatism is to be relieved
in the first stage by bleeding; as you will perceive by
the fulness of the pulse, and by the person afflicted being
of a robust and full habit of body; here it will be neces-
sary to bleed freely from a large orifice. If the heat is
great, you must proportion the loss of blood according
to the violence of the symptoms; and you must repeat
208 gunn's domestic medicine.
the bleeding on the second day, if you find it necessary
from the violence or continuation of the inflammatory
symptoms, which can easily be distinguished by the
pulse, the feelings of the sufferer, and lastly by suffering
the blood to cool. If the blood, when cool, has on its
surface a buffy coat of a yellowish hue, it denotes a
highly inflammatory state of the system; but, in bleed-
ing, you must take care not to go so far as to produce
debility: and, therefore, after the first bleeding, which
must be regulated entirely by the violence of the attack,
it will be proper to give an active purge of calomel and
jalap, twenty grains of each, mixed well together, and
afterwards with any kind of syrup. This should be
carried off by gruel, or warm balm, sage, or dittany tea,
if possible, to produce gentle sweat or moisture on the
skin. If then the disease does not begin to yield, give
another purge often grains of calomel and ten of jalap,
mixed well, and given as before directed. This will
procure purging, and a copious perspiration or sweat.
You will find now, that by moderate purging, so as not
to debilitate or weaken the patient, the complaint will
begin to subside, or perhaps entirely. These mild
purges must be of epsom salts, glauber salts, senna and
manna, or castor oil. If your patient at any time
gets weak from purging, give warm toddy made of any
kind of spirits; or if you wish effectually to check the
purging, give twenty or thirty drops of laudanum or a
pill of opium: see table for dose. This will arrest or
put a stop to the purging; and if there is any griping,
put the laudanum when you give it in some strong mint
tea. When the joints are very painful, and the skin
red, swelled and inflamed, cup over the parts: see under
the head of cupping for the operation—which is very
simple and easily performed. Cupping freely will be a
gunn's domestic medicine. 209
useful remedy. The inflamed or swollen parts, should
be kept wet with cloths dipped in vinegar made milk-
warm: and at night a poultice made of rye flour, mixed
with vinegar and warm water, will give much relief. If
the inflammatory symptoms are considerably removed,
a pill of opium or a dose of laudanum, (see table for
dose,) will procure the rest or sleep so much desired in
this afflicting complaint. The parts which are painful
should be well rubbed with a liniment, made of two
table-spoonsful of laudanum—two of spirits of harts-
horn—mixed over a slow fire in four table-spoonsful of
butter without any salt in it: this being put into a bottle
and corked tight, must be used three times a day, at the
rate of a tea-spoonful each time, and the parts kept well
covered with flannel. These remedies should be used
separately or together, as they may afford the afflicted
person relief The diet should be very light and cool-
ing; this being a matter of great importance. By strict
attention to this, you will be enabled to get quickly reliev-
ed, and save the taking a vast deal of medicine. In fact,
while inflammation prevails, the less the patient takes of
nourishment the better; and solid and animal food are
both to be avoided. No spirits, wines, or stimulating
drinks whatever are permitted in this state of the sys-
tem: and even when the afflicted person is getting better
he must take only such nourishments as are necessary
to support the system and recruit its powers-^-for by
imprudence in diet a relapse may take place of a dan-
gerous and languishing nature.
Second—Chronic Rheumatism, as distinguished
from that called inflammatory rheumatism, has little or
no fever. Chronic means, when the fever or inflamma-
tory action, has nearly, or, indeed, entirely subsided. It
is sometimes brought on as a mere consequence of
210 gunn's domestic medicine.
inflammatory rheumatism—and sometimes it proceeds
from cold and exposure, or from the system being pre-
disposed to it by some old disease; for it frequently
steals on so gradually, that the patieni bears with it until
the pain seats itself in some particular joint, or part,
giving the most excruciating pain. When fairly seated
by length of time, it usually prevents the sufferer from
using his limbs, and from the misery attending it through-
out, large lumps or swellings are produced by it: these
are the symptoms by which you will know chronic rheu-
matism.
This slow, obstinate, and painful disease, must be
treated as follows: First—the bowels are to be kept open
by the simple laxative of sulphur. A tea-spoonful must
be given of a mornings mixed with honey, on an empty
stomach—and one at night, if necessary to keep the
bowels open. One or two purges a day will be suffi-
cient: avoid the damp ground, and also getting wet
while taking sulphur; because it opens all the pores of
the system, and under these circumstances becomes
dangerous. This medicine is truly valuable in this dis-
ease, and too much can hardly be said in its favor; nor
is there any danger in it, if you will but keep from the
wet and damp. You may occasionally vary the treat-
ment, by giving epsom salts in the room of sulphur, but
it must be in moderate doses. The next object in curing
this complaint is, to keep up a gentle moisture on the
skin, in other words a gentle sweating; and for this pur-
pose I shall give you a remedy which is very simple;
and which in itself has cured hundreds, both of rheu-
matism and pains generally. Take one ounce of gum
guiacum and two drachms of saltpetre, put these two
articles, after pounding them together, into a quart of
old whiskey, and give a table-spoonful in a little cold
gunn's domestic medicine. 211
water, three times durirg the day. This dose is for a
grown person. If the stomach be weak, lessen the dose
in proportion—and so on for a. delicate or weakly per-
son. It acts as a powerful stimulant—produces gentle
sweatings, kc. By continuing in the use of this simple
remedy, in which there is no danger, I have effected
cures in cases of long standing, several of which were
considered hopeless.
The principle to be pursued in removing this com-
plaint is very simple: it is either by moderate or by
profuse, which means large sweats. Take a blanket, or
any thing which will prevent the steam from passing
off, and put hoops into it, in the same manner that you
would into a patridgenet, so as to keep the blanket, or
whatever else you use. on the stretch. Let the bottom
hoop be large enough to cover the tub, or whatever other
vessel you use: let the next hoop be something smaller,
the next one smaller still, and so on up to the top one,
which must be large enough to admit the head to be put
through. This machine, or whatever else you may
please to call it, must be long enough to cover the body
without touching it, except at the neck, where it must
fit so close as to prevent any steam from escaping, which
might affect the nose, face, or any portion of the head.
In this situation, the patient being enclosed in the case—
naked: let him sit or stand, with hot rocks placed under
him: on which so as to confine the steam to the body,
let the following extract be gradually and very slowly
poured. Four or five days before you wish to give this
bath, take a quart of whiskey, and put into it half an
ounce of saltpetre, one ounce of seneca snake-root, well
bruised, and half an ounce of sulphur in a quart bottle.
This liquor must be poured very slowly, or rather drop-
ped through an aperture in the blanket on the rocks;by
212 gunn's domestic medicine.
which a powerful sweat will be produced, which must
be continued for a quarter of an hour, if the patient be
not too weak to bear it so long. When the patient is in
this bath, if any faintness or sickness takes place, the
bath is to be stopped, the patient wiped dry and imme-
diately put to bed: and if much debility or weakness
seems to exist, you must stimulate with warm toddy,
made of any kind of spirits, with warm water and sugar.
In my practice in Virginia, for five years I used this steam
bath with unbounded success; and in some cases which
I considered absolutely hopeless, cures were produced.
By the effects of the vaporor steam bath, as justdescrib
ed, I was induced to try its effects in two cases of
inflammatory rheumatism, in which one of the patients
was unable to move without assistance for six months
previous; all the usual remedies in that stage of the
disease having been tried without any benefit. John
Sypold, a man of about thirty-five years of age, of a
full habit, a resident of Montgomery county, Virginia,
was hauled to me in a wagon nine miles, laboring under
inflammatory rheumatism. His situation was truly mis-
erable, from the most severe and excruciating pains. I
determined, with his consent, and after explaining to
him my doubts as to the final issue of his case, to try
the following experiment. I bled him freely from both
arms; and his situation was such as to require five per-
sons to assist me in getting him into a wooden case I
had constructed for the purpose. His pain was so
severe as scarcely to admit of his being turned over;
but as soon as the steam was put in operation on him,
he became tranquil—and in ten minutes a profuse sweat
broke out on him, which produced great relief. He
had continued in the bath fifteen minutes, when I pro-
posed to have him removed: but the pleasantness of
gunn's domestic medicine. 213
his sensations induced him to desire me to let him
remain: he said that those were the only moments in
which he had experienced a relief from pain in six
months. After continuing in the bath half an hour, he
descended without assistance covered with sweat: his
body was then rubbed well with coarse towels, and his
joints also, with the liniment I have before described,
made of hartshorn, laudanum, and butter without salt.
I gave Mr. Sypold the bath three times, making each
time shorter; in two weeks he was entirely relieved
from pain, and in three months he walked to Lynch-
burgh with his wagon, a distance of sixty miles, and
returned, without experiencing the least return of his
disease. Hundreds have since been relieved by me in
Tennessee, of this disease, by this remedy of the bath,
as just described—and in chronic cases, by the simple
use ot the gum guaiacum as already mentioned. I shall
now proceed to give the common remedies, as used by
physicians in this complaint, many of which are valua-
ble, and afford speedy and salutary relief.
In all local affections, distinguished by stiffness, and
want of power to move the joints without considerable
pain, rub the part well with the liniment before men-
tioned—or with opodeldoc—or whiskey, in which red
pepper or mustard has been infused or soaked—and
with these or either of them, rub the joints or places
affected with a brush, continuing the rubbing for some
time, the longer the better; and use inwardly the gum
guaiacum as before directed. The poke berry bounce,
made by putting the ripe berries into whiskey, and
using a wine glass full of it every day is of service.
The seneca snake-root is also valuable m this disease,
by boiling an ounce of it in a quart of water, over a
slow fire or on coals; stewing it down to a pint or less>
214 gunn's domestic medicine.
and taking a table-spoonful of it occasionally through
the day: you may increase the dose as the stomach
will bear it. Fat light-wood, steeped in spirits, and
taken in small quantities, is also serviceable. Tea
made of sarsaparilla, and drank freely, is a good reme-
dy; or take a large handful of rattle-snake root and
bruise it well—put it into a quart of spirits and let it
steep by the fire for several days; and of this take a
wine glass full every morning.
In the stage which I have lately described, which is
chronic rheumatism, the patient is frequently, by hav-
ing had the disease a long time, reduced to great
weakness: if so, he should use some bitters to strength-
en the system; such as dog-wood bark, wild-cherry
tree bark, and poplar bark, in equal quantities in whis-
key, or spirit of any kind—old if possible; or if spirit
disagrees, make a tea, and use it three times a day—a
wine glass full; or cold camomile tea same quantity;
or take eight or ten drops of elixir vitriol, in a wine or
stem glass of cold water, three times a day. In this
state of the system, horse-radish and mustard will be
proper to use with your food. Your diet should be as
usual—no change is necessary in chronic rheumatism.
Exercise is important, if the patient can possibly have it
—and flannel should be worn next to the skin. The
warm salt bath, as described under sea or salt bath,
will be of great utility in this state of the disease; or
you may use it by pouring over the body three times a
day, strong salts and water, made milk-warm. If the
above remedies should not relieve, after a proper and
patient trial of them, recourse must be had to the
French Remedy, called Sulphureous Fumigation,
For instructions loook under that head.
gunn's domestic medicine. 215
INDIGESTION, OR DYSPEPSIA.
This common and most afflicting disease, so much
disturbs and deranges our mental and physical nature,
that it is difficult to determine which suffers most from
its attacks, the mind or the body. From the variety of
shapes which this complaint assumes, it is very difficult
to describe it in a plain and comprehensive manner; in
fact, it is so frequently associated in close connexion
with other diseases to which it bears a strong resem-
blance, particularly those of the liver and bowels, that
in many cases it deceives the most experienced and
intelligent physicians. This complaint, like the gout,
may be said to be no respecter of persons: from the
prince to the beggar, you can see misery inflicted, with-
out discrimination of persons or ranks, by this demon
of human suffering, indigestion—under whose influ-
ence the body is tortured for years, and the mind con-
tinually wrecked in a troubled sea of the mostunhappy
and melancholy feelings
This disease originates in a great variety of causes;
among which it is often found associated with a dis-
eased state of the liver. Persons who have used
spirits of any kind to excess, or stimulants of any
description, such as spices or highly seasoned food,
and those also who have used tobacco to great excess,
by which the coats and functions of the stomach have
been impaired and debilitated, are liable to indigestion.
A costive habit, acquired by permitting the bowels to
remain too long without evacuation, will bring on this
formidable malady; and persons who are long confined
to any stationary or sedentary business, without taking
the necessary exercise, are generally submitted to this
disease called Indigestion. When the complaint is
firmly seated in the stomach, it is marked by eructa-
216 gunn's domestic medicine.
tionsor belchings of wind; gnawing and disagreeable
sensations at the pit of the stomach; risings of sour
and bitter acid into the throa , occasioned by the food
not being properly digested; great irregularity of appe-
tite, which is sometimes voracious and at other times
greatly deficient; and a sinking and oppressive debility
or weakness of the stomach. In addition to these
symptoms of indigestion, on gratifying the appetite at
any time, the stomach in a short time afterwards be-
comes oppressed with sensations of weight and full-
ness; the head becomes confused; the sleep very much
disturbed; the bowels very irregular and costive; the
urine high colored; and the poor victim commences
taking medicines for relief, and brooding in dejected
silence over thousands of unhappy retrospections of
past life, and countless melancholy anticipations of the
future, in which death in all its attendant and imagina-
ry horrors, stands conspicuous and appalling. Nor
are these the only miserable indications of indigestion;
I have known many persons whose tempers and dis-
positions have been materially affected by indigestion;
so much so, indeed, that they were incapable of describ-
ing their own sensations; and who, when ridiculed by
their friends, in merely pleasant raillery, as hypochon-
driacs, have wished their suffering were ended by a
close of their existence!
If the liver is connected with this disease called
indigestion, a dead and heavy pain Mali be felt in the
right side: the water deposited in the urinal or pot,
will have, on cooling and settling, a brick-dust colored
sediment, which, if permitted to remain any length of
time, will adhere in rings of a reddish hue to the inner
sides of the urinal; a pain will be felt in the top of the
shoulder and back of the neck; the feet and hands will
gunn's domestic medicine 217
frequently get asleep, from want of regular and ener-
getic circulation; the complexion will become of a
yellowish hue or tinge; great and general uneasiness
of the whole system will be felt; and sometimes, when
the liver is greatly diseased, occasional puking will
come on—in which last case, a diseased state of the
liver being evident, I must refer the reader to that
head.
REMEDIES.
In the removal or cure of this disease, great reliance
is always to be placed in the systematic regulation of
your diet, as to the times of taking food—the quantity
of that food—and the qualities to be taken; and any
person laboring under indigestion will soon discover,
that regularity and temperance, in fact abstemiousness
in eating and drinking, will be productive of as many
benefits to the sufferer, as want of system and intem-
perance will be of serious injuries, and dangerous
consequences. I am decidedly of opinion, with regard
to dyspepsia, that by withdrawing the causes of irrita-
tion from the stomach, and applying such remedies as
will have the effect of lessening irritability of the gen-
eral system, unless the patient be entirely too much
exhausted, nature would effect a cure without the aid
of that farrago of medicines generally swallowed in
this complaint: and I wish it here to be distinctly
understood, that unless those who are tortured with
indigestion absolutely relinquish all excesses of the
table and the bottle, no cure can be hoped for or
expected.
Doct. James Johnson, of the Royal College of
Physicians, has correctly and elegantly described the
remedies for indigestion, in nearly the following lan-
guage: There is a great error committed almost every
28
218 gunn's domestic medicine
day in this disease, which is, by flying to medicines at
once, whenever the functions of the stomach and liver
appear to be disordered, and the food imperfectly
digested. Instead of taking purgative medicines day
after day, we should lessen and simplify the food, in
order to prevent the formation of such things in the
body, as will assist to produce and increase the disease;
but in attempting to induce a patient to adopt this rule
I am aware that great prejudices are to be overcome.
The patient feels himself getting weaker and thinner;
and he flies immediately to nourishing food, and tonics
and strengthening medicines for a cure; but he will
generally be disappointed in the end by this plan.—
From four ounces of gruel every six hours, under
any state of indigestion, he will derive more nutri-
ment and real strength, than from half a pound of
animal food, and a pint of the best wine. Whenever
he feels any additional uneasiness or discomfort, in
mind or body, after eating, the patient has erred in
the quantity or quality of his food, however restricted
the one or select the other. If the food and drink
irritate the nerves of the stomach, they must be reduc-
ed and simplified down even to the gruel diet above
alluded to. I have known the dyspeptic patients gain
flesh and strength, on half a pint of good gruel, taken
three times in twenty-four hours, and gradually bring
the stomach step by step, up to the point of digesting
plain animal food. On a biscuit and a glass of water,
I have known persons who were afflicted with this
disease to dine for months in succession; and on this
small portion of food, to obtain a degree of strength,
and a serenity of mind, beyond their most sanguine
hopes. You will perceive, that in all the different
forms of indigestion, diet is the first thing, and the
gunn's domestic medicine. 219
principal cure in this disease; and rely upon it, for I
assert it from sad experience m my own person, that it
is absolutely vain to expect a cure, unless you have
courage and perseverance to reap the fruits of such a
system as I have laid down to you in diet, and not to
change it, however strongly you may be tempted by
the luxuries of the table, and the seductions of convi-
vial society;and when you have escaped the miseries
of this worst of human affliction, you must be extreme-
ly careful how you deviate from the right diet which
has restored you to health; for no disease is so liable
to relapse as indigestion. An unrestrained indulgence
in a variety of dishes, or in vegetable and fruit, or a
debauch in drinking, will be certain of making the
poor dyspeptic patient pay dearly, in suffering and
wretchedness of feelings, for his straying from the cor-
rect path of temperance and propriety. The least
over-exertion of the stomach, caused by its being over-
loaded or too highly stimulated, will be certain to cause
you to be on the stool of repentance for some time
afterwards. As soon as you have the least reason for
supposing that you are laboring under indigestion,
commence first with an active purgative consisting of
ten grains of calomel^ ten of rhubarb in fine powder,
and ten of aloes likewise finely powdered. These
three articles are to be mixed well together, and made
into pills, with honey or syrup. After this purgative
medicine, which is intended to clear the stomach and
bowels of all their unhealthy and injurious contents,
which always when present keep up a constant irrita-
tion in the stomach and intestines, no more very active
purges are to be given—because the frequent and
almost constant employment of active purges, always
do more harm than good, by unnecessarily weakening
220 gunn's domestic medicine.
the system: one satisfactory evacuation by stool in the
course of the day is quite sufficient; and by more than
this the stomach and bowels are teased, thereby produ-
cing delibity—the real parent of morbid irritation.
When this disease of body is avoided, and the stomach
and bowels at the same time kept sufficiently easy and
clear, and the temperate abstemiousness I have advis-
ed strictly followed, the poor sufferer under indigestion
may confidently expect an extinguishment of the
flames of his torture.
A little rhubarb root chewed at night—or the follow-
ing simple pill will be of service. Take of rhubarb in
powder half a drachm, of Castile soap one drachm,
and of ipecacuanha in powder half a drachm—mix
them well together in honey or any syrup, to which
add a little powdered ginger to make the mixture
pleasant to the stomach; make it into thirty pills, one
of whicfe you must take every morning, noon, and at
night; this will give atone to the stomach and bowels,
but as an alterative; and keep them gently open—this
is an innocent and most useful pill, and will afford great
relief, with proper exercise and diet. A tea-spoonful
or a table-spoonful of common charcoal, pounded very
fine, and taken three times a day in a tumbler of cold
water, is an excellent remedy in this complaint. This
article is made in a proper manner, by taking a lump
of common charcoal made of any kind of wood, and
burning it over again in an iron ladle or skillet, to a
red heat: then suffering it to cool—and pounding it as
before directed. This coal powder ought to be imme-
diately put into a bottle and corked tightly, in order to
exclude the action of the air on it—and whenever any
of it is used as before mentioned, the cork ought im-
mediately to be returned to the bottle. The quantity
gunn's domestic medicine. 221
of the charcoal used, must be regulated so as to pro-
duce moderate operation by stool. I have known
hundreds relieved by this simple and innocent remedy,
when the diet has been properly attended to, after many
other remedies had been tried in vain. Physicians
call this pounded charcoal, carbo ligni, in their learn-
ed prescriptions; which I have often found very pow-
erful in relieving diseases of the liver, when other
remedies had totally failed. Epsom salts and magne-
sia, in equal quantities, ground fine in a mortar, and
given in doses of a tea-spoonful in a glass of cold
water, every morning on an empty stomach, is also a
fine remedy in dyspepsia and indigestion—and if neces-
sary at any time to have the bowels gently opened, will
always be found beneficial and effective.
When the stomach and bowels have been kept free
from irritation for any length of time, by the mild
treatment I have laid down; when the tongue becomes
clean; when the sleep becomes more refreshing; and
when the mind becomes tranquil, the spirits something
animated, and the head clear, fresh beef made into a
weak soup, may be ventured on, with a little well-
boiled chicken; by this diet you may gradually try the
powers of the stomach, and know by your feelings how
much they will bear without injury. If it produce
uneasy feelings, such as before described, to either the
mind or body—or to both—within the day or night of
this trial of animal food, it should be lessened in
quantity. If that will not do, you must entirely relin-
quish it, and resume the old diet of gruel. When
animal food can be taken, without producing any pain
and uneasiness, you may gradually increase it according
to your feelings. Begin with one ounce of animal
food, and gradually increase the quantity, but with
222 gunn's domestic medicine.
great caution. After a while you may venture on sim-
ple food, so that by degrees your stomach may acquire
some strength and firmness, which it will now do be-
yond your most sanguine expectations; but you must
always remember, to eat just such a quantity as will
produce no uneasiness or languor after eating; no
unhappy feelings of body or mind during digestion.
It is quite unnecessary for me to enumerate all the
kinds of food which it will be proper for you to eat; I
have already explained to you, that the most simple
food is the best. Milk and rye-mush is an excellent
dish in this complaint; and I have known many persons,
who, by using it six months together, without any ani-
mal food, have been entirely and permanently cured.
No hot bread is to be used at all; stale bread and
biscuit, the older the better, but without any butter, are
very good in this complaint. How often have I been
asked by my despeptic patients this question: Is it
impossible to cure indigestion without resorting to low
and very abstemious diet? I have always said it is im-
possible—and 1 now repeat it, for the ten thousandth
time; and those who think otherwise, will find, if they
act up to their opinions, that after spending their money,
and making apothecary shops of their bodies, that all
the medical remedies in the world, without very tem-
perate and abstemious living, are not worth one cent!
Always have patience: there must be time for every
thing, and particularly for the cure of indigestion.—
Reflect on the length of time, and the great variety of
causes which produce this disease, and you will soon
see that it cannot be cured in a few hours, or in a few
days. The stomach, like a weary traveller worn down
by fatigue, requires rest, tranquility, and cooling diet,
to allay the feverish state of the system, produced by
gunn's domestic medicine. *i23
high and long-continued excitement, and perhaps by
terrible excesses!
Cold water is the only proper drink; and to persons
who have been accustomed to the use of spirituous
liquors, some gentle bitter may be taken, but in very
small quantities. But in respect to drink, I am perfectly
convinced that water alone is the best drink for persons
afflicted with this disease of the stomach. After a com-
plete change has taken place in the system, by a low,
regular, and very abstemious diet for some months—
the patient will find, if it will agree with his stomach,
which his feelings will soon tell him, immense benefit
from taking a mixture compounded of equal quantities
of the root of the poplar, the bark of the wild cherry
tree, and the bark from the root of the dog-wood, with
a small portion of black snake-root, made into bitters
with old whiskey or very old rum. This bitters must
stand four or five days before being taken; and then
given in small doses, diluted with water; three times in
each day—but if it occasion any unpleasantness of
feeling or sensation in the stomach or head, it must be
immediately discontinued. Tonics, or strengthening
medicines, are never to be given in the fever stages of
indigestion, or while the slightest irritation exists, or the
consequence will probably be, an inflammation which
will terminate fatally.
The warm or tepid bath should be frequently used
in this complaint, taking particular care to rub over the
stomach well with a brush in the bath, and a coarse
towel immediately on leaving it. For bathing, and the
manner of preparing the warm or tepid bath, look under
the head warm bath. Injections or clysters or simple
milk and water, luke-warm, or of warm water with a
table spoonful of hog's lard mixed with it, thrown up
224 gunn's domestic medicine.
into the bowels, occasionally, will be of much service
in this disease: because they will remove any irritable
matter which may remain in the lower intestines, thereby
lessening one of the greatest enemies you have to con-
tend with, which is morbid irritability. For clysters
—look under that head. Clysters, constantly used with
the warm bath, will obviate or do away the necessity of
taking medicines by the stomach, and very much expe-
dite the cure of the afflicted sufferer. In this disease,
the acid or sour belchings may be corrected or removed,
by the simple use of magnesia or chalk: a tea-spoonful
of either of which articles, may be taken in a wine or
stem-glass of cold water. The charcoal, prepared as I
have before mentioned, is also well adapted to remov-
ing this unpleasant and irritable state of the stomach
arising from acid. I have now given a faithful, plain,
and full description of this tedious and most afflicting
malady, called dyspepsia or indigestion—together with
an account of the most approved remedies for its re-
moval.
CONSUMPTION.
Consumption spreads its ravages in the haunts of
gaiety, fashion, and folly—but in the more humble walks
of life, where the busy hum of laborious industry is
heard, it is seldom known. In the last stage of this
dismal waste of life, although there are many means of
alleviating, in some degree, its miseries, there is neither
remedy nor cure for this disease—and yet so flattering
is consumption, even when very far advanced, that the
unfortunate victim frequently anticipates a speedy recov-
ery, and is preparing for some distant journey for the
gunn's domestic medicine. 225
renovation of health, when in a few days, perhaps a few
hours, his wearied feet must pass the peaceful thresh-
hold of the tomb, and his body sink to everlasting rest.
Thousands are yearly falling in the spring-time of life
by the untimely stroke of this most fatal of diseases,
and although medical men have for ages been endeav-
oring to put a stop to its ravages, I assert i without
fear of contradiction that in the last stage of consump-
tion, there is no remedy within the whole circle of
medical science,that will cure Vug disease; but I have
no doubt the period will arrive, when this formidable
enemy of the human species, will be subdued by some
common and simple plant, belonging to the vegetable
kingdom, which is at this period totally unknown; for
I have always been impressed with a decided belief,
that our wise and beneficent Creator has placed within
the reach of his feeble creature man, herbs and plants
for the cure of all diseases but old age, could we but
obtain a knowledge of their real uses and intrinsic
virtues. I wish it to be distinctly understood, with
respect to what I have said of this disease, that I mean
Consumption alone, and entirely unconnected with any
other complaint. The cure of consumption should
always be attempted in its forming state, before it pro-
duces active symptoms of cough, or matter from the
lungs, or inflammatory or hectic fever. I have often
seen this fatal complaint cured by attention to it, in the
first symptoms, but how often are they permitted to
steal gradually on, creating no alarm or uneasiness,
mistaking it for a simple cold, until it makes consider-
able progress, and the complaint becomes permanently
seated in the system. Consumption can easily be
distinguished from any other disease by the following
symptoms:—the patient complains of weakness on the
29
226 gunn's domestic medicine.
least bodily exertion, the breathingis hurried, oppressed
on ascending any steep place, the pulse small, and
quicker than natural, a feeling of tightness as if a cord
was drawn across the chest; slight, short, dry cough,
becoming more troublesome at night; a spitting of
white frothy spittle termed by physicians mucus. As
this disease advances, the spitting becomes more copi-
ous and frequent, and sometimes streaked with blood,
or a tough, opaque or dark substance, solid and of a
yellow or green color, having an unpleasant or fetid
smell when thrown on burning coals, or if this matter
is put into pure water it sinks to the bottom of the
vessel; by this simple test, you can easily distinguish it
from mucus which has no smell, and separates into
small flakes, and floats upon the surface of the water
—thereby enabling you to judge as to the progress or
formation of this complaint.
Consumption is considerably advanced when the
following symptoms occur: a pain in the chest, and in
the side, which is increased by exerting the voice by
long or loud talking; pulse is quick and har*1, gener-
ally from one hundred to one hundred and fifteen
strokes in a minute; the urine or water is highly color-
ed, and deposits in the urinal or pot a muddy sediment;
the palms of the hands, and the soles of the feet have
a dryness and burning sensation; the cheek, and fre-
quently both cheeks, have a flush or redish hue,
exhibiting itself about the middle of the day. This
flush lasts for one or two hours when a remission takes
place until the evening, when the feverish symptoms
again return, accompanied frequently by a shivering or
cold sensation, continuing until after midnight, then
terminating in a profuse perspiration or sweat occasion-
ing great prostration or weakness. In the last stage of
gunn's domestic medicine. 227
Consumption, the whole countenance assumes a ghast-
ly cadaverous look, the white part of the eyes have a
pearly and unnatural appearance, while the eye itself
beams with sparkling animation and lustre; the cheek
bones are prominent, the mouth and throat resemble
or look like that of a child having the thrush; the
legs swell, the nails are of a livid or purple color;
frequent purging, ending in profuse sweating, cough
hollow, difficulty of respiration or breathing, and the
patient has a restless and disturbed slumber; during
sleep a curious noise is made from the throat, like
suffocation, occasioned by the collection of matter or
pus in the throat and mouth; when these last symp-
toms make their appearance, the period is fast
approaching when the unhappy sufferer will lay his
weary and aching head in the calm and peaceful man-
sions of the dead. The alarming increase of Con-
sumption in the United States, affords an ample field
for medical research; the bills of mortality taken in
the various cities show the immense number who die
in the flower of life, by this merciless disease. In
three years the number of deaths in the British me-
tropolis, is stated to be fifty-two thousand, two hundred
and thirty-seven; and among these, were, under the
general head of consumptions seventeen thousand five
hundred and fifty-nine—making the number of deaths
annually in London, by Consumption, three thousand.
The rapid progress made in our country by this fatal
complaint, is sufficient to serve as a warning to every
parent, and head of a family, in order to avoid those
causes, which, sooner or later, end in this unmanagea-
ble disease. The causes which produce Consumption
are, exposure to cold and damp air, using tobacco to
excess, either by smoking, chewing, or by using it in
228 - gunn's domestic medicine.
snuff to clean the teeth, acting as a powerful stimulant,
thereby producing irritation; the use of spirituous
liquors to excess; obstructions and inflammations of
the lungs; the suppression of natural discharges, par-
ticularly the menstrual discharge or courses; scrofula,
diseases of the liver and stomach, and unfortunately,
receiving a hereditary disposition or taint to this disease
from father or mother. The narrow chest and high
shoulders, weakness of the voice, whiteness of the
teeth, fairness of complexion, and light hair, have all
been observed to accompany a predisposition to con-
sumption. Much reliance, however, cannot be placed
upon these signs, except where a number of them con-
cur in the same person. While the empire of fashion
bears so arbitrary a sway, and the followers of pleasure
are bound by the fascination of example, and the con-
tagious influence of that spirit, which insinuates itself
into the bosom of each and every one of its votaries,
so long will the sage precepts of wisdom be unheeded
till the emaciated form, the glassy eye, and hectic flush,
speak in language too strong for utterance, that the
disease is established, and the yawning grave stands
ready to receive its devoted victim. I hardly know an
object of more tender concern to the anxious parent,
or the medical adviser, than a young and beautiful
female in the pride and spring of youth, and strength
of intellect, borne down by the invasion of a malady,
which has so often selected for its sacrifices the most
amiable and interesting beings of God's creation.
And when, moreover, all this can be traced to one
single act of imprudence, one offering on the altar of
fashion, who can forbear to utter a sigh, when they
behold a lovely woman, laced to such a degree as to
impede respiration or breathing! As well might the
gunn's domestic medicine. 229
hardy Russian or Laplander, amongst his snows pre-
tend to brave the severities of his icy climate in the
flowing robes of tropical indolence, as a female to
indulge in the Grecian costume or dress, under the
influence of such a change as we experience during
the winter and spring months. This predisposing de-
bility for Consumption runs in families, and may be
traced from generation to generation—moving on the
leaden pinions of unshaken time, without a remedy to
arrest its course.
REMEDIES.
The cure for this formidable complaint is to be
attempted by a removal to a warm climate at an early
stage of the disease, and to attend to the preservation
of an equal temperature in the atmosphere which the
patient breathes—a sudden or frequent alteration of heat
and cold is fatal to an irritable consumptive system.
If possible consumptive persons should remove to a
warm climate the moment a predisposition is discover-
ed; a change to a warm or temperate atmosphere
during the winter months, may be the means of re-
moving the predisposing cause to this complaint; it is,
however, to be regretted, that this change is often de-
layed until a late period of the disease, when the strength
is so much exhausted that sufferers cannot take suffi-
cient exercise to assist the climate in restoring health;
it is then too late, and the unfortunate victim of this
complaint had better remain at home, for by leaving it,
he is deprived of the attention and society of his
friends, and exposed to much unnecessary fatigue and
anxiety of mind. If the disease is so far advanced as
to prevent the patient from going out of doors in the
winter months, his chamber or room should be kept
warm at an even temperature by a stove; the unpleas-
230 gunn's domestic medicine.
ant smell which frequently arises from a stove in a close
room may be removed by burning tar upon it; this fumi-
gation or vapor, constantly inhaled or breathed, is
considered by physicians as a valuable remedy in con-
sumption; the usual method of inhaling the vapor or
steam, is by putting a small quantity of tar into a coffee-
pot or earthen vessel, which is to be heated, and the
fumes inhaled from the stem of the vessel. This sim-
ple but valuable remedy, allays the violence of the
cough, and produces a free and copious discharge of
mucus or matter; inhaling of the vapor arising from
warm water with a little vinegar added to it, several
times during the course of the day, will assist in promo-
ting the discharge and tranquilize the cough. These
valuable but simple remedies should not be omitted in
this complaint.
Bleak winds, night air, and exposure of every kind
must be strictly avoided; the body should be well defend-
ed by wearing flannel next the skin,also the feet properly
secured from the damp; frictions, or in other words,
rubbing the whole body with a brush or coarse towel
from fifteen to twenty minutes in the morning, and at
night, will be of great service in this disease, the friction
to be continued twice a day as long as the complaint
lasts. As nothing tends more to aggravate the symp-
toms of a Consumption, at an early stage of it, than a
desponding mind, brooding over real or imaginary
calamities, every thing should be done to cheer the spir-
its, such as cheerful society, music &c, &c. Be careful
to regulate the bowels, it possible by diet, and by friction,
(as before described,) but if recourse must be had to
medicine, let it always be mild, and in no larger doses
than are necessary to discharge or move the bowels; for
this purpose clysters of simple milk and water thrown
gunn's domestic medicine. 231
up the bowels, or warm water, with a tea-spoonful of
hog's lard will be proper:—for clystering and the method
of administering them look under that head. Rhubarb
root chewed in small quantities at night will produce a
motion, epsom salts and magnesia mixed and ground
fine in a mortar, dose a tea-spoonful in half a pint of
cold water—or a table-spoonful of common charcoal
pounded very fine in the same quantity of water—for
the method of making and preserving this innocent but
valuable medicine, read indigestion. The consumptive
patient should daily take as much exercise as his
strength will admit of, except when the weather is unfa-
vorable. The best exercise will be riding on horseback,
but if this produce fatigue, substitute the use of some
kind of carriage, or a swing, so constructed as to admit
a chair in it, for the patient to recline to rest when fati-
gued. In my practice I have used a large basket of a
sufficient size to admit a small bed to be placed in it;
the patient can lay at full length, and receive the advan-
tages to be derived from the swing, without experiencing
any fatigue. This basket is about six feet in length and
two feet in width, having six handles by which it is sus-
pended to the ceiling with ropes, or in any convenient
place, free from damp or moist atmosphere. In what-
ever way exercise is taken, the greatest care must be
observed to guard against cold in any manner whatever,
for this important reason: tubercles or ulcers of the
lungs are formed in winter in cold climates, and their
progress to suppuration kept back in the summer, and
this is the cause why I urge your removal to a warm
climate at an early period of this disease, for when
tubercles or ulcers become permanently seated in the
lungs, the case may be considered incurable; but palli-
ative remedies may be given with proper diet, and
232 gunn's domestic medicine.
change of climate, so as to prolong the life of the unfor-
tunate victim of the disease. I shall explain for the
satisfaction of my readers what is meant by the lungs,
and their structure. In anatomy it denotes the viscera
or lobes in the cavity of the breast by which we breath;
they are connected with the neck, and situated on the
right and leftside of the heart; being furnished with
innumerable cells which are formed by the descent of
the wind-pipe into the lungs, those bronchial tubes com-
municate with each other; and the whole appears not
unlike a honey-comb. The most important use of the
lungs is that of respiration or breathing, by which the
circulation of the blood is supposed to be effected; the
evacuation of the faeces or excrement, and urine, greatly
depends on the constant action of the lungs, but like-
wise the sense of smelling is enjoyed by inhaling the
air; and it is chiefly by the organic structure of these
vessels, that mankind are enabled to speak;—lastly, they
perform the office of excretion, and expel those useless
matters, which, if retained in the system, would be
productive of fatal consequences. The treatment of
consumptive persons must be regulated according to the
manner in which the disease shows itself; an energetic
course of practice by the physician in the first stage or
symptoms of this disease, may be the means of saving
the life of his patient, or in other words preventing con-
firmed consumption. If there is a pain in the side, or
breast, accompanied by cough with fever, the patient
should be bled immediately; the quantity of blood taken
must be regulated by the constitution, strength and hab-
its of the person. Bleeding should be continued every
third day, if the inflammatory symptoms continue to
exist, regulating the quantity of blood by the strength
and feverish state of the patient. I have generally
gunn's domestic medicine 233
found in my practice, that after bleeding moderately the
symptoms considerably abated, the fever diminished, less
pain in the breast or side, cough relieved, and the respi-
ration or breathing much improved; after the inflamma-
tory action is subdued, apply a blister over the breast
and side, if necessary from pain; this blister is to be
kept discharging or running, and should it heal, put on
another; the object being to continue a drain or run-
ning as much as possible—similar to a seton or rowel;
as you value the life of your patient, enforce a rigid and
low diet, of the most simple nature, for hundreds die
from imprudence in this respect, who might be relieved
if they could but have courage and firmness to live on
gruel and milk and avoid altogether animal or stimula-
ting food. I have had an opportunity of testing the
effects of low diet in Consumption, and I feel fully satis-
fied that it is highly essential in the cure of this disease.
In the early stage of this alarming complaint give an
emetic or puke, of ipecacuanha—see table for dose;
and repeat this emetic once or twice a week as the
obstruction or case may require; this is to be continued
through the disease and much benefit will result from
it, for I rely very much on emetics in my practice in
Consumption; for the purpose of moderating the irrita-
tion of the system and allaying cough and fever, give
small doses of tartar emetic of half a grain dissolved
in a small quantity of flaxseed tea, balm or sage tea,
slippery elm tea, marsh mallow tea, any of which may
be used; the tartar emetic must be gradually increased,
and given at intervals until the irritation subsides; if
the tartar emetic affects the stomach or bowels, add a
few drops of laudanum to each dose. By a little caution
the emetic tartar may be gradually increased with much
30
234 gunn's domestic medicine.
benefit to the patient by lessening the fever, allaying the
cough, and producing expectoration, or in other words,
a free discharge from the breast; as an active and valu-
able expectorant, much benefit will be derived from the
Indian turnip. This valuable plant is very common in
the Western States, grows in meadows and swamps,
six or eight inches high, purple leaves three in number,
roundish berries, of a light scarlet color; the root of
this plant boiled in milk is a valuable remedy; or take
of the peeled root one pound, and three pounds of loaf
sugar, pound them well together in a mortar so as to
make a fine powder, and take a tea-spoonful twice or
thrice a day as the case may require; Gum Arabic, or
peach tree gum, will answer, held in the mouth to allay
the cough. Cooling medicines through the whole course
of the complaint will be proper, particularly nitre, equal
quantities of epsom salts and magnesia mixed, pounded
fine in a mortar, doses of a tea-spoonful to be given in
half a pint of cold water will cool the system and keep
the bowels in a laxative state; the dose to be increased
if necessary to act on the bowels. In the advanced
stage of this disease the patient is usually much weak-
ened by night sweats; this should be checked by
administering the following pill: copperas—called by
physicians, sulphate of iron—one grain, rhubarb one
grain, gum myrrh two grains, oil of cloves one drop;
these pills should be repeated three or four times a day;
and ten or fifteen drops of sulphuric acid, or the same
quantity of elixir vitriol, taken every two or three hours
in a cup of flaxseed tea, when the febrile symptoms are
severe. Pills composed of sulphate of copper, one
grain, ipecacuanha one grain, made into a pill and
repeated every three hours, is a valuable remedy; infu-
gunn's domestic medicine. 235
sion of wild cherry-tree bark, maae with cold water,
tar water, and cold comomile tea, are all good strength-
ening remedies in this stage of the complaint.
A purging attends this disease which is very exhaust-
ing, ending in profuse sweating, as before mentioned,for
as soon as the one is stopped the other too frequently
comes on, producing thereby an extreme degree of
weakness. When this takes place, use opium united
with a small quantity of ipecacuanha or sugar of lead,
if the disease is severe:—see table for dose. An infu-
sion of galls, or tormentil root, with cinnamon and
gum Arabic, will check the purging. About this stage
of the disease the mouth and throat are filled with
sores, similar to the thrush; here astringent gargles or
sage tea, a little borax and honey, to wash the mouth
and throat, will be proper, aided by tonic and astrin-
gent medicines, are the only hope of giving relief in
this last stage of Consumption. My practice is, to give
opium to a considerable extent; increasing or decreas-
ing it, as the situation of the case may require. By
this valuable medicine, we have it in our power to
protract the period of life, and to lessen the distress of
the patient. The inexpressible delight produced by
opium, when the poor sufferer is prostrated, can scarce-
ly be described. It always soothes the irritations of
the cough, and mitigates all those symptoms wh'ch
cannot be removed. The influence it exercises over
the mind and imagination of the patient no human
language can describe. In some constitutions, opium
disagrees with the patient, and produces restless and
irritable feelings. When this is the case, recourse
must be had to other sedatives or soothing remedies.;
for instance, to garden lettuce; which is fully equal to
opium in producing a mitigation of pain, and in allay-
236 gunn's domestic medicine
ing inordinate action. For the manner of preparing
this valuable remedy, which every one is in possession
of, see the head Garden Lettuce.
Icelend moss has, also, for some time past in Europe,
been resorted to as a valuable palliative in Consump-
tion ; and more recently in the United States, it has
acquired considerable reputation in this disease. But
like all other boasted remedies, the powers of this
herb have been most probably overrated. It, how-
ever, not unfrequently proves highly beneficial, by
strengthening the patient, diminishing the hectic symp-
toms, and allaying the cough. It has another impor-
tant advantage. It strengthens the digestive powers,
without producing a constipation or costiveness of the
bowels. This medicine is quite innocent: the Laplan-
ders use it in various ways, and among others as food.
When employed as an article of diet, they bruise this
moss, and steep it in several successive waters: by
which means they extract its bitter qualities, and it
then affords them a highly grateful food, of a soft and
glutinous consistency,similar to jelly; but the method
of preparing it for consumptive persons is as follows.
First wash it well in clean cold water; then boil one
ounce of the moss, with a quart of water, over a slow
fire—and while stewing, add of liquorice root, cut up
very fine, two drachms, or about as much as the size of
the middle finger. A tea cup full of this medicine must
be drank four times a day. Or—if the taste of this
preparation is too disagreeable, you may boil a quarter
of an ounce of the moss in a pint of milk for ten min-
utes, and take the milk for breakfast and supper—
always taking care, that the quantity be not disagreea-
ble to the patient's stomach. For a description of this
moss, and where it may be had, see Iceland Moss^
gunn's domestic medicine. 237
Lichen or lungwort, which grows on the bark of the
white oak tree, and which looks like a shell or skin, is
said to possess the same medical qualities as the
Iceland moss. It is called lungwort, (I had almost
forgotten to remark,) because of its strong resemblance
in shape to the human lung. A tea made of a handful
of the lungwort to a quart of boiling water, and used
as a common drink, is not only a good palliative in
Consumption, but when made into a syrup with honey,
is very beneficial in hooping cough.
Doctor Hereford of Virginia, a gentleman of distin-
guished reputation as a physician, has made some
interesting communications in the newspapers, relative
to a plant called liverwort, which he presumed to be
effectual in the cure of Consumption. For a descrip-
tion of this plant, and the method of preparing it, look
under the head Liverwort.
The Doctor is certainly entitled to be considered the
first who made use of it in the cure of Consumption;
and his communications on the subject will entitle him
to the thanks of posterity—if for no other reason, than
that it has been found an excellent palliative remedy in
this dreadful disease. So high at one period was the
excitement of the public feeling, respecting the virtues of
this little plant as a certain cure for Consumption, and
so great was the demand for it, that it was frequently
sold at Nashville for the enormous price of five dollars-
an ounce. After some time, it sunk greatly in price in
this country, being discovered to be very plentiful in the
mountains of Tennessee. Like all other boasted reme-
dies, which have been called specific cures in Con-
sumption, the liverwort is only considered a good
palliative—a mere alleviator of the miseries of the
disease.
238 gunn's domestic medicine.
DISEASES OF THE LIVER,
The liver is much more frequently the seat of dis-
ease, than is generally supposed, even by many physi-
cians of reputation and experience. The functions it
is designed to perform, and on the regular execution
of which depends not only the genera! health of the
body, but the powers of the stomach, bowels, brain,
and whole nervous system, show its vast and vital im-
portance to human health. When the Liver is seriously
diseased, it in fact not only deranges the vital functions
of the body, but exercises a powerful influence over
the mind and its operations, which cannot easily be
described. It has so close a connection with other
diseases; and manifests itself by so great a variety of
symptoms of a most doubtful character—that it mis-
leads, I am well persuaded, more physicians even of
great eminence, than any other vital organ. The inti-
mate connexion which exists between the liver and the
brain;and the great dominion which I am persuaded
it exercises over the passions of mankind, convince
me, and has long since done so, that many unfortunate
bjeings have committed acts of deep and criminal atro-
city, or become what fools term hypochondriacs, from
the simple fact of a diseased state of the liver. I am
well aware, that the remark just made in allusion to
the crimes of mankind, will by many be considered
new and daring: to these men I answer, that my busi-
ness is with truth, regardless of consequences. But to
proceed with my subject:—I have long been convinced,
and it may be added from experience, that more than
one half of the complaints which occur in this country,
are to be considered as having their seat in a diseased
state of the liver. I will enumerate some of them,
Indigestion—stoppage of th e menses—disordered s tate
gunk's domestic medicine. 239
of the bowrls—affections of the head—lowness of
spirits—irritable and vindictive feelings and passions,
from trifling and inadequate causes, of which we
afterwards feel ashamed—and last, though not least,
more than three-fourths of the diseases enumerated'
under the head consumption have their seat in a dis-
eased liver. I will ask you, reader of the particular
description for whom I write, is not this a most fright-
ful catalogue? But I will add one more of these
general indications of a diseased liver, before I speak
of the symptoms of those particular diseases to which
I at first intended to direct my attention. Under the
head " Intemperance,"—page 55—I have spoken on that
subject, in general and philosophic terms; but I neg-
lected to mention under that particular head, that a
diseased liver is frequently the cause of intemperance,
and sometimes the effect of it; and I will now remark
that in either case, when the disease has arrived at a
great height and strength, it is next to impossible to
reform the drunkard, without absolutely operating on
him for a disease of the liver, by medical remedies
which will actually affect his physical system. I will
also remark here, that many of these men who are
called confirmed drunkards, are only men laboring
under a disease of the liver, whose influence they can-
not possibly resist by any moral power they possess,
without the means I have just mentioned, or medical
aid—and this may be the reason why Doctor Rush
once alleged, that drunkenness was a disease.
How often do we see men, who in their moments of
sobriety, confess to their friends and families their im-
proper courses, with a full determination to refrain, and
no doubt with every sincerity of heart, who, after
refraining from liquor a certain time, become restless,
240 gunn's domestic medicine.
fretful or irritable, and depressed in spirits; now, I do
know, that in hundreds of instances, the love of liquor
is not the cause of their becoming again intemperate.
You will hear those men attempt to describe the
wretchedness of their feelings when they abstain from
liquor; they cannot do it: Now, reader, must not this
be a disease, with which the mere love of liquor has
nothing to do?
There are two strongly marked forms of diseased
liver, requiring entirely different courses of treatment
to effect a cure: one is called acute and the other
chronic. The first is known by inflammatory symp-
toms or fever, accompanied with slight chill, and very
much resembles an attack of pleurisy, being character-
ised by pain in the right side, which rises to the point
of the shoulder. On pressing below the ribs on the
right side, you will feel the pain more severe. There
is sometimes a sharp, and sometimes a dull heavy pain
about the collar-bone; you have painful and uneasy
sensations on lying on the left side, difficult respiration
or breathing, dry and hacking cough, sometimes a
vomiting or puking of bilious matter, your bowels are
costive, your urine or water of a deep saffron color,
and the quantity made quite small, great thirst, tongue
dry and covered with a white fur, hard and frequent
pulse, from ninety to one hundred in a minute, and
sometimes intermitting, skin hot and dry; and after
several days' continuance of the disease, the skin
and whites of the eyes put on a yellow color. On a
close examination of the blood drawn from the arm,
you will find its appearance somewhat singular, Be-
fore it begins to coagulate or congeal, and while the
red part is settling to the bottom—and before the buffy
or yellow coat is fully formed, it looks of a dull green
gunn's domestic medicine. 241
color; but, immediately after the full formation of the
upper coat, it changes from a dull greenish hue to a
yellow.
In warm climates, the liver is more apt lo be affected
with inflammation, than any other part of the body;
this is owing to an increased secretion of bile, from the
stimulous of heat, and several other causes. The liver
is the largest, and most ponderous or heavy of the
abdominal viscera or entrails. In adults, by which I
mean grown persons, it weighs about three pounds—
and serves to purify the blood, by secreting or taking
from it the bile. Its situation is immediately under, and
connected with the diaphragm, generally called the
mid raff; this is a muscle which divides the thorax or
chest, from the abdomen or belly. When inflamma-
tion of this organ takes place in hot climates, it is
a highly dangerous disease; which, when spoken of by
physicians, is called hepatitis. When physicians only
mean general disease of the liver, they call it, in equal-
ly general terms, hepatic derangement 'The disease
Of the liver sometimes terminates in the formation of
matter in an abcess, which has to be discharged, of
which more notice will be taken in the proper place.
Chronic:—a term applied to diseases which are of
long continuance, and most generally without fever. It
is the opposite disease to the acute. When this stage
exists, the complexion and countenance put on, or
rather assume, a morbid or diseased appearance. You
will experience, frequently, a giddiness or swimming
of the head; a general weakness, and dislike to motion
or exercise; frequent headache; indigestion; flatulency,
or belching of wind from the stomach, with acid taste
in the throat and mouth; pains in the stomach; your
skin and eyes will be of a yellow eollor, similar to jour.
31
212 gunn's domestic medicine.
dice; your urine will be high colored, depositing a red
brick-dust colored sediment in the urinal or pot, and
frequently your water will be mixed with a ropy mucus,
and when left some time in the vessel, will form a pink
streak round its inside; and your stools will be the
color of clay. By attending to these evacuations, their
color will be almost a certain characteristic or mark of
this disease: observe, however, that when you chew
rhubarb root, it will always give your stools this light-
yellow color; you will experience a dull heavy pain in
the region of the liver, extending to the point of the
shoulder, and a great loss of appetite; your whole
system will be oppressed with an unusual sense of
fullness; on examination by pressure, there will be felt
an enlargement and hardness of the liver; and in some
cases, there will be experienced great oppression of
respiration or breathing. I must remark, that the
symptoms which I have here described, as indicative of
the chronic stage of this disease, will always depend
very much on the length of time the disease has been
making its ravages on the system, for it may be com-
pared to the midnight assassin, who steals on your
hours of rest and security, with noiseless foot—and
deals you the deadly blow! the truth is, that chronic
affection of the liver, is a far more common form of
disease in the United States than the acute. A disease
of the liver, of the acute form, is produced by all
causes which excite inflammation or fever. The
chronic form of this complaint, is generally produced
in the United States, by the excessive and imprudent
use of spirituous liquors. A residence of any continu-
ance in hot countries, or even in warm climates, where
a free and unrestrained course of living is indulged, is
almost certain to produce the disease; intermittent
gunn's domestic medicine. 243
fevers of long continuance, are also apt to produce a
chronic stage of the liver; but I am compelled to say,
if I must speak with candor, that I believe more than
two-thirds of the whole number of liver complaints in
the United States, may be traced to intemperance.
REMEDIES.
For an acute inflammation of the liver, you are to
depend principally on the prompt and immediate use
of the lancet, by bleeding the patient freely, according
to his age, his strength, and the violence of his pains.
After the bleeding, give an active purge of calomel and
jalap—-ee table for dose. If this does not diminish the
pain, bleed again and give an active dose of calomel at
night, and a dose of epsom salts in the morning.
After the first copious bleeding, I have generally, by
living an active dose of calomel and jalap, succeeded
in lessening the violence of the complaint; but if it
still continued severe, I pursued moderate and frequent
bleedings, with doses of calomel at night, and epsom
salts in the morning, and decreased the bleeding gradu-
ally until I stopped it. Apply, also, a large blister over
the liver, which will assist in mitigating and lessening
the pain in the side. Also, cup freely and daily over
the liver; it will be of great benefit by drawing off the
blood from the interior. For cupping, look under that
head. Small doses of emetic tartar in this stage of the
disease, given occasionally in balm or sage tea, from
one to two grains, will determine to the surface, or in
other words, produce moisture of the skin, and thereby
relieve the feverish symptoms. In this stage of the
complaint particularly—and indeed through the whole
course of the disease, the warm bath will be found one
of the finest remedies. Indeed, too much reliance
cannot well be placed on warm bathing, accompanied
244 gunn's domestic medicine.
by friction—by which I mean, rubbing the body well
with a' brush, immediately after leaving the bath: the
truth is, that this friction ought, by no means, to be
omitted by the patient; I can from experience vouch
for its beneficial effects.
After following the course of practice which I have
here laid down, and the disease still continuing obstin-
ate, which it frequently does when it has been of long
standing, you must depend on mercury. When I
speak of this medicine, do not be alarmed or frightened
at its name; for, with the rules which I lay down,
(read under the head Mercury,) it will be as easy to
manage this medicine as a dose of epsom salts; and
the various injuries which result from this valuable
medicine, (for withoutit,it would be impossible to prac-
tice medicine with any kind of success,) arise from its
abuse: in fact, the injuries sustained by its use are
owing to a want of care, and administering it on every
trifling occasion, when medicines not so active would
answer a much better purpose.
There are various preparations of mercury; rbut, at
the head of this article for removing this disease, stands
calomel—and thousands of empirics or quacks of
the United States, who publish in every news-journal
some long-named remedy to cure diseases without the
use of mercury, are the very fellows who use it most
in some disguised form: and indeed it becomes in this
way truly dangerous; for the patient, regardless of
weather or exposure, having no knowledge of what he
is constantly using, destroys instead of benefits his
health—or, in removing one disease, lays the founda-
tion of another still worse in its consequences. This
medicine is the only sure and positive remedy, that
can be relied on for the removal of the diseases of the
gunn's domestic medicine. 245
liver, when permanently seated in that organ; and so
powerful and necessary is it for the correction of its
disorders, that it is called by a distinguished physician
—the key of the liver. In administering this medi-
cine, there are various ways of introducing it into the
system, which must, be done according to the stage of
the disease, and the-symptoms of the chronic form. If
violent, active mercurial preparations must be used
constantly, and steadily given. If the symptoms are
gradual and not dangerous, the medicine must be in pro-
portion to the state of this disease, and of a milder
form of mercurial preparations. By reading under the
head of Mercury, you will there see the different forms
in which this mineral is prepared—and that it may be
given to act promptly or mildly on the system. My
course of practice in this disease, has been to employ
the use of calomel from an early stage of the disease,
after having purged the bowels well, frequently by its
use alone or combined with jalap. I generally admin-
istered in small doses, say from one to two grains every
three hours, until salivation took place: or to act with
more mildness, about the size of a nutmeg of mercuri-
al ointment, (oil of baze,) was rubbed over the region
of the liver, every night until salivation was produced.
I make use of the words, "oil of baze," because they
form the name by which the country people usually ask
for the article in the shops. When this takes place,
you will know it by the following circumstances: you
will spit freely; the salivary glands will become enlarg-
ed, and the throat sore, the gums tender, and the breath
have an offensive and peculiar odor, &c.
In rubbing the ointment over the region of the liver,
if any pain or uneasiness is produced by it, which is
sometimes the case, you must rub it on the inside of the
246 gunn's domestic medicine.
thighs. In some constitutions, calomel disagrees with
the patient; I have had such cases frequently. When
this is the case, and your patient's situation requires it,
recourse must be had to a milder preparation of mer-
cury—the blue pill. For the method of making this
pill, look under the head of Mercury. The usual
method of administering this mild and gentle prepar-
ation is, by giving a pill twice or three times a day,
morning, noon, and night. If the symptoms are less
urgent, iwice a day will suffice—and if very mild and
gradual, a pill at bed-time will be sufficient. Pursue
this course steadily, until the gums are affected, or a
copperish taste is experienced in the mouth: this must
be kept up gently until the disease is subdued, or some
visible effect is produced upon the system. After the
effect is produced, stop the use of mercury—and give
time to see the advantage you may have derived from
your course of practice. The blue pill, although a
mild preparation, is not without its inconveniences. It
sometimes occasions griping pain in the bowels, by
which it will at times run off, without producing the
effect intended, which is an approach to—or salivation
itself—so as to induce a change or alterative effect on
the liver. If this be the result a small portion of
opium or laudanum will check this griping, and prevent
the pill from passing off without producing the effect
intended and desired. Where there,are uneasy and
unpleasant sensations produced by these medicines,
particularly when Dyspepsia or Indigestion is con-
nected with a diseased liver, which is very frequently
the case in the United States, there is a considerable
degree of morbid or diseased sensibility in the stomach
and bowels, which can generally be removed by joining
some innocent and gentle anodyne with them; but
gunn's domestic medicine. 247
where this morbid sensibility does net exist, the ano-
dyne ought to be omitted. When this slow and gradual
mercurial taste can be kept up in the mouth for some
time, without actually producing a great flow of spittle,
or salivation, great benefit will be felt by the patient:
and I have always found, on an actual salivation being
produced, the symptoms entirely removed, and a cheer-
fulness and change of feeling so different, as at once
to inspire that confidence of returning health, which
can alone be communicated by the prudent and care-
ful use of this valuable specific. Persons who are
prejudiced against the use of mercury, and there are
many who entertain an unfavorable opinion of its use,
whether from having observed its injurious effects from
bad treatment, or from the terrible and unfounded tales
which are daily circulated respecting it, I cannot say,
have never witnessed its innocently beneficial effects in
diseases of the liver, in as many instances as I have.
The fact is, that I have known those very persons
travel one hundred miles to obtain relief "without the
aid of mercury," from some published quack medi-
cine, who always met mercury under some disguised
form.
But, without those whose prejudices are not to
be removed respecting the use of mercury, I shall give
such remedies as are highly recommended in this com-
plaint, by some of the most distinguished physicians of
Europe and the United States. The late experiments
made with the medicine I am about to recommend,
have proved by their influence in the practice, equal
to mercury—in fact, they prefer its use in the first in-
stance: for, say they, "if it does not succeed, which is
not apt to be the case, it leaves the system in a much
248 gunn's domestic medicine.
better situation for the use of the last and certain reme-
dy—mercury."
This medicine is nitric acid; and may be obtained
at any doctor's shop, or wherever medicines are sold,
at a very trifling sum. This article, in its pure state, is
perfectly colorless, and transparent; as pure water. I
have frequently received it from the northern cities of
a slight straw color; but this is not so good as that
which is perfectly pure and transparent—and is, in fact
nothing more nor less than aqua fortis. It is made of
sulphuric acid, which is merely oil of vitriol—and
nitrate of potass, which is no more than simple salt
petre. Nitric acid in its pure state, should be cautious-
ly handled, or it will destroy your clothes, and stain
your hands of a yellow color which cannot be washed
off. It is used by the country people generally, to color
the stocks of their rifles. I suppose this caution will
be sufficient. It becomes quite harmless, after being-
diluted or mixed with water. The method of using
the nitric acid, or aqua fortis, is as follows:—a quart
bottle of water may be made agreeably sour, that is, to
suit the taste of the patient, and sweetened with sugar
so as to make it a pleasant drink. Take as much of
this drink fromyour bottle during the twenty-four hours,
as your stomach will bear without inconvenience.
Sixty drops of this nitric acid, will be sufficient for a
quart of water. This medicine, like mercury, must be
gradually continued, until some visible effect is produ-
ced on the system. This will be felt by an affection of
the mouth and glands, and excite spitting similar to
mercurial preparations. In all constitutions of a scor-
butic or scurvy habit, or those laboring under great
weakness, the nitric acid will be a better remedy than
gunn's domestic medicine 249
mercury; because it acts as a tonic or strengthening
medicine, at the same time that it tends to correct the
scorbutic affection.
In several cases, in which I have had opportunities
of trying the nitric acid in the form I have mentioned,
it has always had beneficial effects, with the exception
of the single case of a lady of delicate and irritable
stomach: she was compelled to discontinue its use,
from the acidity it produced on her stomach. This I
endeavored to remedy, by gentle emetics or pukes,
intended to cleanse the stomach of its impurities; and
by afterwards giving magnesia, and charcoal, and such
other articles, for the purpose of neutralizing or destroy-
ing the acid. All, however, did not succeed, and I was
compelled to desist. From this practice, and general
experience, I apprehend no other difficulty with regard
to the beneficial effects of the nitric acid in chronic
affections of the liver, than the simple fact of the patient
being unable to take it a sufficient time to produce the
effect desired. In such cases as the above, therefore,
much benefit will be experienced from the use of the
nitro muriatic bath.
This valuable and grateful remedy, is by far too
much neglected in the United States. The reason of
this neglect I apprehend to be, because its application
is considered to be attended with some trouble. I
recollect a circumstance in point. I directed one of
my patients to bathe his feet every night on going to
bed in this bath: "What, Doctor," said he, "every
night?"—"or every other night," said I: he exclaimed
—"How much trouble!" This is the reason,I have
no doubt, why this simple but valuable preparation is
so much neglected. But to those, who, like myself,
have witnessed the surprising cures produced by its
32
250 gunn's domestic medicine.
use, the trouble will be considered a matter of no con-
sequence. I shall, for the satisfaction of my reader,
relate a case.
Mrs. Stoner, wife of John Stoner, of Botetourt coun-
ty, Virginia, was in the last stage of tins disease; and
had been attended by several distinguished physicians,
who treated her case for consumption. At the time her
husband called on me to visit her, his object was mere-
ly to procure the administration of some palliative
remedies, to soothe her cough, and relieve her obstruct-
ed respiration or breathing, which had nearly suffoca-
ted her several times; he entertained neither hope nor
belief, that any medical assistance could, by any possi-
bility, permanently relieve her. In truth, from what I
had heard of her case, I candidly stated to Mr. Stoner,
that my visits would only be a useless expense; and
advised such remedies as were calculated to allay irri-
tation. Two or three days afterward, Mr. S. made a
second application, and to gratify an affectionate and
tender husband, and a numerous and highly respectable
connexion, I consented to visit her. On my arrival, I
found her situation, as I at first supposed, to be critical
in the extreme; in fact, the last stage of consumption—
hollow cough—breathing very difficult and obstructed
—constant expectoration, or discharge of matter, occa-
sionally streaked with blood—regular paroxysms of
fever, accompanied with flushings at mid-day, and
toward evening terminating in profuse sweats—diar-
rhoea or dysentary—in fact, her case was such an
texact resemblance of the last stage of consumption
hat the most experienced and skilful physician would
have been deceived, t remained all night; and very
attentively examined this, (as I at first supposed,)
hopeless case. About midnight she requested some
gunn's domestic medicine. 251
nourishment, which was immediately prepared, and of
the lightest kind. She had hardly swallowed it, before
it was ejected or thrown up: and for the first time, I
observed the extreme irritability of her stomach. On
inquiry, she stated that from her first attack the slight-
est food would oppress her stomach with a sense of
burning and ful'ness, and become sour, accompanied
with the most unpleasant sensations, until what she had
eaten was ejected and thrown up. I now questioned
her minutely, as to all the symptoms from the com-
mencement of the disease; and her answers fully con-
v inced me, that the liver was the primary seat of the
disease. Fully impressed with this opinion, although
debilitated in the extreme, and reduced to a mere
skeleton, and so weak as almost to faint on the slightest
exertion, I determined, even in this last and almost
hopeless stage, to try the nitro-muriatic bath. Fear-
ful that the bath, in the usual way, would be productive
of fatal consequences immediately on its application, I
hesitated some hours; but with the consent of herself
and her family, having candidly stated to all parties my
serious doubts as to the success of the remedy in this
stage of her case, I proceeded to the use of the bath in
its mildest form, by suffering her hand alone to remain
in it for fifteen or twenty minutes. In five minutes
after her hand was in the bath, she complained of great
uneasiness in the region of the liver, which gradually
subsided after withdrawing her hand. This night she
rested well. The following morning, expectoration
was greatly increased. This day I placed both her
hands in the bath: there was immediately great oppres-
sion ; her nervous system became much agitated; and
her extremities were becoming very cold. I immedi-
ately removed her hands from the bath—-and she
252 gunn's domestic medicine.
fainted. There was now much increase of pulse; and
great oppression of breathing, almost amounting to
suffocation. On a sudden, as if by a convulsive effort,
she threw up about a pint of yellow bile, similar in
color to the yoke of eggs. The oppression from this
time ceased; her breathing became slow, easy, and
regular: and, by a continuance of this bath, gradually
persevered in,and moderately increased to sponging the
whole body with it—and lastly to using it as a foot
bath, she improved daily—and in eight weeks I had
the satisfaction of seeing her attending to her domestic
concerns, in tolerable health, which gradually improved
until she was entirely restored. The strength of the
bath I used, was about equal to weak vinegar and wa-
ter. For the period of about six weeks, during which
I was engaged in performing this cure, the relative of
this lady, the Rev. Mr. Crumpecker, pastor of the
Dunkard society, an individual whose character as a
christian, a philanthropist, and a man of integrity,
would do honor to any age or country; together with
his friend John Stoner, sen. were absent on a visit to
the State of Maryland. On their return, they were
astonished to find Mrs. Stoner, of whom they had taken
leave for eternity, in the vigor of comparative health
and strength, and attending to all her domestic affairs.
