EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE MINERAL WATERS O F PHILADELPHIA, ABINGTON, and BRISTOL, In the Province of PENNSYLVANIA. Read June 18, 1773, before the American Philo- sophical Society, held at Philadelphia. By BENJAMIN RUSH, M. D. Professor of Chemistry in the College of Philadelphia. J£..j5«..>'4..jJt«^£..^..ii&..^..y^..si!.. .^„y*.y*..y«..!{4-sJ'S..jji..A't..j^~y«...jJ4..sf<. '>jV"W W Vj» »fr 'j* *?» W ^» Vy.-"7N; $™tf-S> Vi? W ^"7jn^7ft w ® EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE MINERAL WATERS, &c. TH E difFerent (lages of fociety, like the different ages of the human body, have their peculiar dif- eafes. In the infancy of all focieties, difeafes are fimple and few in number, but in proportion as they advance in arts and opulence, which always bring along with them the refinements of luxury, difeafes multiply, and are complicated in fuch a manner, as to require more powerful aids than the fimple preparations of plants and metals. Thefe aids have been fought for from a variety offources, but from none oftener than mineral waters. Thefe waters, which have flowed for many years unno- ticed by our anceftors, have, of" late, attracted the atten- tion of the public, and have now become a very import- ant part of the materia medica. I shall confine the following experiments and ob- fervations entirely to the mineral waters of Philadelphia, Abington [ 6 ] Abington and Briftol. Thefe, from their quality, are equal, and from their fituation, juflly to be preferred to the many mineral waters, of a like nature, which have been difcovered in every part of this province. I shall firj} give the chemical hiftory of thefe wa- ters, as difcovered by the effecls of heat and mixture. Secondly, I fhall mention, in as concife a manner as poflible, a few of thofe difeafes in which they arc ufc* ful: And— Thirdly, Subjoin directions how to ufe" them. CHAP. I. Of the Philadelphia MINERAL WATER. THIS water is found in a well, twenty-fix feet deep, in Sixth-ftrect, near the corner of Chefnut-ftreet, on a lot of ground belonging to John Lawrence, Efq; The water, when it firft comes from the pump, has a flight faetid fmell, is fomewhat turbid, and after Hand- ing a few hours expofed to the air, depofits a yellow fediment. The fmcll of the water is encreafed by reft. I t has a ftrong. ferruginous tafte. Its fpecific gravi- ty compared with rain water is, as 1000,45 to J°°o- Of the Abington WATER. This water is found about twelve miles to the north. of Philadelphia, on a plantation belonging to Mr. William French. The fpring flows near the bottom of a hill that defcends with a gentle declivity. The foil around the fpring is a yellow redifh clay, with a finall mixture of fand. It has a ferruginous tafte, and b7 I 7 ] by expofure to the air becomes turbid, and depofits a yellow fediment. Its fpecific gravity is to rain water, as 1000,90 to 1000. Of the Bristol WATER. This water is found near the furface of the ground, in the neighbourhood of a foil abounding with black fand. It is tranfparent, but depofits a yellow fediment after Handing a few hours in the open air. When it is put up in bottles, and well corked, it will retain its mi- neral virtues for many months. It has a ferruginous tafte, which is not difagreeable. Its fpecific gravity is exactly the fame as that of rain water. These waters are emetic, purgative, and diuretic, according to the conftitution of the patient, or the quan- tity taken into the ftomach. They likewife quicken the pulfe, and promote perfpiration. The following table will fhow the effecls of mixing a variety of fubftances with thefe waters. The firft co- lumn contains an account of the fubftances which were added j the fecond, third, and fourth, contain an ac- count of their effedts upon the waters.—It will be unne- ceffary to mention the proportions of each, as the event of the experiments was nearly die fame, with very dif- ferent proportions. Experiment I. Tinfture of galls. II. Syrup of violets. Philadelphia Water. Abington Water. A deep pur- A dark pie color, ibrown color. A green color. Ditto. Briftol Water. A deep pur- ple. Ditto. Experiment [ * ] Philadelphia Water. Experiment III. Soap and water. IV. Skimmed and No coagu> boiled milk. lum. No coagu lum but a lather. v: Tincture of rhubarb. VI. Vitriolic acid. VII. Nitrous acid VIII. Marine acid. IX. Spirit of wine X. Spirit of hartfhorn. XI. Spirit of fal ammoniac. No change at firft, after- wards tranf- parent. The fame as the vitriolic acid. Yellow, in- clining to an olive color Abington Water. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. More tranf- parent. No change. Ditto. No effervef- cence, or turbidnefs, but a light green color Ditto. No change. Briftol Water. Ditto. Ditto. No change. No change. No change. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Experiment C 9 1 Experiment XII. Solution of vegetable al- kali. XIII. Cauftic alkali. XIV. Lime water. XV. Solution of fugar of lead. XVI. Solution of lead in the nitrous acid XVII. Solution of filvcr in ni- trous acid. XVIII. Solution of blue vitriol. Philadelphia Water. Green color and fmall turbidnefs, Abington Water. Briftol Water. Ditto, with- out a turbid- nefs. No change. A turbid, dark green color. Ditto. Ditto, with a pracipita tion. Ditto. Ditto. A light rreen color. 'Great tur bidnefs, be came milky, and after ftanding fometime de- pofited a white preci- pitate. Turbid and white. Cloudy, af terwards purple whh a precipitate Ditto. Ditto, tho' in a lefs de- gree. Ditto. No change, Ditto. Ditto. B Experiment [ io .] Experiment XIX. Solution of corrofive fub- limate. XX. Solution of ailum. XXI. Fixed air from chalk, by vi- trolic acid. All thefe mineral waters depofit a fediment when they are boiled. Let us next enquire into the nature of the fubftances contained in each of them. One quart of the Philadelphia water yielded, by eva- poration, four grains of folid matter, three of which ap- peared to be an iron ochre, and one an earthy fait, which dilaquefced upon being expofed to the air; upon adding to this fait a pure vegetable alkali, a white powder wan precipitated, which had all the properties of magnefia alba; the fait which remained fhowedall the ufual marks of digeftive fak. The faline matter found in this water, appears Philadelphia Water. Abington Water. Briftol Water. No change. Ditto. More tranf-parent. After ftanding for fome time a blue cloud floated on the furf ace. Ditto. No change. Rendered it (after it had 'lood for fome time and become turbid) clear and tranfpa-rent. [ " j- appears then to be a fpecies of fal ammonlacum fixura, with this difference from the ordinary fait of that name, that the earth which is united with the marine acid, is a magnefia, and not quick-lime. *• One quart of the Abington Water yielded two grains of iron ochre, without any fenfible mixture of e?.rthy or faline matter ; upon evaporating three quarts of this water, half a grain of fait was difcovered, mixed with fix grains of the iron ; this fait, upon examination, appeared to be common fait. One quart of the Briftol W*ater yielded, by evapo- ration, two grains of folid matter, one of which was iron, the other had all the properties of common fait. OBSERVATIONS. F o r a long time iron-was thought to be foluble in water, only by the intervention of an acid. Dr. Stahj. taught us, fome years ago, that it was foluble by means of an alkali; and Mr. Lane has proved by a num- ber of experiments, publifhed in one of the late vo- lumes of the philofophical tranfaclions, that iron is folu- ble in water, by the intervention of fixed air; f but that B 2 iron * Sec an otcour.t of this earthy fait in Dr. Lewis'* Philofophical Commerce of Arts. Page 640. f Dr. StahlV met rod of difolving iron iw an a Halt is, by adding a falutionofa vegetable alkali, to a foluticn of iron in the nitrous acid. May not the fixed air contain- ed in the alkali, and ixikich is difcharged from it by ::r uniting with the nitrous acid, be the medium Aih ;V'■.-:'i flu tier, rat for than the al'uxU ? [ 17. ] iron is foluble in fimple water, without the aid of any of thefe matters, is a modern difcovery in chemiftry. When we examine our experiments properly, we (hall find that the iron is diflblved chiefly in this manner, in the waters of Philadelphia, Abington and Briftol. The green color produced by the fyrup of violets, in Experiments II, is no proof of the prefence of an al» kali in thefe waters; for we find the fame color from adding it to a folution of Epfom fait, or to a fmall quan» tity of the iEthiops mautialis of Lemery; we find it pro* duced, likewife, from a cold infufion of iron filings in water—This infufion ftrikes a purple brown color, with an infufion of galls. The lather, in Experiments III, from mixing thefe waters with a folution of foap, is a proof of their free- dom from a large quantity of faline and calcarious mat- ters. It is the prefence of thefe fubftances, in all waters, which renders them hard; anather proof of the foftnefa of thefe waters is, their boiling peas. The waters becoming tranfparent, upon the additi- on of the vitriolic acid, as in