.•v-rcy. ■ &% *; i*-'" •.'.»''• iff fir?. +--£y~%&fV;$£i?. mwr^zmt ^■■iip. f O N/ % 1 w> RARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE "*V - v -- ' ^ iRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE * v& I. WS>y i NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE 3 Aavaan tvnoiivn 3NiDia3w do Aavaan tvnouvn aNiDiaaw jo Aavaan tvnouvn i ,-M'X 1 x-fe- 4v,; sm ?nb q ^Ls BRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE P4" >\'' AKV88I1 TVNOUVN 3NIOIQ3W dO AcVoBIT TVNOUVN 3NIDIQ3VY dO AHVaaiT TVNOUVN 3NI s. /J p 2 RARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE i v^S ^ 5 <&acf ^ ^F 2 %f DOMESTIC MEDICINE, OR POOR MAN'S FRIEND; DESCRIBING, IN PLAIN LANGUAGE, THE DISEASE* OF MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, AND THE LATEST AND MOST APPROVED MEANS USED IN THEIR CURE; DESIGNED ESPECIALLY FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES. IT ALSO CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF THE MEDICAL ROOTS AND HERBS OF THE UNITED STATUS, AND HOW THEY ARE TO BE USED IN THE CURE OF DISEASES. ARRANGED ON A NEW AND SIMPLE PLAN, By which the practice of medicine is reduced to principles of common sense. Why should we conceal from, mankind that which relieves the distresses of our fellow-beings. THIRTEENTH EDITION. PUBLISHED BY J. EDWARDS & J. J. NEWMAN, PITTSBURGH Pa. 1839. t v- ."*• Entered according- to act of Congress, in 1832, by John C. Gunn, in the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court for the Dis- trict of East Tennessee. 120 X'< J. H. PURDY Xenia, Ohio. INDEX. ANGER..........27 Ague and Fever ___„..- . 184 Apoplectic fits.....- _ . - 309 Asthma..........318 Abortion ---------- 434 After pains --------- 459 Alum root ---------- 524 American Centaury -------- 576 Anodynes ---------- 624 Anti-Spasmodics........624 Amputation......-..- 694 Amputation of the arm - - - - - • - - 696 of the thigh and leg.....698-699 of the fore-arm, fingers and toes ... 700 Accidents..........661 BILIOUS FEVER........190 Boneset......- - - - 541 Blackberry bush, common.......544 Button Snake root........545 Blood or Puccoon root........551 Butterfly weed, or Pleurisy root ----- 568 Blood letting.........595 Beer for Consumption.....- 655 COLD BATH -..... 164 Colic...........200 Cholera Morbus, Sic........203 Consumption --------- 224 Catarrh or Cold........274 Cow pox, or Vaccination ------- 339 Clap ---------- 355 Cancer..........380 Corns..........385 Colic..........423-486 Cramp........-- 426 Constant desire to make water - ... - 427 Chills - ........459 Child bed Fever - - - - - ^- - - 463 Constipation ---- ----- 485 Convulsions or fits - - - . - - - - 491 Croup -----.--<»- 493 Cholera Infantum, or puking, &c.......497 3 4163S1 4 INDEX. Cancer root, Beech drops - fi4g Camomile........ " k-q Columbo, American ------ _og Castor Oil, how to make - gog Clysters or Glysters - »ii Classification of medicines, q Cholera Epidemic - fiq. Compound Accidents - __ Catheter.......... DISEASES OF THE LIVER......238 Dysentery or Flux..... Drinking cold water when overheated - - - "?* Dropsy..........277 Diseases of Women...... ' Diseases of Children...... " 4'^ Dogwood.........522 Dittany..........537 Directions for preserving roots, &c......590 Dislocation........ ^89 Dislocation of the lower jaw and shoulder - - 690 of the collar bone, elbow, wrist, fingers, &c. - 691 of the thigh ------- 692 of the knee pan, leg and foot ... - 693 Diabetes, or great flow of urine.....295 EXERCISE..........149 Eruptions of the skin -......299 Epileptic fits.........312 Ear Ache --------- 330 Exercises of Children, &c. ---- --481 Eyes, sore --------- 488 Emetics or pukes ------ ... 612 Eating Snuff..... ... 637 FEAR...........22 Food..........170 Fever, &c...... - 178 False pains - ... 430 Flooding..........431 Faintings.........458 Fever of children........496 Friction..........607 Fractures of the bone of the nose, and lower jaw - 681 of the collar bone ------ 682 of the arm and bones of the fore arm - - - 683 of the wrist and of the ribs ... - 684 of the thigh.......685 of the bones of the foot - • - - -' 688 Falling of ihe palate .......643 INDEX. 5 GRIEF...........63 Gravel and Stone........288 Gleet...........367 Green Sickness --......398 Ginseng..........525 Ginger..........581 HOPE........- - - 24 Head Ache.........328 Heart Burn..........425 Horse Mint.........588 Hydrophobia, or the bite of a mad dog ----- 648 INTEMPERANCE........100 Indigestion, or Dyspepsia -......215 Inflammation of the stomach......261 intestines ------ 262 brain ------ 265 spleen ------- 267 kidneys ------ 268 bladder.......270 lungs ------- 641 breasts of women ----- 460 during child bed labor - - - - 460 Itch...........308 Incised Wounds -------- 669 Ipecacuanha -------- 546-566 Indian Physic --------- 565 Indian Turnip --------- 574 Issues ---------- 605 JOY...........29 Jealousy ----------, 33 Jamestown Weed - - - - - - - - -516 Jerusalem oak --------- 536 Jalap........... 571 Jaundice.....----- 644 LOVE...........45 Lax..........259 Lock Jaw - --------- 378 Labor..........439 difficult........-446 directions after ------- 454 Lochia..........457 Laxatives - • - - - - - - - - 618 Lobelia Inflata.........577 Liverwort --------- 636 MUMPS..........330 Menses or courses -------- 390 obstructed - - - - - - - 394 great discharge of - - - • - 400 cessation of ------ 402 Midwivet, directions for ------ 449 A3 6 INDEX. Milk Fever.........461 Meconium..........477 Measles.......- - - 503 Mercury..........*>34 May Apple.........537 Manna...... ... 559 Mortification..... - 650-701 NERVOUS FEVER - - - - 194 Nigh't Mare, or Incubus.......647 ORIGINAL IMPERFECTIONS......478 Ointment for sores........^31 Opium..........582 PASSIONS, of the........21 Punctured wounds -------- 671 Pulse ,...........182 Pleurisy ---------- 284 Palsy..........315 Piles..........323-429 Putrid sore throat -------- 325 Pox............354 Poisons ---------- 369 Painful affections of the face ------ 376 Pregnancy, and signs of - - - - - 410-415 cautions during, and diseases of - - - 417-418 Pain in the head, &c........424 Prickly Ash, or toothache tree ------ 572 Peppermint --------- 58O Purgatives, active - - - - - - - -616 RELIGION.........74 Rheumatism --------- 206 Red Gum.........483 Rue and Balm -----.... 550 Rhubarb .........561 Rickets -------.._ 648 SLEEP..........142 Scurvy..........281 Saint Anthony's Fire ----... gQ] Scald Head --------.. 303 Sore legs..........321 Sore eyes - - - - - -.....332 Small pox --------- 342 Scalds and burns -------.. 393 Sickness of the stomach -----.. 422 Swelled legs -------__ 425 Stoppage of Urine ------.. 427 Sleep, want of-------. . 423 Swelled leg-------.. 452 Still born --------.. 473 Snuffles ----••-•- _ m AQn Swaim's Panacea - - • - - . - . . ggg INDEX. 7 Sudorifics.........630 Sore eyes of children........488 Scald head --....... 497 Snake root, Seneka - -......510 Sassafras --------- 513 Sarsaparilla ---------- 514 Slippery Elm - -.......535 Scarlet fever -........706 Sage..........549 Senna..........554-556 Sulphurous fumigations, &c. -.....592 Stimulants..........j^621 Sprains.....----- 665 Scrofula, or King's Evil ------- 645 St. Vitus' Dance........649 TETTER OR RING WORM......302 Tooth Ache.........304 Twins.....----- 447 Treatment of new born infants ------ 475 Thrush ... -......484 Teething..........489 Tobacco plant --------- 526 Tansy.....----- 549 Tonics -.........625 UVA URSI.........531 Urine, suppression or stoppage of - - - - - - 294 VENEREAL DISEASES.......346 WARM OR TEPID BATH.......156 Whitlow..........337 Warts...........386 Whites..........405 Worms..........505 White Walnut........560 Wild cherry tree.........576 Wounds.........667-669 Whooping Cough........501 Wen..........649 White Swellings.........662 YELLOW GUM........483 -s-^i INTRODUCTION. Man, in the early days of nature, lived in a state of health, both in body and in mind: The earth produ- ced its fruits for him without culture ; there were nei- ther irregularities nor inclemencies of the seasons. In a state of innocency, and under a mild and clement sky, there was nothing to produce disease; spring was perpetual. Protected by the immediate presence of the Almighty, and as yet innocent of any violations of his law, he. was happy in the enjoyments which the spontaneous benevolence of nature afforded him. But he has been the artificer of his own untoward des- tinies. He has transgressed the sacred laws of his Creator—and incurred the penalties annexed to his own transgressions! His days are now shortened* and encumbered with disease; spring is no longer per- petual ; for him now, " the earth brings forth thorns and briers;" and for him the world has been visited with earthquakes, sterility, storms, and variations of the seasons, which blight the fruits of his labors, and bring mortal diseases and fatal maladies on their wings. Among the moral causes that have abridged the life of man, there is one which merits the attention of the philosopher—it is civilization! Civilization, by polish- ing man, and depriving him of his primitive rudeness, seems to have enervated him :—it seems to have made him purchase the advantage, at the expense of a mul- titude of diseases and miseries to which the first inhab- itants of the world were strangers—and with which the savages who only give way to the impulses of na- ture are still unacquainted. Man, in associating with 2 9 10 INTRODUCTION. his fellow beings in large assemblages, seems in some measure to havk relaxed the strong ties on his earthly existence: society, by extending the circle of his wants, by giving greater energy to his passions, and by gener- ating those that are unknown to the man of nature, seems to have become a frightful and inexhaustible source of calamities. But was not man born for so- ciety; did not his individual weakness, and his severe and pressing wants, make him abandon at an early pe- riod the wandering life he had led in the forests in pursuit of game—and associate with his fellow-man ? Could he not by associating with his fellow-beings, the better protect his existence, secure his happiness, and expand his truly astonishing faculties? There exists no country, in which men are not found in a social state; this is the case even in the most remote and frightful solitudes, from the Arabian deserts to the Po- lar regions. But cannot the social ties of men be drawn too close ? Witness our large and opulent cities, where the population is immense, and where assem- bled multitudes seem to be crowded on each otheT; where, although the comforts and luxuries of life are to be found in abundance, the horrors of want are ex- treme ! Are not these extremes always hostile to the social nature of man; are not these large cities contin- ually the seats of mortal diseases; the abodes of crime and immorality; and are not physical and moral de- pravity, always the consequences of such enormous ac- cumulations of people ? When men first united, it was in small bodies ; and they passed their days in innocence and simplicity. We should not then be astonished if they were robust and if they then arrived to a great age. They were exempt from the greater part of the diseases which INTRODUCTION. 11 affect us, because they had none but natural wants, which they could always satisfy without excess. The bever- age of nature quenched their thirst without the aid of spirituous liquors, and the friendly hand of nature gave them sustenance; but, in proportion to the increase of associations, they generated a multitude of fictitious wants, which continually torment us, their offspring, and render us unhappy; whence, instead of those sim- ple foods which always prolonged life, man has the poisons of every chemical and foreign luxury served upon his table : and what are the results? Why—pre- maturely borne down with infirmities, and devoured with remorse, he dies disgusted and exhausted with ex- cesses, reflecting on innocent nature, whom he has out- raged ! The greatest number of diseases and infirmi- ties are of our own begetting; because we have in- fringed the healthy laws of nature. Fifteen out of twenty cases of sickness, are produced by ourselves; it is by luxury and scandalous excesses, that we render our existence unhappy, and abridge its length. Man is a creature of habit; urged on by the propen- sities of his nature ; he not only abridges the period of his life, but inflicts on himself the displeasure of his Creator. The rising morn, the radiant noon, the shad- owy eve, all tell him as they pass, that his temporal existence is short, his advance to eternity rapid! When we view man in all his bearings and depend- encies, we find, and the profoundest philosophers have done no more, that he is involved in mystery. The greatest philosophers have only discovered that they live; but from whence they came, and whither they are going, are by nature altogether hidden; that im- penetrable gloom surrounds us on every side, and that we can seek in revelation alone, the only source of 12 INTRODUCTION. comfort and explanation. The seasons are a memento of life. Spring, breathing into life the new-born flow- ers; Summer, with his genial warmth, ripening his luscious fruits; Autumn, with her golden harvest, be- stowing plenty on man; and Winter, with icy mantle, sounding the requiem of the departed seasons. First comes creeping infancy; next merry boyhood and aspi- ring youth; then, resolute and industrious manhood; and last of all, decrepit, cold, and declining age; em- blematic of the winter of existence, the shortness of human life. Behold the changes that have taken place in Ten- nessee, and in the whole western country, within the lapse of a few short years! Look for the wigwam of the poor Indian, who was once lord of the soil you now possess : it is gone, and his bones mingle with the dust of his habitation. The storm of enterprising civiliza- tion has wreaked its fury on the poor Indian; his land has passed into the hands of the white man, whose splendid mansion now rests on the graves of his an- cestors. His peaceful forests, once the abode of soli- tude and savage life, in which he unmolested tracked his game, now resound with the festivities of civiliza- tion, and the business hum of labor. Those innocent and forlorn people, who received our forefathers in the spirit of friendship, instead of being fostered by the genial hand of civilization, have been driven to the feet of the Rocky or Oregon mountains, and present a sad and solitary spectacle of their former greatness ! In a few more years, the race of the poor Indian will be forever extinguished, and his council fires blaze no more: the wilderness has been subdued, and the house of God has been built, where once ascended the smoke of warlike and idolatrous sacrifice: cultivated fields INTRODUCTION. 13 and gardens extend over a thousand valleys in the west, never before since the creation reclaimed to the use of civilized man; in the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, institutions of learning are hourly springing forth, diffusing the light of knowledge, and establishing the enjoyments and happiness of the west- ern world. A few years since, even within the mem- ory of many of the present inhabitants, this immense region was a perfect wilderness: the darkened intellect of the savage, knew God but in the winds and thun- ders ; on every side, the dark foliage of the shadowy forest waved in the silent majesty of nature, and her noble rivers moved on in silence, with no other com- merce than the peltry of the hunter savage. Most of these rivers are now navigated by steamers, affording the quickest facility of transportation, and the most lu- crative commerce; supplying the remote interior of our country with the rich products of every foreign climate; our public roads are covered every year with the advance guard of civilization, and demonstrate what must in a short period be the result, under our wise, equitable and politic constitutions of government. The tree of peace spreads its broad branches from the Atlantic to the Pacific; a thousand villages are reflect- ed from the waves of almost every lake and river; and the west now echoes with the song of the reaper, until the wilderness and "the solitary place has been glad for us, and the desert has rejoiced and blossomed as the rose." God, in the infinitude of his mercy, has stored our mountains, fields and meadows, with simples for healing our diseases, and for furnishing us with medicines of our own, without the use of foreign ar- ticles; and the discoveries of each succeeding day convince us, that he has spaciously furnished man with " B 14 INTRODUCTION. the means of curing his own diseases, in all the differ- ent countries and climates of which he is an inhabi- tant. There is not a day, a month, a year, which does not exhibit to us the surprising cures made by roots, herbs, and simples, found in our kingdom of nature, when all foreign articles have utterly failed; and the day will come, when calomel and mercurial medicines will be used no longer, and when we will be independ- ent of foreign medicines, which are often difficult to be obtained, frequently adulterated, and always command a price which the poor are unable to pay. The yet uncultivated wilds of our country, abound in herbs and plants possessing medicinal virtues, and probably thousands of them, whose virtues and qualities remain unknown. The travels of Lewis and Clark, led to high expectations in every branch of science; the ob- servations and inquiries of these gentlemen, particular- ly of Lewis, were directed, among other things, to the diseases and medical remedies of our Indians; and they have given a large portion of interesting informa- tion on these points. Much, however, is left to be done by the wisdom of our legislative bodies on these points: for the time is rapidly approaching, when the beautiful temple of medical science, will stand divested of all quackeries and superstitions, and its rebuilders be rewarded by the blessings, the gratitude, and the admiration of mankind. Professional pride and native cupidity, contrary to the true spirit of justice and Christianity, have, in all ages and countries, from sentiments of self-interest and want of liberality, delighted in concealing the divine art of healing diseases, under complicated names, and difficult or unmeaning technical phrases. Why make a mystery of things which relieve the distresses and INTRODUCTION. 15 sufferings of our fellow-beings? Let it be distinctly understood, when I speak of professional pride and avarice, that I do not intend to cast an imputation on all my profession, for want of that heaven-born princi- ple charity, to our fellow-beings. On the contrary, we are furnished by history, with many prominent ex- amples of this divine form of humanity. Hippocrates dispensed health and joy wherever he went, and often yielded to the solicitations of neighboring princes, and extended the blessings of his skill to foreign nations. The great Boerhaave did a great deal for the poor, and always discovered more solicitude and punctuality in his attendance on them, than on the rich and power- ful :—on being asked his reason for this, he promptly replied—" God is their paymaster." Heberden's liber- ality to the poor was so great, that he was once told by a friend, he would exhaust his fortune: " no," said he, " I am afraid that after all my charities I shall die shamefully rich." Fothergill once heard of the death of a citizen of London, who had left his family in indi- gent circumstances:—the doctor immediately called on the widow, and informed her he had received thirty guineas from her husband, while he was in prosperous circumstances, for as many visits; " I have heard of his reverse of fortune—take this purse—which contains all I received from him—it will do thy family more good than it will do me." Similar occurrences of the liberality of this great and good man, might be given almost without end: indeed it is said, that he gave away one half of the income of his extensive and profitable business, to the needy and afflicted, amounting in the course of his life, to more than one hundred thousand pounds. What an immense interest in celestial honor and happiness, must this sum not produce at the great 16 INTRODUCTION. day of accounts—the general judgment! With what unspeakable gratitude and delight, may we not sup- pose the many hundreds—perhaps thousands, whom he has fed, clothed, and relieved in sickness by his charities, will gaze on their benefactor in that solemn day, while the supreme judge accredits those acts as done to himself, in the presence of an assembled uni- verse ! But, these good and great men, have gone where we must all shortly follow—and are now receiving the rich reward of all their virtues, in that kingdom where pain and affliction cease. When we trace the powers of human intellect, and the monuments of human great- ness, and all that genius has instituted and labor ac- complished; when we trace these things through all their grades of advancement and decline—where is the pride of man? Behold in each successive moment, the monuments of the rich, the great, and the power- . ful—tumbling into their native dust—and the hand of time mingling the proud man's ashes with those of the menial slave, so that their posterity cannot distinguish them from each other! When the sable curtain of death is drawn, where is the bright intellect of genius —and where are those we have loved and honored? At the threshold of eternity, reason leaves us and we sink, notwithstanding all our precautions, and the aid of distinguished physicians. Yet such is the course of nature, that those who live long, must outlive those they love and honor. Such, indeed, is the course of nature, and the condition of our present existence, that life must sooner or later lose its associations, and those who remain a little longer, be doomed to walk downward to the grave alone and unregarded, without a single interested witness of their joys or griefs! INTRODUCTION. 17 It is evident that the decays of age must terminate in death;—yet, where is the man who does not believe he may survive another year? Piety towards God should characterise every one who has any thing to do with the administering of medicine; nor should any individual ever administer medicine, without first imploring the Almighty for suc- cess on his prescriptions—for where is the man, who can anticipate success, without the aid and blessing of heaven? Galen vanquished atheism, for a considera- ble time, by proving the existence of a God, from the wise and curious structure of the human body. Botal- lus, the illustrious father of blood-letting in Europe, earnestly advises a-physician never to leave his house, without proffering a prayer to God to aid and enlighten him. Cheseldcn, the famous English anatomist, al- ways implored the aid and blessing of heaven on his hand, whenever he laid hold of an instrument to per- form a surgical operation. Sydenham, the great lumi- nary and reformer of medicine, was a religious man; and Boerhaave spent an hour every morning in his closet, in reading and commenting on the scriptures, before he entered on the duties of his profession. Hoffman and Stahl, were not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; and Waller has left behind him a most eloquent defence of its doctrines. Doctor Fothergill's long life, resembled an altar from which incense of adoration and praise ascended daily to heaven; and Hartley, whose works will probably only perish with time itself, was a devout christian. To this record of these great medical men, I shall add but one remark; which is, that the authoritative weight of their names alone, in favor of the truth of revealed religion, is suf- ficient to turn the scale against all the infidelity that 3 b 2 IS INTRODUCTION'. has ever disgraced the science of medicine since its earliest discoveries. I have seen the flower of life fade, and all its fresh- ness wither; I have seen the bright eye of beauty lose its lustre; and my last and best friends close their eyes in the cold and tranquil slumbers of death—and have said, " where are the boasted powers of medicine, the pride of skill, the vain boast of science?"—How hu- miliating to the pride of man! Let every physician put this solemn question to himself: what will avail all the means I can use, without the aid of the Almigh- ty? All efforts, founded on years of experience and study, vanish at the touch of death; and the hold on life by the physician, is as brittle and slender as that possessed by his patient: the next moment may be his, and those remedies so often used with success in the case of others, will assuredly fail him in his own case at last. In some unexpected moment, a wave in the agitated sea of life will baflle all his struggles; and he, in his turn, will be compelled to pay that debt, which nature has claimed from thousands of his patients. When on the couch of death, and whilst perusing the works of Rousseau, the last words of the great Napoleon were, in the language of that author—"it is vain to shrink from what cannot be avoided; why hide that from ourselves, which must at some period be found; the certainty of death is a truth which man knows__ but which he willingly conceals from himself" We shall all shortly finish our allotted time on earth if even unusually prolonged, leaving behind us all that is now familiar and beloved. Numerous races of men will succeed us, entirely ignorant that wre once lived and who will retain of our existence, not even the vestige of a vague and empty remembrance! GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. OF THE PASSIONS. All the passions of man seem to have been bestow- ed on him by an all-wise Creator, for wise and benefi- cent purposes; and it is certainly the province of hu- man wisdom, to keep them under due regulation. In a moral point of view, when the passions run counter to reason and religion, nationally and individually they produce the most frightful catastrophes. Among na- tions, if suffered to transcend the bounds of political justice, they always lead to anarchy, war, misrule and oppression ; and among individuals, do we not easily trace the same dreadful and disastrous consequences? With monarchical and despotic governments, we fre- quently see the unruly and ungoverned passions of one man destroying and laying waste whole empires in a single campaign, and with democratical or republican institutions of government, have we not frequently witnessed the terrific consequences, to moral and politi- cal justice, which arise from the disorganizing and turbulent passions of the sovereign people. Individ- ually and nationally, then, the consequences of misdi- rected and uncontrolled passions are precisely the same, as regards every thing connected with political, legislative, and moral justice. But, as it is not my intention to enter into a disser- tation on the passions, farther than as they relate to man as an individual, and to their influences on the state of his physical system, I will first observe, that it 21 22 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. is of the very highest importance to the healthy action of the human system, that the passions should be held in due subjection. If you give way to the passions, you destroy the finest of the vital powers : you destroy digestion and assimilation ; you weaken the strength and energies of the heart, and of the whole nervous system. The stomach is the workshop of the whole human frame, and all its derangements are immediate- ly felt in the extremities; and to prove how strongly the connection exists, between the stomach and heart, the latter immediately ceases to beat, when the powers of the former sink and are destroyed. Distress of mind is always a predisposing cause of disease; while on the other hand, a calm and contented disposition, and a proper command over our passions and affections, are certain to produce consequences which operate against all predisposing causes of disease. Any com- plaint arising from great agitation of mind, is more obstinate than one occasioned by violent corporeal agitation. For instance: eating and drinking, and particularly in the case of drinking, disease may be combated by rest, sleep, temperance : but neither temperance, rest, nor even sleep itself, as every one knows, can much affect those diseases which have their seat in the passions of the mind. I shall not enter into the subject of the passions at full length. FEAR. Fear is a base passion, and beneath the dignity of man. It takes from him reflection, power, resolution, and judgment; and, in short, all that dignity and great- ness of soul, which properly appertain to humanity. It has great influence in occasioning, aggravating, GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. *j and producing disease. It has been a matter of much speculation with me, whether any man is born consti- tutionally a coward:—and my decided opinion is, that cowardice and courage are generally the effects of habit, and moral influence.* I have frequently seen brave men, acknowledged to be such on great and important occasions during the late war, who trembled at the mere approach of danger, and acknowledged their want of firmness. The great Duke of Marlboro' was once seen to tremble on the eve of battle; being asked by a soldier the cause of it, the Duke made the following reply—"my body trembles at the danger my soul is about exposing it to!" And does it not appear surprisingly singular, but no less true, that a man shall be one day bi'ave and the next day a coward? That there is a close affinity between the condition of the physical system and the passions, there can be little doubt: the same man who under the influence of opium, would brave danger in its most giant form, is seen to shrink like a sensitive plant, when deprived of * Immediately preceding the great battle of Waterloo, on which was about to be suspended the great political and military destinies of Europe, Napoleon employed a guide who was well acquainted with the country, to accompany him in reconnoitering the field of battle, and the relative positions of the hostile armies. When the battle commenced, his peasant guide, who had never before been exposed to the tumultuous shock of hostile armies, manifested strong and decided indications of fear, by dodging from side to side at the sound of the shot. Napoleon observed it, and taxed him with cowardice, which he acknowledged. He then reasoned with him on the1 absurdity of his conduct. "Do you not know," said he, " that there is a power infinitely superior to man, who rules and governs all, and who holds in his hand our destinies ! If this be true, of which there can be no doubt, you cannot die until your time arrives: why then dodge the sound of a ball ? when you hear it, it has passed you ; and besides, when dodging the mere sound of one shot, you may throw yourself in the way of another." This reasoning had the effect: it banished all suggestions of fear, and the guide afterwards rode erect and steady, and manifested no indications of fear. I mention this cir- cumstance, to show how much we are under the influence of moral power or the force of reason respecting both cowardice and courage. 24 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. that influence. There seems to be a reciprocal exer- cise of influence between the body and the mind, which by man is absolutely inexplicable; but of this we are certain, that cowardice disorders and impedes the circulation of the blood; hinders breathing with freedom; puts the stomach out of order, as well as the bowels; affects the kidneys and skin, and produces bad effects on the whole body—and it may be for these and similar reasons, that the ancients elevated courage into a moral virtue. Many persons have fallen down dead, from the influence of cowardice or fear; and can it then be doubtful, that this passion has much influence in producing and modifying diseases? I feel assured, from practical experience, that in disorders that are epidemical or catching, the timid, cowardly and fearful, take them much oftener than those who are remarkable for fortitude and courage. Napoleon was so well convinced of these facts, that when his army of Egypt was suffering dreadfully from the rava- ges of the plague, in order to inspire his soldiers with courage, and to ward off those dangers which might arise from the fears of his army, he frequently touched the bodies of those infected, with his own hands. Fear weakens the energy or strength of the heart, and of the whole nervous system; the infectious matter has greater power on the frame at this time—consequently the system being deranged, loses its healthy action, and cannot resist and throw off the epidemical disease. HOPE. Hope! what a source of human happiness rests in the pleasures of hope. Man cherishes it to his very tomb. Take from him hope, and life itself would be a burthen! How wisely has our Heavenly Father GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ir blended in our cup of misery, soft whispers of our i_ ture exemption from its influence. Without hope, ho\ wretched, how miserable our existence: what a pow- erful effect it has, when laboring under pain and bodily disorder! It raises the spirits; it increases the action and power of the heart, and nervous system; mode- rates the pulse, causes the breathing to be fuller and freer;. and quickens all the secretions. It is, therefore, proper and advisable, in all disorders, to produce hope in the mind, if you wish to have any chance to effect a cure. Is there a being who lives without this balm of consolation, this hope of heavenly birth, which tells of happier days in bright anticipation! If such are the advantages of hope, as to the things of this field of thorns and briers—this vale of tears—what may we expect from that emotion, when it embraces the cer- tainty of enjoying felicity with God in eternity. When in ordinary health, and engaged in the pur- suits of life, hope is attended with many favorable effects of a fortunate event, without possessing the physical disadvantages: the anticipation of happiness does not affect us so excessively as the actual enjoy- ment ; yet it has frequently produced more benefit by its influence on health, than fortune realized. JOY. This is a beneficent passion; it produces an extra- ordinary effect, and is of infinite benefit to the consti- tution, when indulged in moderation; but, if it should be excessive, or very sudden, it frequently does serious and lasting injury to persons in good health; and to those who are weak, or afflicted with disease, it some- times terminates fatally. The following instance of 4 C 26 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. t]j/melancholy effects of the too sudden influence of jf, will fully exemplify the power of this passion on Ae physical system, even when in health. It may be relied on, as it came very nearly under my own obser- vation. A gentleman in the state of Virginia, who had once been very wealthy, but whose pecuniary cir- cumstances had become much depressed, not to say desperate, as a last hope of redeeming himself and his family from distressing embarrassments, purchased a lottery ticket, for which he gave the last hundred dollars he could command. The purchase was made, under a presentiment, if such it may be called, that a certain number would draw the highest prize. All his property was then under execution. When the day of sale arrived, his father-in-law and himself took a walk into the fields, leaving his family much distressed with their misfortunes. A gentleman on horseback immediately from Richmond, rode up to the house and asked for Mr. B----, and was directed by his wife where he would be found. When the gentleman rode up to Mr. B----, without exercising the least precau- tion, he announced the fact that the ticket had drawn one hundred thousand dollars! The effect wTas such as might have been expected; Mr. B.