I mention the names of these gentlemen particularly,
because when they peruse my report of Mrs. Stoner's
case as treated by me with the nitro muriatic bath,
they will confirm the fact of her entire recovery from
the use of this bath. It may be necessary to state, that
Mrs. Stoner's diet consisted of milk and water, and
mush and milk; and nothing stimulating; being entirely
restrained from animal food.
The nitro muriatic bath is formed, by mixing equal
gunn's domestic medicine. 253
parts of the nitric acid and muriatic acid together.
You must pay strict attention to the following directions,
or your carelessness will produce unpleasant consequen-
ces. When these two acids come in contact, that is to
say, when they are poured together, without having
been previously mixed with water separately, a gas, or
volume of what appears to be smoke, will immediately
fill the whole house. This gas has a very disagreeeble
smell, and is dangerous to the lungs. The proper man-
ner of mixing them is, first, to fill a glass bottle about
half full of cold water; next, you must put in one of the
acids, and shake it up with the water; then you must
put in the other acid, and immediately cork the bottle
tightly, occasionally shaking the acids together. This
will prevent the unpleasant smell I have mentioned, and
retain the virtues of these medicines, if you keep your
bottle well corked: the fact is, that none other than
glass bottles with stoppers of the same material, can
keep these acids in.
Having stated to you how this nitric acid is made, it
is necessary also to communicate the method practised
in procuring the muriatic acid. It is distilled from
nothing more than common salt, by means of sulphuric
acid, or in other words, oil of vitriol. It ought always
to be kept with wax over the cork, so as to prevent the
fumes from escaping; they are very unpleasant, and in
large volumes suffocating. But.when either of these
acids is mixed with water, as I have before directed,
and the other then added, they lose all unpleasant effects,
and become nothing more than strong acid, like vinegar,
and water. You will easily perceive by these directions,
that you may make the nitro muriatic bath weaker or
stronger, as you may think proper. The bath is very
easily made at any time; for by mixing some acid from
254 gunn's domestic medicine.
the bottle before mentioned, with water pleasantly warm
to about the strength of vinegar and water, you have
the bath. Bathe the feet and legs in this bath, from ten
minutes to half an hour, according to the strength of
the patient, immediately before retiring to bed. If the
patient be very weak, bathing one hand a few minutes
will be sufficient; if a little stronger, the whole body
may be sponged with the acid; and if still stronger, the
feet and legs to the knees may be bathed, according to
the circumstances and times just mentioned. A narrow
wooden bucket or box, sufficient to admit the feet and
legs, and to permit the bath to reach the knees, would
be advisable: it would be a savingof the acid, the requi-
site strength of which can always be tested by tasting it.
You may preserve the bath or acid in an earthern crock,
or in any glass vessel, and by warming it again, continue
to use it when required.
It is impossible to specify the time this bath should
be used; litis must depend on the effect produced, and the
strength of the patient. The object is, to bring the
system moderately and gradually under its influence;
which is easily done, because it may be made so inno-
cent, by applying it very weak, as to be borse in the
most delicate state of the patient. I have witnessed
persons being immersed in it up to the chin for half
an hour; while others, who were very weak and ner-
vous, were strongly affected by the immersion of one of
the hands. The great advantage of this bath is, that
you may regulate its strength to any point necessary. I
have no doubt it would be highly beneficial in indiges-
tion, and in all depraved states of the biliary secretion,
producing melancholy and despondency of mind, or
in other words, hypechrondriasis. The nitro muriatic
bath will be found also a valuable remedy to females.
gunn's domestic medicine. 255
This bath, or the nitric acid taken by the stomach,
ought always to be very much diluted with water; and
if any very considerable effects are produced,the use of
it ought to be stopped for a week or two, and gradually
resumed again: whenever it produces very uneasy sen-
sations, you must be guided by your feelings; nor are
you ever to take any animal food, or use any stimulants
of any kind, while using this bath, or the nitric acid in
any way. If the bathing, or sponging the body, should
not keep the bowels open, or in a laxative state, you
must take some simple medicine, such as epsom salts,
senna and manna, or aloes, or any thing else that will
keep the bowels gently open.
In addition to what I have said, it may be remarked
in conclusion, that equal quantities of epsom s; Its and
magnesia, ground very fine together in a morter, and a
sufficient quantity taken to keep the bowels gently open,
always act beneficially in diseases of the Liver: the
common dose is from one to two tea-spoonsful, in half a
pint of cold water. Or you may mix equal quantities
of jalap and cream tartar, ground fine in a morter, and
give doses of a tea-spoonful. This last is a drastic pur-
gative, and acts powerfully on the Liver. I have never
used it in my practice, always preferring, as a mild
purgative, the salts and magnesia. The low-ground
sarsaparilla, found in almost every part of the United
States, is also a very good remedy in diseases of the
Liver; it ought to be taken plentifully, cold, in decoc-
tion or tea. I must not omit to remark, and that
emphatically and strongly, that the use of the warm
bath, as described under that head, will be almost
indispensable in the cure of all diseases of the Liver,
and in all stages of these diseases.
I cannot relinquish the subject of Diseases of the
256 gunn's domestic medicine
Liver, without mentioning in terms of almost unquali-
fied approbation, my candid opinions of the waters of
the Harrodsburgh and Greenville Springs, situated in
the county of Mercer and State of Kentucky. These
waters are known to act powerfully and beneficially on
the Liver; nor do I believe there have been many
instances, if an absolute consumption, or an induration
of the Liver had not taken place, in which those waters
have notbeen efticientin removing diseases of the Liver.
Their almost certain efficacy is so well known, that they
are frequented by thousands of invalids, during the
summer months, from every part of the United States.
And I would advise all persons laboring under com-
plaints of the Liver, or under Dyspepsia or Indigestion,
and who have become hopeless of the influence of med-
ical prescriptions, never to omit, if it be possible for
them to .ravel to those Springs, to give those waters a
fair trial. They are situated in a beautiful and health-
ful county, and the accommodations are always such
as to insure the comfort and convenience of all invalids
who approach them.
DYSENTARY OR FLUX.
This disease is always attended with Tenesmus, or
a constant desire to go to stool, without being able to
pass any thing from the bowels, excepting a bloody kind
of mucus, which resembles that generally scraped from
the entrails of a hog. These desires to go to stool, are
usually accompanied with severe griping, and also with
some fever. After a few days continuance of this com-
plaint, your discharges by stool will consist of pure
blood, and matter mixed; and from severe straining to
gunn's domestic medicine. 257
evacuate, parts of your bowels will frequently protrude
or come out, which soon becomes a source of great
suffering. Dysentary or Flux, generally takes place
about autumn; when the whole body has become
irritable by a continuation of warm or rather hot
weather, and has been suddenly exposed to cold or
damp; it is also produced by eating unripe or green
fruit of any kind; by sudden suppressings or stoppages
of the perspiration or sweat; by the eating of some
putrid or decayed food; and sometimes it arises, from
some peculiar cause existing in the atmosphere:—when
this is the case, whole neighborhoods, and extensive
tracts of country, are affected by it fatally.
REMEDIES.
If your patient is vigorous, hale, and generally
healthy—and there is considerable fever, the loss of
some blood in the first stage of the disease, will be
proper. But if, on the contrary, the patient be a weak-
ly and delicate person, the loss of any blood would be
highly improper and dangerous. First: cleanse the
stomach by an emetic or puke of ipecacuanha; then
give a purge of calomel; (see table for dose.) Next:
if the disease does not abate, you must repeat the purg-
ing daily with castor oil: this is the best medicine you
can possibly use in this complaint. As the stools are
generally very offensive, you can easily correct them,
by giving a tea-spoonful of prepared chalk, in a little
cold water, three times a day; this prepared chalk is
nothing but common chalk freed of its impurities.
Give clysters frequently through the day, made of
slippery elm; which is to be thrown up the bowels cold.
In case of violent pain, bathe the stomach with lauda-
num, and spirits in which camphor has been dissolved;
and apply cloths wrung'ait of ho! water to the belly;
33
258 gunn'a domestic medicine.
or blister over the stomach. If the belly is hard, and
sore on being touched, grease it well with any kind of
oil or lard: here the frequent use of the warm bath
will be of immense service. When the disease is very
obstinate, administer a clyster morning and night, of
a mucilage, of cherry-tree gum—or peach-tree gum,
dissolved in water until it will be ropy and glutinous
—in which drop from fifty to sixty* drops of laudanum,
for grown persons; and so on in proportion to different
ages. Throw this clyster up the bowels cold; (for the
method of doing which, see under the head clyster.)
The warm bath, and castor oil, in this disease may
safely be depended on. If the desire of going to stool
is very frequent and painful, introduce up the back side
or fundament, (I must speak in plain terms,) a pill of
opium of from three to four grains. It must be put up
with much care and tenderness; because in this com-
plaint the parts are always very sore—its remaining
there will greatly allay the irritation of the lower gut,
and produce much relief and immediate comfort: the
proportions of opium in the pill, must be varied accor-
ding to the age of the patient. The common black-
berry syrup, ought to be prepared and kept in every
family in this country, and used freely in this complaint.
I frequently apply a remedy in this disease, which I
claim as the discoverer; and which very often suc-
ceeds, when all others have failed: it is flaxseed oil, to
be given in the quantity of a table-spoonful, twice a day
to a grown person, and reducing the dose according to
the age of the patient. It may be necessary to remark,
that small doses of ipecacuanha combined with opium;
say three grains of ipecacuanha to half a grain of
opium, formed into a pill and given twice a day, after
purging well with castor oil, will be an excellent
gunn's domestic medicine. 259
remedy to check this complaint, by producing a mois-
ture on the skin, and allaying the irritation of the
bowels. The drinks should be of the mildest kind,
such as slippery elm tea; flax-seed tea; water melon
seed tea; and diet of the lightest kind—such as jellies,
chicken soup, lamb soup, &c. &c.
LAX, OR CONSTANT LOOSENESS OF THE
BOWELS:
{Called by physicians Diarrhoea.)
This disease is unattended with any fever, and not
contagious or catching, as is the disease immediately
before mentioned. It generally prevails among per-
sons of weakly constitutions; persons advanced in
years; and those who have lived intemperately. Many
are naturally or constitutionally of this habit of body;
and others are subject to its attacks, on the slightest
cold or exposure, which at all affects their bowels.
The appearance of the stools in this disease, are very
different at times: sometimes of a thick consistence;
sometimes thin; at times of a slimy nature, and then
again of a whitish color—changing to green, yellow,
dark or brown, depending very much on the food, and
the manner in which it agrees or disagrees with the
stomach and bowels; sometimes, and that not unfre-
quently, it is produced by worms.
REMEDIES.
First:—give an emetic or puke, in the morning; and
at night for a grown person, give a large dose of cas-
tor oil, with from thirty-five drops of laudanum in it;
but always lessen this dose in proportion to the age of
your patient. Next:—a stool is to be produced daily,
260 gunn's domestic medicine.
by the use of the castor oil. When the griping attends
the complaint, warm garden mint stewed, and placed
over the stomach and belly will give relief. When the
disease has been brought on by cold, or sudden stoppa-
ges of the perspiration or sweat, use the the warm bath,
and take some snake-root tea, so as to produce a deter-
mination to the surface, or gentle moisture on the skin.
This troublesome complaint, frequently continues on
many persons through life: such persons should be
particular as to what they eat, and avoid every thing
that disagrees with their stomach and bowels; always
taking care to defend their feet against the damp ground,
and wearing flannel next to their skins. Friction—or
rubbing the whole body every day with a brush—par-
ticularly over the region of the stomach, liver, and
bowels, will be of much service. Old French brandy,
taken in moderation and well diluted with water, is
not only a good remedy in this complaint when consti-
tutional, but frequently a preventive against attacks.—
When worms are presumed to have any influence in
producing this disease, which may be suspected from a
fetid or offensive breath, the complaint is to be treated
for worms: see which head. When the complaint
arises from weakness, opium will be found highly im-
portant in restraining its excesses, and removing the
debility. By using the clysters of slippery elm, or those
made of common starch and warm water; for direc
tions how to use which, look under the head clystering.
Much benefit will result, by cooling the bowels, and
allaying the irritation which always exists in this
disease.
gunn's domestic medicine. 261
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH
This complaint can easily be distinguished from any
other by its distinctive and peculiar symptoms: it is,
therefore, impossible to mistake it for any other disease,
if the least attention is paid to the indications of its
presence. There is always violent pain in the stomach,
together with a sensation of heat or burning in it; there
is, also, a great increase of pain in the stomach, when
any thing is swallowed; and an immediate ejection and
puking of it up. Also, a sinking and lost; of strength;
great thirst and uneasiness; a continued moving of the
body from side to side of the bed; and as the disease
advances, frequent hiccoughs, accompanied with cold-
ness of the hands and feet. When these last symptoms
occur, hiccoughs and cold extremities, they are extreme-
ly unfavorable, and will probably terminate fatally. In-
flammation of the stomach is produced, by corrosive
poisons taken into the stomach, or drinking extremely
cold water, when the body is overheated; by receiving
violent blows, or wounds in the region of the stomach:
by the gout; by strong emetics; and lastly, by large
quantities of iced liquor taken into the stomach.
REMEDIES.
This being a very dangerous disease, and the life of
the patient depending on the bold and free use of the
lancet, you are not to be deterred from its use, by any
apparent feebleness of the pulse. The proper practice
is, to bleed freely every few hours, until the inflam-
mation is subdued. As soon as you have subdued the
inflammatory symptoms, by frequent bleeding the
patient is to be put into the warm bath, where he is to
remain as long as possible. You are then to have a
large blister prepared, which must be put over the region
of the stomach, the moment the patient has left the
262 gunn's domestic medicine.
bath: or, if there is no blister at hand, apply a large
cataplasm or poultice of mustard and strong vinegar.
Keep open the bowels, with clysters made of common
starch, or slippery elm, or flaxseed oil, or thin gruel, or
chicken water boiled strong. These clysters will assist
to nourish the patient, especially as he will be unable to
take the slightest nourishment on the stomach. When
the inflammation is reduced, and the stomach will bear
it, a pill of opium (see table for dose) will be servicea-
ble. The diet should be of the lightest kind; such as
jelly, slippery elm tea, rice and light soups—a very little
at a time, and administered with extreme caution, with
small doses of laudanum. Small quantities of the best
sweet oil, about a tea-spoonful at a time, given during
the continuance of this complaint, will very much assist
in allaying the inflammation. When this disease ter-
minates fatally, it invariably ends in mortification; and
this will nearly always be the case, unless the lancet is
used freely in the first instance. A sudden change, from
great misery to perfect ease, is conclusive evidence of
mortification.
INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES.
This complaint is extremely dangerous, and requires
immediate and very active measures to arrest its course.
The symptoms are very distressing, and are always
accompanied with sharp pains in the bowels, and par-
ticularly about the navel. The belly seems tight and
hard, and so tender that the least pressure with the
fingers gives great pain: you will know it from colic by
pressing the belly; in colic, the pressure gives relief;
but in inflammation of the intestines, the belly is so sore
gunn's domestic medicine. 263
that the least bearing on it gives immediate and excru-
ciating misery. Great weakness attends this disease;
the pulse is small, quick, and hard; the urine or water
is highly colored, and passed off with difficulty; and the
bowels are very costive. Inflammation of the intestines
is produced by very nearly the same causes as those
which are productive of inflammation of the stomach;
and is attended with very nearly as much danger as that
disease. It arises from a severe colic; from hard, undi-
gested food remaining in the bowels, from drinking^cold
water when the body is overheated; by blows and
wounds in and about the region of the bowels; by long
and severe dysentary; by worms; and lastly, by hernia
or rupture.
REMEDIES.
The remedies are much ihe same as those for inflam-
mation of the stomach: the object being to arrest the
disease instantly, and before mortification can take place,
which always, when it occurs, terminates the matter
fatally. The only hope of relief, is from the immediate
and free use of the lancet; for without its instrumentality
you may abandon every hope of saving your patient.
Therefore, take blood immediately from the arm, letting
the stream be large, so as to draw the blood off sud-
denly. You must repeat the bleeding frequently; as
the urgency and critical situation of the patient may
appear to demand it: cup the belly and apply a large
clyster—to be made of slippery elm or flaxseed—the
elm is the best for clystering—and the warm bath. Look
under the different heads for information. The only
medicine that ought to be given in this disease, is the
best sweet oil, in doses of a table-spoonful each, and
that frequently. I have no authority for it: but I
should in my own practice, if attending a case of this
264 gunn's domestic .medicine.
kind, mix a tea-spoonful of the finest charcoal, prepared
as directed under the head of indigestion, with each dose
of sweet oil: and I should also mix charcoal with the
clysters of slippery elm. A distinguished physician,
recommends clysters of cold lead water in this com-
plaint, to lessen the high action, and subdue the inflam-
mation. I would suppose, although I never tried it in
this disease, that his remedy is valuable: it is made by
mixing, very weak, the sugar of lead and cold water,
and throwing it up the bowels with a clyster-pipe. Look
under the head of clystering.
After the violence of thedisease is subdued,you must
throw up the bowels, as a clyster, fifty or sixty drops of
laudanum in any simple mucilage, such as flax-seed tea
or slippery elm. This clyster will allay the irritation,
and may be given twice a day; early in the morning,
and late at night—diminishing the quantity of laudan-
um, according to the age of the patient. The diet should
be of the lightest kind, and always cautiously given, to
patients recovering from this dangerous disease: this
caution is the more necessary,.because the disease may
and frequently does return from very slight causes; espe-
cially where persons have been afflicted with it several
times before. In truth, and to speak plainly, it is only
by proper diet, and that of the most simple kind, with
great care in preventing exposure, that such persons can
remain secure. Flannel should be worn next the skin,
and the warm bath frequently used, for the purpose of
preventing the recurrence of this very dangerous and
often unmanageable eomplaint.
gunn's domestic medicine. 265
INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.
This disease has destroyed some of the most distin-
guished men, in Europe and America, among whom
may be named, the celebrated Lord Byron, General
Nathaniel Greene of the Revolution, and the late Doct.
Dorsey of Pennsylvania. It arises from intense study;
from exposure to the heat of the sun; and from every
other cause which produces an over-fullnes•* of blood
on the brain. The symptoms are, a very high fever;
great pain in the head; the eyes look red and fiery;
there is'also great watchfulness; the patient is unable
to bear the smallest light; there is also, generally, a
heavy, dull sleep, with frequent startings as if in alarm;
the memory fails, and in the first stage of the disease,
the patient dislikes to talk; but, as the complaint ad-
vances, the eyes assume a great brightness—the patient
becomes furious and talks wildly, and generally on
subjects which have left deep impressions on the mind
when in health. The tongue becomes -dry and of a
dark color: the pulse small, quick, and hard; and the
poor sufferer is frequently seen to put his hand or
hands to his head.
The Brain.—This organ is larger in man than in
any other known animal. Its general weight is from
two pounds five and a hdf ounces, to three pounds
three and three quarter ounces. I have weighed sever-
al at four pounds. The brain of the late Lord Byron,
(without its membranes.) weighed six pounds.
• - REMEDIES.
Bleed as largely m quantity, as the strength of your
patient will possibly admit: let the blood be taken as
suddenly as practicable from the arm, by a large orifice
or opening, so as to penn.it it to flow in a copious and
bold stream. If the patient, by bleeding from the arm
34
266 gunn's domestic medicine.
freely, becomes weak, and the disease is not subdued,
shave the head, and cup freely all over it:—for the
method of cupping, look under that head. Apply over
the whole head immediately, the coldest applications
that can be found, such as wet towels constantly wrung
out of the coldest spring water—or ice if it can be had;
these cold applications are to be constantly renewed,
until the disease is subdued. Give, also, active purges,
and that very frequently, consisting of twenty grains of
calomel and twenty of jalap. If the symptoms are
very violent, give a clyster made of thin gruel, with
thirteen grains of tartar emetic well mixed in it: this
clyster must be given once every day, as long as the
disease continues severe. Your patient's head should
be placed on high pillowing, and his body kept in bed,
in as upright a posture as possible, so as to lessen as
far as practicable the determination or flowing of the
blood to the head. After the violence of the disease is
removed by bleeding and purging, &c. apply constantly
poultices made of pounded mustard seed and vinegar,
to the feet and ancles; or blister them, with can-
tharides or Spanish flies, prepared in the usual manner.
The feet and legs, should, also, frequently be bathed in
the usual way with warm water: thia will divert, or
draw off the determination of the blood from the head.
The diet and drinks should be of the lightest, simplest,
and most cooling kinds. The room ought to be kept
dark, and perfectly cool; nor ought the least noise to
be permitted to disturb the quiet of the patient. When
reason begins to return, and the fever to subside, be
extremely careful to attend to these instructions; be-
cause the slightest cause will bring on the disease a
second time, with more violence than in the first in-
stance, which will in all probability terminate fatally*
gunn's domestic medicine. 267
INFLAMMATION OF THE SPLEEN.
When there is an inflammation of the Spleen, consid-
erable pain is felt in the left side, where the Spleen is
situated. By pressing the fingers on the left side, a
throbbing sensation is easily discovered, and a pain is
felt by the patient, extending from the side to the left
shoulder, and not unfrequently through the belly. The
most remarkable symptoms Which attend this disease,
and those which may be relied on, are puking of blood,
great weakness, watchfulness, and not unfrequently the
mind is much confused. This complaint, like all other
inflammatory diseases, is attended with considerable
fever. It is brought on by long continued fevers, and by
affections of the liver; and persons who have suffered
much from long attacks of fever and ague, are liable
to what they term ague-cakes, which are diseases of
the Spleen, and which are apt to terminate,yithout the
application of proper remedies, in inflammation of the
Spleen. Where there is no inflammation, and the
side is swelled, tho disease is called chronic.
REMEDIES.
Purge well, and frequently, with calomel and jalap;
(see table for dose.) Also, cup over the Spleen: for
the method of cupping, look under that head: and
always, if the disease is of the chronic form, blister
over the Spleen in the usual manner. The nitric acid
will also be found a valuable remedy; (read affections
of the liver, page 238, where you will find the acid
treated on at large.) A broad belt worn over the
Spleen, with folds of cloth to press on it, will be a good
remedy: as will, also, rubbing the side daily with equal
quantities of spirits of hartshorn and sweet oil.
268 gunn's domestic medicine,
INFLAxMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.
In this disease there is always great pain in the
small of the back, similar to that felt in colic, but seat-
ed much nearer the back bone and loins. There is,
also, in this complaint, a deadness and numbness of feel-
ing in the upper part of the thigh; considerable sickness
at the stomach; a great desire to make water frequent-
ly, which is done with much difficulty, and is small
quantities at the time. The urine or water is of a
deep red color, showing that there is great internal
fever; the slightest motion gives pain; and, even in
sitting upright in the bed, the patient is extremely restless,
always receiving more ease by laying on the affected
part. Sometimes one of the testicles is retracted or
drawn up, so that you can scarcely feel it. The com-
plaint is brought on by great exertions in lifting; by
violent and sudden strains; by exposure to cold when
over-heated; by lying on the damp ground; and by
too frequent intercourse with women. Sometimes the
disease is produced by hard substances, calculus, stone,
or gravel, formed in the kidneys; and I have known
two or three instances, of its having been produced in
young persons, by that horrible practice called by phy-
sicians onanism.
REMEDIES.
Like all other inflammations, that of the kidneys
requires the free use of the lancet; always repeating
the bleeding from the arm, as the urgency and severity
of the symptoms may seem to require. Cup freely
over the small of the back: (for cupping read under
that head.) Apply flannel cloths, wrung out of hot
water, to the small of the back; and give clysters of
warm milk and water, in equal portions, which must
be thrown up the bowels three or four times a day. All
gunn's domestic medicine 269
tho drinks should be made warm* in which must be dis-
solved some kind of gum, such as that of the peach
tree, or any other kind of gum, that will produce a
mucilage. Flaxseed tea will answer a good purpose,
as will also tea made of slippery elm bark; in both of
which you may put a little spirits of nitre. The bowels
are to be kept open be castor oil, and by moderate
clystering. The warm bath must be frequently used,
and applied for a considerable time at once, over the
whole body; during which, the patient in the bath,
must have his body well rubbed with a soft brush or
woollen cloth: this bath must be repeated every day„
and twice a day if necessary. The warm bath is a
most valuable remedy in this complaint, and must not
be neglected. After the violence of the disease has,
been subdued, by the use of the lancet and warm bath,
&c. as before noticed, to give ease and quiet slumbers
to the patient, administer a pill of opium, or thirty-five
drops of laudanum; for the different doses of which
proportioned to the different ages, see table for doses.
Or a clyster at this time, made of flaxseed tea, with
forty or fifty drops of laudanum mixed with it, will give
great relief by allaying both pain and irritation. A
decoction or tea made of dried peach-tree leaves,made
by boiling a handful of the leaves in a quart of water,
until it decreases to three half pints, to be drank occa-
sionally through the day:—this is an excellent remedy,
and has been known to succeed in this complaint, when
the sufferings have been unusually severe. In some
cases, inflammation of the kidneys cannot be removed,
untill abscesses or ulcers are formed: this state of the
case will always be known, by the pain becoming less
severe; by great weight being felt in the small of the
back: by chills, succeeded by flushes of heat; and
270 gunn's domestic medicine
when by suffering the urine or water to settle in the
urinal or pot, you can discover a mucus matter on the
bottom.
When this is the situation of the patient, the uva ursi
will be found a useful medicine: for description of which
and its medicinal qualities, read under the head of uva
wm,sometimes called the upland cranberry, and some-
times the bearberry. The usual dose is, two or three
times a day, half a pint of the decoction, or tea made
of a handful of the leaves, to a pint of water; or a tea-
spoonful of the pounded leaves, three times a day, taken
in any kind of syrup.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER.
Immediately above the privates, in this complaint,
there is very considerable pain; which is much increas-
ed by pressing on the part with the fingers. There is,
also, a constant desire to make water, which is voided
with much difficulty, and in very small quantities.
There is a constant desire to go to stool, and always
some fever; also great restlessness, where the disease is
produced by stone or gravel; or by stricture or contrac-
tion of the urethra, or canal which leads from the
bladder; or by this passage being stopped up; or from
the lodgment of hardened lumps in the lower gut,
caused by costiveness or constipation of the bowels.
In the last case, I have frequently known an instrument
introduced, if the finger could not remove the solid and
hard excrement, called by physicians the fceces. This
disease is, also, sometimes produced by injuries received,
such as severe blows, kicks, falls, &c.; by taking tinc-
ture of cantharides or Spanish flies—and by that false
gunn's domestic medicine. 271
and foolish delicacy, which leads some persons to hold
their urine a considerable length of time. I recollect
a case which terminated fatally by this false modesty.
A young lady of respectability, was introduced to a
merchant who was travelling from Philadelphia to New
York, and placed under his protection to perform the
same journey. The post-coach runs the distance, from
ninety to one hundred miles, in about eleven hours: this
distance she travelled in excruciating torment from
retaining her urine, and died from the effects of it, on
the second day after her arrival at New York. She
was in the bloom of youth, health and beauty; and I
mention the case emphatically, as a warning to others,
who from false delicacy might do the same thing.
REMEDIES.
You must, as in all other cases of inflammation before
mentioned, depend much on frequent bleeding, and the
free use of the warm bath: and on all such medicines
as will determine to the surface, or in other words, pro-
duce a gentle moisture on the skin. Also, get a syringe
and inject water made pleasantly warm into the bladder,
which will remove the irritating causes: and,after wash-
ing out the bladder with warm water, as just directed,
makea decoctionof slippery elm bark,and let it become
cool—with this decoction or tea, mix a very weak prep-
aration of sugar of lead, which must be dissolved in
cold water, and throw up this preparation into the
bladder occasionally; this will lessen the inflammation,
and assist in finally subduing it: but I caution you to
make the solution of sugar of lead very weak. You
are to use a blister in this complaint; because it
would act immediately and particularly on the bladder,
by suppressing the urine. Clysters of the mildest kind
are to be given; they will always soothe, relieve, and
272 gunn's domestic gedicine.
reduce the irritation of the bowels, and the adjacent
parts. If the pain is very severe, laudanum should be
given: see table for dose—and the water frequently
drawn off by a catheter: the fact is, that a physician
should be immediately called; but, if necessity should
urge the use of the catheter, by a person who is not a
professional man, a description of the instrument, and
of the precise manner of using it, both in male and
female cases, will be found under the proper head.
DRINKING COLD WATER WHEN OVER-
HEATED.
The imprudent use of cold water when a person is
overheated, almost invariably produces cramps or
spasms of the stomach, which usually terminate in death.
In the year 1816,1 saw five persons expire in less than
ten minutes in the city of New York, from drinking cold
water; in truth, the deaths became so frequent at the
different watering places throughout the town, that pla-
cards or printed bills were ordered by the city council
to be stuck on the different pumps, to caution all persons
against drinking cold water when overheated and
bathed in swTeat. This dangerous and fatal practice,if
it even does not produce immediate death, almost inva-
riably lays the foundation of lingering and destructive
diseases, which are extremely difficult of cure. That
eminent and distinguished physician, Benjamin Rush,
describes the causes of fatality in these cases, in the
following manner: "When large quantities of cold water
are suddenly taken into the stomach, under circum-
stances of an overheated system, the person in a few
minutes afterwards loses his sight, and every thing
gunn's domestic medicine. 273
appears dark about him; he staggers in attempting to
walk, and unless supported, falls to the ground; the
breathing soon becomes very difficult, and a rattling
noise is heard in the throat; the feet and hands become
cold, and the pulse cannot be felt—and generally in
about five minutes, death is the consequence, unless
speedy relief can be obtained." Iced toddy, when
taken under the same circumstances of being over-
heated, has often been knowrn to produce the same
fatal effects: and I have known many instances, in
which ladies in full health, have been brought to the
brink of eternity in a few minutes, from eating iced
creams when over-heated by dancing. The truth is,
that very cold articles of food or drink, even when the
body is moderately cool, sometimes, in peculiar consti-
tutions, are productive of dangerous consequences;
cases which are not very violent, and which come on
with cramps or spasms, should be immediately attend-
ed to, or they will also terminate fat'IJy in most instan-
ces, by inflammations of the stomach.
REMEDIES.
"I have discovered," says Doctor Rush, " but one
certain remedy in this desperate, and if not immediately
relieved, fatal disease:—-this remedy, and it may be
relied on, is laudanum; which has to be given in the
quantity of from a tea to nearly a table-spoonful im-
mediately in violent cases, before relief can be obtain-
ed." When laudanum cannot be had in lime, a glass
of strong whiskey or brandy, one of which is generally
found forthcoming every where, may be given. Laud-
anum, however, is so very easily made, and so fre-
quently necessary in all families, that it ought always to
be kept in preparation for use: it will frequently save
the expense of sending for a physician at an unseason-
35
274 gunn's domestic medicine.
able hour, and oftentimes save the life in sudden and
desperate cases. For the mode of preparing it, see
under the head laudanum. Every person about to
drink cold water, when warm and in high perspiration,
should observe faithfully the following rules. First:
pour considerable quantities of water on the wrists:
and next, wash the face, temples and hands, with
water, and suffer them to dry. These measures, from
the coldness of the water applied, and the evaporation
which succeeds, will abstract or draw from the interior
of the body, and particularly from the vital parts, a
considerable portion of heat; and prevent the sudden
and dangerous action of the cold on the stomach, and
other vital parts of the system. You are, also, when
you drink, to take the water in small quantities at a
time; in fact, not more than half a pint at once: re-
peating the draughts about every five or ten minutes.
It would be the safest plan, ev^en with the above pre-
cautions, to mix some spirits with the water. Farmers
engaged in harvesting their grain, should always let
the water remain some time in the vessel before using
it;—many fatal diseases have originated, in an impru-
dent disregard of this cautious practice.
CATARRH, OR COLD.
Colds are so common in all countries, and their
modes of treatment so generally known, that not much
need be said respecting them; further than to remark,
that early attention will frequently prevent their laying
the foundation of other complaints, which may in the
end prove highly dangerous, and very difficult to
remove. Persons of delicate constitutions are most
gunn's domestic medicine. 275
subject to colds; and from the carelessness of such
persons, in neglecting to avoid exposure, and to remove
the early symptoms of disease, more than two-thirds of
the whole number of ccnsumptive cases, in all coun-
tries, arise and become fatal. Cold usually comes on
with a dull heaviness of the head, which feels as if the
nose was stopped up, which is generally the case.
There is, also, at times, much sneezing, which is always
followed by discharges of a thin watery mucus from
the nostrils. You have soreness of the throat; cough;
and chills stealing over you, with occasional hot flushes;
persons of very weakly constitutions have, also, a tight-
ness and pain of the chest. Sometimes the symptoms
are highly inflammatory or feverish; this is nearly
always the case with very irritable constitutions—in
which instance, the complaint must be arrested imme-
diately. Here I repeat, because it is all important, that
most of the consumptions of this country, originate
in neglected colds, brought on by exposure to the night
air; by damp feet; by changing warm clothing for
thin; by becoming warm from exercise, perhaps in a
crowded ball room, and suddenly exposing the body to
a cold current of air: and by many other imprudent
courses of conduct.
REMEDIES.
Immediately before going to bed, bathe the feet and
legs pi warm water fifteen or twenty minutes; then
wipe and rub them perfectly dry, and wrap them care-
fully in warm dry flannels. After lying down, take a
large drink of warm sage, or balm or hysop tea, or
any thing else that will sweat moderately. If the head
is much stopped up with the cold, you may relieve
yourself in a sitting posture, by covering the head with
flannel or a blanket, and producing a steam beneath
270 gunn's domestic medicine.
and surrounding the head; this can easily be done, by
placing a hot rock in a crock or basin, and gradually
dripping water on it, at the same time holding the ves-
sel on your lap; and closing all the avenues by which
the steam might escape from about your head, except-
ing one through which you are to breathe. This will
give much relief in a short time. My practice in the
commencement of a cold is, to give an emetic or puke,
which in nine cases out of ten relieves the patient at
once, and cuts short the advance of the fever: see table
for dose. When fever is very considerable, with
violent pain in the head, indicating inflammation, the
loss of some blood would be advisable: after which
give a tea-spoonful of antimonial wine, every three
hours, in any kind of drink; this will determine to the
surface, or in other words produce a gentle moisture
on the skin, and allay the feverish symptoms. The
bowels should be purged moderately, by the daily use
of epso«ik salts, in small quantities, dissolved in cold
water. If there be any pain in the chest or side, after
employing the above remedies, put a blister over the
part affected with pain, and keep it running as long
as possible: look under the head blisters. The diet in
colds, should be light and cooling. Heating or stimula-
ting articles, either of drink or diet, are highly impro-
per, and always produce more or less fever. The best
drink during the day, is flaxseed tea, with a small
portion of acid in it. After the feverish symptoms are
removed, a troublesome cough sometimes remains: this
may be relieved by the use of balsom capaiva, in
doses of tenor fifteen drops, on lumps of sugar, given
three times a day; and a dose of paragoric, each night
at bed time: see table for doses or a small pill of
opium: see table. The French have an excellent
gunn's domestic medicine. 277
remedy for curing cold, which I have frequently em-
ployed with success, producing immediate relief. They
apply a poultice of boiled onions to the sole of each
foot on going to bed, after having bathed the feet and
legs well in warm water: and if the throat is sore, they
apply the boiled onion poultice to it. This is a valua-
ble application, and may be much relied on. If the
chest is much oppressed, the application of this poultice
to the breast, will almost invariably relieve. The
following remedy, which is an excellent and efficacious
one, has frequently afforded relief, in cases where colds
had nearly settled down into confirmed Consumptions.
Take one tea-spoonful of flaxseed, half an ounce of
liquorice, and a quarter of a pound of raisins: put
them into two quarts of rain water, and simmer the
whole over a slow fire, until you reduce the quantity to
one quart. Then prepare some candy made from
brown sugar, aud dissolve it in the liquor boiled down
to a quart; half a pint of this is to be taken every night
on going to bed, mixed with a little good vinegar to
give it a slightly acid taste; this will certainly relieve
a cold, if used a few days. I have been more particu-
lar on this disease than at first view might seem neces-
sary; but, considering it as intimately connected with,
and in many instances the forerunner and foundation of
consumption, I think I am justified in treating it with
great attention.
DROPSY.
Dropsy is a disease of the whole system, arising from
debility or weakness, and can easily be distinguished
from other diseases, by the collection of water in some
$78 gunn's domestic medicine.
part of the body. By passing the fingers on the flesh
with some force, a depression or pitting will take place,
which can be seen some little time after the fingers have
been removed: in other words, the flesh will have lost
its elasticity, and will not immediately spring back, on
the removal of a pressure. Or, if the water is lodged
in any particular cavity of the body, it may also be heard
distinctly, on any sudden change of position, or rapid
movement of the body. Among physicians, it is called
by different names, according with the different parts
of the system, in which the water may be deposited.
When the water is seated in the cavities of the head
or brain, the disease is called hydrocephalus:—when
seated in the cavity of the chest, it is called hydrotho-
rax:—when in that of the belly, ascites:—when seated
in the scrotum or bag of the privates, it is called hydro-
cele:—and when the water is effused in the cellular
membrane, which is the thin and delicate skin found
among the muscles or flesh of the body, and which is
the same that butchers blow up in their veal and mut-
ton, the dropsical disease is called anasarca. There is
strong resemblance between dropsy of the testicles or
stone in men, and ascites ovarii in women; the latter
being small collections of dropsical fluid, in the ovaria,
which are two oval flat bodies, which are about an inch
in length, and half an inch in breadth, situated about
an inch behind the womb, and which are supposed to
contain and supply whatever the female brings to the
procreation or formation of the foetus or child. This is
proved from analogy, by the simple fact, that an animal
deprived of the ovaria, as in the case of spaying swine,
looses all power of conceiving, and all venereal desires.
I omitted to mention, that hydrocephalus or dropsy of
the brain, i& a disease common to children, and will be
gunn's domestic medicine. 279
treated of under the proper head. I have, in the first
instance, and contrary to the impressions of some medi-
cal men, given it as my decided opinion, that dropsy is
a disease of the whole system—and my reader maybe
assured, that I am sustained in that opinion, by many
of the most distinguished physicians in the United
States.
REMEDIES.
More diseases of dropsy have been removed by bleed-
ing, and more relief has been obtained from it, than from
any other known remedy; for which reasons, it is now
considered as satisfactorily proved, that this complaint
is more frequently inflammatory than was generally
supposed. For this very important information, we are
indebted to that highly distinguished physician, Doctor
Benjamin Rush. Bleeding must be entirely regulated,
as to frequency and quantity, by the relief it affoids to
the patient. In my practice, I always use it freely; and
never omit at the same time to purge freely with calomel
and jalap—see table for dose—or jalap alone. If these
purges operate without pain, and the stools are fluid or
watery, and your patient is not much weakened by them
it does not matter how many stools are produced daily;
because the remedy is an efficient and proper one. One
ounce of cream tartar, in half a gallon of water, drank
during the day, will be of much service: in truth, all
articles which will increase the flow of the urine, or
water from the bladder, called by physicians diuretics,
are very useful in this complaint. The following cures,
which I shall notice in the words of an experienced and
distinguished man, give evidence of the correctness of
some of my introductory remarks, among which are
the following: 'The discoveries of each succeeding
day convince us, that the Almighty has graciously fur-
280 gunn's domestic medicine.
nished man with the means of curing his osvn diseases,
in all the different countries and climates of which he
is an inhabitant; and there is scarcely a day, month, or
year, which does not exhibit to us, the surprising cures
made by roots, herbs and simples, found in .our own
vegetable kingdom, when all foreign articles have utterly
failed," &c. Sec. The truth is, that the wise and benefi-
cent Creator of the Universe, has made nothing in vain;
and the time will come, when the apparently most use-
less and noxious plants, will be found eminently useful
in the cure of diseases, which have hitherto baffled the
profoundest skill, and the most powerful energies of
genius. The following are the words of the author
just alluded to: "I am knowing to two extremely distrss-
ing cases of dropsy, being entirely relieved by means
of the bark of common elder. One, a woman ad-
vanced in age, in the last stage of this disease, who
lost a brother some short time previous, by the same
complaint. The other, a young woman, who had been
for eighteen months confined to her bed, during four of
which she was unable to lie down, and who is now
wholly free from dropsy, and recovering strength in a
most surprising and unexpected manner. A great many
other cases, less aggravated, have been cured by the
bark of the common elder; I have used it myself with
universal success; and its immediate adoption by the
afflicted, is truly important and deserving attention.
The receipt is as follows:—take two handsful of the
green or inner bark of the white or common elder; steep
them in two quarts of Lisbon wine twenty-four hours
—if this wine cannot be had, Teneriffe or Madeira
will answer: take a gill every morning fasting, or more
if it can be borne on the stomach. The bark and
leaves of the elder, have long been known as powerful
gunn's domestic medicine. 281
evacuants. I ought to have said in the proper place
that the young woman I have mentioned, used the
elder-barked wine, at the instance of one of the most
distinguished physicians of Boston; who had previously
tried every known prescription without success, and that
the use of the elder entirely cured her." The following
remedy, handed to me by a respectable man, who resides
in Roane county, Tennessee, (Mr. William Mead,) will
undoubtedly be worthy of trial, and I therefore submit
it to the reader:—"Take two or three handsful of rusty
nails, and put them into half a gallon of good apple vin-
egar: then boil, or rather simmer the vinegar, down to
a quart, and strain it well through a linen cloth: next,
add to the vinegar a quart of molasses, a handful of
camomile flowers, and a handful of lavender from the
garden. Boil or stew this mixture down to a quart.
The dose for a grown person, is a large table spoonful,
to be increased gradually to one and a half: the dose
of course, must be smaller for younger and more weakly
persons." The character of Mr. Mead for integrity
and veracity, and his solemn assurances that the pre-
scription has often been eminently successful, induce me
to place it on record. The oxide of iron, in other words
rust of iron, would probably answer a better purpose
than the nails mentioned by Mr. Mead.
SCURVY.
This disease is frequently of a highly putrid nature,
and generally afflicts persons who have lived a consid-
erable time on salted provisions, or unsound and tainted
animal food. Those are also subject to it, who have
been long confined without due exercise; those, also,
36
282 gunn's domestic medicine.
who have been unable to obtain vegetable food for a
considerable period. Cold moist air, bad water, the
morbid influence of depressing passions, such as grief,
fear, &c. and the neglect of personal cleanliness, will
also produce scurvy. With regard to cleanliness, I
must speak in plain terms. Neglect of personal or
bodily ablutions; in other words, washings among
females at particular periods, are in reality the causes
of very many cases of scurvy: and here I am compelled
to say, that such are the cleanly habits of the French
of the better order, male and female, I have never
known a single case of scurvy among them, although
much accustomed to their society in Europe: they are
in the constant habit of using the warm bath. The
disease called scurvy can always be known, by the soft-
ness and sponginess of the gums, which, even on being
gently rubbed with a soft sponge, will invariably bleed.
Ulcers next form round the teeth, and gradually eat away
the lower edges of the gums, by which the teeth become
loose, and sometimes fall out. The breath is always
offensive, and smells badly; the face is usually of a pale
yellow color, and considerably bloated; the heart pal-
pitates, or beats rapidly and irregularly, on slight
exertion; the legs and feet swell; small ulcers or sores,
break out on different parts of the body, and more gen-
erally on the legs; pains are felt over the whole body;
the urine or water is high colored; the stools smell very
badly; the strength becomes very much reduced, and
bleeding takes place from the nose, ears, gums, and
fundament. When these last symptoms take place, the
sufferer is near the termination of his earthly career;
and it is no less singular than true, that the appetite
remains good to the last, together with a perfect reten-
tion of memory.
gunn's domestic medicine. 283
REMEDIES.
All acids are valuable medicines in scurvy: such as
common vinegar with fresh vegetables; in fact a bath
made of vinegar and water, in which the whole body
can be frequently bathed, will be of essential service;
as will also the plentiful use of ripe fruits. Sour krout,
or pickled cabbage, is so excellent a remedy in scurvy,
that a Dutchman (whose name I have forgotten) receiv-
ed a large premium from the British Government, for
introducing it into the English Navy. When there is
much debility, the moderate use of good old wine will
be proper; as will also the use of nitric acid: see disea-
ses of the liver, page 238, where you will see this
medicine plainly described, together with its effects, by
which the bowels will generally be kept sufficiently loose,
at the same time that the system will be strengthened.
If however, the bowels should be bound, dissolve a
table-spoonful of cream tartar in a pint of boiling water,
and when cold use it as a drink. I must not omit to
mention, emphatically, that regular exercise isabsolutely
necessary in this complaint. You will find the follow-
ing medicine, also, a good remedy: dissolve'three ounces
of common salt petre, in a quart of good vinegar, and
take one or two table-spoonsful three or four times a
day; or less quantities if the state of your patient will
justify it. When the gums are much swollen, with con-
siderable ulceration, and the mouth, teeth, and breath
have a foetid or bad smell, the mouth must be frequently
washed with water, prepared as follows: boil red-oak
bark in water, then strain the water well, and in it dis-
solve a lump of alum, to which add a tea-spoonful of
finely powdered charcoal, which is to be prepared by
b urning common smith's coal over again. I have omit-
ted to state, that if the breathing is difficult, or there is
284 gunn's domestic medicine.
much pain in the breast, a blister should be applied on
the chest over the pain: you are never to bleed in scurvy,
if you do you will lose your patient. Pure, air, moder-
ate yet sufficient exercise, and the warm bath of pleasant
temperature, with a sufficiency of vinegar in it, as before
mentioned, will restore your patient.
PLEURISY.
Pleurisy is in inflammatory complaint, and requires
remedies for the immediate reduction of the inflamma-
tion. The symptoms are, a sharp pain in the side,
particularly when you draw your breath; the pain then
shooting into the breast, back, or shoulder; great diffi-
culty in lying on the affected side: the tongue is of a
white color; the urine or water of a high color; the
face flushed and red; and the body very hot, denoting
much fever. Sometimes this disease is accompanied
with cough; and when this is the case, it is what phy-
sicians call a short dry cough. Sometimes the cough
increases, and is accompanied by spitting up of tough
phlegm; and the blood when drawn from the arm, and
suffered to cool, has a coat or covering on it of a buffy
color, which always denotes inflammation. This com-
plaint is bronght on by exposure to cold and wet; by
sleeping on the damp ground, and getting the feet wet:
by being exposed to sudden currents of cold air, when
the body is overheated; by the suppression of certain
periodical evacuations; or in other words by the obstruc-
tion of the menstrual discharges in women. The winter
and spring, are the seasons in which this complaint is
most prevalent. I will endeavor, for the satisfaction
of the reader, to notice such symptoms as indicate a
gunn's domestic medicine. 285
favorable termination of the disease; and, also, such
as argue an unfavorable and fatal issue of the com-
plaint. First, the symptoms are favorable when there
is a free perspiration or sweating; when there is a
copious discharge, by expectoration or spitting freely;
when the urine, or water, deposits, on settling, consid-
erable sediment or grounds, in the urinal or pot; when
there is a spontaneous bleeding at the nose; or a gen-
tle purging comes on; or the skin becomes warm and
soft, with an abatement of thirst; and, when there is a
considerable relief from pain in the head and side.
Second, the symptoms are unfavorable, when there is
violent fever; when the patient is delirious or out of
his senses; when the pain suddenly stops, and the face
or countenance changes its expression; when there is
little, perhaps no expectoration or discharge by spitting;
or if there is any thing spit up, it is of a dark color;
and, finally, when there is a sinking and irregularity
of the pulse: these symptoms are highly dangerous.
REMEDIES.
I have stated above, that pleurisy is an inflamma-
tory disease, and that it requires the immediate reduc-
tion of the inflammatory symptoms. You must,
therefore, bleed in the first instance, as freely as the
constitution and state of the patient will bear. If the
fever still continues high, and the pulse remain hard
and full; or, in other words, if the pain and fever,
after the first bleeding, should be relieved for a short
time, and afterwards return with any violence, it will
be proper to bleed a second time moderately. In fact,
I have frequently been compelled to bleed three and
four times, before I could reduce the inflammatory
symptoms. After the first bleeding, apply a large blis-
ter over the pain, whether situated in the side or chest:
286 gunn's domestic medicine
and, if the blister should not run sufficiently after be-
ing dressed, and the pain should continue, apply
another blister. After the bleeding and blistering, give
a large dose of epsom salts; and if any considerable
pain is felt, put the patient in a warm bath which will
cover the whole body. I have, in more than fifty
cases in the State of Virginia, relieved pleurisy by im-
mediate and copious bleeding, and as early as conve-
nient afterward, by using the warm bath. After the
inflammatory action is in some degree removed, the
Seneka snake root tea will be found a valuable remedy;
look for a description of this root, under that head.
Throughout this complaint, the bowels must be kept
open, by the use of epsom salts, or senna and manna,
or castor oil: epsom salts, however, will always be
best, if they can be procured. Clysters of any simple
kind, such as thin gruel milk warm, or starch dissolved
in warm water, will be perhaps equally good for keep-
ing the bowels open. See under the head clystering,
and how to prepare clysters. When perspiration or
sweating is not produced in moderation, by the reme-
dies I have mentioned, equal quantities of antimonial
wine and sweet spirits of nitre, mixed, and given in
doses of a tea-spoonful every two hours, will assist in
producing perspiration. Toward the close of this dis-
ease, and after the inflammatory or feverish symptoms
have subsided, and not before, if the cough should
continue troublesome, give a pill of opium at night, or
a dose of paregoric or laudanum: see table, for doses
of these articles; and, also, under different heads, how
they are made. If the pulse should sink, and your
patient become weak, stimulate him gently but cau-
tiously with warm toddy, or wine mixed with sugar
and water, and apply blisters to the ancles, and cata-
gunn's domestic medicine 287
plasms or poultices to the soles of the feel, made of
mustard-seed pounded fine, and mixed with vinegar.
These measures sometimes become necessary, from
sinking of the pulse, coldness of the feet, or extreme
weakness: they always produce excitement and warmth
in the system. This complaint requires the strictest
abstinence from all animal food, and from every thing
which has a tendency to produce fever. The patient
should live on the lightest diet, and such as will keep
down all fever and inflammation: in fact, there is no
disease mentioned in this book, which requires a more
rigid abstinence from soMd food than pleurisy. Noth-
ing but toast and water, barley water gruel, or flax-seed
tea, ought to be taken in this disease, and that warm
and in very small quantities at a time; a little panado
maybe given as nourishment. Unfortunately, and for
want of experience, when any person is taken sick in
this country, and refuses to eat for two or three days,
great alarm is created immediately lest the patient
should starve to death: and I have known several in-
stances, since I have been in the western country, in
which the officious stuffing of patients with food, with
the best possible intentions, has produced death, in
spite of medical assistance. I wish all such persons as
are disposed to cram their patients with food, when
there is no appetite for it, and the stomach rejects it, to
remember that nature generally speaks the truth.
After recovering from this disease, great care must be
taken to avoid all cold and dampness, and particularly
exposure to the night air; because they almost always
produce dangerous relapses. Flannel ought to be worn
next the skin; and dressed buck-skin, I am convinced
from my own practice, worn in the same manner by
288 gunn's domestic .uedicine.
delicate persons, is also an excellent defender from cold
and much superior to flannel.
GRAVEL AND STONE.
Gravel and stone, which originate in the same
causes, are to be distinguished thus from each other.
Gravel is usually understood to mean, calculi, (from
the old word calx, a limestone,) or little sand-like
stones, which pass from the kidneys, through the ure-
ters into the bladder. The ureters are small tubes,
which run from the kidneys to the bladder, and convey
the urine into the latter. The word stone speaks for
itself; it is a strong concretion of matter, which enlar-
ges and hardens by time, seldom found in the ureters
or tubes themselves, but generally lodged in the kid-
neys or bladder: when the stone is in the kidneys, it is
because it is too large to be passed off by the tubes
leading to the bladder; and when found in the bladder
it is from the simple fact, of its being too large to be
passed off through the channel of the penis. When a
disposition to gravel (which I have just explained)
exists in the urinary system, there will be occasional
paroxysms or fits of pain in the back, which sometimes
shoot downward to the thighs; and sometimes a numb-
ness of one of the legs inside, accompanied with a
retraction or drawing up of one of the testicles or
stones in men. The pain I have just spoken of, is
often extremely violent, and is sometimes terminated by
a discharge of small gravel stones from the urethra,
with the water in the common way. The stone,
however, which I have also described, and which is
gunn's domestic medicine. 289
usually found in the kidneys or bladder, sometimes in
both, is a disease of more serious and dangerous con-
sequences altogether. When the stone has acquired
some size, if situated in the bladder, there is a frequent
and almost constant desire to make water; sometimes
the water passes off drop by drop, with much pain;
and sometimes in a small stream, which occasionally
stops short; in the last case, when the water passes in a
small stream with sudden stoppages, there will be great
pain for some minutes after, in the glans penis, in other
words, the head of the penis. In some persons, the
violence of straining to evacuate the urine, makes the
rectum or lower gut contract, and expel its excrements:
or if that gut be empty, this straining occasions tenes-
mus or a constant desire to go to stool. In discharges
of urine when stone exists in the bladder, there is very
often blood to be seen in the water, and sometimes pure
blood itself is passed off in small quantities. When
the calculus or stone is formed in the kidneys, in addi-
tion to the general symptoms of stone in the bladder,
there will be felt a dead, heavy, dull pain, in the loin
where the kidney containing the stone is seated: fre-
quently accompanied by fits of shuddering, and creep-
ing coldness, in and over the part affected: this
shuddering and coldness of sensation, are sometimes so
great, that sufferers have been known to blister the
small of their backs, by exposure of the parts naked to
the heat of large fires. In severe cases of calculus or
stone, either in the kidneys or bladder, there is frequent-
ly experienced, during the time of passing the urine,
sickness of the stomach, a desire to vomit, and much
faintness. Aged persons are most liable to disorders
of the urinary passages; which do not in all cases arise
from gravel andstone,or even from spasmodic strictures
37
290 gunn's domestic medicine.
in those parts. These apparent disorders of the urina-
ry passages, frequently occur in old persons from the
constipation and retention of feculent and fetid matter
in the bowels, which ought always to be attended to by
gentle purging, and particularly by frequent clystering:
for clystering, see that head. The gravel, and some-
times the stone, when the latter has not become much
enlarged from the lapse of time, may much more easily
be removed from the bladders of females, then from
those of males. In women, the urethra or canal which
leads from the bladder to the exterior, is always
straighter, shorter, and wider, than in men, and may in
many cases be dilated so much by artificial means, as
to admit the gravel or stone to pass off with the water.
The extraction of the stone from men, by the use of
the knife, is called by physicians, lithotomy. This is
a delicate, dangerous and very painful operation; and
I have uniformily advised persons much advanced in
age, and who were afflicted with the stone, to employ
palliative remedies for the pains attending it, rather
than lithotomy.
REMEDIES.
When there is much difficulty in passing the urine,
and that difficulty arises from strictures or obstructions
in the urethra or canal which conveys off the water-
and especially where inflammation of the bladder is
apprehended, the catheter must be used: for which
see the head catheter. When the complaint is painful
and oppressive, in what are called paroxysms or fits of
the gravel or stone, for I make no distinction between
them as to remedies, and there is so much irritation as
to lead to apprehensions of inflammation, bleeeding
should be immediately resorted to, followed by the
warm bath: in which the patient should remain some
gunn's domestic medicine. 291
time. In most cases, I have been enabled to allay the
pain entirely, by bleeding in the first instances, using
the warm bath next, and then given a pill of opium, or
a dose of laudanum: for which, see head warm bath,
and table of doses. After these remedies, if consider-
ed necessary, the privates and belly should be rubbed
and bathed with flannel cloths wrung out of warm
water, in which camomile flowers have been boiled;
after which, the cloths themselves should be applied
warm, and suffered to remain. The drink of the pa-
tient should be flax-seed tea; given as freely as you
please. Should the pain still continue severe, give a
clyster made of gruel, and strained in which put two
table-spoonsful of castor oil or sweet oil, and forty
drops of laudanum. This is to be thrown up the
bowels pleasantly warm: see head clystering. Old
persons who are afflicted with gravel or stone, will find
great relief from frequently using such clysters, and
from taking in moderation, occasionally, laudanum or
opium to procure rest: see table of doses. But, among
all the palliative remedies ever yet discovered, I am
compelled, from both experience and incontestibie
authorities, to believe, that, in all diseases of the urina-
ry organs, and particularly in stone and gravel, the
uva ursi of the mountainous regions of Europe, and
possibly of this country, stands conspicuous and alone.
The following cases of actual experiment, to which,
had I space, many more might be added, will prove
conclusively that it is a sovereign remedy, if not in
dissolving the stony matter, at least in banishing the
sufferings with which it is usually attended.
Case 1st. At the age of thirty-two, Mr. B---- hav-
ing tried various remedies, submitted to an operation
for the stone, with which he had been afflicted many
292 gunn's domestic medicine.
years. When the usual passage was opened into the
bladder with a knife, a rough stone of the mulberry
kind was taken out. Although the operation was well
performed, the incision perfectly cured, and the severe
pains he formerly felt had ceased for a time—yet, after
the lapse of some weeks, he again began to be afflicted
with excruciating pains, and great difficulty in making
water. The urine was accompanied with a discharge
of matter, which had continued ever since the opera-
tion—as d now, instead of decreasing as was expected,
it had become more abundant, bloody, foetid, corrosive,
and inflammatory, and excited exquisite agony at every
attempt to pass it off After various remedies, ordered
by the best physicians, had been tried in vain, the use
of the uva ursi was recommended, and many cases in
which it had been successful related to him by way of
encouragement. On the 10th of October, 1762, after
taking some medicines by way of preparation, he began
with half a drachm of the powder of the plant uva
ursi, which had been brought from Yienna for the
greater certainty; this dose he took twice a day, ob-
serving a temperate diet, and abstaining from every
thing considered pernicious. In three weeks his pains
were appeased; the matter was geantly diminished in
quantity, and was also of a much less acid quality; and
he voided his urine more freely. These circumstances
gave him great hopes of being perfectly cured; nor
were his expectations ill grounded: for in ten weeks,
he was entirely free from pain, made water easily, and
was no more afflicted with fruitless provocations to
urinate. And now, April 25, 1763, by persevering in
this course, he is so perfectly free from all symptoms
of the complaint, that he considers himself perfectly
cured.
gunn's domestic medicine. 293
Case 2d. A youth twelve years of age, of a tender
constitution and delicate frame, having been frequently
subject to coughs and other ailments, was suddenly
attacked with severe pain in the region of the bladder.
This continued for several days; during which time he
frequently cried out as if upon the rack: his water
which was very mucus, dropping from him very pain-
fully, gave strong suspicion of the gravel. The usual
medicines were given; but in vain.^ He was next
sounded by a skilful physician, and a stone was found
in the bladder. About this time, De Haen's account of
the uvau si became public; and this was considered a
fair case in which to give it a trial. After proper prep-
arations, half a drachm of the powdered plaint was
given twice a day. For a week, no perceptible relief
was obtained; but, in three days more the pain abated,
and the water become less charged with matter. In
short, by observing a regular diet, and by a steady per-
severance in the medicine, he is now so entirely well, that
an operation for extracting the stone by the knife, is no
longer thought of.
Case 3d. A gentleman near forty years old, of a
good constitution, living in a place supplied with water
of a bad quality, became afflicted with the gravel to a
very painful degree. He frequently passed small stones,
of a sandy substance, which he could plainly perceive
to fall from his kidneys, where they seemed to be gen-
erated, through the ureters into the bladder—always
exciting, during their descent, intolerable misery. All
the most celebrated measures adapted to such com-
plaints, were fairly tried. Little or no relief was
obtained. The matter voided in his urine gave suspi-
cion of decay in the kidneys. The uva ursi was there-
fore advised, and continued in the dose of half a drachm
294 gunn's domestic medicine.
twice a day; by which, with regular and abstemious
diet, the patient in three months became perfectly well.
I consider the foregoing cases, to which, as I have
before remarked, many others might be added from
excellent authorities, entirely conclusive as to the medi-
cinal virtues of the uva ursi—for a particular descrip-
tion of which, together with some other cases of cures
in stone and gravel, I most strongly and seriously refer
the reader.
SUPPRESSION OR STOPPAGE OF URINE.
This is a disease, which is frequently produced by
inflammation of die urethra, or canal which conveys
the water from the bladder: it is also sometimes produ-
ced, as I have mentioned under "Inflammation of the
bladder," by falls in various ways, and by that false
delicacy, which induces a bashful and inexperienced
person, to retain the urine an unusual and dangerous
length of time. It is also produced, among those who
have worn down their manhood in indiscriminate
debaucheries in early life, and sometimes among those
who are naturally of delicate and weakly constitutions,
by taking too large quantities of the tincture of Spanish
flies for purposes which I forbear to name. It also,
sometimes, arises from the necessary application of
blisters, and not unfrequently from costiveness or con-
stipation of the bowels.
REMEDIES.
Draw some blood; this will relieve the system- Then
put the patient in a warm bath, which must bo contin-
ued from a quarter to a half an hour. Next give a warm
clyster, made of starch and water, in which must be
gunn's domestic medicine. 295
mixed three table-spoonsful of castor oil. For the warm
bath, and clystering,look under the heads. If it seems
to be necessary, after these remedies, give a dose of
castor oil by the mouth. If all these means fail of
producing a flow of urine, the catheter must be skil-
fully and cautiously used: for which look under the
head. Throwing cold water on the belly and thighs,
will sometimes afford relief, when all other remedies
have failed. A clyster of warm water, in which tobacco
leaves have been steeped for a few minutes, is an excel-
lent remedy; it must however be used with great caution,
being very powerful in its effects, it must be made very
weak—and should by no means be repeated, unless
under the direction of a physician. Its immediate
effects are—a general relaxation of the whole system,
accompanied with prostration of muscular power, faint-
ness, and sickness of the stomach: profuse sweat breaks
out over the whole body; and if the remedy succeeds,
the urine is immediately evacuated.
GREAT FLOW OF URINE.
This complaint is called by physicians diabetes.
The word diabetes is derived from two Greek words,
which signify—to pass through: and I mention the
fact merely to show, how little connexion there usually
is, between the derivationof words and their real mean-
ing. The quantity of water usually discharged in
diabetes, is more than double the liquid taken in both
drink and food. The attacks of this disease are gener-
ally slow and gradual. I have known instances, in
which it has been more than two years in making its
advances on the constitution. The symptoms of diabe-
296 gunn's domestic medicine.
tes are—larger and more frequent discharges of water
from the bladder than common; the urine is clear and
transparent as spring water; and having a sweetish and
sickish taste, like sugar and water, accompanied by a
faint smell as if mixed with rosemary leaves. These
symptoms generally occur without pain, and are usually
attended with a varacious or greedy appetite. When
this disease occurs on young persons, or is attended to
in grown individuals at any period, it can frequently be
removed; but, when suffered to proceed for any length
of time, or when it attacks persons in advanced age, or
those who have indulged to excess in spirituous liquors,
it is extremely difficult of removal. As this disease
increases on the constitution, for I certainly consider it
a constitutional complaint, the whole body becomes
emaciated, and gradually wastes away; the mind
becomes dull and melancholy; the patient has a strong
aversion to motion and exercise; there are frequent
darting pains in the privates, accompanied with a dull
and heavy pain in the small of the back; nearly con-
stant thirst, which it seems impossible to satisfy; the
bowels are costive, and the pulse irregular; as the dis-
ease advances, fever takes place similar to that in hectic
and consumptive cases, the feet begin to swell, and
death usually closes the scene. The favorable symp-
toms in this disease are the following: the appetite
becomes more natural, and the thirst diminishes; the
urine is voided in small quantities, and the desire to
make water less frequent; the water assumes its natural
color, and regains its usual smell; the skin becomes
more flexible or soft, and is suffused or covered with
gentle and natural sweat; the mind gradually becomes
more cheerful, and the desire for exercise increases:
when these symptoms manifest themselves, there are
gunn's domestic medicine. 291"
always great hopes of speedy recovery. The bodies
of many persons who have died of diabetes, have been
accurately examined by skillful anatomists: and the
results have always shown, diseased state of the kid-
neys and their vessels, and consequent derangement of
their secretions—in plain language, and I am supported
in the opinion by the celebrated Rush, and several
other physicians of note, diabetes is a consumption of
the kidneys.