Experiments VI, is owing to the vitriolic acid's attracting and difFolving the iron contained in the waters; no change was produced in the appearance of the Briftol Water, upon the account of its natural tranfparency. There being no effervefcenee from mixing thefe wa«. ters with the volatile or fixed alkalies, as in Experiments XI, XII, and XIII, is a proof of their containing no acid. Thb t n 1 The turbidnefs, &c. from the addition of lime-wa- ter, in Experiment XIV, was probably owing to the lime's attracting fome fixed air from the mineral waters, which we (hall fee hereafter exifts, in a fmall quantity, in thefe waters, particularly in that of Philadelphia. The milky appearance and turbidnefs, in Experi- ments XV, were owing to a decompofition. The vege- table acid of the fugar of lead attracted the iron, and depofited the lead with which it was before combined. The turbidnefs, in Experiment XVI, was owing to the nitrous acid attracting the iron and letting go the lead, which was before diflblved in it. The cloud and precipitation, in Experiments XVII, was likewife owing to the nitrous acids attracting the Iron, with a force greater than it did the filver, with which it was formerly united. The effect of the folution of allum, in Experiments XX, was owing to the vitriolic acid of the allum (not being fully faturated with clay) attracting and diffolving' the iron contained in the waters. The proportion of iron found in a given quantity of thefe, and all chalybeate waters differs : Firfl, Accord- ing to the feafon of the year ; being greateft in cold and dry weather. Secondly, According to the time in which they are drawn from the fpring: And— Thirdly, According to the degree of calcination the iron has undergone: The more compleatly its principle of inflammability is feparated, the more freely it dif- foIves in water. The [ 14 ] The Philadelphia water, probably, owct its greater proportion of iron, to the prefence of a fmall quantity of fixed air; that this is the cafe we learn from Expe- riment XXI. Upon weighing half a pint of the water, likewife, twelve hours after it was drawn from the well, it was found to have loft four grains of its weight. Mr. James Hutchinson, Apothecary to the Pennfylva- nia Hofpital, and Student of Medicine in the College of Philadelphia, found the proportion of fixed air to be much greater than this, upon expofing the water to the heat of boiling water. The proportion in this and in the other waters is, however, too fmall, compared with thofe chalybeate waters, where the iron is diflblved by fixed air, to fuppofe that it is the medium of the iron's folution in them. T o what is the peculiar odor of the Philadelphia wa- ter owing? It has been afcribed tofulphur; but there are few direct proofs of fulphur being diffolved in a fim- ple ftatc in water. * I RAVE * To know whether Jitlphttr was foluble in 'water By. means of fixed air, or the principle of inflammability, I tried the following experiments. I added eight ounces of water to half an ounce of fulphur, and b lowed into it for fome time. I likewife conveyed, into the fame quantity of fulphur and water, fome fixed air from an effervefcing mixture of chalk and the vitriolic acid, by means of the bended tube, deferibed by Dr. Ma CB ride. After this, I conveyed in the fame manner, into the fame quantity of ful- phur and water, a quantity of the principle of inflammabi- lity* fr°m a mixture of iron filings and nitrous acid. Up- on examining the water chemically, after each of thefe ex- fcriv.ents, it did not afford a Jingle mark of fulphur. t "5 J" t h a v f. examined fome water brought from Caldas da Rainha, in Portugal, which fmelt ftrongly of ful- phur, without being able to detect the leaft particle of fulphur in it. It is no uncommon thing in chemiftry, to find an exact refemblance in the odors of bodies, which differ widely from each other in their nature and proper- ties. The fulphureous fmell, in moft of mineral waters, is probably owing to the efcape of the principle of in- flammability, or in other words, of that volatile princi- ple, called, by fome modern writers, inflammable air. W e fee then, from the foregoing experiments, that thefe three mineral waters contain iron, diffolved in them, without the intervention of an acid, an alkali, or of fixed air. They, no doubt, contain a greater quantity of elaf- tic air than common water. To this we may afcribe their brifknefs and exhilirating effeds on the fpirits. I t is the gradual feparation of this air, which caufes the fpontaneous turbidnefs and precipitation in