----immediately fainted, and was with much difficulty, and after many exertions, restored. In the circumstance I have just related, the great influence of this passion will easily be seen; and I trust it will be as distinctly inferred from it, that excesses of joy are frequently as danger- ous to the constitution of humanity, as those of grief, if not more so. I need scarcely remark here, that to persons laboring under disease, as well as to those in merely delicate health, joyful intelligence ought always to be communicated with much caution. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE/ ANGER. "Next anger rushed—his eyes on fire!"—4)f thfc most dreadful of the human passions, had I sufficient space to allot it, much might be said that would be of high importance. There is no passion incidental to humanity, an indulgence in which leads to so many dreadful, not to say horrid and frightful consequences: " To count them all would vnnt a thousand tongues— A throat of brass, and adamantine lungs." I have before remarked, that all our passions were intended by the God of nature, if kept under the con- trol of reason and humanity, to be beneficial to the happiness of man. This position is demonstrable by reason, and sanctioned by the highest authority—the word of God himself, " who never made any thing in vain." It is not the application of our passions to their natural, reasonable, and legitimate objects, that, consti- tutes crime and ends in misery and misfortune. No— it is the abuse of those passions by unrestrained and intemperate indulgence—and the prostitution of them to ignoble and disgraceful purposes! Was a noble spirit of resentment, for unprovoked and wanton inju- ries, ever intended by the God of nature, to degener- ate into senseless anger and brutal rage* A noble spirit of resentment, upon the strictest moral principles, was intended to punish wanton and unprovoked ag- gression, and by preventing a repetition of the deed, to reform the offender. 1 am perfectly aware that I here occupy a new. but by no means an untenable ground. Was the passion of love, the refined solacer of civilized life; the harbinger of successful procrea- tive power; the nurse which ushers into life successive millions of the human race, ever intended by the God 28 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of 4ure to degenerate into brutal lust, and to be flowed by a train of venereal diseases, which cank- P " 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 pleasure in the discovery of it- when the disclosure is found beneficial to comfort health, fame, or to enjoyments of any description; i> 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 mental 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 relations 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 understand his immediate destiny to be death, are not his mental pangs 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 o unpolled to differ from the authority of the great Do< tor Rush, who alleges tha the pleasures of the understanding have 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 derived from faith in the belief of future rewards and punishments! 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 the 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 ajl 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 th^ weakness 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 "Iliad," 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 clouds 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 him 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 imagination 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 destroys 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. H9 weaktfltd 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 imagina- tion 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 meii that ever had existence. It is useless to speak of the love of liqu >r being Ihe 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 knoiving 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 effects. 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 sensations of men, and have noth- ing whatever to do with the mind, by the administra- tion of medical drugs, which will act on 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 L 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 possesses 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 such, 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.—that 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 despair. 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 despair 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 dissolve 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. But this conduct 124 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. is founded in short-sighted and desperate policy; be- cause, to the mental pangs of misfortune, are always added the miseries of corporeal disease. Love is likewise 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 invariably 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 proof than can be found in every country, ami 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 L 2 126 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 principles, 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. 1 say once for all, and wish it to be borne in mind by the reader, that no inordinate and excessive passion, 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 are in 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 same may 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 DOMESTIC 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 produce 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 t 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 its 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 man 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 pov/er : they are in fact as observable in the Caesar 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 sink 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. 1 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, hy 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 are the real friends to humanity, 1 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 131 132 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 now 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 hy 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, M 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 dependance 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 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 wTere 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 folly. 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 impudent 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 store, 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: Allium Sativum, which means Gloves of Garlic: and who would ever suppose, unless he were previously initiated into the sublime mysteries of the "Physicians' Materia Medica," that Cantharis 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 Eupatorium Perfoliatum was nothing but Bone-set: that Polygala Seneka was Snake Root: that Laurus Benzoin was no more than Spice-wood: that Asarium Canadense was Wild Ginger: that Babtisca Tinctoria wTas only another name for Wild Indigo: that Hydrastic Canadensis was nothing but Yellow Root: that Podophyllum 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 Gillenia Trifoliata was merely Indian Physic: that Symplocarpus Fcetida was nothing but Skunk Cab- bage: that Anthemis Cotula was the "Wild Camo- mile : that Lobelia Inflata was nothing but Wild To- bacco : that Comptonia Asplenifolia was only the Sweet Fern:—and so 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 Liquidae meaning Tar Ointment: Oleum Terebinthinss meaning the Oil of Turpentine: Zanthoxylum 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 Epscm Salts: Ruta Graveslens meaning our common Garden Rue: Salvia Officinalis, the common Sage; Sambucus Ni- gra, common elder : Serpentaria Virginiana, Vir- ginia Snake Koot: 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 practiced 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 were 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 became 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 18 m 2 138 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- taking. But this is not all; the less we know of the weakness and imperfections of what the wTorid calls great men, the more we are disposed to overrate 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 ignorance 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 about those who pretend to lord it over us ; and if we could always 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 .annot 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. I 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 I 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 tender 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 MEDICINE. 141 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, destitute, 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 home. When weakness, strength, vice, virtue sunk supine, Alike in naked helplessness recline ; . • Clad for a while to heave unconscious breath, And wake to wrestle with the dread of death." To exist as if were between death and life; to rove in imagination, unfettered hy 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 seizin^ 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 142 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 take 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 increased, 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 be 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- ted hy 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 awakening 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 up, 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 hy 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 brge 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 me 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 the stomach become relaxed, feeble, and of no account, as is proved by the want of appetite; in fact, the whole muscular 19 N 14C GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. and nervous systems, become 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 Ihe 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 journeys, 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 &f 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 cnid 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 better 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 habits if they wish to be healthy; but I will say more on this subject when I come to speak of bcdhs. 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. 149 means food and drink, the bulk of the body may be 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 complexion?, the want of " nature's sweet restorer." ... M?.ny 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 silting 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 aiwaj'S be cautious of such circumstances. I have known many instances of apoplexy being produced by want of sleep; persons should, therefore, when such eases are appre- hended, bathe their foci in warm water when they lie down, and take a dose of cooling medicine, such as Epsom Salts: or in case of fever, lose a little blood, and take a slight opiate. More, however, will. I e 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- N 2 150 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 excreinen- 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 be taken; 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 this 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, hi 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- chondria, 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, dozing through mcrbid 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 strength 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. stomach, 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 ciiainally of very delicate health, pale and soft skin, and of very feeble constitu- tion hy nature, and subject to fits; but that by a military life, using coarse diet end 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 fieure of the J CD Cj 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 v, ill 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, that by 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 tence itself a burthen, together with the whole train of nervous diseases to which wc 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 impostors 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 ail the diseases which arise from corrupted habits of body, merely for want of their accustomed exercise and ac- tive habits ; diseases to which they wrould probably not have been liable, had they continued in their origins! 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 1&4 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. French rules in these 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 emits 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, of 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 those 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 of oppression of the chest. The great objects of exerciser, 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 in size, to reduce the superfluities of flesh and fat; to 156 GUNN'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 feeling:*, pleasant and refreshing sleep, astonishing increase of strength and wind in breathing, &c.—I have seen a boy on the Mediterra- nean, bjs 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- ess would be very great indeed. WARM OR TEPID BATH. Vt 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- GUNN'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 an 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 O 158 GUNN'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 benefited 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 off many hours' confinement hy 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- GUNN'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 shall 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 colic—in cramp—and in anxiety and restlessness, the bath will relieve and tranquilize the system. In hectic or con- sumptive fever, I have found it of great benefit 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 owe 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 of their existence. 160 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. The soft, delicate and beautiful skins, for which the French females are so much celebrated, are very much owing to the tepid bathing, being far preferable to all the cosmetics and other preparations sold for the pur- pose of whitening and beautifying the skin. The habits of persons are very different as to perspiration or sweating: some perspire very much, end others very little: from some no offensive effluvia arises in perspi- ring, 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 ef 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 uneieanliness, 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, again and with every desire for your happiness, and t 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 fellow 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 may be 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 of health. The construction of public baths has, from the remotest 21 o 2 162 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE.' ages, been considered an object of national attention j 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 oper- ate 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 beggar, 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 MEDICINE; 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 hy 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 wrater 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 lessen- ing 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 tranquilizing the irritability of the nervous system, and greatly exhilarating 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 I 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, winch 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 apoplexy. 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 first 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 breast complaints, should by all 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, eold 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 sweat; but it would hy 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 gimblet—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 he 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 wTater. After 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 intermediate 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 a 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 Avhole system. It being always easily obtained and near at hand, gives it additional advantages. Lastly: —the degree of pressure from the wreight of water is prevented, nor is the bath dangerous—the fluids and - circulation never being interrupted by it. Besides—it 22 P 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 body; 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 saj-s. 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 animal, 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 milky 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 up 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 wl ich 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, shew 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 wreaken 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 cabbage into the British navy. This vegetable is an antidote or preventive against this dreadful disease called scurvy, 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 partridge, quail, pheasant, p 2 174 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 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 indigestible. 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 niost 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, that 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 every meal, we are to attribute the many serious forms of conges- tive fever which prevail here, to say nothing about scrofula, palsy, apoplexy, indigestion, and so on. Pork is a food highly nutritious, but from the fat 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 persons laboring under dyspeptic symp- toms or indigestion, and those whose bowels are weak. Pork can be 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 carefully 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 176 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 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 putrescible, 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 use 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 the 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 ir. 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; nop ought we ever to partake of any dish, however palata- ble, which we know by 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, an' A entail 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 theix health and lives, to avoid all this farrago of fashionable des- serts; for by so during, and living temperately and abstemiously, they will establish firm constitutions, which will be entailed on their offspring, extend to themselves the inestimable blessing of 'nealth, 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 the 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 bo#v, 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 practi- tioner of medicine is correct. The first impression ig 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. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 179 you will find to originate in the stomach. It is impos- sible to describe the close connection 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 opftions 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 endeavoring 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 inquiries 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 180 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. after waiting the subsiding of any strong excitement 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 any way? 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 female ? have you been regular in your monthly peri- ods ? Is there any suppression 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 inquiring 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 riot to be alarmed in administering medicines in fevers, or in fact any othel\ diseases where good and sound judgment is GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 181 required; you need not fear if you will but pay good 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 from 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 me in preference to his old physicians. The Col. was a man of full plethoric habit, 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 Br. Rush: that the Doctor 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 Q 182 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. college theories, and taught me to scrutinize the consti- 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 veins. The meaning of an artery is a large blood- vessel, branching out into smaller ones, which carry the blood from the heart to theV 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 vein, 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, constitute what I mean 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 of 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 must 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 boldly under their pressure. If, added to these, the beating be rapid and quick, the pulse is called full and strong: •184 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. if slow, it is 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 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 FE\Ln. 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. 133 The first—is that which comes on every twenty-fcur 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^.40 their severity and time of coming on. If very seitere, 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 pulse 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 the attack. In the second stage, as the chill and shaking go off, a pain in the head and back comes on, succeeded hy 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, ycur 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 Q 2 186 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 ycu 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. &c: make hot applications to the feet; and if you will apply a bandage, wTound 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 w7ill 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 wrarm tea of any of the kinds mentioned above, on feeling the commencement of the chill; and as ;*oon 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 the 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 a low, 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 for more than twelve months, have placed themselves under my care. In these cases, when the various remedies above noticed have failed,*! 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 to bed again for an hour, before taking the morning meal, immediately before which, any common bitter, such as tansy in spirits, 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. 1 do not think it necessary to take the barks, as before described, when an ague-cake or hardness, teiniecl by physicians an enlargement cf 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 cere two or three times a day to rub the place well with a ccarse woollen cloth or flesh-brush. This is called friction hy 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 m some cases where the dogwrood lark, the wild cherry tree lark, and the swamp-poplar bark, prepared as I have men- tioned, disagree with the stomach, which is sometimes the case frcm long sickness, the tea cr decoction may be rubbed en 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 Ions 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 any 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 Mo re a, as jpl- 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 & 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 wTould 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 IPO 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 Ague and Fever just before described, under some- tMng 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 cnlored ; 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. l£?l have witnessed many instances, in which timidity and 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 well 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 o£ 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 are 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, my 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, nrocured him among his students the ludicrous J A • CD nickname of " Old Ten-in-ten." But the fact is that this dose, after the stomach and bowels have been thoroughly 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 cr 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 trains 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; antimcnial 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 warni 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 eold 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 given, the person must be kept undisturbed and perfect- ly quiet.—When the stomach is irritable, warm mint leaves stewed in spirits and applied to the pit of the stomach, will be proper—and then if the irritability should continue, the application of a cataplasm of 25 R ■| 194 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. mustard seed, or a large blister, will infallibly relieve the irritation, and quiet the stomach. I have now taken a comprehensive view of this disease, and given plainly and simply the remedies, and shall close with the following remarks. If the calomel taken in this fever salivates, you should not be alarmed or uneasy, but consider it a source from which you have derived safety to your patient; for when Bilious fever is dangerous, the sooner salivation takes place, after the stomach and bowels have been thoroughly "cleansed, the safer for the patient. It is to produce this effect, that physicians give small doses of calomel every two hours, say from one to two grains, in any kind of syrup: for when salivation is produced, you may consider the danger of the patient at an end, the rest depending altogether on care and good nursing. After good purging, without salivation, I have found good nursing and kind attention the best and most salutary medicine. Cooling drinks, slightly acid, will be proper; and when the fever is subdued, cold camo- mile tea may be given as a drink, or a bitter made with dog-wood bark, poplar bark, and Virginia snake- root, may be given as a cold tea, in small quantities, as the stomach will bear. NERVOUS FEVER. This fever carries in its title or name, its true char- acter ; because it affects the whole nervous system, and produces a tremulous motion of the body and limbs: the system seems to be sinking; there is a clammy, cold, and unnatural perspiration or sweat on the skin, and the pulse is extremely weak Next, the sweaf GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE, 195 subsides, and the skin becomes dry and hot to the touch; and at the same time, the arteries of the tem- ple and neck throb and beat with considerable action, The sleep is very much disturbed and unrefreshing; the countenance sinks or seems to change from its natural expression of feature, to a ghastly appearance; the tongue becomes dry, and frequently trembles, when put out, and with the teeth and gums, soon becomes cover- ed with a dark buff-colored scurf; the spirits flag, and the mind broods over the most melancholy feelings, without knowing the cause; the sight of food is very unpleasant and sometimes disgusting, the stomach be- ing generally much debilitated and weak; the difficulty of breathing becomes very considerable, and some- times the hands are glowing with heat, whilst the fore- head is covered with sweat. The symptoms consider- ed very dangerous are, a constant inclination to throw off the cover: a chansons of the voice from its usual CD O tone; great vigilance or watchfulness; picking at the bed-clothing; inability to hold or retain the urine; in- voluntary discharges from the bowels; hiccuping; a muttering as if speaking to one's self; a wild and fixed look, as if the eyes were riveted on some particular object; if these latter symptoms occur, there is little to expect but that the case will terminate fatally. This fever originates from putrid animal and vegeta- ble matter mixing with the air and atmosphere we breathe, such for instance as the decaying vegetable and animal matter arising from stagnant mill-ponds or any other ponds; or from filth and dirt, and want of personal cleanliness; or from any thing else that tends to weaken the system materially. This disease also arises from Bilious Fever, mentioned before; which, when of long standing, sometimes changes into nervous 196 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. fever: and I have known it to remain in the system ten days before it broke out violently, having come on so slowly and gradually as to produce no alarm. REMEDIES. The lancet, or in other words bleeding, in this disease is certain death: no inducement whatever could prevail on me to bleed in Nervous or Typhus Fever. Bleeding has been recommended by some physicians, when inflammatory symptoms appeared in the first stage of the disease; but I positively assert that it is wrong, and denounce such a doctrine as dangerous to the last degree; the fact is that in nineteen cases out of twenty, bleeding in this disease will result in death. There are two important considerations to be noticed in this fever: the first is—when it originates in itself at the first cause; and the second is—when it turns or sinks from Bilious Fever, to a nervous or Typhus. In the first case, give a puke of Tartar Emetic, or of Ipecacuanha—see table for dose—which mix with water until it is dissolved, say in six or eight table- spoonsful. Next give a table-spoonful every ten minutes, until copious vomiting is produced, encouraging the puking after it has commenced, by drinking freely of warm camomile tea, or warm water—the object being to cleanse the stomach. Then attend to the bowels with laxative medicines, such as rhubarb, cream-tartar, Epsom salts, &c. so as to free or throw off the contents of the bowels, which, when in a costive state, increases irritation and fever. You must, however, by no means produce heavy purging—it is dangerous; and your owrn good sense will show you that it is a disease of debility and weakness. The object is merely to keep the bowels gently open, say by one or two stools a day, which will be quite sufficient. I always give glysters made of GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 197 thin gruel of corn meal, strained with a tea-spoonful of hog's lard in them: they are to be given milk-warm from a bladder or pipe, and carefully thrown up into the bowels—look under the head "glyster," and those who do not understand the matter will find it explained. In the second place, when this disease sinks from Bilious Fever to a Nervous or Typhus Fever, you will find the last part of the symptoms to agree with the sinking state of the system, and requiring moderate tonics, or stimulous and strengthening medicines. The danger of this fever, is in proportion to the weakness which attends it; and, therefore, you will easily see the importance of early supporting the system by stimulants, such as good wine, warm toddy, &c. This distinction of the sinking state of the system, must be obvious, and sufficiently plain to be observed by every person of common sense. But I will still explain further, in order that no mistake can possibly be made, in the course to be pursued; and shall state accordingly the following directions. Stimulants—in other words, com- mon spirituous liquors, such as whiskey, rum, brandy, &c.—must be made palatable to the patient, which must be given regularly, and varied as to quantity, according to what the case may seem to require. If they increase the pulse considerably, so as to occasion restlessness, a dry tongue, attended with thirst, a flushed face, in other words, increased fever, they are improper, and you must discontinue their use. On the contrary, if they produce refreshing sleep, a pulse slower, softer and more regular, and the patient feels sensible of relief—you are to con- tinue the use of stimulants sufficiently to support and strengthen your patient, adding at the same time gen- erous diet, and a pill of opium at night to procure rest; see table for dose. Blisters applied to the extremities, r 2 198 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. or cataplasms made of mustard and strong vinegar, will be highly necessary in a sinking state of the system. If the head is affected with delirium, keep cloths con- stantly applied to it, wet in the coldest water and vinegar, changing them as they become warm: and if the deliri- um should still continue, a blister applied to the head, after shaving off the hair will be necessary. If purg- ing takes place in this disease, which it sometimes does, it must be stopped by laudanum or opium, given in small but frequent doses, increasing or diminishing them as necessity may require: for, if the purging should con- tinue in this complaint, which is weakness or debility, your own good sense must teach you, that it would speedily terminate in death from increased debility or weakness. The late remedy used hy physicians, which is called quinine, or extract of Peruvian bark, is a good remedy, from the fact of its taking up less room in the stomach than the bark in substance. This quinine or extract must be made into pills with some kind of syrup; and must contain from one grain to one and a half of the extract, and given three or four times a day, as the system may be able to bear the doses. The extract is a powerful tonic or stimulant, and may sometimes be difficult to be obtained: in this event the black snake- root, commonly called Virginia snake-root, should be used: its virtues are not merely considerable, but highly valuable in this disease, combined with dog-wood bark, or even without it; and I recommend it in preference to any remedy. The form of administering it is in decoction, or as a tincture—that is, mixed with spirits of some kind. This root is perfectly harmless, except when high inflammatory action exists; that is to say, considerable fever. In the secondary stage of fever, where the skin has been obstinately dry, I have used GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 199 this little root with unbounded success, not only in this particular disease, but in all fevers ; and also where the symptoms indicated rapid prostration and death. Encouraged by my success in its use, I earnestly re- commend that it be adopted in fevers generally, and more particularly in those I have described. The salt bath, made as directed under the head of bathing, similar to sea water, is as valuable a remedy as can possibly be used, in that state of the system when the heat of the body requires lessening : or if you would prefer it, you may sponge the body well with cold water and vinegar. These remedies hy bathing or sponging the body, you will recollect are only to be used when there are no chilly or cold sensations; for if there are such, they would probably prove fatal: and you are also to remember, that they are to be used with as little fatigue as possible to the patient. This disease is fre- quently marked with extreme weakness of the stomach. called by physicians debility; m this case common yeast will be highly beneficial, administered every three or four hours—say two table spoonsful: and if the stools are very offensive, you may add a tea-spoonful of com- mon charcoal to the yeast. By this the offensive state of the bowels will soon be corrected: and to insure the perfect knowledge of the reader on this subject, I will remark, that if the yeast and charcoal produce good effects, the pulse will rise and become slower and fuller, and the burning heat of the skin will subside. Under these circumstances, the remedy should be continued. I shall now finish my remarks on Nervous Fever, which have been extended to a greater length than was at first intended, in consequence of the recollection that it is a very common malady in Tennessee. Doctor Currie, and many other eminent practitioners of medicine, have 200 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. given the best testimonials and favorable results, in the first stage of this fever, from the use of the cold bath, or in other words from throwing cold water over the body, wiping dry, and returning to bed immediately. From the experience of so many distinguished men, I yield to their judgment; but, from my own experience,I should prefer the salt bath, as before mentioned—or sponging the body with vinegar and water made milk warm; this however, is never resorted to, until the stomach and bowels have been freed of their contents : or medically speaking, which means the same thing, until the whole alimentary canal has been evacuated. COLIC. In this disease the belly is considerably swelled, and seems to be bound round tightly with a cord; and there is also a disagreeable feeling about the navel, belching of wind, costiveness, and frequently the most excrucia- ting misery. I have had many cases, in which a cold clammy sweat has been produced on the forehead by the intense sufferings of the person afflicted. This com- plaint comes on without fever, but if it continues it will produce fever, and perhaps inflammation, unless soon relieved. It arises from wind, termed by physicians flatulence—from indigestible food that has been taken into the stomach—from acrid bile—from hardened fae- 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. i 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 graduallv until relief is obtained; and I have given as 26 202 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE- much as 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 clyster 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 cases 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 wrho 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 the length of the finger, may be introduced up the passage. 