REMEDIES.
Emetics or pukes are frequently to be given in this
disease, and much dependence may be placed on
them for a cure. Ipecacuanha is perhaps the best
puke that can be given: see table for dose. Blisters
are to be applied to the small of the back, and kept
continually running: and a Dover's powder is to be
given at night, which will produce a determination to
the surface, or in other words a gentle sweat: to pre-
pare these powders, look under the head Dover's
powders. Use the warm bath frequently, and have the
whole body rubbed well twice a day with a flesh brush,
or coarse towel; the rubbing should at least continue
half an hour to benefit your patient. Flannel must be
worn next the skin. The tincture of cantharides, cau
tiously administered, is a valuable remedy, and should
be given to a grown person, from eight to ten, and
twelve drops, every four or five hours, in a little cold
water, or in water in which some gum has been dis-
solved: wild cherry tree gum, or peach tree gum will
answer. Astringents may be serviceable in this com-
plaint, and should be tried agreeably to the following
directions:—Alum dissolved in water, and occasionally
given throughout the day, as the stomach will bear it
without inconvenience or unpleasant feeling, will be
38
298 gunn's domestic medicine
serviceable: or sugar of lead, given in a grain and a
half to two grains, twice a day in cold water, for
grown persons, has afforded much relief and expedited
the cure: for the dose of alum or sugar of lead, see
table for the doses adapted for different ages. When
it is possible to obtain chalybeate water, or in other
words spring water impregnated or mixed with iron,
you should direct your patient to use the water freely.
East Tennessee abounds with those springs, on almost
every branch or rivulet. As there is an acid of the
stomach, which frequently accompanies the complaint,
it will be proper to give your patient weak lime water,
or chalk, or soda powders: look under that head, and
you will see how soda powders are made. If fever is
present in this disease, which is sometimes the case, the
loss of a little blood occasionally will be proper. Your
patient is to use no strong drink of any kind; to eat no
vegetable food, but to liveon animal food; to avoid cold
and exposure of every kind; and to defend the feet and
body well against the damp air—and, in good weather,
to take moderate exercise. In my practice, I use the
uva ursi tea, and have derived great benefit from it: I
therefore recommend it with the utmost confidence.
By the use of emetics, with this tea, and frequent bath-
ing in warm water, if commenced at an early period,
a cure may be speedily expected—(read under the
head uva ursi, for a description of this plant, how it
may be obtained, and how to use it.) The bowels are
to be moderately purged, and kept open by castor oil;
or by rhubarb, either by chewing it, or taking it in
powder. Rhubarb is preferable to castor oil in this
disease, and should be used if it can be obtained.
(Look under the head rhubarb, for explanation of its
qualities, and see table for doses.) Doct. Samuel Sair,
gunn's domestic medicine. 299
lately read to the Academy of Medicine in France, an
interesting memoir on this subject. He refers most
cases of incontinence or involuntary flow of urine, or
diabetes, to a want of equilibrium in power, between
the body of the bladder and its neck; in other words,
when the muscular power of the neck of the bladder,
is so much weakened or relaxed, as not to retain the
urine against the contractible power of the bladder
itself. With this view of the subject, he imagined
that if he could stimulate the neck of the bladder, and
not the body of it, he could succeed. He introduced,
by means of a catheter, some tincture of cantharides,
so as to touch the urethra in its prostatic part, and also
the neck of the bladder: by this process, he cured three
patients who labored under this disease. When this
remedy is to be resorted to, the aid of a skillful physi-
cian will be required.
ERUPTIONS OF THE SKIN.
The close connexion which exists between the
stomach, skin, and bowels, is evidently demonstrated
by the simple fact, that in many instances where the
bowels are internally disordered, the skin exhibits exter-
nal evidence of disease. The many eruptions which
show themselves on the face, hands, legs, and bodies of
individuals, are positive proofs of the deranged state of
their systems internally:—and by removing the prima-
ry or first causes, you invariably remove those eruptions,
which are in general mere effects. You should, there-
fore, always endeavor to ascertain, whether those dis-
eases of the skin are not produced by some impure
state of the blood, from a foul stomach, from costive
300 gunn's domestic medicine.
bowels, or from some constitutional disease derived
from parents. If either of those causes produce erup-
tions of the skin, you will easily see that they are to be
removed by internal remedies—I mean those which
strike at their roots: for, if you should succeed in dri-
ving in the eruptions of the skin, by merely external
remedies, you will always produce fever, and almost
invariably seat some fatal disease on the vital organs.
Whenever diseases exhibit their effects on the skin,
you may be assured that they are efforts of nature to
relieve herself from oppression; and the real business
of a physician is to assist nature, and never to retard
or stifle her operations.
REMEDIES.
The first great and important rule, in all eruptive
disorders of the skin, is to open the bowels and keep
them in a laxative state, by cooling medicines: such as
epsom salts, or equal quantities of eream and tartar
and sulphur. If the stomach is out of order, there
being a close connexion between it and the skin, a
gentle emetic will sometimes be necessary to cleanse
the stomach, and to assist nature in throwing the whole
disease on the surface, where it may expire and fall off
in scabs. Tea, made of sassafras or sarsaparilla, should
always be used as a common drink. Whenever fever
takes place, which is sometimes the case, draw some
blood from the arms, and give an active purge of calo-
mel at night, followed by a dose of epsom salts in the
morning. Common starch rubbed on the skin, in all
kinds of eruptions, is a cooling and pleasant remedy;
and the application of it on going to bed, will produce
much relief from the itching, and consequently easy
and refreshing sleep. Persons who are subject to
eruptions of the skin, should live on light and cooling
gunn's domestic medicine. 301
diet: avoid salted provisions, and every thing of a heat-
ing nature; avoid spirituous liquors, and use cooling
acid drinks—and, by all means, keep the skin clean by
frequent warm or tepid bathing.
SAINT ANTHONY'S FIRE.
This disease is called by physicians, erysipelas:—it
is of an inflammatory character, and always attended
with some fever. The skin burns and itches very much,
and usually turns to a scarlet color. It generally com-
mences in a red blotch, and quickly extends itself over
the whole body". Sometimes the face swells very much,
and becomes inflamed: there is, also, head-ache, sick
ness at the stomach; and not unfrequently, violent fever
attended with delirium.
REMEDIES.
This disease is attended with inflammatory symptoms,
and like others of the same character, must be treated
by moderate bleeding, cooling purges, and cooling
drinks. Bathe the feet and legs frequently in warm
water, and remain in your room, so as not to be expo-
sed to damp cold air, by which the disease might be
struck inwardly. Every two or three hours, give equal
quantities of antimonial wine and sweet spirits of
nitre, in doses of a tea-spoonful, in a stem-glass of cold
water. If the head-ach is very severe, the loss of some
blood, ablisterbetweentheshoulders,and poukicesmade
of mustard seed and corn meal, will give relief. Sprink-
ling the body with fine starch, or with wheat flour, will
greatly assist to cool and allay the irritation. A tea-
spoonful of sugar of lead, putin three half pints of cold
302 gunn's domestic medicine.
water, and used as a remedy by washing the body, is also
a valuable application.
TETTER OR RING WORM.
This is a disease confined to the skin, for which med-
icines are seldom given internally. It first appears as
an inflammatory eruption of small magnitude, not larger
than the finger nail, and gradually extends itself into a
circle, which sometimes embraces the hands, sometimes
the face, and not unfrequently large portions of the
body. Unless relieved, it at length becomes extremely
painful, and is attended with an itching sensation, which
is greatly increased by the least warmth or exercise.
REMEDIES.
Puccoon-root, called by some persons Blood-root,
and by others Indian paint, steeped in strong vinegar,
and applied as a wash to the parts affected, is a most
excellent remedy—perhaps the best one known in this
disease. The blue dye, made by the country people to
color their cloth, has been sometimes known to remove
it, when many other remedies had failed: this must be
owing to the indigo and urine the dye contains. I do
not recollect, however, one single case in my practice in
Virginia, in which the puccoon-root and vinegar failed.
In France, the application of the fumes of sulphur is
always resorted to with success, in all diseases of the
skin:—(read under the head sulphuric fumigation.)
gunn's domestic medicine 303
SCALD HEAD.
In this disease, the whole scalp or skin of the head
is covered with small sores, which discharge very offen-
sive matter. These sores eventually turn to little scales
or scabs, while fresh ones continue to break out at the
roots of the hair, and follow the same process of turning
to scales and falling off. This disorder is infectious or
catching, and is often taken by children, in consequence
of wearing the hat or cap of persons affected with it.
Sleeping in the same bed, or combing with the same
comb, when the child has constitutionally a scrofulous
taint, will also communicate the disease; which is some-
times tedious and difficult to cure.
REMEDIES.
First shave off the hair as close as possible; then
cleanse the sores daily with warm soap-suds, and put
on the following ointment, which must be spread on a
bladder, and worn as a cap. Take two table-spoonsful
of tar, and a sufficient quantity of suet or lard to make
on ointment; to these add a table-spoonful of powdered
charcoal, and two tea-spoonsful of sulphur. The bow-
els must be kept open with epsom salts, and a tea made
of sarsaparilla and sassafras drank freely; these meas-
ures will purify the blood. Once or twice a week,
bathe the whole body in water of a pleasant tempera-
ture. Doctor Chapman, of Philadelphia, one of the
Professors of that University, recommends highly the
following remedy: Take of liver of sulphur, three
drachms; of Spanish soap, one drachm; of lime water
eight ounces, and of rectified spirits of wine, two
drachms: mix them well together, and use the whole as
a wash.—(Where the remedies I have mentioned fail,
look under the head of sulphuric fumigation, for a cer-
tain remedy in all diseases of the skin.)
304 gunn's domestic medicine.
TOOTH ACHE.
This disease does not always arise from decayed
teeth; it is frequently the offspring of nervous affections,
of cold, of rheumatism, and not unfrequently, among
females, of stoppages of certain evacuations. I have
known many sound teeth to be extracted unnecessarily,
and on account of diseases which were afterwards dis-
covered to be seated in other parts of the body; ind I,
therefore, earnestly recommend, that great caution be
used in discovering the causes of tooth ache, before a
tooth is suffered to be drawn. Tooth ache, in very
many instances, arises, from a disordered state of the
stomach i.nd bowels. In these cases, the suffering is
generally severe, and must be removed by attention to
cleansing the stomach and bowels. Many instances
have occurred in my practice, where persons have
requested teeth to be drawn to remove tooth ache, when
all their teeth on examination were found to be sound.
In these cases I have always relieved them by a purge.
Among women, more than one half of the suffering
from tooth ache, may be fairly traced to some bodily
habit, or some nervous sympathy, to which the female
constitution is peculiarly liable, and which may be remo-
ved by other means, than the extraction of the teeth.
Persons who have written before me, on the subject of
tooth ache, have spoken of the disease as peculiar to,
and confined to the teeth alone; when the fact is, that
common sense and experience, will teach any man the
palpable absurdity of such doctrine, and convince him
that tooth ache is very frequently a common symtom
of other diseases, which are to be sought out and re-
moved before relief can be obtained.
gunn's domestic medicine. 305
REMEDIES.
When tooth ache is presumed to arise from nervous
affections, the nervous system is to be strengthened by
gentle tonics, nutritive and cooling food, and moderate
exercise in the open air. (When it proceeds from cold
or from rheumatismj consult those two heads for direc-
tions to remove it; and when it arises from stoppages of
the menses in fern des, see and consult that head,among
the diseases of women.) Extracting teeth ought always
to be the last remedy resorted to; it is a painful opera-
tion, and oftentimes a dangerous one, when attempted
by an unskilful and clumsy hand. When a tooth is dis-
covered to be defective, and thi^t there is inflammation
at the root, which is the cause of the pain, let the inflam-
mation be reduced by blistering the surface of the
cheek, or by scarifying the gums with a lancet, and
the tooth plugged with gold leaf, or silver or tin foil.
Tooth ache is frequently owing to the nerve of the
tooth being exposed to the air from decay: in this case,
it is always advisable to avoid the extraction of the
tooth, and to have it plugged as I have just told you,
with gold leaf, or with silver or tin foil. These arti-
cles can always be obtained pure. There are cases in
which the diseased tooth will not bear the wedging
pressure of being plugged with gold leaf; in these in-
stances, pure tin or lead ought to be used. These last
mentioned articles, however, wear out in a few years;
and it is a truth well known, that tin will corrode, rust,
or turn black in a short time, from the action of the
acid generally used in food. Gold, in its pure state, is
always preferable for plugging a tooth; it will some-
times last twenty years. If the disease arises from
inflammation, the practice of holding hot and stimula-
ting articles in the mouth, is highly improper; you will
39
306 gunn's domestic medicine.
know when it arises from inflammation, by the follow-
ing indications—you will have head ache, which will
be attended with fever. Take a full dose of epsom or
glauber salts, and repeat the dose if necessary. Apply
to the face cold mush and milk poultices; or those
made of meal and vinegar, as cold as possible; and, if
the inflammation runs high, and is attended with fever,
the loss of some blood will be proper, together with the
application of a blister over the pained part. Great
suffering about the teeth, is frequently caused by certain
nervous pains, to which females are sometimes consti-
tutionally liable: these cases are to be treated with
simple remedies, and scrupulous care, until the original
causes are removed—and you may apply to the face
some irritating tincture, such as Cayenne pepper, tinc-
ture of Spanish flies, or volatile liniment. I have said
before, that tooth ache sometimes arises, though not
very frequently, from rheumatism: when this is the
case, the whole sides of the face will be pained, togeth-
er with the sound as well as the decayed teeth. There
will also be felt, a dull, heavy pain, extending along the
jaw bone; and a stiffness of the neck, sometimes atten-
ded with pain in the shoulder. The following is a good
remedy:—Put a piece of lime, the size of a walnut, into
a quart bottle of water; with this rinse the mouth two
or three times a day—and clean the teeth with it every
morning until the pain ceases. But, in rheumatic affec-
tions, of the kind just described, see under the head
rheumatism.
The tartar, or scurvy of the teeth, is a very destruc-
tive disease; it greatly injures the teeth, and frequently
destroys them, before jou are aware of the danger.
Tartar is an accumulation of earthy matter, deposited
on the teeth from the saliva or spittle. It collects on
gunn's domestic medicine. 307
the teeth of some persons, much faster than on those of
others; this is owing to the natural or constitutional
state of the fluids of the mouth. When first deposited
on the teeth, it is soft and very easily removed with a
tooth brush; but, if suffered to remain, it acquires
hardness by time, and thickens about the necks of the
teeth. The gums become irritated and inflamed by it;
the sockets are next destroyed; and the teeth being left
bare, without any support, are pressed out by the
tongue, or fall out. The importance of removing tar-
tar from the teeth, must be obvious to all: and the
operation ought always to be performed by a skilful
person, called a dentist—or by a physician. To pre-
vent the accumulation of tartar on the teeth, and to
restore the healthy state of the gums, nothing more is
requisite than a stiff brush, and pounded charcoal,
mixed with an equal quantity of Peruvian bark. The
use of all acids for the removal of tartar, is a base
imposition. Acids will, indeed, make the teeth look
beautifully white for a few days, dissolve and remove
the tartar, and stop the tooth ache; but in a few
months, the teeth will become of a dead chalky white,
next turn dark colored, then begin to decay and crum-
ble to pieces, and finally leave their fangs in the sock-
ets, exposed to pain and inflammation. Milk warm
water, and the tooth powder I have mentioned, will
not only preserve the teeth, but correct in a great de-
gree the offensive effluvia arising from decayed teeth
and unhealthy gums.
308 gunn's domestic medicine.
ITCH.
This filthy disease is infectious, or in other words
catching; and is frequently produced by want of clean-
liness: it is confined to the skin, and first shows itself
between the fingers in small watery pimples, gradually
extending to the wrists, thighs, and waists. There is a
constant desire to scratch, which is much increased
after you become warm in bed. Cleanliness, and early
attention to this dirty disorder, will prevent its being
communicated to a whole family: children are apt to
take it at school, and communicate it to those with
whom they sleep. Travellers are apt to take it, from
sleeping in beds that have been previously occupied by
persons who have it: therefore, a good caution in tra-
velling is, to have the sheets and pillow-cases changed.
Frequent instances occur in travelling, where persons
of much respectability have taken the itch, and been
much mortified by it, from want of this precaution.
REMEDIES.
Take one drachm, or sixty drops of sulphu: ic acid,
which is oil of vitriol: mix it well with one ounce of hogs-
lard, or fresh butter without salt, will answer. After it
is well prepared by good rubbing, anoint the parts
affected until cured; this is an innocent and certain
remedy for the itch. Or, you may make an ointment
of a table-spoonful of sulphur, and a table-spoonful of
lard, or butter without salt, and put in the ointment a
table-spoonful of the essence of lemon, or tea-spoon-
ful of the oil of lemon, which will give it a pleasant
smell. This ointment must be rubbed on the parts
affected, three or four nights on going to bed. Sul-
phur is nothing more than common brimstone purified,
and pounded fine. Or, you may take one drachm of
red precipitate, and rub it well in a mortar with an
gunn's domestic medicine. 309
ounce of hogs lard, or butter without salt, and anoint
the parts affected: (this last is a valuable and certain
cure.) A strong decoction or tea of Virginia snake-
root, known generally as black snake-root, will fre-
quently cure the itch when used as a wash. Tobacco
leaves steeped in water, and used two or three times a
day as a wash, will effect a cure; but this remedy must
be used with caution on children. Water dock grows
in wet ditches, mill ponds, and sides of rivers; and
flowers in July and August. The root boiled in strong
decoction or tea, and used as a wash, is a good remedy
for itch; the narrow and broad leaved dock, found in
yards and fields, will answer the same purpose. Mercu-
rial ointment, sometimes called oil of baze, isfrequently
rubbed on joints for itch; this is highly improper,
because it frequently salivates, and produces pains "n
the joints and bones forjlife.
APOPLECTIC FITS.
This disease derives its name from a Greek word,
which signifies to strike or knock down; because those
affected with it are suddenly prostrated to the earth, and
deprived of sense and motion. A variety of causes
have been assigned for Apoplexy: but, they may all be
comprised in the following words—whatever deter-
mines, or throws, so great a quantity of blood on the
brain, that it cannot return from that vital organ. It is
not necessary to enumerate those causes, further than to
remark, that among them are:—violent fits of passion,
excess of venery, stooping down for any length of time,
overloading the stomach, and wearing any thing too
tight about the neck, great cold, and intemperance,
310 gunn's domestic kedicine,
Persons most liable to Apoplexy, arc such as have shorf
necks and large heads. In attacks of Apoplexy in the
severest form, the blood vessels are found bruised, and
the blood poured out in various parts of the brain; and
when Apoplexy attacks in milder forms, those blood
vessels are found distended, or swelled with too large a
quantity of blood. This complaint has deprived the
republic of some of her greatest ornaments, among
which were the Hon. De Witt Clinton; the Irish patriot,
Thomas A. Emmett; and William Pinckney Esq., our
former minister to London. Intense and protracted
mental exertion was probably the cause of the death of
Messrs. Eramett, Pinckney. and Clinton; but, in most
instances, Apoplexy is to be dreaded by corpulent or
plethoric persons,—such as I have before named—hav-
ing large heads and short necks, epicures, gluttons, and
those who use spirituous liquors to excess.
REMEDIES. *
The chief remedy in Apoplexy is large and copious
bleeding, which must be repeated if necessary. Cup-
ping at the temples ought always to be resorted to, the
great object being to draw the blood from the head, and
to relieve the oppression of the brain as speedily as pos-
sible. The next thing to he attended to, is to give the
most active purges—see table for doses. Apply cold
cloths wet in vinegar and the coldest water constantly
to the head. If your patient should recover by the
means directed, in order to escape from a second and
third attack, the person should scrupulously observe the
following rules of living: he must eat vegetable food,
drink no wine nor spirits of any kind, avoid all strong
and long continued exertions of mind; and, after the
full state of the brain has for some time subsided, the
use of chalybeate writers, such as those of the Harrods-
gunn's domestic medicine. 311
burgh Springs in Kentucky, will be of much service.
As this is a common and often fatal disease, I will'make
some further remarks on it. Many physicians have
commended, and put in practice in this complaint, open-
ing one of the jugular veins. They imagine, by drawing-
blood from one of these veins, they unload the biain,
and relieve its blood vessels from distension, and the
danger of rupture. The fact, however, seems to be
otherwise. Instead of unloading the vessels by this
operation, the pressure which is necessary to be made
on the vein for the purpose of drawing the blood, evi-
dently retards the return of blood to the heart; and a
certain and inevitable consequence of this pressure,
accumulation of blood in the arteries, and greater dis-
tension of the blood vessels, immediately take p.ace.
To exhibit the force of this reasoning clearly, I will
make an example of blood letting from the ar,m. The
arteries of the arm convey, by the muscular power of
the heart, all the blood in those arteries to the points of
the fingers: here the veins take up the same blood, to
return it again to the heart. Now, when we cord the
arm tightly in order to draw blood from a vein, what
are the consequences? Why, we stop the course of
the blood back to the heart, swell the veins of the arm
next; and lastly, distend the whole of the blood vesselj
of the arm: and are not the same effects produced on
the blood vessels of the head, by a strong pressure in
cording the jugular vein? The above doctrine, as well
as it can be explained from the works of the great Doc-
tor Baillie of London, I am induced to consider correct.
Instead of opening the jugular vein, in cases of emer-
gency, I would recommend bleeding in the foot. In
performing this operation, after the bandage has been
put on, the foot should be put In warm water: the fact
312 gunn's domestic medicine.
is, that warm water applied to both feet, in bleeding for
Apoplexy, would be attended with considerable advan-
tage.
EPILEPTIC FITS.
This disease differs from Apoplexy, by the former
having convulsions, and frothy spittle issuing from the
mouths. The ancients gave it the name of the sacred
disease, because it affected the mind, the most noble
part of the rational creature. These fits last from ten
minutes to half an hour, depending on their violence:
they always leave the sufferer in a stupor, attended with
great weakness, and exhaustion of the body. Epileptic
fits arise from the following causes:—Original or natural
defects; in other words, defects derived from nature,
and severe blows on the head. When the disease ari-
ses from either, or both of these causes in combination,
it is seldom if ever cured. But, when it proceeds from
any of the following causes, cures may be effectuated
by medicine, proper diet, &,c. In children, when it
proceeds from worms, cutting teeth, impure and acrid
matter in the stomach and bowels, eruptions of the skin
which suddenly strike in, and sores on the head which
are too quickly healed up, relief may be obtained by
medical means. Relief may also be had in the cases of
grown persons, afflicted from the too free use of spirit-
uous liquors, from violent excitements of those passions
which affect the nervous system, from stoppages of the
menses in women, and those who have not yet had their
courses according to nature. This disease is sometimes
although not often, produced by great debility or weak-
ness ; and sometimes by onanism.
gunn's DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 3lS
REMEDIES.
In fits of this kind, a few days previous to the expec-
ted attack, draw blood from the foot; and every night
on going to bed, bathe the feet some time in warm
water, so as to prevent too great a determination of
blood to the head, as these fits generally attack persons
during sleep. If considered necessary, give an emetic
or puke to cleanse the stomach, followed by an active
purge to act on the bowels—see table for dose. These
fits generally occur about the change or full of the
moon. The singular and surprising influence which
this planet is known to exerciso in many instances over
the human species, is absolutely unaccountable, and
is even ridiculed by many physicians; but I feel fully
confident, from reflection and experience,that this planet
has considerable control over certain diseases to which
the human system is liable—one or two of which I will
notice. The monthly courses of women, at particular
times, arc evidently under its influence: madness, or
mental derangement, is in many cases greatly increased
at the change of the moon; and it is well known to
almost every person, that the periodical return of epi-
leptic fits is generally about the full and change.
These circumstances certainly denote some secret and
mysterious agency, which is concealed from human
knowledge. On a full examination of the different
remedies recommended in epileptic fits, where they
arise from circumstances which can be traced to some
particular cause, please to refer to the different heads,
remembering always, that when you expect to effect a
cure, it can only be done by removing the cause. I
have mentioned emphatically, bleeding in the foot, and
the warm bath; these will remove the blood from the
brain, when harsher means have failed. The bowels
40
314 gunn's domestic medicine.
must be kept in a laxative state, by epsom salts, castor
oil, or mild clysters—see table for doses and head clys-
ters. By permitting the bowels to be the least bound,
you subject the person to much risk of having a fit.
An issue, or seton in the neek, something resembling
a rowel, and kept continually discharging, is a good
remedy in fits. The use of tartar emetic ointment, is
a remedy resorted to in the hospitals of Europe with
success: I have tried it in two cases; it succeeded in
one and failed in the other: this, however, is the usual
fate of most remedies applied in this disease. Setons
always lessen the fits in number and severity, and the
tartar emetic ointment sometimes removes the com-
plaint: they are, therefore, both worthy of a fair trial.
For the mode of preparing this ointment, and the man
ner of using it, look under that head—and for issues or
setons, see that head. All that can be done during the
fit, is to prevent the person from injuring himself, by
placing a bit of soft wood between the teeth, and
unclenching the hands. The following remedies should
be tried separately, and with moderation, where there is
any hope of success:—plunge the whole body in a
strong bath made of salt and water, a few mornings in
succession, before an attack is expected; or, you may
give spirits of turpentine, in small doses, on an empty
stomach; or take the person afflicted through a gradual
and moderate salivation with mercury.
Doctor Currie, an eminent physician, speaks highly
of the Digitalis or Fox-glove, as a remedy in this com-
plaint; but it must be used with caution. Five or six
drops of tincture, increased two drops every five or six
days, ought to be given—see table for doses. The bow-
els must be kept open with senna and manna. Doctor
Wharton, of Shenandoah county, Virginia, a man of
gunn's domestic medicine. 315
distinguished abilities, administered it with great suc-
cess—see page 184, Medical Recorder. Persons who
are subject to these fits, should avoid all strong and
heating food, together with all kinds of spirituous
liquors. Hog meat should never be used as food
in any way; nor should anything difficult of digestion
ever be eaten. Moderate exercise must be taken, and
every thing is to be avoided which is calculated to pro-
duce melancholy, because the mind and passions have
great influence on the nervous system.
PALSY.
Palsy is a disease attended with the loss or dimi-
nution of the power of voluntary motion. It sometimes
affects one part of the body, and sometimes another—
but in whatever part of the system it prevails, there will
always be a numbness, and almost entire want of feel-
ing, and a loss of power to move the part affected.
This disease may arise from Apoplexy; from any thing
that prevents the flow of the nervous fluid from the
brain to the organs of motion; from luxurious and
intemperate living; from the suppression of certain
evacuations, such as are mentioned in epileptic fits;
from spasmodic affections or cramps: from too frequent
intercourse with women, by which the nervous system
is much weakened; from exposure to cold; from affec-
tions of the spinal marrow; from any mechanical
compression; in fact, from whatever has a tendency to
weaken and relax the system in an extreme degree.
Dissections frequently show collections of blood, and
sometimes of serous or watery fluid, effused or spread
out in the brain; and what is something singular, these
316 gunn's domestic medicine.
collections and effusions are generally found on the?
opposite side of the brain from the parts of the body
affected.
REMEDIES.
In no cases of palsy should bleeding be resorted to,
unless the patient is of a stout and full habit of body,
and where the disease originating in the head, causes a
great determination of blood to the vessels of the brain.
In all other cases, bleeding is of much more injury than
benefit. Where the person is of full habit, and there
is much determination of blood to the head, in addition
to bleeding in the first stage of the attaek, active purges
will be very beneficial. If, on the contrary, the person
is of a delicate and weakly habit of body, is considera-
bly advanced in life, or if the disease has affected the
system for a time, bleedingand very active purges should
never be used; it will be sufficient here to keep the
lower bowels gently open, by mild and at the same time
stimulating clysters—see the head clysters. The fact is,
that constipation of the bowels on the one hand, and
excessive laxness on the other, are extremes equally to
be avoided in palsy. Constipation or costiveness of
bowels, always oppresses the brain with an accumula-
tion of blood, which must be relieved:—and too much
purging with very laxative medicines, invariably weak-
ens the system greatly, and as I have somewhere before
remarked, produces morbid irritability. Palsy, with the
exception of the cases I have mentioned, must be treat-
ed with tonic or strengthening medicines. Every second
or third night take two grains of calomel, and three of
ground ginger, in a little honey; these doses are to be
continued, until there is a copperish taste in the mouth;
here you must stop taking them. During all this time
you are to have the affected parts well rubbed with a
gunn's domestic medicine. 317
brush, for half an hour three times a day; and you are
also oncea day, to bathe in strong salt and water,made
pleasantly warm.—See page 158, where you will find
that out of 996 cases of palsy, 813 were benefitted by
the warm bath. Blisters are also very beneficial in this
disease, one of which ought to be placed between the
shoulders, on the inside of each ancle, and one over
the part affected: they should all be kept continually
running, by the application of some irritating ointment.
An issue or seton in the neck is also highly recom-
mended, especially where the disease has originated
from apoplexy.
I have found great benefit in palsy, by using on the
affected parts, the following liniment:—one ounce of
spirits of hartshorn, one table-spoonful of spirits of
turpentine, one table-spoonful of the tincture of Spanish
flies mado by steeping the flies in whiskey. These
articles are to be mixed in half a pint of sweet oil, and
well rubbed on the parts affected three times a day. If
these articles cannot be had, bathe the parts in whiskey,
in which cayenne pepper has been steeped so as to
make it strong of the pepper. Use horse radish free-
ly with your food, and take thirty-five drops of spirits
of turpentine, on a lump of sugar three times a day.
As soon as practicable, take exercise in the open air,
and when on the recovery make use of water impreg-
nated with iron, and use your bath cold instead of
warm, in the manner of a shower bath:—see that head:
the water should be mixed with salt. I will remark in
conclusion, that electrifying or shocking in this disease,
is very highly recommended, as is also the method of
cure resorted to with great success in Austria, France,
and Germ my, which is the use of the sulphur bath,
by which 673 cases were cured in the hospitals of
318 gunn's domestic medicine,
Paris, and 484 in those of Vienna.—See head Sul-
phuric Bath.
ASTHMA.
In this disease, from an extensive experience, I
unhesitatingly say, that Asthma when once firmly
seated in the system, is a complaint that may be pallia-
ted but never entirely removed by medicine. When
the disease attacks young persons, abstemious diet and
due exercise are the best remedies for subduing its vio-
lence: but, an entire and permanent cure of the com-
plaint, is only to be expected from the spontaneous and
powerful efforts of nature herself. In aged persons,
where the disease is of long standing, great care and
attention are required to lessen the severity of the
attacks; this is nearly all that can be done by the
boasted powers of medicine, when the disease has be-
come obstinate by age. Many physicians have assert-
ed that Asthma is a nervous disease; the contrary,
however, has been established, by many dissections in
the hospitals of Paris, and other cities of Europe.
Corvisart, Baumes and Rostan, besides many others,
allege that Asthma depends on a morbid or diseased
alteration in the organs of breathing or respiration and
circulation, by which congestions or collections of
blood in the lungs are procured Rostan, particularly,
gives in evidence of this opinion the following facts:__
he says in substance, that the bodies of many who had
died of Asthma, were opened immediately after death,
and that in all of them alterations in the structure of
the heart and arteries, were found combined with ex-
tensive congestive diseases of the lungs, proving that
gunn's domestic medicine 319
disorders of the heart and large blood vessels, have
much greater influence in the production of Asthma
than is generally supposed. The symptoms of Asthma
are, difficult breathing or respiration for a time, suc-
ceeded by short intervals of comparative ease, which
are followed by attacks similar to the first, in many
cases amounting almost to suffocation; a great tightness
across the breast and in the region of the lungs;
a wheezing noise in breathing, attended by a hard
cough at first, which gradually diminishes in toughness,
until a white, stringy, tough mucus is discharged from
the throat and mouth, accompanied perhaps by a gen-
tle moisture on the skin. Persons subject to periodical
attacks of Asthma, generally know the approach of
those attacks, by the following symptoms and sensa-
tions:—depression of spirits amounting to melancholy;
sense of fullness and distention about the stomach,
attended with uneasy and restless feelings; drowsiness
accompanied by head ache, and a sense of tightness or
constriction across the breast. These indications usual-
ly occur about the close of the day, increase in severity
during the night, and sensibly diminish towards morn-
ing.
REMEDIES.
Bleeding must never be resorted to in Asthma:—
although it is frequently practised by physicians, it is
altogether wrong, and must always be avoided. The
reason is obvious, and particularly so in the cases of
persons advanced in age. Bleeding retards, in fact, it
prevents expectoration by the mouth and throat; in
other words, it prevents hawking and spitting up mucus
from the throat and lungs, which always give relief in
• Asthma. So soon as symptoms of an attack are felt, .
which I have just described, give a mild emetic or..
320 genn's domestic medicine
puke; this will always shorten the attack—during
which the feet must be bathed in warm water, and the
steam of warm vinegar inhaled, or breathed from the
spout of a coffee-pot. Stew down, over a slow fire,
half an ounce of seneca snake-root in a pint of water,
after braising it with a hammer, to half a pint: of this,
take a table-spoonful every ten or fifteen minutes, and
drink a smill glass of warm toddy. I have frequently
afforded relief in a short time, by merely bathing the
feet and giving plentifully of warm toddy. The Indian
tobacco is a valuable remedy in this complaint, used in
the following manner: take of the leaves, stem and
pods, nearly as much as you can hold grasped between
the fore finger and thumb; put it into a bottle of whis-
key, and in five days the liquor will be fit for use; of
which give a tea-spoonful every half hour until relief
is obtained. When this complaint attacks young men4
for it is much more apt to attack men than women,
they should rise early and take active exercise, partic-
ularly by ascending the highest and steepest hills and
mountains, where they can breast the pure mountain
breeze. These people should always rise from a hard
bed instead of a soft one, and swallow a raw egg be-
fore walking. To persons severely afflicted with this
disease in advanced life, smoking the dried root of the
Jamestown weed will be beneficial,as will also smoking
the dried root of the skunk cabbage. Look under the
head Jamestown weed, where this plant is described:
it must always be used gradually, and with some cau-
tion. Baron Brady states, that he cured himself of
Asthma of twenty-one years standing, by the internal
.. use of mustard seed, of which he took every morning
and evening a tea-spoonful in tea or broth. Doctor •
Pitschaft says he derived much benefit from the inter-
gunn's domestic medicine. 321
nal use of mustard, in pectoral disorders attended with
cough, and excessive mucus expectoration.
SORE LEGS.
Sore legs frequently arise from the imprudent neglect
of bruises; and from trifling sores which are permit-
ted to become inflamed, and finally ulcerous. Sore
legs, like consumptions, and other diseases which
descend from parents to children, sometimes run in
families for several generations:—when they run in
families, it is generally in such families as are addicted
to King's Evil, Scrofula or Scurvy. Doctor Rush
says, that he considers them, in many instances, as
arising from general debility, or weakness operating on
the whole system, but centering more particularly on
the legs. Persons who have been afflicted any length
of time with ulcerous sore legs, or indeed with ulcers
situated any where else, if of long standing, should be
cautious how they heal them suddenly, without purify-
ing and preparing the system for the change;—because
the sudden suppression of an habitual discharge, with-
out this previous purification, almost invariably seats
some new disease on a vital organ, or produces death
by apoplexy.
REMEDIES.
The first and important remedy in Sore Legs, is to
keep them perfectly clean, by frequently washing them
with soap and water. Doctor Rush says, and I per-
fectly agree with him in opinion, that the great success
of old women in curing Sore Legs, arises more from
keeping the ulcers clean, than from any peculiar effica-
cy of their medical applications. Where Sore Legs
41
322 gunn's domestic medicine.
have been of long standing, it is of importance, as
I have told you before, to attend to purging and purify-
ing the whole system, with frequent doses of epsom
salts. Nitre or saltpetre, given in doses of ten, fifteen
or twenty grains, three times a day, in a little cold
water, will be found a useful and cooling medicine.
Pouring cold water on the sores three times a day, is
an excellent application; but it must be done on an
empty stomach. Poultices of light wheat bread and
milk, applied as cold as possible, will reduce the inflam-
mation or fever:—so will, also, a poultice of slippery
elm bark pounded well, and moistened before being
applied. A wash of white oak bark, in old ulcers, is
v a valuable remedy. I have succeeded in curing old
sores, when every other means had been tried in vain,
by the application of common tow to the ulcer, and
kept wet with new milk. A salve made of Jamestown
weed, will be found an excellent remedy, as will also a
salve made of the common elder bark. When the
sores are sluggish, and refuse to heal, a poultice made
of common garden carrots will be found of great utili-
ty. Should proud flesh take place, after washing the
sores with castile soap-suds, sprinkle a little red pre-
cipitate on the sores,* or a little calomel, or a little
burnt allum, or dissolve a little blue vitriol, (blue
stone) in water, and wet the ulcers with it.
In Sore Legs of long standing, moderate exercise
should be taken, and tight bandages applied, commenc-
ing at the toes and winding up the leg, which will
give due support to the vessels. In such cases, tonic
or strengthening medicines are necessary, such as
barks, iron rust, &c. &c. with a moderately nourishing
food. The use of opium—see table for dose__will be
a useful medicine in allaying the pain, and invigorating
gunn's domestic medicine. 323
the whole system. Rest, in a lying posture, should
always be particularly attended to, in all cases of Sore
Legs; and the diet should be cooling, accompanied
with pure air. Every thing of a heating and stimula-
ting nature should be avoided, particularly ardent
spirits. In some old ulcerations of the legs, nitric acid,
(aqua fortis,) very weak, is sometimes taken internally,
and also applied outwardly as a wash for the sores.
Charcoal will correct the smell, and purify the sores; or
if made into a poultice is an excellent application to
ill-conditioned ulcers. Water dock, which grows in
wet, boggy soils, and on the banks of ditches, boiled to
a strong decoction, is a good wash for old ulcers; and
an ointment made by simmering the root in hog's lard,
is a valuable remedy, derived from the Indians.
PILES.
There are two kinds of Piles, originating from very
nearly the same causes:—one is called the bleeding-
Piles, and the other the blind Piles. The Piles are
small swelled tumors, of rather a dark appearance,
usually situated on the edge of the fundament. Where
there is a discharge of blood from these tumors, when
you go to stool, the disease is called bleeding Piles;
but, when there is only a swelling on the edge of the
fundament, or some little distance up the gut, and no
bleeding when you evacuate the bowels, the disease is
called the blind Piles. Both men and women are sub-
ject to Piles; but women more particularly, during the
"last stages of pregnancy, in which the womb presses on
the rectum or gut. In passing the stool, you can plain-
ly feel these tumors, which extend from the edge of the
324 gunn's domestic medicine.
fundament to an inch or more upwards, if you have
them severe:—when these burst and bleed, the person
is very much relieved; and when the pain is excessive,
it is apt to produce some fever. Many persons are
constitutionally subject to this disease through life. It
is, however, generally brought on by costiveness, or
having irregular stools. Piles are also produced by
riding a great deal on horseback in warm weather; by
the use of highly seasoned food; by sedentary habits,
in other words, want of exercise; by the use of spiritu-
ous liquors to excess; and by the use of aloes as a
purge, if constantly taken for any length of time to
remove costiveness:—therefore, persons subject to cos-
tiveness, should particularly avoid aloes.
REMEDIES.
Cold water is one of the best remedies that can be
applied in this complaint:—nor will any person ever be
afflicted much with bleeding or blind Piles, who will
bathe the fundament well, with cold spring water daily,
or with iced water to prevent, or to relieve the disease
if formed. I have known many persons who have
exempted themselves from this painful disorder, merely
by bathing twice a day in the coldest water. For
those, who from laziness or neglect, omit to use this
simple and powerful precaution, I shall proceed to give
the usual remedies. When there ip a fever attending
Piles, it will be proper to lose a litte blood, and to take
a dose of epsom salts or castor oil:—for doses see
table. Purging and bleeding should be repeated, if
the inflammatory or feverish symptoms do not subside.
If the pain is violent, bathe the fundament with some
laudanum, say a tea-spoonful of laudanum, mixed in
a table-spoonful of cold water; or, sit over a tub in
which some tar has been heated or set on fire, so that
gunn's domestic medicine. 325
the steam may sweat the fundament; this steaming
should continue some time, and be frequently repeated.
Sweet oil applied to the fundament is a good remedy;
and cooling applications of sugar of lead are also good,
made by putting a tea-spoonful of the lead into a pint
of spring water, and bathing the parts frequently with
it. Mercurial ointment, otherwise called oil of baze,
is a fine remedy; and, by greasing the parts with a
small quantity three times a day, speedy relief will be
obtained in a short time. The root of the Jamestown
weed, made into a salve, and the fundament greased
with it, will also afford speedy relief from pain. All
persons subject to Piles, should live on light diet of a
cooling nature, avoid costiveness, and use plenty of
cold water in bathing, as before directed.
PUTRID SORE THROAT.
In this infectious or catching disease, the respiration
or breathing becomes hurried, and the breath hot and
offensive. The swallowing becomes more and more
difficult; the skin burning and disagreeably hot, with-
out the least moisture; and the pulse very quick and
irregular; the mouth and throat assume a fiery, red
color, and the palate and glands of the throat much
swelled. Blotches, of a dark red color, appear on the
face about the third or fourth day, which gradually
increase in size, and soon spread over the whole body.
On examining the throat at this stage of the disease,
you will discover small brown spots inside of the throat,
which soon become deep sores or ulcers; a brownish
fur covers the tongue; the lips have small watery pirn-
326 gunn's domestic medicine.
pies on them, which soon break and produce sores, the
matter of which is of an acrid nature. If the disease
is not immediately relieved, it soon terminates fatally,
from the fifth to the seventh day. As the disease
advances, the following symptoms denote an unfavora-
ble and fatal termination. Purging a black matter, of
a very offensive and foetid smell; the hands and feet
becoming cold; the eruptions becoming of a dark livid
color, or suddenly disappearing; the inside of the mouth
and throat assuming a dark hue; the pulse becoming
small, quick and fluttering; the breathing much hurried,
with an almost constant sighing; and a cold and clam-
my sweat. When Putrid Sore Throat is about termin-
ating favorably, the skin becomes gradually soft and
moist, denoting the abatement of fever; the eruptions on
the skin become of a reddish colorover the whole body;
the breathing becomes more free and natural; the eyes
assume a natural and lively appearance; the sloughs,
or parts which separate from the ulcers, fall off easily,
and leave the sores of a clean and reddish color: when
these symptoms occur, as I said before, the disease is
about terminating in the recovery of the patient.
This infectious and frequently mortal disease, made
its appearance in Knox county, in the fall of 1827, and
proved fatal in very many instances. Having a short
time before arrived from Virginia, and being a stranger,
my practice was necessarily confined to some cases
which occurred at Knoxville. I immediately deter-
mined to use a remedy which I had seen successfully
administered, in the West Indies, in this disease; and
the result of the prescription was successful in my own
practice. Feeling it a duty to communicate the remedy
to several gentlemen in the country, whose children
gunn's domestic medicine. 327
were attacked with the complaint,! was informed it was
usually successful, in every case in which it was resorted
to in the early stages of the disease.
REMEDIES.
In this disease, which is generally a dangerous one,
unless treated with judgment, bleeding and purging are
always fatal in their consequences, and you are scrupu-
lously to avoid both. Many physicians have treated
this complaint injudiciously, from the simple fact of not
giving themselves the trouble to investigate its causes.
It generally makes its appearence at the close of sultry
summers; when the system has been much weakened
by protracted exposure to intense heat; and when peo-
ple have been, for some time, exposed to breathing the
putrid atmosphere arising from stagnant waters and
decaying vegetation.
You are in the first instance, to give an emetic or
puke of ipecacuanha—see table for dose—and the doso
must be repeated in moderation the next day if consid-
ered necessary. This will throw off the acrid matter,
which would otherwise produce injury by descending
into the bowels, which are apt to be kept gently open by
clysters—see under that head. If it is necessary, a
little castor oil by the mouth, or a little rhubarb, may
be given to assist the clysters in removing offensive mat-
ter; use then the following valuable prescription, which
is well known in the West Indies, whence I derived it.
Take cayenne pepper, in powder, two table-spoonsful,
with one tea-spoonful of salt; and put both into half a
pint of boiling water; let them stand one hour and strain
off the liquor. Next put this liquor, as pure as you can
make it, into half a pint of strained vinegar, and warm
it over the fire. Of this medicine, give two table-spoons-
ful every half hour. Make, also, a strong decoction or
328 gunn's domestic medicine.
tea of seneca snake-root, and give of it two table-spoons-
ful every hour. If any debility or weakness should
come on, bathe the grown person or child in a strong
decoction of red oak bark. If the weakness is very
considerable, add one fourth of whiskey to the decoc-
tion, and give wine, or toddy made with spirits and
sweetened with sugar, to support the system. Wash
the mouth and throat frequently with the liquor made
of pepper, vinegar and salt; and apply to the throat,
a poultice frequently renewed, of garlic and onions, or
ashes moistened well with vinegar, and enclosed in a
small bag, so as to produce a slight irritation of the
skin. Volatile liniment will answer—look under that
head; but blisters must never be applied to the neck.
I have never used the compound, but am strongly
impressed with the opinion, that a tea-spoonful of good
yeast, mixed with the same quantity of powTdered char-
coal, and given three times a day, would be a good
remedy in this complaint.
HEAD ACHE.
This affection is produced from a foul stomach, from
'costiveness, fro?n indigestion, and sometimes from expo-
sure to the rays of the sun. There is also a painful
affection of the head, accompanied with some nausea,
called sick head ache, which comes on periodically, or
at particular times; this last is sometimes called nervous
head ache. It is not nervous head ache; it rises from
want of acid on the stomach, or from an excess of acid.
There is, indeed, a nervous head ache, which arises
from the same causes as those which produce tooth
ache in female diseases, and which may be produced
gunn's domestic medicine. 329
also, by grief or any of the depressing passions, and
should be treated by gentle stimulants.
REMEDIES.
If produced from a foul stomach, give an emetic or
puke; if from costiveness, give an active purge—see
table for dose—if from exposure to the sun read under
the head Inflammation of the Brain. In sick head ache,
a late remedy has been discovered, which maybe relied
on; it is citric acid, which may be had at any drug
store; in plain terms, it is nothing but the acid of lem-
ons, of which you have only to put a little in cold water,
and to drink it. This remedy is believed to be an
effective one; and was like many ot!her valuable dis-
coveries, the result of mere accident. A girl who
attended a bar in London, was called on to make a
glass of lemonade She was so afflicted with sick head
ache, as scarcely to be able to prepare it. On tasting
the lemonade to know if it was good, she found that
every sip she took relieved her head, and finally, she
obtained entire relief, from drinking the whole glass.
When sick head ache arises from excess of acid on the
stomach, a tea-spoonful of finely powdered charcoal, in
a little cold water, will correct the acid: a tea-spoonful
of magnesia will do the same. When head ache ari-
ses from debility, stimulants are required, particularly,
by delicate females. Wine sangaree, made with warm
water, wine, sugar, and nutmeg,is an excellent and gen-
tle stimulant. I have, in many cases, given a bottle of
Madeira wine to a female in the course of a day, and
produced much benefit from it in this disease, without
the least intoxicating effect. The best wine must al-
ways be used.
42
330 gunn's domestic medicine
EAR ACHE.
Many persons are subject, on the slightest cold> to
painful affections of the ear. These pains usually sub-
side in a day or two,and thedisease ends in a discharge
of matter. Sometimes great pain is produced, by some
insect crawling into the ear of a person whilst sleeping;
and it is not unfrequent, that an accumulation of wax
takes place in the ear and produces deafness.
REMEDIES.
Warm some fine salt, place it in a bag, and apply it
to the ear; or make a poultice of roasted onions, and
apply it to the ear and side of the head, first putting into
the ear a little fine wool, on which has been dropped a
few drops of laudanum and sweet oil warmed. If the
pain or deafness is occasioned by the lodgment of hard
wax in the ear, inject strong warm soap suds into the
ear, so as to soften and finally dissolve the wax. If the
pain is very severe, a blister behind the ear will relieve
it; and if the deafness continue for some time after the
pain has gone off, inject into the ear once or twice a day
a little strong salt and water, after which, keep the ear
stopped with some wool, which must be moistened with
spirits in which camphor has been dissolved.
MUMPS.
This complaint is so universally known, as to make a
minute description of it unnecessary. It appears on the
throat; sometimes on one side, and sometimes on both
sides. It makes its appearance in a lump immediately
under the jaw, which swells and becomes large and
painful, and often renders the swallowing difficult. The
cheeks and whole face generally swell at first, and con-
gunn's domestic medicine 331
tinue swelled for five or six days. When the disease
is any way severe, it is usually attended with fever:—
children are generally affected with it, but it is not
exclusively confined to them. When it attacks grown
persons, male or female, great care should be observed
in treating it. In men, the testicles frequently become
swelled as large as goards, and extremely painful:—in
women, without great attention, the disease is apt to
settle in the breasts, which become swelled and very
hard; in this case there is much danger of an accumu-
lation of matter. These consequences, however, both
to men ind women, usually arise from want of atten-
tion, and from the taking of cold;—when due caution
is exercised, there is very little danger from this com-
plaint.
REMEDIES.
In simple eases of Mumps nothing can or ought to
be done, but avoid the taking of cold. Keep the face,
throat and head, moderately warm, by wearing flannel
round the parts. Keep the bowels gently open, by a
little castor oil, or epsom salts; and always avoid the
damp ground, wet feet, or even damp feet. If the testi-
cles swell, immediately lie down on your bed, and move
as little as possible, and also be bled from the arm, and
purge freely. Apply to the privates, poultices of cold
light breid and milk, which are always to be renewed
as soon as they become warm. Dissolve a tea-spoonful
of sugar of lead in a pint of cold water, with which
you are to wet the poultices and also the testicles, which
are to be suspended, or held up in a bag made for the
purpose; a handkerchief will answer the same purpose,
which is merely to prevent their weight *from doing
injury. Women, in cases of swelled breasts, must pur-
332 gunn's domestic medicine.
sue the plan of bleeding and purging prescribed for
men, and apply the poultices to the breasts to prevent
the formation of matter in them. Poultices made of
flax seed, applied cold, are also effective in reducing
inflammations.
SORE EYES.
This is so common a disease in the western country
that it requires to be treated of with much attention.
The eye is exceedingly tender, and subject to a variety
of maladies, some of which usually terminate in total
blindness, unless speedy relief can be obtained. This
delicate organ exemplifies in the wisdom of its construc-
tion, the boundless and incomprehensible power of an
Almighty God. It may be called the mirror of the
soul; the interpreter of the passions of mankind. At a
single glance, it takes in the sublime beauties, and mag-
nificent splendors of the visible creation; reaches by
its mystic energies the bosom of unlimited space__
and, at the next moment, by an effort of microscopic
vision which is absolutely unaccountable, it expatiates
on the mind tints of the opening rose-buds, and detects
the analysis of a physical atom! The loss of such
powers of vision, then, must be indeed a great misfor-
tune, and frequently when I have reflected on the
dangers of so great a loss, I have been astonished at
the carelessness and inattention, with which diseases
of this noble and distinguished organ are sometimes
treated.
In a work like this, which is intended for popular
use and benefit, it would be irrelevant and unimportant
gunn's domestic medicine. 333
to treat of such diseases of the eye as require surgical
operations; such must always be met by the skill and
judgment of a practiced operator.
Opthalmia is the general name given by physicians
to inflammatory diseases of the eye:—these diseases
are either inflammations of the coats or membranes of
the eye, or they are inflammations of the whole orbit
or globe of the eye itself. In common opthalmia, for
there is such a disease as venereal opthalmia, the eyes
exhibit considerable inflammation, owing to the fulness
of the small blood vessels. There is also much heat
and pain felt over the whole surface of the eye; and,
generally speaking, an involuntary flow of tears. When
the inflammation is suspected to be deeply seated,
throwing a strong light on the eye will determine the
fact, by producing sharp shooting pains through the
head, accompanied with fever. When the pains of the
eyes and head are not much increased by an exposure
of the eyes to a strong light, we may safely conclude,
that the inflammation is of a slight and local nature.
It is my opinion, and I know it is contrary to the com-
mon opinion, if any judgment can be formed from the
general practice of physicians, that inflammatory dis-
eases of the eye, are very frequently connected with
diseased states of some of the other organs, or with
general and constitutional derangements of the
whole system.
Inflammatory diseases of the eye are usually produ-
ced by severe cold; by sudden changes of the weather;
by exposure to cold, raw and damp winds; by residing
in very damp, or in very sandy countries; and by ex-
posures of the eye to the vivid beams of the sun, on
sandy or snowy wastes of country, for some length of
time. In the salt mines of Poland, to which many
334 gunn's domestic medicine.
convicts are consigned for life, and where the exclusion
of daylight renders torches necessary not only the
prisoners but the horses themselves,become blind, from
the insufferable brilliancy of the salt rock. This sim-
ple fact is sufficient to place all persons on their guard
against exposing the eye to a strong glare of light. In
addition to the above causes, inflammations of the eye
are often produced from external injuries, such as blows
and bruises; and also from splinters, dust, or any other
irritating matters getting into the eyes. Healing old
ulcers, or sores of long standing, and particularly dri-
ving in eruptions of the head and face, will very often
inflame the eyes. Besides all these causes, the sup-
pression or stoppage of some habitual discharges, such
as the menses, bleeding at the nose, hemorrhoids or
piles, &C. will produce inflammations of the eyes:—
and, to close the catalogue of the causes of inflamma-
tory diseases of the eye, venereal opthalmia itself is
produced by the action of the virus or poison of the
venereal disease or scorbutic or scrofulous habits of
body. This last disease of the eyes, generally termi-
nates in impaired vision, or tctal blindness. You, who
are yet tyroes in the school of experience and humani-
ty—you, who are melting down your physical and vital
energies on the corrupted bed of lust and debauchery,
listen to this!
REMEDIES.
In all inflammations of the eyes, presumed to arise
from a diseased state of the general system, from a foul
stomach, from costiveness of the bowels, from colds
accompanied with fever, or even from local affections
of the organic structure of the eye, the stomach is to
be thoroughly evacuated and cleansed by gentle emetics
or pukes, and the bowels by active and cooling purges.
gunn's domestic medicine. 335
If the inflammation should be severe, some blood
should be drawn from the arm occasionally, at the
same time that very gentle and cooling purges are in
operation. The diet should be of the lightest kind, and
of the most cooling nature. Cold acid drinks are also
proper, because they tend to lessen the inflammation,
and to cool the whole system. The skin should be
kept clean, and perspiration or sweating kept up con-
tinually, by the warm or tepid bath, after bleeding and
purging have been sufficiently resorted to. Doctor
Physic, who is probably among the greatest men of
his profession, either of this or any other age, expressly
recommends, that in very, severe inflammations of the
eyes, blister plasters should be applied over and around
them, which are to be kept shut; and, that between
these plasters and the eye lids, two or three doublings
of gauze are to be placed, in order to prevent the flies
or cantharides from entering the eyes. When the
inflammation is considered merely local and external,
and not deeply seated in the system or vital organs,
poultices made of light bread and milk, and applied as
cold as possible will be beneficial; in fact, the coldest
applications are to be kept to the eyes, such for instance
as the following:—Take twenty grains of sugar of
lead, and ten grains of white vitriol, dissolve them in
half a pint of pure rain water, and let the mixture
settle for several hours; then pour off the clear part
from the top, and keep the eye constantly moistened
with this water. If the eyes are very painful, you ma^
add to the mixture a tea-spoonful of laudanum, tqajlay
the irritation. Persons who are constitutionally subject
to weak eyes, will find much benefit from bathing them
frequently in pure water; and, if the weakness is unat-
tended by inflammation, by bathing them in weak
336 gunn's domestic medicine.
spirits and water. In cases of films overspreading the
cornea, or transparent part of the eye, so as to induce
blindness, I consider it my duty to make the following
note:—Doctor Manlone, formerly a celebrated physi-
cian, of Dinwiddie county, Virginia, since dead, left on
record in the margin of one of Prideaux's works, the
following note:—"The gall of an eel, laid on with a
soft brush, and with great care, and occasionally re-
peated, has successfully removed a film from the eye.
The writer of this leaves it on record in this place,
with the intention that it may be useful to some fellow
creature, when the writer is no longer an inhabitant of
this world. I most solemnly declare, that I have expe-
rienced the good effects of the application, in the course
of my practice; but it should be used when the disor-
der is recent. C. MANLONE."
Thus we see, notwithstanding the sneers and ridicule
of modern infidels, that the story in the Apocrypha, of
Tobit's blindness being cured by the gall of a fish, is
neither ridiculous nor improbable. Doctor Manlone
has been dead about forty years. For the satisfaction
of the reader, I will record a case in which I myself
was successful in the cure of blindness. Miss Hudson
of Knox county, who resides with her father on the
waters of Holston, in this State, came to me afflicted
with blindness in one of her eyes, from a film, which I
speedily and easily removed, by introducing upon the
surface of the eye ball, clean hog's lard; it was intro-
duced into the eye with a fine camel-hair pencil, and
with much care.
gunn's domestic medicine. 337
WHITLOW.
There is an inflammation at the end of the finger
or thumb. The pain gradually increases, attended with
a throbbing sensation, and always produces in its pro-
gress the most excruciating torment. In Whitlow, the
finger or thumb affected, always puts on a glossy or
shining appearance. After six or eight days, matter
forms under the nail or at the side of it, which, on being
opened, gives immediate relief.
REMEDIES.
The old plan of treatment in Whitlow has been en-
tirely laid aside; it consisted merely of poultices and
warm applications. The method of cure now adopted
in the European hospitals, which may be said to be an
infallible one, is simply as follows:—The moment the
Whitlow is discovered, press the part gently and grad-
ually with your thumb and fore finger; then with a
piece of tape or narrow binding, bind or wind the sore
finger or thumb tightly, from the point upward toward
the body of the hand. This bandage must be permit-
ted to remain on, the object being merely to stop the
circulation, until a cure is effected. You may unwind
it once a day to examine the Whitlow, but it must im
mediately be put on again. If the bandage give much
pain, so that you cannot bear it, it must be gradually
loosened until you can bear the pressure. By this
simple method, Whitlow may be easily cured, if mat-
ter has not formed in it. Were I not convinced, that
many wise men and old women will laugh at this simple
cure, I would not put myself to the trouble of proving
its efficacy. Doctor William Balfour of Edinburgh,
relates more Chan fifty cases of Whitlow being cured,
some of them with matter formed and highly inflamed,
by this simple method. I will give two cases of suc-
43
338 gunn's domestic medicine.
cess, selected from ihe London Medical and Physical
Journal. "James Briddet," says the writer, "who was
a tanner, aged twenty-five years, applied to me on the
25th of August, with a Whitlow on one of his thumbs.
He knew no cause for the complaint, which had exist-
ed about a week, and prevented him from following his
occupation. When I had pressed the parts firmly, and
applied a bandage, I desired him to call the next day.
He looked at me as if he would have said—"Is this all
that you are to do for meP "I found this fellow,"
says the Doctor, " quite doubtful with regard to my
cure, and again desired him to call the next day. In
the morning he accordingly returned, when I found the
inflammation and swelling considerably abated. On
the third day the pain was entirely gone, and the man
had the free use of his thumb. I now asked him if he
was not at first quite distrustful of the mode of cure I
had adopted; he laughed, and admitted that he was;
expressed his surprise at the quick result; made his
acknowledgments, and went about his business. Peter
Fraser received an injury on the 26th of December
last, by having his thumb bent forcibly backward in
lifting a heavy stone. When he applied to me on the
29th, he complained of having passed three days in
great agony, and three sleepless nights. The pain was
confined to the first joint, but the swelling extended a
considerable way upward. I never handled a more
excruciatingly painful case, and believed it must soon
terminate in suppuration," (breaking and running.)
" Such was also the opinion of Doctor Anderson of
New York, who happened to be with me when the
patient presented himself. I told that gentleman, that
exquisitely painful as was the complaint, I had no doubt
of curing it in a week, without any other application
gunn's domestic medicine. 339
than my own fingers, and a simple bandage of narrow
tape. The cure was completed in six days, inclusive
of that on which the patient applied to me." I have
thus given two cases,in which Whitlow has been cured
by the mere application of a bandage; and I will ad-
venture another suggestion, which is this, that even in
cases where suppuration has actually taken place, and
the lancet has been used, the use of an easy bandage
would be greatly beneficial applied to every part of the
finger or thumb, except immediately over the small
point of discharge.
COW POX, OR VACCINATION.
This valuable discovery, made several years ago by
the celebrated Doctor Jenner, is now resorted to as a
remedy against the infectious and dreadful inroads of
the Small Pox, in almost every portion of the civilized
world. Vaccination is merely the introduction or in-
sertion into the arm, by means of the lancet, of the
matter by which the cow pox is produced in the human
system. There is a contention among physicians, and
those too of the higher orders, whether the Cow Pox
is, in all cases, a preventive of that dreadful scourge of
mankind, the Small Pox; for myself, I am induced to
believe, that with very few exceptions, it may be con-
sidered an antidote to Small Pox, especially when
vaccination has been effectual on the system. In
Prussia, out of 5S4,000 children, born in the year 1821,
40,000 of them were vaccinated for the Cow Pox.
During the above period, there died of Small Pox, in
all the°pr°vinces belonging to Prussia, 1190 perpons;
340 gunn's domestic medicine.
and before the introduction of vaccination, from thirty
to forty thousand died annually of Small Pox. Al-
though persons who have been vaccinated may be
liable to take the Small Pox afterwards, yet the latter
disease always terminates very mildly. Of many hun-
dred thousand persons vaccinated in London, not a
single case of death has taken place from Small Pox,
where the matter of the Cow Pox, had before taken
proper effect. The report of the college of physicians in
London, for 1807, expressly states, that Small Pox in
any shape rarely proves fatal, when it attacks those
who have been successfully vaccinated. The success
attending this operation in the United States, has enti-
tled it to the highest confidence of our most distinguished
physicians. I have before remarked in substance, and
I think the opinion a correct one, that many who have
taken the Small Pox after vaccination, took it from bad
management in inserting the Cow Pox matter; when
the proper effect is not produced on the system, by the
introduction of the Cow Pox matter, it is to be expect-
ed that persons will be liable to the contagion of
Small Pox.
To every man of common prudence, and proper
sentiments of self-preservation, advice of the necessity
of vaccination, as a preventive of the dangers atten-
dant on Small Pox, would be superfluous; to those who
seem to slumber in security, respecting the future rava-
ges of Small Pox in the western country, I have only
to remark, that the facilities of commerce with other
countries are daily increasing, from the universal intro-
duction of steam boats, and the rapid improvement of
our internal navigation; and that in a few years,
through these mediums, the most remote and secluded
gunn's domestic medicine. 311
portions of our country, will stand as much exposed to
the mortal inroads of Small Pox, as our large cities
and maritime towns.
The great object in vaccination, is the certainty that
the matter of vaccination takes full effect on the sys-
tem ; and it is needless to remark, that unless the matter
be genuine, no beneficial effect can possibly result from
vaccination. Vaccination is an innocent and valuable
preventive remedy against Small Pox, in which little if
any medicine is required; in children it passes over in
a few days. In grown persons it may produce slight
fever and pain under the arm, which usually go off in
a few hours. If the person vaccinated be of a gross
habit of body, a moderate dose of salts will be of much
service on the seventh or eighth day. If the inflam-
mation of the arm becomes very painful, moisten the
place frequently with a little weak sugar of lead water,
until the sore is dried up; this however is seldom neces-
sary. The great point in vaccination, is certainly to
know, that the matter introduced into the system has
taken a full and sufficient effect. If there is only a
slight redness in the arm, where the matter has been
inserted, and no other effect is produced on the system,
you may certainly conclude that the vaccination has
failed of effect. But if, on the contrary, a pustule or
pimple arises, of a full and oval form, with an indenta-
tion or dent in the centre, not unlike a button mould,
about the sixth day, containing matter, vaccination has
had the desired effect. Great attention should be paid
to these circumstances by the operator, or he will prob-
ably be the cause of a future exposure of the person to
the ravages of the Small Pox, and not improbably to
the imminent hazard of death. The influence of the
Kine or Cow Pox, over affections of the skin, in many
342 gunn's domestic medicine.
cases in which medical remedies have failed, has lately
produced considerable attention and interest in the hos-
pitals of Europe. The matter of Cow Pox, can always
be obtained pure, by addressing a letter to the Vaccine
Institution of New York, Philadelphia or Baltimore,
from either of which, on application, you will recieve it
by letter. If the matter be received from a distance, it
is best to hold the lancet, on which is the matter you
intend to insert into the arm, until it softens a little;
then, hold the lancet in such a position, that the matter
can gradually go off the point. Next scratch the
skin frequently, but not too deeply, with the point
of the lancet on which is the matter, until a little blood
may be seen;—this is the whole secret of vaccination.