thefe waters, after they have flood uncovered for fome time. We obferve the fame phocnomena in all impure waters, after they have been expofed to the air, efpecially in a warm place. I would not be underftood to mean, from what has been faid here, that iron is not, fometimes, found diffolved in water, by means of the vitriolic acid. The waters of Shadwell and Weftwood, in England, and of Hartfell, in Scotland, are of a vitriolic nature, and yield a true fal martis, upon evaporation. But waters of this kind, are by no means fo common as fome havr C is 3 have fuppofed. They are known by changing a piece of blue paper to a red color; and by depofiting a blue fediment, by adding to them a fmall quantity of a fixed alkali, prepared with ox's blood, in the manner di- rected for the manufactory of Pruffian blue. Fro m thefe Experiments we may explain the caufe of the rufting of iron when expofed to the air. It is ow- ingto the water (and not to a vegetable acid) which al- ways floats in the air, acting as a menftruum upon iron. CHAP. II. Of the Diseases in which thefe mineral waters are proper. IT is common, among fome people, to recommend thefe waters indifcriminately, in all nervous difeafes. It has been the fate of thefe difeafes, to be known in the differ- ent ages of phyfic, by the different names of fpleen, va- pours, hip and the like. At prefent they are collected un- der the general name of difeafes of the nerves. When we confider how much thefe difeafes are connected with thofe which belong to the other parts of the human bo- dy : When we confider too, how much they are diver- fified by their caufes; by the age, and the fex of the pati- ent ; and chiefly by the two oppofite ftates, of relaxa- tion and tcnfion of the nervous fyftem, perhaps it will appear, that ignorance never found a more ample fan- ctuary for itfelf, than when it marked down all thofe dif- eafes which are various in their fymptoms, and difficult of inveftigation, under the name of nervous. It would require a volume to diftinguifh ajid arrange thefe difeafes properly. [ »7 ] properly. I fball only mention the names and charaft- eriftic marks of a few cf them. These waters are proper in the hyfteria. This dif- order lhows itfelf in a thoufand fhapes. It is known by attacking the female more than the male fex; e pec:- ally fuch as are of a delicate and weak habit; by being accompanied with flatulences, contractions of the mui- cles of the belly, and a fenfc of fomething relembling a ball rifing in the throat. It prevails moft in warm cli- mates and feafons; and, laftly, it is always fubjedt to exacerbations frcm any caufe that fuddenly affects or difturbs the mind. They are proper in the palfy, whether of part or of the whole body, where the pulfe is not full, ,:nl where the fymptoms of a plethora are wanting. It is al- ways a ftrong prefumption of the propriety of ufing thefe waters, wiere the difeafe has continued a long time, without any remarkable change in the fymptoms. I n the epilepfy, when it arifes from an affection of the ftomach, or the womb, or from a general weak ha- bit of body, thefe waters are proper. They may be drank with advantage in a certain ftagc of the gout, particularly when it comes on in the d-cline of life. The conftitution then exhibits vari- ous marks of great debility. The gouty affection in confequence of this, inftead of appearing in the feet, fliaws itfelf in a weaknefs, naufea, and acidity of the ftomach. C [ i8 ] r.omach. Thefe fymptoms are generally accompanied with coftivenefs and flatulency of the bowels. T a >. y are ufeful in an old obftinate diarrhoea, or ha- bitual purgings, when not accompanied with a griping, or a difcharge of blood mixed with the ftools. Sail- ors returning from long voyages, or from warm cli- mates, are moft fubject to this diforder. They afford the moft certain relief in all cafes of a want of appetite, when it originates from a defect ia the ftomach. The appetite may be deftroyed, by caufes which operate, directly or indirectly, upon the ftomach1 Thofe which operate directly, are tea, fpi- rituous liquors, and bitters, taken in an immoderate quantity, or at improper times ; too full meals; ftrong vomits; and warm drinks of all kinds: The caufes which operate indirectly on the ftomach, are, all fedative paffions of the mind; fuch as, grief, fear, love, &c. together, with whatever weakens or difprders the other parts of the fyftem. We fhall, hereafter, point out what kind of diet fhould be joined with the mineral waters in this dif- order. They are proper in all thofe colics