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 be any hard lumps of excrement they may be removed—for while they remain, all your purges and clysters will be useless. A spirituous infusion of the berries or of the bark of GUNNSS DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 203 tile ptickly 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 is 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, OH 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 bowels. 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. itn 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 hiccuping, 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 be found of great service applied to the stomach; or a blister of cantharides or Spanish flies: and in extremely dangerous cases, where at is not practicable to draw a blister in the usual way, do not hesitate to scald the part with boiling water, at fthe same time applying hot rocks or bricks to the feet. CJive 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 milk-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 forty 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 warm 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 stimulus, 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 \yith 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 shall 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 exhibited 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 perspi- ration 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,huffy 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 of ten 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 bottlo 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, wThile inflammation prevails, the less the patient takes of nourishment the better; and solid or 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 27 s 2 210 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 patient 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 rheumatism. 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 morning, mixed with honey, on an empty stomach—and one at night, if necessary to keep the boTvels 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 during 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 swreatings, &c. By continuing in the use of this simple remedy, in wiiich 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 partridge net, so as to keep the blanket, or whatever else you use, on the stretch. Let the bottom hoop be arge 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 tee 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, cr 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 wiiich 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; hy 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 wreak 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 vapor or steam bath, as just describ- ed, I was induced to try its effects in twro 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 swTeat broke out on him, which produced great relief. He had continued in the bath fifteen minutes, wiien I pro- posed 1o have him removed: but the pleasantness of GNN'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 hi 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 of 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 joint? without considerable pain, rub the part well with the liniment before men- tioned—01 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 in this disease, by boiling an ounce of it in a quart of water, over a slow fire or on coals j stewing it down to a pint or less, SI4 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 int6 a quart of spirit and let it steep by the fire for several days; and of this take a wine glass full every morning. In the stage in wiiich 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-wrood 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 salt and wrater, 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 look under that head. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. INDIGESTION, OR DYSPEPSIA. This common and most afflicting disease, so much disturbs and deranges our moral and physicial nature, that it is difficult to determine which suffers most from its attacks, the mind or the body. From the variety of shapes wiiich this complaint assumes, it is very difficult to describe it in a plain and comprehensive maimer; 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 /his 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 most unhappy and melancholy feelings. This disease originates in a great variety of causes; among wiiich it is often found associated with ■■> 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 216 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. firmly seated in the stomach, it is marked by eructa- tions or belchings of wind; gnawing and disagreeable sensations at the pit of the stomach; risings of sour and bitter acid into the throat, 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 fidl- ness ; the head becomes confused; the sleep very much disturbed; the bowrels 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 sufferings Were ended by a close of their existence! If the liver is connected with this disease called indigestion, a dead and heavy pain will be felt in the right side: the wTater 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 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 217 shoulder and back of the neck; the feet and hands will 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, srreat 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 the irritability of the gen- eral system, unless the patient be entirely too muck 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 T 218 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. day in this disease, which is, by flying to medicines af 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 cf 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 redu- ced and simplified dowm 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, 1 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 in 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 afflictions, 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 vegetables 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 bowTels of all their unhealthy and injurious contents, wdiich 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 debility—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 this 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 which you must take every morning, noon, and at night; this will give a tone to the stomach and bowrels, 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 learned 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 heef 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 improper 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, w ho, 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 dyspeptic 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 I 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. 223 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, hy 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 w hiskey or very old ruin. 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 wrell with a brush in the bath, and a coarse towel immediately on leaving it. For bathing, and the manner of preparing the wrarm or tepid bath, look under the head warm batm Injections or clysters of 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 flatteriug 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. £2$ renovation of health, when in a few days, perhaps a few hours, his wearied feet must pass the peaceful thresh- old 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 it 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 the disease; but I have no doubt the period will arrive, when this formidable enemy of the human species, will be subdued hy some common and simple plant, belonging to the vegetable kingdom, wiiich is at this period totally mikmrwn; 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 sj^mptoms 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 mokes 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 29 228 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. least bodily exertion, the breathing is 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 wdiite frothy spittle termed by physicians mucus. As this disease advances, the spitting becomes more copi- ous and frequent, and sometimes streaked with blood, of 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 hard, gener- ally from one hundred to one hundred and fifteen strokes in a minute; the urine orwrater 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 reddish 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 flowTer 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, tw^o 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 unmanage- able 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 blush, 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 dowm 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 press, 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 alternation of and cold is fatal to an irritable consumptive system. If possible consumptive patients 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, howrever, 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 hy 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- U 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 fu- migation 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 towrel, 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 despondrng 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 thebowTels, if 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 yp 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—foE 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 or 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 wiiich 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 pallia 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 reader what is meant by the lungs, and their structure. In anatomy it denotes the viscera or lobes in the cavity of the breast hy which we breathe; they are connected with the neck, and situated on the right and left side 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 fieces 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 these 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 hy 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 wrords 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 Mid 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 1 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 r 2 234 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 im the Western States, grows in meadowTs 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 wrell 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 wrater 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 pills: 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; infur GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 235 sion of wild cherry-tree bark, made with cold water, tar water, and cold camomile tea, are all good strength- ening remedies in this stage of the complaint. A purging attends this disease wiiich 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 which 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; wmich 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. Iceland 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 powersr 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 wiiich 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 Livenvort. 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 wras 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 calledspecific 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 general health of the body, but the powers of the stomach, bow els, brain, and whole nervous system, shows 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 beings 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. CUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 239 Indigestion—stoppage of the menses—disordered state of the bowels—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 wThich 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 nowr 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 wmich will actually affect his physical system. I will also remark here, that many of those 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 wh}' Doctor Rush once alleged, that drunkenness was a disease. How often do we see men, who in the 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 240 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE, refraining from liquor a certain time, become restless, 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 inilaminatory 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, }eur 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 yellowT color. On a close examination of the blood drawm 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 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 241 or yellow coat is fully formed, it looks of a dull green col- or; 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 to be affected with inflammation, than any other part of the body; this is owing to an increased secretion of bile, from the stimulus 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 midriff; 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. This disease of the liver sometimes terminates in the formation of matter in an abscess, 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 unhealthy 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 color, similar to jaun- 31 V 242 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 sometime 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 he oppressed with an unusual sense of fulness; 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—see 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 giving 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 bleeding, 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 do^es 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 obsti- nate, 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 without it, 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; but 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 Hver, 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 stsge 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 base.) was rubbed over the region of the liver, every night until salivation was produced. I make use of the words, ''oil of haze,"' 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 th$ v2 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, twice 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 not 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 user whether from having observed its injurious effects from bad treatment, cr 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 1 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, t; if it does not succeed, which is not apt to be the case, it leaves the system in a much 248 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEMC1NE. 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 for I is. 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 cr mixed with v/ater. The method of using the nitric acid, or aqua fiortis* is as follows:—a quart bottle of wrater 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 from your 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 —"Howr 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 hy 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 this disease ; and had been attended by several distinguished physicians, wiio 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, wiiich 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 dysentery—in fact, her case was such an exact resemblance of the last stage of consumption, that the most experienced and skilful physician would have been deceived. I 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 rejected 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 fullness, and become sour, accompanied with the most unpleasant sensations, until what she had eaten was rejected 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- vinced 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 wras 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 wTas 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 thew up about a pint of yellow bile, similar in color to the yolk 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 afoot 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 wras 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 wiiich I wras 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. 1 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 entire- ly 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 disagreeable smell, and is dangerous to the lungs, lie 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 howr 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 werds, 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 are mixed with wTater, 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-muriafic 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 going 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 saving of the acid, the requi- site strength of which can always be tested by tasting it. You may preserve the bath or acid in an earthen crock, or in an/giass vessel, and by warming it again, continue to use it when required. It is impossible to specify the time this bath should be used; this 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 borne 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, hypochondriasis. The nitro-muriatic hath 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 xesumed 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 salts and magnesia, ground very fine together in a mortar, 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 mortar, and give doses of a tea-spoonfnl. 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 i&_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, tl.\a't the use of the warm bath, as described under thfot head, will be almost indispensable in the cure of an diseases of the Liver, and in all stages of those di,7oase8. I cannot relinquish the ,Subject of Diseases of the i 356 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 not been efficient in 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 travel to those Springs, to give those waters a fair trial. They are situated in a beautiful and health- ful country, and the accommodations are always such as to insure the comfort and convenience of all invalids who apnroach them. DYSENTERY OR FLUX. This disease is alwTays attended with Tenesmus, or a constant .desise. to go to stool, without being able to pass any thing from Die bowels, excepting a bloody kind of mucus, which resemJ^es that generally scraped from the entrails of a hog. l^Jiese desires to go to stool, are usually accompanied with severe griping, and also with some fever. After a few d avs continuance of this com- plaint, your discharges b^\ stool will consist of pure blood, and matter mixed; air &Qm 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 gseat suffering. Dysentery or Flux, generally takes place about autumn; when the whole body has become irritable by a continuance 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 them9 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 out of hot water to the belly j 33 w 2 253 GUNN'3 DOMESTIC MEDICINL 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 backside 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. fi59 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, Iamb 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, defending very much on the food, and the manner in wiiich it agrees or disagrees with the stomach and bowels; sometimes, and that not unfre* quently, it is produced by ivorms. 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 dailj, 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 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 wTater, 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 rejection and puking of it up. Also, a sinking and loss 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 ex- tremely unfavorable, and will probably terminate fatally. Inflammation 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 weunds 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 tlje inflam- mation is subdued. As soon as you have subdued the inflammatory symptoms, by frequent bleeding, the patient is to be put into the wrarm bath, where he is to remain as long as possible. You are then to have a large blister prepared, wiiich must be put over the region £63 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of the stomach, the moment the patient has left the 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 alwTays 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 ac- companied with sharp pains in the bowels, and particu- larly 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 press- ing the belly; in colic, the pressure gives relief; but in Inflammation of the intestines, the belly is so sore that GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 263 the least bearing on it gives immediate and excrucia- ting 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 bo weds 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 dysentery; by worms; and lastly, by hernia or rupture. REMEDIES. The remedies are much the 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 felysters 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 the disease 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 complaint. 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, Gen. Nathaniel Greene of the Revolution, and the late Doct. Dorsey of Pennsylvania. It arises from intense study; from expo- sure to the heat of the sun; and from every other cause Which produces an over-fullness 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 advances, the eyes assume a great brightness—the patient becomes furious and talks Wildly, and generally on subjects which have left deep impressions on his 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 half 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 in 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 permit it to flow in a copious and bold stream. If the patient, by bleeding from the arm 34 X 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: this will divert, or draw off the determination of 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, consi- derable 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 wiiich 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, without the application of proper remedies, in inflammation of the Spleen. Where there is no inflammation, and the side is swelled, the 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. INFLAMMATION 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 in small quantities at the time. The urine cr 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 bed, the patient is extremely restless always receiving more ease by laying on the affected part. Sometimes one of the testicles is retracted or drawm up, so that you can scarcely feel it. The com- plaint is brought on, by great exertions in lifting; by violent and sudden sprains; by exposure to cold wiien 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 phvr 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 hoi water, to the small of the back; and give clysters of warm milk and water, in equal portions, which must GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 269 be thrown up the bowels three or four times a day. All the 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. Flax-seed 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 by 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 dbses. Or a clyster at this time, made of flax-seed 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, until 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 x 2 270 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. back; by chills, succeeded by flushes of heat and when by suffering the urine or wTater to settle in the urinal or pot, you can discover a mucous 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 ursi, 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 a very considerable pain; which is much increa- sed 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 hy 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 wiiich 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 in 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 wrater, as just directed, make a decoction of 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 not 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 273 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. reduce the irritation of the bowels, and the adjacent parts. If the pain is very seveie, 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 over-heated, 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 over-heated and bathed in sweat. 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-J stances of an over-heated system, the person in a few minutes afterwards loses his sight, and every thing GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 273 appears dark about him; he sftiggers 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 known 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 overheated 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 wiiich are not very violent, and which come on with cramps or spasms, should be immediately attend- ed to, or they will also terminate fatally in most instan* ces, by in flammed ions of the stomach. REMEDIES. '•I have discovered," says Doctor Rush, "but one certain remedy in this desperate, and if not immediate- ly 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 can not be had in time, a glass of strong whiskey or brandy, one of which is generally found forthcoming every where, may be given. Laud- anum, how ever, 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 life in sudden and desperate cases. Fcr 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, even with the above pre- cautions, to mix some spirits with the water. Farmers engaged in harvesting their grain, should always let the wTater 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, whick may in the end prove highly dangerous, and very' difficult to remove. Persons of delicate constitutions are most » GUNN'Sj 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 consumptive 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; hy 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 in 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 276 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. and surrounding the head; this can easily be done, hy 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 wiiich 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 antimonicd ivine, 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 epsom 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 flax-seed 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 balsam capaiva, in doses of ten or fifteen drops, on lumps of sugar, given three times a day; and a dose of paregoric, each night at bed time: see table for dose; 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 cm- 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 slowr fire, until you reduce the quantity to one quart. Then prepare some candy made from brown sugar, and dissolve it in the liquor boiled down to a quart; half a pint of this is to be taken every night on going to sbed, mixeand more relief has been obtained from it, than from < any ether known remedy; for which reasons, it is now coiisidered 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 affords to the patient. In my practice, I always use it freely; and never omit at the^ame 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 cloes 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 May, 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, $wrhich 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 own disease^ 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. &c. 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 bafiled 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 twe extremely distress- ing cases of dropsy, being entirely relieved by means of the bark of the common elder. One, a woman advanced 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 twe 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. 1 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 y 2 282 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, wrashings 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 lath. The disease called scurvy can alwrays 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 highly colored; the stools smell very badly; the strength becomes very much reduced, and bleeding takes place from the nose, cars, 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 re- tention of memory. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 283 t REMEDIES. All acids are valuable medicines in scurvy: such as common vinegar with fresh vegetables; in fact a bath made of vinegar and wrater, 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. Where there is much debility, the moderate use of goo&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, emphaticalty, that regular exercise is absolutely 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 fetid or bad small, 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 burning common smith's coal over again. I have omit- 284 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. - W n ted to state, that if the breathing is difficult, or there is 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 Jptient. PLEURISY. Pleurisy is an 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 wTater 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 brought 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 werds by the obstruc- H 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, deposites, on settling, consi- derable 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 hleed three and four times, before I could reduce the inllammatory symptoms. After the first bleeding, apply a large blis- ter over the pain, wiiether 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-j, mediate and copious bleediffg, and as early as conve-' nient afterwrard, 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 de^ription of this root, under that head. Throughout this complaint, the bowels must be kept open, by the use of essoin 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 *t 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 feet, 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 ^stinence from all animal food, and from every thing wiiich 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 solid food than pleurisy. Noth- ing but toast and water, barley water gruel, or flax-seed tea, ought to be taken in this dlease, and that warm and in very small quantities at a time; a little panado may be 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 wiiich 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 in 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 ahvavs 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 MEDICINE. ' * 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 lafter. 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, wiiich 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 |uie of the testicles or stones in men. The pain 1 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 wiiere the kidney containing the stone is situated ; 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 and stone, or even from spasmodic strictures 37 Z « 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, than from those of males. In women, the urethra or canal wiiich leads from the bladder to the exterior, is alw7ays straighter, shorter, and wider, than in men, and may in many cases be dilated so much by artificial means, as to admit the gravel of* 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, arid very painful operation; and I have uniformly 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, bleeding 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 giving 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 afid bathed with flannel cloths wrung out of wrarm 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 flaxseed 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 fort}r drops of laudanum. This is to be throwm 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 incontestable 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 wiiich 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 winch 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 w7as taken out. Although the operation wras 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 wTater. The urine wras accompanied with a discharge of matter, wiiich had continued ever since the opera- tion—and now, instead of decreasing as was expected, it had become more abundant, bloody, fetid, 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 w7as 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 Vienna 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 wras greatly diminished in quantity, and wTas 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 wras 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. 