Sometimes the matter of Cow Pox is sent on threads;
when this is the case, make a slight incision in the arm,
and lay the thread in it, which must be covered with
court plaster to keep it in its place until the disorder
has been communicated. If a physician be convenient,
it will always be advisable to employ him to perform
the operation, because much depends on the exercise of
judgment, respecting the future security of the person
against that most dreadful of scourges, the Small Pox.
SMALL POX.
How imperfect are the conceptions which are formed
by the fortunate few, of the sufferings to which millions
of the human race are subject, when afflicted by this
dreadful and fatal disorder! How important then is the
great remedy of vaccination, which 1 have before de-
scribed, that from some inexplicable principle, renders
harmless this potent enemy of human life!
gunn's domestic medicine. 343
Small Pox is known by the following symptoms:—a
few days before its appearance, you feel restless and
uneasy, and a great dislike to motion of any kind; cold
chills steal over you, followed by flushings of heat, and
accompanied by a slight fever, all of which end as the
disease gradually increases. You have a pain in
the head, a dull heavy pain in the small of the back,
great thirst, increase of stupor, until about the third day,
when the eruptions or spots on the skin, something like
flea bites, make their appearance on the face, neck,
breast and arms, and gradually extend over the whole
body. These spots gradually increase in size, until
about the fifth or sixth day, when they begin to turn
white at the tops, and feel painful. Your voice then
becomes hoarse, as if you had a severe cold; your face
becomes much swelled, and your features appear much
changed; your eye-lids, particularly, swell to a consid-
erable extent, so as frequently to close the eyes entirely,
and a spitting takes place as if you were salivated. On
the eleventh day, these pustules or pimples have increas-
ed to about the size of a common pea, and instead of
white contain a yellow matter; on the tops of which
pustules or pimples, you will discover a small black
spot, whilst all the rest is filled with this yellow matter.
About the twelfth day they burst, and discharge their
contents, with a horrible stench which is almost insup-
portable ; nor dare you attempt to wash off this matter,
the slightest touch giving the most excruciating pain.
It is this matter which leaves the scars on the faces of
persons disfigured with the disorder. If the matter
dries quickly, it leaves no marks; but if, from any
unhealthy constitutional defect, it lingers for some time
on the body, it generally leaves those marks behind it,
which disfigure the countenance for life The disease
344 gunn's domestic medicine.
sometimes, but not frequently, comes on with great vio-
lence, with all the symptoms of typhus or nervous fever-,
refer to page 194, where you will see the form of treat-
ment which must be observed in Small Pox, should it
come on with symptoms of typhus or nervous fever.
When these unfortunate appearances take place in the
commencement of the disease, it is called by physicians
Confluent Small Pox. The eruptions appear much
earlier in this form of the complaint; they run in
patches, and instead of rising* remain flat and are of a
dark livid color; they secrete a dark brown unhealthy
matter. The fever, which in the first form of Small
Pox abates when the pimples become full, in this form
of the disease continues constantly throughout the dis-
ease, ending in great debility or weakness. In this last
form or stage of Small Pox, which I have described as
of the nervous or typhus kind, it may be considered as
very highly dangerous, and as generally terminating,
yvithout judicious and skilful treatment, fatally.
REMEDIES.
In the treatment of this complaint, you are to avoid
every thing, as you value the life of your patient, of a
heating nature, either as drink, or food, or clothin gunn's domestic medicine.
parts, neither of which sensations are experienced in
mere Whites.
REMEDIES FOR POX.
As soon as the first symptoms of Pox are discovered,.
which will in all common cases be known by the ap-
pearance of chancres or buboes, both of which I have
described to you sufficiently, take an active purge of
calomel and jalap. The object of this purge is, to
clear the bowels of all irritating obstructions, and to
remove as far as possible, every species of irritation
from the system:—see table for dose. If this dose of
calomel and jalap does not operate in proper time,
take a tea-spoonful of epsom salts to assist the opera-
tion, and to make it fully effective. If you should have
dark stools, let the medicine run on its whole course;
butj if the stools become yellow and watery, and you
feel much weakened by the operation, take from ten to
twenty drops of laudanum, or a tea-spoonful of pare-
goric, to prevent the medicine from working you too
severely. Next, obtain from any doctor's shop, a small
quantity of lunar caustic; cut the end of a quill, and
set the caustic into it, which will afford you an opportu-
nity of using it more conveniently, and without handling
it with your fingers; wet the end of this caustic in wa-
ter, and touch the chancres or sores with it lightly,
twice a day,'Until you have killed the poison, always
taking care to wash and cleanse the sores well with soap
and water, immediately before this operation is per-
formed. The caustic will sting you a little; but never
mind this; you are now on the stool of repentance,
and are only learning the salutary moral lesson, that
"the penalty always treads upon the heels of the trans-
gression," and that the sacred laws of nature and her
gunn's domestic medicine. 357
God, can never be violated without punishment to
reform the offender! After using the caustic as just
directed, apply dry lint to the sores. If caustic can-
not be had, red precipitate will answer nearly the same
purpose; this must be used by sprinkling a little on the
chancres, after cleansing them with soap and water as
before mentioned; or you may, if you have neither
caustic or precipitate, use a little calomel, in the way
that I have directed the precipitate to be used* The
better way, however, will be, where all the articles can
be obtained, to use the three alternately, or in rotation,
until you can ascertain which of them seems best to
heal the ulcers—and then to adopt the one which you
prefer, from the exercise of your best judgment. I,
myself, have always found the lunar caustic the best
remedy. If you are difficultly situated, as to procuring
the articles above named, dissolve some blue vitriol,
generally called blue stone, in water, and wash the
chancres or ulcers with the solution repeatedly, taking
particular care to keep the sores very clean, anden*
tirely free from matter.
If the disease appears under the form of Buboes*
which are such swellings of the groin as I have descri-
bed to you, and which if left to themselves, will rise and
break like boils, you are to put blisters of Spanish flies
to them, which extend one or two inches over the
buboes; and I suppose I need not tell you, that these
said blisters are to be renewed, until the buboes, or
swellings are what physicians call "discussed," in
other words, driven away or back entirely. If you
cannot get blisters, lie on your back, and apply linen
rags to the buboes, kept constantly wet with clear strong
ley, which we vulgarly pronounce lye. For this remedy,
which is a valuable one, we are indebted to the French
358 gunn's domestic medicine.
Physicians: I learned it in France. And, now mind
me particularly; if these buboes, notwithstanding the
applications of blisters, or the application of ley or lye,
rise to a head, burst, and discharge their offensive and
poisonous matter, which they will certainly do if not
driven back, you are to take the greatest possible pre-
cautions to keep them clean, while discharging their
loathsome contents; if you do not, the matter will be
very apt to produce other Venereal ulcers, especially if
it happen to lodge on any sores on other parts of the
body; therefore wash them gently, but well, two or three
times a day, in strong soap and water, and after drying
them well, wash the sores again with a little of the weak
solution of corrosive sublimate. If you cannot pro-
cure this preparation, sprinkle a little red precipitate
or calomel on the sores, and dress them with some sim-
ple ointment, such as Turner's cerate:—see under that
head:—but mind me, these dressings, or either of them
are never to be put on, unless after washing the sores
well with soap and water. During all this treatment,
and from the very commencement of the disorder, you
are to drink freely of a strong decoction or tea, made
of low ground sarsaparilla, to every quart of which
tea, after you have strained it clear, you are to add
sixty drops of nitric acid, vulgarly called aqua fortis.
Take this tea thus prepared, freely, say from a pint to a
quart per day, and avoid particularly every kind of
strong food, and all kinds of spirituous liquors. These
measures carefully and strictly pursued, combined with
time, patience, and the requisite rest, are all that are
required to cure this dreadful scourge of debauchery and
licentiousness, under any form in which it may appear
in the human system. This has been my uniform prac-
tice h°'h in Virginia and Tennessee; and it is well
gunn's domestic medicine. 359
known that I have succeeded, in many cases of the
most desperate and hopeless character, and where other
modes of practice had been resorted to in vain. By
these means, which have never before been made known
by me, I succeeded in curing a gentleman in Virginia,
several years ago, whose case I will dare aver, was as
bad a one as can well be imagined. He had been
attended and prescribed for, by several of the most dis-
tinguished physicians in the United States, and was
brought to me twenty miles in a carriage to Montgom-
ery Court House, where I then resided, in so helpless
and dreadful a condition, that he had fainted several
times on the short journey, and was but the shadow of
a human being. Yet in the lapse of six weeks, by the
practice I have just described, he became a well man.
He is now married,and lam happy to add, from late
accounts, is a healthy and virtuous husband, and an
excellent citizen. I am constrained, however, to add,
that the real danger of his situation,was asmuch owing
to the effects of the mercury he had taken, as to the
actual presence in his system of the venereal virus or
poison. That his disease was both venereal and mer-
curial, I have never entertained the least doubt—in other
words, it came under the constitutional disease I have
before described, as being characterized by sores on the
body, blotches, &c. &c. The venereal disease, in this
constitutional stage, has been called by some medical
writer, and I perfectly coincide with him in opinion,
the Mercurial Pox, which I certainly consider not only
more dangerous, but greatly more difficult to cure than
the real disease itself, if no other means than mercury
be relied on. I am perfectly aware that the idea of
abandoning the use of mercury in the cure of pox, will
be considered a novelty by many of the faculty of this
"360 gunn's domestic medicine.
country; but I am fully as well aware, that the sassa-
parilla, as I have prescribed the use of it here, combined
with the nitric acid or aqua fortis, as before mentioned,
will remove the pox from the human system in its worst
forms and stages. For the powerful and salutary influ-
ence of the nitric acid or aqua fortis on the human
system, the sceptical reader will please to see ijReme-
dies," in diseases of the Liver, from page 248 onward.
The practice of treating venereal -cases without mer-
cury, has now become general, both in the hospitals of
England and France; and I predict that the day is not
far distant, when mercury will cease to be used through-
out the United States. The belief that pox can only be
cured with safety and certainty by the use of mercury,
is so deeply seated in the minds of physicians at this
time, that 1 am persuaded it will require much time to
remove their confidence in its favor. That mercury is
as I have before said, a cure for the venereal disease, is
well known; but that the effects produced by it are
frequently mistaken for the pox itself, I have no more
doubt than I have of my own existence.
The French method of curing pox, is by the use or
administration of Van Swieten's Liquor, as they call
it—or Anti-syphiltic Rob—for this medicine and the
manner of preparing it, look under that head. The
Rob was used in the London hospitals, until it was
superseded and thrown out of use, by Swaim's Pana-
cea—for the method of preparing which, see under that
head. Both these medical preparations, are used with
advantage in secondary symptoms, by which I mean
what I have said before, in cases where the disease has
become constitutional, and is attended with ulcers, sores,
blotches, &c. The sulphur bath, or sulphureous fumi-
gation, is much used in France. After fourth bath,
gunn's domestic medicine
361
the ulcers and venereal bjotches begin to heal, and gen-
erally in ten or twelve baths are entirely cured. This
last remedy, which is an excellent one, is entirely neg-
lected, if I must speak out, upon no other principles, than
laziness and inattention on the part of practitioners, and
ignorance in their patients. This bath is nothing more
than the fumes of sulphuric acid, which is nothing but
oil of vitriol. For a full description of this valuable
remedy, I may add this astonishing one—read under
the head Sulphuric Fumigation.
With the foregoing exposition of my own mode of
curing pox, and the material remedies used in other
countries, I will now proceed to give the common and
general practise in tjiis disease, leaving it optional with
the patient to adopt that which suits his opinions or
convenience best. Were I to advise, however, on the
subject of a choice, I would recommend the mild
method in the first instance, and the mercurial one only
when the aggravation of the symptoms seemed to call
for it, which I must confess I think would be but sel-
dom, where the plan of treatment I have laid down had
been faithfully adhered ■« to and persisted in. Doctor
Rosseau of Philadelphia, a gentleman of distinguished
ability, and great practice in this disease, expressly
sayS_«I have never found any benefit to be derived
from a salivation; on the contrary, those patients who
have undergone this dirty, filthy,torturing process, have
to my knowledge, and to their own sorrow,felt the dele-
terious effects of it for many years, and very many for
life." For a full description of this complaint, in its
secondary and constitutional symptoms, andtiie dreadful
effects of mercury, I refer to this very able, intelligent,
and honestwriter; Medical Recorder, volume third,
"Sketches on venereal complaints."
46
362 gunn's domestic medicine
The practise throughoutthe United States has been
and now generally is, to introduce into the whole sys-
tem, as much mercury as will produce a soreness of the
gums, or salivation, by giving small doses of calomel
alone, or combined with opium, if the calomel alone
would run off by the bowels; and by rubbing on the
bubo, to disperse it, mercurial ointment, known by the
country people as oil of baze, of which a piece about
the size of the end of your finger is to be rubbed in and
about the bubo, night and morning, until a salivation is
produced, or until the lump in the groin is dispersed.
When the mouth has a copperish taste, or a slight sore-
ness is felt, stop taking the calomel, and omit rubbing
in the mercurial ointment, as the whole system is then
considered to be under Jnercurial influence. The blue
pill is now used very extensively in the United States,
instead of calomel, being a much milder preparation of
mercury—for a description of this pill, and the manner
of preparing it, read under that head. The dose is one
pill in the morning, and one at night, until they produce
the effects on the gums and mouth, required to be pro-
duced by calomel; when they are to be continued, only
so far as to keep up the effect on the gums and mouth,
until the disease is removed. The chancres, or buboes,
are to be treated as before described in a preceding
page. Doctor Cartwright, who is among the greatest
medical men now living, in this or any other country,
recommends the following practise, and relates many
cases treated by himself with unbounded success. " I
never," says he, "prescribe calomel with a view to pro-
duce salivation; but to guard against it, I order a clyster
or some mild purgative to be taken, in twelve or sixteen
hours after the calomel, if it does not operate; and in
the event of its operating too much, I direct a little lau-
gunn's domestic medicine. 363
danum to check it, so as to limit it to two or three stools,
unless the stools are of a dark or green color,when the
purging should be permitted to go on, until they change
their appearance. As it respects this disorder, when
taken in time, I have found by an experience of two
year's practise, that pox is as easily cured by giving
twenty or thirty grains of calomel every day or every
other day, as a common dose. In good constitutions,
pox yields to the native powers of the system. As soon
as a copperish taste is perceived in the mouth, or the
least tenderness of the gums, or soreness of the teeth,
I order an immediate suspension of the calomel until
these symptoms have disappeared, when it should be
resumed with caution. The preparation I generally
use," says the doctor, "is twenty grains of calomel and
four of rhubarb, given at bed time. Generally, by the
time three or four doses have been taken, the breath
will begin to have a mercurial odor, a copperish taste
will be perceived in the mouth, or the gums will feel
tender. About this time, or even before it, the venereal
symptoms begin to disappear, and in a few days more,
the chancres entirely heal. I generally recommend,
after the heating of the chancres, a dose or two more to
complete the cure of the disease. I have rarely found
more than twelve or fifteen pills, each ten grains of cal-
omel and two of rhubarb, necessary for the cure of a
recent infection, or in other words, one that is not of
long standing." I have now given a full description of
the various methods of treating this loathsome disease
called pox, in the best manner, leaving the reader to
make his own selection among them. Much of my
information has been derived from experiment and
observation; and I regret to say, that I have witnessed
the disease in as severe forms, since I have been in
364 gunn's domestic medicine.
Krfbxville, as I ever did in the hospitals of Europe or
the United States. The disease was brought from New
Orleans, and was of the most virulent or poisonous
character. I omitted to remark, that buboes are always
to be poulticed with light bread and milk, or slipperry
elm bark, if they are likely to come to a head.
REMEDIES FOR CLAP.
The moment you discover that you have contracted
this complaint, the symptoms of which I have plainly
described to you, take at bed time, an active dose of
calomel—see table for dose—and if necessary, which
isusnally the case, assist the operation of the ( calomel
in the morning, with a dose of epsom salts—see table,
&c. Take care to live on cooling and simple diet, say
corn or rye mush and milk, and avoid every thing of a
heating and irritating nature, such as salted provisions,
high seasoning, and spirtuous liquors. When the med-
icine I have directed has done operating, use the
following prescription, and use it with some accuracy
too: take one ounce, which is about two table-spoons-
ful, of balsam copaiva, (commonly called capiva,) and
add thereto one table-spoonful of spirits of turpentine;
mix them well together by shaking, and take thirty
drops of the mixture, three times a day on some sugar,
and drink freely of flax seed tea, made by pouring a
quart of boiling water, on any quantity of flax seed
convenient. This tea must be taken cold, and used
freely as a common drink. If you ride on horsebac,k
or walk much, or take active exercise, clap is difficult
to cure, and requires a much longer time, than if you
remain quiet and stationary while using the above rem-
edy I generally cure it in three days, and frequently
in less time. A dose of salts should be taken ever
other morning. Sometimes this balsam operates on the
gunn's domestic medicine. 365
bowels, without producing the proper effect on the
urinary organs; if so, reduce the dose to thirty-five
drops, twice or three times a day, which is to be taken
as usual on sugar. Cleanliness, and I wish you to mind
this matter particularly, is very important in the cure
of this disease; by which I mean frequently washing
the parts well, three or four times a day, with soap and
water, so as to remove the poisonous matter. Clap is
generally more mild, and much more easily cured in
women than men, unless women permit it to remain
and run on them for some length of time; in this case,
the disease becomes painful, and requires the remedies
prescribed in the cases of men, only in smaller doses
—say from twenty to thirty drops, of the balsam and
turpentine, three times a day. If any attention be paid,
nothing more will be necessary than keeping the parts
clean by washing with soap and water, and injecting
up the birth place with a small syringe or leaden squirt,
the following mixture:—put fifteen grains sugar of lead,
and fifteen grains white vitriol, in a quart of cold water,
and let them fully dissolve; then, of this water, inject
or throw up the birth place, a syringe full five or six
times a day, and drink freely of flaxseed tea, using the
balsam and turpentine as before directed, if necessary.
Doctor Chapman, one of the professors of the uni-
versity of Philadelphia, recommends the following
valuable remedy, which is admirably suited to weakly
persons, and those whose stomachs are much debilita-
ted. It is, perhaps, better calculated for the summer
season, being a very mild preparation, than any other.
I have used it frequently in my practice; but the first
remedy is always certain to put a stop to the disease.
Chapman's remedy.—Take two table-spoonsful of
366 gunn's domestic medicine.
balsam capaiva, the same quantity of sweet spirits of
nitre, some of the white of an egg, and mix them
together; add, then, one tea-spoonful of laudanum, and
ten table-spoonsful of cold water; shake the whole
well together, and the mixture will be ready for use,
remembering always, to shake the medicine up before
taking it. Morning, noon, and night, take a table-
spoonful of this mixture. You may take it with any
thing that will render it pleasant to the taste. It is an
excellent, certain and mild remedy, either for males or
females; and I now again admonish you, that if you
wish a speedy cure, you are to avoid every heating
article of food or drink, and to repose much on the
bed.
When Clap is permitted by neglect to go on, or
when you ride much on horseback, you will be apt to
have what is called chordee, which I have fully de-
scribed under the head Clap, and which it is needless
to repeat. In these cases of chordee, take a dose of
laudanum on going to bed—see table—and when the
spasm comes on, which it will, with a partial erection,
pour cold water over the parts which pain you. Should
a discharge of blood take place, which is sometimes
the case, apply cooling poultices of light bread and
cold milk to the afflicted member, or a poultice of slip-
pery elm.
The old plan of curing Clap, which it is scarcely
worth while to mention, was by weak injections of
sugar of lead and white .vitriol; equal quantities mixed
in water, and thrown up the canal with a syringe.
This old and imprudent practice, which in many instan-
ces occasioned swelling testicles, gleet, and what is
called running of the reins, has entirely ceased. The
gunn's domestic medicine. 367
methods of cure I have just laid down, are infinitely
superior in every respect, and are attended with none
of the dangers of the old manner of cure.
GLEET.
This disease is sometimes called running of the
reins. It is a discharge which resembles in consis-
tence, the white of an egg. Men who have frequently
had the clap, also those who have been old soldies in
the wars of Venus, are very liable to have Gleet. It
is also produced by too frequent intercourse with wo-
men, in those enjoyments which ought always to be
bounded by virtue and moderation. This disease is
also produced, by that horrible practice of self pollu-
tion, called onanism; and also by the use of strong
diuretic medicines, or such as cause a great flow of
urine. This complaint sometimes resists the powers of
medicines for years; and operates as a constant drain
on the strength of the system, by which the constitution
and vital energies are sometimes prostrated: it is a dis-
ease that ought never to be neglected.
REMEDIES.
You are to bathe the parts four or five times a day
in cold water; this cold bathing will act so as to give
tone andstrengtfi to the parts. Obtain a phial of mu-
riated tincture of iron, and take thirty drops of it three
times a day, in a wine glass of strong tea, made of the
dogwood bark; it must be taken cold. By persevering
steadily in this remedy, and in cold bathing for a month
or two, you will probably be relieved of Gleet. You
may, at the same time, use an injection of red oak bark,
made by boiling a little of the bark in water, and
368 gunn's domestic medicine.
strainin" it clear. A little of this tea can occasionally
be thrown into the canal, by the aid of a small syringe,
which you can obtain at any doctor's shop; it must be
thrown up cold, four or six times a day. In throwing
up this injection, you are to pass your left fore finger
pretty hard on the lower side of the penis near the root,
to prevent any part of the injection from getting into
the bjadder.
After a fair trial of the above remedies, and you are
baffled of success, commence with ten drops of tincture
of cantharides or Spanish flies, instead of the iron, in
the tea three times a day, gradually increasing the does
to thirty drops, and no more. This is generally, a cer-
tain remedy. Women may use the iron as directed ;
but not the last tincture, unless in very small doses of
eight, ten and fifteen drops, three times a day: bathing
frequently with cold water, and with a female syringe
throwing the bark water up the birth place, five or six
times a day. Cold water thrown up will also answer
a good purpose. As the western country abounds with
chalybeate springs, they ought to be resorted to, and
used freely of, by all persons laboring under Gleet. I
suppose I need not tell you, that chalybeate water is
such as is impregnated with iron. The gum called
turpentine, of our common pine tree, taken in common
sized pills, one three times a day, is a valuable remedy
in Gleet, and has been known to cure it when all other
remedies have failed.
gunn's domestic medicine.
369
POISONS.
Any substance, which, taken into the stomach, or
into any other part of the body, or applied externally
to the body, so as to produce disease or death, may be
called a Poison. The most active and powerful reme-
dies we use in medicine, if given in large doses oper-
ate as Poisons; but when given in small ones, are not
only innocent, but valuable. There are, also, many
medicines, which, when taken into the stomach are
quite harmless, indeed very valuable in the cure of
disease; but, when taken into the lungs by breathing
or respiration, are dangerous and destructive in the
extreme. The Poison of the rattlesnake, when taken
into the stomach is entirely harmless; but the same
Poison, when inserted into the flesh so as to reach the
circulation, immediately produces disorder and death,
unless relief can be obtained. I make these introduc-
tory remarks on Poisons, to throw as much light on
their operations as possible, in the fewest number of
words.
When mineral Poisons, such as copper, arsenic,
corrosive sublimate, lead, lunar caustic, &c. &c. are
taken into the stomach, in too large quantities, you will
feel a burning and pricking sensation in the stomach,
and great pain in th#bowels, accompanied with a con-
stant puking, and a thirst which cannot be satisfied.
Your mouth and throat will become rough and dry, as
if you had chewed and swallowed an unripe persim-
mon, and the pain will gradually increase, until it
becomes almost insupportable. In this stage, unless
speedy relief is had, inflammation will take place, and
terminate in mortification and death. Should the dose
of Poison taken, not be sufficient to destroy life, a fever
47
370 gunn's domestic medicine.
will take place, which will last for some time, attended
with a constant trembling of the nerves.
When vegetable Poison, such as Jamestown weed,
hemlock, opium, hen bane, deadly night shade, fox
glove, wolf's bane, laurel, &c. &c. are taken into the
stomach in too great portions, they produce stupor and
a constant desire to sleep. The Jamestown weed
usually produces effects peculiar to itself:—for which
and a description of the plant, read under that head.
When the poison of animals is introduced into the
human system, it is communicated by the bites or stings
of serpents, spiders, &c. &c. requiring prompt and
immediate attention to the following remedies, which,
together with those applicable to other species of Poi-
son, mineral and vegetable, are arranged under the
proper heads.
REMEDIES FOR POISON.
When any Poison has been swallowed, whether
vegetable or mineral, the first thing to be done is to
empty the stomach, by an emetic or puke of the most
active kind. White vitriol, from five to ten, and even
twenty grains, should be given in a little warm water,
and repeated every fifteen or twenty minutes if necessa-
ry, until free and copious puking is produced, which
you must encourage and keep up bv large draughts of
warm water. The white vitriol is an innocent puke,
and acts almost instantaneously; and if the emetic
should require assistance, apply tobacco leaves, steeped
in warm vinegar or water, to the stomach; they will
materially assist the operation of the vitriol. If the
patient cannot be made to puke, you must immediately
give repeated clysters, made of strong flax seed tea
and sweet milk, and let your patient drink freely of
gunn's domestic medicine. 371
vinegar and water, sweetened with sugar. If the
poison taken into the stomach is of the mineral kind,
beat up the whites of fifteen eggs with a quart of cold
water, and give half a tea-spoonful every three or four
minutes; this will greatly assist the puking. From
taking large doses of opium or laudanum, your patient
will sometimes sink into a stupor, or deep and insensi-
ble sleep; when this is the case, stimulants must be
given, of sufficient power to rouse him if possible. In
these cases, I have sometimes resorted to scalding the
soles of the feet with boiling water; and in one instance
saw the life of a young man saved, by whipping him to
keep him in motion. There is one simple and certain
remedy, however, to be found in almost every house:
take two tea-spoonsful of made mustard, or in other
words, common mustard seed pounded fine and mixed
as if for eating; put ihem into some warm water, and
give the whole as an emetic, and copious puking will
almost be immediately produced. This simple and
effective remedy, has been the means of saving hun-
dreds, who have accidentally or intentionally swallow-
ed poison.
I have mentioned that poisons might be taken into
the lungs by breathing or respiration. Doctor Paris,
in his book on diet, speaks decidedly against the intro-
duction of gas lights into the interior of dwellings, and
says, "that carburetted hydrogen is a deadly poison,
which, even in a state of great dilution, is capable of
exerting a baneful effect on the nervous system. I
have been consulted," says the Doctor, "on several
occasions, for pains in the head, and distressing lan-
guor, which had evidently been produced by the per-
sons inhaling the unburnt gas in the boxes of play
houses." Sir Humphrey Davy, the celebrated chemist.
372 gunn's domestic medicine.
made an experiment on himself, by inhaling pure
carburetted hydrogen; and the result was, that after
three inspirations, his vital powers were so completely
suspended, that he did not recover them until the next
day. Many instances have occurred, of persons sleep-
ing in close rooms during the night, where small char
coal fires had been kept up for warmth, who have been
found dead in the morning. I mention this as a cau-
tion ; and will, also, notice some other facts respecting
poisons, which ought to be attended to by those who
value their safety.
Medicines should always be strictly examined, espe-
cially if to be given by inexperienced persons, and
those not well acquainted with their appearance and
qualities: even those who make a profession of smelling
medicines, sometimes make dangerous mistakes in
them. I have now in my office, three pounds of emetic
tartar, which I received for cream of tartar; and, had
I administered this medicine without detecting the mis-
take, the results must have been fatal to many. A
merchant of Knoxville, of the first respectability, re-
ceived from a young man who attended a drug store in
Baltimore, emetic tartar, for cream of tartar, and was
in the very act of giving it to a friend who was indis-
posed, when the master of the shop arrived in great
alarm, having discovered the blunder, just in time to
prevent the fatal consequences. I will give one case
more, by way of caution respecting mistakes in medi-
cines. During the summer of 1825, a gentleman from
South Carolina, stopped at the house of Mrs. H. of
Patrick county, Virginia; he felt somewhat indisposed,
and desired to have a dose of salts; through mistake
he received and took salt petre. Nothing saved him
but the early arrival of the son of Mrs. H. a gentleman
gunn's domestic medicine. 373
of superior intelligence, who immediately administered
a powerful emetic, and relieved him.
Poisons, communicated by the bites of snakes, spi-
ders, and other insects, are immediately to be attended
to. The moment you are bitten by a snake, you are to
tie a tight and strong bandage immediately above the
bite; this will prevent the circulation of the blood, and
give you time to apply the remedies needful for relief.
As soon as possible, dissolve six grains of lunar caustic
in six table spoonsful of water, and wet the bitten part
with it constantly. Every man in the country ought to
keep a small piece of lunar caustic in his house; it is
sometimes called nitrate of silver, and is made of pure
silver, nitric acid, and pure water. If the caustic can-
not be obtained, make a poultice of quick lime and soap,
and apply it to the part affected, and give the patient as
much red-pepper tea as the stomach will bear, and also
every hour give him a table-spoonful of the juice of the
plaintain. In all cases where a physician can be had,
the best remedy is to cut the bitten part. The
Indians, when bitten by a poisonous snake, always
extract the poison by sucking the wound. There is no
danger in this operation—I have told you before that the
venom of the snake, if even taken into the stomach, is
attended with no danger. The blood should be encour-
aged to flow from the wound, by scarifying the part
immediately about it, and applying the cupping instru-
ments. When you are bitten by a spider, or injured by
any other insect, apply a linen rag constantly moistened
with laudanum, spirits of hartshorn, or strong ley.
I shall record a few cases, in which it will be evident
that the bite of the rattlesnake may be very easily cured,
by extremely simple, and always practicable remedies.
The cases may be found in detail, on pages 619, 620,
374 gunn's domestic medicine.
and 621, of the sixth volume of the Medical Recorder.
I shall abridge them. 1st. "One evening at my resi-
dence, on the hills of Santee, says William Mayrant,
Esq. (formerly a member of Congress,) " I heard a vio-
lent scream at no great distance. In a few minutes I
was called out and was informed that a negro had been
bitten by a rattlesnake, and was dead, or dying. I
found him motionless and speechless, his jaws locked,
and his pulse fluttering and scarcely perceptible. I had
heard of the successful use of spirits in such cases, both
among the whites and Indians. I therefore took a glass
of whiskey, put into it a table-spoonful of powdered red
pepper, and poured it down his throat—in a few min-
utes it was puked up, as were also three or four more
doses. After the fourth glass it remained on his stom-
ach. His pulse improved greatly in a short time, and
after getting five or six glasses to remain, I ceased giv-
ing him any more, until the pulse fell very fast, and nearly
ceased beating. I again commenced giving him the
whiskey and pepper, and soon discovered that on ceas-
ing the stimulants, his pulse would again sink to nothing.
After taking more than one quart of this liquor, a
copious stool followed; the spirit was again adminis-
tered, until his pulse became steady. During the night,
he took three quarts of whiskey; in the morning he was
much better, but very weak—he finally recovered.
2d. "About a year afterwards, I was called to
another slave who had been bitten by a rattlesnake; he
was in great pain about the chest, and was puking a
green fluid. I gave him repeated doses of whiskey and
pepper, until his pulse returned, which had nearly ceas-
ed to beat; in twelve hours, by the use of about a quart
of this liquor, he was a well man.
3d. "I related the above cases to a friend, who had
gunn's domestic medicine. 375
lately arrived from Rio Janeiro, after a residence of
thirteen years. He told me that the serpents of that
country were so extremely venomous, as in many instan-
ces to produce death in fifteen minutes; and that the
natives effected their cures, by giving large doses of
spirits, in which herbs had been stewed. He related
an instance in which a man was found with one of these
most poisonous snakes on him, and biting him repeat-
edly. The snake was killed, and the man taken to the
house, to all appearances dead. In a short time he
came to himself, and was unhurt by the poison. The
fact was, that he had been very drunk, and had fallen
on the snake; the stimulus of the liquor had, no doubt,
counteracted the influence of the poison; this was the
solution of the difficulty."
These three cases coincide, strongly, with a case pub-
lished several years since, in the National Intelligencer,
by the celebrated Doctor Ramsey, in which large doses
of brandy and opium were given with complete success,
in the bite of rattlesnake.
The tincture of cantharides, which is nothing more
than the Spanish or blistering flies, or our common
potatoe fly, steeped for a few days in whiskey or spirits
of any kind.—Of this tincture, apply a few drops to the
wound until it occasions a redness. By this application
the poison is rendered harmless; and the stings of
insects or reptiles are entirely removed as soon as the
blister arises. This is a late discovery, and truly a
valuable remedy
I cannot quit this interesting subject, without noticing
particularly, that a most excellent remedy in the bites
of both venomous snakes and spiders, is the immediate
application of the soft black mud from spring branches,
or such mud as is used for the daubing of houses. I
*»76 gunn's domestic medicine.
have never had occasion to try the experiment myself,
but fully believe from the best authority, that it is an
efficient and powerful application.
PAINFUL AFFECTIONS OF THE FACE.
This disease is called by physicians, tic doloureux,
and happily for mankind, is of very unfrequent occur-
rence. It is an acutely painful affection of the nerves
of the face, particularly over the cheek bone, in which
the pain shoots with great quickness and suddenness,
and is almost insupportable for a few seconds, when it
as suddenly becomes easy. The slightest touch will
cause it to dart instantly, and sometimes by opening the
mouth quickly, it will return with a jerking and spas-
modic affection of the muscles of the face. There is
in this complaint, neither swelling of the cheek, nor
any species of inflammation, nor does the pain seem
deeply seated.
REMEDIES.
Remedies for curing this complaint, have long been
objects of attentive research, with the most distinguished
and able physicians. The remedies usually resorted
to, but I confess with very little success, are sulphate of
zinc, which is white vitriol, Peruvian bark, opium and
carbonate of iron, given in doses of twenty grains every
fourth hour. As I have just remarked, these are rem
edies attended with very little success; the carbonate of
iron was for some time considerdd efficient and benefi-
cial; but at length, like the other remedies, it fell into
disrepute. We are now indebted to a common weed
for the cure of the complaint, a weed which infests our
gardens, highwavs, and barn-yards,—it is the common
gunn's domestic medicine.
377
Jamestown weed, usually called the stink weed and
thorn apple:—read under the head Jamestown weed.
A physician of much distinction, Doctor John Eberle,
of New York, speaks thus in substance of this weed:—
In July last, I was called to see a lady a^ed about
twenty years, who was suffering very much from this
complaint in the right side of her face. The parox-
ysms or fits of pain, were sometimes so very violent as
to produce temporary loss of reason. She had been
treated by other physicians with the usual remedies;
all of which had been found incompetent to afford the
slightest degree of relief. I prescribed for her the
extract of Stramonium or Jamestown weed, and gave
her a grain of this extract every four hours. She com-
menced with this in the evening, and towards morning
had intervals of ease, and slept some. She continued
this medicine during the succeeding day, and experien-
ced much less pain than she had done for eight days
previously. After the fourth dose, she felt some vertigo
or dizziness of the head, and was directed to take the
medicine only every six hours, in which she persisted
until entirely relieved and fully cured, which was in a
few days. " The Jamestown weed," says this eminent
physician, " is undoubtedly a medicine of great and val-
uable powers. In chronic rheumatism, I have employed
it in several instances with the most unequivocal advan-
tage. In sciatica," (by which the doctor means hip
gout,) " also, I prescribed it with complete success in
three cases. We are chiefly indebted to Doctor Marcet
for our knowledge of its efficiency in affections of this
kind," &c. " If I were called upon," says the writer*
to express in a few words, the general opinion which
I feel inclined to form from the opportunities I have had
of studying the properties of stramonium," Jamestown
48
378 gunn's domestic medicine.
weed, "I should say, that when given with due caution,
and in proper doses, in all cases of chronic disease
attended with acute pain, it will invariably lessen the
sensibility to pain and suffering." I fully accord with
the doctor in his opinions, and refer the reader to the
head Jamestown weed, where he will find an interest-
ing development of the medical properties and powers
of this plant.
The following remedy is taken from the New York
Medical Inquirer:—"Mr. Abernethy has administered
the nitrate of silver in this disease," which means lunar
caustic, "in the dose of one grain twice a day, made
into pills with conserve of roses," which is nothing
more than syrup made of rose leaves with sugar or
honey.
"A Mr. Thomas also recommends this preparation in
this most distressing disease. The following is a copy
of Mr. Thomas' prescription:—take of nitrate of silver
one scruple, nitric acid fifteen drops," which is com-
monly called aqua fortis," pure water three ounces; from
forty to sixty drops to be taken twice a day, in two table-
spoonsful of camphorated julep." For a description of
the method of preparing the camphorated julep, read
under that head.
LOCKED JAW.
This disease is called by physicians tetanus—which
means spasms with rigidity—it is from the Greek word
which means to stretch. It may be considered an
involuntary contraction of all the muscles of the body,
while the patient remains perfectly in his senses. It
generally arises from wounds; and I have even known
gunn's domestic medicine. 379
it to originate from the slight puncture of a needle, in
which case it terminated in the death of an amiable
lady. It comes on with a dull stiffness of the neck and
head; in a short time the head and neck become diffi-
cult to move; the tongue also becomes stiff and difficult
to be moved about or put out; the swallowing becomes
painful; there is a tightness across the breast, some-
times attended with pain in the small of the back; the
jaws gradually become stiff, and the teeth clenched;
this is locked jaw.
REMEDIES.
You are immediately to open the wound, if that be
the cause, with a lancet or other sharp instrument, and
remove any matter that may be in the wound. Then
apply spirits of turpentine to the wound, and if the per-
son is strong, hearty, and in full habit, you are to draw
blood freely from the arm; then put your patient in the
warm bath; I mean here that the whole body is to be
immersed in warm water for some time, and give two
grains of opium. During the time these operations are
making, a skilful physician must be sought for; because
the immense quantities of opium which must be given,
will make even the best physician dread his own prac-
tice. Yet such are the fatal consequences of delay and
timidity in locked jaw, that unless bold remedies are
used, particularly the use of opium in heavy doses,
death must certainly take place. Opium has to be
3
East InJian or Chinese rhubarb, comes to this country
in long flattish pieces seldom, if ever, having holes in
them. The Turkish rhubarb is the best, and is gener-
ally used in this country.
The marks of rhubarb being of a good quality are,
the liveliness of its color, when cut; its being firm and
solid, but not flinty or hard; its being easily pulverable,
which means reducible to powder; and its appearing
when powdered, of a fine high yellow color; and when
chewed, by its imparting, to the spittle and tongue a
deep saffron color.
Rhubarb is one of the mildest, best, and pleasantest
purgatives now in use in this or any other country;
because with its purgative powers, it is also astringent
and strengthening, and in this it certainly differs from
almost every other purgative of the same class known
in medicine. It is superior to nearly all other purges
for another reason; it may be taken with opium, and
act on the bowels as well as if taken without it. This
is a vast advantage; because where purging would be
connected with great pain, its being combined with
opium, relieves the pain, where the rhubarb is left free
to do its duty. The operation of rhubarb is slower
and milder than any other purges; but it is very cer-
tain in its effects, when given in proper doses. It may
always be given with innocence and safety, in all cases
of extreme weakness, where a purge to open the bow-
els becomes necessary, and where violent and severe
purging would be highly improper. You will find this
medicine very valuable and safe, as it always acts with
much gentleness in relieving the bowels. It is a com-
mon and proper purge for children, even at a very early
period of life, and in every situation where their bowels
become disordered; particularly in dysentary or lax;
564 gunn's domestic medicine
because it leaves the bowels in a favorable state, after
removing the offensive matter from them. It is also an
excellent purge for grown persons, laboring under this
complaint. In small doses, say from two to six grains,
it is excellent for the stomach when laboring under
indigestion, generally called dyspepsia; and must be
given in such small doses as not to purge, but to act as
a tonic, or strengthening medicine.
There are various ways of giving rhubarb; such as
giving it in tincture, which means steeping it in any
kind of spirits: but the best and most certain method
of giving this medicine, and obtaining the virtues of it
fully, is to give it in fine powder. A dose for a grown
person is, from about a scruple, or twenty grains, to
half a drachm, mixed with honey, molasses, or any
kind of syrup. The root chewed as tobacco, swallow-
ing the saliva, or spittle, is an excellent and efficient
way of taking it, for keeping the bowels gently open,
particularly with those persons who are subject to
habitual costiveness, indigestion, and those long trains
of nervous diseases which afflict men and women who
are subject to derangements of the systems from cos-
tiveness. In such cases, if they will chew the root of
the rhubarb, it will act as a moderate purge, and gently
open the bowels: at the same time, it will act as a tonic,
or strengthening medicine to the stomach, by which they
will always obtain relief
gunn's domestic medicine 565
INDIAN PHYSIC.
This plant is a native of the United States; and as
its name imports, was a great favorite among the Indian
nations. It is almost every where found in the western
country, inhabiting shady woods, and the rich sides of
hills and mountains, from the lakes of Canada to the
Floridas. The number of stems proceeding from the
root of this plant varies considerably; sometimes there
is but a single one, and occasionally there are many.
The stems are branched above, say about two or three
feet from the ground; they are round, and commonly
of a reddish color. The leaves are of a deep green,
long and pointed, and the flower nearly white. The
root of this plant, which is all that is used in medicine,
is perennial: that is to say, it is not destroyed by the
frosts of winter. It is composed of several long, brown,
slender shoots, which run out from the bottom of the
stem, to some distance under the ground. This root
possesses many of the virtues of the ipecacuanha, and
is much used by the country people, as an emetic or
puke. Given in the dose of thirty or thirty-five grains
in the powder, for a grown person, it is an easy, sate,
and certain emetic; and if you give it in what are
called broken doses, of six or seven grains about every
two hours, it will act as a sudorific; in other words, it
will produce sweating; If you give it in infusion, or
weak tea, a handful to a pint of boiling water, of which
you may take a small tea-cupful every fifteen or twenty
minutes, it will produce vomiting. The active power
of this root, seems to reside exclusively in its bark,
which, in addition to its emetic qualities, probably pos-
sesses considerable tonic powers.
566 gunn's domestic medicine.
AMERICAN IPECACUANHA.
This singular, and very useful plant, is exclusively a
native of the United States, and may be found in great
plenty in the middle, southern, and western states. It
nearly always grows in loose, moist, and sandy soils,
and is very often found flourishing in beds of almost
pure sand. The leaves of this plant vary so much in
shape and color—and in fact, the whole plant itself
varies so much in its different state, that it is often mis-
taken by those unacquainted with its habits, for several
distinct species of plants. The stems are numerous;
they are nearly white below the surface of the earth or
sand, and of a reddish color, or a pale green or yellow-
ish hue above it. The leaves are opposite to each
other, and generally of an oval form; I say generally,
because they are sometimes of a long oval, sometimes
pointed, and, unfrequently, lenear. In the month of
May, while the plant is in flower, the leaves are very
small; but as it advances in age, they become greatly
increased in size. The seeds of the flower are only
three in number, enclosed in a triangular, or three
square capsule, or case. I mention these things par-
ticularly, because they afford the best possible means of
knowing the plant. The root is perennial; in other
words, it is not killed by the frosts of winter. It is from
three to seven feet in height, and from half an inch to an
inch and a half in diameter, or across, and of a yellow-
ish color; sending off towards its upper part, many small-
er roots, about the size of small quills.
I believe, and am sustained in the opinion by several
high authorities, that the American ipecacuanha, the
plant just described to you, is superior in its medicinal
properties to any other species known. The root of
this plant alone is to be used; if the stems and leaves
gunn's domestic medicine. 567
possess any medical virtues, they are yet to be dis-
covered by experiment. It is a powerful emetic, both
safe and certain in its operation, and is applicable to
nearly all cases in which- emetics are required. In
small doses of from five to ten or fifteen grains, it is an
excellent emetic or puke; but if given in doses of twen-
ty grains it operates downwards, as an active purge.
Larger doses produce, in addition to the above effects,
heat, vertigo, (which means swimming in the head,)
and great prostration or loss of strength.
Dr. Barton gives us the following experiments on the
American ipecacuanha, which I transcribe for the
contemplation of the reader. "A portion of the dried
root was finely pulverised, [powdered] and administer-
ed with caution to several patients. I at first commen-
ced with small doses, of three, four and five grains.
In these quantities, the powder produced nausea [sick-
ness of the stomach,] and determination to the skin,
[sweating,] as small doses of ipecacuanha do. On
increasing the number of grains to ten, vomiting was
produced, with occasionally an operation on the bow-
els. Fifteen grains I found sufficient to produce full
vomiting in most cases; and in a single instance, hav-
ing given the powder to an extent of twenty-five
grains I had reason to be alarmed at the cathartic
[purgative] effect which ensued and continued for four-
teen hours, attended with distressing sickness at the
stomach. I have tried the American root in various
combinations, and can confidently assert, that in all the
instances it has proved equal if not superior to the im-
ported ipecacuanha. It has some advantages, which
the foreign article does not possess. Its occasional
purgative effect is no more than what follows the for-
eign medicine. This view of the subject derives
1
538 gunn's domestic medicine.
peculiar importance from the well known fact, that the
imported ipecacuanha, is rarely if ever good, and
perhaps seldom genuine."
In this plant, or rather root, for that alone is to be
used, we see another instance of the bounty of Provi-
dence in furnishing us with an article possessed of
great medical virtue, the production of our own soil.
And here again I repeat, that we have only to develope
the resources of our own country, to become complete-
ly independent of foreign lands for our useful medical
drugs. Even opium, as I shall shew you in the proper
place, can be made here, in sufficient quantities for our
own consumption. We are in fact, paying enormous
sums annually, for what nature and our own exertions
would furnish us. Foreign ipecacuanha, adulterated,
and inferior to our own, is costing us three dollars the
pound, while we can have our own for nothing.
BUTTERFLY WEED, OR PLEURISY ROOT.
The butterfly weed, or pleurisy root, called by the
learned, asclepias turberosa, is a native of every state
in the American Union, and abounds, particularly, in
the southern and western states. It flourishes best, and
grows to the greatest perfection in light, sandy soils,
and is frequently found under fences, and near old
stumps in grain fields. From twenty to thirty stalks
the size of a pipe stem frequently rise from the same
root, and stand in almost every direction. These
stalks are round and woolly, and of a reddish brown
color on the sun side. The leaves are placed very
irregularly, and are spear or tongue shaped, and cover-
ed with a fine down on the lower side. The stalks
gunn's domestic medicine. 569
rise from one to two feet in height, and spread to a
considerable extent; and at the extremities of the
branches are found clusters of small shoots, on which
are found the flowers, when in hloom—which is about
the mouth of July or August. The clusters of shoots
from the ends of the branches, as also the flowers,
resemble those of the common silk weed, for which
this plant is sometimes mistaken. There is, however,
this difference between them, and it ought to be partic-
ularly noticed: the flowers of the silk weed are of a
pale purple hue, while those of the butterfly weed are
of a beautiful bright orange color, and are succeeded
by long slender pods, which contain the seeds. The
seeds have a delicate kind of down or silk attached to
them.
The root of the butterfly weed is spindle or carrot
shaped, of a light brown color on the outside, and
white and coarse within. It has long been celebrated
in the southern Atlantic states, and particularly in Vir-
ginia and the Carolinas, not only as a powerful remedy in
pleurisy, but in pneumonic diseases generally: by which
I mean diseases of the lungs. This root possesses one
remarkable power: given in proper quantities, it affects
the skin, and produces copious perspiration or sweating,
without heating the body. Given in the simple form
of a decoction or tea, it often produces sweating, when
all other remedies have failed in their effects. The
powdered root sometimes acts as a mild purgative on
the bowels; but it is more particularly and inestimajWy
valuable in producing expectoration, or the throwing
off of mucus from the throat and lungs; in causing
perspiration or sweating, when other remedies fail, and
finally, in reducing obstinate feverish affections. Its
efficiency and power in fevers have been attested by
72
570 gunn's domestic medicine.
many of the best physicians in the United States. In
feverish affections, proceeding from an inflammation of
the lungs, in colds recently taken, and in diseases of
the chest generally, this root is an excellent remedy.
It is to be given in a strong infusion or tea; say a small
tea-cupful every two or three hours. Many families
have long resorted to this root as a domestic medicine,
to relieve pains in the stomach, indigestion, colic, and
so on, and for these reasons, call it wind root. Doctors
Chapman and Bigelow, whose testimonials alone in its
favor would be sufficient to establish its reputation, for
the virtues I have ascribed to it, speak in very high
terms of the medicinal powers of this root.
"As a diaphoretic," [or medicine which sweats,] says
Dr. Chapman, " I think this root is distinguished by
great certainty and permanancy of operation, and has
this inestimable property, that it produces its effects—
sweating, without much increasing the force of the cir-
culation, raising the heat of the surface, or creating
inquietude or restlessness. On these accounts, it is
well suited to excite perspiration in the forming stages
of most of the inflammatory diseases of winter, and is
not less useful in the same cases, at more advanced
periods, after the reduction of the feverish action by
bleeding. The common notion of its having a peculiar
efficacy in pleurisy, I am inclined to believe is not
without foundation; for certain it is, that it very much
relieves the oppression of the chest in recent catarrh,
cold in the head and throat, and promotes perspiration
in protracted inflammations of the lungs."
gunn's domestic medicine. 571
JALAP.
This plant was originally found native in Mexico,
near the celebrated city of Xalapa, from whence it
derived its present name, jalapa. It has since been
discovered growing plentifully near Vera Cruz, and in
our own countries of Florida. And on the authority
of Dr. W. P. C. Barton, I take upon myself to assert,
that it is also certainly a native of the state of Georgia.
The root of this plant alone is used for medicinal pur-
poses ; and when of good quality, comes to us in slices
which are solid and heavy, and of a dark grey color
having little smell, and scarcely any taste. When swal-
lowed however, it affects the throat with a warm and
pungent sensation.
This root is a powerful laxative medicine or purge;
its activity resides principally, if not wholly, in the
resinous part, which even when taken in small doses
and alone, will sometimes gripe severely. The great
activity of jalap as a purge, causes it to be much used
in the onset or commencement of bilious fevers. Com-
bined with calomel, in the proportions of ten grains
each, was the purge generally given in yellow fever, by
the great Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, and which caused
his students to give him the ludicrous nick name of "old
Ten in Ten." Used as what physicians call a hydra-
gogue, by which they mean any medicine which will
expel water from the cavities of the body, the jalap root
is entitled to all the praise that ha* ever been bestowed
on it by the medical profession; yet I am induced to
believe, from actual experience, and the pn ctice of
other physicians, that it produces a better effect in all
dropsical cases, when combined with cremor tartar.
Ten grains of jalap with one drachm of cremor tartar,
constitute probably, one of the best medical prcscrip-
572 gunn's domestic medicine.
tions ever known, where long continued purging is
required in the cure of a complaint. The dose of
jalap, when Combined With any other medicine, is from
twenty to thirty, and even up to forty grains. Our
common May apple root, has sometimes been called
the jalap of the United States. But lam of the opinion
noticed above; that the genuine jalap of Mexico is a
native of the State of Georgia, and probably, of all
the southern states. Perhaps this would be an inquiry
worthy the attention of the lately established Medical
Board of Tennessee, especially if they intend to re-
munerate the country for the privileges granted to them
by the legislature.
PRICKLY ASH OR TOOTH ACHE TREE.
The prickly ash is a native of the United States, and
also of the West India Islands, where it sometimes
grows to the height of sixteen feet. There are two
kinds of the prickly ash in the United States, which I
believe possess the same medicinal powers: one is call-
ed the ash-leaved zanthroxylum, which grows in the
northern states, and particularly in the states of Penn-
sylvania and Maryland, and the other is known by the
name of the prickly yellow wood, growing abundantly
to the south and south-west of the states I have men-
tioned. The fresh juice obtained from the root of the
prickly ash, is an excellent remedy in that painful com-
plaint called dry belly ache. This discovery, like most
others of importance, was the result of accident: it was
made by watching a female slave in one of the West
India Islands, who collected the root in the woods, and
gave two spoonsful of tts juice every two hours to a
gunn's domestic medicine. 573
negro suffering severely under this colic. The medi-
cine caused a profound and composed sleep, for twelve
hours, when all sense of pain, and other distressing
symptoms had vanished. The cure was rendered final
by giving an infusion of the juice as a diet drink.
The most important discovery, however, relating to
the prickly ash, or yellow wood, is the following:—The
juice of the root preserved in spirits of any kind, given
in doses of about a wine-glassful, has repeatedly re-
moved the most obstinate epileptic fits. I do not know
precisely the manner in which this preparation ought
to be managed, but would give it in the dose of a wine-
glassful morning and evening. The leaves and rind
of the prickly ash or yellow wood, in their taste and
smell resemble those of the lemon, and possess a simi-
lar volatile oil. The bark has a separate acrid, or hot
and biting principle, which it will communicate either
to water or spirits of any kind; this acrid or biting
principle, however, is not perceived when the bark or
liquid is first taken into the mouth; it gradually makes
itself known, by a burning sensation on the tongue and
fauces, sometimes called the palatine arch, or cavity at
the root of the tongue. Chewing a small quantity of
the bark, produces a great flow of saliva, or spittle,
and is very often used in this way to cure the tooth-
ache.
The bark of the prickly ash has also acquired a con-
siderable name as a remedy in chronic rheumatism, by
which I mean rheumatism of a long standing. Taken
in full doses, it produces a sense of heat in the stom-
ach, and a strong tendency to prespiration, or sweating,
and consequently much relief in rheumatism. The
dose is twenty grains of the pounded bark, to be taken
three times a day; or you may boil an ounce of the
574 gunn's domestic medicine.
bark in a quart of water, and take this tea, or decoction
in the course of the twenty-four hours. In the West
India Islands this strong decoction of the bark is used
with great success, as a wash for old and foul ulcers,
which it always greatly cleanses, and disposes them to
heal up. The West India people also mix the pounded
bark with what are called dressings of such old sores.
The value of this remedy for old ulcers, is attested by
numerous instances of its success, to be found in the
London Medical and Physical Journal.
INDIAN TURNIP.
The Indian turnip is a native of every part of the
United States; it grows in low rich meadows and
woodlands, to the height of from two to three feet, and
is too well known to require a very particular descrip-
tion. The leaves are but three in number, of a round-
ish or oval form; the stalk of a purple color, and the
berries of a bright and beautiful scarlet. In its recent
state, that is, when first dug up, the root is exceedingly
hot, sharp, and biting to the tongue; and on being
swallowed, a sharp acrimony is sensibly felt about the
fauces, or cavity at the root of the tongue.
Of all the American roots, the Indian turnip has the
highest reputation in country practice, as a remedy in
pulmonary or consumptive complaints: it is also given
with considerable success in asthma, and in coughs of
long standing. My own experience has convinced me,
that it is among the most valuable of our expectorants
or medicines which cause a dislodgment of mucus from
the throat and lungs, and that it is a good remedy in
croup and whooping cough. The green or recent root.
gunn's domestic medicine. 575
boiled in hog's lard to the consistence of an ointment,
has been found very useful in tinea capitis, or scald
head, in which I would always recommend its use.
When given in consumptive complaints, the fresh root
should be boiled in sweet milk. When the dried root
is to be given, it must be finely grated in the sweet
milk—one root in half a pint of milk, and well boiled
before it is taken. Some acrimony or sharpness should
be perceptible to the throat and tongue, or the root has
probably lost its powers. The ointment I have men-
tioned above, is valuable also in some diseases of the
skin: such as ringworm, tetter worm, and so on.
WILD CHERRY TREE.
This tree is so very common as to require no de-
scription. The bark of this tree, or the bark of the
root, which is still better, combined with the bark of
the dogwood, when employed in the cure of ague and
fever, bilious fever, and other diseases where tonic or
strengthening medicines are proper, is by no means in-
ferior to the best Peruvian bark. Combined with
Virginia snake root, in the proportion of one part of
snake root to four parts of this bark, it is an excellent
remedy in intermittant fevers of an obstinate character,
and long standing. You may either give it in powder,
in the same dose that you would Peruvian bark,—see
table of doses; or you may give it as a tea, or decoc-
tion. It has also been found very useful in dyspepsia,
or indigestion, and in consumption of the lungs. Infused
plentifully in strong sound cider, it will in most cases
remove jaundice, especially if preceded by a dose or
two of calomel: and a strong decoction of the bark is
576 gunn's domestic medicine.
an excellent wash for old and ill-conditioned ulcers. It
is a singular fact, that the leaves of the wild cherry tree
will poison cattle: nor is it less singular than true, that
the distilled water of the leaves is a powerful poison
to most animals. This fact seems to be independent
on the presence of the same poisonous principle which
exists in peach kernels, and other substances of a
similar kind, lately shown to be prussic acid, the
strongest poison known to us.
AMERICAN CENTAURY.
This is a very elegant little plant, a native of the
United States; and is no less valued for its medicinal
virtues, than admired for its simple beauty. The root,
consisting of a few thick yellowish fibres, generally
sends up but a single stem, which grows from a foot to
eighteen inches high: this stem is smooth and four-
sided, and where the branches shoot off, it has gener-
ally two leaves, which grow opposite to each other:
indeed, the leaves of every part of the plant grow op-
posite to each other, and are oval and sharp at the
points. The flowers are very numerous; growing at
the points of the branches, from two to five in number,
and are generally of a beautiful pale rose color. This
plant is in full flower in the month of July.
Every part of this little plant is a pure strong bitter,
and parts with its medicinal qualities to both water and
spirits—it has no astringent powers. On stomachs that
are weak, it exerts a strengthening influence, and is
considerably used in the southern states in intermittent
fevers. In fact, by the best practitioners in the Union,
it is generally administered in fevers: Dr. Barton says,
gunn's domestic medicine. 577
"it was often employed with much benefit in the city of
Philadelphia, in 1793, in certain stages of the yellow
fever." On the whole, centaury may be confidently
recommended for its pure bitter, tonic and strengthening
virtues. It ought to be taken as a decoction or tea,
and always taken cold: it may be given in powder, in
doses of from ten to twenty grains, but I think not with
the same advantage. In relaxations of the stomach,
and general debility of the system, mixed with cala-
mus or angelica root, it forms an excellent and strength-
ening bitter. This root is called by the country people
centry.
LOBELIA INFLATA, OR INDIAN TOBACCO.
It has been affected that the discovery of the medi-
cinal virtues of this plant, is involved in unexplainable
mystery; but it long since has constituted a portion of
the standard materia medica: it is an annual or bien-
nial indigenous plant, usually a foot or more in height,
with a fibrous root, and a solitary, erect, angular, and
very hairy stem, much branched about mid way, but
rising considerably above the summits of the highest
branches.
The leaves are scattered, sessile, oval, acute, serrate
and hairy. The flowers are numerous, disposed in leafy
terminal racemes, and supported on short arillary foot
stalks. The segments of the calyx are lined and point-
ed: the corolla, which is a delicate blue color, has a
labiate border, with the upper lip divided into two, the
lower into three acute segments.
The united anthers are curved, and enclose the stig-
ma: the fruit is an oval, striated, inflated capsule, crown*
73
578 gunn's domestic medicine.
ed with the peristeiat calyx, and containing in two cells
numerous very small, brown seeds.
This species of lobelia is a very common weed, grow-
ing on the road sides, and in neglected fields, throughout
the United States. Its flowers begin to appear towards
the end of July, and continue to expand in succession
till the occurrence of frost. The plant, when wounded
or broken, exudes a milky juice. All parts of it are
possessed of medicinal activity; but, according to Dr.
Eberly, the root and inflated capsules are most power-
ful. The plant should be collected in August or Sep
tember, when the capsules are numerous, and should be
carefully dried: it may be kept whole or in a state of
powder.
Dried lobelia has a slight irritated odor, and, when
chewed, though at first without taste, soon produces a
burning, acrid impression upon the posterior parts of
the tongue and palate, very closely resembling that
produced by tobacco, and attended in like manner with
a flow of saliva, and a nauseating effect upon the stom-
ach. The powder is of a greenish color: the plant
yields its active properties readily to water or alcohol,
and water distilled from it retains its acrid taste: it has
hot been accurately analyzed.
Medical properties and uses.—Lobelia is emetic,
and, like other medicines of the same class, is occa-
sionally cathartic, and, in small doses, diaphoretic and
expectorant; it is also possessed of narcotic'properties.
The leaves or capsules, chewed for a short time, occa-
sion giddiness, headache, general tremors, and ulti-
mately nausea and vomiting; when swallowed in the
full dose the medicine produces speedy and severe
sweating, and great relaxation; its effects in doses too
large or too frequently repeated, are extreme postra-
gunn's uomestic medicine. 579
tion, great anxiety and distress, and ultimately death
preceded by convulsions: fatal results have been expe-
rienced from its empyrical use.
These are more apt to occur, when the poison as
sometime happens, is not rejected by vomiting; in its
operation upon the system, therefore, as well as in its
sensible properties, lobelia bears a strong resemblance
to tobacco. It is among the medicines which were
employed by the aborigines of this country, and was
long in the hands of empyrics, before it was introduced
into regular practice. The Rev. Doct. Cutler of Mas-
sachusetts, first attracted to it the attention of the pro-
fession. As an emetic it is too powerful and too dis-
tressing, as well as too hazardous in its operation for
ordinary use. The disease in which it has proved most
useful is spasmodic asthma, the paroxysms of which it
eften greatly mitigates, and sometimes wholly relieves
even when not given in doses sufficiently large to pro-
mote active vomiting: it was from the relief obtained
from an attack of this complaint, that Doct. Cutler was
induced to recommend this medicine. It has also been
used in catarrh, crout, pertussis, and other pectoral
affections, but generally with no better effect than may
be obtained from less unpleasant and safer medicines.
Administered by injections it produces the same distres-
sing sickness of stomach, profuse perspiration, and
universal relaxation as result from a similar use of
tobacco. Dr. Eberle administered a strong decoction
of it successfully by the rectum, as a substitute for this
norcoticin a case of strangulated hernia. It may be
given in substance, tincture or infusion: the dose of the
powder, as an emetic, is from five to twenty grains, to
be repeated if necessary: the tincture is most frequently
given. The full dose of the preparation for an adult is
580 gunn's domestic medicine.
half a fluid ounce, though in asthmatic cases it is better
administered in the quantity of one or two fluid drachms,
repeated every two or three hours, until its effects are
experienced. This is the whole secret of the great
Lobelia.
PEPPERMINT.
Peppermint is originally a native of Europe, but it
is now cultivated in almost every garden of the United
States. The roots of the peppermint should be trans-
planted every three years, otherwise the plant is apt to
degenerate into the flavor of the spearmint. This
plant is certainly so common, that a description would
be entirely unnecessary. From this plant the oil is
distilled, which, when mixed with alcohol or proof
spirits, makes the essence of peppermint sold in the
shops.
Peppermint is a warm stimulate to the stomach, and
through that medium to the rest of the body, holding a
first rank in the list of medicines called carminatives:
which means those medicines which dispel, or scatter
the wind from the stomach and bowels. It is also
beneficial in allaying spasmodic affections of the stom-
ach and bowels; removing sickness of the stomach;
dispelling flatulence, or wind, and in removing all colicy
pains. It is very often beneficial when cramp takes
place during the operation of an emetic, onpuke. The
green leaves stewed in spirits, or hot water, and appli-
ed to the pit of the stomach as warm as they can be
borne, will often stop puking when some of the best
remedies fail.
gunn's domestic medicine. 581
GINGER.
Ginger is a perennial plant, originally found in the
East Indies, but at present cultivated in all the West
India Islands. I think it highly probable, that the gin-
ger would grow well in all the southern and western
states, particularly in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia,
and South Carolina. In the West India Islands, it is
cultivated very much in the manner that we cultivate
potatos, in this country, and is fit for digging once in
every year. There are two sorts of ginger, the black
and the white. The black ginger consists of thick and
knotty roots, of a yellowish grey color on the outside,
and an orange or brown color in the inside. The white
ginger is not so thick and knotty as the black, and is
internally of a whitish grey or bright yellow color.
The white is firm and resinous, more pungent or sharp
in its taste than the black, and consequently a higher
price. Pieces which are worm eaten, soft, light, and
easily broken, you are always to reject.
Ginger has a fragrant smell, and a hot, biting, aro-
matic taste, and is very useful in flatulent or windy
colics, and in all cases of looseness and weakness of the
bowels or intestines; it does not heat the system so
much as the different kinds of pepper, but is much
more durable in its effects. Some time since, the pow-
der of ginger, taken in very large doses in sweet milk,
was considered a very valuable remedy in gout. I
have never tried it myself, and therefore cannot say as
to its correctness, but the experiment would be an inno-
cent one, and is very easily tried. I think it unneces-
sary to say any thing more on the subject of this root;
every old lady in the country is acquainted with its
general character and medical virtues.