which arife from mere weaknefs of the bowels; and particularly in that fpecies which is accompanied with an overflowing of the bile; a difeafe this, to which the inhabitants of warm climates are moft fubject. Besides E 19 3 - Bisibes thefe difeafes, In which the nervous fyftem is chiefly affected, thefe mineral waters are ufeful in all ob- ftrudions of the liver and fpleen; whether they are brought on by indolence, intemperance, or inter- mitting fevers, and whether they fhow themfelves in a mere fwelling, and hardnefs, or a jaundice, a cough, or a dropfy. In the dropfy they fhould be given, only while they continue to operate by urine or ftool; for this purpofe they fhould be drank (not in the ufual man- ner) but in large quantities. Thfy are proper in all cafes of the chronic rheuma- tifm. They will be the more efficacious in this diforder, if the flefh-brufh be ufed at the fame time. They are very ufeful in the piles, efpecially when they occur in that ftage of life, in which the arterial plethora yields to the venous. This feldom happens till the thirty-fifth c* thirty-fixth year of life. I n all female obftructions-, and weakneffes, which are accompanied with a general languor and debility of the whole fyftem, thefe waters afford confiderable relief. I have heard of one or two cafes, in which they have relieved children afflicted with worms. Here they aft like bark, rhubarb, aloes, and bitters of all kinds, indireclly upon the worms, by giving a proper tone to the bowels. Among the many fubftances which deftroy them direQly, there are few more powerful than fugar, honey, fait, and ripe fummef fruits. All children fhow . a fondnefs for thefe things. The appetites in this early -pei i< d of life, are not corrupted by habit or vitiated by C * dliVafri C *o 1 e3'.':-/e; and ray therefore be Iiftened to, as the voice o£ nature. Thefe fubftances fhould be given Upon an emp- ty ftomach, and the patient fhould not eat any thing for ftn hour afterwards. They are proper in all cutaneous difeafes and fouj Ulcers of long ftanding, whether they be of a fcorbutic or fcrophulous nature. The parts affected fhould be wafhed with the mineral water twice a day. They are ufeful in difeafes of the kidneys and blad- der, when a difficulty or obftrudtion, in making wa- ter, arifes from relaxation, or fmall calculi in thefe or- gans. They are juftly to be preferred to common fpring or pump water, which is i'eldom io pure, as not to con- tain fome cJearious matters, which are ikid to increafe thefe compl .tints. * They have been ufed, with fuccefs, in obftinate gleets, after the moft powerful aftringent medicines have been ufed to no purpofe. Let us next enquire, in what difeafes thefe waters are hurtful. I n the hypochondriac diforder the chalybeate wa- ters are a doubtful remedy. Although this dhorder is fomctimes joined with the hyfteria, yet it is diltindt from it ia its nature, and requires a very different treat- ment. * Perciv al's Experiments and Obfervations on Water* Page 14. r » ] ittent. It is known by its attacking the male more than the female fex; by its prevailii% moft in cold feafons and climates; and by its being accompanied with acidi- ty, flatulency, coftivenefs, or a diarrhoea; an intire want of, or an inordinate appetite; pain in the ftomach and breaft, after eating; a vomiting; an unufual difcharge of fpittle from the mouth; colic, &c. In this difor- der, all preparations of iron have been found hurtful; and although the quantity difcovered in thefe waters be very fmall, yet I have heard feveral patients, who la- boured under the above fymptoms, complain of being worfe after drinking them. It is a little extraordinary, that a draught of warm water, will fomctimes, create an appetite in this diforder, after bitter and aromatic medicines have been adminiftred to no purpofe. The chalybeate waters have been fometimes re- commended in the phthifis pulmonalis, or confumption of the lungs. It is difficult, perhaps impofiible, to tell, in all cafes, when a confumption arifes from a primary affection of the lungs. A difcharge of pus, is not always a fign of an ulcer in thefe organs. There may bd a cough, which is fymptomatic, and brought on by a primary diforder of the liver. There may be a dif- charge of pus from the lungs, owing to their being fo * relaxed, as to pour forth thofe parts of the blood, from which, pus, under certain circumftances, is formedi In thefe cafes, the chalybeate waters may perform a cure; but I doubt much, whether they ever cured or relieved a true confumption; whether brought on by