203 Case 2d. A youth twelve years of age, of a tender constitution and delicate frame, having been frequently subject to coughs and other ailments, wTas 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, wjneh wras very mucus, dropping from him very pain- fully, gave strong suspicion of the gravel. The usual medicines were given; but in vain. He wras next sounded by a skilful physician, and a stone was found in the bladder. About this time, De Haen's account of the uva ursi 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 plant was given twice a day. For a week, no perceptible relief was obtained ;, but, in three days more the pain abated, and the water became 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, wiiere they seemed to be gen- erated, through the ureters into the bladder—alwrays 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 the 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 be 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, whenialbether 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 werd diabetes is derived from two Greek words, which signify—to pass through; and 1 mention the fact merely to show, how little connexion there usually is, between the derivation of words and their real meaning. 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, m which it has been more than two years in making it* advances on the constitution. The symptoms of diabe* t96 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. tea are—larger and more frequent discharges of water from the bladder than common; the urine is clear and transparent as spring wrater; 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 voracious or greedy appetite. When this disease occurs on young persons^ or is attended to in grown individuals at an early 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 & 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. 297 always great hopes of speedy recovery. The bodies of many persons who have died of diabetes, have been accurately examined by skilful 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 poweler 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 feelings, will be 38 298 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. *. serviceable: or sugar of lead, given in a grain and a half to twe 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 wrater 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 powelers: 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 live on 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 fherefore recommend it with the utmost confidence. By the use of emetics, with this tea, and frequent bath- ing in warm wTater, if commenced at an early periods 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 he 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 skilful physi- cian will be required. ERUPTIONS OF THE SKIN. The close connexion wiiich 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 f$ 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 driv- ing in the eruptions of the skin, by merely external remedies, you will alwTays 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 cream 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 ]py 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 wrarm 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-ache is very severe, the loss of some blood, a blister between the shoulders, and poultices made 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, put in three half pints of cold 2 A 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 witli 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 an 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, 304 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. look under the head of sulphuric fumigation, for a cer- tain remedy in all diseases of the skin.) 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 afterwTards dis- covered to be seated in other parts of the body; and 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 and 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 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 305 that tooth ache is very frequently a common symptom of other diseases, which are to be sought out and remo- ved before relief can be obtained. 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 rheumatism, consult those two heads for direc- tions to remove it; and when it arises from stoppages of the menses in females, 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 that 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 knov/n, 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- 39 2 a 2 806 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 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 know when it arises from inflammation, by the follow- ing indications—you will have head ache, wiiich 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, tine- • 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 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE, 307 destroys them, before you are aware of the danger. Tartar is an accumulation of earthy matter, deposited on the teeth from the saliva or spittle. It .collects on 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 olher 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 waist. There is a constant desire to scratch, which is much increased after you oecome 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 to 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 sulphuric acid, which is oil of vitriol: mix it well with one ounce of hogs- lard, or fresh butter without salt, will answ er. 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 a 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 ■—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 wiiite 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 2f 2 366 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 in- stances 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 soldiers 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 alw7ays 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 %w 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 and strength 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. straining 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 press your left fore finger pretty hard on the lower side of the penis near the root, to prevent any pait of the injection from getting into the bladder. After a fair trial of the above remedies, and you are baffled of success, con.;mence with ten drops of tincture of cantharides cr Spanish flies, instead of the iron, in the tea three times a day, gradually increasing the dose to thirty drops, and no more. This is generally a cer- iJ 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 v/ater 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. 1 suppose I need not tell you, that chalybeate w7ater 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 introductory remarks on Poisons, to throw as much light on their ope- rations as possible, in the fewest 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 a great pain in the 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 Poisons, such as Jamestown weed, hemlock, opium, hen bane, deadly night shade, fox glove, wolfs 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 sw7allowed, 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 by 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 w7ater, 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 them into some wrarm water, and give the whole as an emetic, and copious puking will almost immediately be produced. This simple and effective remedy, has been the means of saving hun- dreds, who have accidentally cr 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 carburctted 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, w7ho 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 selling 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 tlie 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 plantain* In all cases where a physician can be had, the best remedy is to cut out 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 flow7 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 hy 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, 2G 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 Maryant, Esq. (formerly a member of Congress,) " I heard a vio- lent scream at no great distance. In a few7 minutes I was called out and wras 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 flutteringgand 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 pow7dered red pepper, and poured it down his throat—in a few min- utes it w7as 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, 1 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. 1 gave him repeated doses of whiskey and pepper, until his pulse returned, which had nearly ceased 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 w ere 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 dean. In a short time he came to himself, and was unhurt by the poison. The fact w7as, 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 w7as 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 a rattlesnake. The tincture of cantharides, which is nothing, more than the Spanish or blistering flies, or our common potato fly, steeped for a few days in whiskey or spirits of any kind.—Of this tincture, apply a few drops to the weund 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 housei. I 375 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 considered 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 this complaint, a weed which infests our gardens, highways, 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 Jamestowm 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 aged 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 Jamestowm 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 wdiieh I feel inclined to form from the opportunities I have had of studying the properties of stramonium," Jamestown 48 2 G2 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 New7 York Medical Inquirer :—" Mr. Abernethy has administered the nitrate of silver in this disease," wiiich means lunar caustic, " in the dose of one grain twice a day, made into pills with conserve of roses," wiiich 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," wiiich is com- monly called aqua fortis," pure water three ounces; from forty to sixty drops to be taken twice a day, in twe 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 ma}7 be considered an involuntary contraction of all the muscles of the body, while the patient remains perfectly in his senses. It generally arises from weunds; 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 anfti head; in a short time the head and neck become diffw 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 besought 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 given in this complaint according to the situation of the patient, and the violence of the disease, almost without regarding the quantity. That it is the proper remedy in spasms there can be no doubt; and that the quantities sometimes given in locked jaw7 are almost incredible, is a fact well known to practitioners of medicine. To- bacco is highly spoken of in this distressing spasm, 3S0 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. given in the form of»clysters. Doctor Thomas tells us 'Sthat many cases arf on record, where the astonishing quantity of an ounce* of opium has been given in twen- ty-four hours." To. proportion the quantity of opium to be given, combined with the administration of clys- ters of tobacco, mu#t alwaj'S require the judgment of a skilful physician, and I therefore recommend that one alw7ays be procured where practicable. In desperate cases, where by reason of the clenching of the teeth, the patient cannot receive any thing into the mouth, it is necessary to remove a front tooth, and sometimes more than one. I have never heard of, nor seen the practice, but should a case of desperate locked jaw occur in my practice, 1 would try the effect of a strong warm bath made of ley or lye, in wiiich the body of the patient should be entirely immersed, at the same time that I would give a clyster containing fifteen grains of emetic tartar—in addition .to which I weuld stimu- late the patient frenly with warm toddy. CANCER. Cancer generally makes its appearance about the lips, the nose, and about the breastsV#f females. It sometimes, also, but the instances I am happy to say are not very frequent, makes its appearance in the womb, in which the cure is very doubtful. Those who are advanced in life, are much more subject to cancer- ous affections than young persons; particularly if they have scrofulous constitutions, which have descended to them from their ancestors. A cancer commences with i a small inflamed pimple of a bluish color, which becomes a sore, with hard rising edges of a ragged and GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 381 uneven appearance. On a close "examination of the sore, you will discover two whitish lines crossing from the centre to the edge of the sore. At first, a burning sensation is felt in the sore, which is accompanied as the disease increases with sharp shooting pains. After some time these pains subside, and*the cancer dischar- ges a highly offensive matter; this discharge increases gradually, and the matter communicating to the adjoin- ing parts, finally ends in a large offensive sore or ulcer, of a most dreadful and exhausting nature, always ter- minating, unless a cure is effected, in a lingering, pain- ful and horrible death. REMEDIES. The moment cancer is discovered, dissolve ten grains of corrosive sublimate in a gill of whiskey, or a gill of strong spirits of any kind. Apply cautiously this mix- ture to the affected part; it may be done by making a small rag swab, wetting it with the solution just named, and touching the affected or sore part with it very gently. This operation is to be performed once a day, until the cancer is destroyed. This is a powerful medi- cine, and the pain produced by its application is very severe; but by an early application of this remedy, and bearing the pain of its application fifteen or twenty minutes for a few days, it will kill the cancer. It should never be used on large ulcers or cancerous sores, the pain it inflicts being as severe as if a red hot iron were applied. In many cases, when applied at an early stage of cancer, I have known this remedy sue-, cessful. The sores should be washed with salt and water and dressed with charcoal plasters. To kill the pain, give opium or laudanum—see table. But not- withstanding what has been said of the foregoing remedy, in order to insure a successful one, I think the 382 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. parts ought to be removed or cut out at an early period of the disease. I ha^ve performed the operation fifteen or sixteen times with success ; the last operation was performed on Mr. H-----, of Monroe county, Virginia, during my residence in Botetourt county, of the same state, assisted by my medical friends, Doctor M'Dowell and Foot, two gentlemen of distinction in the medical profession. The gentleman on whom the operation w7as performed, was about 48 years of age. The cancer was seated in the lower lip, and was of such a size as to require the removal of the lower lip entirely. By the suggestions of Doctor M'Dowell but with great caution, I cut well down the chin and secured the edges of the incision together, after taking out the cancer. Singular as it may appear, a new7 lip was formed. The wound healed with the first intentions; and when it was entirely well, the mouth w7as so extremely small as scarcely to admit the end of the forefinger. The mouth, however, gradually distended itself by the exer- tions of nature, and is now both useful and beautiful. Before the operation, the mouth w7as large and the lips coarse and fleshy. On my way out to Tennessee, I presented to Dr. Powell of the Boatyard, the old lip, and I doubt not he has it now in his possession. A remedy for cancer appeared in the public journals some years since, which, from its marks of authenticity of statement, and success in the case of Thomas Tyrrel, I think proper to place on a more durable record. It is simply the use of "a strong potash," made of the ley of the ashes of red oak bark, boiled down to the consistence of molasses. With this substance the can- cer must be first covered, and in about an hour after- wards, the whole is covered with a plaster of tar. This must be removed after a few days, and if there GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 383 are any protuberances or lumps in the sore, the ap- lications are to be renewed. As far as an opinion can be relied on, without actual experiment, I think the remedy a good one. SCALDS AND BURNS. Because we all know well what scalds and burns are, and because the saving of space for matters of high interest, is important to both the subscribers to this work and myself, I shall not attempt to describe them. REMEDIES. In these accidents, which sometimes unfortunately arise from negligence, the important point is, to use such remedies as are immediately at hand, or are easi- ly obtained, for affording direct relief from excruciating pain. Nature, always a tender parent, bountifully affords the best and most soothing remedy, cold water ; in which the parts affected are to be immediately plunged. If iee can be obtained, which is but water under another character, its application will be as good, if not better than mere water, which sometimes cannot be had of sufficient coldness. If the body is severely scalded or burned, apply cloths kept constantly wet with the coldest water. Where the scald or burn takes place in children, and to no great extent, the application of common tar immediately to the injury, is a valuable remedy not often resorted to, but which 1 earnestly recommend. The application of carded cotton to a scald or burn, is also an excelleut remedy, and one which is nearly alwrays convenient. The old method of applying sweet or olive oil immediately to a scald or burn, is a bad plan, and ought never to be resorted to, 384 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. until cold wrater or ice has been applied for reducing the inflammation; then olive or sweet oil will answer a valuable purpose. If oil is not convenient, which is often the case, the application of poultices made of raw Irish potatoes, carrots or turnips, will be proper; the oil, however, if possible to be obtained, is preferable. When the patient has been in the greatest pain, and every remedy I had applieu gave but little relief, I have ahvays been able to give instant ease, if I had or could procure it, by the application of Turner's cerate. For the method of making this very valuable salve, look under that head. It must be applied by spreading it on linen rags, and covering the burned or scalded parts with them ; and I suppose I need not tell you, that these cerate plasters are to be supplied by new ones, every day laid on fresh. This cooling and soothing remedy, seems to act like magic, in giving' relief from the most horrible suffering. On my arrival in Montgomery county, Virginia, I wras called in con- sultation with Doctor Joseph Miller, who wras a physi- cian by nature, and a man of the highest native genius, a man who must have stood at the head of his profes- sion, had his great intellectual powers been aided by adequate opportunities of education. With this gen- tleman I attended on Major-----. He had been taken with a fit, and fallen into a large fire hy .which he was sitting, after his family had retired to bed. Before he was discovered by his family and taken out, he was literally roasted; his ribs were* perfectly exposed en the right side, and the motion of the abdominal viscera, (the intestine or guts,) could easily be distinguished through the thin membrane. His situation was as truly horrible as can well be imagined, and his suffer- ings were so very great, as frequently to induce Jhim to GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 385 pray to us, that something might be given him to end the miseries of his existence. Those sufferings must indeed be unspeakable, which destroy in man the na- tural and deep-seated love of life. By the application of Turner's cerate, which was spread on a sheet and applied to him, and slippery elm tea given internally, this gentleman recovered, and is now living in Mont- gomery county, VirginfA, near Christiansburgh. I mention this case in all its horrors, to induce every family into whose hands this book may fall, always to have in their possession Turner's cerate for immediate application. CORNS. We all know what corns are, and it is useless to consume time in describing them. Remedies.—To get rid of them in the shortest possible time, bathe the foot or feet well in warm w7ater, about half an hour before going to bed. When the corns have become soft from bathing, shave down the horny parts smooth, but not so close as to produce blood; then moisten the tops of them with spittle, and rub over them a little lunar caustic, which you can easily procure. This caustic must be gently rubbed on, until a sufficiency of it sticks on the corns, to change them first to a dark gray color and next to a deep black. Put a little cotton over them, to prevent the stocking from rubbing them, and in a few days they will come out by the roots; this is the remedy of Doctor Brown, of Philadelphia, and is a good one. 49 2H 386 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. WARTS. We all know what warts are. and it is also useless to describe them. Remedies.—Put on each wart a small blister of Spanish flies, which can easily be confined by adhesive plaster of any kind. In a few days the w7arts will come out, when you may use the lunar caustic, as in the case of corns; or you may wet the warts with a little sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol, which will soon bring them off; or with nitric acid or aqua fortis, which will produce the same effect. DISEASES OF WOMEN. When we consider thU important relations, in which woman stands to man in every department of life— when we consider, that in one relation, she is the wife of his bosom, the chosen companion of his heart, the voluntary sharer of his prosperity and misfortunes, the mother of that offspring, in whose life and prosperity, man even in the decline of life, and the decay of health, lives over again the youthful vigor and tender passions of his early years; when we consider, that in another relation, as the sincere lover of his virtues, and the admirer of his heroic and noble achievements, she urges man to perseverance in the performance of his moral duties,' and to those sentiments of patriotism wiiich gave to the ancient republics their statesmen and heroes—to Ireland her Emmets, to England her Sid- neys, and to America her Washington—and when we consider, that in another and important relation, the minute and apparently ignoble cares of a family de- volve on her, where there are no witnesses to support her under endless suilerings and trials, and where no civic crowns or public honors await her victories over domestic miseries, and ignoble sufferings and misfor- tunes, we cannot but be astonished at the fortitude, the courage, the devotedness, the fidelity to her duties, and the heroic virtues of woman. Place man in her situa- tion, and compel him to perform the duties of woman, and he would soon either degenerate into a savage, or f C«7 388 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. sink into perfect insignificance. Placed in the limited sphere of the employments of woman, and man would soon feel himself an obscure and lonely slave—doomed like her to a life of obscurity and domestic cares, where the anticipation of no honors would await the performance of his duties, his boasted magnanimity and fortitude would expire like meteors of night, and leave him a monument of powerless and fallen ambi- tion ! And, how soon would his boasted philanthropy and love of mankind expire, were there no historians to record his deeds of benevolence and patriotism, and transmit them to future ages: and especially were there no honors to be gathered but such as grew on the brows of obscure and suffering humanity, and such as would fade in the grasp and be remembered no more! Woman! when we reflect on thy blameless life, thy artless tenderness, thy pious simplicity, thy confiding love, and the meek and lowdy resignation of thy heart and feelings, under the pressure of miseries and mis- fortunes of almost every possible character, it seems difficult for the most humane of mankind, duly to ap- preciate either thy sufferings or thy worth; But, when to these considerations are added the multiplicity of diseases entailed on thee by nature and sexuality, as well as by the ignorance of the mid wives of this coun- try, thy lot and condition of present existence, seems hard indeed! Most of the midwives of this country, and indeed of most other countries, are those who take up the employment from too great laziness to exert themselves in other walks of life; from utter ignorance of the great responsibilities attached ;,to such a calling, and from a heartless destitution of feeling and humani- ty, wiiich permits their ignorance and officiousness, to entail diseases originating in mismanagement, on GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 389 thousands of women for life. These people are always seen wishing to officiate in something which had better be let alone; in fact, if I must speak in plain terms, in attempting to force nature into premature and exhaust- ing exertions, who, if let alone so far as not to be retarded in her operations, would finish her own work without injury to the sufferer. I do not mention this to cast censure on all midwives; I am acquainted with several of excellent qualifications, who are kind, feel- ing and experienced, and who possess the excellent good sense, never to hazard or exceed the due bounds of prudence; and who, in all cases where there is linger- ing and difficulty, alw7ays so far distrust their own judgment, as to acquire the aid of a skilful physician. Women should never dread the time of child-birth, but always reflect on the innumerable millions of cases, in which women have passed safely through the trial, for one, perhaps, which has been unfortunate. When a physician is called in, which in many cases is absolutely essential to the preservation of life, and the safety of the child, his whole solicitude should concen- trate in feelings and sentiments of humanity; in such cases, therefore, no woman, however delicate, or even fastidious in her feelings or sentiments, ought to feel any hesitation in permitting the assistance of a physi- cian ; life is always to be preserved, and the safety of human beings insured, by much greater sacrifices than those which pertain to feelings of bashfulness, or even sentiments of modesty. When I speak of calling in a physician, with permission to render the essential assis- tance to nature in child-birth, I mean a man of delicacy of sentiment and feeling, tried and well knowm discre- tion, and dignified elevation of character; I do not mean a beardless boy, who has dozed over a medical 2h 2 390 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. book for a year, or even two, without understanding its contents, and who is as proud of the name of doctor as is a child of a pair of new morocco shoes—such a physician would be worse than an ignorant and offi- cious midwife, who ahvays wishes to be doing some- thing, right or wrong. When young in my profession, I always thought it necessary to be giving some little article in all cases; in other words something that would do neither good nor harm—this kind of conduct will do well enough, so far as it has a tendency to keep up and animate the spirits of the patient, but here it ought to stop. My good old preceptor or master, who had for more than forty years officiated successfully as a man-midwife, gave me the following advice, wiiich I recommend most sincerely to the attention of all my readers—"neither hurry nor retard nature; give her time to perform her own operations, and when she fails assist her." MENSES OE COUBSES. The early or late discharge of the menses or courses, depends very much on the, climate; the constitution of the woman as to strength or weakness; on the emotions or passions of the mind, or in other and plainer terms, on the lasciviousness or chastity of her venereal desires. In all cold climates, this discharge is later in making its appearance than in warm ones. Fruit rip ens sooner in warm latitudes than in cold ones, and it is the same with females. In the genial climate of Italy, girls have their courses at nine years old, but in the colder regions of Russia, this discharge does not come on until women are from twenty to thirty-five years of GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 391 age, and then not unfrequently in very small quantities. In all warm climates, says a distinguished writer, women exhibit all the splendor of their charms, when they are mere children in understanding; but, when their minds have arrived at maturity, they cease to be ohjects of love. In the western country, although the climate'is mild, it is much subject to changes, particularly in East Ten- nessee. These changes produce powerful effects on the healtli of wemen, and also on their constitutions. The western country is damp and wet during the winter season, in conseauence of which, women from beins; / l j CD exposed to wet feet, arc subject to more irregularities in this discharge called the menses or courses, than in any other part of the United States. When the usual period for this discharge comes .on, a little attention on the part of the parent will be sufficient to discovei the symptoms. Many girls have their discharges without inconvenience, while others suffer considerably when the period is about to come on, such as a great rest- lessness, slight fever, head ache, heavy and dull pain in the small of the back and bottom of the belly, swelled and hardened breasts, and so on. The appetite becomes delicate, the limbs tremble and feel weak, the face becomes pale, and there is a peculiar dark streak or shade under the eves. When these symptoms and feelings occur, every thing should be done to assist no-ure in bringing forward this discharge. This is a critical period cf life, and much depends on the result. The greatest possible precautions should be used to prevent the girl from taking cold at this time, because by very slight exposure, nature may be prevented from performing this very important office, hy the failure of which, some of the most fatal female difeases are pro- 392 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. duced.' Exercise should be taken on horseback at this time, or indeed any exercise that will give free circula- tion to the blood; the emotions and passions of the mind, ought also to be particularly attended to; a cheer- ful disposition should be produced and kept up, at the same time that every effort should be made to banish grief, despondency, or any of the depressing passions, which I need not tell you have a powerful effect in pre- venting a due discharge of the menses and courses The discharges in their first appearance are in small quantities, are rather irregular, as to time, but gradu- ally, in healthy wemen, become regular, and flow monthly. While in a state of pregnancy, or when suckling children, women do not have these menses or courses, nor do they ever become pregnant, or in plain terms, get with child, until this menstrual discharge makes its appearance on them. Women also cease to breed, when this menstrual discharge leaves them, in advanced life. The period when this discharge com- mences on women, and the period when it leaves them, are critical and dangerous periods of time, to the health and constitution of women. As I shall describe the remedies more fully in cases where the menses have been established, and have suddenly stopped, from cold, or other causes, I shall merely remark here, that in all cases where the first symptoms of menses make their appearance in young girls, they should use mild and gen- tle methods of courting nature to the performance of her office, by sitting over the steam of warm herbs, bathing their feet and legs at the same time in warm water, as high as the knees, or what is preferable, use the warm or tepid bath—see page 156—and drink freely of warm penny-royal tea. These remedies should be used a short time before going to bed, so that a gentle moisture GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 393 or sweat may be produced on the skin, which generally causes the menses or courses to flow. This discharge is usually at first very small, but by attending to this simple course, which I have laid down, when the proper or expected time has arrived for their appearance, nature will gradually become regular, and the menses or courses be produced. The quantity, as I have observed, will at first be quite small, perhaps just suffi- cient to stain the linen or shift, which will increase in quantity at every period or monthly return. As this discharge depends very much on climate, constitution, manner of living, and exercise, you will easily account for its differing in quantity, not only in different wemen, but even in the same woman, increasing or diminishing according to the state of the system. In all southern or warm climates, the quantity discharged is from eigh- teen to twenty ounces; but in colder climates, it dimin- ishes accordingly, even to one or two ounces. The length of time the menses or courses remain on, and the time of their monthly return, differ very much in women; in some it will remain but a few hours or a day—in others, from two to four days, and I have even known it to remain ten days. The common or usual time, liowever, is from three to six days. In the western country, the menses generally cease at about the forty- iifth year; this, however, depends very much upon the period they make their appearance—if at an early age, they go off earlier, and if at a later period, they some- times continue to fifty years. About the expected time that the menses or courses should flow7, which will be easily known from the description I have given you of the symptoms, you are to avoid every thing that may injure the digestive powers, and particularly costiveness or being bound in the bowels, loss of sleep, exposures 50 * % 394 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of any kind, such as damp feet, or sudden changes from warm to thin clothing. Girls in the country should be prevented, about this time, from wading in the water, or walking bare-foot through the dew, as it often stops this discharge. Getting cold, from any imprudence or unne- cessary exposure, must also be .avoided. Oh the subject of medicines, you are particularly requested, as you value the health of your child, to grVc no strong medi- cines in the first stage of the menstrual discharge, called vulgarly forcing medicines. This indeed is a proper name, for you are truly forcing nature, which is contrary to every principle of common sense; for this discharge, unless stopped from some one of the causes I bave men- tioned, will assuredly yield to patience and pimple remedies; after a full trial, and sufficient time allowed, and you are disappointed in bringing them on, you will try cautiously and mildly, the varices remedies under the following; lead—" obstruction of the menses,"— where you will find the valuable remedy." seneca snake root,''—for a full description of wiiich important root, in the stoppage of the menses or courses, read under the head seneca snake root. OBSTRUCTED MENSES. When the menses or courses have been ence reini- lar, and have been stopped from any accjlental cause, such as cold, and so on, they are said to be obstructed. This is sometimes attended with pain; when this is the case, it is called obstructed or painful menstruation, and is attended with greater or less injury, according to the state of the system at the time this obstruction takes place, and more particularly if any other part of the J- # * GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 395 body is laboring under disease; for the womb, from whence the menses or courses flow, is subject to great varieties of diseased action, and it is utterly impossible for me to describe, the close connexion, wiiich is imme- diately and sensibly felt, between the womb, the stom- ach, the head, and the influence or power it has on the pulse. In six cq§es out of ten, hysterics, despon- dency of mind, sickness of the stomach, pains in the head, coldness of the hands and feet, flushings of heat over the whole body, and not unfrequently fever, arise from obstructed menses or courses, or some disordered state of the womb. I have had, in my practice, many females who became greatly alarmed from the spitting of blood. This is frequently the case, where the obstruction has been for any ^ngth of time, accompanied by frequent bleeding at the nose, dry short cough, pains in the bottom of the belly, and in the small of the back, pulse hard and quick, skin hot, and burning sensations in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. When these last symptoms take place, immediate attention should be paid, or consumption will take place. A skilful physiciftn must be sought for, if the remedies, after a fair and steady trial, should not produce the dis- charge. In some instances, this obstruction of the menses or courses, arises from debility cr weakness of the constitution. This will be known by the whites making their appearance. When this is the case, you must not force nature, but give tonic or strengthening ' O CD CJ medicines to restore the system first; then the remedies that follow7, beginning with those that are most simple, until the menses or courses are produced. 