582 gunn's domestic medicine.
OPIUM.
Without this valuable and essential medicine, it
would be next to impossible for a physician to practice
his profession, with any considerable degree of success;
it may not be improperly called, the monarch of medi-
cinal powers, the soothing angel of mental and physical
pain.
" Charmed with this potent drug, the exalted mind,
All sense of woe delivers to the wind;
It clears the cloudy front from wrinkled care.
And soothes the wounded bosom of despair!"
There are two kinds of this drug known in com-
merce, distinguished by the names of the Turkish and
East India opium. The Turkish opium is the best: it
is considerably solid and compact, possesses some
degree of tenacity or stickiness, and when broken leaves
a shining fracture. It is of a dark brown color; and
when first taken into the mouth, produces a nauseous
bitter taste, which soon becomes acrid, with some de-
gree of warmth. The best kind of Turkish opium is
in flat pieces, and generally covered with leaves used in
packing it, and has nearly double the strength of that
brought from the East Indies.
The East Indian opium is not so solid as the Turkish,
being sometimes not much thicker than tar, its Color
much darker, and its taste more nauseous and less bit-
ter. By these distinctions, which are obvious to even
tolerable judges, you will easily know the Turkish
opium from that of the East Indies.
Opium is combined, or in other words, mixed with
more medicines for the cure of diseases, than any other
drug known to or used by medical men. In every
patent medicine sold in the shops, especially for the
relief of pain in diseases, opium forms the principal
portion. Batesman's drops and Godfrey's cordial, both
gunn's domestic medicine ^83
of which have sustained their character for near a
century, have opium for their basis or principal parts,
and they arc certainly valuable medicines. Were I to
trace back the use of opium as a medicine among man-
kind, it would probably be found among the Greeks;
but the limits of my book will not permit me to go
minutely into its history: suffice it to say, that this valu-
able, singular, and astonishing drug, seems capable of
changing our very nature to a more exalted state of
being, at the same time that it holds in due and proper
subjection, without impairing it, the rationality of the
mind.
Opium is made from the white poppy, which is or
can be cultivated in all our gardens; it is probably a
native of the warmer parts of Asia. Some attempts
have been made to cultivate it extensively in England,
but the climate of that country seems to present an in-
superable obstacle to its being cultivated as a produc-
tive object of commerce. The United States, however,
and particularly the more southern and western por-
tions of the Union, on the score of climate and soil,
present no difficulties in the cultivation of opium, in
amply sufficient abundance for the consumption of all
our citizens. This is another proof, among several
others which I have adduced, evincive of the indepen-
dence of our country in the production of important
medical drugs, if we will only employ industry and
enterprise; the fact is. that enormous sums of money
are yearly expended for opium, which go into the
pockets of foreigners, that we could very easily produce
from our own soil. The leaves, stalks, and capsules of
the poppy, which capsules mean the cases containing
the seeds, abound with a milky juice, ^ which must be
gathered when the seeds are nearly ripe.
584 gunn's domestic medicine
The manner of collecting this juice is as follows:
After the sun has gone down, or about the twilight of
evening, make several incisions or cuts, lengthways, on
the surface of the capsules or poppy pods. As I have
just told you, this is to be done when they are not quite
ripe; and is best performed with a knife made for the
purpose, having four or five blades. The milky juice
which flows out from these cuts during the night, must
be collected the following day, after a sufficient time
has been allowed for the milky fluid to become inspis-
sated or thickened by the heat of the sun. It is now to
be collected by a thin iron scraper, made for the pur-
pose, and put into an earthern vessel. This is the
whole secret of opium making, a secret which every
man in this country ought to know ana" profit by, and
the ignorance ot which has already cost our citizens
millions of money; the price of foreign opium in our
eastern cities, much of which is of an inferior quality,
is about four dollars the pound. The operation of
cutting or scarifying the poppy pods, in the manner I
have mentioned, may be repeated every evening, or as
long as the pods will furnish the milky juice. When a
considerable quantity of this juice is collected, you have
nothing to do but to work it with a wooden knife or
spoon, until it becomes of a proper consistency or
thickness, and to enclose it in the leaves of the plant
itself, or in tobacco leaves.
"A paper has lately been read, in the Harrisburgh
Medical Society," says the Medical Recorder, "on the
cultivation of the poppy, and the manufacture of opi-
um. The author, who is Doctor Webster Lewis, of
Lewisburg, York county, Pennsylvania, has transmitted
a specimen of his manufacture of opium, equal to the
best foreign opium of the shops. After many unsuc.-
gunn's domestic medicine. 585
cessful experiments, he has fallen on a mode of cultiva-
tion and preparation, both easy and profitable. The
plan will be put in operation in the ensuing season'
by several other members of the society, to whom he
has presented some of his best seed." And, with re-
gard to the cultivation of opium in the United States,
the following extract of a letter from a gentleman in
England to -a citizen of the United States, will throw
some light on the subject. "Let me entreat you to
make an experiment on the cultivation of opium. I
caused a great increase of this article at Patna; it used
to sell at 225 rupees the cake, of 160 pounds; and has
been sold for 300 lately. The company sells to the
amount," annually, I presume, "of fifteen millions of
rupees, two and sixpence sterling, amounting to one
million eight hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds
sterling. I know it can easily be produced in Ameri-
ca, and is the best article of commerce that can be
sent to China." If these representations be correct, of
which there can be no doubt, the cultivation of the
white poppy, and the manufacture of opium, are not
only easily practicable in the United States, but would
afford an immense revenue to the citizens, as an arti-
cle of commercial exportation; and the fact is, if the
real state of the case were truly known, that we yet
remain in comparative ignorance of the multiplied and
inexhaustible resources of our own country.
There is a considerable difference between the ef-
fects produced by wine or spirituous liquors, and those
produced on the system by opium. The excitement of
pleasurable sensations, produced by wine or spirits, is
acute and powerful while those sensations last; but
they are of extremely short duration. The one is a
flame which soon subsides, and leaves nothing but the
74
586 gunn's domestic medicine.
ashes of self-reprehension and bitter reflection behind
it; while the other affords a steady, agreeable, and per-
manent glow of pleasure, physical and intellectual,
which lasts from ten to twelve hours. But the princi-
pal distinction between these stimulants of the human
system, lies in this: that wines or spirits disorder and
confuse the intellectual faculties, while opium, in all its
forms, if taken in proper quantities, introduces order,
harmony, and pleasurable serenity among them. Wines
or spirits unsettle and cloud the judgment, and deprive
us of our intellectual self-possession; while opium, on
the contrary, produces a just equipoise between our
intellectual strength and sensibilities; arouses all our
dormant faculties, and disposes them to harmonious
and pleasureable activity; and, with regard to the tem-
per, moral energies, and physical sensations in general,
opium produces that sort of simple and vital animation,
that cordial warmth of feeling and sensibility, which we
would almost suppose to have accompanied man in his.
primeval and unfallen state. Wine or spirits, if taken
to any excess, always leads men to the brink of absurd-
ity and extravagance; and beyond a certain point, in-
variably produce a distraction of the mental facul-
ties; while opium, on the contrary, soothes our irrita-
tions of feeling, concentrates our intellectual energies,
and robs pain and misfortune of their stings. This,
however, is but one side of the picture. Opium, as I
have already told you, although a very valuable medi-
cine in many diseases, and also always producing those
agreeable sensations I have attempted to describe, when
used to any considerable excess, especially if persisted
in, has many disadvantages and miseries attending it. It
is used by the Turks to great excess, because all wines
and spirituous liquors are prohibited by the Mahome-
gunn's domestic medicine. 587
tan creed. Opium, if habitually taken, or, in other
words, when it is made use of as a stimulant or luxury,
and not as a medicine, affects the physical system in
a terrible manner, and produces the same sufferings
as those which arise from intoxicating liquors. When
the pleasurable effects I have before described begin to
cease, or the effects of the the opium begin to die in the
system, the feelings are as agonizing and dreadful as
can possibly be conceived; the mind becomes weak,
irresolute, heavy, dull, and languid; and the body
averse to activity or motion of any kind, is not only
disposed to sleep, but seems little affected by objects of
pursuit which usually put it in motion. If the dose of
opium has been very considerable, all these symptoms
continue to increase, until tremors, convulsions, vertigo,
stupor, insensibility, and total deprivation of muscular
strength succeed—when death usually closes the scene.
All these symptoms appear singly or combined, in pro-
portion to the comparative moderation or excess of the
dose, and the peculiarities of the constitution of the
person. Therefore, use not this drug but as intended
by the Great Father of the Universe, the universal pa-
rent of mankind; because, used as a medicine alone,
it is an invaluable blessing, in the relief of pain and
suffering, and in soothing and tranquilizing the system
with balmy and refreshing slumber.
Having, under the head of each disease, mentioned
particularly when it was necessary to make use of
opium, or laudanum, which is nothing more than opium
dissolved or steeped in any kind of spirits—for which
look under the head of laudanum—I shall now close
these remarks. Opium or laudanum, which are the
same things in substance and effect, are always efficient
in mitigating or subduing pain, and in overcoming
588 gunn's domestic medicine.
spasm or cramp; in fact, they are the chief means em-
ployed by physicians in these cases. 1 have now, as
fully as the limits of my book will allow, described to
you this great and effective medicine, which is valuable,
powerful, and, if properly used, innocent. In a small
dose, it acts as a stimulant; in a moderate dose, it eases
pain and procures sleep; and in an over dose, when the
person is not in the habit of using it, the consequences
will always be fatal. It is therefore evident, that this
medicine should be used with great judgment and dis-
cretion. The average dose of opium is about one
grain; and the dose of laudanum for a grown person,
about from twenty-five to thirty-five drops, in a little
cold water. For a child about the period of birth, the
dose of laudanum is half a drop; but the table of
medicines, to which you will please to refer, will ex-
plain the doses of both opium and laudanum for all
ages.
HORSE MINT.
Horse Mint grows very abundantly in all parts of
the United States, and is so extremely common as to
require no description. A tea made either of the
green or dried leaves will stop vomiting, or puking—
especially in bilious fevers. It will also act, in simple
cases, as a valuable remedy for promoting, or bringing
on the menses or courses of women, when they are
obstructed. In this instance, it may be placed on a
footing with rosemary, pennyroyal, and many other
simple herbs. All this, however, is well known to every
old lady in the country.
gunn's domestic medicine. 589
CASTOR OIL—AND HOW TO MAKE IT.
This oil, which is essential to the preservation of
health in every family, is made from the seed of a
plant called palma christi, which is a native of most
countries lying within the tropics, and will grow and
flourish in all temperate latitudes. In the process of
manufacturing this oil, the outer coat or covering of
the seed or bean must first be taken off; in the next
place, you must bruise them in considerable quantities,
and afterwards subject, what may be called the pumice,
to a pressure sufficient to throw out the oil. The oil
thus extracted, is called cold expressed oil, and is by
far the best. That extracted by boiling the bruised
seeds in water—another process of preparing it—is
more nauseous, of a much darker color, more easily be-
coming rancid or stinking, much more disagreeable
to take, and much more active in its operation on the
system.
The palma christi will grow in any climate or soil in
the United States; it rises to about ten or twelve feet in
height, and is usually about the size of a common corn
stalk, having very large and beautiful spreading leaves.
Whether you extract the oil cold, or employ boiling
water in the process, you must first collect the branches
having the ripe seed on them, and expose them to the
sun until perfectly dry. Then lay them on the scaffold
or floor, and beat them with a slight flail, to separate
the hull or shell from the seed; after which, to dislodge
every particle of shell, you may pound them gently in
a wooden mortar. Take care that you get all the cov-
ering off the seeds, because there is an acrid skin^
which, if intermixed with the oil, sometimes makes it
operate as a puke, and always as a drastic or griping
purge. It is not improbable that the oil obtained by
590 gunn's domestic medicine.
boiling, is saturated or filled with the properties of this
skin, which forms another of my objections to boiling
the seed. If you prefer, however, to extract the oil by
boiling, you must put the seed, divested of their cover-
ing, in a vessel of boiling water; in about twenty min-
utes a dirty scum will rise, which must be taken entire-
ly off. The clear oil will then rise, which must be put
into a vessel without water, kept warm by a slow fire;
taking care that it does not arrive at a boiling heat.
As soon as it becomes clear and transparent from tak-
ing off the scum which arises, and which will make an
inferior kind of oil, you must put the clear oil, when
cold, into clean boitles, and cork them well. The kind
of palma christi which produces the finest oil, is the
species of which the stalk is of a pink color. I ne-
glected to mention, in the proper place, that the quanti-
ty of water in the first vessel used, should be three
measures to one of seed, which should be frequently
stirred, to prevent any portion from sticking to the sides
and bottom of the vessel, which would give the oil a
burnt taste; you must also be careful that it does not
boil over. The dose for a grown person is two table-
spoonsful, and for an infant, a teaspoonful, even at
birth.
DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING ROOTS,
HERBS, FLOWERS, AND BARKS.
Roots which are annual, or grow and die yearly,
should be collected before they shoot on their stocks or
flowers; roots which are biennial, or which live and
grow two years, should be collected in the harvest of
the first year, or in the spring of the second year;
gunn's domestic medicine. 591
perennial roots, or those which survive the frosts of
winter, should be gathered before the sap has begun to
mount, or after it has returned to the root When the
root is worm eaten, or otherwise decayed, you are al-
ways to reject or refuse it, the medicinal virtues of such
a root are destroyed.
You are now, with a brush and some cold water, to
cleanse the roots newly dug up, and to let them remain
in the wafer as short a time as possible; after which
you are to cut the small and useless fibres or strings
from them, if there be any, and carefully to dry them
in a moderate heat. Roots which consist wholly of
fibre or strings, of which there are several kinds, the
black or Virginia snake-root, for instance, are to be
dried as soon as possible, by a regular and moderate
heat. But should the root be aromatic, which means
spicy and fragrant, like ginger for instance, you arc to
dry it in a cool, airy, dry situation, turning it frequently,
in order that you may retain its virtues and fragrance.
If roots that you obtain are thick and strong, you are
to split them in thin pieces, and string them on a cord
or twine, so as to admit the air freely on them in dry-
ing; if they are covered, which is sometimes the case,
with a thick, tough bark, peel them while fresh, and dry
them. Some roots are apt to lose their virtues by dry-
ing; when this is the case, you have nothing to do but
to keep them buried in dry sand, which will preserve
them in such a manner that they will always be fit for
use.
Herbs and flowers are always to be gathered in dry
weather, and not until the dew is off. They are then
to be dried in as short a time as possible, by the gentle
heat of a stove or fire; for by this speedy method of
drying, the herbs and flowers retain their virtues, which
592 gunn's domestic medicine.
are usually destroyed by the common method of drying
them in the open air and in the shade. When herbs
and flowers retain their virtues, they generally, also re-
tain much of their natural color.
Barks and woods, for medicinal uses, are to be gath-
ered in spring or in autumn, and from the youngest and
most vigorous trees, because their most active and pow-
erful virtues are at those periods residing in them. If
they are of the resinous kind, by which I mean rosin-
ous merely, they are to be garnered in the spring; but
if they are of a gummy nature, you must always gather
them in the fall or autumn. You are to recollect dis-
tinctly, that all decayed and injured parts of any of the
articles I have mentioned, are to be entirely rejected.
Persons are very frequently disappointed in the medi-
cinal effects of roots, herbs, barks, &c.; this is generally
owing to the want of due care in obtaining and prepar-
ing such vegetable substances in due time, and in a
proper manner.
SULPHUROUS FUMIGATION, OR SULPHUR
BATH.
I have repeatedly mentioned, in the course of the
preceding pages, that this bath was a most invaluable
remedy in which this head is referred to. I shall now,
therefore, endeavor to give as minute and plain a de-
scription of it as possible, and in as common and plain
language as I can find.
The fumes of sulphur were employed as a bath, and
a remedy against many diseases, as early as the time of
the celebrated Hippocrates. After falling into disuse
for a very long period, this bath has, jof late, become a
gunn's domestic medicine. 593
matter of general interest—especially since the experi-
ments made by Dr. Gales in 1812—and since his publi-
cations on the efficacy of sulphurous fumigations in the
cure of many obstinate diseases. Dr. Gales made his
first trials of this remedy, by placing a small basin of
sulphur and nitre under the bed clothing of the patient,
who was stripped naked, and exposed to the fumes of
the contents of the basin: at the same time that these
fumes were confined to the body by the bed clothes,
and prevented from reaching the mouth and nostrils of
the patient, by wrapping his neck and shoulders very
closely with the clothing of the bed. This method was
found, on fair experiments, to be imperfect and unsatis-
factory ; and he afterwards adopted in place of it, what
he very properly called his fumigatory box, which I
shall now describe:—
This box is mereh a wooden case, something resem-
bling a pulpit, in which the patient can sit upright in a
chair, with his head above the top of the box, and his
shoulders immediately below it. Underneath this box,
and connected with it, are the parts which are necessa-
ry for producing the fumigations to be applied to the
naked body. The lowest story is the ash-pit: the mid-
dle one contains the fire, and the uppermost one is the
hearth for the sulphur. The floor of the box itself, is
immediately above the hearth for the sulphur, and is
bored, or perforated full of holes, in order that the
fumes of the sulphur, when heated by the fire below,
may ascend through the bottom of the box, and com-
pletely surround, touch, and envelope the naked body
of the patient. The top of the box is so constructed,
that the hole, or opening in the middle of it, closely
embraces die neck, and effectually prevents the fumes
of the sulphur in the box from reaching the mouth,
75
594 gunn's domestic medicine.
nose, and eyes of the patient. This description, reader,
is the whole secret of the sulphur bath, so much talked
of, so little known, and so rarely used in the United
States. When the seat of the disease to be removed
is on the face or any part of the head, the vapor, or
fumes of the sulphur from the box, may be applied to
the part affected by means of a flexible pipe—by which
I mean one that can be moved in different directions,
like the leader of a fire engine, reaching from the box
to any part of the face or head. This sulphur bath
must be taken from fifteen minutes to an hour, accord-
ing to the state of the patient, and the stubborness of
the disease to be removed. Immediately after taking
it, ihe patient ought to retire to bed for an hour or
two.
I have mentioned in another page of this book—that
when the remedies there noticed for rheumatism have
failed, recourse must always be had to sulphurous fumi-
gation, which I have now accurately and plainly"
described to you. The truth is, it is an active and
powerful remedy in very many diseases besides rheu-
matism. It is an excellent remedy in psoriasis palma-
ria, which is a very obstinate species of tetter, confined
to the palm of the hand; also, in psoriasis scrotalis, in
which the skin of the scrotum, or bag containing the
testicles, is afflicted with heat, itching, tension, or tight-
ness, and appears of a red color. In cases where the
skin of the scrotum, or bag is thus affected, the above
symptoms are succeeded by a hard, thickened, brittle
texture of the skin, and by painful chaps, cracks, and
excoriations, or scalings off of the skin, not easily to
be healed by any other means than sulphuric fumiga-
tions. This remedy is also valuable in what physicians
call psoriasis inveterata: which is known by universal
gunn's domestic medicine. 595
scalings of the skin of the whole body, which becomes
harsh, dry, and much thickened. This disease com-
mences with a few irregular, though distinct patches on
the extremities; these patches next appear on different
parts of the body; and lastly, they become what is
called confluent, and spread over the whole surface of
the body. The skin is then red, deeply furrowed, and
so stiff or rigid, as to impede the movements of the
joints: and so quick is the formation or exfoliation of
the scales from the body, that the bed is frequently
found covered with them.
I have now occupied more space under this head
than I at first intended; but considering the vast impor-
tance of the sulphur bath, and its most valuable
qualities in cases where the human system has
been charged with mercury, which requires remo-
val, I think the space well and profitably occupied.
For a further description of this bath, see pages 145,
and 550, 3d volume of the Medical Recorder: the
limits of my book preventing my giving a minute detail
of this valuable remedy.
BLOOD LETTING.
Every person should not only know how to open a
vein with a lancet, but should also be acquainted with
the cautions that are necessary to be known for avoid-
ing danger; because many cases may, and do occur,
where medical assistance cannot be had in time, and
where actual loss of life occurs for want of bleeding.
To bleed in the arm, you are to apply a ribband, or
other broad ligature, an inch or two above the elbow
joiut, and to draw it so tight as to compress the veins
596 gunn's domestic medicine.
of the arm immediately under the bandage, and to fill
and swell them immediately below it. As soon as the
vein rises in which you intend to bleed, place the
thumb of your left hand about an inch below the place
you intend to pierce, or open with the lancet; and then
with your right hand, holding the lancet firmly between
your thumb and fore finger, making the incision ob-
liquely, or slanting in the vein, without changing the
direction of the lancet; because, by raising the handle,
the point of the lancet would be so much lowered as to
cut the under part of the vein, and perhaps dangerous-
ly wound an artery.
When you have drawn the quantity of blood intend-
ed, untie the ligature, or bandage, and close the orifice,
or hole. To do this properly, you must place your
thumb on the orifice, and press with a moderate force,
so as to bring its sides, or edges together. The flow-
ing of the blood will now be stopped, and you must next
apply a compress, made by twice doubling a piece of
lmen, about two inches square, and placing it between
the thumb and the orifice: over this, you are to place
another compress, or thick folding of linen, about four
inches square, so as to fill up the hollow, or bend of the
arm. When this is done, you are to confine the folds
of the linen, by passing over them, crosswise, both
above and below the elbow joint, a ribband or broad
tape, in the form of the figure eight, and to finish with
making a knot over the linen. If the bleeding should
continue, the bandages are to be taken off for a few
moments, and while the thumb of the operator is press-
ed firmly on the orifice, or hole, so as to bring its side,
or edges together; the coldest water is to be poured on
the arm, or the orifice, or hole itself washed with sharp
vinegar. If it is convenient, a piece of adhesive, or
gunn's domestic medicine 597
sticking plaster, placed over the orifice, will generally
stop the flow of blood.
To bleed in the foot, a moderately tight bandage
must be placed above the ancle joint: after which, you
are to open the fullest and largest vein with a lancet,
observing the same conduct I have laid down for vou
in bleeding in the arm. If the blood does not flow
sufficiently, you will easily remove the difficulty by
placing the foot in warm water. On removing the
bandage above the ancle, the blood will cease to flow;
and if it should not, the bandage I have described for
the arm, a piece of court, or any other sticking plaster
will generally stop it.
TOPICAL BLEEDING.
To bleed topically: that is to say, to bleed from
some particular part of the surface of the body, you
are to proceed in the following manner, if you employ
leeches:—The part is to be scarified, or slightly cut in
shallow gashes with the point of a sharp lancet, or by
a scarificator, which is an instrument with a number
of lancets, acted on by a spring. The leeches are to
be previously prepared, by allowing them to creep over
a dry cloth or by drying them. In order to attract
them, the scarified part should be moistened with a little
cream or sugar; and if the blood about the surfaee
should not induce them to fix themselves, you are to
confine them to the place by applying a wine glass over
them—they will then soon take hold.
If you bleed topically, by cupping, you are to pro-
ceed in the following manner:—You are, in the first
instance, to scarify the part in the way I have just told
you, with the point of a sharp lancet, or with a scarifi-
cator, such as I have described it to you. When this
is done, you must take a cup, and exhaust it of the at-
f,98 gunn's domestic medicine
mospheric air it contains. This is done, by burning in
and over it, some soft paper, dipt in spirits of wine, or
any other kind of proof spirits. When the flame is
nearly, or quite exhausted, and the air in the cup conse-
quently destroyed, you are to place the mouth of the
cup over the scarified part. As the cup cools, it will
stick fast, and as it were, suck the little scarifications,
or gashes, and fill itself with the blood, in place of the
air, which cannot get in. When ihe cup is full, it will
easily be removed by raising one side of it. Burning
the air, as I have told you, and applying the cup as I
have described, may be repeated as often as you may
think necessary; or dripping the cup in hot water and
immediately applying it over the scarified part, will
cause it to take hold or draw. This is the whole
secret of cupping—about which so much has been said
by medical men, and so little understood by the gener-
al community.
After bleeding in the arm, or wherever else a vein
is opened, there is sometimes a swelling of the part,
called by physicians ecchymosis. Whenever this takes
place, you must shift the position of the limb frequently,
so as to produce a free discharge of blood from the
tumor, or rising. If this will not do, you are to double
pieces of linen, dip them in brandy or other spirits, and
compress them on the tumor by bandages. If neither
of these measures will answer, the tumor or swelling,
must be opened with a lancet, the coagulated blood let
out, and the sore treated as a common wound.
There is another effect which sometimes follows
blood letting: which is an acute pain, felt on the first
introduction of the lancet, and immediately communi-
cated to the extremity of the hand or foot. Here you
must apply cloths, wrung out of sugar of lead water, to
gunn's domestic medicine. 599
the whole limb, and renew them frequently. You must
also resort to bleeding, cooling purges, and very simple
food, for the purpose of preventing inflammation. If
these measures do not answer, you are to give lauda-
num in considerable doses: and if laudanum also fails
in producing good effects, you must divide, or cut the
nerve, or tendon, which was pricked by the lancet.
Sometimes an artery is wounded in bleeding. You
will know this, by the tremulous, or pulsatory motion
with which the blood flows, and by the blood being of
a lighter and richer color than that which flows from
the veins: and besides you will be unable to stop the
blood by the usual pressure. The cure may be attempt-
ed, however, in the early stage, by compressions and
bandages, in the usual way, and by living on very low
diet: but should these fail, a surgical operation must be
performed, by taking up the ends of the artery, and
securing them with ligatures, or ties, until they re-unite,
or irrow together again, or until the circulation of the
blood can be again restored.
CLYSTERS OR CLYSTERS.
Language almost fails to express the great value
of this innocent and powerful remedy, in very many
diseases to which mankind are daily and even hourly
subject; and I most sincerely regret to say, that it is a
remedy not only too little known, but too seldom used
in the western country, both by physicians and in fami-
lies. This disregard for the great virtues of clystering,
must either arise from the supposition that the opera-
tion is too troublesome, or from a false and foolish deli-
cacy, which forbids the use of an instrument, by which
600 gunn's domestic medicine.
thousands of lives have been preserved in extremely
critical circumstances, and with which every mistress
of a family should be perfectly acquainted, «o as to be
able to administer a clyster when required in sickness.
And I do here most positively assert, and that too from
my own experience, that hundreds to whom I have
been called in cases of colic, must have died, had it
not been for the immediate relief given by clysters: I
will mention one strong instance, to prove the correct-
ness of my assertion, to which many others might be
added, if the limits of my work would permit. While
practising in the state of Virginia, I was called on at
midnight to attend a stranger, who had arrived but a
few moments before in the mail stage. The gentleman
was one of the judges of the supreme court, in the
stale of New York. He stated to me that the colic
had been coming on him, for a considerable time before
the stage stopped. By the time I arrived, his misery
was so extreme, that he repeatedly exclaimed—"I must
die, unless immediate relief be given me." After ad-
ministering all the usual remedies, which are enumerat-
ed under the head colic, without giving him much
relief, I commenced administering glysters of water
pleasantly warm; and on the first being thrown up the
bowels,he received more relief than had been produ-
ced by all other remedies I had tried. He felt an
immediate exemption from pain, and after two or three
more had been given, a copious discharge by the stool
followed, and he was entirely restored.
Glysters principally act, by exciting the lower por-
tion of the intestinal tube, and sometimes from the
effects of sympathy. In the latter cases, the discharges
are generally copious, or in other words of large quan-
tity; and to produce these full discharges by stool, you
gunn's domestic medicine. 601
are frequently to repeat the clysters of warm water, so
tempered as to be pleasant to the feelings of the patient,
and in such quantities as the bowels will bear. I have
continued to give these injections of warm water for
an hour or more in many instances, before I could
overcome or subdue spasm or colic; and in cases of
great constipation, which means that the bowels are so
bound up that the patient cannot have a stool, the wa-
ter is to be thrown up as far as possible, and the edges
of the fundament pressed together as you draw out the
pipe of the instrument, so that the clysters may be pre-
vented from returning until it has produced the intend-
ed effect. When I have had cases of the kind I have
mentioned, after throwing the warm water up the
bowels as far as possible, I have always closed the
fundament on drawing out the pipe, because without
this necessary precaution, in very many instances, the
water would return with as much rapidity as it was
thrown up with:—You will, therefore, see the necessity
of following my example, and the directions I have
just laid down; and you are in all cases of danger, to
repeat the clysters of pleasantly warm water, as often
and in such quantities as the bowels will admit.
The best method of administering glysters in extreme
cases, is first to give purgative medicines in the usual
manner, and as directed under the different complaints
mentioned in this work; and when it becomes necessary
to use glysters, to give them so as to assist the medi-
cines taken into the stomach in their operation. For
instance, when you give a purge in the usual way, you
know that it will require some time to operate: now,
if you wish to hasten the operation of this medicine,
give a glyster or two of warm water, especially in
spasm, croup, or costiveness, and you will find yourself
76
602 gunn's domestic medicine.
speedily relieved of the spasm or colic; because the
water will soften the hardened excrements in the bow-
els, and assist in bringing off any undigested food which
may have remained in them. Whenever a purgative
medicine has been given, and you in proper time ad-
minister a glyster to assist its operation, the alimentary
canal is soon completely evacuated or cleared of its
contents. I have somewhere before told you, that
there are hard lumps of excrement in the lower bow-
els, which require to be removed by the finger of the
physician, or by an instrument calculated for the pur-
pose: now, your own good sense will always teach
you, that these clysters will always soften the concre-
tions or lumps of excrement alluded to, and give you
relief by a stool.
In fevers and inflammations, any man of common
judgment must know, that glysters made of slippery
elm bark, which I have frequently directed and admin-
istered, must and will tend to cool the whole system,
allay the heat and irritation of the bowels, and greatly
assist the medicine which had been given to operate.
They will also produce a determination to the skin,
which means a gentle moisture or sweat. I have told
you that tepid or warm water always opens the bowels;
but the very reverse of this practice is sometimes re-
sorted to, in desperate circumstances, and with great
advantages, by some of the most distinguished physi-
cians. In some cases of very obstinate constipation,
the meaning of which has been sufficiently explained,
relief has frequently been obtained, when all other
remedies had failed, by a glyster of the coldest water,
even of iced water. In such extreme cases, however,
when all other means have failed, and the constipated
state of the bow els is likely to prove fatal, the last
gunn's domestic medicine. 603
resort :;, and you are only to adopt it in such cases, to
dissolve from twenty to sixty grains of the emetic tartar
in water, and give it as a glyster: ipecacuanha may be
used in place of emetic tartar, and is sometimes prefer-
red for safety. In the numerous cases of constipation
and colic to which I have been called, and some of
them very dangerous ones,I have never been compelled
to use mere than twenty grains of emetic tartar in the
clysters I have mentioned: and even when this quantity
is to be used, it ought to be administered under the
direction of a physician, and never but in extreme
cases, and as the last alternative. I shall here mention
a remedy for the colic, which has lately been discovered,
and which h said to give immediate relief. Give by
the mouth, fifteen grains of calomel and two grains of
tartar emetic, which you are to mix in honey, molasses,
or any kind of syrup.
In common cases of constipation, when the bowels
are not easily moved so as to produce a stool: or in
colic, arising from indigestion, or from having taken
some improper food into the stomach, or from having
gone some time without a passage, if you wish to has-
ten the operation of a purge, or if the stomach is too
weak to bear one, all that is required is a simple laxa-
tive glyster, made of two table-spoonsful of castor oil,
or sweet oil, mixed with the same quantity of molasses,
and put into about a pint of pleasantly warm water, to
which you may add a table-spoonful of common salt, if
you wish the clyster somewhat stimulating. This is a
simple and innocent clyster, requiring nothing for its
administration but the instrument for injecting it into
the bowels, which will hereafter be described, with the
method of making clysters, either simple or more active
as the complaint may require.
604 gunn's domestic medicine.
Glysters are frequently used in dysentary or flux, to
soothe and quiet the bowels, relieve the pain, and re-
strain the too great frequency of the stools. In these
cases, the clysters are to be mixed with some laudanum,
and some mucilage, such as slippery elm tea. I have
mentioned these things under their proper heads, and
in such complaints, as require their use:—see colic,
page 200—cholera morbus, page 203—and dysentery,
page 256, together with many other cases in which
glysters are recommended.
There are many persons, both men and women, who
are constitutionally subject to costiveness: by which I
mean, being bound in their bowels so that they cannot
have their regular stools. This costiveness arises from
a variety of causes; such as diseased liver, indigestion,
torpor of the bowels, and from improper food being
taken into the stomach and bowels, and always produce
spasms or colic pains; for remember this, that whenev-
er your stomach and bowels are disordered, you will
become costive, your head will be confused and other-
wise distressed, your spirits will become low and dejec-
ted, and the wdiole train of hypochondriacal feelings
and sensations will haunt you. All these last symp-
toms can easily be relieved by a simple glyster, made
of equal quantities of milk and water, and thrown up
the bowels; for by this your bowels will be relieved of
their load, which always produces irritation, and your
mind and feelings soon experience an agreeable change.
You, who are always taking medicines to keep your
bowels open, an 3 whose stomachs are becoming ex-
hausted and worn out by medical drugs, let me advise
and entreat you, as a friend and physician, who has
witnessed throughout France, the great and surprising
benefits arising from this simple operation, to abandon
gunn's domestic medicine. 605
the idea of constantly taking medicines. Your good
sense must teach you, if you will give yourselves time
for reflection, thatthey must and will eventually destroy
the coats of the stomach, and vitally impair its powers;
and that when you do really require medicines to sub-
due the disease, your system will have become so
habituated to them as to require tremendous doses; or
so completely worn down by their constant use, as to
produce no effect. In France, there is scarcely a fami-
ly unprovided wtith an instrument for glystering, which
is alwavs used when there is the slightest obstruction
or costiveness of the bowels. These people mostly use
a simple clyster of milk and water, and sometimes
water alone; in summer they use cold water, and in
winter, water pleasantly warm. It is to the warm bath
and to the common use of clysters, that are to be attri-
buted in n great degree, the cheerful dispositions, the
uniform health, and the practical philosophy with which
these people bear the hardships and misfortunes of life;
in fact, if you take from a French physician the warm
bath, and the glyster pipe, he cannot practice medicine
with any kind of success.—The importance of glysters,
both in the hands of physicians and families, has be-
come so well known, and is now so highly valued, as to
call forth the commendations of the most eminent phy
sicians of both Europe and America.
The old plan of administering glysters, was by an
assistant; it was both inconvenient and indelicate, and
has been measurably superseded, except in cases of
infancy and extreme weakness, by a new and valuable
invention, called a self pipe. The common method of
using the old-glyster pipe, is as follows:—You are to
take a beef or bog's bladder, which has been blown up
and suffered to get dry; and after inserting or fastening
606 GUNN'S DOMESTIC' MEDICINE.
a short hollow reed or quill in it, cut off at both ends
of the barrel, you are to put the glyster itself into
the bladder. The end of the reed or quill, or of the
glyster pipe of the shop, if you use one, is now to be
covered with some oil or lard, and gently put up the
fundament about an inch, by an assistant, and the sides
of the bladder squeezed together gradually, so as to
throw7 its contents as far as possible up the bowels, but
a full description of the particular mode of glystering
in this way, will be given in the sequel, or conclusion.
The new invention consists of a pewter syringe or
pipe, called a self pipe; the meaning of which, is, a
pipe that can be used without an assistant. It is so
constructed as to be used by yourself, or by an assis-
tant, if you are so weak as to require one. The pew-
ter syringe holds nearly a quart, and by a screw a long
pipe is connected to the syringe, which holds the glyster
itself. All that is required, is to put the small tube
into the fundament, and gradually to bear on the han-
dle of the syringe, which, as you bear down steadily,
throws the glyster up the bowels. The force with
which the glyster is thrown up the bowels, depends on
the pressure of the handle of the pipe. You are to
recollect that the force, unless it be very gentle and
steady, is neyer to be used; all you have to do, is to
press gradually on the handle of the syringe, by which
you will feel the distention of the bowels as the glyster
is thrown up. When a glyster is to be tlirown up by
an assistant, the long pipe or tube i* to be unscrewed,
and a shorter one, made for the purpose, screwed on,
which is to be used as a common squirt, on which
principle it acts. One of these pipes may be purchased
at any drug shop, for about two dollars; and I trust
from the great advantages to be derived from this val-
gu.nn's DOMirnie medicine. 607
uable instrument, which in very many instances has
even saved life, that no family in this country will long
be without one. I shall now staie the manner of ad-
ministering a glyster, in such a way that it may be
understood by any person possessed of the least judg-
ment.
In giving a clyster by an assistant, the patient is to
be laid on the edge of the bed, with the bottom a little
over the edge, and the knees drawn up near the belly.
The clyster pipe is then to be taken, the finger placed
before it to keep in the contents, and applied to the
fundament. On pushing in the pipe, the finger is to be
taken away. The pipe is to be pushed up very gently,
the operator's hand near the thighs, a little backwards,
towards the backbone, and then the contents arc to be
forced out, by gently pushing the handle of the syringe
with one hand, while with the other the syringe is firm-
ly held; or if a bladder and pipe are used there is
nothing to do but to introduce the pipe to the funda-
ment as just described, and to gradually and gently
squeeze the bladder, so as to empty the contents into
the bowels. Glystoring is one of the most powerful,
innocent, mild and beneficial remedies known in the
science and practice of medicine.
FRICTION.
Friction, in medicine, means the act of rubbing a
diseased part with a soft brush, a coarse linen cloth, or
with flannel, or by rubbing in the body or diseased
parts, oils, unguents, and other matters in order to ease,
relieve, and cure them. This exercise or rubbing, con-
tributes remarkably to the health, particularly of seden-
60S gunn's domestic medicine.
tary persons; for it excites and kindles the natural
warmth, diverts defluctions, promotes perspiration,
opens the pores, and tends to dissipate stagnant humors:
This operation is also particularly beneficial to the
nervous, debilitated and studious—being a useful sub-
stitute for other exercises. Hence I recommend to
such individuals to spend half an hour every morning
and evening in rubbing their whole bodies, especially
theirlimbs, with the brush or flannel. It ought, however,
to be observed, that this practice will be of the greatest
service when the stomach and bowels are empty.
Lastly, I venture to assert, that the most important
purposes to which friction may be rendered subservient
in the animal economy, have hitherto been almost
entirely neglected: I am convinced from experience,
that medicated frictions, or the introduction of the most
active medicines into the human system, by rubbing
them in properly on the surface of the body, is attended
with the most happy effects, especially in all chronic
diseases. Common sense appears to have long since
pointed out this excellent method of administering
medicines, even to the Indian savages, though it is little
practised in the United States, where the stomach is
doomed to be the field of battle, for deciding commo-
tions and irregularities in our complicated frames. But
who is hardy enough to maintain, that the digestive
organ was by nature destined to become the exclusive
vehicle of drugs, and to serve as their common labo-
ratory?
gunn's domestic medicine. 609
ISSUES.
Issues are small ulcers or sores, formed by artificial
means, in various parts of the body, for the purpose of
procuring discharges of matter, considered beneficial in
many diseases. They were formerly considered merely
as drains, to carry off noxious or foul humors from the
blood, and were therefore opened as near the affected
part as practicable. But, as it is now well known that
they produce benefit, as well by sympathy as by acting
as a drain, thev are usually placed where they will be
the least dangerous and inconvenient. The most prop-
er parts to place them in, are between the ribs, on either
side of the back bone, in the hollow above the inner
side of the knee, in the outer and fore part of the
shoulder, in the nape of the neck; in fact, wherever
there is cellular substance enough for the entire protec-
tion of the parts underneath. They must never be
placed near any blood vessel of a large size, nor over
a tendon, or thinly covered bone, noroverwhat is called
the belly of a muscle. There are three kinds of them;
the seton or cord, the pea or pepper issue, and the
blister issue.
When you take off a blister, and wish to convert the
sore into an issue, a discharge of matter can easily be
kept up for any length of time, by dressing the part
once a day with any ointment mixed with a little
powdered Spanish flies. If the discharge is too small,
put a little more of the Spanish flies into it; and if too
large, put a little less into the ointment, or desist from
using the ointment for a few days, until the discharge
be sufficiently diminished. This is called the blister
issue.
When you want what is called the pea or pepper
issue, you must make an incision, or cut with a lancet,
77
610 gunn's domestic medicine.
large enough to admit one or more peas or grains of
pepper, or any thing else that will keep the sore run-
ning. When this opening is made with a lancet, or
any other sharp instrument, the skin must be pressed
or pinched up together, and the cut made of sufficient
size to admit the substance to be put into it. The em-
ployment of caustic, however, is the best mode of open-
ing an issue: this caustic is the lipis infernalis of the
drug shops. The caustic must be made into a kind of
paste, with a little soft soap or water. You are then to
put on an adhesive or sticking plaster, with a hole in
the middle of it; and in this hole, on the skin, you are
to spread the caustic paste, and cover it with another
sticking plaster, to keep the paste from spreading. In
four days the place will become sore, and separate so
as to admit whatever you may choose to place in it, for
the purpose of keeping it running.
The seton, or cord issue, is always made when a
large quantity of matter is required to be discharged;
it is frequently put in the back of the neck, for diseases
of the head and eyes, and between the ribs for com-
plaints of the breast. The cord which is to be intro-
duced, ought to be of cotton and silk threads, either
not twisted together, or very loosely twisted. A part
of the cord .must then be besmeared and smoothed with
some kind of ointment, and passed through the skin
and part of the flesh, leaving a few inches of the cord
hanging out on each side, to be moved backward every
day, for the purpose of keeping it running.
DISPENSATORY,
OR CLASSIFICATION OF MEDICINES.
The medicines required for common and useful
purposes, are very few in number, compared with the
hundreds you see displayed in doctor's shops for mere
show, or because they possess some simple and innocent
virtues. I assert it without fear of contradiction, that
more than one half of the medicines now in use, could
be very easily dispensed with, and not the least incon-
venience be felt for the want of them. When you see
an extensive drug store, filled with drugs, tinctures,
essences, &c. &c. &c, it always ought to remind you
of a dinner table, covered with many unnecessary
dishes, where two of the substantial ones, properly
cooked, would answer the same purpose. This hint
will be sufficient to apprise you, that there are many
different medicines which produce the same effects on
the human system, and consequendy that there are a
great many which are absolutely useless: and the
choice of which, even by physicians, depends not so
much on the characteristics or n tture of the diseases,
as on the particular caprice or partiality of the physi-
cian himself.
Under the head of each disease, I have mentioned
the principal medicines now in use to effect the cure,
and also those which are held in the highest estimation
by the most distinguished medical men. But, as the
classification of several that may be useful to those who
have but a limited range of selection, I shall proceed
to classify and describe them as minutely as my limits
will admit.
612 gunn's domestic medicine.
You will recollect that when you are in the habit of
taking medicine often, or any particular medicine fre-
quently, your system will become so habituated to the
effects, that large and more increased doses will be
required to produce the usual effects. This doctrine is
proved to you, by those who have long been accustom-
ed to the use of opium, spirits, or even tobacco. Man
is the creature of habit, and can easily bring his system
to bear, by slow degrees, medical drugs which would
in the first instance produce death. By this rule, you
are to remember, that in giving medicine, you are to
vary it in larger or smaller doses, according to the
strength or weakness of the patient, as your good sense
and discretion may dictate. What would at times act
only as a good purge, would in other cases, and where
the patient is weakly and delicate, be productive of
fatal consequences. Therefore, always take the consti-
tution, the state or condition of the person, and the
particular character of the disease into consideration,
before you administer medicine.
EMETICS OR PUKES.
These are medicines which, on being received into
the stomach produce vomiting or puking. They are
called emetics by physicians, and are given in a great
variety of cases, which you will see enumerated in the
body of this work. Their operation will always be
increased, and rendered much easier by drinking milk
or blood warm water in considerable quantities, after
the first operation.
Ipecacuanha.—This is the mildest of pukes; the
dose for a grown person is from fifteen to twenty grains,
gunn's domestic medicine. 613
dissolved in warm water; say, five or six spoonsful;
give one spoonful every ten minutes until it operates.
Tarter Emetic.—This is my favorite puke. You
will always find it of superior efficacy in bilious fevers
It is the most generally used by physicians in producing
full and copious vomiting or puking. A dose for a
grown person is from five to six grains, which you are
to dissolve in five or six table-spoonsful of warm water,
and one table-spoonful of which you are to take every
ten minutes, until it operates.
Antimonial Wine.—This is nothing more than tar-
tar emetic dissolved in wine. This dose is two or three
tea-spoonsful, given every ten or fifteen minutes, until it
operates. Antimonial wine is made as follows:—just
dissolve forty grains of emetic tartar, in a large wine
glass of warm water, which is about two ounces of
water. After the emetic tartar is dissolved add to this
water about half a pint of Teneriffe wine: after stand-
ing a few hours it will be fit for use.
In cases where an emetic or puke is necessary for
children, antimonial wine is nearly always given to
them, and that too at a very early age. I have never
hesitated, when necessary, to give it to children when
first born, to relieve difficult respiration or breathing,
where there was an accumulation of phlegm. The
dose in such cases, ought not to be more than one or
two drops; this medicine, however, is much oftener
given to children of more advanced age. At any peri-
od under one year of age, and over four months the
dose when intended to produce vomiting, is from five
to ten drops, according to the necessities of the case,
which is to be repeated at short intervals of time, until
the effect is produced. But, in the dangerous disease
called croup, and I wish you particularly to recollect
614 gunn's domestic medicine
this, a larger quantity of the antimonial wine should
be given, because there is in this disease a great insen-
sibility to the operation of emetics. In an attack of
croup, therefore, you need not be afraid to give a child
six months old, from twenty-five to thirty drops, every
fifteen minutes.
White Vitriol.—Of all the emetics or pukes known
in medicine, this is the quickest in its operation, and
ought always to be given in cases which require an
immediate evacuation of the stomach: these cases are
generally those in which poisons have been swallowed.
The dose is from twenty to thirty grains, in a cup of
warm water: this medicine is called by physicians std-
phate of zinc.
The connection of the stomach With every part of
the body, and the great power it exercises over all por-
tions of the system, and particularly over the brain,
have been fully explained to you: the fact is, as I have
before stated, that I consider the brain as the father,
and the stomach as the mother of the system. In con-
sequence of the very close connexion between the
stomach and head, emetics or pukes act as powerful
and valuable remedies, in all diseases connected with
the brain and its dependencies. They not only relieve
the stomach, by discharging its acrid, vitiated, and
sometimes oppressive contents; but they, at the same
time, promote the secretion and evacuation of bile.
They also, and that powerfully, promote a determina-
tion to the surface, by which I mean perspiration or
sweating: the fact is, that a moisture can be produced
on the skin, either by vomiting or puking, or by the
mere nausea or sickness of the stomach, arising from
emetics given in proper doses. I have not space here,
to enumerate all the advantages arising from emetics;
gunn's domestic medicine 615
they will be found under the different heads of diseases,
as treated in this work.
I will now give you some directions, as to the admin-
istration of emetics, in particular cases and states of the
system. If the person to whom you wish to give a
puke, is of a full and fat habit of body, with a short
neck, a great determination of blood to the head, you
should draw some blood from the arm before giving the
puke. By doing this, you will render the puking easy
and copious, and prevent all danger of appoplexy from
too great a determination of blood to the head of the
patient. Doctor Chipman, one of the professors of
the Medical School of Philadelphia, states explicitly,
and in strong terms, that many lives have been endan-
gered, and some actually sacrificed, for want of this
necessary precaution of bleeding. In all cases where
the necessity of a puke is urgent, and especially where
poisons have been swallowed, give a full dose of emetic
medicine at once; but in common cases, you may give
an emetic in broken doses, as I have directed: this will
prevent too great violence in the operation.
You should, if convenient, always give an emetic on •
an empty stomach, and in the morning; because at this
time, it will always act with greater certainty and effect,
and with much less distress to the patient. When you
find that an emetic acts too severely, and you wish to
check the operation, give from twenty to thirty drops of
laudanum in a little toddy, and apply cloths wrung out
of warm water to the pit of the stomach: or you may
apply stewed garden mint to the stomach; or drink thin
chicken soup, with some salt in it, so as to turn the oper-
ation downward. If these measures fail, give a glyster,
in which you are to put double the quantity of lauda-
num usually given by the mouth; and if this also fails
616 gunn's domestic medicine.
put a large blister over the pit of the stomach, and
poultices to the feet, made of pounded mustard seed,
corn meal, and vinegar. The quantity of laudanum I
have mentioned, has reference to grown persons, and
not to children. In all cases consult the table .of med-
icines.
ACTIVE PURGATIVES.
These are such medicines as purge freely. When
you use them with the intention that they shall act
mildly on the bowels, and only keep them gently open,
they are called laxatives by physicians: the medicines
are usually mixed with honey, molasses, or any kind of
syrup that is convenient; their operation is always pro-
moted by mild drinks, such as thin gruel pleasantly
warm, or any kind of warm tea. If at any time you
take a purgative medicine, such as calomel, for in-
stance, and it should not operate in due time, it will
always be proper to assist the operation by some one
of the laxative medicines.
Calomel.—A purgative; the dose for a grown person
is from fifteen to twenty grains—and I now again, for
the last time, tell you, that small doses of this medicine
act more unkindly than large ones. In a reasonable
dose, calomel will work off without assistance, while
in a small dose, it is liable to remain in the system, if
not removed by the assistance of laxative medicines.
I am now speaking of the calomel when given with
the intention of purging.
Calomel and jalap: purgative; ten grains of each,
mixed with honey, molasses, or any kind of syrup, is a
dose for a grown person. This valuable preparation
gunn's domestic medicine. 617
was a favorite with the celebrated Doctor Rush; he
generally gave it in fevers—it both purges and sweats
freely. Twenty grains of each, mixed as above, is a
dose for a grown person.
Calomel and gamboge: purgative; ten grains of
calomel, and three grains of gamboge, mixed with
honey, molasses, or any kind of syrup, is a dose for a
grown person: it is a valuable and active purge given
in bilious fevers.
Lee's anti-bilious pills: purgative; they are made
of five grains of calomel, ten grains of ja'ap, two
grains of gamboge, and half a grain of tartar emetic.
This is a valuable preparation, and very easily made;
and the information I have given will enable you to
prepare these pills yourself, and always to have them
fresh for use. Those obtained from the stores are gen-
erally old, hard and dry, and do not. operate as if fresh
and newly made.
Cook's pills: a valuable purge, particularly when
the liver is diseased, and in female complaints, where
obstructions and irregularities take place in the month-
ly discharges. These pills are made with equal quan-
tities of rhubarb, aloes and calomel, ground fine, well
mixed together, and made into pills of a common size
with a little honey or syrup. A dose of these pills for
a grown person consists of three or four of them,
which operates freely as a purge. These pills may be
frequently taken, until the desired effect is produced.
Salts, senna, and manna: purgative; take of each
of these articles half an ounce, and put them into a
pint of hot water: after which you are to cover the
vessel in which you make the preparation. For a
grown person, take of this a tea-cupful every hour until
it operates freely.
78
618 gunn's domestic medicine.
Salts and taAar emetic: purgative; to a common
dose of salts, add one grain of emetic tartar—this is a
very valuable purge to remove bile.
May apple, jalap, rhubarb: purgatives; the roots
of these plants, act, in doses from thirty to fifty grains
each, taken separately, as an effective purge. If either
of these roots are given with calomel, the dose should
be from five to ten, or fifteen grains of calomel, mixed
with about twenty grains of the May apple, jalap, or
rhubarb well pounded.
LAXATIVES.
These are medicines which gently open the bowels.
Castor Oil, an innocent and valuable medicine; the
dose for a grown person, is from two to three table-
spoonsful. The most agreeable way of taking this
laxative oil, is in coffee, or a little spirits of any kind.
Sweet Oil—generally called olive oil. It acts on the
bowels the same as castor oil. The dose for a grown
person is from two to three table-spoonsful: like castor
oil, you may take it in a little spirits or coffee.
Charcoal in powder.—This is one of the most val-
uable and innocent medicines we possess, particularly
for persons laboring under dyspepsia or indigestion.
To persons of a costive habit of body, the use of
pounded charcoal is invaluable, from its always keep-
ing the bowels open and regular. The dose for a
grown person is one table-spoonful, mixed with honey,
milk, or cold water. The preparation of charcoal as
a medicine is very simple. It consists in merely burn-
ing the charcoal used by smiths, over again: to do
which, you are to place it in an iron vessel, and expose
gunn's domestic medicine. 619
it to a hot fire until it becomes of a red heat; then
suffer it too cool, pound it very fine, and put it in a dry
bottle, which is to be tightly corked. This is the whole
secret of preparing charcoal for medical purposes. It
is an excellent medicine in all depraved conditions of
the stomach, and it will also check the violent vomitings
or puking which accompany bilious and yellow fevers;
and I will now disclose to you a secret respecting the
use of charcoal, which is probably unknown to the
physicians of the United States. Whilst I was at Ha-
vanna, a city in the island of Cuba, I discovered the
secret, by which the Spanish physicians check and re-
lieve the approaching symptoms of black vomit in yel-
low fever: the medicinal preparation is charcoal and
oil of turpentine mixed; but I could never ascertain the
quantity of each. This matter, however, can easily be
ascertained by experiment,
Magnesia, calcined.—Two tea-spoonsful of this
medicine is a dose for a grown person; it must be taken
in half a tumbler of cold water. If you take uncalcined •
magnesia, a table-spoonful will be required as a dose
This medicine corrects acidity of the stomach, and
gently opens the bowels. It is also well adapted to
women in a family way, and to persons afflicted with
dyspepsia or indigestion. A dose taken at bed time,
will generally afford to dyspeptic persons a pleasant
night's rest, by aiding the digestive powers.
Cream of Tartar.—This is a cooling and innocent
laxative medicine, and is remarkably well adapted to
the warm season, It may be taken in cold water sweet-
ened with sugar. The dose for a grown person, is a
table-spoonful, in a tumbler of water.
Manna.—Tins is a most innocent laxative medicine
made use of in the practice of physic. On account of
620 gunn's domestic medicine.
its extreme mildness in operation, it is better adapted to
infants than any purgative known. Used as a laxative,
it is seldom given to grown persons alone, but generally
combined or mixed with senna: the compound is called
senna and manna. If the manna be given alone, the
dose for a grown person is from one to two ounces, dis-
solved in hot water. If you give it combined with
senna, half an ounce of manna, with the same quantity
of senna made into a tea, with about a pint of boiling
water, is the dose for a grown person. [See the heads
senna and manna, in the index.]
Flour of Sulphur,—This is nothing but brimstone,
purified and powdered very fine. From one tea-spoon-
ful to ten, or about the same quantity given in broken
doses, three times a day, will moderately purge a grown
person.
Whenever any of the above purgative or laxative
medicines purge too much, and the patient is becoming
wreak, if you wish to check the operation, you are to
give a dose of laadanum, from twrenly to thirty drops;
or you may give a glyster, in which you are to put
double the quantity of laudanum taken by the mouth,
and at the same time apply hot cloths, wrung out of
boiling water, as warm as they can be borne, to the
stomach of the patient: either of these measures will
stop the operation of these medicines.
In some cases, from the bowels being torpid, medi-
cines of a purgative nature will not produce a passage.
In such cases, you are to wait a reasonable time for
their operation; if they do not operate, you ar« to give
glysters. [For instructions, see head glysters. in index.]
If these means fail, as they sometimes do, instead of
giving heavy doses of medicines by the mouth, give
glysters of warm water, and at the same time pour the
gunn's domestic medicine. 651
coldest water over the belly of the patients. Sailors,
when at sea, and when they have no medicine on board,
frequently relieve themselves from costiveness of the
bowels by merely lying with their bellies over the butt
of the cannon, the coldness of which seldom fails to pro-
duce a strong disposition to stool. In severe constipa-
tion of the bowels, when the common remedies fail to
procure a passage or stool, give a mixture of castor oil
and oil of turpentine, of each half an ounce at one
dose—and if it does not operate in due time you are
to repeat the same. This powerful and valuable dis-
covery has been lately used with great success in the
city of New York.
STIMULANTS.
Stimulants are medicines which excite the whole
system into action; the best of which are, our common
spirituous liquors, intended by Divine Providence as
medicines, but which we abuse in their employment as
luxuries of daily use, by which they are converted into
poisons, pregnant with deadly mischief; destroying the
reasoning faculties, and entailing upon the unfortunate
devotee, a train of corporeal afflictions which infallibly
eventuate in his premature dissolution. They are,
therefore, to be regarded, rather than a blessing, as a
curse upon posterity and a nation. It is a fact certainly
known to those who are in the habit of constantly using
stimulants, that they require to be frequently adminis-
tered or else they lose their power; that when the
system has, for any length of time, been accustomed to
those stimulants, it is necessary gradually to increase
tiie quantity, to produce the same action upon the sys-
622 gunn's domestic medicine.
tern which was excited by their early or first use. The
stimulants generally considered medicinal, or used in
medicine, are as follows: M
Sulphuric Ether.—This is a valuable stimulant in
cases of great debility or weakness, in hysterical cases,
in cramp of the stomach, in checking vomiting or
puking, in allaying sea-sickness, and discharging wind
from the stomach. Externally applied to the head, it
will greatly assist in relieving head-ache. Ether is to
be kept well corked, or it will lose its strength; and
when it is taken, it must be drank as quick as possible
after it is mixed with water, or it will lose the power or
effect it is intended to produce.—Dose, from one to
three tea-spoonsful, mixed in a stem or wine glass of
cold water.
Spirits of Hartshorn.—This is a strong and active
stimulant; it is generally used in hysterical complaints,
and nervous head-ache, and is also a valuable remedy
in dyspepsia. Seepage 133. By the alkaline proper-
ty which it possesses, it neutralizes acid in the stomach,
at the same time communicating strength to that organ.
In all extreme cases of debility of the stomach, attend-
ed with vomiting and spasms, as is frequently the case
with habitual drunkards, hartshorn will be found a most
valuable remedy.—It will relieve the sting of the bee,
wasp, and other insects, by keeping the wounded part
wet with it.—Dose from one to two tea-spoonsful.
Opium, and the preparation made from opium called
laudanum, when given in small doses, act as stimu-
lants—when given in larger doses, produce sleep and
relieve pain. For a full description of both these
articles, see head in index, and for doses, see table of
medicines.
gunn's domestic medicine. 623
Spirit or Oil of Turpentine, when taken internally,
is one of the most active and diffusible stimulants, per-
vading the whole extent of the system, but with greater
force to certain parts; and in cases where the bowels are
obstinately constipated or bound; in puerperal, or child-
bed fever, and in epileptic fits, particularly where these
complaints are brought on by worms, it also acts as an
evacuant or purge. The dose is from three to four tea-
spoonsful alone, or with a small portion of water.
Spirit of Lavender.—This is a mild and pleasant
stimulant, and is generally administered to females in
hysterical affections. When mixed with sulphuric
ether in equal quantities, it is valuable in debility, or
weakness of the system. The dose of lavender alone
is three tea-spoonsful.
There is nothing more difficult in the practice of
medicine, than to determine when it is proper to pre-
scribe stimulants: nor is it possible for me here to point
out to you the exact time, or to give further light on
the subject than in advising you to be guided by the
state of the system; and avoid their application during
fever, as they invariably increase it; and never pre-
scribe them in any case, until proper evacuations have
been made. It is only in the protracted and feeble
stage of diseases, that they can be resorted to with any
hope of advantage. By watching their operation, you
can readily perceive by the absence or presence of the
following symptoms, whether their administration is
proper or not: pain in the head; delirious wanderings,
or in other words, the patient talks wildly; great watch-
fulness; stricture, or tightness of the breast; restless-
ness and anxiety, with a hot, dry skin, parched tongue,
and a quick, small, and corded pulse. Upon the
624 gunn's domestic medicine.
appearance of any, or all of the above symptoms, you
are immediately to desist in the use of stimulants.
ANODYNES.
Anodynes are those medicines which ease pain and
procure sleep.
Opium, in doses of from two to five grains. See
table of medicines; arid also for a full description of
opium, see that head.
Laudanum, made by dissolving an ounce of opium
in a pint of good spirits of any kind—it is generally fit
for use in five or six days. Fifty drops of laudanum
are equal to two grains of opium. For doses of this,
or any other medicine, refer to the table of medicines.
Paregoric, made by adding half a drachm of opium
—or one once of laudanum to a pint of spirit of any
kind, and mixing with them half a drachm of flowers
of benzoin, the same quantity of the oil of anise-seed,
and one scruple of camphor. The dose is three or
four tea-spoonsful. For the different ages refer to the
table of medicines.
ANTI-SPASMODICS.
Anti-spasmobics are medicines winch are given to
remove spasms or cramps, and generally used by phy-
sicians for this purpose.
Opium or Laudanum, in doses depending on the
extreme urgency or danger of the case.
gunn's domestic medicine. 625
Hot Toddy, made with spirits, hot water, and sweet-
ened with sugar.
Sulphuric Ether, dose from two tea-spoonsful to a
table-spoonful, in half a cup of cold water.
Asafmtida, a lump^ weighing from eight to ten, or
even twenty grains; or if you use the tincture, which is
nothing more than asafoetida steeped in whiskey as
follows:—take of asafoetida two ounces, and put it in
a pint of old whiskey, or good spirits of any kind; let
it stand for ten days, and the tincture is ready for use.
Dose from one tea-spoonful to four, mixed in a little
cold water.
Essence of Peppermint, given in a large dose,
mixed with hot toddy.
The best means for removing spasm, are the warm
bath—see page 156—bleeding freely, and applying
cloths wrung out of hot water, or hot salt to the skin,
over the part where cramp or spasm is seated.
TONICS.
Medicines which increase the tone of the muscular
fibres, and thereby strengthen the whole body.
Peruvian Bark.—This bark is obtained from South
America: there are three kinds—the red, the yellow
and the pale. The red bark when pure, is the best.—
It has, however, been ascertained that the medicinal
properties of our common dogwood, are equal, if not
superior, to the imported bark.
The dose, in substance, of the Peruvian bark, is from
two to four tea-spoonsful, in a stem or wine glass of
water, taken every three or four hours, when there is
no fever. If it should disagree with the stomach, it
79
623 gunn's domestic medicine
may be given in decoction, by giving an ounce of the
bark in a quart of hot water, to which add a little Vir-
ginia snake root, frequently called black snake root, to
which add a small portion of cinnamon or ginger.—
When it becomes cold, you are to mix with it half a
pint of the best Madeira or Teneriffe wine.—Dose a
stem or wine glassful every two or three hours.
Dogwood Bark, Wild Cherry-tree Bark, pound-
ed fine and taken in doses of thirty or forty grains, are
equal to the Peruvian bark. I have been in the habit
of using in my practice equal quantities of the barks
of dogwood, wild cherry and poplar, (I allude to the
poplar of the forest of which our boats are made,)
these three barks steeped in good spirits of any kind,
and administered in moderate doses, say three or four
times a day is superior in its tonic effects to any medi-
cines I have ever used. The bark of the poplar is one
of the most valuable medicines we possess; I can assert
from experience, that there is not in all the materia
medica, a more valuable and certain remedy for the
dyspepsia or indigestion, than poplar bark. In hysteri-
cal complaints, this bark, combined with a small quan-
tity of laudanum, is a valuable remedy. In worms it
has been prescribed to a child when convulsions or fits
had taken place; after taking a few doses several dead
worms were discharged with the stools. The dose of
the powder, to a grown person, is from twenty grains to
two drachms; or the bark may be used in tincture:
that is steeped in spirits, or as a tea: its virtues are al-
ways greatest when given in substance or powder.
Columbo Root is a mild, but powerful tonic, com-
municating vigor to the stomach: when properly ad-
ministered, it does not produce stricture, nausea, or in
other words, sickness of the stomach, and oppression;
gunn's domestic medicine. 627
and is well adapted to dyspeptics, or those persons la-
boring under indigestion; for the stomach will bear
this substance with advantage, while most other tonics
produce disagreeable symptoms.—This medicine will
also restrain, or stop, vomiting, or puking;—it is fre-
quently substituted for Peruvian bark, in consequence
of its milder action on the system. Dose from ten,
twenty, to thirty grains of the powder, in half a tea-
cupful of milk or cold water, three times a day. In
dyspeptic cases, or enfeebled digestion, small doses an-
swer better than large ones. The tincture is a useful
form of administering this medicine, which is prepared
as follows:—Take of Columbo root three ounces,
bruise it with a hammer; put it in a quart of good
spirits of any kind, or good wine, let it stand five days,
shaking it frequently, then strain it, and it is fit for use;
it should be taken occasionally through the day, as
pleasantly prepared as the stomach is capable of re-
ceiving it.
Nitric Acid.—Read diseases of the Liver, where
you will find a full description of this medicine.
It is a most powerful tonic, particularly in chronic
affections of the liver, and where the constitution has
been much injured by the use of mercurv, or venereal
diseases. The best method of taking it is, to make
a quart of cold water pleasantly sour with the medi-
cine, and add to it sugar or any kind of syrup, which
renders it agreeable to the taste, when it may be drank
through the day in such quantities as the stomach will
bear. In taking this medicine, however, it is best to
take it through a quill, as the acid is apt to injure the
teeth.