an abcefs, tubercles, or ulcers. In every ftate of the human body, when the inflammatory diathefis prevails, thefe waters ' are [ « ] are Improper. That it prevails in the confumption, we infer from thejiard pulfe, and fizy appearance of the blood. These waters, we faid, arc improper in all difeafes where an inflammatory diathefis prevails. They are hurtful therefore in moft cafes of hemor- rhages, or preternatural difcharges of blood from the body. Hemorrhages are either active or paffive: The former happen before, the latter after, the thirty-fifth or thirty-fixth year of life. It is in the former, in which the inflammatory diathefis chiefly prevails. They are known by an increafe of the tone and action of the ar- terial fyftem, and by all the common fymptoms of a plethora. J T h e s e waters are likewife hurtful, for the fame reafon, in the acute rheumatifm, and gout. Thia latter difeafe refembles the former a good deal, in its feat, fymptoms, and method of cure, when it attacks in the early part of life. It appears at theufual feafons of inflammatory diforders, and is accompanied with aeon- fiderable degree of the inflammatory diathefis. It is now called the tonic gout, to diftinguifh it from that, which comes on in the decline of life, and which, from the ir- regularity in its feat, times of acceffion, and fymptoms, is called the anomalous, or atonic gout. Thefe names are fufticient to fhew, that we do not look for the inv mediate caufe of the gout in a tartar, chalk, gluten, or in acrid matters of any kind; but, that we prefume it r-5 be feated primarily, in the moving folids. It would be r n ] be eafy to multiply proofs of this, drawn, both from the hiftory of the gout,* and the eftablifhed laws of the nerv- ous fyftem. The methods of treating the tonic and a- tonic gout, fhould be very different, and it is through a want of attention to thefe, that fo many feeming con- tradictions are to be found in all the writers upon this fubject. In the former, alow diet, confifting, chiefly, of milk and vegetables; an entire abftinence from fpiritu- ous * There is ?iothing whuh has ftrengthened the belief of the gout's being occajioned by matter, mere than the opinion of its being hereditary. It feldom appears in thofe who are defended from gouty parents, till the twentieth or twenty-fifth year of life : Where could a matter of any kind be lodged, during this time, without fihowing itfelf ? Why do not the changes 'which the cenftitution undergoes in this time, evolve it ? Where do we find the leafl refemblance of this, in thofe difeafes, which we are fare depend upon morbid matter ? The gout appears to he upon a footing with the comfamption and madnefs, which feldom appear in perfons defended from corfinnptive or maniacal parents, till the body arrives at its maturity. Thefe, no one will pretend to fay, are occafioned by morbific matter. A flight catarh, whether from cold or contagion, will bring on a confump- tion ; a trifling agitation of the mind,—madnefs; and fmall deviations from temperance will bring on the gout in theje people, only becaufe the body is predifpofed> to them. This predifpofition is derived from the originalfamina, and depends upon a peculiar form and organization of the fo- lids. It is obvious to the fenfes in perfons defended from cjnfumptive parents. [ 24 ] ous liquors, with moderate exercife, infure a certain cure. This affertion I know will be controverted by ma- ny, who believe from tradition, that the gout is always incurable. The only circumftances which can afford us proofs, are a good deal unfavourable to it; for where lhall we find an inftance, of a young man, with an afflu- ent fortune, in the career of pleafure, who will give up, what he calls, "his friend and his bottle," merely, to avoid one or two fits of the gout in a year, much lefs, to lay up a ftock of health and fpirits for old age. But, let us purfue nature in her private walks. Have we not fecn people, who were afflicted with the gout in the early part of life, reduced in their circumftances, and by involun- tary temperance and labour, afterwards, perfectly cured of it ? Inftances of this kind, which are to be found in all countries, prove, that the gout is as truly a curable difeafe, as the rheumatifm or the intermitting fever. In the atonic gout, which comes on in the decline of life, and which fhews itfelf in the kidnies, bowels, ftomach, lungs, &c. the fprings of life are too much worn, to be repaired by a low diet or exercife. The patient here mult take wine and folid food in a moderate quantity, in or- der