396 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. REMEDIES. If the woman is of a robust or full habit of body, the loss of some blood from the foot will be proper. A short time before the return of the menses or courses, warm cloths wrung out of hot water must be applied to the bottom of the belly; this is to be^ done a few nights before the expected time, or you may sit upon the steam of common pine tops, on which boiling w7ater has been poured; or you may sit in a tub of warm water for fifteen or twenty minutes before you go to bed, and while sitting in the warm water, have your feet bathed in another tub or vessel, in which the water should be as warm as you can conveniently bear it, or plunge the feet and legs in and out frequently, as you may be able to bear the heat of the w7ater. While you are bathing or steaming over the pine tops, use the following remedy? which must be prepared and kept ready for use when you are going to bathe:—one ounce of seneca snake- root is to be bruised with a hammer, then put it into a quart of boiling water, and stew it over a slow fire to half a pint; of this tea take a table-spopnful every ten minutes while bathing, or while over the steam. For a full description of this valuable root, see that head. When you have used these remedies for a quarter or half an hour, retire to bed, and have the bottom of your belly well rubbed with a coarse wrarm towel, or a soft brush; this is called friction, the intention of which is to rouse the circulation, excite the wemb to action, and cause the menses or courses to discharge or flow7. You will find the following medicine to be a valuable assistant in producing this discharge, and it should be taken for one, two, and even three nights before the expected time—five grains of aloes, five grains of rhu- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 397 barb, and five grains of calomel, must be finely pow- dered and mixed together well, and should the dose not produce a stool or two by morning, you are to take a small dose of epsom salts to assist the operation. If the dose should purge you too severely, the next dose should be less, say three grains of each instead of five, or even two grains of each will answer; your own judgment will easily regulate the dose to the constitu- tion of the person. Or you may apply a small blister a day or two before the time, between the fundament and birth place, called by physicians the perineum, giving at the same time, a purgative twice or even three times a day of aloes, each dose five grains. Should these remedies all fail, inject or throw up with a syringe or squirt, into the vagina, a mixture of strong whiskey and water, so as to irritate or excite an action in the wemb. As I have remarked in the first instance, the loss of some blood will generally be found benefi- cial, unless the constitution or health of the woman will not admit of the loss of blood, which is not very frequently the case. The loss of blood always tends to assist the womb to return to its natural action. Mad- der, which is known to every person in tlje country as a dye, and may be purchased at any of the stores, is highly recommended by the late Doctor Barton of Philadelphia, late professor of the medical school in that city, in doses of twenty or thirty grains. The tincture of gum guaiacum, in doses of a table-spoonful in a half a cup of new7 milk may be given. This tincture is made in the following manner:—obtain one ounce of gum guaiacum, wiiich is worth about ninepence, mash or pound it fine with a hammer, and put it in a pint of spirits of any kind; let it steep for ten days, shaking it daily, and you have the tincture of gum guaiacum, it 21 398 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. being then fit for use. Doctor Dewees, professor of midwifery, in the medical school of Philadelphia, as- serts, that in the experience of thirty-two years, it has never failed him in producing the menses and courses. Of this spirit, put a table-spoonful in the milk, and gently pour off the spirit, so as not to shake it at the time you are about to use it. I have now given you the different and important remedies, cut of which you may select which you please for use; they are ail valu- able. You will, however, bear in mind, that the efforts to be made to bring on the menses or courses, should take place about the expected time, or a little time be- fore it. The constitution of the woman, musf be fully and properly examined, so as not to force, but to assist nature in her operations. GREEN SICKNESS. When the menses or courses have been retained or stopped for any length of time, and the whole system becomes Jtiseased from a want of this discharge, so necessary to the health of every female, it terminates or ends frequently in what is called chlorosis or green sickness. When this is the case, the skin turns ofgi pale yellow or greenish hue; the lips become pele or of a purple color; the eyes have a dark or purple tinge around them; on making the least exertion, the heart palpitates cr beats ; the knees tremble, and there is a frequent sighing without lino wing tlie cause. The mind is very fickle, and the woman dislikes, or seems to want the power to attend to her domestic concerns. The cheeks are frequently flushed similar to consumption; the feet swell, and the whole system seems to sink under debility or great weakness. I have GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 399 £ now described to you the symptoms wl rich 1 alluded to, when I directed you to examine the constitution, and not to force nature, especially when tonic or strengtheji- the medicines are required to rest ire the whole system, before any attempt ought to be made to bring on the menses or courses. The treatment in this last stage called green sickness, should be as follows:—as little -j. medicine as possible should be given; in fact, nothing but some simple medicine, such as will prevent costive- ness by keeping the bowels open, such for instance as a tea-spoonful of epsom salts, and a tea-spoonful of magnesia, ground finely and well mixed together, to be taken in a cup full of cold water when necessary for this purpose; travelling on horseback, or moderate exercise. Good Madeira wine, taken frequently and in small quantities; bitters, made of equal quantities of wild cherry-tree bark and poplar bark usually called swamp poplar, steeped in wine for several days, and* taken in moderate doses; or tea made of the flowers of garden chamoinile, and taken cold, in doses of a wTine-glass full, three or four times a day. The chaly- beate water should be used very freely. The western country abounds with these waters; for they are to be found on almost every branch or creek. Chalybeate waters, are those springs which are impregnated with iron. By these remedies, the whole system will be restored, and in due time the menses or courses will again appear; at which time, mild and gentle remedies are to be used, to court nature to the proper perfor- mance of this necessary and important discharge. 400 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. THE GREAT DISCHARGE OF THE MENSES 01? COURSES. When the menses or courses come on suddenly or irregularly, and the discharges for several days are greater than usual, by which the woman is greatly reduced and weakened—this is called excessive men- struation. The causes are, too great a determination of blood to the womb; or in other words, too great an action in its vessels. This over quantity, or large dis- charge, generally takes place in delicate women, par- ticularly those who take but little exercise, or those who sit a great deal; such as milliners or seamstresses, and in fact all who lead sedentary lives, and are addict- ed to such unhealthy habits. REMEDIES. Draw7 blood from the arm immediately; and regulate the quantity taken, by the constitution, the habits, and the strength of the woman: there are few cases that do not admit of a little blood being drawn. Give a purge of epsom salts or castor oil, and let your patient go to bed and there remain; she must be kept as cool as possible, with her hips a little raised. The room also must be made and kept as cool as possible. If the discharge of blood is considerable, apply cloths wet with cold water to the birth-place, and even push them up it; at the same time injecting cold water up with a female syringe or pewter squirt. There is no danger whatever in these cold applications; therefore do not hesitate to use them if necessary. I have always used ice in my practice in Virginia, by putting it in a towel or piece of flannel, and applying it to the belly. If the blood flows rapidly, make a plug with cloth, and push it well up the birth-place, so as to prevent the blood GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 401 from flowing, or that it may congeal and stop. Should these remedies fail, you must resort to the following remedy, which should only be used in extreme danger: Mix twe grains of sugar of lead with a quarter of a grain of opium; give a pill of this mixture every two hours, made with a little honey, until the discharge of blood is lessened. If the patient is very much exhaust- ed, give laudanum in the dose of fifteen drops, occa- sionally—or administer opium, see table for dose, administering either laudanum or opium, according to the urgency of her situation—pains, &c. as both these medicines will give strength, and allay the great irrita- tion of the nervous system. Or if there is great pain in the womb, administer a clyster—look under that head. The clyster must be made of the bark of slip- pery elm, by pouring boiling water on the inside part of the bark. It is to be perfectly cold, and in it put a tea-spoonful of laudanum. Throw this clyster up the fundament, out of which passes the stool. These clys- ters are to be given every hour, until relief is obtained. Every thing used at this time as a drink, should be perfectly cold. Nothing heating, of any description, ought to be given, either as food or drink, during this great flow of the menses or courses. To prevent a return -of this discharge, when once relieved, take moderate exercise: bathe the back and belly frequently in cold w7ater, and take the salt bath— see under the head cold bath. Take moderately, the best old Madeira wine; and a short time before the expected discharge lose some blood from the arm. At all times, you are to pay particular attention to your bowels: that is, not to permit them to become costive or bound. Morning and night, when you rise, or retire to bed, use friction;—which means rubbing 51 2i 2 402 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. the whole body, for twenty or thirty minutes, with a brush or coarse towel—this should be done by a ser- vant or assistant. This last remedy is truly worthy of strict attention. CESSATION OF THE MENSES OR COURSES. A cessation of the menses or courses, means an entire stoppage of these discharges, or a change of nature in this respect, at an advanced period of life. This revolution or change takes place, generally speak- ing, from the forty-second to the forty-seventh year : it is a critical and extremely dangerous period of a wo- man's life, and although thousands pass through it without experiencing any great inconvenience, it is a period which requires particular attention and care. All exposures to cold and damp must be scrupulous- ly avoided; and particularly wet. feet, and remaining any length of time on the damp ground. Sudden changes of dress are also extremely hazardous at this period; in fact, every thing that produces sudden revo- lutions in the bodily system, from extremes of heat— cold and dampness. By not attending to what I have jfflst laid down, you will be sure to lay the foundations *£ diseases of a multiplied and stubborn character, ¥?hich will be sure to embitter and distress the remain- der of your life, be it long or short. The courses, about this time of life, begin to lessen in quantity, and to become more or less irregular in their discharges. When you are likely to suffer some inconvenience in this change of nature, you will have warning by the occurrence of the following symptoms: You will have pains in the head and small of the back GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 403 trembling of the knees, flushing and burning of the face, choking sensations in the throat, sickness of the stomach, dizziness or swimming in the head, and frequently mists before your eyes. You must now live on spare diet, and as I have just told you, avoid all kinds of cold, damp, and wet. REMEDIES. Very few medicines are to be taken in this state of the system, and those that are taken must be of the most simple, mild, and innocent kind. For the pur- pose of keeping your bow els open, and removing all causes of irritation, use purges of epsom salts, or cas- tor oil when necessary; they will ahvays cool the system, and allay any dangerous irritations. If you are of a robust and full habit of body, and have dizzi- ness and pains in the head, cupping on the temples, so as to draw some blood, will give relief. For the method of cupping, which is very simple, look under that head. Or, if you should not like the plan of cupping, or if it be inconvenient, you may occasionally draw a little blood from the arm ; when those unpleasant feelings I have described make their appearance. Temperance, or in other werds, abstaining from strong food, and living on very spare and simple diet, is greatly more important than any medicines that can be taken ;—nor will any medicines be necessary in most cases, other f n such as will keep the bowels in a gently laxative 'ate, as mentioned before, with cupping if considered necessary. You should take moderate exercise in good weather on horseback, and above all other remedies, use regularly friction; wiiich means rubbing the whole body, twice a day, with a brush or coarse towel— morning and evening. This friction you are not to neglect, because it is very important at this period. 404 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. You are also to keep the birth-place perfectly clean, by w7ashing daily those parts, in milk-w arm water and soap. Unless these parts are kept perfectly clean, they retain a secretion which I need not name—which irri- tates and excites diseased action in the womb. When- ever you feel pain in your back, belly, &c. &c. take the warm or tepid bath, which you are to make suffi- ciently warm to be pleasant. For a description of this bath, see page 156. If pain is felt in the head, stomach, or breast, a blister must be applied between the shoulders, which will give relief. You may take off the blister, after it has been on two or three hours, if the pain has been removed by its application, as is sometimes the case after the skin has become red from the blister. But the warm bath, moderate bleeding, and keeping the bowels open with the mild medicines I have described, will afford you the necessary ease and relief in your situation, provided you keep yourself in a perfect state of rest on your bed. If the pain in the wemb be considerable, and you have any fears of an inflammation in those parts, apply a large blister over the belly—which blister is to be dressed with sweet oil. You are, also, to give clysters frequently, which are to be thrown well up the bowels, &»y three or four times a day. They are to be made of slippery-elm bark, by pouring boiling water on the inside bark, and letting the water stand until about milk warm;—this water is to be thrown up, as directed under the head clystering. If the inflammation is great in the womb, throw up the birth-place, with the clyster-pipe, the slippery-elm water, five or six times a day ; but remember it is to be perfectly cold, when you throw it up the birth-pace: when thrown up the funda- ment into the bowels, it is to be milk warm. There is GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 405 an excellent preparation, which can easily be made, to throw up the birth-place—which is perhaps better than the slippery-elm water. Take two tea-spoonsful of sugar of lead, and put them in a quart of the coldest water. After the lead is dissolved it will be fit for use. Of this lead water, throw up about a gill, mixed with about a gill of slippery-elm water. Do this occasion- ally. Should an ulcer or sore break out on the legs, or any part of your body, be very careful not to heal it up immediately or very suddenly ; it is an effort of nature to relieve herself of the discharge. It may be necessa- ry for me to remark, that if the womb is painful, and there is no danger of inflammation, apply over the belly and to the small of the back, warm herbs, or warm salt, or bladders filled with warm water—and take a dose of laudanum or opium;—see table of doses. By attending closely to these instructions, which I have laid down plainly, you will pass through this change of nature with safety, and no doubt enjoy through the winter of old age, an exemption from those complaints which are too apt to occur, from neglect of this impor- tant change of the female constitution. THE WHITES. This disease is called by physicians ftuor albus. It is an unnatural and white colored discharge from the birth-place, and is produced from various causes: such for instance, as the powers of the womb being impair- ed, by severe labors, repeated miscarriages, getting out of bed too soon after child-birth, or by taking cold at this time, or any other time when the menses or 406 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. courses are about coming on; or, by over fatigue or weakness, produced by general bad health; or where the general secretions and excretions have been deran- ged by disease; as the womb always more or less sympathises with the whole system. Women who arc of weakly or delicate constitutions, and take but little active exercise, and such as have had many children, are much subject to the fluor albus or whites. I have known many instances, in which the whites made their appearance monthly, instead of the natural menses or courses. This is generally the case where the woman is laboring under the suppression of the menstrual dis- charge, or some weakness or derangement of the whole system. I shall now7 describe the means of knowing the whites from the clap. In the clap there is a swelling of the parts, an itching and uneasy feeling, and much heat in making water. In a little time, both the inside and outside of the parts become inflamed, and give much heat and scalding in evacuating the urine ; if these symptoms occur, you may be tolerably certain you have taken the clap, in which case you will find the means of relief distinctly laid down, from page 355 to 367. The whites are called by this name, because the dis- charge resembles the white of an egg, or the mucus or slime which runs from the nose when you have a cold. There are three or four stages of this complaint between its mildest and severest forms ; and if permitted to run on, it will entirely destroy the constitution of the woman, by reducing her flesh and muscular strength. Pier complexion will change to a sickly pale color; she will become very weak, and her heart will palpitate or beat with the slightest personal exertion. As this disorder seldom stops without medical assistance, means ought GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 407 always to be immediately used, or it will commit great ravages on the female constitution. The whites come on very irregularly, sometimes the discharge is in lumps, but more frequently it. is of a white, slimy, ropy consis- tence. If the disease is of the mildest form, the dischar- ges resemble the white of an egg, having no smell, and no color but that just mentioned. In the second stage, the discharges are of a light yellow or straw color, and something offensive to the smell. In the third stage, the discharges are of a greenish color, of a tough and gluey consistence, and quite offensive in smell. In the worst stage of the disease, or when the disease has been per- mitted from ignorance or negligence to run on, the discharges are very offensive, and mixed with blood; the face becomes of a sickly greenish hue; under the eyes there is an unnatural color; the lips become pur- ple ; the feet and legs swell; the face becomes subject to flushes of heat; there is a dry cough and great diffi- culty of breathing, particularly on the slightest exertion; and unless relief is obtained, the disease will, after this stage, terminate either in consumption or dropsy. I shall now proceed to describe the effects which the disease produces in the different stages of its advance- ment. When it is slight, or in its mildest form, and the general health of the woman is not much impaired, there is a pain in the back, the menses are not regular, and on the slightest exertion, the woman feels a shooting and afterwards a heavy pain in the back. In the second stage, the above symptoms are felt most constantly and severely; the stomach becomes disordered; the head aches; the bowels are costive or bound up; there is a dizziness or swimming in the head ; and there seems a heavy pain in the bottom of the belly, and at the upper part of the thighs. In the severest form of the disease, 408 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. the symptoms of which I have already described, all the indications or marks of dyspepsia or indigestion take place: for a description of which complaint see under that head. The whole system becomes disordered and unhealthy; the menstrual discharge entirely stops ; and the woman, from general debility and weakness, sinks rapidly into decline, and ends either in consumption or dropsy, as I have said before. REMEDIES. There is no remedy in the first stage of this complaint equal to scrupulous cleanliness, or bathing well those parts in cold water three or four times a day, and inject- ing up the birth-place, frequently, the same thing, cold water. Sleep on a inattrass instead of a feather bed, or in other words, a hard bed of any kind. Rise early and take proper exercise; and if convenient to a cha- lybeate spring, or one whose waters are impregnated with iron, drink freely of those waters. The western country abounds with waters of this description; and they are a most valuable remedy for women laboring under this disease, or any irregularity of the menses or courses. The bowels are to be kept open, with mild laxative medicines, such as epsom salts or carter oil. From fifteen to twenty drops of balsam eapaiva are to be given on sugar, three times a day; wiiich if necessary are to be continued eight or ten days, or even more, if found essential. I have relieved this complaint, when all the different remedies had been tried, by simply using the turpentine from the common pine tree. It must be made into pills with honey, and one of the pills given two or three times a day, using at the same time the following injection, which is to be thrown up the birth-place three or four times a day. A tea-spoonful of sugar of lead is to be put into a pint of spring water GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 409 and permitted to remain until dissolved. Obtain at any doctor's shop, a female syringe, which is a pew7ter squirt with holes in the end of it. With this instrument you are to throw up the lead water three or four times a day. You will find this a valuable remedy. If it be incon- venient to get the sugar of lead, make a decoction of white-oak bark, by boiling it in water—and of this water, when perfectly cold, throw up the birth-place as often, and about the same quantity that you would of the lead water. If the discharge is very offensive from the parts, you should introduce up the birth-place every morning and night about a tea-spoonful of common charcoal, pounded as fine as possible. This will entirely remove the offen- sive smell. If the directions I have given do not restrain the discharge, you will apply a large blister to the small of the back, at the same time using the injections freely as directed. Should the constitution be much injured, and the woman greatly reduced by the discharge, obtain from any doctor's shop a tincture of sal martis, which is a preparation of iron dissolved in muriatic acid. Obtain also a box of soda powders. On these boxes you will find directions how to use them ; if not, look under the head soda powders. When you have mixed your papers of soda powders with water, in two tum- blers, and before you have poured them together, drop into the tumbler in which you have put the contents of the blue paper, eight or ten drops of the medicine in the phial. Being now7 ready, pour it all into one tum- bler and drink it down immediately, and while it is foaming or effervescing. This drink should be taken three times a day. 1 have merely to remark, that this is a preparation of one of the most valuable mineral 52 2 K 410 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. waters known in Europe, and is admirably adapted to debility of the stomach, or indigestion, affections of the womb, and indeed, debility of any kind. After all these remedies have failed, polypus of the womb may exist, which always, requires the assistance of an able physi- cian. PREGNANCY. When the sexual connexion between a male and female, has been favorable to the increase of our spe- cies, the seed of the man and that of the woman are conveyed, as already described, through the Fallopian tubes into the womb, and there deposited. Here the grow7th of the foetus or child commences, whilst at the same time there is formed, a bag or covering for the whole, (called the membranes,) which lines the womb. At the same time, there is a fleshy substance formed, which very much resembles the liver; this substance is called the after-birth, and by physicians the placenta. This fleshy substance, called the after-birth, receives and prepares the blood, which is supplied by the womb for the child. From this after-birth to the navel of the child, there is a small cord or tube called the navel cord, or umbilical cord. This tube admits the circula- tion of the blood between the mother and the child. There is also a fluid, known by the name of the wraters, in which the foetus or child moves and increases in growth. You will now readily perceive, that the womb con- tains, when pregnant, the child, the waters in which it moves, the membranes which support it, the navel-cord, and the after-birth. From eight to ten days after the GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 411 woman has conceived, the first formations of the child may be distinguished; it is, however, so extremely deli- cate as to require the most minute attention to discover it with,the naked eye. The face and form of the large features, are as yet not sufficiently plain to be distin- guished; you can merely discover the formation of the head and trunk; the trunk being the longest and most delicate; the whole resembling a bit of jelly of an oblong figure. You will perceive by close examination the resemblance of a small feather, which comes from the navel, and ends in the membrane by which the whole is enclosed. This fine feathery fibre, afterwards the navel cord, connects the young with the after-birth. In about three weeks after conception, the formation of the infant may be plainly distinguished, because by this time the head and features of the face begin to assume something of a strong outline; in other words, they begin to show the realities of what they are. The arms and legs are next seen to project from the body; two black specks represent the eyes—and twe extremely small holes make the places of the ears. The ribs on each side are about the size of common threads; and the fingers and toes about the same magnitude. The arms are something longer than the legs in consequence of their growth being more rapid. In about one month after conception, the foetus or child is about one inch in length; and it now7 takes a bending posture in the middle of the water or liquor I have described to you. About this time the membranes, sometimes called the bag or covering, become enlarged, and get thicker and stronger, and the whole mass together, is about an inch in length, and nearly the shape of an egg. 412 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. In about six weeks the motion of the heart of the child may be perceived. In fact, in surgical operations which I have seen performed, where the child was taken from the womb, the heart was seen to beat for a consid- erable length of time. In three months, the child is three inches in length, and its weight from twe to three ounces. Women assert that they have felt the motion of the child about this time, but I would suppose it doubtful at this early period. In about fourteen weeks the head of the child is bent forward and the chin rests on the breast; the knees are lifted up; the legs bent back on the thighs: and both the hands lifted up towards the face. In the lapse of time, the child acquires more strength, and is constantly changing its posture; but the head most commonly inclines downward. Near the fifth month, the mother can distinctly feel the motion of the child, which is called quickening, and which is often accompanied with sickness at the stomach, and vomiting, particularly in the morning. When this quickening is felt, it is a very certain symptom of pregnancy. About the time of this quickening, the womb seems as if it were loose in the lower part of the belly. As long as the womb is detained in the pelvis or basin, you can, by introducing the finger up the birth-place, the woman being in a standing position, distinctly feel the mouth of the womb, which is lower down than in the natural and unimpregnated state. This is occasioned by the weight of the womb and its contents, continually and gradually bearing downward. Thus the mouth of the womb can be felt, after the woman has become with child, for several weeks, and affords another evidence of preg- nancy. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 413 After this time the womb begins considerably to in- crease in size, and ascend gradually up into the abdo- men or belly, growing at last so large that it remains mostly above the bones of the pelvis or basin, and par- tially rests on them. In the beginning of the fifth month, the belly be- comes hard, and the nave] of the mother is perfectly even and smooth. From this onward the woman in- creases in size; pregnancy being now evident, a further description of its progress would be unnecessary. In nine months, or in about forty-two weeks from the stoppage of the menses or courses, the child is prepar- ed for its entrance into life; and nature prepares her- self for a delivery of her burthen, by a contraction of the fibres of the womb, which are no longer able to bear the irritation. Here commence the pains of labor, in other words, restless and uneasy sensations, pain in the small of the back, frequent desire to make w7ater, accompanied with bearing downwards, particu- larly at the bottom of the belly; constant desire to go to stool, perhaps without being able to pass any thing; costiveness, with a small discharge of mucus or slime from the birth-place, &c. &c. I have mentioned to you, the waters in which the child moves, and changes its position. As to the quan- tity of these waters at the birth of the child, it varies very much in different women. In some I have seen not more than a gill, in others not more than half a pint, and in others I have knowm nearly two quarts. Those who have written on this subject before me, state that these w7aters resemble the white of an egg^ and have very little smell. This is, however, not al- ways the case, the waters are sometimes very offensive. 