Gentian Root.—This makes a strong and valuable
bitter, and is much u*ed in weakness of the stomach
628 gunn's domestic medicine.
and to increase the appetite. Take two ounces of
Gentian root, one ounce of orange peel, and half an
ounce of canella alba, put them in a quart of good spir-
it of any kind, or good Madeira or Teneriffe wine: af-
ter eight or ten days, shaking it frequently so as to ex
tract their strength, it then yields a pleasant and health-
ful bitter, and may be used at pleasure, or as the stom-
ach may require it.
Virginia Snake Root, sometimes called black snake
root, wormwood, tansey, camomile flowers, horehound
wild centaury commonly called centry, and hops; all
of which yield a pleasant and innocent bitter when
made strong, by boiling, and then adding to the tea an
equal quantity of spirit: or as a tincture by steeping
them for several days in good spirit of any kind: these
articles may be used separately or mixed together, as
you may have it in your power to procure them.
Elixir Vitriol—It is a very pleasant and useful
tonic; it restores and strengthens the appetite, and gives
tone to the digestive organs, and restrains those sweats
which frequently occur after severe fevers called bv
medical men colliquative sweats, which means those
sweats which melt down, as it were, the strength of the
body. Elixir Vitriol is one of our most popular and
highly esteemed medicines, for restraining hemorrh-
age, which means flooding from the uterus or womb
and in haemoptysis, which means spitting of blood.__
The dose is from fifteen to twenty drops, every two
or three hours, mixed in a stem or wine glass of cold
water, or in as much water as will make it pleasantly
sour.
Iron in its operation on the system, evinces all the
effects of a powerful and permanent tonic; no medi-
cine, perhaps, leaving behind it such lasting impressions.
gunn's domestic medicine 629
It increases the activity and volume of the pulse, cor-
rects the state of the blood and secretions, and invig-
orates or strengthens the whole system. The numer-
ous advantages arising from the use of iron as a medi-
cine, are embraced within the sphere of chronic debil-
ity.
The chalybeate waters of which the western country
abounds, are springs impregnated w7ith iron, and are
found upon almosi every branch and creek. The wa-
ter of these valuable springs should be used by persons
laboring under the following complaints: Chlorosis,
which means green sickness [see that head,] in hypo-
chondriasis, commonly called vapors, or low spirits: in
hysterical affections; the whites, a disease to which
women are subject, [see that head;] paralysis, or palsy,
[see that head;] in scrofula, or king's evil; [see thai
head.] I have now enumerated the various cases in
which the chalybeate waters are beneficial, as well as
the principal complaints in which iron is employed.—
When this medicine is used in substance, it is generally
obtained at the apothecary, or doctor's shops, in the
form of rust of iron, and given in doses of five or ten
grains, three times a day, mixed in syrup of any kind.
By putting a few grains of rust of iron in a bottle filled
with common soda water, it makes as valuable a chal-
ybeate drink as the water of any of the springs which
are impregnated with iron. I again, for the last time,
tell you that tonics must not be given when they pro-
duce fever.
630 gunn's domestic medicine.
SUDORIFICS.
Sudorifics are medicines which produce free and
copious sweating. Diaphoretics are those which occa-
sion only gentle perspiration, or moisture of the skin.
Tartar Emetic, called by physicians Tartarized
Antimony, when given in small doses, so as to produce
slight sickness at the stomach, is more generally atten-
ded with perspiration, and is proper in fevers.
Nitrous Powders.—To sixty grains of Nitre—-which
is nothing more than Saltpetre—pounded very fine add
sixteen grains of calomel, and one grain of tartar em-
etic; mix them well together, and then divide the com-
pound into eight equal portions, one of which you are to
give every two or three hours, in a little syrup of any
kind. If these powders should purge, which they
sometimes do, you should omit or leave out the calo-
mel.—The Nitrous Powders are considered a valua-
ble medicine in bilious fever.
Dover's Powder.—This powder is one of the most
certain sudorifics, where it is often difficult, by other
means to produce a copious sweat. The dose is from
five to twenty grains, according as the person's stomach
and strength can bear it. It is proper to avoid much
drink immediately after taking this medicine; for by so
doinff it is apt to be vomited or puked up, before it has
had due time to operate as a sweat. The manner of
preparing them are as follows, if you cannot obtain
them already prepared at an apothecary or doctor's
shop: Of ipecacuanha, in powder, and opium in fine
powder, each one drachm, vitriolated tartar, or salt-
petre, (either will do,) one ounce finely powrdered; you
are to be very particular to grind all these articles to-
gether into the finest powder; when thus ground as
fine as it is possible, you have prepared and ready for
gunn's domestic medicine.
631
use, this valuable medicine. Opium intended to make
these powders, ought to be pounded in a mortar per-
fectly fine, during the coldest weather, and kept for this
purpose in a bottle. In warm weather, the opium be-
comes too soft to admit of being reduced to powder.—
Dover's Powder is one of the most valuable remedies
we have, for quieting the bowels in dysentery or flux,
after proper evacuations have been made.
Antimonial Wine and Spirits of Nitre—Take
equal quantities of each, and mix them together; the
dose is one, two, and three tea-spoonsful; if it inclines
to vomit, or puke, you are to lessen the quantity of an-
timonial wine one half to two of the spirits of nitre.—
This is valuable in fevers to promote perspiration.
Ipecacuanha, given in small doses—say one or two
grains—every two or three hours, mixed with a little
warm water or syrup will excite perspiration.
Seneka Snake Root, Virginia snake root, butterfly
weed, sometimes called pleurisy root, dittany, bone set,
called by some thouroughwort. These roots or herbs
are all valuable for their sweating powers. For a full
description of each, refer to their different heads.
OINTMENT FOR SORES.
Simple Ointment—-This, as its name expresses, is
innocent, and merely intended to keep the parts soft,
and from exposure to cold; made by melting four
ounces of beeswax with a half pint of sweet oil; or
in a less quantity, observing the proportions. Suet, and
clear hog's lard will answer if the' oil cannot be con-
veniently had.
632 gunn's domestic medicine.
Balsilicum Ointment.—Healing and exciting; used
in dressing sores. It is made by melting one ounce of
beeswax, one ounce of resin, and an ounce and a half
of clean hog's lard together.
Lead Ointment.—For dressing sores of an inflam-
atory nature. Pound very fine, one drachm of sugar
of lead and mix it well with six ounces of hog's lard.
Red Precipitate Ointment.—This ointment is gen-
erally used for curing the itch; it is also valuable for
old sores on the legs, when applied in the dry powder,
after cleansing them well with castile soap; it will al-
so destroy vvhat is called proud flesh. The way to
make this ointment is, to mix one drachm of the pow-
dered precipitate with an ounce of hog's lard, and rub
them well together.
Tar Ointment.—Used in diseases of the skin, par-
ticularly scald head; made by melting together equal
quantities of tar, and the best mutton suet.
Jamestown Weed.—This valuable plant, of which
I have given a full description, under the proper head,
forms one of the best ointments for piles and old sores,
made by fust bruising, and then stewing the leaves in
hog's lard, and then strained; the proportions in which
the leaves and lard are to be mixed, are about one part
of the If.af to one of lard.
Turner's Cerate.—This ointment, which is so cele-
brated in burns, [for a full description of its extraordin-
ary virtues, refer to that head,] is prepared as follows:
take of calamine in fine powder, half a pound, bees-
wax, the same quantity, hog's lard one pound; melt the
wax with the lard, and put it out in the air, when it be-
gins to thicken, which it will do as it gets cool; mix
with it the calamine, and stir it well until cold
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 633
When you inquire for this article at an apothecary
or doctor's shop, ask for calamine in powder; it is a
mineral imported from England and Germany, and
found in mines intermingled with the ores of different
metals.
Blistering Ointment.—Take of Spanish flies—call-
ed, medically speaking, cantharides—beeswax, resin
and tallow, equal quantities of each; melt first the
wax, resin and tallow together, the flies are to be taken
and pounded very fine, and mixed with the composition
a little before it becomes entirely cold or firm.
Tartar Emetic Ointment.—Called by physicians,
Ointment of tartarized Antimony.—This is a valuable
external or outward stimulant, and forms a most bene-
ficial application in all deep seated inflammations,
especially of the chest. It occasions a pustular erup-
tion on the skin, or in other words, numerous pimples,
which discharge in a short time: these discharges, or
runnings may be kept up by the occasional application
of the ointment as expressed under that head. The
method of making this ointment is as follows: take of
tartar emetic one drachm—or two, if you wish to make
it strong—mixed well with one ounce of hog's lard,
and it is fit for use, or if you prefer it sprinkle it on a
piece of leather, on which an adhesive, commonly
called a strengthening plaster, has been previously
spread, taking care not to cover the edges of the adhe-
sive plaster with the ointment, so as to prevent it from
touching and adhering, or sticking to the skin.
Volatile Liniment.—This is a valuable preparation,
to be rubbed on the skin as an external stimulant in
sore throats, rheumatism, spasms, pains, &c. After
rubbing it well in, which should be continued from
twenty minutes to half an hour, flannel should be
80
634 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
wrapped around the afflicted part. Volatile Liniment
is made by mixing equal quantities of spirits of harts-
horn and sweet oil; by adding to this mixture, a tea-
spoonful or two of laudanum, the preparation will be
much improved in its efficacy in relieving pain.
MERCURY.
I shall mention only such mercurial medicines as
are daily and commonly used.
Calomel, is considered the most valuable of mercu-
rial medicines, in every disease in which I have directed
its use. Full, plain, and explicit directions have been
given as to the doses, and the effect intended to be pro-
duced byr this mineral, and the injuries which frequently
result from its improper use.
Blue pill.—There is scarcely an indication to be ful-
filled—says Dr. Chapman—by mercury, the purgative
effect excepted, to which this preparation is not adequate.
It is much prescribed in cases where salivation is de-
manded, and as an alterative, which you will see fully
described in Diseases of the Liver. The blue pill is
made by triturating, or rubbing quicksilver with the
conserve of roses, till the globules, or little balls of
mercury are entirely extinguished or destroyed: the
pills should be so prepared as to contain about a grain
of the metal: the dose in general is, a pill in the morn-
ning, and one at night. This is the mildest preparation
of mercury, but it is by no means an inactive medicine.
The dose may be increased, if necessary, to as high as
six pills.
Mercurial Ointment—generally known by the peo-
ple of the country as oil of baize. The old plan of
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
635
preparing this ointment required great labor. The
following is a quick and effectual method of preparing
this article: take an ounce and a half of balsam of
Peru, to every pound of mercury; triturate for ten
minutes, and the mercury will be not only extinguished,
but apparently oxydised. Then add the proper pro-
portions of suet and lard to make an ointment. As
soon as the whole is well mixed, which may be done
in three minutes, the ointment has a fine blue color,
and possesses full activity.
SWAIM'S PANACEA.
This medicine, on its first appearance before the
public, excited great hopes of being an invaluable
remedy for several complaints supposed to be incura-
ble, particularly scrofula. The high recommendations
which accompanied it, by some of the most distinguish-
ed physicians of Philadelphia, entitled it to some confi-
dence, and so much were its virtues appreciated, that
this medicine sold for the extravagant price of five dol-
lars per bottle; its immediate and successful sales,
realized to Mr. Swaiin a large fortune. In due time,
however, like all patent medicines, it sunk into dignified
retirement, being nothing more than an old friend with
a new face: its principal and component part, being
the same as the French medicine called Rob Syphili-
tique, which is corrosive sublimate—one of the most
active preparations of mercury.
Swairris Medicine, is made from sarsaparilla, marsh
reed grass, borage flowers, senna, rose leaves, sassafras
and winter green; these articles are boiled together in
water, and strained off'; sugar and honey are then
636 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
added, so as to form, the consistence of syrup, when
the most active mercurial preparation, corrosive subli-
mate, is mixed with it.
The Rob, in its effects, is similar to Swaim's medi-
cine : its preparation, however, is more simple, and the
addition of the former, adds nothing to its virtues.
Both these medicines are only valuable in the seconda-
ry stages of that dreadful disease which I have so
plainly described under the head venereal.
LIVERWORT.
This plant grows so abundantly, and is so well
known in the western country, that a description would
be unnecessary. The excitement produced throughout
the United States in consequence of its being a suppos-
ed remedy or cure for consumption, led to a full inves-
tigation of its virtues, when, like thousands of its
predecessors, it has only proved to be an innocent
palliative remedy. By using it as a tea, it assists ex-
pectoration, or a discharge from the lungs; allays the
irritation of the cough; and in some instances, lessens
the frequency of the hectic symptoms. See head
Consumption.
ADDITIONAL DISEASES, &d
EATING SNUFF.
Nothing is more difficult to be accounted for, even
by men of acute and profound observation, than the
strong attachments of the human species, to practices
which are absolutely at war with nature, and hostile to
every principle of enjoyment and happiness. How
the use of tobacco, under any form, could ever have
become a luxury among mankind, especially consider-
ing its nauseous and disgusting qualities, is an enigma
not to be solved on common principles. We can easily
account for our attachment to feed and even to those
luxuries of life which have any thing tempting in their
use, by referring them to instinctive impulses to the
preservation of life, and our native propensities to
heighten the enjoyments of existence: but to account
for our attachments to habits and practices, which are
absolutely disgusting, offensive, and highly injurious
to health, and which almost invariably lead to humoral
and dangerous excesses, we are compelled to refer
them to the degeneracy of our species, and the entire
corruption of their moral tastes and feelings. The
use of tobacco In any way, unless as a medical appli-
cation to the system, the instances of which will be
found under the proper head, is dangerous to healthy to
happiness, and morals. In support of the truth of this
doctrine, it would be idle to adduce proofs; those who
use tobacco are conscious of its destructive effects, and
those who do not, may hourly witness its dreadful con-
3D €37
(J38 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
sequences, on the health and morals of society. We
are all well acquainted with the effects of chewing and
smoking tobacco, and taking snuff in the common
way ; but we have something yet to learn and disclose
respecting the hitherto unheard of practice, among the
females of our country, of regularly eating Scotch snuff!
It appears from what I have been informed on verita-
ble authority, or I certainly would not believe it pos-
sible, that the practice among our ladies, of eating daily
considerable quantities of Scotch snuff, arose in the
first instance from their using it as a tooth powder—
yes, most courteous reader, a tooth powder ! If this is
any thing more, than a mere pretext for the filthy and
disgusting practice, which taints the breath with a
fetor ivorse than asafoetida, deranges all the physical
sensations, and the whole nervous system; imparts to
the very cheek of youthful beauty the loathsome com-
plexion of a cake of bees-wax! Subverts, ruins, and
finally destroys the digestive powers of the stomach;
and renders that stomach a filthy reservoir of dregs
and crudities, which taint and corrupt the whole system;
the eaters of Scotch snuff may be induced to abandon
the destructive practice, when I point out to them a
much better tooth powder—which is nothing more nor
less, than powdered charcoal, mixed with peruvian or
dog-wood bark.
In speaking of the evils which arise from eating snuff,
I have not enumerated the half of them: the fact is,
that language itself wTould fail in classing and giving
them names. We all know perfectly well, that the
stomach is the work-shop ol the whole human machine,
and that when its functions are deranged or impaired
the whole system suffers in its remotest extremities.
Hear what the celebrated Rush says, respecting the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 639
practice of eating snuff:—"I have known two instances
of death from eating snuff. It is a habit which is
increasing among the ladies of our country with a
rapidity only equalled by the ravages of ardent spirits,
and which is no less ruinous to health and destructive
to life."
The practice of eating snuff had its probable origin
in using the Scotch snuff as a tooth powder;—a fond-
ness is soon acquired for it, and hundreds among us,
especially among our females, get drunk upon it every
day. Doctor Rush's views of this subject are undoubt-
edly correct, but he has not said all that might have
been said respecting the consequences of snuff eating.
He might have said that those who are in the practice
of eating snuff may easily be distinguished from those
who are not; he might have said, here is a snuff eater;
notice this complexion; it is a pallid, sickly yellow; the
skin seems to be undercoated with a layer of snuff;
there is nothing of the rose's bloom of opening unsullied
beauty, on this lank, faded, and hollow cheek; look at
this eye—the owner is an eater of snuff; do you see
any thing of that healthful brilliancy, that sparkling
fire of youthful beauty which enchants mankind, in
that jaundiced, sunken, hollow, dead, and beamless
eye ? No : the vital energies have been worn out and
exhausted by snuff eating; the animations of youth
have been overpowered and killed by this excess; this
is but the shadow of a human being! Catch a scent
of this breath; is it pure and sweet, with youthful pas-
sion's tender bloom? does it remind you of the gale
of spring, that gently shakes the blossoms from the
orange grove? docs its healthful purity bespeak the
paradise of sweets from which it comes ? No: like
the wind of night, that has swept the sepulchral shades
640 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
of death, it comes with corruption and infection on its
wings! it reminds you of disease, debility, decay and
death—of every thing but love! Doctor Rush might
have said all this of the snuff eater, and forfeited none
of his high claims to professional honor, integrity and
truth.
I am decidedly of opinion, and I record the allega
tion without fear of contradiction, especiaily by those
who know any thing of the subject, that of the two
characters, the drunkard and the snuff eater, the drunk-
ard is the more worthy personage, if consequences be
taken into consideration. Snuff eating invariably pro-
duces languor, extreme debility, aversion to the perfor-
mance of the common duties of life, tremors of the
nerve?, capricious and disagreeable temper, and restless
melancholy and lowness of spirits, unless the person is
immediately under the disgusting stimulant. But this
is not all: snuff eating always produces want of appe-
tite, nausea, inordinate thirst, pains and distension of
the stomach, dyspepsia or indigestion, tremors of the
limbs and whole frame, disturbed sleep, emaciation or
wasting of the body and limbs, epilepsy or fits, con-
sumption and death. Nor is this all: tobacco is an
absolute poison; a very moderate quantity introduced
into the system or even applied moist to the pit of the
stomach, has been known to produce instant death.
The Indians of our own hemisphere have long known
of its poisonous effects upon the human system; and
formerly used to dip the points of their arrows in an
oil obtained from the leaves, by which faintness and
death occurred from their wounds. I was once ac-
quainted with a young lady of the first respectability,
whose kind and affectionate heart was possessed of
every noble and generous sentiment, who was in the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
641
habit of eating snuff. She was taken dangerously ill,
and it became necessary to give her an emetic or puke;
and the fact was, that in the operation of the medicine
she threw up nearly half a pint of snuff from the stom-
ach. How young, blooming, and tender girls, can bear
the use of snuff in this way, or indeed in any other way,
after experiencing the wretched sensations always pro-
duced by it, is to me absolutely unaccountable, unless
on the principles 1 have mentioned ; and I must, also,
here confess myself unable to account for the fact, that
the parents of these girls knowing the evils of snuff
eating, cannot merely overlook the practice in their
blooming daughters, but absolutely encourage it by
their example.
I really trust that the preceding remarks, and they
are founded in experience and truth, will have some
influence in restraining the practice of snuff eating,
and in restoring many of the fair of our country, to the
possession of their native charms and beauty.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.
An inflammation of the lungs is sometimes an origin-
al disease, and sometimes derived from other maladies.
It is occasioned by the causes which bring on the pleu-
risy, by violent exercise, wearing wet clothes, obstruct-
ed perspiration, and ardent spirits. In an inflammation
of the lungs, the symptoms resemble those of pleurisy;
but the pain is not so severe, and the pulse is not so
quick and hard, while there is greater difficulty of
respiration, and greater oppression of the breast. A
dull pain is felt internally along the breast bone, or
between the shoulders, augmented by breathing; great
solicitude near the heart; weariness and inquietude; loss
81 3d 2
642 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
of sleep and want of appetite; while a yellowish scurf
overspreads the tongue. The veins in the neck are
also dilated ; the face inflated, while a dark red discol-
oration prevails about the eyes and cheeks.
TREATMENT.
An inflammatory attack upon an organ so necessary
to existence as the lungs, is always dangerous, and re-
quires speedy relief. The diet should be extraordina-
rily slender and thin. Infusions of fennel roots in warm
water, with milk decoctions of barley, and common
whey, are most proper both for drink and nutriment;
the steam of wrarm water is also recommended as a
kind of internal fomentation, and a help to attenuate the
impacted humors. If the bowels are in a laxative state,
if the patient thereby is not debilitated, no effort should
be made to check the evacuations, which ought rather to
be promoted by emollient clysters. Bleeding and purg-
ing are generally necessary—but if the patient spit
freely, they may not be required: the quantity of blood
taken at the commencement of the disease, should be
large. The evacuating plan should be adopted early,
but it should not be persevered in too long. The solu-
tion of gum ammoniac, with oxymel of squills, will
promote expectoration or spitting: it is from a free dis-
charge of spittle that relief is principally to be expected.
When the counteracting treatment does not succeed, a
suppuration is formed, more or less dangerous accord:
ing to its situation: if it occupies the pleura, it may
break outwardly, and the matter will be discharged
without danger: when it occurs within the lungs, the
matter must be ejected by spitting: when it floats be-
tween the pleura and the lungs, it is said an incision
must be made between the ribs to liberate the confined
matter. The same remedies and treatment are employ-
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 643
ed in this disease as in pleurisy. Inflammation of the
lungs is called by the doctors' peripneumony: the patient's
bowels should be opened by calomel or other purgatives.
Blood should be taken from ihe arm, and a blister ap-
plied over the pain. The decoction of seneka snake-
root or butterfly root, should be freely used, if the
patient should not he relieved, (as often happens.) and
sinks into a state of general debility, I then give the
chalybeate pill night and morning: the patient should
also take every morning a new laid egg, beat up in as
much old whiskey as will cook it; fill up the glass with
sweet milk warm from the cow. This preparation acts
as a stimulus and an expectorant, and at the same time
nourishes the patient. His drink should be buttermilk
whey.
FALLING OF THE PALATE.
The falling of the palate is attended with a tickling
in the throat, and soreness of the tongue; it proceeds
generally from a foul stomach.
TREATMENT.
Take of sage tea half a pint, vinegar and honey two
ounces of each, and half a drachm of alum, and wash
the throat with it: alum water will answer the same
purpose. Apply salt and pepper to the elongated palate
by means of the handle of a spoon. If these measures
fail, give an emetic.
644
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
JAUNDICE.
This disorder turns the white of the eye, as well as
the skin, yellow; the urine is saffron colored, and will
stain a white cloth.
The causes are, obstruction of bile; purges or vom-
its ; an obstinate ague; or the premature stoppage of
it by astringent medicines ; remoter causes are, the bites
of vipers or mad dogs or poisonous animals, and vio-
lent passions; infants, when the first stools are not
sufficiently purged off, and pregnant women, are subject
to it. The symptoms are, excessive weariness, great
aversion to motion, a dry skin, an itching pain over the
body, the breathing difficult, oppression of the breast,
heat in the nostrils, a bitter taste in the mouth, sickness
at the stomach, flatulency and vomiting. Where the
disease is simple, it is not dangerous; where it besets
the old and debilitated, and is complicated with other
maladies, it often proves fatal.
Regimen.—The food should be light and cooling;
stewed prunes, boiled or roasted apples, preserved
plums, boiled spinage, veal or chicken soup, with light
bread, are very proper. A cure has sometimes been
effected by living on raw eggs, or sucking a raw egg
every morning. The drink may be buttermilk, whey
sweetened, or decoctions of cooling opening vegeta-
bles. Where there are no symptoms of inflammation,
as much exercise as the patient can bear, will be benefi-
cial; walking, running, riding on horseback or in a
carriage, or a long journey, have great restorative
efficacy. Such amusements as promote circulation, and
cheer the spirits, may be indulged in with advantage.
REMEDIES.
The patient should first be bled, an emetic should
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 645
then be given, castile soap may also be administered in
sufficient quantities to keep the intestines open; or the
salt of tartar may he taken in doses of twenty or thirty
grains three or four times a day, dissolved in the infu-
sion of columbo. The patient should be bled more
freely where there is pain about the region of the liver;
and the blue pill may be given morning and evening till
a slight salivation is produced. The warm bath should
be used, and a blister may be laid over the pained part.
Three cr four spoonsful of olive oil may be taken to
alleviate the pain, or one or two tea-spoonsful of ether,
or thirty drops of laudanum. Bags of hot salt may
be laid on the right side, and after the obstructions are
removed, the tone of the system may be restored by
the use of columbo, nitric acid, dogwood or cherry-
tree bark, with porter and wine.
SCROFULA OR KING'S EVIL.
Symptoms.—Small tumors appear behind the ears or
under the chin. The feet, hands, eyes, breast, and
armpits and groins are liable to its attacks. These
knots in time break and become ulcers, from which a
thin watery humor is discharged.
Regimen.—The food should be very low, light and
easy of digestion, as good light bread, soup of the flesh
of young animals, with an occasional glass of wine.
The patient ought to take as much exercise as he can
bear, in dry, open air, but it should not be too cold.
TREATMENT.
Warm fomentations are injurious. Bathing in cold
water, or the sea where it is convenient, and keeping
the bowels open with salt and water will be highly
salutary. A tea spoonful of salt dissolved in water
646
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
should be taken every morning. Peruvian bark
and steel alternately every two weeks, or nitric acid
will be of great service. Muriate of lime in doses of
from ten to eighty drops gradually increased, three or
four times a day, diluted with water or tea, is said to
be a very valuable remedy. The solution of arsenic
may be given twice or thrice a day after a suppuration
has taken place. Mix well togther one pound of
finely powdered bark and one ounce of white lead
pulverized; this powder applied to scrofulous ulcers,
will act beneficially, or let an ounce of sugar of lead
be dissolved in a pint of water; keep on the ulcers
linen cloths moistened in this solution.
The ulcers should also be washed with salt and water
every morning. Before a tumor breaks, it should be
anointed with fresh butter stewed to an oil twice a day,
bathing it in with a hot shovel. When the tumors break,
apply to them a plaster of molasses stewed down to such
a degree of thickness, that when spread it will not
run: if the disease is attended with general debility,
chalybeate medicine should be taken. Time and sim-
ple means are the surest remedies: the cure cannot be
humored. The diet and drink should be of a light and
cooling nature. Cold should be guarded against, and
exercise should be taken: in this simple manner 1 have
cured cases that have baffled regular practice. When
the lumps are first coming, relief may be obtained, by
anointing them with oil of fresh butter, and warming it
in with a hot .shovel. I have given the practice of other
physicians as well as my own.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 647
NIGHT MARE, OR INCUBUS.
The patient in sleep feels an oppression or weight
about his stomach and breast: he groans—is in great
distress, and dreads suffocation—he fancies himself in
some imminent danger, and tries to escape, but finds he
cannot move—he imagines himself about to fall over a
precipice—be drowned in a river—or consumed in a
burning house. Causes.—Indigestion, debility, reple-
tion, late and heavy suppers, great fatigue, sleeping on
the back, intoxication.
TREATMENT.
As the person afflicted generally moans or manifests
distress, he should be waked, as that brings immediate
relief. Those who are subject to this complaint should
eat early and light suppers, and take a glass of pepper-
mint water after supper to assist digestion: windy food
should be avoided. A hard bed should be preferred.
When the complaint proceeds from debility, the chaly-
beate pill may be taken: or steel, bark or columbo, may
be administered in ordinary doses: if it arises from a
full habit, a spare diet will be proper, as well as vene-
section and purging. Severe study, anxiety, and what-
ever will oppress the mind, should be carefully avoided.
It will be prudent in those who are frequently troubled
with this complaint, to have a companion to sleep with
them, lest at some time the stagnation of blood should
continue so long as to stop the functions of life, and
terminate in death.
648 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
HYDROPHOBIA, OR THE BITE OF A MAD
DOG.
Whenever it can be done, the part that is injured
should be cut out immediate!}'', and by this means the
poison will be hindered from entering into the system.
When this cannot be done caustic should be applied
without delay, so as to change the nature of the wound, or
the part affected may be washed, then burnt with a hot
iron more extensively than the wound itself, then fill it
with mercury and keep it open for some time. Mercu-
ry also should be employed inwardly and outwardly
to produce salivation. Large doses of opium, it is
said, have proved beneficial. The caustic volatile al-
kali, may upon experiment be discovered to be an
antidote to the bite of a mad dog as well as to that of
poisonous serpents. Emetic weed, scull cap, and chick
weed are deemed valuable remedies in hydrophobia.
RICKETS.
This disease originates from weakness, and any
cause that produces debility disposes to it. The head
and abdomen are unnaturally enlarged—the face is
flushed and florid. It sometimes affects the bones which
become crooked, unnatural and deformed. The appe-
tite is bad, the digestion imperfect, and the solids
relaxed.
TREATMENT.
Exercise is the most effectual remedy. Much may
be accomplished by nutritious diet and wholesome air.
Gentle vomits and cathartics should be given to cleanse
and purify the system. It should then be braced with
tonics, as bark, steel, and columbo; but perhaps nothing
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
649
will so effectually invigorate and renew the constitution
as the chalybeate pill. Bandages will also be useful in
reducing the enlargement of the head.
ST. VITUS' DANCE,
Is a species of convulsions. Its approaches are evin-
ced by languor and love of inaction, and long protracted
constipation of the bowels. Presently the face is con-
vulsed and the limbs twitch and jerk and many strange
gesticulations are exhibited. As costiveness is too com-
monly the cause of this disease, purgatives are usually
necessary; if continued, the symptoms will gradually
abate, and the patient, strange as it may seem, will gain
strength, and show by his walk, countenance, and
appearance that he is recovering* Cathartics are
mainly to be depended on; though sometimes tonics
may be employed successfully.
TO CURE A WEN.
Wash it with common salt dissolved in water every
day, and it will be removed in a short time. Or make
a strong brine of alum salt; simmer it over the fire.
When thus prepared, wet a piece of cloth in it every
day and apply it constantly for one month, and the
protuberance will disappear.
82 3 E
650
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
MORTIFICATION.
Before a mortification comes on, the part affected
is in a high state of inflammation, a burning and ex-
ceedingly painful sensation is felt, and where a wound
is the cause, it becomes dry, and the flesh around it
assumes a purple color. This stage is called gan-
grene: the next step is mortification. When gan-
grene ensues, a strong lye poultice will generally arrest
its progress. When this fails, I apply the steam of wool,
and continue the application for hours until the patient
becomes easy. The principal ingredients which I
use to stop a mortification, first washing the wounds
with a decoction of spikenard, are wool, bacon rinds
and life everlasting; the steam of these conveyed to the
wound, or mortified parts, will when perseveringly
applied, make the unsound flesh slough off, then nature
will generate new flesh and the patient will get well.
But, perhaps an example or two will illustrate more
forcibly and clearly my mode of treatment in cases of
mortified wounds. I was called on not many years
since to a man, who had got his leg broke in falling a
tree, his leg was very badly mangled, part of the bone
drove six inches into the ground. The accident hap-
pened in the morning; I was sent for and got there in
the evening. I found that the arteries were not entire-
ly destroyed, and stated my belief that I could save the
leg. I gave him two spoonsful of castor oil with fifteen
drops of laudanum, and washed the leg in warm milk
and water. After cleansing it in this wTay, I boiled a
quantity of spikenard in water and made a dressing with
which I washed the leg twice a day.
After using this decoction, I applied a poultice of
sweet milk and flour to the leg, until a mortification
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 651
took place—an event which I was anxiously anticipa-
ting. Knowing that such a mass of bruised, lacerated
flesh must sooner or later die, I prepared myself for the
occurrence. On the morning of the fifth day, he be-
came restless: I enquired how he was, and he inform-
ed me, that his leg felt as if it was in the fire. I had an
even filled with wool, bacon rinds, and life everlasting;
into it I threw red hot irons. I had a tube three or
four feet long, extending from a hole in the oven to the
fractured leg, over which I hrd made an arch so as to
confine the steam to the wounded part. I continued
this course, still filling the oven with wool, and throwing
in hot irons, all that day, ail the subsequent night, and
until ten o'clock next morning—when the patient said he
felt as easy as he ever had done in his life : the use of
the steam was then discontinued. The mortified flesh
sloughed off in pieces as thick as a man's hand, until
the whole of the dead and bruised parts came off, which
was nearly all the flesh from the knee to the ankle.
All the bone of the leej was then taken out. After the
mortification was stopped, the seme treatment was pur-
sued : the leg was washed as at first with a decoction
of spikenard twice a day, and a poultice of sweet milk
and flour was applied until the cure was complete. The
patient was made to drink plentifully of dogwood tea;
his diet was light, and 1 is bowels kept open by doses
of cr.stor oil or salts. The leg wps stretched out straight
and kept in an easy posture, so that it might he as long
as the other when the new bone was formed. It soon
became sound, and was as useful to the patient as if the
accident had never happened. This is my treatment,
and in my hands it has never failed to arrest mortifica-
tion before it became general. I have never known a
general mortification to be stopped: this may be recog-
652 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE
nized by the patient's becoming stupid or languid, and
vomiting a dark, bilious matter. This course persever-
ingly pursued, with the aid of a little common sense,
will, it is hoped, supersede the horrid practice of cutting
off limbs whenever a black spot appears on them.
WHITE SWELLINGS.
There are two kinds of white swellings—the acute
and scorbutic. The acute is the most common, and
will first occupy our attention. There is no disease to
which the human family is liable that will, if not taken
in time, inflict more severe and lasting misery. It does
not attack persons above the age of twenty-five years:
children between five and fifteen are more likely to ex-
perience its violence and severity. No diversity of soil
nor salubrity of climate, can ward off its assaults: its
ravages extend from the sea-shore to the mountains, and
are most frequent in the most temperate and healthy
atmosphere. Children of the finest constitutions and
of the greatest activity, are most liable to its attacks.
If the patient survives the severity of the first assault,
he may for many years drag out a painful and misera-
ble existence—his macerated body filled with sores
from the crown of his head to the sole of his feet, and
his sufferings so protracted, violent, and agonizing, that
when he dies, as he will of a hectic fever, his friends,
relations, and even parents, feel comfort in the thought
that death has relieved him from his miseries, and
willingly consign to the tomb the mortal remains of the
unhappy victim.
Causes.—This disease is brought on by suddenly
cooling the body after it has been overheated by violent
exercise. It is often produced by working too hard—
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 653
by running or jumping, and then going immediately
into water; or lying down on the cold gronnd and going
to sleep: sometimes the first symptom is, a pain in the
part infected, and continues for several days before the
patient is seized with the fever: at other times, the first
notice of the disease is, a violent attack, as of the bilious
fever, with loss of appetite, and constant craving of
water. In a few days the disease locates itself, and
extreme* pain is felt in the part affected ; but although
every part of the human frame is liable to its assaults,
it most frequently fastens on the limbs. The part com-
mences swelling most commonly, though not always,
without changing its color: for sometimes the wThole
limb is highly inflamed. The patient finds no rest day
nor night; the pain is augmented on every movement
of the limb affected, which continues to settle for five or
six weeks before it breaks. By this time the patient is
reduced to a skeleton by his excruciating pains. After
the abscess breaks and commences running, the suffer-
er will gradually gain strength and begin to move about,
although his wound is still running, and the disease
unconquered.
TREATMENT.
Though this disease has long baffled the skill of the
most eminent physicians of the world, its pathology
and treatment are but imperfectly understood and
have, as yet, been imperfectly elucidated. When this
disease begins with a pain in the limbs without fever,
it may sometimes be relieved by making an ointment
of lion's fat. or if it cannot be had. of fresh butter and
red pepper, and rubbing the part affected twice a day,
drying it in with a hot shovel or iron. If, after doing
this the pain should still increase, and the limb begin
to swell and puff, an incision should be made ^th a lancet
3e2
•'*■/-
654 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
the whole length of the blade, nor is this operation
much felt or dreaded, so great is the pain of the dis-
ease ; on the contrary it gives relief. This operation is
only to be performed by a skilful physician. Place at
the bottom of the wound a piece of vegetable caustic
about the size of a pea; after waiting half an hour
put in as much more in the same way; continue to do
so three or four times every day until you get into the
cavity wThich always contains an oily fluid. The flesh
also is always puffed up from the bone. After you have
got to the bone, stop the use of the caustic, and make
a decoction, (not strong) of wild ivy leaves, and throw,
it in on the bone with a syringe three or four times a
day. After you begin to use the ivy decoction, apply a
poultice of sweet milk and flour; under this treatment
the wound will soon commence a healthy suppuration
and the patient will in a short time recover. As the
physician is seldom called in until the disease has
damaged the bone, if the swelling is not opened in the
early stage, the oily fluid spoken of, will not be found ;
for it is soon changed into pus. Whenever the physi-
cian is called in, he must follow the directions given:
if the bone is injured, it may be known by the appear-
ance of the matter discharged: it will be covered with
specks or eyes, such as are often seen in soup ; if many
of these are visible, the bone is unquestionably injured,
and a speedy cure is not to be expected. Nature must
work, and her operations must be watched and aided.
After the abscess is opened, and discharging a' healthy
matter, the system raust.be strengthened and restored.
The energy of the patient must be renovated before the
cure of the wound is undertaken. The chalybeate
pill will be the proper medicine. When the patient
has gained sufficient strength, which he will not do
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 655
under five or six months, if the running still continues,
it will be an unerring proof that the bone is injured.
The wound must then be gradually opened by the ap-
plication of the caustic, as before directed.
BEER FOR CONSUMPTION.
Take of spikenard root, if green, two pounds—if dry,
one pound; of seneka snake-root, two ounces ; of wild
cherry bark, of the root of devilsbif, each half a pound:
of the root of wild sweet potatoe, the root of burdock,
and of the bark of white walnut, each half a pound:
put these into ten gallons of water; boil it down to three.
Pour it off the roots, while boiling into a keg or jug,
and to this quantity add one quart of honey: in a few
days it will ferment, and be fit for use.
Of this decoction the patient may drink two or three
tea-cupsful a day. This beer is to be given to patients
affected with the liver complaint or any kind of con-
sumption: it is useful in cases of debility of longstanding.
This medicine acts as a tonic, a cathartic, and a stimu-
lant. The white walnut is intended only to keep the
bowels open: the patient will, therefore, judge and put
in more or less of it, as he finds its operation more or
less powerful: if the patients are easily operated on, a
less quantity is to be taken.
REMARKS.
In making an addition to this medical work, I feel
sensible of the insufficiency of space, to write as fully
and as plainly as I could wish, on such important and
useful subjects as might be communicated to my coun-
trymen. The rapid sale of my book, and the great
patronage I have received in my humble, efforts to be
useful to my fellow creatures, fills my heart with joy and
gratitude, and language is inadequate to express to my
fellow-citizens, how much I estimate their goodness, or
how willing I feci still to continue my feeble efforts
through the assistance of Almighty God, to do them
good, and to unfold to them such things, in plain lan-
guage, as may soothe their bodily infirmities, and per-
haps be the means of relieving them from pain and
sickness. To the profession of medicine the life of man
stands greatly indebted through all its ages, from the
cradle to the grave, and that the use of second means
was intended by the Deity, cannot be controverted.
Behold the spontaneous gifts of nature, yielding in
almost every fragrant herb and flower, medicine to heal
and relieve our maladies, recalling to our minds the
splendid proofs of the Divine Majesty, showing the in-
comparable superiority of nature over the most elegant
works of human contrivance. Behold, for a moment,
the forms and colors that embellish the vegetable world,
and see how many thousands of the human race, like
the grazing cattle, without reflection, trample on the
flowery meads, and forget that those plants are the works
83 657
658 GUNN'S domestic medicine:
of God, and intended by our Heavenly Father, in infi-
nite mercy, for the use of his creatures; wonder not
then, that so many constitutions are destroyed in this
country by the daily and constant use of mineral poi-
sons, which, if properly treated by the medical plants,
would have been otherwise preserved, leaving the system
free from the effects of such medicines as I consider
worse than the original disease. But the time is not far
distant, when the reflecting part of this community will
be fully satisfied, that the medical herbs and roots of
the United States are better adapted to our constitutions
and diseases, than the mineral poisons so constantly and
freely used in the present day. I have ever loved and
cherished an exalted opinion of the vegetable kingdom,
and I never have prescribed a single mineral, without
feeling sensible there was something defective in my
medical education. And although 1 have prescribed
them throughout my work in the spirit of truth, and
according to the practice of medicine at this time, I still
deplore and conscientiously acknowledge, that there is
not a substitute for that herculean remedy, calomel, in
which any confidence can be placed, notwithstanding
ihe many boasted substitutes daily advertised by quacks
and pretenders in the healing art, nor has this invalua-
ble remedy, or boasted panacea, of our profession, devel-
oped its powers so as to be perfectly and fully understood
by even the most learned and observing practitioners.
That it has done much good to mankind, I acknowl-
edge, by its affording relief in many diseases which
would otherwise have proved incurable, or perhaps ter-
minated fatally, but whether the effects of this powerful
medicine are left lurking in the system for years, and
perhaps never eradicated, is quite doubtful; the ocular
demonstration of my daily practice, and intercourse
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 659
with my fellow men. proves beyond the possibility of
Joubt, as to the injurious effects produced in many cases
by the indiscriminate use of calomel, particularly to
those whose constitutions and inherent disorders subject
them to the most awful effects from this medicine.
Then let me, as a parent bestowing his parting coun-
sel and benediction on his children, advise you to avoid
as much as possible, this, as well as all other active
medicines, remembering to administer it with due cau-
tion and judgment; and when required to use it, let it
be administered in active doses, by which 1 mean it is
to be removed from the system, and for this purpose
an active dose is by far the best, by enabling it not only
to be beneficial, but work itself off. You will find in
the practice of medicine, that in nine cases out of ten,
active purging will relieve; you are also to remember
that the mind has a powerful influence not only over
disease, but particularly over the digestive organs.
Thus when the mind is intensely occupied, the digestive
powers of the stomach are suspended; mental activity
controls the functions of the stomach to an equal ex-
tent. During the period of deep thought, the vital
energy of the body is so entirely directed to the brain,
that not only the stomach, but the extremities experi-
ence a diminution of excitement as is proved by their
coldness and insensibility. This condition of the brain
will so affect the stomach and intestines, as even to sus-
pend the operation of active medicines. Doctor Rush
states that during the Revolutionary war, he knew offi-
cers who were unexpectedly drawn into battle after
having taken drastic cathartics, and yet suffered no in-
convenience from them until the excitement of it had
passed away. I have seen, too, distressing sea-sickness
promptly relieved by the mental anxiety produced by
660 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
an engagement between vessels of war. The stimula-
tion caused by this sublime spectacle, produced a revul-
sion from the stomach to the brain, and thus relieved
the one of the irritation accompanying this distressing
disease, and the other from that depressed state indica-
ted by languid feelings and obtuseness of intellect.
The mind having such full and powerful effects over
the whole system, should be a sufficient evidence to
guard you in many complaints, particularly in diseases
of the stomach, against the use of too much medicine,
depending generally upon diet, moderate exercise, rest,
temperance in all things, particularly in eating, change
of climate, in sea bathing, and the use of the tepid or
warm bath, mineral springs, foot exercise in all chronic
complaints, and in assisting nature, by innocent rem-
edies, to throw off disease. Your good sense will
suggest to you the importance of time, and the remedies
mentioned in chronic disorders, by which I mean dis-
eases of long standing, rather than destroying the coats
of the stomach, and paralyzing the last glimmering of
hope, by a farrago of medicines. Physicians prescribe
much, but use but few medicines themselves. Let, then,
this hint suffice, by showing you that, much is to be ex-
pected by simple remedies, discriminating judgment,
and the influence of the mind upon the corporeal body,
but do not understand me that I wish you to discard
medicine altogether, but by its limited use, and depend-
ing much on the simple, yet efficient directions I have
here recommended to you, you will have but little use
for physicians or their prescriptions.
ACCIDENTS.
When an accident takes place by a fall from a
horse, or a height, or being thrown from a carriage, or
receiving a blow from a stick, or any similar injury to
those I have mentioned, it will be proper, if possible,
to bleed from the arm, but from any other part, if these
parts are injured so as to prevent it. The loss of blood
must be regulated according to the situation and cir-
cumstances of the case: for frequently the injury has
been so severe as apparently to deprive the patient of
life: in this situation, you must await for the returning
symptoms of animation, using friction; or in other
words, rubbing, so as to restore the circulation; this
will be proper over the region of the heart and stom-
ach, temples, and the extremities, and bathing the tem-
ples with the spirits in which camphor has been dissolv-
ed, or spirits of hartshorn, or strong vinegar, at the same
time applying it occasionally to the nose; and should
the person be able to swallow, or so soon as they may
be a little restored, it will be proper to give a little wine
and water, or water and spirits of any kind, or any
other gentle stimulant that may be convenient. In all
cases of suspended animation, it is highly essential to
continue for a length of time, friction, and in many
difficult cases, you will find the tepid bath of great
service in restoring life; for I have frequently witnessed
the person restored, when all, and even the most dis-
tant hope seemed at an end; therefore, let me implore
you in such cases, to use gentle and continued friction
3 F 661
662 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE
on the body, for some vital spark may yet linger, and
be warmed into animation—Providence may bless
your kind efforts, and what heart-felt gratification will
it afford you to be the humble instrument of restoring
the life of a fellow creature, who, perhaps, in an unex-
pected and unprepared state, has been thus situated,
with the last glimmering hope sinking fast into eternity.
If I had space—and I regret I have not—I could give
you several interesting cases that have fallen under my
care, and many I have witnessed, particularly in the
cases of drowning, in which the most happy effects
have been produced by perseverance. But on this
highly important subject, let me refer you to the head,
Suspended Animation.
In all cases, where the patient is unable from severe
injury to walk, it is necessary immediately to prepare a
conveyance—and for this purpose, take two boards
sufficiently long and broad, and then nail two cross
pieces with the ends projecting about a foot for handles
—or make, if the plank is not convenient, a litter form-
ed of the branches of trees. On either of these, con-
vey your patient to the nearest house. If the person
should be bleeding, you must stop the blood before
moving him or her. In removing him on and from
this litter to the bed, be extremely careful, as many
serious accidents occur by being in too great a hurry
and alarm; frequently there is considerable pain inflict-
ed unnecessarily, by awkwardly stripping off the coat
or pantaloons; therefore rip up the seams, by which
you very often prevent much unnecessary pain: recol-
lect never to use the least force. When the patient is
stripped, and the room cleared of all unnecessary
lookers on, which is generally the case, much to the
annoyance of the patient and his physician, particularly
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 663
if a female, then proceed to ascertain the injury, if a
male, with calmness and firmness—if a female, with
tenderness and delicacy, yet with certainty as to the
nature of the injury. I would here remark in plain lan-
guage, as I have always done in all my advice and
writings, that false delicacy has in many instances, de-
stroyed the lives of many females, that might have
otherwise been easily preserved. With these remarks
and directions, I shall in as few words as possible, and
in plain language, proceed to give such directions in
surgery, as may be easily performed by the most hum-
ble person who will attend to the directions.
Injuries may be simple or compound; that is, it
may be a contusion or bruise, a wound, fracture, or
dislocation, or it may be two or all of them united, in
one or several parts.
Ji Contusion is of course the consequence of every
blow, and is known by the swelling and the skin being
bruised and discolored—wounds of course require no
explanation.
Fractures, in other words broken bones, are known
by the sudden and severe pain, and by the appearance
of the limb being out of shape—sometimes by its being
shortened, and by the person being unable to move it
without great pain. But the most certain way to as-
certain it, is to grasp the limb above and below the
spot supposed to be fractured, and by moving it gently
different ways, you hear a grating noise, occasioned by
the broken ends of the bone rubbing against each
other. Very often, however, before you can arrive to
render assistance, the limbs become much swollen. In
such a case, always reduce first the swelling, as by
twisting the limb, or other experiments, it will give the
most excruciating pain to the afflicted person.
CC4 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
Dislocations, or in other words, bones being out of
joint, are easily^ perceived by the deformity of the joint,
which you can compare with its fellow, and plainly ob-
serve the difference, and from the person being in great
pain, and unable to move the limb, and by its being
longer or shorter than common, and from the impossi-
bility of moving it in any direction, without great
miserv.
CONTUSION OR BLOW.
If slight, you must bathe the part frequently with
cold applications, such as vinegar and water, ice water,
or cold spring water; this will reduce or keep down in-
flammation or fever, and must be occasionally used for
five or eight hours; but if fever should come on, then
bleed, and purge well with salts, and diet the person on
the lightest food and cool drinks. If the fever should
still continue, you must repeat the bleeding and purging;
perhaps a good active dose cf calomel, followed by a
dose of salts, in this event, would cut short the fever.
Be particular as to the patient's passing his water, as it
frequently happens from a blow, that the nerves of the
bladder become palsied, and the patient feels no desire
to make, although the bladder is full. In this case, it
is highly important to attend to drawing off the water
by a catheter, an instrument for this purpose: for direc-
tions how it is used, see under the head directions for
passing Catheter.
The most serious effects, however, resulting from
contusion, is when the blow is on the head, producing
either concussion or compression of the brain. See
those heads.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 665
SPRAINS.
Sprains are to be treated with the coldest, applica-
tions ; and for this purpose, Nature's remedy is by far
the best—cold water. Plunge the sprained part into
cold water, and hold it there as long as you can bear
it; after which, dry it with a coarse towel, and rub on it
spirits of camphor; by which I mean, spirits that cam-
phor has been dissolved in; rub this well in, and bind
it with flannel, and every morning and evening, pour
cold water on it, from the spout of a tea kettle, held up
at a considerable height. This simple remedy will
relieve you in a short time, and to a weak joint of any
kind, this is an invaluable prescription. I have removed
the weakness of an ankle of long standing by it, when
all other applications failed.
CONCUSSION OF THE BRAIN.
Symptoms. The person stunned—the breathing is
slow—great drowsiness and stupidity—the pupil of the
eye rather contracted, or drawn up—frequently vomiting
or puking. After a time he recovers.
Remedies. Apply cloths dipped in cold vinegar and
water to the head; and if you have ice, its application
will be greatly beneficial. So soon as the stupor is off,
bleed, and open the bowels with epsom salts, or any
cooling purge; by all means confine him to the bed,
and the lowest and most cooling diet and drinks—the
room kept dark but cool, and no noise whatever. In
this quiet situation, you are to endeavor to prevent in-
flammation of the brain, which, if it comes on, must
be met by free and copious bleeding, blisters, and
purging.
84 3 f 2
Q05 ©UIfN*8 DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
COMPRESSION OF THE BRAIN.
Symptoms. Loss of sense and motion—slow, noisy,
and difficult breathing—the pulse is quite slow and
irregular—the muscles relaxed, as in a person just
dead—the pupil of the eye enlarged, and will not con-
tract, even for a strong light—the person cannot be
roused, and bears a resemblance to one inflicted with
an apoplectic fit.
Remedies. Bleed freely, and shave the head, and
apply cool applications to it until you can procure a
good surgeon, and this must be done immediately, or it
will be too late, as there is nothing but an operation in
this case, that will save life.
WOUNDS.
Wounds are of three kinds: first, incised wound,
which means a clean cut; second, a punctured wound,
which means a wound produced by sharp pointed
instruments, as needles, awls, nails, &c.; third, a con-
tused wound, which means a wound occasioned by
round or blunt bodies, as musket balls, clubs, stones,
and all gun shot wounds, are included in this last men-
tioned term.
Remehies. In all wounds, the first thing to be doner
is to endeavor to stop the flow of blood; should this be
but trifling, draw the edges of the wound together with
your hand, and hold them in that position for sometime,
when the blood will frequently stop. If it still continue,
and the quantity large, or of a bright red color, flow-
ing in spirts, or with a sudden jerk, then clap your finger
on the spot it springs from, and press it with firmness,
while you request some other person to pass a handker-
chief round the limb, (supposing the wound to be in
one,) above the cut, and to tie its two ends together in
a hard knot. A stick of any kind, must now be passed
under the knot, (between the upper surface of the limb
and the handkerchief,) and turned round and round
until the stick is brought down to the thigh, so as to
make the handkerchief encircle it with considerable
tightness; you may then take off your finger; if the
blood still flows, tighten the handkerchief by a turn or
two of the stick, until the blood ceases. The patient
may now be removed (taking great care to secure the
668 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
stick in its position) without running any risk of bleed-
ing to death by the way. As this apparatus must not
be left on for any length of time without destroying the
life of the parts, endeavor as quick as you conveniently
can, to secure the bleeding vessels ; for I shall give you
such ample and plain directions, that any person of
common sense may take them up and secure them in a
proper manner, and perfectly safe. In the first place,
wax together three or four threads of a sufficient length,
cut it into as many pieces as you think there are vessels
to be taken up, each piece being about a foot long.
Now wash the parts with warm water, and then with a
sharp hook, similar to a crooked awl, or a slender pair
of pincers in your hand, fix your eye steadfastly upon
the wound, and direct the handkerchief to be gently
loosed by a turn or two of the stick; you will now see
the mouth of the artery from which the blood springs;
seize it with your hook or pincers, draw it a little out,
while the person who assists you passes the waxed
thread, called by medical men a ligature, round the
artery or bleeding vessel; now tie it up tight, with a
double knot. In this way take up, one after the other,
each bleeding vessel you can see or get hold of.
Should the wound be too high up in a limb to apply
the handkerchief, don't be alarmed, for the bleeding can
still be commanded. If it is the thigh, press firmly in
the groin, or if in the arm, with the hand-end or ring
of a common door key, make pressure above the collar
bone, and about its middle, against the first rib which
lies under it. The pressure is to be continued until
you can obtain assistance, and then tie up the bleeding
vessels as before directed. If the wound is on the
head, you must press your finger firmly on it until a
compress, which means several folds of linen, is fur-
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 6tf3
nished; this is to be bound firmly over the artery by a
bandage. If the wound is in the face, or so situated
that pressures cannot be effectually made, or you cannot
get hold of the vessel, and the blood flows fast, put a
piece of ice, or a cloth wet with tanner's ooze, or flour,
and let it remain on until the blood coagulates, you can
then remove it, and apply a compress or bandage. It
is important that this simple method 1 have described,
should be practised so as to enable any one to compress
the great arteries in these situations, thereby preserving
many a man who would, for the want of this simple
assistance, bleed to death before a surgeon or medical
aid could be procured.
INCISED WOUNDS.
The meaning of an incised wound, is a clean or fresh
cut. Wash away all the dirt that may be in the wound,
with a sponge or linen rag and warm water; when the
blood is stopped, draw the sides of the wound nicely
together, then confine it in this situation by narrow
strips of sticking plaster, placed at short distances apart,
and directly across the wound. Now a fold, or soft
compress of old linen or lint, is to be laid over and
confined by a bandage.
In many cases, you will find inflammation follow.
If this should be the case, then remove the strips, and
bleed and purge the patient, and keep him on very low
diet, and as quiet and as cool as possible; in other or
more plain language, endeavor to keep down fever—
and now recollect that matter must form before the
wound will heal; therefore it is best to encourage
it by applying a soft poultice of any kind, until the
670 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
matter is produced; after which, you may use any
simple ointment in this place. The usual or common
method of narrow strips of linen, spread with sticking
plaster, called by physicians adhesive plaster, form the
best means of keeping the sides of a wound together
when they can be applied; yet if the wound is in the
ear, nose, tongue, lips, bag, by which I mean the pri-
vates, or the eye-lids, then use stitches, which are made
in the following manner: thread a common needle
with a double wraxed thread, pass the point of it
through the skin, at a little distance from the edge of
the cut, and bring it out of the opposite one at the same
distance. Should the wound be large, so as to require
more than one stitch, cut off the needle, thread it again,
and proceed on to take as many stitches as necessary;
leave all the threads loose until all the stitches are pass-
ed, when the ends of each thread must be tied in a
hard double knot, drawing the thread in such a way
that it bears a little on each side of the cut. When the
edges of the wound are partly united by inflammation,
cut then the knots, and draw out carefully all the
threads. From the plain manner in which I have writ-
ten and explained to you, you will easily perceive, that
in all wounds, after stopping the flow of blood, and
cleansing the parts, the important point is to bring the
sides of the wound even, and together, so that it may
grow together as quick as possible, without producing
any matter; this is called by physicians healing by the
first intention. Now to produce this desirable effect, in
addition to what I have already mentioned, you must
recollect two things necessary to be attended to; first,
the position of the patient; and secondly, the applica-
tion of the bandage. Let the position be such as will
relax as much as possible, the skin and muscles of the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 671
part wounded; by attending to this strictly, you will
prevent, or in a great measure lessen the tendency to
separate or open. My method in such cases, is as fol-
lows : take a common bandage of proper width and
length, and pass it over the compresses moderately
tight, so as to keep them in their proper place, and by
its pressure, the wound will heal immediately, and keep
it from separating or opening. In many cases, the
wound is so large and severely painful, that the limb or
body of the patient cannot be raised or moved, for the
purpose of applying or removing it; then spread the
ends of one or two strips of linen or leather with
sticking plaster, which may be applied in place of the
bandage in the following way: stick one end of the
strip to the sound skin, at a short distance from the
edge of the compress, over which it is to be drawn
with moderate firmness, and secured in the same man-
ner on the opposite side ; if you see that it is necessary
to secure it more fully, apply a second or third, or until
properly secured. As I have before told you, if vio-
lent inflammation comes on, in all wounds the proper
practice is to reduce it by bleeding, purging, &c. but if
you see any symptoms of approaching locked-jaw, give
your patient wine, brandy, opium, porter, &c; in other
words, stimulate him freely, and give a generous diet.
PUNCTURED WOUNDS.
These wounds called by physicians punctured
wounds, are produced by any sharp pointed instru-
ments as nails, awls, needles, &c.
Treatment. First stop the bleeding, then with-
draw the needle, splinters, glass, or any thing that may
672 GUNN'S domestic medicine.
be in a wound of this nature, provided it can be done
easily; and if enlarging the wound a little, will enable
you to get any foreign body out, it is best to do so.
Though it is not always necessary to enlarge wounds
of this nature; yet when the weather is very warm, I
advise you not to neglect doing so; because it is a pre-
caution against lqcked-jaw, which occurs frequently in
wounds of this description. I recollect a case in 1816,
that occurred at Savannah, Georgia. A Miss D-------
L-------, a most amiable and accomplished lady, in
making preparations for a ball, by accident, stuck a
needle slightly in her heel. The puncture being slight,
she attended the ball. On the following day symptoms
of locked-jaw commenced; and the second day, not-
withstanding the skill afforded her by several eminent
professional gentlemen, she died. So soon as you en-
large a wound of this description as directed, pour a
little turpentine into the wound, or touch it by caustic,
and then cover it with a poultice, moistened with lauda-
num; the object of the poultice is to form matter.
When this is done, you must then treat it as a common
sore, with mild ointment of any kind. Frequently in
such cases, there is a great deal of pain; if so, give
laudanum in large doses,—you need not fear giving
laudanum in broken doses, until the patient gets ease;
for I have often given it as high as two hundred drops,
say thirty at each dose, before partial ease could be
afforded. In warm weather, inflammation often occurs;
in such a case bleed in moderation, and purge freely—
recollect here to use the lancet with care and discretion.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE^ «y 673
CONTUSED WOUNDS.
Wounds of this description are made by round or
blunt bodies, as musket balls, clubs, stones, &c. In
such wrounds you may have little to fear of loss of
blood, as they are attended generally by little bleeding;
if any, it must be stopped. If the wound is produced
by a ball, and the ball can be felt, or easily got at, it is
proper to extract, it is proper to do so, or any piece of
the wad or cloth, or clothing, should be withdrawn—
for instance, if the ball can be plainly felt immediately
under the skin, then make an incision across it and
take it out. But remember well, this salutary counsel
—never allow any poking in the wound to search for
a ball or any articles differently situated from what I
have plainly described, for many deaths occur, which,
if properly managed, or in other words, so much unne-
cessary science dispensed with, would have been en-
tirely cured. The best extracter in such cases is a soft
bread and milk poultice. In fact, by long experience
and reflection, I should say that gun-shot wounds, that
have formed a lodgment must not be opened either
lightly or wantonly; nor under the idea of hunting for
extraneous substances; for the parts themselves will
bring these to the surface, and such as cannot be thus
extracted, give little trouble, nor do they prevent the
healing of a wound. It is particularly vain to hunt for
balls, because they take a wayward course, and often
find a lodgment where the surgeon or physician would
be least inclined to look for them. Even if the ball
can be felt, and yet the skin is sound, some eminent sur-
geons think it will not be prudent to extract it before
the original wound is healed, because, where it rests it
can do no harm, and it is better to have only one
85 3G
674 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
wound at a time, than two. When a ball has wounded
a cavity, as for example, the abdomen, which means
the belly; if the ball has passed with little velocity, the
parts will heal by the first intention: [You will recol-
lect I explained plainly to you, the meaning of healing
by the first intention.] If however, it has passed with
such velocity or quickness, as to produce a slough,
meaning an inward bruise, the adhesive inflammation
will take place on the peritonaeum, meaning the skin
which lines the belly, and covers the abdominal viscera,
or in other words, the bowels, and the organs in the
belly and chest. The adhesive inflammation, as re-
marked, will take place on this peritonaeum all around
the wound, which will prevent the general cavity from
taking part in the inflammation, although the ball shall
have not only penetrated, but wounded, those parts not
immediately essential to life, in its passage through the
body; for whatever solid viscus has been pierced, the
surfaces in contact, surrounding every orifice, will unite
by the adhesive inflammation, so as to form one contin-
ual canal, with which the general cavity has no com-
munication. If any extraneous or outward body has
been carried in by the ball, it will he included in these
adhesions, and with the slough, will be conducted by
one of the orifices to the outward surface.
If the ball has wounded the liver or surface, these
may soon acquire the healing disposition; if the stom-
ach, intestines, kidneys, ureters, or bladder, such inju-
ries are generally mortal; for their contents escape
into the cavity of the abdomen or belly, and universal
inflammation of the peritonaeum takes place, attended
by great pain and tension or swelling, which terminates
in death. But if the wound is small and the bowels are
not full, adhesions may take place all round the wound.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 675
which will confine the matter, and make it go on in its
right channel. When a ball has not penetrated any of
the viscera of the abdomen, but only by contusion pro-
duced death in a part, whenever the slough comes away,
the matter contained in that viscus will escape, but as
the adhesive inflammation takes place between the sur-
faces in contact, the new channel will be preserved
entire, and cut off the communication between the ex-
ternal air and the cavity of the abdomen. This chan-
nel may, however, in time be closed, and the contents
may pass by their accustomed course. A young gen-
tleman was shot through the body, the balls, three in
number, entered on the left side of the navel, and came
out behind just above the superior vertebrae of the
loins. The first water he made was bloody—in less
than a fortnight, John Hunter, the most eminent sur-
geon of London, pronounced him out of danger, being
persuaded, that whatever cavities the balls had entered,
were united by the adhesive inflammation, so as to form
one complete canal, and that neither the extraneous
matters, carried in with the balls, nor any slough,
wrhich might separate from the sides of the canal, nor
matter formed in it, could get into the cavity of the ab-
domen, but must be conducted to the external surface
of the body, either through the wounds or from an
abscess forming for itself, which would work its own
exit somewhere. Soon after this conclusion, some
faeces, (meaning that which should pass from the fun-
dament,) coming through the wound, confirmed him
in his opinion respecting the efforts of nature, which
are great on such occasions to secure the cavity of the
abdomen: yet he feared this wound might in future
perform the functions of the fundament. He saw
clearly, that an intestine had received a bruise sufficient
676 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
to kill the part, and that till the separation of slough
had taken place, both the intestine and canal were still
complete, and therefore did not communicate with each
other, but that when the slough was thrown off, the two
were laid into one at this part, and that therefore the
contents of the intestine got into this wound. This
symptom, however, gradually decreased by the contrac-
tion of this opening, till an entire stop to the passage of
the faeces by it took place, and the wounds were healed,
and the gentleman entirely restored to health.
Having fully described to you the effects of gun shot
wounds, and their general effects, I shall conclude, by
directing you in such cases, should the inflammation
be great, bleed and purge. If your patient labors under
great pain, give laudanum, and if the parts assume a
dark look, threatening a mortification, cover them with
a blister. Where the wound is much torn, wash the
parts very nicely with warm water, and then, having
secured every bleeding vessel, lay them all down in as
natural a position as possible, drawing their edges gently
together, or as much so as possible, by strips of sticking
plaster, or stitches, if necessary. Now apply a soft
bread and milk poultice over the whole.
WOUNDS OF THE EAR, NOSE, &c.
Treatment. Wash the parts well, so as to cleanse
them from all dirt, &c. and then draw the edges of the
wound together, by as many stitches as are necessary.
If the part is even completely separated, and has been
trodden under foot, by washing it in warm water, and
placing it even, and accurately, in its proper place, by
the same means it may still adhere or grow on. i
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
677
WOUNDS OF THE SCALP.
Treatment. In wounds of the scalp it is necessary
to shave off the hair. After this operation is perform-
ed, wash the parts well, and draw the edges of the wound
together with sticking plaster. If it has been torn up
in several places, wash and lay them all down on the
skull again, drawing their edges together as nearly as
possible, by sticking plaster, or, if necessary, by stitches.