to keep the diforder in the extremities. It is no mor,e a reproach to our art, to fay, that we cannot cure this ftage of the gout, than that, we cannot render man im- mortal. It would be lefs abfurd, to believe all the de- lufions of Alchemy, than, to expect a medicine to cure the gout in either of its ftages, from the animal, vege- table, or mineral kingdoms. CHAP. L" *5 ] CHAP. III. Of the manner of using thefe mineral waters. TH E quantity to be drank daily, of thefe waters, muft be determined by the conftitution and difeafe of the patient. Too large a draught at firft, has fome- times produced very difagreeable effects, which have dif- couraged patients from giving them a fair trial. They fhould be guarded againft this, and in fome cafes, where the ufe of them is clearly indicated, they fhould be en- couraged to look upon their harfh operation at firft, as a prefage of their doing much good. The beft method for people of delicate habits, is to begin with a gill or half a pint, and encreafe it gradually to five or fix half-pints in a day. Formerly, the chalybeate waters were drank in a much larger quantity; but experience has taught us, that three pints, or two quarts at moft, in a day, are fufficient to produce all the falutary effects, we have reafon to expect from them. The patient has always drank too much, if he becomes very feverifh, and per- ceives an uneafy fenfe of heat in his breaft, immediately after taking the water. He fhould drink them, if pofll- ble, at the fountain head; as their virtue is much im- pared, by being deprived of their air. The beft time for drinking them, is early in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, upon an empty ftomach. The patient fhould always walk or ride, or ufe fome other gentle ex- ercife, immediately after drinking them. When we want to promote perforation, they fhould be drank juft before the patient goes to bed. D Is C 26 ] I n fome difeafes which require thefe waters, the fto- mach is oftentimes fo weak, as to rejeft them, even in the fmalleft quantity. When this is the cafe, the waters fhould be mixed with a little cinnamon or mint water, or the ftomach fhould be prepared for them, by fome grate- ful aromatic tincture. I have heard of a lady, who could retain the waters upon her ftomach only when fhe drank them in bed, and remained there an hour or two afterwards. They relieved her of the complaint for which fhe drank them. I f the waters fhould not keep the bowels gently open, the patient fhould make ufe of fuch laxative medicines as will beft fuit his diforder. They may be drank for feveral months, in any fea- fon of the year, efpecially in the fpring, fummer, and autumn. It is a good practice to intermit them now and then, for a few days, leaft they fhould lofe their effica- cy, by habit. I t would encroach too much upon our plan, to men* tion the particular diet which the feveral difeafes, we have mentioned, require. The patient fhould obferve the moft ftrict regard to the quantity of his food. This caution is the more neceffary, as the waters, fometimes., excite an artificial appetite, which it is by no means fafe fully to gratify. Four or five fmall meals, are better than one or two in a day, for valetudinarians, upon the account of their being lefs ftimulating. In all cafes of indigeftion, acidity, flatulency, &c. in the ftomach, pa- tients fhould abftain from vegetables, and live, as much as C 27 ] as pofllble, Upon an animal diet. Beef and mutton will be found much eafier of digeftion, in thefe cafes, than what arc commonly called the white meats.* This diet fhould not be continued too long. In proportion as the ftomach recovers its tone, the patient fhould gradually return to the ufe of vegetables, or to mixed aliment. What Dr. C a dog an fays of milk, we may fay of vegetables that it is, generally, a fign the ftomach requires them, when it cannot bear them. I n all cutaneous and fcorbutic difeafes, foul ulcers* &c. the patient fhould live entirely upon vegetables, provided he is not very old, or of a very weak habit. T h e r.e can be no other objection, to patients drink- ing thefe chalybeate waters with all their meals, than the danger of their lofing their efficacy, by too conftant ufe. The ingenious female author of " l'Hiftoire, de ra Putrefaction," has proved, by experiment, that they haftea the difiblution and putrefaction of aliment. I t is a common queftion, for patients to aflc their phyficians, which of the three mineral wateriwe have de- D 2 fcribed, * En effet, plus tin animal eft jeune, plus il tient dti vegetal,