Then cover the whole with a soft fold or bandage,
smeared with simple ointment of any kind.
WOUNDS OF THE THROAT.
Treatment. Seize and tie up every bleeding vessel
you can get hold of. If the windpipe is cut only partly
through, secure it with sticking plaster. If it is com-
pletely divided, bring its edges together by stitches,
taking care to pass the needle through the loose mem-
brane that covers the windpipe, and not through the
windpipe itself. The head should be bent on the breast
during this operation, and secured by bolsters and band-
ages in that position, to favor the approximation of the
wound.
WOUNDS OF THE CHEST.
If the wound in the chest is a simple incised wound,
draw the edges of it together by sticking plaster, cover
it by a fold or compress of linen, and pass a bandage
round the chest. The patient is to he confined to his
bed, kept on very low diet, and bled and purged, in
order to prevent inflammation. If, however, inflamma-
3 g2
678 GUNN'S domestic medicine.
tion should come on, you must reduce it by copious and
frequent bleedings. Should the wound be occasioned
by a bullet, extract it, and any pieces of cloth, &c. that
may be lodged in it, if possible, and cover the wound
with a piece of linen smeared with some simple oint-
ment, taking great care that it is not drawn into the
chest. If a portion of the lung protrudes or projects
out, return it to its place immediately, but be as gentle
and cautious as possible.
WOUNDS OF THE BELLY.
In wounds of the belly, close it by strips of sticking
plaster, and stitches passed through the skin, about half
an inch from the edge of the wound, and cover the
whole with a soft compress of linen, secured by a band-
age. Any inflammation that may arise, is to be reduced
by bleeding, purging, and a blister over the whole belly.
Should any part of the bowels come out at the wound,
if clean and uninjured, return it as quickly as possible;
if covered with dirt, clots of blood, &c. wash it carefully
in warm water previous to returning it. If the gut is
wounded, and only cut partly through, draw the two
edges of it together by a stitch, and return it; if com-
pletely divided, you must connect the edges by four
stitches, at equal distances, and replace it in the belly,
always leaving the end of the ligature or thread project
from the external wound, which must be closed by
sticking plaster. In five or six days, if the threads are
loose, withdraw them very gently and carefully.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 679
WOUNDS OF JOINTS.
In wounds of this description, you are to bring the
edges of the wound together by sticking plaster, with-
out any delay; keep the part perfectly at rest, bleed,
purge, and live very low, so as to prevent inflammation.
But should it come on, it must be met at its first
approach by bleeding to as great an extent as the con-
dition of the patient will warrant, and by a blister
covering the whole joint. If the joint seems like it
would be a stiff one, keep the limb in that position
which will prove most useful; that is, the leg should be
extended, and the arm bent at the elbow. Wounds of
the joints are always highly dangerous, and frequently
terminate fatally.
WOUNDS OF TENDONS.
Tendons or sinews are frequently wounded and
ruptured. They are to be treated precisely like any
other wound, by keeping their divided parts together.
The tendon which connects the great muscle forming
the calf of the leg with the heel, called the tendon of
Achilles, is frequently cut with the adze, and ruptured
in jumping from heights. This accident is to be rem-
edied by drawing up the heel, extending the foot, and
placing a splint on the fore part of the leg, extending
from the knee to beyond the toes, which being secured
in that position by a bandage, keep the foot in the
position just mentioned. The hollows under the splint
must be filled with tow or cotton. If the skin falls
into the space between the ends of the tendon, apply a
680 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
piece of sticking plaster, so as to draw it out of the
way. It usually takes five or six weeks to unite, but
no weight should be laid on the limb for several
months.
OF FRACTURES.
As I have before plainly pointed out to you how
fractures may be known, it will be unnecessary to dwell
on this subject. It will, however, be advisable for you
to recollect this general rule: in cases where, from the
accompanying circumstances and symptoms, a strong
suspicion exists, that the hone is fractured, it will he
proper for you to act as though it were positively ascer-
tained to be so.
FRACTURES OF THE BONE OF THE
NOSE.
Treatment. From the exposed situation of flic
bones of the nose, they are frequently forced in. When
this is the ease, any smooth article that will pass into
the nostrils, should be immediately introduced with one
hand, so as to raise the depressed portions to the prop-
er level, while the other is employed in moulding them
into the required shape. If violent inflammation fol-
lows, bleed, purge, and live on the lowest kind of diet.
FRACTURES OF THE LOWER JAW.
Treatment. There is no difficulty in discovering
this accident by looking into the mouth; and it is to be
relieved by keeping the lower jaw firmly pressed against
the upper one, by means of a bandage passed under
86 681
682 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
the chin and over the head. If it is broken near the
angle, or that part nearest the ear, place a cushion or
roll of linen behind it, over which the bandage must
pass, so as to make it push that part of the bone for-
ward. The parts are then to be confined in this way
for twenty or twenty-five days; during which time, all
the nourishment that is taken by the patient, should be
sucked between the teeth. If, in consequence of the
blow, a tooth is loosened, do not meddle with it, for if
let alone, it will grow fast again.
FRACTURES OF THE COLLAR BONE.
A fracture of the collar bone is of very common
occurrence, and is known at once, by passing the finger
along it, and by the swelling, &c.
Treatment. To reduce it, seat your patient in a
chair, with his shirt off, and place a stout compress of
linen, made in the shape of a wedge, under his arm;
the thick end of which, should press against the arm-
pit. His arm bent to a right angle at the elbowr, is
now to be brought down to his side, and secured in
that position by a long bandage, which passes over the
arm of the affected side, and round the body. The
fore arm—meaning that which reaches from the elbow
to the wrist, is to be supported across the breast by a
sling. It then takes from four to five weeks to re-unite.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
683
FRACTURES OF THE ARM.
Treatment. Seat you patient on a chair, or the
side of a bed; let some one assist you to hold the sound
arm, while another person grasps the wrist of the
broken one, and steadily extends it in an opposite direc-
tion, bending the fore arm a little to serve as a lever.
You must now place the bones in their proper situation.
Two splints, made of shingle or stout pasteboard, long
enough to reach from below the shoulder to near the
elbow, must then be well covered with tow or cotton
and laid along each side of the arm, and kept in that
position by a bandage. The fore arm is to be support-
ed in a sling. Two smaller splints, may, for better
security, be laid between the first ones; that is, one on
top, and the other underneath the arm, to be secured by
the bandage in the same way as the others.
FRACTURES OF THE BONE OF THE
FORE-ARM.
As I have before, and I again tell you, it is that part
which reaches from the elbow to the wrist, that is desig-
nated or called the fore-arm. When this is fractured,
they are to be reduced precisely in the same way, with
the exception of the mode of keeping the upper por-
tion of it steady; which is done by grasping the arm
above the elbow. When the splints and bandage
which I have directed you how to make, are applied,
support it in a sling.
684 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
FRACTURES OF THE WRIST.
Fractures of the wrist very seldom take place.
When this accident does happen, the injury is generally
so great as to require amputation or taking it off. If
it is possible to save the hand, lay it on a splint, well
covered with tow or cotton. This is to extend beyond
the fingers—place then another splint opposite to it,
lined with the same soft materials, and secure them by
a bandage. The hand is then to be carried in a sling.
The bones of the hand are frequently broken: in
such a case, fill the palm of the hand with soft com-
press or folds of linen or domestic cloth, or tow or cot-
ton, and then lay a splinter on it long enough to extend
from the elbow to beyond the ends of the fingers, and
then to be secured by a bandage. If the finger is
broken, extend the end of it until it becomes straight.
Place the fractured or broken bone in its place^ and
apply two small pasteboard splints, one below and the
other above, which you must secure by a narrow ban-
dage. The upper splint ought to extend from the end
of the finger over the back of the hand. It may some-
times be proper to add two additional splints for the
sides of the finger.
FRACTURES OF THE RIBS.
When after a fall or blow, the patient complains of
a prickling pain in his side, we may suspect a rib is
broken. The way to discover it, is by placing the ends
of two or three of your fingers on the spot where the
pain is, and desiring the patient to cough, when the
grating sensation will be felt. All that is necessary, is
to pass a broad bandage round the chest, so tight as to
GUNN\S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 685
prevent the motion of the ribs in breathing, and to live
on a lie;ht diet.
FRACTURES OF THE THIGH.
Ton thigh is perhaps the most difficult fracture to
manage; and to the ingenuity of one amongst the best
men who ever lived, (Doctor Hartshorn, of the city of
Philadelphia.) the world is indebted for an apparatus
which does away the greatest impediments that have
been found to exist in treating it so as to leave a
straight limb, without lameness or deformity ; nor is it
the least of its merits, that any man of common sense,
can apply it nearly as well as a surgeon or physician.
It consists of two splints, made of half or three
quarter inch well seasoned stuff, from eight to ten
inches wide, one of which should reach from a little
above the hip, to fifteen or sixteen inches beyond the
foot, while the other extends the same length from the
groin. The upper end of the inner splint, is hollowed
out, and well padded or stuffed. Their lower ends are
held together by a cross piece, having twTo tenons,
which enter twTo vertical mortices, one in each splint,
and secured there by pins. In the center of this cross
piece, (which should be very solid,) is a female screw.
Immediately above the vertical mortices, are two hori-
zontal ones, of considerable length, in which slide the
tenons of a second cross piece, to the upper side of
which, is fastened a foot block, shaped like the sole of
a shoe, while in the other, is a round hole, for the re-
ception of the head of the male screw, which passes
through the female one just mentioned. On the top of
this cross piece, to which the foot block is attached, arr
3 H
686
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
two pins, which fall into the grooves at the head of the
screw, thereby firmly connecting them. The foot
block, as before observed, is shaped like the sole of a
shoe. Near the toe, is a slit through which passes a
strap and buckle. Near the heel, are a couple of
straps with two rings, arranged precisely like those of a
skate; of which, in fact, the whole foot block is an
exact resemblance. A long male screw, of wood, or
other material completes the apparatus. To apply it,
put a slipper on the foot of the broken limb, and lay
the apparatus over the leg. By turning the screw, the
foot block will be forced up to the foot in the slipper,
which is to be firmly strapped to it, as boys fasten their
skates. By turning the screw the contrary way, the
padded extremity of the inner splint presses against the
groin, and the foot is gradually drawn down until the
broken limb becomes of its natural length and appear-
ance ; when any projection or little inequality that re-
mains, can be felt and reduced by a gentle pressure of
the hand.
The great advantages of this invaluable apparatus, I
again tell you, are the ease with which it is applied,
and the certainty with which it acts. The foot once
secured to the block, in a way that any man of com-
mon sense understands, nothing more is required than
to turn the screw until the broken limb is found to be
of the same length as the sound one. It is proper to
remark, that this should not be effected at once, it being
better to turn the screwTa little every day until the limb
is extended. As this apparatus may not always be at
hand, it is proper to mention the next best plan of
treating the accident. It is found in the splints of
Desault, improved by Dr. Physic of the city of Phila-
delphia, consisting of four pieces. The first has a
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 687
crutch head, and extends from the arm pit to six or
eight inches beyond the foot. A little below the crutch,
are two holes; and near the lower end on the inside,
there is a block, below which there is also a hole.
The second reaches from the grain, the same length
with the first, being about three inches wide above and
two below. Two pieces of stout pasteboard, as many
handkerchiefs or bands of muslin, with some tow and
a few pieces of tape, form the catalogue of the appa-
ratus—which is to be applied as follows :
Four or five pieces of tape are to be laid across the
bed, at equal distances from each other. Over the
upper two is placed one of the short pasteboard splints,
well covered with tow. Then the patient is to be care-
fully and very gently placed on his back, so that his
thigh may rest on the splints. One of the handker-
chiefs, or strong soft band, is to be passed between the
testicle and thigh of the affected side, and its ends held
by some person standing near the head of the bed.
The second handkerchief is to be passed round the
ankle, crossed on the instep, and tied under the sole of
the foot. By steadily pulling these two handkerchiefs,
the limb is to be extended, while with the hand the
broken bones are replaced in their natural form. Then
the long splint is to be placed by the side of the pa-
tient, the crutch in the arm pit, (which must be defend-
ed by tow or cotton,) while the short one is laid along
inside of the thigh or leg. The ends of the first hand-
kerchief being passed through the upper holes, are to
be drawn tight and secured by a knot, while the ends
of the second one pass over the block beforementioned,
to be fastened in like manner at the lower one. All that
remains, is the short pasteboard splint, which being
well covered with tow, is to be laid on top of the
688 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
thigh. The tapes being tied so as to keep the four
splints together, completes the operations. Cotton or
tow is to be every where stuffed between the splints and
the limb, and a large handful of it placed in the groin,
to prevent irritation from the upper or counter extend-
ing band. You must be careful while tying the two
handkerchiefs, that they are not relaxed, so that if the
operation is properly performed, the two limbs will be
nearly of an equal length.
The superior advantages of Hartshorn's apparatus
over this, as well as others, must be evident to every
one acquainted with the difficulty of keeping up that
constant extension which is so absolutely necessary to
avoid deformity and lameness, and which is so com-
pletely effected by the screw. Next to that, however,
stands Dr. Physic's, which can be made by any car-
penter in a few minutes, and which, if carefully appli-
ed, will be found to answer a good purpose. Fractured
thighs and legs generally re-unite in from six to eight
weeks, depending, however, much upon the age of the
patient. Old persons frequently require three or four
months. You must recollect in such cases a straw bed
is best for your patient, or a mattrass, or any bed that
will not yield, so as to keep the limb in its proper
position.
FRACTURES OF THE BONES OF THE
FOOT.
This accident seldom occurs—the bone of the heel
is sometimes, though rarely, broken. It is known by a
crack at the moment of the accident, a difficulty in
standing, by the quick swelling, and the grating noise
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 689
on moving the heel. To reduce it, take a long bandage,
lay the end of it on the top of the foot, convey it over
the toes under the sole of the foot, and then by several
turns secure it in that position. The foot being extend-
ed as much as possible, carry the bandage along back
of the leg above the knee, where it is to be secured by
several turns, and then brought down on the front of
the leg, to which it is secured by circular turns. In
this manner the broken pieces will be kept in contact,
and in the course of a month or six weeks will be
united.
All fractures of the foot, toes, &c. are to be treated
like those of the hand and fingers.
OF DISLOCATIONS.
The signs by which a dislocation may be known,
have been already explained to you. But remember
that the sooner the attempt is made to place it in its
proper place, the easier it will be done. The strength
of one man, properly applied at the moment of the
accident, will often succeed in restoring the head of a
bone to its place, which in a few days and even hours
would have required the combined efforts of men and
pullies. After you have made several trials with the
best apparatus that can be obtained, and you find you
cannot succeed, make the patient stand up, having all
things in readiness, and bleed him in that position until
he faints; the moment this occurs the muscles will re-
lax, and a slight force will often be sufficient, where
more powerful ones have been used without effect.
Also recollect to vary the direction of the extending
87 3h 2
690 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
force. A slight pull in one way, will often effect what
has been in vain attempted by great force in another.
DISLOCATION OF THE LOWER JAW.
Dislocation of the lower jaw is produced by blows,
or yawning, usually called gaping. It is known by an
inability to shut the mouth, and the projection of the
chin. To reduce it is quite simple: Seat the patient in
a chair, with his head supported by the breast of an
assistant who must stand behind him. Your thumbs
being covered with leather (or a glove) are then to be
pushed between the jaws, as far back as possible, while
with the fingers outside, you grasp the bone, which
must be prest downwards, at the same time that the
chin is raised. If this is properly done, the bone will
be found moving, when the chin is to be pushed back-
wards, and the thumbs slipped between the jaws and
the cheeks. If this is not done, they will be bitten by
the sudden snap of the teeth as they come together.
The jaws should be kept closed by a bandage for a few
days and the patient live upon soup.
OF THE SHOULDER.
This accident is quite common, (and the most so of
all the dislocations mentioned.) You can easily dis-
cover it, by the deformity of the joint, and the head of
the bone being found in some unnatural position. To
reduce it to its proper place, seat your patient in a chair,
place one hand on the prominent part of the shoulder
blade, just above the spot where the head of the bone
should be, while with the other you grasp the arm
above the elbow and then pull it outwards.
Sometimes this will not succeed; if so, then lay the
patient on the ground, place your heel in his arm pit,
and then steadily and forcibly extend the arm by grasp-
ing it at the wrist.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 691
OF THE COLLAR BONE.
The Collar bone is seldom dislocated; but should it
take place, the treatment is, to apply the bandages, &c.
as you have been already directed for a fracture of the
same part.
OF THE ELBOW.
If this dislocation has occurred by falling on the
hands, which is most common, or holds his arm bent
at the elbow, and every endeavor to straighten it gives
him great pain, it is dislocated backwards. Seat the
patient in a chair, let some one grasp the arm near
the shoulder, and another the wrist and forcibly extend
it, while you interlock the fingers of both hands just
above the elbow, and pull it backwards, remembering
that under those circumstances, whatever degree of
force is required, should be applied in this direction.
The elbow is sometimes dislocated sideways or later-
ally. To reduce it, make extension by pulling at the
wrist, while some one secures the arm above; then
push the bone into its place, either inwards or out-
wards, as may he required. After the reduction of a
dislocated elbow, keep the joint at perfect rest for five
or six days, and then move it gently. If inflammation
should come on, treat it as I have before told you in all
inflammations—bleed freely, purge, &c.
OF THE WRIST, FINGERS, ETC.
Dislocations of this nature are common, and easily
known, by the least examination; they are all to be
reduced by forcibly extending the lower extremity
of the part, and pushing the bones in their places. If
necessary small bands may be secured to the fingers
by a narrow bandage, to assist the extension. These
accidents should be attended to without delay; for if
092 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
they ai ~ neglected for a little time, they become irreme-
diable or incurable.
OF THE THIGH.
Notwithstanding the hip joint is the strongest one in the
whole body, it is sometimes dislocated. The method of
ascertaining this accident is by a careful examination of
the part. Comparing the length and appearance of the
limb with its fellow, &c. sufficiently mark the nature
of the accident. I w7ill proceed to state the remedy:
Place the patient on his back, upon a table covered
with a blanket. Two sheets, folded like cravats, are
then to be passed between the thigh and the testicles of
each side, and their ends (one half of each sheet pass-
sing obliquely over the belly to the opposite shoulder,
while the other half passes under the back in the same
direction) given to several assistants, or what is much
better, tied very firmly to a hook, staple, post or some
immoveable body. A large and very strong towel,
folded as beforementioned, like a cravat, is now to be
laid along the top of the thigh, so that its middle will
be just above the knee, where it is to be well secured
by many turns of a bandage. The two ends are then
to be knotted. If you have no pullies, a twisted sheet
or rope may be passed through the loop formed by the
towels. If you can obtain the former, it is better.
Cast the loop over the hook of the lower block, and
secure the upper one to the wall, directly opposite to
the hooks or men that, hold the sheets which pass be-
tween the thighs. A steadily increasing and forcible
extension of the thigh, is then to be made by the
men who are stationed at the pullies or sheet, while
you are turning and twisting the limb to assist in dis-
lodging it from its unnatural situation. By these means,
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
693
properly applied, the head of the bone will frequently
slip into the socket with considerable noise.
Should you be unable to succeed, change the direc
tion of the extending force, recollecting always, that it
is not by sudden or violent jerks that it can be put in
place, but by a steady, increasing and continued pull.
Should all your efforts prove unavailing, (I would not
advise you to lose much time before you resort to it,)
make your patient, as before directed, submit in such
cases to loss of blood, by which means in those difficult
cases you are to succeed.
OF THE KNEE PAN.
If this small bone is dislocated, you will perceive it
at once by the slightest glance. Now, to reduce it, lay
your patient on his back, straighten the leg, lift it up to
a right angle with his body, and in that position push
the bone back to its proper place. Then keep the knee
at perfect rest on a pillow for a few days.
OF THE LEG.
Accidents of this kind cannot happen without tearing
and lacerating the soft parts; but little force is required
to place the bones in their proper situation. Should the
parts be so much torn that the bones slip again out of
place, you had better apply Hartshorn's or Desault's appa-
ratus, which I fully described to you for fractured thigh.
OF THE FOOT.
Dislocation of the foot seldom takes place. It, how-
ever, may occur; therefore I will give you the treat-
ment. Let one secure the leg, and another draw the
foot, while you push the. bone in the contrary way to
that in which it was forced out. Then you are to cover
it with folds of linen dipped in w^ater in which sugar of
lead has been dissolved, and apply a splint on each side of
the leg, so that it reaches below the foot. An accident
694 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
of this nature is highly dangerous, requiring the imme-
diate assistance of a skilful physician; as, even then, all
that can be done to remedy them is in the speedy reduc-
tion of the bone, keeping the parts on a pillow at rest,
and subduing inflammation by bleeding, low diet, and
all such directions as already given to subdue fever.
OF COMPOUND ACCIDENTS.
I ^have fully, and as plainly as I could, before told
you how to treat accidents of this kind, and what plan
you are to pursue when single; it now remains for me
to state to you what is to be done when they are united.
For instance, an accident happens by which a man
is thrown from a height. On examination, a wound E
is found in his thigh—it is bleeding profusely, his ankle
on examination is out of joint, with a wound commu-
nicating with the cavity, and his leg broken. In the
first place stop the bleeding from the wound, then re-
duce the dislocation next, then draw the edges of the
wound together with sticking plaster, and lastly apply
to the fracture, Hartshorn's or Desault's apparatus,
which I have so fully explained before, that any car-
penter can construct it for you.
AMPUTATION.
This means the cutting off a limb, or other part of
the body. How often do those accidents happen where
there is no physician, or regular surgical assistance,
(often at sea, or at a distance in the country,) and the
limb requiring immediate amputation, or cutting off.
The only difficulty, I confess to you, is to know when
this operation ought to be performed; for it is sometimes
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 695
the case that the most skilful surgeon is mistaken, or at
a stand whether he shall operate or not. I do know
several cases that have been preserved by the obstinacy
of the patient, refusing to have the operation performed.
But this wTas running a great hazard of life, and should
be in all such cases ventured upon with due caution—
and the operation ought not to be performed unless
under the most careful and sound judgment. Now, to
perform this operation, requires nothing but firmness
and common dexterity, for any man, and that, too, to
perform it well. Although, as I have told you, there
are many doubts whether an amputation should take
place or not, yet in others, all difficulty vanishes; as for
instance, when a ball has carried away an arm; or
during a storm, a tree happens to fall and mash the
knee, the leg or ankle, so that those parts are greatly
lacerated or torn, and the blood vessels are severely
lacerated, also nerves and tendons; or the crushing or
splintering of the bones, almost necessarily resulting
from such accidents, render immediate amputation an
unavoidable and imperious duty. Now, you will ask,
what shall I do for instruments with which to perform
this operation ? If it is difficult to obtain surgical in-
struments, which is often the case in the country or at
sea, it is of no consequence. The instruments for this
purpose are few, and easily obtained, which, in all cases
will answer as a valuable substitute. First, get a large
carving knife, with a straight blade—have the knife as
sharp and smooth as possible—a pen-knife—a carpen-
ter's tenon, or mitre saw—a slip of leather or linen,
three inches wide, and twenty inches long, slit up the
middle, to the half of its length—a dozen or more of
ligatures, each about a foot long, made of waxed thread
or fine twine—a hook with a sharp point, or a shoe-
696 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
maker's crooked awl will answer—a pair of slender
pincers—several narrow strips of sticking plaster, called
by physicians or surgeons adhesive plaster, or adhesive
strip—some dry lint—a piece of old linen, large enough
to cover the end of the stump, spread with simple oint-
ment or lard—a bandage three or four yards long,
about the width of your hand—a piece of sponge, and
some warm water. You are now prepared fully to
perform amputation; which I will so plainly explain,
that any man, unless he be an idiot or an absolute fool,
can perform this operation.
AMPUTATION OF THE ARM.
How to perform the operation. Give the pa-
tient, about half an hour before you intend operating,
sixty drops of laudanum; now having all things in
readiness, seat him on a narrow and firm table or chest,
of a convenient height; he is nowT to be supported by
an assistant, by clasping him round the body. If the
handkerchief and stick have not been previously ap-
plied, place it as high up on the arm as possible, (the
stick being very short,) and so that the knot may pass
on the inner side of it. Your instruments having been
placed regularly on a table, and within reach of your
hand, while some one supports the lower end of the
arm, and at the same time draws down the skin, take
the large knife and make one straight cut all round the
limb through the skin and fat only; then with the pen-
knife separate as much of the skin from the flesh above
the cut, and all around it, as;will form a flap to cover
the face or end of the stump; wThen you think there is
enough separated, turn it back, where it must be held
by an assistant, while with the large knife you make a
second straight incision round the arm and dowrn to the
bone, as close as you can to the doubled edge of the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE." 697
flap, but taking good care not to cut it. The bone is
now to be passed through the slit in the piece of linen
beforementioned, and pressed by its ends against the
upper surface of the wound by the person who holds
the flap, while you saw through the bone as near to it
as you can. With the hook or pincers you then seize
and tie up every vessel that bleeds, the largest first
and the smaller ones next, until they are all secured.
When this is done relax the stick a little—if any artery
spurt blood, tie it as before directed.
The wound is now to be gently and very carefully
cleansed with a spunge and warm water, and the stick
to be relaxed. If it is evident that the arteries are all
tied, bring the flap over the end of the stump, draw
then the edges together with strips of sticking plaster,
leaving the ligatures hanging out at the angles. Lay
the piece of linen, spread with simple ointment or
hog's lard, over the straps and a fold or pledget of
lint over that, and secure the whole by the bandage.
Then put your patient to bed and rest the stump on a
pillow. The handkerchief and stick are to be left
loosely round the limb, so that if any bleeding happens
to come on, it may be tightened at once by the person
who watches by the patient. If this accident should
take place, by which I mean the bleeding, the dress-
ings are to be taken off, the flap raised, and the bleed-
ing vessel sought for and tied up; after which, every
thing is to be placed as before. 1 have mentioned a
handkerchief and stick ; these are substitutes for the
instrument used by surgeons called a tourniquet,
Remember, in sawing through the bone, a long and
free stroke should be used to prevent any hitching; as
an additional security against which, the teeth of the
saw should be well sharpened and set wide.
88 3 1
698 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
It is of the greatest importance to attend to this cir-
cumstance. The ends of divided arteries cannot at
the time of operation be got hold of; or being in a
diseased state, their coats give way under the hook; so
that it is impossible to draw them out, and not unfre-
quently they are found ossified, which means turned
into bone. In all such cases, having threaded a needle
with a ligature well waxed, pass it through the flesh
round the artery, so that when tied, there will be a
portion of it included in the ligature along with the
artery. The needle used by surgeons for this purpose
is a curved or crooked one; but a straight one will an-
swer. When the ligature has been made to encircle
the artery, cut off the needle and tie it firmly in the
ordinary way.
The dressings should not be removed for several
days, say from five to seven, if the wTeather is cool; but
if warm wreather, it should be removed in three days.
But this you must do with great care, after soaking it
well with wrarm water, so that you can take it away
without it sticking to the stump, bleeding or otherwise
producing pain. Then apply a clean plaster of lint,
over which put a bandage as before directed;—which
dressing is to be removed and a fresh one applied every
two days. In about fourteen or sixteen days the liga-
tures will generally come away; and in from three to
five weeks, (if all goes on as might be expected, without
any accident,) the wound is well.
OF THE THIGH.
Amputation of the thigh is to be performed in the
same manner as that of the arm, with one exception;
it being proper to put a piece of lint between the edges
of the flap, to prevent them from uniting until the sur-
face of the stump has adhered to it.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 699
OF THE LEG.
There are two bones in the leg, which have a thin
muscle between. In such a case you must have an
additional knife to those I have before mentioned, to
divide it. The knife required for this purpose must
have a long narrow blade, with a double cutting edge,
and a sharp point. You can grind down a carving or
case knife to answer every purpose; the blade however
must be reduced to less than half an inch in width.
The linen or leather slip should also have two slits in
it instead of one. Having all your preparations in or-
der near you, your patient is to be laid on his back, on
a table covered with a blanket, or on a hard bed, with
as many persons as may be necessary to hold him.
The handkerchief and stick are then to be applied on
the upper part of the thigh. One person holds the
knee, and another the foot and legs as firmly as possi-
ble, while with the large knife the operator makes an
oblique incision round the limb, through the skin, and
beginning at five or six inches below the knee pan, and
carrying it regularly round in such a manner that the
cut will be lower down on the calf than in front of the
leg. As much of the skin is then to be separated by
the pen knife as will cover the stump. (It is here im-
portant for you to take the principal part of the flap
from the hinder part of the leg; for the cut being made
as directed, it should require only one inch of skin to
be raised in front, and of course you must take enough
from behind to meet it.) When this is turned back a
second cut is to be made all round the limb and down
to the bones ; when with the narrow bladed knife be-
fore mentioned, the flesh between them is to be divided.
The middle piece of the leather strip is now to be
pulled through between the bones, the whole being
700 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
held back by the assistant who supports the flap while
the bones are sawed—which should be so managed
that the smaller one is cut through by the time the
other is only half off. The arteries are then to be
taken up, the flap brought down, and secured by adhe-
sive plaster with bandages, as I have before plainly
explained to you.
OF THE FORE-ARM.
The fore arm has two bones in it; therefore you
require in this operation the narrow bladed knife, and
the strip of linen with three tails. Let the incision be
made straight round the part, as in the arm; with this
exception—complete as I give you directions in the
case before this.
OF THE FINGERS AND TOES.
When amputations of this kind are made, you must
draw the skin back, and make an incision round the
finger a little below the joint it is intended to remove;
turn back a little flap to cover the stump, then cut
down to the joint, bleeding it so that you can cut
through the ligaments that connect the two bones—the
under one first, then that on the side. The head of
the bone is to be turned out, while you cut through the
remaining soft parts. Should you see an artery spurt
out the blood, immediately tie it up; if not, bring down
the flap, and secure it by a strip of sticking plaster.
And then put a narrow bandage over the whole.
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON AMPUTATION.
It often happens in cases of amputation, that the
wound is apt to bleed after you have dressed it—there-
by giving you considerable trouble. (This is called by
surgeons secondary bleeding. Therefore to prevent
this, if necessary, before the strips of plasters are appli-
ed to the edges of the flap, give a little wine-water, or
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 701
a little spirit and water, and wait a few moments to see
whether the increased force it gives to the circulation,
will occasion a flow of blood; if it does, secure the
vessel it comes from. But should there be a consider-
able flow of blood from the hollow of the bone, make
use of a small plug of cedar; and if violent spasms of
the stump take place, hold it carefully by your assist-
ants, and immediately administer large doses of lauda-
num ; it may be understood as a general rule, that after
every operation of the kind, laudanum must and ought
to be given according to the sufferings of the patient.
MORTIFICATION.
In the general treatment of wounds, and in surgery,
remember always to stop excessive inflammation;
which, if allowed to go to a certain point, frequently
produces mortification, or the death of the parts.
Therefore, always be on your guard against fever—
which you may easily know, by heat, pain, redness,
and swelling. Now, I again repeat, that you must bleed
and purge, as much as you think your patient may be
able to bear, from his situation, constitution, &c. &c.
These matters are to be entirely regulated by the ap-
pearances at the time. If the fever and pain should
suddenly cease, and the part which before was red,
swollen and hard, becomes of a purple color and soft,
you are to stop at once all reducing measures, put a
large blister over all the parts, and give good wine,
porter, barks, and wine or quinine, or other generous
stimulants, so as to support the sinking condition of
the patient, for mortification has or is about to com-
mence ; and should you find the blisters should fail to
702 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
put a stop to the disease, and the parts look dead and
become offensive, cover them with charcoal, or ferment-
ing poultices, until nature separates the dead parts from
the living; during which time give a free, generous and
strengthening diet and good w7ine.
In mortification of the fore-arm, it frequently be-
comes necessary to amputate. This ought never to be
done until after blisters have been fairly tried to the
sound parts above the mortified; as they often separate,
you should be careful to examine strictly the parts, so
as to discover, in time, that which may be necessary.
THE CATHETER.
A Catheter is a small surgical instrument made use
of for drawing the water from the bladder. There are
two kinds, male and female. The difference between
them is very little; the male has but one hole in the
end that enters the bladder; the female has several;
this is the only difference in the instrument. By this
simple operation, which any person of common sense
can perform, the lives of thousands have been preserv-
ed—and this is one among the many reasons I could
advance, for having explained the outward parts of
female generation so plainly. Now many fools say
that I ought to have left out an explanation of these
parts. And why do. they say so? Because they do
not read the book, so as to see the necessity of writing
so plain. Are we ashamed of the parts which the
diseases of our nature require to be explained, so as to
obtain relief in cases of disease ? I am writing a book
not for the learned but the unlearned, not for amuse-
ment, but to explain, in plain language, the diseases to
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 703
which we are subjected, and the method to obtain
relief from pain and sickness. With these remarks I
shall proceed.
METHOD OF USING THE CATHETER.
Holding the private member near its head, between
the finger and thumb of the left hand ; (standing at his
side;) now with your right hand you introduce the
point of the instrument into (he passage, (out of which
flows the urine,) the convex side of the catheter to-
wards the patient's knees; then gently, by no means
using force, push the instrument down the urethra, at
the same time endeavor to draw up the penis on it.
When you first introduce the catheter, the handle will
of course be near the belly of the patient; and as it
goes down the canal, it will be thrown farther from it,
until it enters the bladder, which you will know by the
water immediately flowing through the tube into the
basin or pot. It sometimes occurs that you cannot
succeed whilst the patient is on his back; if this is the
case, make him stand up, or you may place him with
his shoulders and back on the ground, while his thighs
and legs are held up by assistants. In difficult cases I
have been compelled to place the patient on his back,
and when the catheter was as far down as it would go,
I introduced the fore finger, well oiled, into the funda-
ment, and endeavored to push the point upwards while
still pressing forwards with my other hand; by which
means I have often succeeded, when all other methods
failed. You must recollect force is never, on any
account, to be used. Vary the position of the instru-
ment as often as you think proper; even permit the
patient himself to try, but by all means use no force or
violence; but humor the instrument, take your time,
and be cautious, and you will at last succeed. I will
704 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
state to you a case. During my practice in Virginia,
in Botetourt county, near the town of Salem, a Mr. T.
a young man in the prime of life, was engaged in
raising a large barn, when a part of the building gave
way, and he was dreadfully mashed, with a fall of
thirty feet. 1 was immediately called in to his case; it
wTas such as to leave but little if any hope of his re-
covery. One of the logs having fallen across his
privates, placed him in such a situation as to be entirely
helpless. In this critical and, I may add, wretched
situation, he continued five days without passing a drop
of water. I had made daily unsuccessful efforts to
introduce the catheter, but without success; his fever
and thirst very great. I had bled him very copiously
every day, and endeavored by all means to reduce in-
flammation. His misery was excruciating from being
unable to pass his water. All my efforts to pass the
instrument, from the bruised state of the parts, were
unsuccessful. I then determined, previous to an oper-
ation, to make the last trial; when I introduced my
finger, as before described, into the rectum. Feeling
distinctly the point of the instrument, 1 passed it gently
into the neck of the bladder, when immediately the
water flowTed. So great and instantaneous was the
relief afforded him, that he exclaimed, " 1 thank thee,
merciful God!" By this operation upwards of a gal-
lon of water was drawn off. From this time his
recovery gradually commenced. The instrument
which I learned him how to introduce is continued, I
am informed, until this time, being unable to pass his
water without it. He is still living in Virginia, but,
poor fellow, entirely deprived of the use of his lower
extremities. I will now relate to you a second case—
with which I shall close my remarks on the subject of
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 705
this small but valuable instrument. Two years since I
was called upon at night to visit a young lady of the
most respectable family residing about ten miles from
Knoxville, said by the messenger to be dying. On my
arrival, I found her in a great misery. She desired the
room might be cleared of all save her sister, when she
with the greatest delicacy declared her misery was
from being unable to pass her water. In this horrible
situation she had been for four days; during which
time, the whole catalogue of teas had been prescribed
from water melon tea to the full extent of twenty differ-
ent kinds. All had been poured down the throat of
this poor innocent girl, until she declared that she had
rather die than drink another draught. On examina-
tion I found I had forgotten my catheter, but as I have
often done before, I made a temporary instrument. I
took a common goose quill, cut it off at both ends,
made one of the ends perfectly smooth, passed it into
the small hole which I have so plainly described in
the outward parts of female generation, and in less
than five minutes this amiable and innocent girl was
entirely relieved, by an operation which any old wo-
man might have performed, saved me a disagreeable
ride of a very cold night, and the family an expense of
ten dollars. This lady is now married, and the mother
of a fine family. I have often since laughed with her,
about the quality and quantity of the teas administered.
I have mentioned this late case to show you the actual
importance and indeed the necessity of explaining
these parts, which otherwise I should have veiled in
different language or omitted them altogether.
85
SCARLET FEVER.
This complaint is now raging violently through Vir-
ginia ; and within a short time, has made its appear-
ance throughout the western states, with considerable
severity in its symptoms, and requiring active and
prompt treatment—otherwise it generally proves fatal.
I have no doubt, by early attention to those symptoms
and remedies which follow, you will at once cut short
and easily control this contagion, (for it certainly is a
contagious disease,) similar to the measles—distinguish-
ed or known from them, by the spots making their
appearance on the second day of the fever; when, in
measles, they usually make their appearance on the
fourth day. The spots in scarlet fever being of a light
flaming red, while those of measles are of a dark red
color. From this plain and different appearance, you
can certainly distinguish at once the difference in the
diseases; thereby enabling you to take at once such
prompt steps as to arrest this disorder; which, if suffer-
ed to proceed, generally, and I may almost add always,
ends fatally.
Symptoms. Cold and sudden chills stealing gradu-
ally over the whole body—with flushes of heat, great
thirst, the head ache, the skin is covered with large
red or scarlet patches, which after a short time unite
or come together; then in a few days they disappear or
go off in a kind of scurf, like bran, and the throat be-
comes quite hoarse or sore.
706
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
707
Remedies. As you value the life of your patient,
depend on emetics or pukes of ipecacuanha; which
are to be given on the first appearance of the disease,
to be followed by a dose of salts or eight grains of
calomel and eight of rhubarb; and half of this dose
for children. If the pulse is full and strong, and the
head aches, it will be proper to draw blood, and dash
cold water over the body very freely and frequently.
(Do not be alarmed at this last remedy, for it will be
the certain one in this complaint to relieve your patient,
for I have often used it with great success.) There is
no disease in which the advantages of cold water have
been more successful than in scarlet fever; but to
receive the full benefit of it, it must be often used and
that freely; that is, as often as the heat, &c. seem to
require the use of it, which perhaps may be the case
eight or nine times in twenty-four hours.
A fine remedy in this disorder is the Saline Mixture,
made as follows: Salt of tartar one drachm, water
seven ounces, essence of peppermint five drops. When
the salt of tartar is dissolved, add very gradually lemon
juice, or vinegar, until the effervescence ceases. This
mixture to be taken every hour—and to children, such
quantities of it as you can conveniently get them to
take. It is a cooling mixture, produces gentle moisture
on the skin, and keeps down inflammation, &c. When
there is a sore throat, use any innocent gargle, such as
sage and honey, with a little alum or borax in it, so as
to wash or cleanse the throat frequently; and apply a
mustard poultice to the throat.
In scarlet fever in the latter stage, it will be prudent
for you to guard against putrescency, which symptoms
I will plainly describe to you, so that you may know
them; having fully the marks of typhus fever—difficulty
708 GUNN'S domestic medicine;
in swallowing—breathing hurried—breath hot—skin
dry, and burning to the touch—a quick, weak, and
irregular pulse—scarlet patches break out about the
lips; and the inside of the mouth and throat are of a
fiery red color. About the third day, blotches of a
dark red color make their appearance about the face
and neck, which soon extend over the whole body. If
you will examine the throat, you will find a number of
specks, between an ash, and a dark brown color, par-
ticularly on the palate, &c.—a brown fur covers the
tongue—the lips are covered with little pimples con-
taining acrid matter, which burst and produce ulcera-
tion wherever they touch. If the case is a bad one,
the inside of the mouth and throat become black, and
are covered with running sores, called ulcers. When
these symptoms take place, it is a well marked case of
putrid fever, and contagious. Be therefore careful, but
not afraid. We cannot die in a better cause than in
discharging a duty which we owe to God and our
fellow creature—the last and most solemn injunction of
our blessed Redeemer, " Love ye one another," and
the beautiful inculcation of Divine Revelation, "Do
unto all mankind as you would they should do unto
you."
For the treatment of these last symptoms, read un-
der the head, remedies for putrid sore throat.
EPIDEMIC CHOLERA.
This pestilence has swept from life one hundred and
forty millions of the human race, according to the most
authentic reports of interments, since August, 1817.
Sharers of the same nature, warmed with the same
hopes, and as fondly attached to life as ourselves, all
have been prematurely swept into eternity in quick
succession, overwhelming the heart with sorrow for
some affectionate parent, some tender companion, or
some dear and near friend; and how many thousands,
no doubt, unprepared for so sudden a change from life
to the presence of the Supreme Judge of the Universe!
It is impossible to commence writing on this awful and
important subject, without reflecting on the rapid extinc-
tion of human life, the excruciating miseries so many
human beings must have suffered, without shuddering
at the great sum of human misery inflicted by this com-
plaint ; nor can we but be sensible of the insufficiency
of human efforts, against the decrees of an overruling
Providence. Now are we not warned by this sad
and affecting scene, in language not to be mistaken,
"Be ye also ready."
This destroying angel whom the Eternal has em-
ployed to sacrifice so great a portion of the human
family, has, since August 1817, been advancing over
the whole field of Europe; nor have oceans, mountains,
climates, or distance, preserved us from its ravages.
Mysterious and uncertain in its course, having no reg-
ulated or physical agents by which its location could
3 K 709
710
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
be certainly determined, save that of its selection of
the victims, the uncleanly and intemperate. Nothing
in my opinion can change the condition of the atmos-
phere, which is essentially connected with this com-
plaint. In other words, the disease is in the atmos-
phere; and although no preventive can be taken
against this complaint, yet much may be done towards
staying its progress, and towards alleviating the force
of the attack. The two best preventives for cholera
from experience are temperance and great cleanliness;
for experience, throughout this disease, proves clearly,
and without any doubt, that cholera spreads itself with
the most deadly effects amongst those, who are negli-
gent of personal cleanliness, and dissipated in their
habits. But notwithstanding the cholera in a great
measure was supposed at first to limit its ravages prin-
cipally to this unfortunate part of the community, and
such as were greatly exposed, yet time and daily expe-
rience prove, that many thousands have died of our
most respectable citizens, who were certainly of the
opposite character to those I have mentioned. Yet the
fact is, that all who are within the atmosphere of chol-
era are liable more or less to suffer from this complaint;
hut what are the real and physical causes that produce
cholera, is as yet very uncertain, even to those medical
men who have had great experience in it. All that
can be said is that it is in the atmosphere; nor can any
thing change the condition of the atmosphere which is
so essentially connected with this disorder. The per-
sons most liable to this affection, says the French
Royal Academy of Medicine, in their [report, are those
physically and morally debilitated ; those weakened by
excesses, of whatever kind they may be; gluttons,
drunkards and gamesters, and women of imprudent
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 711
habits, and all persons suffering under the pernicious
effects of uncleanliness. To this testimony may be
added that of all physicians and others who have
watched this complaint, and the progress of the disease
in India, England, France, Canada, and our own coun-
try. In all these countries the intemperate, the vicious
and the lewd, when attacked, have universally fallen
victims—and are the first to fall prostrate before the
cholera, and most difficult to cure; and as an able
physician expressed himself, generally beyond the
reach of medicine. The unhappy inmates of the
houses of ill fame, and those of immoral uncleanliness,
in Paris, have been universally the first to be conveyed
to the cholera hospitals.
I shall now proceed to give you a full and perfect
account of the cholera—its commencement, and inarch
throughout Europe and the U. States—the physical
agents, &c. connected with the disease—its locations,
and the causes by which if wras more or less increased
or diminished in virulence, and if it is not in some
degree attenuated in its dreadful effects, either by the
power of the climate, or by that of the social organiza-
tion of the people—and whether the cholera is pesti-
lential or not, by which I mean catching—or how far
the assistance of medicine or art may go to counteract
the agents of this epidemic—together with a gener-
eral and comprehensive treatment of the disorder,
with the conflicting opinions of the most distinguished
physicians, and their treatment of cholera, and such
useful information as is derived from the most able
writers on the subject—with such plain directions
and in such language as may be adapted to the capacity
of the people.
712 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE^
The cholera commenced in India, at Jessore, in
August, 1817, of which disorder ten thousand persons
died in the first two months. In Mymensing, a districl
watered by the Bourrampooter the Cholera prevailed
in two successive years—the deaths here were ten
thousand seven hundred and fourteen persons. In
1817, the complaint was mostly confined to the lower
classes; but in 1818 the disease became general, and
no rank was spared, and a tenth of the inhabitants fell.
A precise document is preserved at the city of Dacca,
a district between and near the confluence of the
Ganges and Bourrampooter. In sixteen months, from
August, 1817, to January, 1819, of 6354 sick with the
disease, 3757 perished—more than one half. In the
town of Sylhat, in three thousand three hundred and
sixteen houses, containing eighteen thousand eight
hundred and ninety-six inhabitants, there were ten
thousand individuals attacked in five months; of whom
died one thousand one hundred and ninety-six, or
about equal to one in nine. In the district of Nuddea,
traversed by that branch of the Ganges called Hoogly,
of a population of one million three hundred thousand,
the cholera destroyed sixteen thousand five hundred;
there were attacked twenty-five thousand, of whom
two-thirds died. Of four thousand seven hundred and
eighty who received medical assistance, only one thou-
sand sixty-six died, or less than one fourth. (Here is
an evidence of the advantages of medicine.) At Nul-
tore, between the Ganges and Bourrampooter, the mala-
dy was much less severe—the deaths not exceeding one
in a hundred, in consequence of being- better acquaint-
ed with the treatment of this malady. In the country
places, however, the fourth of the sick died, and in the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 713
same district, only a short distance to Bargulpore, the
cholera destroyed 15,571 in ninety days. Not one
in a hundred in this district that were attacked,
escaped death. This may be, and is, no doubt, the cause
of the great mortality—the country being low, marshy,
and filled with stagnant pools. In Benzares, fifteen
thousand people died; Calcutta has been visited severe-
ly four times since 1817. From Bengal I have not
been able to procure complete documents, or from the
city of Calcutta, which is the seat of government of
British India. It appears, however, from the best evi-
dence procured on the first eruption, that in 1817, in
the three months and a half previous to the 31st De-
cember, thirty-five thousand seven hundred and thirty-
six inhabitants of the city and suburbs were attacked
by the cholera; of these two thousand three hundred
died, or one in fifteen ; but from the severe manner of
attack, the distance, the great aversion of the Hindoos
against European medicine, and the superstitious desire
to await the termination of the malady, they generally
resorted to some sacred place, or near an idol or
wooden god, and there waited until death terminated
their dreadful sufferings. Thousands and thousands
have thus perished without seeking assistance, and
consequently their deaths not recorded. At Calcutta,
the proportion of men to women was as four to one.
Of three families, great or small, there was always one
or two of them who experienced a loss of from one to
two, or three individuals, and in some cases five or six.
In the English army in India, where the cholera was
opposed by all the powers of medical science, the mor-
tality, through still considerable, was less dreadful. The
division of the centre lost two hundred and thirty
Europeans, out of a corps of three thousand five
90 3 k2
714 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
hundred ; and five hundred and thirty-four natives, out
of about eight thousand. The deaths varied according
to time, and were sometimes one in eight, and some-
times one in three and a half. In the division of
Hansi, there were only two hundred and sixty cases of
Cholera; the loss was from one to five or six of the
sick. In the division of the left, of eight thousand
men, one hundred were attacked; and forty-nine died,
or more than one third. In fine, in the division of
Nagpore, of four thousand men, thirteen Europeans
and two hundred and eleven individuals of the coun-
try, were attacked with the cholera. Six of the for-
mer, died ; and amongst the natives the loss w7as about
one in seven. Considering the eruption of 1817 and
1818, separately from those which followed, the English
physicians of Bengal have asserted, that the [mortality,
though immense, was nevertheless exaggerated or in-
creased by fear; and that thousands have been destroy-
ed by the alarm or terror of this disorder, is certain,
from authentic information from all medical sources.
Fear is one of the exciting causes of this disease. We
have estimated, say the English physicians, the ravages
as proportional to the extent and density of the respec-
tive populations it struck. The loss was more consider-
able at the commencement and middle, than towards the
end of the eruption. When it was opposed by
medical assistance, the deaths among the troops rare-
ly amounted to the third of the sick, and w-as bounded
frequently by the fifth. When the sick were abandoned
to themselves, the half of those attacked generally
perished, and sometimes even two-thirds. In the
island of Bombay, inhabited by nearly two hundred
thousand people, it is fully established, that in seven
months there were fifteen thousand nine hundred and
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 715
forty-five cases of cholera. Thus the twelfth part of
the population was infected; of whom two thousand
four hundred and thirty-two perished, or one in six.
In the Madras army in five years there wTere fifteen -
thousand eight hundred cases, of which three thousand
seven hundred and thirty perished. Of the native
military, of seventy-one thousand men, there perished
fifteen thousand eight hundred and thirty—or one in
four. The entire loss among the native troops was
nearly a fourth. The population of the British posses-
sions of India, amount to forty millions, without com-
prising recently conquered country. The enumeration
may be considered correct—therefore yielding in Indos-
tan, an annual mortality, produced by the cholera, of
two and a half millions of people. If we reduce the
preceding estimate one-half, allowing for intermittances
of the malady, yet the ravages of the scourge over the
five regions of India during the fourteen last years,
will form a loss of eighteen millions of persons. What
must then have been the extent of its murderous effects,
when we comprise its destructive course over so many
other regions of insular and continental Asia, from
which it is impossible to draw correct information.
During the prevalence of the cholera in Russia in
1830, the progress of infection among the inhabitants,
and the proportion of deaths to the sick, have differed
according to time and place. The southern regions
were those where the malady spread the most widely
and with the greatest rapidity; those towns where the
disease entered at the end of autumn suffered but
slightly. In the province of Caucasus in Russia, there
almost every where perished the half of those infected
with this complaint, whilst the mortality amongst the
nomadic tribes of the great steeps east and northeast
716
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
from the Caspian, amounted to only a fifth of those
attacked. The longest period in which the disorder
prevailed was 114 days; and the shortest twenty days:
the former beginning in summer, and the latter in au-
tumn. The province of Caucasus had the greatest
number of deaths; out of sixteen thousand attacked,
ten thousand perished. From the official lists which I
have been able to collect on the prevalence of cholera
in Russia, being united in one summary, yield the
following-—which is far below the reality. From the
middle of June to the 15th of November, 1830, the
public documents establish the fact, that there were in
Russia fifty-four thousand three hundred and sixty-
seven persons attacked with the cholera, of whom
thirty-one thousand two hundred and fifty-six sunk un-
der its violence. If I divide the aggregate numbers of
the sick, and of the dead, by 1071, I find that during a
period equivalent to three years, fifty one individuals
were attacked every twenty-four hours, by this disorder
—and that out of these, thirty, or three-fifths died.
The numbers given by the official reports are certainly
below the truth, since, on one hand, a great number of
cases have escaped notice, and on the other, a large
number have, from different motives, been concealed.
1, therefore, from documents on which you may rely
as correct, estimate without exaggeration, that during
the prevalence of the cholera in Russia in 1830, the
infected amounted to one hundred thousand, and the
deaths to sixty thousand persons. At the same time,
the complaint had not then extended over more than
one half of the Russian Empire.
The Consuls of France, by their reports, have lat-
terly enabled me to collect from their official docu
ments, some few details of the cholera in Western Asia
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 717
and even in Arabia. The Iman or Sovereign inform-
ed them that ten thousand of his subjects had fallen by
this disorder, and that in consequence of the people
having exhausted their means of burying the dead,
provision was made from the imperial treasury; hun-
dreds of dead bodies being frequently exposed for
weeks for want of the means of burial, and owing to
the fear of the contagious nature of the disease, thou-
sands and thousands have died in the most wretched
state, who have been permitted from fear and ignor-
ance to linger out the most excruciating torture, with-
out a single friend to soothe, or wipe from their brow
the cold and clammy sweat of death. It would be
totally unnecessary for me to trace minutely, in a work
of this kind, the various ravages in towns, districts,
&c. committed by this dreadful scourge. I have, how-
ever, so far as I deemed necessary, communicated to
you the principal and first locations of the disease,
together with such official reports as I deemed inter-
esting as to the principal places of mortality in Eu-
rope.
It may be necessary here for me to state, before I
proceed further on this important subject, the atmos-
pheric and other phenomena, anterior to and contem-
poraneous with the disease in the sections of country
mentioned. The physicians and surgeons of India,
who have strictly noticed, and have reported faithfully,
such appearances, describe frequent and great devia-
tions from the usual order of the seasons, before and
during the existence of cholera; and they speak of
unusually violent thunder storms, violent squalls, and
storms of wind and rain. Earthquakes were also felt
in various parts of Hindostan. At the time when the
grand army under the Marquis of Hastings suffered so
718 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
dreadfully from the disease, the thermometer ranged
from 90 to 100—the heat was moist and suffocating,
and the atmosphere a dead calm. At the time this
complaint raged in Calcutta, the disease was attributed
to the extreme heat and drought of the season, follow-
ed by heavy rains, and the use of unwholesome food.
In the island of Java, the weather was very dry and
hot at the time the cholera broke out in the month
of April.
When this complaint broke out in Bombay, the falls
of rain were unusually great in August; and at Ma-
dras, the weather was much the same. It has been
universally observed by those acquainted with this dis-
ease, that it has generally been accompanied by a
cloudy, overcast state of the sky, sudden showers, com-
posed of large drops of rain, resembling those of a
thunderstorm, and a thick, heavy state of the air, giv-
ing it a whitish appearance; and whenever the weath-
er cleared up, the disease gradually disappeared.
Throughout India similar notices were made of the
connexion between the disturbed state of the weather
and the appearance of the disease. In all instances
southerly and easterly winds seemed to give vigor and
force to the cholera. Its greatest ravages have been
during the heats of summer, subsiding most generally
at the beginning of winter. During the prevalence of
the disease, the atmosphere is in a rarified state; and
exhibits a great tendency to part with its moisture,
forming thick clouds, heavy rains, or haziness, and to
become agitated by storms. The same influence of
season on the appearance of cholera in Persia and
Turkey is thought to be as evident as in India, for it
raged with great virulence for three years at various
places from the shores of the Persian gulf to the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE." 719
Mediterranean, in one direction, and to the borders of
Russia in Europe in the other, it prevailed only in
summer. The weather before the appearance of this
complaint in Mecca, (in 1831) was remarkable for the
excessive heat—the thermometer being steadily as
high as 102 F., and afterwards heavy rains, with the
wind from south to south-east.
Before the cholera appeared in Suez, a very hot
south wind prevailed. At Cairo, on the approach of
the disease, the wind was from the north-east, and the
heat during the day was very oppressive, with cold
nights. At Nishmi Novogored in Russia, there sud-
denly succeeded to a warm and dry state of the atmos-
phere, in the month of August, 1830, a continuance of
cold and wet. At this time the cholera began—pre-
vailing winds south-east.
The cholera appeared at Riga at the commence-
ment of uncommonly hot and sultry weather.
In Poland the cholera increased as the weather in
March and April became cooler and more damp.
With warmth and dryness of the air the complaint
rapidly abated. When, however, in August and Sep-
tember the days became very hot, and the nights cold,
it again raged to an alarming extent. The prevalence
of the disease at Moscow is stated to have been in pro-
portion to the humidity or dampness of the atmosphere.
At Vienna the cholera broke out on the 13th of Sep-
tember after a hurricane and much cold rain. At
Dantzic, so irregular and unfavorable to health had
been the weather of the spring, that pestilential dis-
eases were expected from the irregularity of the season.
The prevalent winds, in most places in which the chol-
era committed its ravages, have been easterly, from
north-east to south-east. Such winds the late Dr
720 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
Rush of Philadelphia, if you recollect, informed us,
almost invariably preceded and accompanied some of
the worst pestilences, and various fevers—such as
plagues, yellow fever, and violent bilious and intermit-
tent fevers.
Among the phenomena worthy of record connected
with the history of cholera, is the sickness, and mortal-
ity of animals antecedent to and at the time of the
ravages of the disease, in many parts of the world
where it prevailed. On the most careful examination
of all the reports on cholera by the most able physi-
cians, it is conclusive that the complaint is not trans-
missible either by persons or goods, and fifteen years
experience proves that the disease arises in the atmos-
phere, and that all attempts to keep off this complaint
by restrictive measures have utterly failed. More than
five hundred instances I could here give you, of the
cholera having suddenly appeared in a district, or
country, in which not the least communication or in-
tercourse had taken place with those affected with it.
And we learn from the most scientific physicians, and
those too who have made the most attentive and dili-
gent research, that the cholera is not contagious, but
arises from predisposing causes within the range of
atmospheric influence—and how many facts have we
before us by different writers on the East India cholera,
that in the very centre of extensive districts ravaged by
the cholera, there are certain narrow strips or patches
of country, in which there existed no natural obstacles
to the extension of the disease, but into which it never
penetrated, although all around was one scene of des-
olation. This part of the subject cannot be placed in a
clearer light than by simply observing that the instances
of immunity from the disease where unlimited inter-
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 721
course has been allowed, are in ten-fold greater number
than where restrictions had been imposed and non-in-
tercourse had been enforced. On the contrary, it is
believed that these quarantines or cordons, (in other
words guards to prevent persons who come from a
quarter in which the disorder is known to exist,) do not
even give an opportunity of escape. Their tendency
and effect are the other way. As another proof of
this disease not being contagious, except in filthy, close
and ill-ventilated places, by which 1 mean filthy rooms
and other dirty places, that the smell is sufficient to
occasion sickness at any time—I say, as another proof
the full and constant intercourse of physicians, nurses,
attendants and friends, almost constantly with the sick
of cholera, and the number of the former who have
been attacked with the disease. If cholera were thus
communicable, or catching, a large majority of the
persons designated, ought to have had the complaint—
whereas, in truth, a large majority of them entirely
escaped. Those who were attacked, were not in
greater proportion than would have suffered from any
prevalent disease whatever. At Moscow, five hundred
and eighty-seven patients affected with cholera, and
eight hundred and sixty laboring under ether diseases,
were admitted into the hospital of Ordinka. This
hospital consists of a single building, three stories high
communicating by stairs placed within the boards.
The same attendants had charge of all the patients;
the different articles of furniture were distributed with-
out distinction to the patients, and all their clothes were
washed together by the same persons. Of the eight
hundred and sixty patients above alluded to, not a sin-
gle one became affected with cholera; and of one
hundred and twenty-three hospital attendants, two only
91 3 L
722 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
were affected, a man and a woman, both of whom
were disposed to the disease from very irregular con-
duct, and frequent admonitions had been given them of
their danger, but to no effect, when they suddenly died.
Hundreds, nay, thousands of instances, might be addu-
ced of entire immunity or escape, after constant inter-
course with the sick, both in India, Europe, and the
United States. The women who washed the clothes
of the patients in the hospitals, were entirely exempt
from the disease. All the attendants who helped the
patients in and out of the baths, rubbed their bodies,
dressed blisters, &c. all escaped the complaint. This
with few exceptions has been the case in all the cholera
hospitals, with which I have corresponded. The phy-
sician general to the town hospital of Dantzic, says
that there were five waiters always near the patients,
eight men were employed in rubbing and bathing, nine
medical men visited the patients, of whom one was
always in the room in the day time, and two watching
every night—no one of these twenty two persons fell
ill. I have visited, says Dr. White, the Gateshead
hospital, during the time I had the honor of being phy-
sician to that institution, under all circumstances of
physical depression. I have breathed the atmosphere
of its apartments for hours together; yet 1, the attend-
ants, nurses, all equally exposed, have equally escaped.
Not a single individual in the profession has sustained,
to my knowledge, an attack since the disorder has pre-
vailed. It is not reasonable to suppose, that physicians
and nurses should be entirely free from attacks of
cholera. We ought, on the contrary, to be surprised at
the proportion being so small, when we consider how
the extreme fatigue and loss of rest which they under-
go, must peculiarly predispose them to the disease.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 723
Very different, however, would be the result, if physi-
cians, friends and attendants were obliged to render
their services in the close and confined quarters of a
city or town, and in the damp, filthy, and ill ventilated
houses of those who are in the great number victims
to the disease. Hence it becomes the duty of all gov-
ernments, and the corporations of cities and public
authorities, to make timely and suitable provision for
the reception of the poor and needy, and placing them
in the earliest stage of the disease in comfortable hos-
pitals, and also of cleansing dirty, filthy places, and
houses, cellars, privies, &c.
From a full and impartial review of all the reports
on the subject of cholera, with the rise and progress of
the disease, it proves to be an epidemic, depending
upon some peculiar morbid change in the constitution
of the atmosphere, which, to speak the truth, and in
plain language, is unknown to all medical men. And all
that can be said on this subject is this, that it is owing
to some unknown peculiarity of the atmosphere, some-
thing similar to that which gives rise to the ordinary
fever, and other complaints of the season of the sum-
mer and autumnal months. That its severity or miti-
gation greatly depends upon the predisposing causes at
the time of the location of the disease, there can be
certainly no doubt: for instance, such as intemperance
of every species—exposure to the dews of night—
sudden changes in the heat and dryness of the atmos-
phere—excessive fatigue, and the system laboring un-
der general debility—a want of cleanliness, food of a
bad quality, &c. All articles which irritate the stom
ach and bowels prove exciting causes of the complaint.
Any sudden or considerable debility of the nervous
system is to be greatly dreaded, as of itself laying the
724 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
body open to an attack of cholera. On this account,
anxiety, fear, and the depressing passions in general,
should not be allowed to harass the mind. Hundreds
I may almost say thousands, have been destroyed by
fear alone. In your manner of living be regular, and
do not suddenly change your habits, but maintain regu-
lar hours of sleep, regularity of meals, and the accus-
tomed daily exercise, strictly avoiding exposure to the
sun, great fatigue, night air or dews, getting wet, care-
fully avoiding situations in which the air is foul, stag-
nant, and loaded with moisture, and every thing which
has a tendency to reduce the energies of the system
either by over-excitement or direct debility, and to im-
pede the functions of the skin, or to induce disturbance
of the digestive canal. To avoid cholera, preserve
habits of strict temperance—no excess of any kind—
no experiments to be made with medicine, by which I
mean the preventives of the disease advertised by
quacks and impostors in every city. Remember one
important rule—strict cleanliness of person, clothes
and habitation. Keep your feet warm and dry, wear
warm clothing, so as to guard against sudden changes
of weather and particularly from sudden, damp, cold
moisture. Avoid late hours, crowded assemblies, long
continued mental exertion, sleep not in damp beds, or
in low, damp, ill ventilated apartments, and shun, as
you wish to avoid the cholera, at the time it is raging,
all swampy or marshy districts. As many have been
for years in the habit of taking spirituous liquors, I
should advise such persons to drink on, sparingly, in
proper moderation; for we are truly creatures of habit,
and I have always believed that any sudden change,
either in diet, drink, or clothing, is highly injurious, par-
ticularly at a time when cholera is prevailing in that
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 725
section of country in which you reside; and under
any circumstances our habits become second nature,
and if necessary, which is often the case, it is prudent
to gradually desist, or change them. As I have before
told you, no medicine ought to be taken as a preventive
in cholera, for all medicines of this nature are amongst
the most effectual means of inducing an attack of the
disease. During the prevalence of the late epidemic
at Montreal, the authorities very judiciously forbade
apothecaries making up and vending without permis-
sion, the medicines and quack nostrums eagerly sought
after, with the hope of preventing or arresting the com-
plaint. Time and attention to the early symptoms of
this disease are of great importance. But urgent as
may be the demand for assistance, it ought never to be
given from fear or as a preventive, (which has no
doubt been often the case,) for hundreds have died
from fear, as reported by many distinguished observers
of this malady. Suffer me to remind you of one im-
portant preventive, in this epidemic—at all times and
under all circumstances, to place a reliance upon
Almighty God. That man must adhere with inviolable
constancy to whatever is good or great in life, who is
animated with the hope of divine approbation, and
who relies with assured confidence on the friendship,
protection and assistance of the great ruler of all
things. No difficulties, no dangers, no sickness can
terrify him who has that great Being on his side, the
sole, the sovereign disposer of all events.
After all my diligent research and attention, I find
the preventive against cholera may be summed up in a
few words—pure air, good substantial living, temper-
ance and regularity of life in all things, strict cleanli-
ness and a tranquil mind.
726 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
Symptoms of Cholera. I shall commence by
giving you what is termed the Premonitory Symptoms
of Cholera—by which is meant symptoms of the first
or forming stage of the disease—and on your paying
strict attention to these symptoms, will greatly depend
the favorable issue of the case, and if you do not, in
nine cases in twelve the person will die.
The person attacked with cholera complains of
weakness, as if he had undergone fatigue; he feels
frequently for a few moments, uneasiness in the region
of the stomach—but not so severe as to create alarm.
Frequent evacuations or stools from the bowels, being
obliged to go to stool from two to a dozen times a day
—and not much griped in passing them. The coun-
tenance or features look unusually sharp, sometimes a
little sick at the stomach, but this last symptom is not
very common. This early evidence of the approach
of the cholera is not often attended to, and seldom no-
ticed but by those experienced in the complaint. The
symptoms 1 have just mentioned may continue, varying,
sometimes better and then worse from one to ten days,
before the second stage of the disorder commences.
The stools at the first are generally of a dark brown or
blackish color. As the looseness continues, they grad-
ually become less and less of a natural appearance,
until they look like dirty water. Some headache,
cramp of the fingers, toes and belly, and almost always
a swimming of the head, and a ringing of the ears, ac-
company these symptoms. Very frequently the bowels,
for two or three days, are costive or bound, and then
looseness will again come on, and in a few hours
collapse supervenes, and in general sickness at the
stomach and vomiting or puking. Now remember
that on an early attention to this looseness of the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 727
bowels will greatly depend the cure, by timely applica-
tion of such means as I shall advise; or if it is con-
venient, and you fear to trust your own judgment, make
on the first appearance of these symptoms early appli-
cation to a physician. Dr. Kirk, a distinguished medi-
cal gentleman, says it was found, from regular records
of upwards of four thousand patients, that this loose-
ness of the bowels prevailed in every case.
Symptoms of Marked Cholera. Having atten-
tively perused all the numerous accounts which have
been published, of the various symptoms by which the
epidemic cholera is accompanied, I have thought it
only necessary to give you all the general and well
marked symptoms of the complaint, without noticing
every trifling deviation from the ordinary course of
the disease. All you wish to be informed of is, when
you are about to take it, and lastly when it has certain-
ly attacked. I have therefore selected for you the
description of the Madras Report, founded on exten-
sive experience in the country in which I enumerated
to you its awful ravages.
This complaint generally takes place in the night or
towards morning. You are taken sick at the stomach
and vomit or puke—the bowels are at once evacuated,
that is, in other words, you go to stool, and you seem to
discharge or empty all their solid contents, and feel,
after you have done, great exhaustion, sinking and
emptiness—after a short time you feel faintness, your
skin becomes cold and very often giddiness or swim-
ming in the head, and ringing in the ears; the power
of moving your limbs seems impossible—twitchings of
the muscles of the fingers and toes are felt, and these
affections gradually extend along the limbs to the
728 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
trunk of the body. The pulse from the first is small,
weak, quick, and after a certain interval, but particular-
ly on the commencement of spasms or of severe
puking, it sinks suddenly, so as to be quickly lost in all
the external parts. The skin, which from the com-
mencement of the disease is below the natural heat,
becomes colder and colder; it is seldom dry—general-
ly covered with a profuse cold sweat, or with a clammy
moisture. In Europeans the skin often assumes a livid
hue; the whole surface becomes collapsed; the lips
become blue—the nails present a similar appearance,
and the skin of the feet and hands becomes much cor-
rugated and exhibits a sodden appearance; in this
state the skin is insensible, even to the action of the
strongest medicines, such as warm spirits, or spirits in
which camphor has been dissolved, or in fact even the
action of the most powerful stimulants; yet the patient
generally complains of oppressive heat on the surface,
and wishes to throw off the bed clothes. The eyes
sink in their orbits, and are surrounded with a livid or
dark circle; the eye becomes heavy and frequently the
whites of the eyes suffused with blood, or in other words
blood shot. The features of the face look sharp and
dead, and indeed the whole countenance assumes a
cadaverous aspect, and its appearance so uncommon
that it is easily observed by all to be strangely and
peculiarly unnatural. There is almost always urgent
thirst, and a desire for cold drink, although the mouth
be not usually parched. The tongue is moist, whitish
and cold; a distressing sense of pain, and a burning
heat at the epigastrium or pit of the stomach, are very
common in this disease. Very little water is passed,
bile, or saliva or spittle is secreted; the voice becomes
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.' 729
quite feeble and hollow, having an unnatural sound;
the breathing is oppressed and generally slow, and the
breath of the patient is quite cold or deficient in heat.
While these symptoms are going on, the stomach
and bowels are very much affected in different ways.
After the first vomiting and stool, however severe these
symptoms may be, the matter passed by stool is always
of a watery nature; and in some cases it is entirely
destitute of color. The stools often resemble muddy
water; and in others it is of a yellowish or greenish
color. A very common appearance is that which is
called in the East Indies "congee stools," resembling
water in which rice had been washed, or having the
appearance of numerous little slimy flakes, floating in
the colorless water. The discharge from the stomach
by puking, and those from the bowels by stool, do not
appear to differ much, except that the former, or that
which is puked up, has mixed with it portions of food
which may have been eaten and not digested. Neith-
er the vomiting nor purging are symptoms of long
continuance; they are either stopped by medicine, or
the body becomes unable from weakness to puke or
purge any longer; and they, together with the spasms,
suddenly disappear a considerable time before death.
If blood be drawn, it looks of a dark or black color,
ropy, and flows slowly and with difficulty. Toward
the close of the scene, great restlessness comes on, and
constant anxiety and distress; and death takes place
often in ten or twelve hours, and generally within
seventeen or twenty hours from the commencement of
the attack. During all this mortal struggle and com-
motion in the body, the mind remains clear, and its
functions undisturbed, almost to the last moment of
existence. The patient, though sunk and overwhelmed,
92
730 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
and almost lifeless, dislikes to speak, and is greatly
distressed if the least disturbed—still, however, retain-
ing the power of thinking, and of expressing his
thoughts, as long as his organs are obedient to his will;
such symptoms are the most common of the epidemic
cholera, where its tendency to death is not checked by
medicine. Cholera, however, like other diseases, has
presented considerable variety in its symptoms; thus, it
may on one occasion be distinguished throughout by
the absence of vomiting, and by the prevalence of
purging: on another, by the excess of vomiting; and
though more rarely, by the absence of purging,
Spasms may be generally present in one instance; in
another, it may not be observed. Of all, the most
difficult is, that which is marked by a very slight com-
motion in the system—in which there is no vomiting,
hardly any purging, perhaps one or two loose stools, no
perceptible spasm, no pain of any kind, a marble cold-
ness, with arrest or stoppage of circulation which
comes on from the beginning, and the patient dies
without a struggle.
Vomiting or puking, as I have before told you, if
entirely absent, or if it has taken place for a time, it
soon stops, from the stomach being paralyzed, or in
other words, as if it were really dead or without any
feeling or sensibility. Purging is a more constant
symptom than vomiting in this disease, and in all cases
of cholera, or most generally, it is, as I have before
said, the first symptom in the disorder. Purging has
been very rarely absent altogether—and when it is
absent, is quite a bad symptom, for it denotes or shows
plainly that the attack is very dangerous. There is
seldom much griping or tenesmus, which means a
great and constant desire to go to stool, without doing
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 731
much, and sometimes these desires are so sudden as to
be irresistible. They also frequently take place at the
same time, both puking and purging with spasm, and
the pulse stops for a time at the wrists; as if these
symptoms originated at the instant, from one common
cause. In advanced stages of the disease, purging
generally ceases, but in many cases a discharge of
watery fluid takes place on every change of posture.
The matters evacuated after the first emptying of the
bowels have been occasionally observed to be greenish
or of a yellowish appearance, turbid, of a frothy ap-
pearance, like yeast, and quite frequently bloody; but
by far the most common appearance is, that of pure
serum (which means the appearance of whey,) so thin
and colorless as not to leave a stain on the patient's
linen. The next in order of frequency is the congee-
like fluid; (1 have before explained to you what the
congee stools meant;) the mucus is at all times so thor-
oughly mixed, however, with the serum, as to give the
whole the appearance of milk. The quantity of the
clear watery fluid which is sometimes discharged, is
very great, and were these discharges to continue con-
stantly, it would afford a perfect knowledge of the
cause of the debility or weakness, thirst, thickness of
the blood and other symptoms; but it is reduced to a
positive certainty, that the most fatal and rapid cases,
are by no means those which are distinguished by ex-
cessive discharges. Death, on the contrary, has ensued
in innumerable instances after one or two watery stools,
without the development of any other symptom affect-
ing the natural functions. Collapse has even come on
before any evacuation by stool had taken place.
The peculiarly calm and undisturbed state of the
mind in this disorder, has been the subject of great
732 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
surprise; instances are known of persons being able to
walk, and to perform many of their usual avocations
in business, even after the circulation has been so much
arrested, that the pulse has not been discerned at the
wrist; the cases I allude to, are those chiefly in which
it has begun by an insidious watery purging; and ma-
ny lives have been lost in consequence of the patients,
under these false appearances, not having taken early
alarm, and applied for medical aid. In other cases
again, the animal functions appear to have been early
impaired, and the prostration of strength to have pre-
ceded most of the symptoms. The voice, in general,
sounds very weak, partaking of the debility prevailing
in the other functions; it is commonly noticed as being
remarkably feeble, often almost unable to be heard.
Deafness has also been remarked in some instances to
have been completely established. Coma does occa-
sionally occur, especially towards the termination of
the case, when it is fatal; but delirium has seldom
been observed in this complaint.
Spasm has been held as one of the most essential
features or certain accompaniments of the epidemic
cholera, and owing to which circumstance it has re-
ceived this specified name; so far, however, as relates to
the muscles of voluntary motion, and it is that descrip-
tion of spasm only to which I now refer, no symptom
is more frequently wanting. Spasms of the muscles
chiefly accompany those cases in which there is a sen-
sible and violent commotion of the system; hence they
are more frequently found in cases where Europeans
are the subjects of the disease, than when it attacks the
natives of India, and in robust patients, more frequently
than in the weakly. In the low or more dangerous
form of cholera, whether in the European or Indian,
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 733
spasm is generally wanting, or is present in a very
slight degree. The muscles most commonly affected
are those of the toes and feet, and of the calves of the
leg; next to these the corresponding muscles of the
superior extremities, then those of the thighs and arms
—and, lastly, those of the trunk—producing the most
distressing feelings to the afflicted person. It is deserv-
ing of remark, says Doctor Graigie in his account of
the disease, that in several instances, the first indica-
tions of cholera were the twitching of the fingers and
toes; and a great many persons who resisted all the
other symptoms of the disease were attacked by this
twitching. Of all the symptoms of cholera none are
so universally present, nor indeed so important and
fatal, as the immediate sinking of the circulation. It
must nevertheless be admitted, that where instant
remedial medicines have been successfully practiced,
this symptom may not have developed itself, and that
there are even cases where an excited vascular action
has been observed to accompany the first perturbation
of the system in cholera. Some intelligent medical
gentlemen have entertained doubts whether such cases
belong indeed to this disease; it is, however, to be re-
membered, that these are precisely the cases which
yield most certainly and readily to appropriate reme-
dies, and it consequently follows that the physician can
seldom have an opportunity of observing whether or
not this form of cholera will pass into a more aggrava-
ted stage. Cases, however, have occurred, in which such
degeneration has taken place, and it has been followed
by death. The symptoms of excitement have likewise
principally occurred among soldiers, in whom an effect
upon the circulation may have been produced by the
quantity of ardent spirits they are in the habit of
734 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
drinking daily. The period at which a marked dimin-
ution of vascular action takes place, is somewhat vari-
ous. The pulse sometimes keeps up tolerably for
some hours, though very rarely; it more generally be-
comes small and accelerated at an early stage, and on
the accession of spasm or vomiting, suddenly ceases to
be distinguishable in the extremities. The length of
time during which a patient will sometimes live in a
pulseless state, is extraordinary.
That remarkable shrinking of the features of the
face, which has acquired the emphatic term of the
" true cholera countenance," appears in every case, un-
less quickly stopped in the forming stage, by medicine.
This expression of countenance, which conveys so
truly, that of death itself, cannot be mistaken ; and by
an attentive observer it will be perceived, that a similar
shrinking takes place throughout the limbs, and all the
projecting parts of the body. No symptoms of cholera
are so uniform in their appearance and progress, as
those connected with the blood and its circulation. It
is fully established, that the blood of patients attacked
with cholera, is of an unnaturally dark color, and of a
very thick consistence. In a great majority of the re-
ports of the physicians of India, it is stated unequivo-
cally, or without doubt, that after a certain quantity of
dark and thick blood has been drawn, it is common for
its color to change—becoming much lighter. When
this was the case, it was considered favorable as to the
termination of the case. In India, when medical aid
was early administered, and the constitution of the
patient otherwise healthy, the recovery from an attack
of the cholera was generally very quick, owing to the
peculiar constitutions of these people, in whom there is
ordinarily very little tendency to inflammation or fever.
GUNN'6 DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 735
But in Europeans, in whom there is much greater
tendency to inflammation or fever, and a determina-
tion to some of the internal organs; consequently, the
recovery from the disease by them is not so sudden or
perfect. When cholera, however, is of long continu-
ance, and when the congestions appear to have been
thoroughly established, few, either Europeans or na-
tives, who outlive the attack, are restored to health
without considerable difficulty.
I have now described to you as fully and as minutely
as the space allotted to me in this work would permit;
giving you the general symptoms of cholera, as it pre-
sented itself in the different districts of India, and they
agree in every respect with those observed in the disease
during its prevalence in Russia, Poland, North of Eu-
rope, the Canadas, &c. &c. This is proved by the
history of the disease, by the most able and distinguish-
ed physicians throughout Europe and India; particular-
ly the able report made by Dr. Keir, of Moscow, to the
British Government, and in the accounts transmitted
from Montreal and Quebec. And all the reports made
on this fatal disease agree as to the principal symptoms;
that in the generality of cases, there were the same ex-
cessive or constant evacuations by puking and purging
of a watery, turbid, fluid—the same collapse of the skin
—coldness of the surface—sinking of the pulse—failure
of the strength—lividity of the face, or purple cast-
shrinking of the features—spasms of the muscles, &c.
all of which symptoms usually take place more or less,
with some few variations, (perhaps very few,) owing to
the peculiarity of the constitution, or the state of the
system at the time of taking the disease. For cholera,
in its severity and duration, by which I mean the length
of time it exists, depends much upon the local or pre-
736 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
disposing causes. Therefore, if any decided difference
has been observed between the character of cholera,
as it prevailed in India, and after its extension into
Europe, the Canadas, and the United States, it consists
merely in the gradual amelioration of the complaint; by
which I mean, that it sometimes gradually loses its
severity; owing, as I have before told you, to the pecu-
liarity of the climate, the predisposing causes, inviting,
more or less, the disease, wherever the disorder, which
is in the air, may locate or settle itself. And this is the
reason why the cholera rages more violently at one
place than it does at another; because the predisposing
causes are greater.
Therefore, let temperance and cleanliness in all
things, be the watchword; for experience has taught the
people of the United States, that by due caution, and
early attention to the proper remedies, which are simple
and easily understood, this pestilence may be, and has
been perfectly within the control of medicine—and that
this disease is the same as the European cholera, is fully
established by the evidence of various physicians of
eminence, who have witnessed the cholera both in India
and Europe; and, as I have before stated to you, its
virulence or mitigation entirely depending upon local
causes, or the constitution, and the predisposition to an
attack of the complaint.
TREATMENT.
The Cholera has not been found to be less under the
control of proper treatment, than any other disease
equally rapid in its course. When remedies of a proper
kind have been administered in the early stage of the
complaint, and judiciously managed, a favorable termin-
ation has, in the majority of cases, been the result.
The difficulty is, to induce patients, or those attacked
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 737
with this disorder, to apply sufficiently early for medical
assistance. With the loss of a very few hours, the
chances of recovery are greatly diminished. "If the
disease," says Dr. Annesley, whose experience in the
treatment of epidemic cholera, during its prevalence in
India, wras considerable, "be taken at its commence-
ment, or within an hour after the disorder attacks you,
it is as manageable as any other acute disease; but the
rapidity with which it runs through its course, requires
the most active exertions before it can be checked, and
the loss of an hour may cause the loss of life."
The remedies most successfully used in India, and
throughout Europe generally, will be noticed. The
variety of different means used, and the peculiar opin-
ions of different medical writers, many of which have
proved unsuccessful, I do not think it necessary to
mention in a book of this kind. My object in writing
so fully on this subject, has been to give you a perfect
and general knowledge of the complaint, as to its vio-
lence and progress in India, and the principal remedies
wThich prove to be the most successful in the cure of
cholera, selecting from the experience of the most dis-
tinguished physicians, such remedies as may be relied
on in this epidemic; after which, I subjoin the opinion
and advice by letter, of the distinguished medical gen-
tlemen of our own country, simplified in plain language,
adapted to the people—closing this important subject
with my remarks and advice to my countrymen.
The remedy, the good effect of which, in the treat-
ment of cholera, appears to have been most generally
acknowledged, and the early employment of which is
most insisted upon, is blood-letting.
Bleeding from the arm in the first stage, when the
pulse is full, and the temperature not reduced, is often
93 3 m 2
738 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
sufficient to cut short the disease. The patient always
feels immediate relief, particularly, where the head
has been affected. The bleeding should be performed
in a horizontal position; or in other words, the patient
should lie on the bed while bleeding him. After the
bleeding, he must remain quiet in bed for some time.
Doctor Drysen, who has had great experience in this
complaint, directs to increase the flow of the blood
from the arm, by frictions or rubbing to the surface of
the body, with flannel cloths rubbed out of hot water,
or by bleeding while the patient is in the warm bath.
To see how to prepare and use the warm bath, read
under that head.
According to Mr. Bell, "in no case in which it has
been possible to persevere in blood-letting, until the
blood flows freely from the veins, and its color is re-
covered, and the oppressed chest is relieved, will the
patient die from that attack of the disease." He
directs that when the blood has once begun to flow, it
ought to be allowed to bleed until these changes are
observed. It is the opinion of Doctor Kenedy that in
ninety-nine instances out of a hundred, where patients
are said to have died, " despite of blood-letting, it will
be found on examination, either that no blood flowed
from the incision or opening made by the lancet, or
that it came away in drops, or in a small broken
stream, rarely exceeding a fewr ounces in quantity. On
the contrary," he adds, '-where blood was freely obtain-
ed to the extent of twenty or thirty ounces, and where
the depletion wras followed by proper auxiliaries, or
other assisting remedies, the patients have usually re-
covered."
The testimony of the German, Russian, and Polish
physicians, has all been given in favor of the beneficial
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 739
effects of blood-letting, when early resorted to in chol-
era.
The absence of the pulse is no reason why you should
not use the lancet, unless it be accompanied by other
symptoms of great debility and the system has been
exhausted by previous evacuations or purging, and the
surface is covered with a cold, clammy swreat. Even
under such circumstances, many attest the advantages
of blood-letting, especially when preceded by sinapisms,
or in other words stimulating plasters of mustard to the
belly, feet, ancles, &c.—the application of dry heat
and frictions to the surface, by which is meant bags of
hot sand, bags of hot mush, bags of hot oats, bottles of
hot water rolled in blankets, &c.—(this is dry heat,)—
frictions or rubbing, as before explained, and diffusible
stimulants internally—ether, spirits of hartshorn, bran-
dy, wine, and liquors of all kinds, given inwardly, so as
to excite or rouse the circulation of the blood.
In some cases of cholera, says that able and expe-
rienced physician, Dr. Lefevre, the pulse ceases to beat
very early, but upon opening a vein the blood flows
slowly at first, gradually the current becomes fuller and
stronger, the pulse beats very sensibly, and the heart
thus relieved, is enabled to continue its circulation.
The only cases in which bleeding wTould appear of
doubtful propriety, during the first stage, are those
occurring in old debilitated or weak persons, and in
constitutions completely broken down by intemperance.
When blood cannot be drawn from the arm, and the
spasms continue—when severe pain and burning heat
are felt at the epigastrium—when the skin is cold, and
deluged with a cold clammy sweat, and when there
is oppression at the chest and difficulty of breathing,
excessive pain and confusion of the head, with great
740 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
intolerance or dislike of light, no pulse, or a very indis-
tinct one, and a cadaverous or offensive smell from the
body, cupping is advised over the region of the belly,
with frictions of turpentine externally or outwardly,
and calomel given internally. In the advanced state
of the disease an opportunity is sometimes afforded for
the drawing of blood. This, according to Dr. Annesly,
is marked by a struggle or effort of the circulation to
overcome some resisting power, and is a most auspi-
cious or favorable symptom, which should never be
overlooked. As soon as it occurs, bleeding, directed
with great judgment, should be resorted to.
The patient, after bleeding, should be warmly cover-
ed with bed clothes, and allowed to remain perfectly
still for a short period.
Sinapisms and rubefacients, or in other words, in
plain English, meaning mustard poultices, mixed with
strong vinegar and applied to the calves of the legs,
inside the ancles, soles of the feet, &c, to act as a
stimulant employed in low states of fevers, and other
diseases; and in cholera the object is to rouse the cir-
culation of the blood, and to supersede the use of
blisters, which are in this disorder too slow. Rubefa-
cients mean that substance which, when applied to
the body or skin a certain time, makes a redness with-
out blistering. Sinapisms and rubefacients are among
the most efficacious or best means adapted to the cure
of cholera. "It may be said of them, that they are
indispensable, and there is hardly any stage of the
disease in which they may not be employed with ad-
vantage—so long as the disease endures, so long will
their use be proper, and they should be repeated con-
tinually." The pain in the bowels, and even the
sickness, are often instantaneously relieved by the
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 741
application of a large mustard poultice mixed with
vinegar and applied over the region of the belly, and
much pain is saved the patient if it be applied early.
In violent cases of the disease the application of the
mustard poultice mixed with strong vinegar as before
directed, and applied to the ancles, wrrists, calves of
the legs, inside of the arms and thighs, and along the
spine, is recommended in the strongest terms in various
treatises by the best informed physicians of India and
Europe, on the cholera; and from the beneficial effects
which we have seen result from the practice through-
out this complaint, that is one which should never be
neglected ; it would be as well probably to defer, how-
ever, the sinapisms or poultices until the full effects of
dry frictions have been tested. When the skin has
been excoriated or inflamed by the use of sinapisms,
anodyne fomentations, or in other words laudanum or
opium steam, applied to the body, or even pulverised
opium sprinkled over the tender surface, will be often
useful in relieving pain and sickness at the stomach.
Dry frictions are recommended as remedies of great
importance and efficacy in all cases of cholera. By
dry friction is meant rubbing well the whole body with
your hands; hence, it can only be recommended in
those cases where there are plenty of attendants to
wait upon the sick. Dry frictions are best adapted to,
and have been found most beneficial in the early period
of the attack. " The object of friction is twofold. 1st.
To restore the circulation in the part, and the heat that
is dependent upon it. 2d. To introduce remedies into
the system by absorption." The first may be effected
by mere rubbing with the hand, or a warm flannel, or
the flesh brush; and if persisted in, will often restore
the circulation to the extremities, which were previously
742 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE
cold and senseless; but it requires great perseverance
and long continuance; for it is necessary to keep up the
circulation after it is restored; and as I have before
told you, requires considerable assistance or attendants
to wrait upon the sick. Various liniments have been
proposed to assist the effects of friction; but they may
be superseded by steady rubbing with the hand, which
should be sprinkled occasionally with a little powrdered
starch, or a little camphorated oil. Where proper and
effectual rubbing cannot be maintained, stimulating
liniments should be employed; because little rubbing
will suffice, and the effect will be more permanent.
The liniment composed of camphorated spirit and am-
monia, (meaning hartshorn,) will answer every purpose.
When the spasms are severe, the spirits of turpentine
are best for rubbing with. Rubbing the body with spi-
rits is improper, as their rapid evaporation will have a
tendency to increase the coldness of the surface.
Medicines may be introduced into the circulation by
frictions, and thus certain indications fulfilled, when the
stomach is in too irritable a condition to retain the
proper remedies. Especially may local pain and spasm
be alleviated by frictions with opium, hyosciamus, and
other narcotics, in the form of liniments or ointments.
Dry Heat. This remedy is strongly recommended
by many of the practitioners who have witnessed the
cholera in the north of Europe. Mr. Kennedy, a dis-
tinguished physician, recommends it in the first stage of
the disease, after bleeding, the warm bath, and the
other remedies which are immediately demanded. He
remarks—" as soon as the cramps are subdued, or have
received a decided check, the patient should be removed
from the bath with all possible expedition, and be placed
between dry heated blankets. Dry warmth should be
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 743
further afforded by surrounding his body and limbs
with bags of heated sand." Here dry heat, be it re-
membered, is the remedy, and not the sand which con-
tains it. On this principle, bottles of hot water, rolled
in flannel, have been employed; and also hot ashes,
bran, oat meal, hot mush, &c. To prevent loss of time,
however, always take the first or most convenient of
the above articles that may come to hand, so as to pro-
duce any heat as early as possible. You will recollect
the warm bath is always preferable in the first stage of
the disease, from its great power; "caution is necessa-
ry," says Mr. Kennedy, " to prevent its being too long
continued."
The following are the directions of Dr. Harnett, one
of the British Medical Commission, at Dantzic, for the
use of the warm bath. " It has been found necessary
to guard against the indiscriminate use of the hot water
and vapor baths, or steam, (generally used by a pipe
under the bed clothes.) In hot weather, after perspira-
tion has broken out, and above all, in the clammy stage
of the disease; and after marked venous congestion
has taken place, when it seems to increase the latter,
which is particularly observable in the brain and heart.
The bath should be used either in the critical moment
in the beginning of the disease, or, at farthest, instantly
after, if admissible even then. To obviate the deter-
mination of blood to the head, cold applications ought
to be occasionally applied to it, while the patient is in
the bath.
The patient should be most gently and otherwise ju-
diciously placed in the bath, with respect to the gradu-
ally inclined position of his body, and due support of
the head, neck and shoulders; and the immersion or
subjection should be short3 merely long enough for the
744 GUNN'S DOMESTIC medicine.
positive communication of heat and its effects, when he
ought to be as gently and judiciously taken out, well
wrapped up in hot blankets, promptly laid in a bed,
and gently rubbed with warm, dry, coarse thread towels,
all over, and wiped dry as fast as the clammy sweat
oozes out. There is much handy and careful personal
management requisite, in this essential part of the treat-
ment.
Calomel. This medicine has been greatly used in
cholera, by a majority of English surgeons in India,
and it is spoken highly of by such of them as have
witnessed the disease in the north of Europe. In ma-
ny instances the use of this powerful medicine has
been carried or given to an enormous extent—doses of
a scruple to half a drachm being considered the
smallest dose adapted to the disease; others, however,
have condemned the use of the remedy to this great
extent, and recommend it to be given in smaller doses
frequently repeated, and in general combined with
opium. The evidence wrhich is advanced in favor of
the beneficial effects of calomel, under both modes of
administration, might at first view appear perfectly con-
clusive ; but in making up an opinion on this subject,
it is necessary to recollect that in almost all the cases
which are adduced where the practice is supposed to
have been eminently successful, either important reme-
dies have at the same time been employed—especially
bleeding, frictions, and stimulating applications to the
surface—and very commonly the warm bath. Upon
the early and judicious employment of the last men-
tioned medicines, nearly all the writers agree that the
cure of the disease mainly depends; by many they are
of themselves supposed fully sufficient—and that the
various internal remedies that have been resorted to
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE; 745
are either useless or absolutely pernicious. Among
the physicians of Russia, Poland, and Germany, there
are but few who recommend the use of calomel at all,
and the majority denounces, in very decided terms, its
employment in the early stages of cholera, or to the
extent to which it was carried by the practitioners of
India. In Warsaw, the result of experience showred,
according to Dr. Hille, that whether in large doses, or
in smaller ones frequently repeated, the calomel did
more harm than good; and hence its use was either
entirely abandoned, or it was given in a single dose of
a few grains combined with opium. Dr. Gibbs, writing
from St. Petersburgh, says expressly, that scruple and
half scruple doses of calomel would not do there; Dr.
Lefevre very properly remarks, that small doses com-
bined with opium can be of no use in the first stage.
In slight cases, he adds, where the quantity of opium
is sufficient to allay the spasmodic action, while time is
allowed for the calomel to act gradually, the combina-
tion however may be of service; but it must share the
same fate as all the vaunted nostrums which when ad-
ministered indiscriminately, lose even the merit to
which they are really entitled.
In Dunaburg, no calomel was administered, and of
seven hundred and forty-five cases, many of which
were in the last stages of the disease, when first seen by
the physician, only seventy-five terminated fatally.
Opium. No remedy has been proposed in the treat-
ment of cholera, which has so great a mass of testi-
mony in its favor as opium. Nearly all the physicians,
whatever may be their opinions as to the nature of the
disease, have administered it. By some it is recom-
mended in the largest possible doses; by others, how-
ever, when given in smaller doses, it is considered,
94 3 N
746 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
much more efficacious, and less liable to produce
injurious consequences. Mr. Orton, an eminent prac-
titioner, considers it "probable that a single dose of
opium given alone at the very commencement of the
disease, would be found in a great majority of instan-
ces to put an effectual check to its progress." The
Polish, and a few of the German physicians object
however, to the administering of opium in cholera.
Internal Stimulants. The application of ether,
brandy, ammonia, (hartshorn,) and other stimulants,
I find to be very generally recommended, especially in
the advanced state of the disease. They are directed
to be used or continued until reaction is fairly estab-
lished, after which they are to be gradually relinquished.
In the early stage of the disease, there is less evidence
of their good effects than during that period in which
the clammy sweat, icy coldness of the surface, scarcely
perceptible pulse, and sunken countenance, indicate a
state of collapse, which if not speedily removed, the
loss of the patient is inevitable. Many persons have
employed the most powerful stimulants even from the
commencement of the attack, and with no sparing
hand. This practice is highly improper, and certainly
by experience known to end in fatal consequences.
Stimulants require at all times, much judgment and
great caution in their employment, or they will most
assuredly produce far more harm than good; and
should be given under no other circumstances than
those 1 have described, and even then, it is questionable
whether they do not produce more evil than benefit.
Purgatives. Though considered by many physi-
cians as indispensable remedies in the treatment of
cholera, they do not appear, with the exception of cal-
omel, to have been very generally employed until after
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 747
the more pressing and violent symptoms of the disease
have been subdued. At this particular juncture it is
very generally admitted that they have been productive
of the best effects. They are proper so long as the
bowels do not perform their functions regularly, and
the stools have an unusual appearance; nor is there
any danger of reproducing the disease by their con-
tinuance, so long as we take these marks for our guide.
It is much more likely to recur or return from neglect-
ing to administer them; for purging by calomel is ne-
cessary, for you will find the quantity of unhealthy
matter which is often evacuated by stool, remains for a
long time after the complaint, has been subdued. Such
is the experience of Doctor Lefevre, in regard to the
use of purgatives. He says, they are found indispen-
sable, by producing copious discharges of vitiated bile.
"A full dose of calomel," remarks the doctor, "is often
useful in the begining of the convalescence, as its acts
upon all the secretions. But the simple purging, which
is so requisite after this disorder, is best effected by
small and repeated doses of castor oil." The virtues
of this last medicine, have indeed been extolled in a
very positive manner, by the physicians both of India
and Europe. " The success under its use was very
considerable, and there seems," says Mr. Scott, " to be
sufficient evidence to warrant a more extensive trial."
It is admitted by all that purgatives which produce
frequent watery stools, with griping, are improper in
this disease—are very prejudicial, and ought and must
not be given.
Enemata, which means clysters. When the stomach
is so irritable that it will not retain any thing, or constant
puking, by which the exhibition of remedies by the
mouth cannot be given, clysters, (called enemas,) will
748 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
be proper, not only in the first attack of the complaint,
but in the latter stages of the disease also; especially in
such cases as have been attended with much spasm,
and the bowels continue sore for a long time after, and
every motion on the stool is productive of pain. In
this case, an enema or clyster of half a pint of flaxseed
tea, and ten drops of laudanum, produces immediate
relief—administered in this manner, the Opium is less
liable to produce injurious consequences than when
given by the mouth. Injections, or clysters in plain
English, given of hot water above blood heat, have
been highly spoken of in cases of great collapse or
sinking and general coldness of the skin. After draw-
ing up the water with a syringe, (or squirt,) and letting
this warm water remain up a while, the water may be
withdrawn by the syringe, and a fresh supply of warm
water introduced. Mr. Fife, speaks favorably of injec-
tions of mustard—they have, he says, promptly brought
on a discharge of urine, after it had been entirely sup-
pressed.
Muriate of Soda.—(Nothing in English but our
common salt.)—This has been spoken of by a few of
the continental physicians, as a powerful remedy in
cholera, and is recommended by the eminent Mr. Searl,
as an emetic in the commencement of the case. I
cannot say that the evidence in its favor is very strong.
It is true, we are told by Dr. Barry, that at St. Peters-
burgh, two German physicians declared in his presence,
at the medical council," that during the preceding eleven
days, they had treated at the custom-house hospital,
thirty cholera patients, of whom they lost none. They
gave two table-spoonsful of common salt in six ounces
of hot water at once, and one spoonful of the same
cold every hour afterwards." But let it be recollected,
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 749
that these gentlemen, as wTell as the others who have
recommended this remedy, always premised bleeding,
(that is, first bled, and then used the salt and warm
water,) and also used other valuable remedies, upon the
importance and good effects of which in cholera, there
is but little difference of opinion. It is thus that many
remedies in this, and other diseases, acquire a fictitious
reputation from being conjoined or mixed with others
of acknowledged power—when, had they been omitted,
the case would, in all probability, have proceeded as
rapidly, or perhaps even more so, to a favorable termina-
tion.
Drinks. A strange diversity of opinion exists among
the writers upon cholera, as to the proper drinks to be
allowed the patient. By some, dilutents of every kind
were entirely prohibited, in consequence of a supposition
that they increased the vomiting. The great desire of
the patient is for cold water—he appears to labor under
the most distressing thirst, the calls of which, it must be
evident, cannot be disregarded, without materially in-
creasing his suffering, and, eventually, the disease under
which he suffers. Mr. Scott, in common with nearly all
the best practitioners, admits the propriety of allowing
some bland dilutent, but maintains that it should be
given of tepid warmth. He conceives that cold drinks
are always dangerous, and generally fatal. This was
the opinion very generally of the surgeons of India.
Mr. Annesley, however, gave cold water, with a slight
impregnation of nitric acid—in other words, made
pleasantly sour. This was the general drink at the
hospital under his care, and was found to relieve the
most distressing symptom of the disease, the burning
sensation at the stomach. From the experience of the
European physicians, it would appear very fully settled,
3 n 2
750 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.'
that cold drinks are not more prejudicial than warm,
and when desired by the patient, should be freely given.
According to Lefevre, iced lemonade has often been
taken with advantage. The diluted nitric acid, he
states, may be added with great benefit to the common
drink. Fifty drops of the diluted acid, added to a pint
of water, sweetened to the taste, is a grateful beverage.
Dr. Drysen, of Riga, says that when the thirst is great,
warm, or even hot drinks are the best, and are often
retained and even desired by the patient. He directs
infusions of various mild aromatic herbs, or when these
are unpleasant to the patient, of common tea. But
when the patient desires earnestly cold drinks, they may
be given in slight portions at a time, without fear of any
bad consequences. Fresh milk, moderately cool, he
states, has been found very beneficial; and when the
diarrhoea is considerable, a decoction of rice or barley,
or thin tapioca, &c. may be given, and when there is
entire absence of pain or tenderness of the abdomen
or belly—a little port wine may be added. A cup of
strong coffee, he has found very readily to stop the
vomiting or puking in this disease—he advises the pa-
tient, in case of the drinks being rejected by the stomach,
to be allowed to swallowr small portions of ice some-
what rounded into the shape of a pill by being rolled
between the fingers—a practice also recommended by
Brussais.
The strongest testimony in favor of warm water, is
that given by Dr. Strum, a surgeon in the Polish Army:
writing from the encampment near Karmienka, " The
treatment which wre now pursue is probably already
known to you, as Dr. Helbig has been ordered to
publish an account of it by the government. It con-
sists in nothing else than giving to the patient as much
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 751
warm, nearly hot water, as he is able to drink, in the
quantity of a glassful every fifteen or thirty minutes.
By the time he has taken fourteen glasses the cure is
complete, writh the exception of a slight diarrhoea,
which it is not proper suddenly to suspend. The effects
of this plan of treatment are so quick and effectual,
that in two hours, or often sooner, the patient is well—
particularly when it is commenced with sufficiently
early.
Treatment of the secondary stage of Chol-
era. After the more violent symptoms of the disease
have been removed, that is after the vomiting and
purging have been suspended, the regular action of the
heart established, and the circulation and heat of the
surface permanently restored, the attention of the phy-
sician must be directed to guard against or remedy
local congestions, to prevent inordinate reaction, and to
produce a healthy action of the bowels. Congestion is
most liable to take place after the first stage or that of
collapse is over, in the liver and lungs, and sometimes
in the head also. For this, moderate blood-letting,
local or general according to circumstances, is the
most certain remedy. When febrile symptoms with
determination to the brain, present themselves, topical
bleeding, (such as cupping, &c.) near the temples, will
be found very successfully to relieve it. The judicious
employment of blisters, and of cold applications to the
head, will also be of advantage. When the healthy
condition of the bowels has not been produced by the
remedies administered in the first stage, moderate
doses of colomel, followed by castor oil, or other mild
purgatives, will be necessary. As soon as the dischar-
ges have become healthy or well tinged with bile—that
is, that you have fully roused the liver into action—the
752 GUNN'S domestic medicine.
patient may he considered out of danger, and the pur-
gatives discontinued; but not until then. Tenderness
or fixed pain in the region of the stomach, or any part
of the abdomen or belly, call for the immediate appli-
cation of leeches or cupping.
I have now fully, and as minutely as I conceived it
necessary in a wrork of this kind, given you the various
remedies which have been proposed, and strongly
recommended, in the treatment of cholera by different
writers—together with the practice of the most dis-
tinguished physicians in India and Europe. You will
after reading attentively this subject see plainly that no
decided or positive or certain method is laid down for
the treatment of this dreadful scourge of the human
race. In plain language, it has commenced in the
United States, and the physicians of this country have
been compelled to establish a practice founded on their
own experience, and to adopt or use such remedies
according to the symptoms, or the effect of the disease,
at the time of its location, upon the habits, constitutions,
&c. and the effects of climate, together with such pre-
disposing causes as may exist at the time this disorder
is prevalent.
I have subjoined for your satisfaction and informa-
tion, several letters of the most enlightened and distin-
guished physicians of our country, and, when it becomes
necessary, reduced their technical or medical terms into
plain language, so that you might easily understand
them. Their valuable information, and the distinguish
ed standing of their authors, deserve the confidence
and gratitude of the American people.
Permit me, in cases of emergency, to recommend to
your particular attention the letters of Drs. Drake and
Pattison.
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.' 753
LETTER OF DR. DRAKE.
Prevented entirely by indisposition, from laying be-
fore the readers of the Chronicle, last week, an account
of the progress of the epidemic; and not yet capable of
much effort of the pen, I shall scarcely fulfil my en-
gagement to furnish them with a history of the disease.
Twenty-seven days have now elapsed since the onset of
the pestilence, during which period the whole number of
deaths, as far as it has been ascertained, is three hundred
and fifty-one. Dividing the period into three equal parts
of nine days each, the first would average about two
daily, the second seventeen, and the third twenty-one.
The greatest number of deaths was from noon on the
nineteenth to noon on the twentieth, and amounted to
forty-two, or one out of every six hundred inhabitants
actually in the city at the time. Since that day the
mortality has slowly diminished, and at present there is
a general impression that the epidemic is declining.
No age, sex, complexion or condition, has been ex-
empted from the impress of the poison, but its mortal
effects have been very different, in different classes of
the community. Among the colored it has gone on to
develop a fatal disease, far oftener in proportion than
among the whites, while among the latter, the laboring
classes have much more frequently fallen victims than
those who lived in ease and affluence. Many drunk-
ards have been its victims, but the majority of this class
have as yet escaped. More men have sunk than wo-
men, but the names of the victims show that a great
number of mothers in the lower and middle ranks of
society, have died. The great secret, I apprehend, of
those diversities, and of the comparative exemption of
the reading and affluent classes, is simply their earlier
95
754 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
knowledge and fuller appreciation of the signs and
means of arresting the disease in its forming stage.
Whenever, either in white cr black, rich or poor, male
or female, old or young, it has been suffered to establish
itself in violent vomitings, coldness, cramps and pros-
tration, it has proved fatal or been cured in so small a
number that they constituted exceptions ■ to the rule.
Could every man, woman, and child, in the city, have
been taught what were the first symptoms, convinced of
the necessity of attending to them, and furnished with
the means of adopting the requisite treatment, I do not
hesitate to say, the mortality would have been far less
than has taken place. For the information of distant
readers where this disease may unhappily break out, I
shall briefly state the simple course, which in my own
practice, and that of a great number of my medical
friends, has proved effectual for this purpose. On the
very first occurrence of any complaint in the stomach
or bowels, the patient must instantly go to bed in a
warm room, and continue there until all disease has left
him. This is the greatest point in the treatment, and if
neglected, nothing else will be of any avail. His bed-
covering should be warm and close, and he should be
enjoined to lie still. In this situation, two objects are to
be kept steadily in view—first, to excite the skin into
perspiration, and secondly, to excite the liver into a co-
pious secretion of bile, which being brought about and
properly maintained, the patient is insured. To accom-
plish these ends, he must be made to drink freely of a
weak tea of balm, sage, thoroughwort, sassafras; or
snake root. At the same time, he must take a powder
of ten grains of calomel and one of opium, which may
be repeated two or three times, with or without the
opium, according to the judgment of the physician. In
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 755
most cases, bags of mush or bitter herbs may be laid
over the abdomen, and are much preferable to sina-
pisms, except where the vomiting is severe. If the
patient should be of a full habit or have fever, blood-
letting would be required. In twelve or twenty-four
hours after the commencement of this course, it will
often be necessary to administer a little rhubarb, castor
oil, or senna. Such are the small and simple means
by which this great pestilence may be arrested, if at-
tacked in its forming stage. Should they, as too often
happens, be omitted until spasms and prostration of the
vital powers come on, they are still the most valuable,
but will oftener fail than succeed. They who can be
made practically sensible of these facts, will be saved.
They who cannot, are liable to perish.
RELAPSE.
All who have had cholera, in any degree are peculi-
arly liable to relapses, and many of our citizens have
already perished in this way. The causes of these re-
lapses are chiefly two. First, rising too soon from bed,
and going into the open air, by which the perspiration
is checked. In no other disease is this so dangerous.
I speak according to the experience of other places,
and my own observations in this. Secondly, indul-
gence in diet. Those who are recovering from cholera,
whether slight or violent, will relapse and die, if they
indulge in hearty meals of solid food. All they eat
should be liquid and mild, such as gruel, soup, mush
and milk, rice, chocolate, and other articles of a light
kind. Every thing beyond this bill of fare is pernicious.
I hope my fellow citizens will scrupulously observe
what I stated; and I beg of all editors to co-operate in
disseminating a knowledge of these most important
cautions.
756
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
NEGLECT OF THE FIRST STAGE.
It is lamentable to see how many continue to fall vic-
tims to the epidemic from neglecting the first stage. I
repeat the opinion, and would reiterate it with every
possible solemnity, that few or none would die of the
epidemic if the first stages were attended to. When-
ever I have been able to get the history of a fatal case,
I have found the patient had one, two, three, or more
days' indisposition, chiefly of the stomach and bowels,
before the spasms and coldness came on. Now, in that
forming stage, the malady is easily arrested; when it is
neglected the patient generally dies.
Could every one who becomes indisposed be induced
to take instantly to his bed, and send for a physician,
the epidemic wrould be forthwith deprived of all its hor-
rors. The Roman maxim, "resist the beginning," is
not more applicable to any other evil which afflicts
mankind, than to epidemic cholera.
CHOLERA AND THE STEAM DOCTORS.
1 am told that a great many persons affected with
cholera apply to the steam doctors. Many of these
are no doubt cured; but others must be lost, who under
a different method might have been saved. I have
often said to my friends, that some parts of the Thomp-
sonian practice would be well adapted to cholera,
especially in its advanced stages; but it is a fatal error
to suppose that this method is proper in all cases. I
hope the steam doctors, many of whom I believe are
benevolent men, will candidly consider what I am
about to say. A weak infusion of lobelia, with con-
finement to bed and external heat, is extremely proper
in the forming stages of the disease; but many cases
at the same time require blood-letting, and all that
require this latter remedy, would be injured by the use
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 757
of " No. 6," and other powerful stimulants. The liver,
moreover, is torpid and does not secrete bile; it is
necessary, therefore, to administer calomel liberally in
the early stages of the disease. Opium likewise is a
valuable remedy in this stage, and contributes greatly
to palliate the sufferings of patients.
Thus it is, indiscriminate omission of blood-letting,
calomel and opium, cause many to die who might
have been saved.
One grain of opium, to ten of calomel, form a pro-
per dose which may be given once, twice or three
times, and will seldom fail to excite a flow of bile,
after which the patient is generally safe. In the stage
of collapse, " No. 6," and every other stimulating arti-
cle in the Thompsonian plan, may be admitted ; though
treated in this manner or any other the patient will
generally die.
In concluding, I must again solemnly and affection-
ately warn the community that no reliance is to be
placed on any plan of treatment that is not entered
upon at the very beginning of the disease, and that
taking to bed in a warm room at the onset of the
complaint and continuing in that situation for several
days is indispensable to safety.
DANIEL DRAKE, M. D.
Cincinnati, Friday, October 26, 1832.
LETTER OF DR. PATTISON.
We have been compelled to give only an abridge-
ment of the letter of this distinguished individual, to his
friend, Dr. Carmichael of Fredericsburg, Va. Dr.
Pattison is Professor of Anatomy in the city of Balti-
30
758 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
more, is one of the most distinguished medical men
now living; as a surgeon, there is not his superior.
Having long toiled in the steep and rugged road of
science, he has reached the summit and now stands
unrivalled in his profession. As a philanthropist, his
generous heart is ever ready to soothe and to relieve
the aflliotions of mankind. Dr. Pattison, substantially,
says:—
When the epidemic exists in any particular district,
the state of the bowels must be attended to with the
utmost solicitude, and the most trifling irregularity at
once remedied. I have before been at some pains to
press on your attention the fact, that in almost every
instance, the malignant form of the disease is preceded
by diarrhoea; and I would now state, that in this stage,
the complaint may, with certainty, be remedied. The
diarrhoea indicates mere functional derangement; re-
move this, and restore the healthy secretions of the
liver, stomach, and the other viscera which minister to
the functions of digestion and assimilation, and you
save your patient. The treatment is very simple. Im-
mediately on ascertaining the existence of the diarrhoea,
direct your patient to take one of the following pow-
ders:
Powdered Rhubarb, 80 grains,
Calomel, 20 grains,
Salts of Opium, 1 grain,
And divide into four equal powders.
Should there be much pain and oppression in the
epigastrium; and, more especially, should the pain be
increased by pressure, apply from fifteen to twenty cups
over this part, and if the patient be of a plethoric habit,
take blood from the general system. Six hours after
the powder has been taken, give from six drachms to
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 759
an ounce of castor oil. The dejections will be found
unnatural in their appearance, and should they con-
tinue so, let the powder be repeated twelve hours after
the operation of the first one has ceased, and follow it
up as in the former case, with a dose of oil. Continue
this treatment until the excretions become natural.
Let the patient keep his bed, and take the lightest and
most digestible food, and in the course of a few days,
his health v^ill be perfectly re-established. I have
never yet, in the whole course of my experience, had
an opportunity of treating a patient during the pre-
monitory stage, in which 1 have not succeeded in
arresting the progress of the disease. This is a most
consolatory truth, and one which cannot he too exten-
sively proclaimed. It disarms the pestilence in a great
measure of its terrors, and it should have the effect of
calming the minds of the timid, and inspiring them
with confidence. Fear is, of all the exciting causes,
the most powerful: the publication of these facts, prove
there is no ground for it. By attention to diet, and im-
mediately applying for medical aid, should the premon-
itory symptoms arise, every individual may feel himself
secure from danger.
Should your patient not have applied to you for
advice, until the first stage is verging on the second,
the most energetic system of treatment will be required
to afford him any chance of recovery.
So soon as the dejections lose their feculent charac-
ter, and assume the appearance of rice water, then
the disease may be said to be entering on its second,
and most alarming stage. The effect on the system,
when these dejections commence, is immediate. The
strength is prostrated ; the countenance becomes
contracted and ghastly; the spasms become m ^:re fre
760 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
quent and more severe, and in general, the distressing
sensation in the epigastrium is increased. If the case
is now left to itself, collapse very speedily takes place;
and indeed very often in spite of the best directed
treatment, this comes on. It would require me to fill a
ream of paper, were I to attempt to speak of all the
plans of treatment which have been recommended; I
shall refrain from doing so, and shall confine my re-
marks to the indications which guide my own practice,
and the measures I pursue in carrying them into effect.
Before I do so, I beg leave to remind you, that I put in
no claim to originality, either in my views as to the
nature of the disease, or as to the mode of treating it.
My mode of treating Cholera Asphyxia, is, in fact,
the one which has been so successfully adopted by the
British physicians in India.
Believing, as I have already stated, that the disease
depends on functional derangement of certain viscera,
particularly those which fulfil the operations of diges-
tion and assimilation; in every stage of the disease, my
indication is, to restore the healthful performance of
those functions. Now, of all the medicines which can
be employed for this purpose, calomel is decidedly the
most powerful, and to it I look as the sheet-anchor of
hope. Let all your remedial measures, therefore, be so
directed as to promote the operation of mercury on the
system. If your patient complains of much pain in
the epigastrium, let cupping-glasses be applied ; and if
the pulse will bear it, bleed from the general system.
In the employment of general blood-letting, considera-
ble judgment is required, and in determining the quan-
tity, the pulse must be our guide. Even should the
pulsation at .the wrist be scarcely perceptible, still, if
other symptoms should indicate the propriety of bleed-
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 761
ing, be not deterred from employing it; you will fre-
quently find, that as the blood flows, the pulse becomes
more and more distinct. If so, continue the bleeding
until the pulse begins to feel it. The instant it sinks,
apply the finger to the wound in the vein, and prevent
the flow of another drop. General blood-letting is
calculated either to do much good or to be attended
with much danger. I will therefore be excused in
repeating that it should not be prescribed without the
most deliberate consideration of the circumstances of
each particular case. Emetics may in most cases be
employed with much advantage. Whenever there is
much feeling of oppression and sense of weight in the
region of the stomach, they may be prescribed with
safety. Dr. James Johnson, the distinguished editor
of the Medico Chirurgical Review, a gentlemen whom
I consider as one of the very first physicians of the
present age, and whose learning of the science of his
profession is only equaled by the acuteness and accu-
racy of his judgment, has strongly recommended
emetics of mustard and water, in cholera, with the
view of moving the congestion which he believes exists
in the viscera.
I prefer the salt and water emetic to any other which
has been recommended. Its operation is immediate,
and so soon as it has produced free vomiting, its nau-
seating effect goes off. You will frequently be much
struck with the matter dejected by vomiting; substan-
ces which may have been taken into the stomach days
before, will occasionally be thrown up unchanged—a
sufficient evidence of the impaired condition of the
digestive functions. Should you, when called to a case,
be^of opinion that vomiting may be required, you will,
of course, employ it immediately, as, until its operation,
96 3 o 2
762 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.
is over, you need not commence the calomel. So soon
as the vomiting from the emetic has ceased, begin with
this most important remedy.
Some practitioners recommend the calomel to be
used in large doses. From my experience, I would
prefer giving it in small quantities, repeating the dose
frequently; of course, the quantity and the frequency
of giving it must be regulated by the circumstances of
each particular case. One of the following pills, I
would begin with, by giving every half hour. The pills
ought to be freshly prepared. If they have been made
for some days, they have, become hard, and remain
some time in the stomach before they are dissolved,
and every moment is of value in treating this disease.
Take of Calomel, 12 grains,
Powder of Cayenne or red pepper, 12 grains,
Salts of Opium, 2 grains,
Mix the mass thoroughly with a little gum arabic,
and divide it into ten equal pills.
It will he observed that each of these pills contains
the fifth of a grain of the sulphate of morphia. This
>> I consider a most valuable remedy in quieting the
stomach and relieving the spasms. But it is one
which must be employed with judgment. The indica-
tions for its employment are the vomiting and spasms;
and so soon as it relieves these symptoms it should be
discontinued. It is probable, after three or four of the
pills have been taken, they will disappear; or at all
events, become much mitigated. Should this be the
case, pills containing merely calomel, should be substi-
tuted for those with the morphia. You had better
direct your patient to take the calomel pills every half
hour, until about thirty grains have been taken; after
this quantity has been swallowed, diminish the dose,
GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 763
and let him take only three grains every half hour.
The medicine may be continued in this quantity, and
taken at these intervals, until from a scruple to half a
drachm more of calomel is taken, after which you had
better allow the patient a short respite. Should the
calomel not of itself produce feculent dejections, after
it has remained in the system for some time, it will be
useful to give a powder containing twelve grains of
calomel and one scruple of rhubarb, and the operation
of this may be promoted by giving some hours after-
wards a dose of castor oil. The great object I would
recommend to you to have in view is to introduce into
the stomach a considerable quantity of calomel in divi-
ded doses, and then to endeavor to obtain feculent
dejections. When the rice-colored dejections are
changed into feculent ones, the danger is in a great
measure at an end, but persevere in the use of calomel
until the healthy secretions are fully re-established.
When the stools become natural, and when the secre-
tion of urine, which had been completely stopped, is
restored, your patient is cured. All that is further re-
quired is rest in bed for some days, and care to avoid
taking any but the lightest and most digestible articles
of food.
^"
GLOSSARY.
It is thought advisable to add to my remarks on epidemic cholera,
the following Glossary, in which the most obscure medical phrases
employed under this head are rendered into plain language:
Collapse—Shrinking.
Discrepant—Opposing.
Diarrhea—Looseness of the bowels.
Recumbent—Lying on the bed.
Reaction—Favorable change.
Pseudo-choleric—Resembling Cholera, but really not the disease
Ejected—Discharged.
Revulsion—Withdrawal.
Cups—See cupping page 595.
Abdomen—Belly.
Moribund—Hopeless.
Epigastrium—Pit of the stomach.
Effervescent—boiling.
Spinage—Green thread-like.
Gastric—Of or belonging to the stossach.
Ducts—Vessels through which the blood runs to the bowels.
Portal Veins—Veins that supply the liver with blood
Secrete—To make or create.
Officinal—Such medicines as physicians use.
Morbid—Diseased.
Hepatic Veins—Those that secrete bile.
Functional—Natural.
Intestinal tube—Stomach and bowels.
Vis vitse—Power of life.
Deficiency of nervous energy—Want of strength in the nerves.
Proximate cause—The disease itself.
Venous congestion—Collection of blood.
Torpid—Inactive.
Sporadic—A single case.
Mvine—Bowel.
Sulpt. quinine—Salt of barks.
Synopsis—General view.
764
A TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR
i ■■* Medicines. Adults. From 20 to 15.
From To From To
Arsenical Solution. 5 12 drops. 5 10 drops.
Antimonial Wine. 2 4 drachms. 2 3£ drms.
Aloes. 5 20 grains. 4 18 grs.
Balsam Capaiva. 20 80 drops. 20 60 drops.
Balsam Turlington. 20 80 do. 20 60 do.
Bark peruvian. , i 2 2 drachms i 2 1| drms.
Calomel. 10 60 grains. 10 40 grs.
Camphor. 6 20 grains. 5 15 grs.
Cream of Tartar. i a 2 ounces. 2 1% ounces.
Caustic vol. alk. liq. i 2 2 drachms. 1 2 l£ drms.
Columbo. 10 60 grs. 10 30 grs.
Chalk prep'd. 20 50 grs. 20 40 grs.
Castor Oil. i 2 3 ounces i 2 2§ ounces.
Ess. Peppermint. 10 60 drops. 10 50 drops.
Elix. Vitriol. 10 40 drops. 10 30 drops.
jEther Vitriolic. A 2 2 drms. 1 2 Is drms.
Ginger. , 5 23 grs. 5 20 grs.
Gamboge. 5 15 grs. 5 10 grs.
Hartshorn Spts. I l£ drms. i 5 1 drm.
Ipecacuanha. 15 30 grs. 15 25 grs.
AND QUALITIES ANNEXED.
From 15 to 10.
From 10 to 6.
Qualities.
Tonic.
Emetic.
Cathartic.
Corroborant.
do.
Tonic.
Cathartic.
Stimulant.
Aperient.
Stimulant.
Tonic.
Absorbent.
Purgative.
Carminative.
Tonic. fjsps.
Stimula't& anti-
Aromatic.
Active purgative.
Stimulant.
Emetic.
Prom To From To
4 8 drops. 3 6 drops.
2 3 drachms. u 2§ drams.
3 15 grs. 3 12 grs.
15 40 drops. 10 30 drops.
15 40 do. do do.
25 gr. 1| drms. 20 60 grs. ,
10 30 grs. 5 20 grs.l
3 10 grs. 2 8 grs.
3 10 drams. 2 8 drms.
1 2 1 drm. 23 30 drops.
10 40 grs. 8 30 grs.
15 35 grs. 15 30 grs.
1 2 ounces. 3 8 drms.
8 35 drops. 6 20 drops.
8 25 drops. 6 20 tlrops.
30 ds. 1 drm. 20 60 drops.
4 18 grs. 3 15 grs.
4 10 grs. 3 15 grs.
20 30 drops. 10 40 drops.
12 20 grs.... 10 15 grs.
JL TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR DOSES AND QUALITIES ANNEXED.
Medicines. Adults. From 20 to 15. From 15 to 10. FRom 10 to 6. Qualities.
From To From To From To Frorr To
Jalap. 15 40 grs. 10 30 grs. 8 23 grs. 5 20 grs. Purgative.
Laudanum, 20 60 drops. 20 50 drops. 15 40 drops. 10 30 drops. Anodyne.
Magnesia. 1 5 2 drms. i 2 1| drms. 20 60 grs. 15 45 grs. Absorbent.
Manna. 1 2 ounces. 1 I5 ounces. 1 1 s ounces. 1 2 1 ounce. Aperient.
Nitre. 10 30 grains. ik 10 25 grs. 8 20 grs. 6 15 grs. Febrifuge &diur.
Opium. 1 5 3 grains. 1 5 2 grs. 1 2 1 gr. Anodyne.
Paregoric. ^ Rhubarb. ¥ 1 4 drms. 1 3 drms. 1 2 grs. 50 100 drops. Anodyne.
15 40 grs. a 12 35 grs. 10 35 grs. 8 30 grs. Purgative.
Steel Dust. . 5 25 grs. ] 4 20 grs. 3 15 grs. 2h 13 grs. Tonic.
Sugar of Lead. 1 5 grs. 1 4 grs. 1 2 3 grs. 1 2 2 grs. Astringent.
Salts Epsom. 1 2 ounces. 1 2 ounces. 3 14 drms. 2 12 drops. Purgative.
Salt of Tartar. 10 25 grs. 10 20 grs. 8 18 grs. 6 15 grs. Absorbent & Feb.
Spts. Lavender. 30 100 drops. 25 75 drops. 20 60 drops. 15 50 drops. Cordial.
Sulphur Flour. 2 8 drms. 2 6 drms. 1 4 drms. 1 3 drms. Aperient.
Sulphate Quinine. 2 8 grs. 2 6 grs. 1 4 grs. 1 3 grs. Tonic.
Tartar Emetic. 3 10 grs. 3 8 grs. 2 6 grs. 2 5 grs. Emetic.
Tincture of Steel. 8 20 drops. 8 18 drops. 6 15 drops. 5 12 drops. Tonic.
Tincture of Foxglove, 10 50 drops. 10 40 drops. 8 30 drops. 5 25 drops. Diuretic.
Tinctre of Cantharide' 10 50 drops. 10 40 drops. 8 30 drops. 5 25 drops. Stimulant.
Vitriol White, 20 60 grs. 20 50 grs. 15 30 grs. 12 25 grs. Emetic.
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A TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR DOSES AND QUALITIES ANNEXED.
Medicines. From 6 to 4. From 4 to 2. From 2 to 1. Under Oni:. Qualities.
From To From To From To From To
Arsenical Solution. 2 5 drops. 1 4 drops. l 2 2 drops. l 2 1 drop. Tonic.
Antimonial Wine. 1 2 drachms. 1 Ik drachms. 1 Ik drms. I 2 1 dram. Emetic.
Aloes. 2 10 grs. 2 8 grs. 1 6 grs. 1 2 5 grs. Cathartic.
Balsam Copaiva. 10 20 drops. 8 15 drops. 5 10 drops. 2 5 drops. Corroborant.
Balsam Turlington. do do. do. do. do. do. do. do. Do.
Bark Peruvian. 15 45 grs. 10 30 grs. 8 20 grs. 5 15 grs. Tonic.
Calomel. 5 15 grs. 5 10 grs. 3 8 grs. 1 5 grs. Cathartic.
Camphor. 2 4 grs. 1 3 grs. 1 2 grs. i 5 1 gr. Stimulant.
Cream of Tartar. 2 5 drams. 1 4 drms. i 5 2 drms. 1 2 1 drm. Aperient.
Caustic vol. alk. liq. 20 40 drops. 15 30 drops. 10 20 drops. 5 10 drops. Stimulant.
Columbo. 5 25 grs. i 5 20 grs. 4 15 grs. 2 10 grs. Tonic.
Chalk prep'd. 12 30 grs. 10 25 grs. 7 20 grs. 5 15 grs. Absorbent.
Castor Oil. 2k 6 drms. 2 5 drms. li 4 drms. 1 2 drms. Purgative.
Ess. Peppermint. 4 15 drops. 3 12 drops. 2 10 drops. 1 6 drops. Carminative.
Elixir Vitriol. 5 15 drops. 3 42 drops. 2 10 drops. 1 4 drops. Tonic. £sps.
iEther Vitriolic. 15 56 drops. 10 40 drops. 8 30 drops. 5 10 drops. Stimula't& anti-
Ginger. 3 12 grs. 2 10 grs. 2 8 grs. 1 6 grs. Aromatic.
Gamboge. 1 3 grs. Active purgative*
Hartshorn Spts. 10 20 drops. 5 10 drops. 3 8 drops. 2 6 drops. Stimulant.
Ipecacuanha. 8 12 grs. 5 10 grs. 4 8 grs. I 1 5 grs. Emetic.
A TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR DOSES AND QUALITIES ANNEXED. •*
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Medicines. From 6 to 4. From 4 to 2. From 2 to 1. Under One. ' Qualities.
From To From To From To From To
Jalap. 5 15 grs. 4 12 grs. 3 8 grs. 2 5 grs. Purgative.
Laudanum. 8 20 drops. 5 15 drops. 3 8 drops. 2 6 drops. Anodyne.
Magnesia. 12 40 grs. 10 35 grs. 8 25 grs. 5 20 grs. Absorbent.
Manna. 3 6 drms. 2 4 drms. 1 2 drms. • i 2 1 drm. Aperient.
Nitre. 5 12 grs. 2 10 grs. 2 8 grs. 1 4 grs. Febrifuge & diur.
Opium. Anodyne.
Paregoric. 30 60 'drops. 20 50 drops. 10 40 drops. 2 20 drops. Anodyne.
Rhubarb. 5 25 grs. 4 20 grs. 4 12 grs. 2 10 grs. Purgative.
Steel Dust. 2 10 grs. 1 6 grs. i 4" 2 grs. Tonic.
Sugar of Lead. i 2 Ik grs. i 4 1 gr. 1 S i gr- Astringent.
Salts Epsom. 2 8 drms. 2 6 drms. 1 4 drms. 1 3 drms. Purgative.
Salt of Tartar. 4 8 grs. 3 6 grs. 2 4 grs. 1 3 grs. Absorbent &iFeb.
Spts. Lavender. 10 35 drops. 5 20 grs. 4 15 drops. 2 10 drops. Cordial.
Sulphur Flour. i 2 2 drms. 20 grs . 1 drm. 10 40 grs. 5 20 grs. Aperient.
Sulphate Quinine. I 2 2 grs. i 1 gr. i 4~ 4 gr- k s gr. Tonic.
Tartar Emetic. n 3 grs. 1 2 grs. 1 2 1 gr. i 4" 1 gr. Emetic.
Tincture of Steel. 4 10 drops. 3 8 drops. 2 6 drops. 1 5 drops. Tonic.
Tincture of Foxglove. 4 20 drops. 3 15 drops. 2 10 drops. 1 5 drops. Diuretic.
Tinct. of Cantharides. 4 20 drops. 3 15 drops. 2 10 drops. 1 5 drops. Stimulant.
Vitriol White. 6 15 grs. 3 6 drops. 1 3 grs. 1 Emetic.
20 grains
3 scruples
) , (1 scruple
\ \ 1 drachm
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
8 drachms >kJ 1 ounce 8 pints ) < 1 gal I 8 fl'd drms > k j 1 fl'd o«.
l2 ounces C \ l pound 16 fluid oz J ^ ( 1 pint j 60 drops > ^ (lflu drm.
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