2k 2 414 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. The fact is, that their color and consistency depend on the peculiar state of the system. The after-birth prepares the blood in a proper state, which is then conveyed by the navel cord to the child for its support and growth; you will therefore under- stand, that the growth is produced by and through the after-birth. This after-birth or fleshy substance, which resembles the liver, is generally in weight from a pound to a pound and a half; and depends both for weight and size, not on the appearance of the woman, but on the healthy or diseased state of the womb and its secre- tions ; for I have very often seen in my practice, very large women produce quite small after-births, whilst on the contrary, I have seen very delicate women produce astonishingly large ones. The navel cord, called by physicians the umbilical cord, is formed of two veins which come from the after-birth, and an artery which comes from the child ; these being twisted nicely together, is the reason why it is called the navel cord. The blood which passes through the veins of this cord enters at the navel of the child, and by the proper vessels is conveyed to its heart; it is then conveyed again back from the heart, to the various parts of the child's body, for its growth and support, as I told you before. After returning again, the heart forces it back through the artery, which I have mentioned as a part of the cord, to the after-birth, wiiich prepares it for the foetus or child. I have nowr given you a plain explanation of preg- nancy, and of the means by which the child is sustain- ed in the womb, and of the parts connected with the womb, necessary to be known and understood. This explanation will enable you, with a little attention, to GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINEj 415 understand something of the astonishing powers pos- sessed and employed by nature, for the procreation, increase and preservation of the human species. SIGNS OF PREGNANCY. Sickness in the morning, often attended with vomi- ting or puking; heart burn, and soreness on the stom- ach ; loss of appetite, and dislike of the sight of food; craving for things which before you were indifferent to, or even disliked; and stoppage of the menses or cour- ses ; this last symptom, however, is sometimes occa- sioned from cold, &c. Pregnancy is also known, by palpitations or flutterings of the heart; faintness, ac- companied with a desire to vomit; these last symptoms are generally felt by young married women in their first pregnancy. The breasts become more full, the nipples more firm and hard, and the rings around them assume a darker color. The rising of the navel, so as to become flat and smooth with the belly, may be con- sidered an almost certain evidence of pregnancy. I omitted to mention that tooth ache frequently is an indication of pregnancy. The pulse of a woman with child, is considerably quicker than common; there is also frequently a dizzi- ness or swimming in the head ; the complexion of the face generally changes, either by becoming much im- proved, or by exhibiting a more sallow, pale and sickly color. There are few women who do not undergo some peculiar change of countenance in pregnancy so as to indicate with those well acquainted with them, their real situation. There is, however, no certain sign of pregnancy, but the motions of the child felt by the 416 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. mother; and all the symptoms 1 have mentioned, al- though sufficient to induce the belief of pregnancy, may be deceptive. For instance, the menses or courses may stop, and it may be produced by cold, or some cause other than pregnancy; therefore, until about the third or four month, doubts may exist as to the actual situation of the woman. I have mentioned, that after conception, and before the womb began to rise above the pelvis or basin, b}7 introducing the finger up the birth-place, the mouth of the womb might be plainly felt. This is the fact, and the reasons are obvious. The increasing weight of the womb, at this period, lowers its mouth in the vagina or birth-place, so that it can be easily touched with the finger: and an experienced physician or midwife, by such an examination, could easily tell whether the wo- man was with child or not. The indications, however, are more plainly felt in a young married woman, than in one who has borne children. In making this exam- ination, the woman should always be in a standing posture, leaning on the shoulder of the operator, so as to relax the parts as much as possible. In wemen who have borne children, or suffered in injuries from child birth, the mouth of the womb is very apt to pro- trude downward through the birth-place, and is called falling down of the wemb. This is caused by the ignorance and stupidity of common midwives, from pulling the after-birth away, and producing this descent of the mouth of the womb. You will be made fully acquainted with this falling of the womb, in the proper place. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 41 7 CAUTIONS DURING PREGNANCY. When the woman discovers her change of situation, or in other words, that she is with child, she is to attend to her bowels particularly, so that they may not become costive or bound up. She must steadily bear in mind, that more than half the diseases which arise during pregnancy, are more or less occasioned by neglect to keep the bowels regular. If you cannot have a stool daily,take a clyster of simple milk and water; there is no indelicacy in this matter. There are instruments called self-pipes, which you can use yourself, and there ought to be one of these in every family.—For a de- scription how to prepare and administer clysters, read under that head. I have known many women, who, by neglecting their bowels during pregnancy, were compelled to submit to having the hard excrement removed from the fundament, before a passage could be obtained. This is certainly more indelicate than using a clyster pipe, and merely throwing up a clyster of milk and w7ater, and I do assert, that if these clyster pipes were more used in the United States, both by women and men, there would be many constitutions saved, and very many diseases and sufferings avoided. Is it not reasonable to presume, that more danger is done to the stomach, by eternally keeping it loaded with drastic purgative medicines, than weuld be done to the system by the simple use of the clyster pipe ? Women, during pregnancy, may be said to labor under constant irritation, however delicate their con- stitutions; and. therefore, clysters not only afford an easy and pleasant passage or stool, but cool the bowels, and allay the irritation of the whole system. The tepid bath—see page 156—ought to be used during 53 418 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDKhSE. pregnancy. It will entirely soothe, not only the bodily irritation, but also tranquilize the mind and feelings. You will recollect, that the water of this bath is to be but pleasantly warm,because hot water has been known to produce abortion, which means losing the child. The bath I recommend, will have an effect to preserve and equalize the healthy action of the womb, and all the parts connected with it. Particular attention should be paid to the diet or food; let it be simple and plain, and of such a quality as agrees with you. If you will but attend to these instructions, I may assure you that you will pass through this period, not only with safety, but with great comfort, and produce, in due time, not only a healthy, but a vigorous offspring. By all means, banish gloomy and depressing fears; nor listen for a moment to the idle tales of misfortunes which are said to have happened to others; all these tales are without a shadow of truth. Think of the countless and innumerable millions, who have passed through these feelings and trials, without the slightest accident. Therefore, place full and implicit confidence in the benevolence, wisdom, and mercy, of that God the Great Father of the Universe, who rules and gov- erns all human destinies ! Be cheerful, collected and serene, for in multiplying and replenishing the earth, you are fulfilling an imperious command of the Almigh- ty power, in which he will never desert you. DISEASES OF PREGNANCY. The many diseases to which women are generally liable during pregnancy, mostly arise from the causes 1 have already enumerated, such as costiveness, improp- er diet, and so on. The womb at this period is GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 419 extremely irritable, and always sympathises with the other parts of the system, and particularly with the stomach and head. Some women suffer a great deal during pregnancy, and others very slightly. The fact is, that the mind, the passions, and even the feelings of women, sometimes participate strongly with the physi- cal system during pregnancy ; not only leaving power- ful impressions on the foetus or child itself, but exercis- ing a strong influence on the very conduct of the woman herself. I hardly need instance such matters as longing for particular articles of food, or the vast and countless varieties of whims, caprices, sympathies, antipathies, and so on, which beset some pregnant women; nor need I point out to the reader the abor- tive proportions of birth, and the varieties of injury sometimes sustained hy the child, through the mind, imagination, and feelings of the mother. Pregnancy also, and not unfrequently, exercises a moral influence. I recollect a lady in New York, of the very first re- spectability, whose husband was long an associate of the legislative councils of the nation, who never visited, or left her house, after she had felt the quickening sen- sations of pregnancy, in other words, the motion of the child, without experiencing an irresistible propensity to steal; nor could she ever combat successfully, or restrain the unaccountable desire to pilfer. This, how- ever, is only one case among a million that might be adduced, to prove the existence of influences in preg- nancy, which baffle the whole powers of genius and human reasoning. Doctor Rush, or some other physician of equal celebrity, relates the case of a medical man in some part of Europe, in whose natural disposition, the pro- pensity to steal was so strong, that he never was known 420 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. to visit a sick chamber, without stealing some articles of value, if they were not put out of his reach. His prac- tice was very extensive, he was wealthy, and his propensity to theft so well knowm to society, that after a few years had passed, in stealing the same articles over and over again, nothing was said about the matter. The fact is, that he had stolen the same articles so often, that it became the business of his wife, on his return home every night, to search his pockets, assort out, and send home the articles he had so often stolen. If this delineation of native character be correct, which we are not even permitted to doubt, why need we be surpri- sed at the few instances of a natural propensity to petty roguery and hook-fingered avarice, which our own country presents ? Or why need we be in the least sur- prised, to find men whose native and irresistible propen- sities to swindling, petty fraud, and diminutive rascality will lead them to cheat in weights and measures on all practicable occasions. This subject, however, presents itself in another, and a much stronger point of view. It bears strongly on the criminal laws and jurisprudence of our country, and must at some future period, arrest the attention of our legislative bodies. If there is such an influence in nature, as leads to the commission of crime, and that too in defiance of moral restraints, and fears of punish- ment, are there not cases in which moral justice would revolt at the punishment of involuntary and irresistible criminality ? I have not space in this work to give this subject such an investigation as it really and intrinsic- ally merits; but should it be in my power, as I now intend to publish a future volume of this work, when time and circumstance will permit, this subject shall be one which shall be particularly embraced. To speak GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 421 ~ plainly, I have long entertained doubts, whether, under circumstances in which it is practicable to banish a man from society, deprive him of his liberty, and prevent his committing future crimes, it can ever appertain to justice and the security of society, to shed human blood. It is very true, that the scripture thus denounces the murderer—"whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed;" but, ought we not to take into seri- ous consideration, the simple fact, that at the period this penalty of murder was announced to the Jews, so- litary confinement for life wras unknown to the policy of human laws. That a diseased state of the mind may exist, on one particular point, and that the same mind may be sound and sane in all other respects, no medical man in his senses will deny. The daughter of a wealthy merchant of Philadelphia, was in the habit of stealing from the different stores in which she purchased goods. Being extremely wealthy, and her propensity known, private accounts of the articles stolen, were ahvays kept, and always duly paid by her father. She married, and was never known during her pregnancy to steal the smallest article ; and candidly confessed that during these peri- ods, she had not the smallest propensity to steal or pilfer; and what was equally extraordinary, so soon as her deliveries were over, the old and natural propensity to theft returned. How are we to account, on anything like known principles, for the above facts and delinea- tions of character ? Medical philosophers, I propound the interrogator}7 to you ! The value of the articles, this woman often repeated, had nothing to do with the nat- ural impulse to theft. Was it a disease of the mind, derived through the physical system, from impressiom 423 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. made on the foetus or child in the womb, from the mind, and passions, and feelings of the mother ? SICKNESS OF THE STOMACH. This is common in the commencement of pregnancy, particularly with the first child : it generally lasts until the quickening sensation is felt, and no longer. If the vomiting or puking is not severe, it will do no injury ; but if it should continue, or become severe, which is sometimes the case, you will find relief in the following remedies. REMEDIES. If the habit of body be full, that is, strong and fleshy, the loss of some blood from the arm will be proper. But, if the woman should be weakly and delicate, omit the bleeding and use the following remedies : of colum- bo root and camomile flowers make a strong decoction or tea, to which you may add a little ginger: let this tea get perfectly cold, and give three or four table-spoons- ful occasionally. Or you may obtain the columbo root in pow7der, and give fifteen or twenty grains, mixed with a few7 drops of peppermint, and a little good old spirits of any kind; or take an ounce of columbo root, and bruise it with a hammer, then pour a pint of boiling water on it, and let it get cold. Take a wine-glassful of this decoction, with a few drops of peppermint in it, three or four times a day, or when you feel this sickness of the stomach. This bitter is very serviceable in weak stomachs and laxative bowels. Where the vomiting or puking is very severe, apply the stewed leaves of the garden mint to the pit of the stomach: the application U ust be warm, and it will stop the vomiting or puking GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 423 without fail. Or purchase a box of soda powders, on which you will find directions ; or if there are no direc- tions, see the head soda powders. Give these powders three or four times a day. Ginger tea, and mint tea; are also good remedies. Or use elixir vitriol, in doses of ten or fifteen drops, three or four times a day, in a glass of cool w/ater. Should the vomiting be extremely severe, rub a little laudanum over the pit of the stom- ach : if this docs not stop it, give ten or fifteen drops of laudanum, occasionally, in a little mint or ginger tea. In very stubborn cases of vomiting, the following will always give relief:—mix in a phial, equal quantities of compound spirits of lavender, laudanum, and spirits of hartshorn: of this mixture, give a tea-spoonful in a little cold water, three or four times a day, or as the sickness and vomiting may take place. COLIC. This is a common complaint during pregnancy; and this is the reason why I have cautioned you so particu- larly respecting your food or diet, and hy all means to avoid costiveness, or in other werds permitting yourself to be too long a time without having a stool. The bow- els, during the time you are with child, will always bs much subject to flatulence or wind, which is called in the country windy colic. REMEDIES. Bathe the belly with w7arm water, or sit in a tub in which there is warm water, and take a table-spoonful of castor oil. Or you may apply to your belly warm salt: or you may apply cloths wrung out of warm wrater 424 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. to the belly, and throw up the fundament, with the clys- ter pipe, the following injection : make a pint or quart of thin gruel; strain it clean, and put into it a table- spoonful or less of hog's lard, let it stand until it becomes milk warm, and take it as a clyster:—see the head clystering. PAIN IN THE HEAD, AND DROWSINESS. When there is a pain in the head, or a heavy, dull drowsiness is felt, it is apt to arise from the blood-vessels being too full. This is generally the case with fleshy, strong, healthy young women. In delicate and weakly women, pain in the head and drowsiness are sometimes felt, but they generally arise from an opposite cause, from a want of due circulation of the blood, wiiich indu- ces debility or weakness. REMEDIES. If the woman is fleshy and strong, and is thus afflicted, draw blood from the arm, and give a dose of laxative medicine, such as epsom salts, castor oil, &c. But if, on the contrary, she be delicate and weakly, bleeding in any way would be highly improper. She is to take moderate exercise on horseback, attend to the state of her stomach, and also to her food: use freely the tepid bath—seepage 156: take very gentle medicines, or a clyster to keep her bowels regular if bound; bathe her forehead and temples frequently with spirits, in which camphor has been dissolved; and take occasionally through the day, a glass of real good wine, or some toddy made with any kind of spirits. If this pain or heaviness of the head still remains, after the above GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 425 means have been resorted to, it may arise from the stomach—if so, the columbo root, as already described, will be found of great benefit. HEART-BURN. This complaint generally arises from acid on the stomach, and very few women escape it during preg- nancy. If the heart-burn is attended with a constant hawking up of tough phlegm, the stomach should be cleansed with a gentle emetic or puke, of fifteen or twenty grains of ipecacuanha. But, if the heart-burn is accompanied with a sour taste in the mouth, or a belching up of sour water, it will be relieved by the use of very weak lime water, or a tea-spoonful of magnesia in a cup of cold water. This last, or either of them, may be taken whenever these acid tastes take place. The magnesia is generallj7 preferred in lumps, and may be eaten in moderate quantities, being perfectly inno- cent. When a considerable lump is used, it will act as a mild purgative. By adding a little rhubarb to the magnesia, it is an excellent purgative for women in a pregnant state. As both articles are quite innocent, they may always be used, when found necessary for opening the bowels. SWELLED LEGS. This swelling is produced by the wemb, which is enlarged during pregnancy; the weight of the womb presses on the vessels wiiich return the fluids from the lower parts of the body. When the woman is far 54 Sl2 426 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. advanced, these swellings frequently give much pain; there is, however, no danger; nor should they give any distress to the afflicted woman. These swellings are very apt to go off if she will take rest on a bed, bathe her feet at night in strong salt and water, and steam herself over mullen, on which boiling water has been poured. As rest, in a recumbent or lying posture, les- sens very much the swellings, it would be advisable for the woman to remain as quiet as possible, and lose a little blood from the arm occasionally. Attention to these things, with a little cooling medicine, such as epsom salts, or a little cream of tartar, will nearly always allay these swellings of the legs. CRAMP. Cramp generally comes on about tlie fourth month after pregnancy, and is often very troublesome at night. while the woman is in bed. Its attacks arc generally in the legs and thighs, but sometimes in the bottom of the belly and hips. Those women who have never before been subject to cramp, are very apt to have attacks of it, during the last stages of pregnancy. REMEDIES. When the cramp is frequent and severe, the loss of a little blood weuld be proper. Cramp sometimes ari- ses from costiveness or constipation of tlie bowels; when this is the case, you may give a clyster, or a cool- ing purge, such as epsom salts. Standing a few minutes on a cold hearth with the feet bare, is a simple remedy, and will always give relief. I have knowm a small garter or belt, in which was confined some pounded GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 427 brimstone or flour of sulphur, relieve several ladies who were much subject to cramp. CONSTANT DESIRE TO MAKE WATER. The constant desire to make wTater, or pass off the urine, is occasioned by the weight of the womb con- stantly pressing on the neck of the bladder. Whenever this desire becomes troublesome, rest as quietly on your bed as possible, taking at the same time a cooling purge. If convenient, and whether so or not, the use of the warm or tepid bath will be very beneficial; by which I mean that the whole body is to be placed in wrater about milk warm; if this be impracticable, for want of a vessel large enough, you may sit once a day in a tub of water in this warmth. The fact is, that by bathing occasionally in water milk warm, during any stage of pregnancy, considerable benefit will ahvays be derived. STOPPAGE OF URINE, This is called suppression of urine by physicians, and means when the urine is stopped from flowing from the bladder, at those periods when nature requires the evac- uation. When this stoppage takes place, the bladder becomes distended or swelled with the water, and is also severely painful. Relief must now immediately be had, by applying to the belly cloths wrung out of warm water, and taking a clyster of w arm milk and water— see the head clystering. Clystering is extremely bene- ficial, in this, and all similar cases, and women should 428 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. early be taught to know, not only that there is no indel- icacy in the operation, but that in all warm climates it is absolutely essential to most women in a state of preg- nancy. All the lying-in hospitals in Europe, are amply furnished with the apparatus for clystering; but in the western country of America, where there is certainly as much general intelligence as in any part of the world, it seems that you might as well desire a lady to swallow an elephant, as to take a clyster instead of a purgative medicine. This is all false modesty; the women of all countries ought to know, that the more simply their diseases are treated, and the more according to nature, the better will their health and safety be ensured. After the remedies just mentioned have been used with- out affording relief, you are to send for a physician, who will draw off the water with a catheter;—for a descrip- tion of which, and the mode of using it. look under the head catheter. WANT OF SLEEP. On or about the last stage of pregnancy, most we- men become restless and uneasy, and their sleep very much disturbed. They are also troubled with a chok- ing sensation, and a difficulty of getting their breath. This last affliction is sometimes so great, that they are obliged to get out of bed, and to throw/ up a window for fresh air, which generally relieves them. If the woman who is subject to these unpleasant feelings, be of a robust and full habit of body, the loss of a little blood from the arm will be proper; in addi- tion to which some mildly laxative medicines ought to be taken, to open the bowels. If the woman is of a GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 429 delicate constitution, and much debilitated or weaken- ed, bathe her feet and legs in strong salt and water, made pleasantly warm before she retires to bed; and give her fifteen or twenty drops of laudanum, or if laudanum cannot be had, give her a glass of toddy, made with any kind of spirits. PILES. This is an uneasy and troublesome complaint, which frequently-attends on pregnancy, and generally afflicts fat, stout women. The fact is, however, that most women are subject to piles, after the fifth or sixth month. In addition to the remedies I shall mention here, refer to page 323, where you will find a full description given of piles. Women who have never before been troubled with this disorder, are apt to be afflicted with it, as I have just mentioned, during the last months of pregnancy. It is almost invariably produced from costiveness or constipation of the bowels. The common oak-ball, pounded fine, and stewed down in butter without salt, is an excellent remedy. The parts are occasionally to be rubbed with this ointment; whilst at the same time you are to take a gentle purge. You may, also, occa- sionally bathe the parts in cold water; or you may put a tea-spoonful of sugar of lead, into a pint of cold spring water, and frequently bathe the parts with it during the day. As much rest as possible is to be taken; in other werds, walk or ride about as little as possible. 430 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. FALSE PAINS. These pains resemble the pains of labor very much, and are frequently the cause of alarm, and much in- convenience to all concerned. False pains are always produced from some deranged state of the system; or from the improper conduct of the woman herself, by excessive, and sometimes slight fatigue. Anxiety of mind; sudden exposure to cold or heat; want of atten- tion to the bowels; indigestion, or eating such articles of food as produce wind in the bowels, will frequently produce these pains. Dysentery, accompanied with severe griping, will also produce these pains. When these pains occur frequently, it will be proper to employ an experienced physician, because their too frequent presence may produce miscarriage, or in other language, the loss of the child. On discovering the pains to be false, which must be ascertained by the physician or midwife, either of which should be well acquainted with the mode of conducting an examina- tion, they are to be removed as speedily and easily as possible. If there is much pressure on the mouth of the womb from above, and if it is perceived to dilate or open during the continuance of the pains, they are not false, and the woman may be considered in labor; but, if neither pressure nor dilation or opening can be felt the pains are false, and are to be removed. When these false pains are caused by fatigue, the patient should be kept as quiet as possible, and take the necessary rest to remove the fatigue. If she be of a feverish disposition, she must lose a little blood; and, generally, it will be proper to give a gentle dose of laxative medicine, or some mild and opening clysters. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 431 FLOODING. Flooding is a disease incidental to pregnancy, often of a dangerous and fatal character, in which there is a loss of blood from the womb, It is, fortunately, of not very frequent occurrence; but when it does come on, you arc to lose no time in obtaining a skilful and expe- rienced physician. It is a case, in which merely common skill and experience will seldom answer, be- cause it is frequently attended with abortion, and often with the loss of life. Flooding is usually produced by a sudden fall, by over exertion, by fright and alarm, and not unfrequently by the gloomy and depressing passions of the mind. It is also produced by weakness of the womb, originating miscarriages, or other injuries derived from severe labor or child-birth. It also some- times arises, from the after-birth separating from the womb, and the large blood vessels entering into it, dis- charging their contents through the mouth of the womb. This complaint is very alarming to persons well acquain- ted with its real dangers, because death frequently comes on suddenly, and with very little warning of its approach. No discharges of blood ever take place from the womb, in a natural and sound state of pregnancy; the idea of regular discharges in pregnancy, is entirely erroneous and perfectly farcical; and whenever they do take place, they ahvays prove to the man of skill and judgment, that there is something wrong. They always either proceed from the passage to the womb, or from the womb itself. When they merely come from the passage, to the womb, they are seldom, if ever, attended with danger: but when they proceed from the womb itself, there is considerable danger that disa- greeable consequences may be the result. When but 432 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. a little blood comes away, from much walking or riding, or from standing in an upright posture, and there is only a trifling pain in the lower part of the belly, attended with no symptoms of fever, and no in- creased or inflammatory action of the blood vessels, the blood may ahvays be presumed to come from the passage to the womb. This can always be removed, and that very easily, by lying a eliort time in a recum- bent or horizontal position; and afterwards avoiding much walking and riding, and long continued stand- ing in an upright posture. But, mind me particularly, when the discharge of blood is preceded, cr accom- panied with flushings of the face, considerable heat in the palms of the hands, and great thirst; or when there are great pains in the lower part of the abdomen or belly, in the loins, or in the back, it is evident that the discharge of blood is from the womb itself, and also that there is much danger. REMEDIES. The first step to be taken, when the flooding pro- ceeds from the womb itself, and may therefore be con- sidered dangerous, is to place the woman in bed, and to keep her as cool as possible, by removing the bed clothes, and admitting the cool and fresh air; and, as you value the life of your patient, give her nothing to eat or drink of an inflammatory or heating nature; in other words, nothing that will increase the action of the blood vessels. I have told you before, that in this case, which is a dangerous one, a skilful physician must be obtained if possible. The woman should be imme- diately bled from the arm, freely, copiously, and rapidly, so as to produce fainting, because this is the moment, if ever, when those clots of blood are formed and con- gealed, which put a stop to the great discharge from GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 433 the blood vessels. Apply at the same time to the belly, cloths wet with the coldest w7ater, or. even ice wrapped in very thin cloths, if it can possibly be procured. If the blood should still continue to flow, in any consider- able quantity, a soft piece of cloth ought to be introduced up the birth-place, also wet with cold water. These cold applications, however, ought not to be continued so long as to produce a chill; but, while they are con- tinued, they ought to be occasionally and often renew- ed. A clyster of cold water, occasionally thrown up tlve fundament, will also be very effective in stopping this flooding. If the above remedies should fail, which is some- times the case, you ere to give the patient two grains of sugar of lead every hour, for five, six, or seven hours. This is a powerful remedy, and most generally an effective one. You may, also, put twenty or twenty- five grains of sugar of lead in a quart of water, and when it is dissolved, you may throve about one fourth of it up the bowels, and with the residue, occasionally wash the birth-place; these measures will greatly as- sist the cure, and if necessary, they may be repeated two or three times. The last remedies mentioned, are generally attended with relief; but there is always con- siderable danger of the return of the flooding; there^ fore, it is very immaterial how well the patient may feel after relief, she must continue in bed three or four weeks, and be kept cool and quiet, and always ready for the application of cold wet cloths to the belly, and also up tire birth-place; her situation will still be dan- gerous for that length of time, and without this cautious and circumspect conduct, she may still be lost without three hours warning of her fate. If, however, all these remedies should fail to stop the flooding, and to 55 2 M 4 34 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. prevent its reaching the stage in which the weman must inevitably perish, an abortion must be resorted to, as the only possible means of saving her life. ABORTION, AND THE MEANS TO BE OBSERVED IN PREVENTING OR PROCURING IT. I intend by abortion, the expulsion of the foetus or child, at such an early period of pregnancy, that the child is either dead when it is brought forth, or dies soon afterwards. Whilst speaking of flooding, many of the symptoms and circumstances attending miscar- riage or abortion are named; but, there are several others which precede and cause abortion, which must be particularly mentioned. They are the following, and are always to be guarded against or removed by pregnant women, if they wish to preserve their bur- thens, until the expiration of the period fixed by nature: Severe and oppressive exercise; violent and sudden exertions of strength; sudden and agitating frights; fits of excessive and violent passions; excess of venery, by which I mean too frequent sexual communication with the male; a morbid or diseased state of the womb; external injuries of all descriptions which affect the generative organs; and general and excessive debility or weakness of the whole system. I say nothing of those means of procuring abortions which are some- times used by pregnant women, with the intention of relieving themselves of their charge—these are matters to be referred to the lofty and unerring tribunal of God himself; they are accounts between such women and their Maker. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 435 Generally speaking, before abortion comes on, there will be felt some slight pains about the lower part of the belly, and also in and about the loins; there will be a looseness and flebbiness about the breasts, and some general sensations of shuddering and coldness; and in women of full, strong and muscular habits of body, there will nearly ahvays be some considerable degree of fever. Next to these symptoms, slight dis- charges of blood will take place from the womb; and these discharges will continue to increase, perhaps occasionally stopping a short time, until they amount to absolute flooding, which I have already particularly described. When these discharges return, after they have become copious and debilitating, they are ahvays attended with a sense of dead weight, and a heavy bearing down about the womb, great sickness of the stomach, and sometimes frequent faintings. These are self-evident indications of immediate miscarriage or abortion, w hich soon takes place, and is ahvays follow7- ed by profuse bleeding, which, however, soon subsides. After the expulsion of the contents of the womb, and the bleeding has gone off, there is a serous or watery discharge mixed with a little blood; but this is a mat- ter of no consequence. This is an abortion, according to the dictates and operations of nature herself. It may sometimes, how- ever, be avoided, by observing the following simple treatment:—on the occurrence of the first symptoms of abortion, the woman must be placed in bed, and kept cool and quiet until the matter be decided. If she is of a full and strong habit of body, she must be bled. Every thing of a heating, irritating and stimulating na- ture, either as food or drink, must be entirely avoided. Nothing but cold water or very weak tea is to be 436 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. drank by the patient. The bow7 els may be opened, if costive, and kept open, by merely injecting up them some milk warm water. The irritation of the womb is to be lessened immediately, and as much as possible; to effect the lessening or reduction of this irritation, the woman ought to be placed in a tub of warm water, and when taken out, to have large quantities of sweet oil rubbed about her back, loins, belly and breasts. If these means fail in preventing the abortion, nature will effectuate the expulsion of the child, in the manner I have just described. She may, however, be assisted in her exertions by the following means:—The woman is to be kept quiet, and treated as in common labor; after which, cloths wet with cold w7ater must be applied to the belly, to aid in the contraction of the womb, after the expulsion of its contents. When abortion is to be brought on, in order to stop profuse and dangerous flooding, it is to be done in the following simple and easy manner. I will here adopt the language of Doctor Bard, with some observations. "The woman is to be brought down to the edge of the bed, either lying on her side, with a pillow or two be- tween her thighs, which are to be drawn up—or lying on her back, with her hips a little raised, and her feet on the lap of an assistant on each side. The operator must sit on a low seat immediately before her, whilst a double sheet throwm over her body and that of the physician or midwife, must protect her from cold, and form a decent covering. The hand of the operator, well rubbed with good oil or hog's lard, with the fin- gers collected into a point, must then be slowiy intro- duced through the birth-place to the mouth of the wemb, which will sometimes make considerable resis- tance against attempts to open it. This resistance GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 437 must be overcome by cautious, gentle and patient efforts. When the mouth of the womb begins to dilate or widen with the efforts of the operator, one of the fingers must be introduced into it, then another, and so on, until by patient and gentle attempts it admits the hand. The efforts to dilate and widen the mouth of the womb—and you must remember this particularly—are ahvays to be suspended or stopped, whenever the pains come on, and whilst they are on. In other werds, whenever the pains cease, you are to proceed in your efforts to widen gently the mouth of tie wemb. When the hand passes into the womb, it is to be opened and laid flat; this will pre- vent a contraction on the knuckles, wiiich might rupture the neck of the wemb, and do much injury. The mouth of the womb being sufficiently widened, if the hand can then be easily passed over the part of the contents, called by physicians the placenta, or after- birth, which is separated from the womb, until the fingers reach the membranes, this is to be done; and breaking the membranes, it is to be immediately passed into the womb. But if you cannot readily pass the separated portion of the placenta, and the Hooding be great, you are to pass through it, which is less danger- ous than to separate a larger portion, by passing the hand between it and the womb. The hand being now in the womb, the neck will generally cling so close to the wrist, as to prevent tlie escape of much water, and you will find room to act with freedom. Here you are to deliberate, and to refresh the woman with some proper drink. You ought now7 to get at the feet of the child, by all practicable and gentle means. You are to recollect, that the most natural presentation is the most common; and in that case, the child's head is at the brim of the pelvis or basin, with the face and 2 m 2 438 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. belly to the back of the mother, the knees bent to its breasts, and the feet towards the upper part of the womb. As, therefore, the child must ultimately be turned, this is the best time to push the head and shoulders up tow7ards the fundus, and to turn the face of the child to the back of the mother, which is most easily done within the membranes; by this movement the feet of the child will be brought within reach of the hand, and having secured them, they may easily be brought, by a w7aving motion, into the vagina or birth-place. You are alw7ays to remember, that you are to pause when- ever a pain comes on. Next, you are to bring down the hips and body of the child; and take care, if it be necessary, to turn the child gently, so that when it is delivered to the arm-pits, the belly of the child shall be to the back of the mother, which is the position in which the arms and head can be most easily delivered. Now, or before this time, examine the navel string, and occa- sionally pull it down a little, so as to prevent its being stretched. If the pulsation has ceased in the cord, or if the woman floods freely, either the child or the mother may be lost by delay; and you are to finish the delivery as soon as you prudently can, in doing which, you are to remember, that gentleness, caution and dex- terity, are ahvays to be used in preference to force." There are few conditions more truly dangerous and alarming, than flooding to any excess, towards the expi- ration of the natural term of pregnancy; and I there- fore strongly and emphatically advise, that in all such cases, where an experienced and skilful physician can possibly be had, he be immediately sent for—and espe- cially where a forced abortion is essential to the preser- vation of the life of the woman. Such cases always require skill, judgment, promptness of conduct, and GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 439 decision of resolution; he must therefore be a man who can decide coolly, and act with firmness and caution. After the delivery, or rather the abortion has been pro- duced, the womb may be assisted in its contraction, and the flooding retarded and stopped, by the means I have already noticed so plainly; in addition to which, the rest of the woman will be promoted, and her recovery much hastened, by small or weak anodynes, in some cordial julep, such as spirituous cinnamon water, or a little good weak toddy with nutmeg. These are the remedies first called for, and they are to be succeeded by small portions of nourishing diet, repeated with cau- tion whenever called for, and by strengthening articles, such as tonics in wiiich peruvian bark has been infu- sed, and port wine, in which cinnamon bark has been infused. LABOR. The commencement of labor means, the time the weman begins to be delivered of her child. She is always warned of the approach of her time, by pains which are called labor pains. They are produced by contraction or drawing up of the womb-, which at the commencement expels or forces out a slimy matter, gen- erally colored with blood, which is called the shew. As soon as this matter is discharged, the mouth of the womb, at each pain, begins to open and wriden itself, so as to permit the contents of the womb to pass. You will recollect, that I have before informed you what the womb in pregnancy contains. These pains increase gradually, the belly diminishes in size, and the womb 440 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. seems to sink, or approach nearer to the birth-place. The pains are at first quite short, and only come on after considerable intervals; the woman is now restless, first hot and then cold, and not unfrequently sick at the stomach. She is also often griped, and frequently belches wind, or passes it off backward, which should never be restrained from false delicacy. These pains now fly quickly to the back, and then again to the bot- tom of the belly. The woman has now/ a great desire to urinate, or make water frequently, and to go to stool. These inclinations are always to be attended to, because emptying the bladder, and evacuating the bowels fre- quently before actual child-birth comes on, are highly important and ought never to be neglected. The pains having been sharp and some time between them, she then begins to be uneasy and fretful, and requests some- thing to be given to her, to bring on the pains more rapidly. This is the precise point of time in which so many injuries are done, by ignorance and officiousness, in attempting to force nature into premature exertions, who if let alone a little while, weuld in almost all cases per- form her office, according to the dictates of divine wisdom, and with safety both to the mother and child: for you may be assured that what you so much dread, is intended for your eventual benefit, by permitting the womb gradually to distend or open, with perfect safety to the parts, and in order that you may be blessed with an easy birth, and a living and uninjured offspring. You will always know the pains I now speak of, by an irresistible desire to catch hold of every thing within your reach, such as the bedstead, a chair, and so on. These pains, as I have already told you, arise from the GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 441 constant efforts of nature to open the mouth of the womb, and they must and will continue, until she accomplishes her end. When this is the case, and the mouth of the wemb is sufficiently widened, nature will immediately commence her efficient and powerful operations, to press clown the infant so as to empty the womb. You will immediately know this change, by a pressing down pain, if I maybe allowed the expression, which gradually increases to a strong sensation of bearing down. Although these for- cing pains are powerful and strong, yet the woman will bear them with more apparent ease and fortitude, than those which were felt in the first stage of labor. At this time, the membranous bag which contains the child and the waters which surround it, and which I have before described to you, is pushed out of the womb by degrees at every pain. The distance wiiich this bag extends out, varies in size in different women; sometimes it is very small, and sometimes of considerably large dimen- sions. It continues gradually to force open, and to widen the mouth of the womb, until it opens the parts sufficiently to permit the head of the. child to pass. You will now perceive, that by tliese gradual exertions of nature, to arrange and prepare all tilings properly, those delicate parts, which by sudden and powerful exertions would have been seriously injured, are now sufficiently enlarged to permit the birth of your infant without injury. And you will also discover, by what I have disclosed to you, that if nature is hurried by an imprudent physician or midwife, by forcing the child ' away before the parts are sufficiently widened, great and signal injuries must be the consequences, both to the mother and child. 56 442 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. As soon as the parts are sufficiently prepared for the birth of the child, this membranous bag bursts open, and the w7aters are discharged; sometimes, however, these events take place at an early stage of the labor. When this is the case, the labor is never so easy as under other circumstances. The quantity and quality of this w7ater, differ in different women, as I have before told you. When these waters, then, burst forth in proper time, which 1 have pointed out, the bearing down pain continues, and the child gradually enters into the werld. As soon as the child's head passes, the woman's relief is very great, and a little rest ought to be allowed her; you are by no means to pull the body out by force, for by so doing, you will produce great injury to the soft parts, and at the same time render it very difficult to deliver the woman of the after-birth. I must here remark emphatically, that this is another stage of labor, at wiiich thousands of women are inju- red materially and fatally, by the hurry and officiousness of midwivcs, in hastily forcing the birth. Give time, and I will ensure that nature will exercise sufficient power to expel the child in her own time. The body of the child is not to be pulled and forced outward; let it alone—converse with the sufferer, and cheer her spir- its, and tell her that from the time the child's head makes its appearance, she is not to force and bear down. Tell her that by so doing, she will force the child for- ward, before the parts are ready; and that the conse- quence may be, the tearing or rupturing the perineum. This is the part between the fundament and the birth-place. Tell her that such an injury would leave her in a wretched condition for life, and must be avoided by all means. It is the duty of the midwife or physi- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 443 cian, as the child's head passes, to keep one hand pressed firmly yet cautiously against the perineum, which must, of course, from distension or stretching, be very thin and easily torn; and at the same time gently press so as to incline the head of the child upward toward the pubes. When the woman has rested, and the pains again come on, the hand must again be pressed against the perineum with steadiness and care, until the shoulders and hips of the child pass, at the same time gently supporting the child, and delivery is over so far. The child being now born, you are to permit it to lie still a few7 minutes, without being molested. Give it fresh air, and time to breathe, and the pulsation in the navel-cord will begin to diminish. The pulsation, by all means, should be suffered to subside, before you sep- arate the child from the mother. You will, then, with a waxed thread, or a small string, make a moderately firm tie about the navel-cord, about three inches from the navel of the child; then make another tie, aboul three inches further from the child, on the navel-cord, and cut the cord asunder between the two ties, with a scissors or sharp knife. You are now to hold steadily, but by no means, as you value the life of the mother, to pull the navel-cord which has been tied and cut off; because this cord is attache I to the after-birth; which is still in the body of the mother, and is yet to be delivered. Permit me to caution you, to implore you, to command you, not to pull aw7ay, by force, the after-birth; for I do now know some of the finest women in the United States, who are suffering daily and hourly, and will continue to suffer during their lives, from officiously and imprudently for- cing away from them the after-birth, which nature 444 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. herself weuld have affected, without risk or pain, had she been left to her own exertions. By pulling awray the after-birth before the proper time, and before nature expels it by what are called after-pains, the consequen- ces will and must always be, Hooding, and great loss of blood; because you force the separation, before you give time for the contraction of the blood vessels—in other words, before the mouths of the blood vessels have had time to close. In fact, the exercise of com- mon sense cannot fail to teach you, that where the after- birth is yet connected with, and strongly adheres to the womb, force will ahvays tear the womb from its con- nexions, and be productive of unspeakable injuries. From this plain statement of facts, and the reasoning I have employed, I am convinced you will exercise due caution, in a matter of such vast importance to the future health and safety of the mother. According to the old usage and practice, the child would be immediately washed in warm water, and not unfrequently in spirits. Either of these plans of treat- ing the infant, in fact both of them are highly improper, and have been the causes of destroying thousands of children. Warm water or spirits ought never to be used in this manner, unless the infant be born appa- rently dead; in such a case, warm water merely is proper to be applied. For a further explanation of this important matter, look under the head "treatment of new-born infants. The woman having rested for a short time, after her separation from the child in the manner I have descri- bed to you, the after-pains may be expected to come on, for the expulsion of the after-birth. These pains are produced by the contraction or drawing up of the womb, to deliver or expel this after-birth; they generally come GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 445 on, in the lapse of from fifteen minutes to an hour, after the child has been brought forth. You are now to remember, that none but gentle and simple measures are to be used, in order to produce the expulsion or delivery of the after-birth. You are now to rub the belly of the woman, and gently extend or pull the cord, at the same time that she blows with some force into the palms of her own hands: the policy of this blow7- ing is obvious—it will cause a gentle and natural bear- ing down, without the straining which weuld arise from holding and forcing the breath. If the woman be healthy and strong, if she has lost no blood, and if she feels able, let her stand up, and support herself on the shoulders of the operator or physician, wiiile he is endeavoring, by the means just pointed out, to relieve her of the after-birth. I have, however, often succeed- ed in delivering the after-birth, when the womb would not contract, and when the woman was in a lying pos- ture, by introducing the finger up the birth-place, and gently turning it around in the mouth of the wemb; in this case, the sensation felt in the mouth of the womb, will generally cause it to contract, and expel the contents. If all these means fail, and an hour passes without the expulsion of the after-birth, you are to introduce your hand with great caution, the parts being very sore, and open your fingers inside and round the edge of the womb; at the same time that you feel cautiously, and slowly separate, between the edges of the after- birth and the womb, any parts which may adhere as the womb gradually closes. When the after-birth is expelled or brought away, and any great discharge of blood takes place, apply to the belly some cloths wet with cold water, and nut one up the birth-place, as ' 2N %p 446 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. directed in flooding. The woman is then to be wiped or very gently rubbed dry, and suffered to rest quietly for several hours. DIFFICULT LABOR. Most cases of tedious labor, arise among women with their first child, with wemen who have married late in life, and with those who are so healthy, robust, and corpulent, that the parts seem to relax so slowly, as hardly to permit the birth of the child. The loss of •some blood from the arm will be proper; and, I have frequently, after bleeding, put them in warm water; in doing this, however, you must be careful as to the child. I have knowm instances, in which women have had their children in the close-stool or pot, while in the act of endeavoring to urinate or have a stool. The warm bath and bleeding will relax the system, sufficiently in all probability for the child to be born; but take care that the child is not injured by the water, while the woman is in the bath. When convulsions or fits take place during labor, and the woman has before complained of great pain in the head, and dimness with loss of sight, remember that you are to bleed freely, and to open the bowels with clysters, or some gentle laxative medicine. The most powerful means, and the best known, for relieving tedious or difficult labor is blood letting from the arm; and it should always be done if the woman is strong, healthys and of a vigorous constitution. v»^ GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 447 TWINS. What I have already said on the subject of labors relates to cases in which nature presents the mother with but one offspring from a pregnancy. You are well aware, however, that she sometimes presents a parent with two children; and, in the western country, if rumor speak the truth, she in more than one instance, has not even stopped at this number. In about ninety- nine cases out of a hundred, the directions I have given you, which relate to the birth of one child, will be found sufficiently ample and particular; but I must not omit to instruct you also, as to cases of child-birth, in which more than one child is to be born. It is not easy to ascertain that there are twins, or more than twins to be born, until after the birth of the first child ; and if there are three to be born, not until after the birth of the second. Where twins are to be produc- ed, the membranes of both children may be felt at the birth-place, sometimes before the delivery of one of them, . but not often ; and sometimes, but very seldom, it may be distinguished on examination, that different parts of both children present themselves. Twins are always considerably smaller than single children, which gener- ally causes their birth to be more easy and rapid; in fact, the rapidity of a first birth, generally produces the first suspicion that there are twins. Generally speaking, im- mediately after ihe birth of the first child, another may be felt by very accurate pressure on the belly of the mother. But if the womb be very capacious or large, rather than subject yourself to great uncertainty, the hand may be very cautiously and gentlj7 introduced, and the child distinguished by the touch. Where there are twins, the second child is brought forth, within about m.-. 448 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. an hour of the first, and in a position directly contrary to the first; so that when the first is presented with the head foremost, the second may always be expected, with the breech or feet foremost. " The first child being delivered," says Doctor----, "as nrescribed in single cases, some time must be allow- JL CD J ed to recruit the woman's strength, and to afford nature time for bringing on the next delivery. There are cases in which it would be necessary to wait even three or four hours. 1st.-—When artificial aid was used in the first case. 2d.—When the child presents unnatu- rally. 3d.—When fits of flooding come on. "When both children present naturally, ami the la- bor of the first ends without aid. and without much fatigue to the patient, I wait for the secondary pains; but should these not come on in a reasonable time, four hours, I introduce my hand cautiously, and rupture the membranes; when, commonly, the second child passes readily through the pelvis or basin. If the first labor has been natural, and the second child presents in a wrong direction, I have generally, without delay, extracted it by the feet." If the first labor has been unnatural, with but little delay, the membranes are to be ruptured; and, whether the child should be brought down immediately, and delivered by the feet or not— the operating physician or midwife must decide. The rules applicable to twins, will equally apply to cases where there are three or more children." Where a woman has brought forth twins, or more, great care and attention are necessary to prevent her from fainting. She should, therefore, not have her head raised or elevated; and even in moving, should have herself rolled over in the bed. A broad bandage round the belly, should never be omitted in the case of GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 449 twins, to support the belly of the mother. The direc- tions I have already laid down, respecting the after-birth of single children, are fully and entirely applicable in the cases of twins, and more children even than two. DIRECTIONS FOR MIDWIVES. The following remarks are especially intended for the serious consideration and benefit of midwives; and indeed of all such as are in the practice of officiating in the delivery of pregnant women. Regularly bred and licenced physicians are always presumed to know their duties, and to perform them with skill and judg- ment, in this highly responsible department of their profession. The practice of midwifery, by those who are not regularly taught the medical profession, and who are presumed to know little or nothing about the organization of the human system, implies the assump- tion of a most awful and dangerous responsibility; especially when it is considered, that the fatal conse- quences, of ignorance and presumption, if combined with total disregard of moral feelings, duties and prin- ciples, are nearly as chargeable with criminality, as if they proceeded from voluntary and intentional viola- tions of the lawrs of God! There is very little differ- ence, in other words, between the disregard of those duties which are enjoined hy the law7s of justice and humanity, and their palpable and unconditional viola- tion. The directions which I shall lay down for your con- siderate adoption, will be plain, simple, and natural; they will be obscured by no technical language, and rendered unintelligible to you by none of the mysteries 57 2 n 2 450 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of the medical profession ; and if you scrupulously at- tend to them, they will enable you to be successful in ninety-nine cases of midwifery out of a hundred, in which you may be engaged. If you wish to be esteemed great and skilful in your calling, and if you desire to be an instrument in the hands of divine provi- dence, for affording consolation and relief to your sex in the hour of affliction, treasure up the salutary advice, and never lose sight of it—that you are never to force nature; that you are to give her time to perform her operations; and, if you have any doubt as to the suc- cess of the delivery, you are to run no risks, but to call in the aid of a skilful and experienced physician. By attending to this course of conduct, you will relieve yourself of dangerous responsibilities, discharge your duties to a fellow creature, and appear in the presence of your Creator, with the consciousness of having acted in obedience to the most solemn injunctions of humanity. 1st. Immediately on your being called to deliver a woman, your first enquiry of her should be, as to the state of her bowels, whether she has had a stool, and whether she is bound or constipated in her bowels. I need not tell you, that the discharge of the bowels, and also of the urine or water from the bladder, are both important and even necessary—first, in preventing in- juries to the parts, as the child enters the world—and second, to render the labor and birth more easy and safe. You will, of course, therefore, strictly attend to these evacuations, and in proper time. 2d. You are now to ascertain and determine, wheth- er actual labor has taken place or not; and, the only certain and satisfactory signs of actual labor, are such as I have before minutely described to you. The GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 451 mouth of the womb is to be felt, by introducing the finger with much tenderness up the birth-place; and if you feel that it dilates or opens, during the time that a pain takes place, the woman is in actual labor. 3d. When examining, conduct the operation with caution and tenderness; and at the same time, take care to have your nails closely and smoothly pared, because your finger will feel the membranous bladder or bag containing the waters. If the labor be not much advanced you will only feel the mouth of the womb and its dilation or opening at every pain, 4th. Place a pillow between the thighs of the wo- man, so as to give sufficient room for the child to pass, and for its head to rest upon as it enters into the world, and let the weman draw up her legs. 5th. As the head of the child advances, press your right hand steadily and firmly against the part between the fundament and birth-place, called by physicians perineum, so as to give it support, and prevent its rup- turing or tearing; at the same time that you incline the chihrs head to the pubes, wiiich are the parts which form the arch in front. If you will recollect, and if you do not read the part over again, I have fully de- scribed and enforced the necessity, of your being extremely careful to prevent injuries to the perineum; for by its being ruptured or torn, which is sometimes the case from incautiousness and imprudence, as well as from hurrying the birth, the lower gut or fundament, and the birth-place itself, become one opening from the tearing or the laceration of the perineum. On this point, then, let me again urge you to be extremely careful. 6th. If the child's head advances forward too rapid- ly, resist or stop its passage outward, for one or two pains, with your hand; by these means you will in- 452 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. crease the powers or energies of nature in the mother, avoid all risks of injuring the perineum, and give ulti- mate facility or ease in the delivery. 7th. So soon as the head is delivered, the weman will have some respite from her sufferings. You must then converse with her, and encourage her to be patient and firm in her resolutions. Remember now, that the head of the child is to be supported, and that no force or pulling whatever is to be used. You are to wait patiently, for the next exertions of nature, who will always perform her operations in due time; the woman is by no means to strain, bear dow7n, or force her pains. As I told you before, and gave you the reasons, she may blow strongly into the palms of her hands, but exercise impulsion or force no further. 8th. The child being born, you have now nothing to do, for a few minutes, but to give it fresh air, and per- mit it to cry. After it has had sufficient time to breathe freely, and the navel cord has in some measure ceased its pulsation, the cord is to be tied about three inches from the navel of the child, and then again about an inch and a half from the first knot, and cut asunder between the two ties, with a scissors or any other sharp instrument. But I have told you this before. 9th. When the child is separated from the mother, you are not to wash it, according to the old custom ; this is a wrong and highly improper plan, and frequent- ly produces serious injuries to the child, as you will be fully informed by reading under the head, " treatment of new-born infants," wiiich you will find among the diseases of children. 10th. Now comes the period, in which so many women are injured for life, by ignorance and imprudent haste. Let the woman rest a short time, and aw7ait GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 453 patiently the return of the pains which are to expel the after birth, which the womb will do by contraction. Your own good sense will teach you, that if you pull or force down the after-birth, you will also pull down the womb, or separate the after-birth before the womb has contracted, so as to stop the blood vessels from pouring out their contents. Now, if you do pull, after all the advice to the contrary I have given you, the con- sequence will be, that the woman will bleed to death. I have told you before, how to excite the womb to action, so as to bring on the pains for expelling the after-birth. You are to rub her belly; and if she is a strong woman, and feels able, you may, by assistants, raise her up by supporting her under the arms. She may then blow in her hands, a long breath, for the reasons I have already given you. As soon as an after-pain comes on, the midwife is gently to stretch the cord, but not to pull it or use any force. By the motion of the cord, or its gentle extension, the after-birth is very apt to come away. If you do not think proper to use these mea- sures, you may turn the woman over on her belly, and introduce your finger into the mouth of the womb, with much care, the parts being extremely sore ; then turn- insr; the finger sentlv round the mouth of the womb, as O o CD & J you would round the edge of a cup, the womb will con- tract ; now7 gently stretch the cord, and you will extricate the after birth, generally speaking, with safety. An hour, an hour and a half, or two hours, may be allowed for the expulsion of the after-birth. When it cannot be delivered, proper-means are to be used for its expulsion, in other words, for its discharge. These means are the following :—Let the midwife intro- duce into the birth-place, her hand, with the fingers collected into a point, and made as small as possible. 454 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE; At the mouth or edge of the womb, let her open or extend her fingers, and rub them carefully round the edge. These measures will cause the womb to con- tract ; then, with the fingers gently introduced between the after-birth and the womb itself, she must slowly separate them from each other, should they adhere or stick together. Recollect distinctly, that all this is to be done, while the contraction is going on. 11th. If the discharge of blood is great, after this operation, apply cloths wet with cold water to the belly of the weman, as in flooding; and push up the birth- place gently, and not too far, a soft cloth also wet with cold water, as directed in flooding. 12th. When the woman is relieved of the after-birth, let a wide bandage be placed round her, pleasantly tight, and let her also be wiped dry. The clothes which are wet, and those which were placed under her, are now to be removed, and she permitted to remain per- fectly quiet, and to take her repose. If she complains cf faintness, or seems exhausted, give her some wine and water, cr a little toddy on which some nutmeg has been grated. I have now given you a full description cf what I intended, and I am persuaded, in such plain terms, that any woman of common sense can afford the requisite assistance in common cases of labor. DIRECTIONS AFTER LABOR. Apteu labor, the more quiet the woman can be kept, the better. The fact is, that she is to move or be moved, as little as possible, and to lie principally on her back. Her nipples are to be washed with milk-warm GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 4$g Water, before the infant is put to the breast, which ought to be done within twelve hours after the birth. If the woman has lost considerable blood during the labor, the milk will be longer in flowing than otherwise. When this is the case, apply bread and milk poultices warm over the nipples; these will soon cause the milk to discharge. You will frequently observe, in women who have had children, that their bellies protrude or stick out, as if they were always in a state of pregnancy. This is owing to neglect and bad management. To avoid it, on the second day after the child-birth, you are to apply round the whole belly, moderately tight, a broad band- age of cloth or flannel; the last is the best, which is to be worn for at least one month. It is not to be too tight, but merely tight enough to support the parts pleasantly. This will prevent the woman, after having recovered, from having a large and ill-shaped belly. You are now to bear in mind, and that too, particu- larly, the advice I am about to give you, especially if you value your health, and probably the preservation of your life. On the second day after delivery, you aie to take a dose of caster oil or epsom salts. More than two-thirds of the women who have been afflicted with, and finally died of child-bed fever, have owed their fate to neglecting, after the birth of their infants, to attend to the evacuation of their bowels. If yon do not like to take salts or ca*ior oil, evacuate the bowels with cly- sters :—see the head clystering. The fact is, you are not to let twenty-four hours pass, after the birth of a child, without a passage or stool. The consequences of this neglect ahvays are, that it is not only an injury to yourself, but the child. When you have such pas- sages as I have told you are necessary, you are not to *»j6 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. exert yourself by getting out of bed, but to have a basin or other handy convenience placed under you; folding a blanket at the same time to prevent you from getting wet. In this way, without any danger or indelicacy, have these passages, from wiiich you will receive much relief in body and mind, and derive much benefit in your recovery. You are every day, without fail, to have the birth- place washed with milk-w7arm water and good clear milk. This is to be done, by putting under the bed clothing, a basin of warm w7ater, and having your hips and thighs raised with a pillow or some bed clothes. In this situation, a common squirt made of elder or cane may be used, or a female syringe, winch can be procu- red at any doctor's shop in the country. Every day Warm water is to be thrown up the birth-place, so as to cleanse the parts; and to remove any clots of blood or matter, called by physicians the lochia, which by remaining would produce irritation and fever. If you wish to escape child-bed fever, and the whole train of affiictions incidental thereto, you are particularly to attend to these directions. In two or three days after delivery, for a short time, you may sit up in the bed, supported with a chair at your back covered with pillows; this will assist the natural discharges from the birth place. You are not to stand up before the sixth day; and in making any change, you are to do it very gradually. You are to be kept neither too warm nor too cool; the air of the room is to be kept pleasant and agreeable: and you are never to be exposed to a current of air. Two weeks after delive- ry, is about the common time of leaving your room; this, however, will depend on your situation; caution must always be used in the change, so as to bring it on GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 457 gradually. Sudden changes are ahvays dangerous to women immediately after delivery, and indeed until after they are completely restored. From the moment the woman is delivered of her child, the whole system becomes inclined to fever, and particularly for three or four days after delivery. Your own good sense will now teach you, that the practice of giving in such cases spirituous liquors, highly seasoned food, heating meats, and strengthening medicines, is directly contrary to what ought to be done: giving such matters as I have just named, keeping the woman in a constant sweat, and closing the room so as to confine all the foul air around her, are the very means of bring- ing on the fever wiiich you ought to endeavor to escape. Therefore, let me tell you, in as plain and emphatic language as I can find, that whatever adds to the heat of the woman's bo sly, or to the febrile or feverish action of the system, will ahvays encourage the coming on of fever, or increase it if it has come on. On the contrary, light cooling diet must be used ; the weman must neither be subjected to extremes of heat or cold ; her clothing and her bed chamber must be so attended to, as neither to oppress her with coldness nor heat; attention to these things, in ten days or two weeks, after she has had her child, will so exempt her from fever, that in a little time her health will be fully established. LOCHIA. This werd is derived from the Greek. It means, to bring forth, and, also, the cleanings : by which are intended here, the serous or wratery, and often green-col- ored discharges, that take place from the womb and 58 2 0 458 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. birth-place, during the first three or four days after delivery, when they generally subside. During the first four days, these discharges are apt to change their color, and frequently to become offensive, unless due caution and cleanliness have been observed. If they are profuse or great, and there is considerable weakness, cloths wet with cold water must be applied to the belly. There must also be cold water thrown up the birth-place, and also a clyster of cold water taken, at the same time that some laxative medicine is taken to open the bowels: as these, however, are necessary discharges, they are not to be suddenly checked, unless they seem to be going on to a dangerous extent. On the contrary, if they should stop too suddenly, they must be immediately brought on again, by a course of treatment directly opposite to that I have just laid down. Applications of a warm nature must be made to the belly; and clysters of milk-warm water, insteedi of cold ones, must be given—see the head clystering. Should the weman be feverish, or of a fat and full habit of body, the loss cf a little blood will be proper. FAINT1NGS. If the woman should faint after the delivery of her child, ascertain immediately if there is a flooding. Should this be the. case, use the coldest applications, as directed under the head flooding. On examination, should there be no flooding, give her wine, or some toddy, or some spirit and water, and draw the bandage tight, for an hour or two, round her belly. If her feet and legs are cold, apply hot bricks, or other warm ma- terials to them. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 459 CHILLS. WnEN the weman complains of cold after her deliv- ery, or that cold cliills are stealing over her, which is sometimes the case, make warm applications to her belly, feet, and legs, and give her nothing but warm balm or sage tea to drink. If the shake is very severe, let the persons round the bed, grasp with both hands her thighs and legs, and hold them firmly but tenderly until the shivering subsides. Recollect, now, that you are to give no heating spirits at this time, or you will cer- tainly produce a fever. Should the chills continue,you are to have recourse to laudanum or opium—see table of doses. These last articles are not, however, to be given, unless the chills continue, or are verv severe. AFTER PAINS. These pains are brought on, hy the contraction cf the wemb, in the exertions of expelling the clots of blood and secretions, wiiich are contained in the womb after the birth. When not very severe, you are to let them alone ; but if too excruciating and severe, you will gen- erally relieve them, by applying cloths wrung out of warm water to the back and belly. If the pains con- tinue to be severe, throw a clyster up the bowels or fundament, made of thin gruel, milk-warm, in wiiich put a tea-spoonful of laudanum—see the head clustering. 460 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. INFLAMMATIONS. From difficult or tedious labor, the parts frequently become inflamed and swelled; and sometimes there are quantities of blood, which form a substance in the mouth of the birth-place, wiiich 1 believe has no name. Although there is no danger in this matter, yet it fre- quently produces great pain and uneasiness. These inflammations are to be relieved by cold applications, such as cold poultices of light bread and milk; bathing the parts with, and throwing up injections of cold water; or by making use of the following preparation :—In a pint of cold water, put a tea-spoonful of sugar of lead, and bathe the parts with the mixture. Or you may rub them well with sweet oil, keep them cool, and daily cleanse them with cold w7ater. If the belly feels very sore on being pressed, bathe it often in warm water; or apply cloths to it wrung out of warm water, and rub the belly well with the following liniment. Get. equal quantities of spirits of hartshorn and sweet oil: mix them well together, and rub the belly two or three times a day with this mixture. This, with the warm bathing, as just directed, will give immediate relief. INFLAMMATION OF THE BREASTS. This disease generally arises from want of care after delivery j by which want of care I mean, that proper attention has not been paid to your system, in order to prevent fever, which is alwTays produced from eating or drinking stimulating articles too freely, and before the milk has hiid time to secrete freely. This effect is also produced, by permitting the breasts to remain distended GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 461 too long with milk. In this case, great pain with in- flammation comes on; in other words, fever is the consequence of this neglect. If there seems any disposition to inflammation, the best preventive is to apply, a few hours after delivery, warm poultices of light bread and milk to the breasts, for at least three hours. This will assist the natural discharge of the milk. If the child refuse to suck, fill a common black bottle with warm water, and apply the nipple to the mouth of the bottle, which will gently draw the milk, as the water becomes cooler. Bathe the breast well with sweet oil or hog's lard, at the same time. If the inflammation continue, put a tea-spoonful of sugar of lead, in a pint of cold water, and keep a cloth, wet with this mixture, constantly to the breast; but recollect, you are not to wet the nipple with this mix- ture, by which means it may get into the child's mouth. When the inflammation is severe, Doctor Physic re- commends a blister over the breast. When matter is fully formed, make a small puncture or hole with a lancet, so as to permit it gradually to escape. I have ahvays, however, relieved by poultices and sugar of lead, as above directed, without the painful necessity of using a blister. MILK FEVER. This fever is owing to the change of the system, after the delivery of the child, by the swelling and irritation of the breasts, from the milk secreted in them. This always occasions the discharge from the womb to lessen in quantity. You will now recollect the ad- vice I have given you before, as to applying poultices 2 o % 462 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. to the breasts for a fewT hours, anointing the breasts well with sweet oil or lard, taking some laxative medi- cines, and living on low7 diet. These measures and precautions, will enable you to avoid the following unpleasant feelings: heat, thirst, head-ache, and fever. Although this fever is quite common, and may be easily removed, yet the imprudence of neglecting the above advice, may be the cause of other complaints, which I shall in their proper places mention. If the breasts are painful, take a dose of salts to cool the system: and if the fever continue, the loss of a little blood from the arm will be proper. Drink mild balm or sage tea, in which put about twenty drops of antimonial wine. This drink may be given occasional!}7, so as to produce a gentle moisture or sweat on the skin. Take no heating articles, and live on light cooling diet. In a few7 days the milk will flow7, and the fever go off. SWELLED LEG. This disorder takes place after child-birth, and I am happy to say that it seldom occurs, when due caution and cleanliness have been observed. I am of opinion, that it arises from some irritating matter being left in the womb, or at its mouth. When you discover this disorder, wiiich is known by a pain inside of the leg, extending to the heel and the groin, the limb always begins to swell, so that the slightest motion gives great pain. The pulse becomes quick, the skin hot, the tongue white, the urine thick. There are, also, slight pains about the womb, and the discharge from the birth-place is dreadfully offensive. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 463 REMEDIES. On the appearance of this complaint, get a syringe for females, or what will answer the same purpose, make a squirt of elder or cane, and throw up the birth- place, several times during t|ie day, some w7arm water to cleanse it—and in the intervals of time, some good sweet oil. Wash the parts well, with wrater made pleasantly warm, and rub the leg or legs with the fol- lowing ointment. Take a gill of sweet oil, a table- spoonful of laudanum, and to these add a gill of spirits in wiiich camphor has been dissolved. With this mix- ture, rub or bathe the legs twice a day; and provided the woman has no purging of the bowels, let her take at night, and also in the morning, two grains of calomel, mixed with the same quantity of squills, and made into a pill. This is to be repeated until relief is ob- tained. CHILD BED FEVER. This disease is called by physicians puerperal fever. It generally comes on, from the fifth to the eighth day after the woman has been delivered: but its being ear- lier or later, depends very much on the woman's consti- tution, and the particular state of her system. I have before mentioned to you, that you are to be very pru- dent in your conduct, respecting }eur food, drink, and the state of your bowels; for on these three things depend, in a very great degree, your uniform health, and exemption from this dangerous disease, puerperal or child bed fever. This fever sometimes arises, from a stoppage of the discharge which I have described to you, called lochial discharge, and from the mifrid mai- 464 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ter which I told you it was composed of, and wilicli I directed you to cleanse :—see the head lochia. An un- due secretion of milk, a stoppage of the lochial dis- charge, the absorption of putrid matter from the womb, exposure to too great cold or heat, all these things are capable of producing child bed fever. This fever is extremely dangerous, and requires the immediate at- tendance of an able physician; but, as you may be so situated as to be unable to obtain one, I shall explain to you clearly the symptoms of this disorder, and also the proper remedies. Child bed fever comes on, with a chill in the first instance, then a flushing heat; next, the woman be- comes restless, and a sweat breaks out. In a short time this sweat dries up, and the skin becomes dry and burning to the touch: there is now great thirst; flush- ing of the face; whiteness and dryness of the tongue; great pain in the head and back; sickness at the stom- ach, sometimes attended with puking. In a short time the belly swells, feels full, and becomes very painful; so much so, that the weight of the bed clothes, gives con- siderable increase of pain. The bowels become quite loose in some cases, and in others much constipated or bound; so much so, that it is difficult to get a passage through them. By these symptoms you are to know this fever. 1 must here remark, that if this fever continues for some time, it is very apt to change to a typhus fever. When this is the case the inflammatory symptoms subside, the tongue and teeth are now covered with a dark brown coat; small sores break out in the mouth and throat, similar to those in a child that has the thrush; the breath smells very badly; the stools are dark and very offensive; and not unfrequently small GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 465 purple spots appear on different parts of the body. When the last symptoms appear, the case is certainly a very doubtful one. In the typhus stage of child bed fever, refer to page 194, and you will find the remedies under the head nervous fever. The remedies in the first stage I have described, or child bed fever properly so called, are as foliows: REMEDIES. While the cold stage is passing over, warm appli- cations to the feet and legs are to be made; and, when the inflammatory or hot stage comes ion, as before described, the woman is to be bled from the arm, and immediately purged freely with calomel:—see table of doses. This purge cf calomel, is to be followed up with a dose of epsom salts:—see table. If the woman is of a full, stout, and healthy habit of body, and the pains and fever, in eight or ten hours, do not begin to give way; and if the pains in the head and back con- tinue severe, I generally draw more blood from the arm. During this fever, obtain a phial of antimonial wine, and one of sweet spirits of nitre: mix as you can, equal quantities of these two articles, and give a tea-spoonful of this mixture every half hour, in a little water or tea: in other werds, give it in such a manner, as to produce a little sickness of the stomach, attended with a gentle moisture on the skin. If it be inconve- nient for you to obtain these articles, put into a pint of milk warm water, ten grains of tartar emetic, and give of this water one or two table-spoonsful, every one or two hours, so as to produce and keep up a constant sickness at the stomach. This will lessen the fever. Rub the belly well with sweet oil, and by injecting a little lip the birth place occasionally, the irritation will be greatly lessened. The application of flannel cloths 59 466 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. frequently wrung out of warm water, and laid to the belly, will also be highly important in lessening the pains and inflammation.—Should the pain continue in the belly, apply a blister at the upper part of each thigh. I would advise blistering on the belly, that be- ing the proper place, but then you could not apply the warm cloths, which are highly important. It will, therefore, be better to apply the blisters as directed. Clysters made of slippery elm, and about milk warm, thrown up the fundament with a proper pipe, three or four times a day, will answer a valuable purpose, and be a cooling and soothing remedy in this complaint. You will recollect particularly, that in this disease, operations must be had by the bowels, during the in- flammatory period : and that when the disease changes its appearance and character to typhus, as it will some- times do, you are to gently keep the bowels open, but not to purge so as to weaken the patient. In this event, the continuance of mild clysters will be found truly a fine remedy. For the method of clystering, &c. see that head.—When purging comes on, so as greatly to weaken the woman, which is not unfrequently the case, you are to check it by giving a clyster, made with common starch on which hot water has been poured. This clyster must be about the thickness of gruel, and be about milk warm, in which you are to put twenty-five or thirty drops of laudanum: it must be repeated three or four times a day, as the pain and looseness may require. At the commencement of this child bed fever, the diet or food must be very cooling and light; but as the disease advances, and the weman becomes w eaker, let the nourishment be increased: and if necessary, from her lass of strength in purging, or from other causes. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 467 or if the disease seems to be approaching to the typhus or nervous fever, the symptoms of which I have fully explained, it will be necessary to support her system, by the assistance of good wine or toddy, and such nourishing food as will support the enfeebled action of the system. In these cases, wine and barks may be given also ; or camomile tea made strong, and taken cold occasionally through the day; or, you may give a strong decoction of dog-wood bark, wild cherry-tree bark, and swamp poplar bark, made from equal quam tities of these barks boiled together and perfectly cooled, in the quantity of about a wine-glass full three or four times a day. These remedies are all valuable tonics, or strengthening medicines to support the system. Remember particularly, that no tonics or strengthening medicines are to be given, until after the system has been entirely cleansed of its impurities: and also you arc most particularly to Lear in mind, that tonics or strengthening medicines are never to be given, when they produce or increase fever. Spirits of turpentine.—I am induced to believe, from testimony not to be questioned, that this valuable medi- cine, spirits of turpentine, has not yet received the attention, or been employed sufficiently in child-bed fever. So far as my studies and experience will enable me to form and deliver an opinion, I would prefer its use to that of the lancet in this fever, in the reduction of febrile and inflammatory symptoms. I have been in the practice, for several years past, of using spirits of turpentine as a medical remedy, and feel no hesita- tion whatever in asserting, that a fair and impartial trial of it, in a great variety of cases, would entitle it to - rank and appreciation among medical remedies, of the very first order. In obstinate costiveness of the bowels, 468 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. and when every other remedy had failed, I have fre- quently used it with signal success: nor is there any thing superior to it in colic, and in various inflammato- ry or spasmodic affections of the abdominal viscera. In enteritis, which means inflammation of the intes- tines; in dysentery; and in hemorrhage, which means a discharge of blood, I know from practical experience, that it is a very valuable remedy. With these remarks, which I consider amply due to the subject, I will sub- join such testimonials of the efficacy of spirits of tur- pentine, as will entitle it to much attention in the treat- ment of child-bed fever. Says Doctor Payne, in substance, pages 98-9, of the 6th vol. Medical Recorder—" Puerperal or child-bed fever, within the last fifteen years, has raged with its usual violence in many parts of this kingdom, particu- larly in the west-riding of Yorkshire, when but few of those attacked by it escaped. Before the publication of Doct. Brennan appeared, recommending the oil of turpentine in this fever, blood-letting was usually resor- ted to; but there was much less success attending it. than appears to have followed the application of the same remedy, in the cases of Doctor Campbell. After reading Brennan's work, I was glad to try a fresh remedy in child-bed fever, because I had seen so little good result from blood-letting. It is now nearly eight years since I was called to visit a female, who labored under this disease; when the surgeon, who had only seen the patient a short time before, proposed giving the oil of turpentine, which was assented to, and given in doses of half an ounce every two hours. The effect was, a very copious discharge from the bowels, appear- ing to consist of a serous or watery fluid, tinged with green, in which were seen floating numerous pieces of GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 469 white matter, like coagulable lymph. Soon afterwards the patient became maniacal or deranged, and contin- ued so for several days, when her intellects were restor- ed, and she gradually recovered. "Since that period," says the doctor, "I have seen several cases of child bed fever, one of which had been attended by a surgeon, w7ho had discontinued his visits. I believe she had not been bled. Her friends, seeing I had an unfavorable opinion of the case, called in a more experienced physician, and it was agreed to try the oil of turpentine as a last resource. Two drachms of it were given every two hours, which soon brought on a purging, of a matter of a like nature as before mentioned. I have stated, in the first case mentioned, that mania or derangement of mind had taken place from giving the oil of turpentine; and the probability is, that the largeness of the doses produced the effect, by throwing too much blood to the head. In the case I am now speaking of, two drachms only were given at a dose, and the resull was, that although the patient seemed to be at the very verge of eternity, she quickly recovered." I will give but one pther case. It is one communi- cated to the Medical Recorder, 6th vol. page 615, by doctor James H. Lucas, of the county of Madison, and State of Georgia. It is ably and clearly detailed, and will be highly satisfactory to the reader. "On t^ie 15th July, I was called to a woman who had been delivered five days before of her third child, after a lingering labor of twe days and nights. When I saw7 her, there was a wiidness of expression, and great anxiety, with considerable sharpness of the fea- tures. Her pulse w7as from 100 to 110. She had a severe pain above the eyes, a hot and dry skin, and 470 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. great restlessness; the tongue furred in the middle, and a red appearance of the edges. There was much ten- derness of the belly, with an appearance like a ball over the pubes. Her bowels were costive ; her extrem* ities cold, every morning about two o'clock, with a scarcity of the lochial discharge; the restlessness was also much more troublesome, in the afternoon. The child and placenta were both delivered as usual. As a preparatory means, ten grains of calomel were given, to be worked off with castor oil. This relieved her con- siderably, particularly her head. The next morning the 16th, ordered her to take two tea-spoonsful of the spirits of turpentine, in a solution of gum arabic, or beaten up with the wiiite of an egg, with a table-spoon- ful of castor oil in the evening to assist the operation of the turpentine: On the 17th, the tenderness of the belly had nearly subsided; the pulse w7as less frequent; and four more stools, of a green color and offensive smell from the oil and turpentine, were voided. She was ordered to continue the medicine. On the 18th, the tenderness was gone, except on pressure; and the pulse was but 90 in a minute. Three stools had been passed of a less offensive smell, and but slightly tinged with green. The skin was much cooler than on the day before. The medicine was still continued. On the 19th, the pulse was natural, with a slight perspira- tion on the surface; the tenderness of the belly w7as entirely gone ; the lochial discharge of its proper quan- tity and color; five stools had been voided, the two last of which were of a natural appearance; and her appe- tite was good. On the 20th, I found her up, quite cheerful, and perfectly free from fever or disease, and she has continued soever since." From these ca?es, which are drawn from high author- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 471 ities, the value of spirits of turpentine, as a most valuable remedy in child-bed fever, will probably be acknowledged by every reader of this work. DISEASES OF CHILDREN. Surely there can be nothing more painful and dis- tressing to a mind of sensibility, than to be compelled to witness, in very many cases without being able to relieve, the various and often fatal diseases to which infants are liable. That most of them are of a mor- bidly irritative character, is probably well known to every physician who has attended to their symptoms; but what it is that particularly excites this diseased irri- tability in the intestinal canal, it would probably be difficult for even the most learned and skilful of the pro- fession to determine. The foolish and dangerous custom, of giving infants medicine the moment they are born, in order to keep them quiet, is a practice which ought always to be dis- countenanced, as laying the foundations of many disor- ders, sometimes destroying life itself, or entailing on the constitution maladies which last for life. Various medi- cines are given to infants, for very foolish and frivolous reasons, which had better be let alone entirely; such, for instance, as Godfrey's cordial, Bateman's drops, &c. &c. all of which contain opium, and do inconceivable injury to infants. I do not mean by these remarks, that these medicines are not sometimes beneficial; but to be constantly administering them on all occasions, and for nearly all possible purposes, must convince any person of common sense, that they are injurious both to the health and the constitution. By suckling infants, then GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 473 feeding or rather stuffing them, and then following up both by medicines, to keep them quiet, their tender stomachs are kept constantly loaded; and if they are aot fortunate enough to puke up part of wiiat they have been compelled to swallow7, fermentation must and will take place, the stomach being unable to master such a mass, followed by colics and purgings. The above remarks are made in terms thus plain, that they may be distinctly understood by my readers, and that they may profit, iA the treatment of their infant children, by their true meaning. STILL BORN. When an infant is born apparently dead, or giving no signs of life, it is said to be still-born. This appear- ance, however, should not prevent the midwife from making every possible exertion for the restoration of the child; by patience and perseverance, thousands of infants have been restored to life. If no pulsation or beating can be felt in the navel-cord, and if there be marks of putrefaction and decay, I need not tell you that all your efforts will be fruitless. The infant, in this case, where there is hope, ought to be separated from the mother as early as possible, and wrapped in a blan- ket made warm by the fire. As soon as possible after this, its breasts are to be bathed in w7arm spirits, at the same time that you gently apply to its nostrils spirits of hartshorn. If these remedies fail to restore the circu- lation, put it in warm water,keeping its head in such a position as to prevent suffocation. You may loosen the string on the navel-cord, so as to let it bleed about a table-spoonful, when it must be again tied. While these 60 2 p 2 474 GUNN'S,DOMESTIC MEDICINE. measures are in operation, you are to prepare a clyster, made of a table-spoonful of spirits of any kind, and three table-spoonsful of warm water; and if the child does not breathe, you are to give this clyster up the bowels with a proper instrument—look under the head clystering. The lungs are to be filled with air, by means of a common syringe, the pipe of which is to be introduced into one nostril, while the other nostril and mouth are to be carefully closed; when you are then by gentle pressure on the breast of the child to empty them : in this way the lungs are to be frequently filled and compressed until natural respiration or breath- ing takes place. Sometimes the application of a little cold water to the chest will restore children. In many instances, when the slightest action of the heart lias been perceived, it weuld be advisable to keep up a fric- tion or rubbing over the body, for at least an hour. Cases are stated, and many of them, of infants still-born being restored by warmth and gentle rubbing, even when no signs of life had appeared for an hour or more after the birth. This should therefore encourage you to persevere, by every possible method, for the restora- tion to life of a still-born infant. There are instances, in which the child is born of a dark purple cast, in which the breathing is scarcely perceptible, and where death ensues in a few7 moments. When these appearances take place, the infant has generally some defect in the formation of the heart and lungs. Doctor Hosack advises, that a bath be made of oak-bark, four ounces of which is to be boiled for a few minutes in about two gallons of water. When this bath is prepared, add to it a pint of spirits of any kind, permitting it to become pleasantly warm, bathe the child up to the neck in this w7ater. If it is convenient, GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 475 you may add to this bath occasionally a table-spoonful Of spirits of hartshorn, so as to render it stimulating. When the child shows symptoms of recovery, take it out of the bath, and wrrap it in wrarm flannels; and should the infant be taken in the same way again, you must immediately make use of the bath, after again w7arming it. TREATMENT OF NEW BORN INFANTS. According to the old custom, the moment the child Wras separated from the mother, it was plunged in warm water, or washed with spirits of some kind, and well rubbed with a towel, to remove the mealy matter which adhered to it, and to prevent its taking cold, or perhaps to harden its skin. These foolish and dangerous prac- tices, have caused the death of thousands of infant children, or produced some other consequences highly detrimental to their constitutions. The consequences ahvays are, that by w7ashing and rubbing the child, you irritate and inflame the skin, which is at this time so tender, that nature in her wisdom has covered it with this mealy matter, to defend it from injury in entering the world, and to preserve it from irritability and inflam- mation afterward. An infant born in the winter season, has more of this mealy covering than if born during the summer; it is also more thickly covered with it at the arm-pits, the bends of the joints, and so on, which are more liable to rubbing or frictional injury during labor, than other parts of the body: and in addition to these considera- tions, this covering is intended to protect the infant against the action of the atmospheric air. This cover- 476 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ing is perfectly natural, and should always be permitted to remain until nature herself removes it. This will be done in a day or two, without assistance or artificial means; by w7hich the skin will be left wiiite, soft, and beautiful, and the child exempted from innumerable diseases—diseases, which by the old custom of washing and rubbing would almost invariably ensue. By the old custom, the skin is greatly irritated and inflamed, then becomes of a dark red color, and afterwards breaks out with those eruptions or pimples, which usu- ally appear on children, called red gum. Every person of common sense must know, that the application of spirits of any kind, especially when rub- bed on the head and body of a grown person, will produce smarting and give pain. Now7, I ask what must be the consequence to an infant, whose skin is so delicately tender, that nature herself has shielded it from the atmosphere, until it will bear the change with- out injury. In many cases of grown persons, the application of brandy to, the head, and washing the body with it, have been known to produce inflamma- tion of the brain, or lungs, or bowels; the evaporation from the surface being so great, as to induce a degree of cold sufficient to stop the perspiration or sweat. In infants, this evaporation produces inflammations of the bowels, or of the lungs, and sometimes of the mem- brane which lines the nostrils, by which the child is afflicted with a disease called the snuffles. The proper plan, and the one now7 practised in the different lying-in hospitals throughout Europe and the United States, is simply the following. Cleanse the face with tenderness and caution, with a little milk and water made pleasantly warm: then cover the body with thin muslin, over which is to be put the flannel. In a GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 477 day or two, the mealy covering will entirely peel off, and nature in due time will exhibit a healthy, delicate, and beautiful skin, free from any disease, and entirely exempt from all those painful and eruptive diseases to which infants are usually subject, from the old method of treatment. MECONIUM. When a child is first born, its bowels are filled with a dark colored greenish matter, called by physicians meconium. In a short time after its birth, or as soon as it commences sucking the first milk from its mother, which milk seems by nature to be intended to remove this dark colored or greenish matter from the bow els, for it is almost immediately discharged by a stool. This is the reason, and I think an amply sufficient one, why children should be put to the breast as early as possible after their birth. Sometimes the milk in the mother's breast is rather slow in coming; or from some particular cause, the child will not suck the breast, and consequently it will not discharge by stool, this matter from the bowels which I have described. It will then be necessary to give it something to open the bowels, such as a little molasses and wTater, which should be given frequently until the bowels are properly opened. Or you may obtain from any doctor's shop a small piece of manna, about the size of a walnut, and dis- solve it in a gill of boiling water, and when it becomes cool, give the infant a tea-spoonful frequently, or until it operates freely. Or you may, if these remedies fail, give a tea-spoonful of the best castor oil, which will remove the meconium immediately. The two first 478 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. being the most simple remedies, should always be used first. Sometimes, but the cases are not frequent, this necessary discharge is prevented from passing, owing to the fact that the fundament, from some defect or other cause, being stopped up. Such cases require the im- mediate aid of an eminent physician, to examine and remove such difficulties or obstructions. ORIGINAL IMPERFECTIONS. Immediately after the birth of an infant, examine its body and limbs, and particularly its private parts: be- cause children are not all born perfect in these respects. The passages of infants are sometimes closed up with slime or tough matter, which require the aid of surgi- cal operations to open them, before they can pass either their stools or their urine. Great care and attention ought always to be paid by parents to these examina- tions. Sometimes the parts wiiich decency forbids me to name, are entirely closed up by malconformation or deformity of those parts; these cases, however, are very rare and unfrequent; and I need not tell you, that in them no human assistance can afford relief. Ruptures are very common among new born infants, particularly about the navel. When these ruptures are very early observed, they may speedily be removed by bathing the body frequently with cold water, and attending to the child's bow els : in other werds keeping them regularly open. If the rupture should be at the navel, apply a piece of adhesive plaster, so as to give support to the parts; but by no means apply a bandage, which will do injury to the delicate and tender parts by the pressure. The fact is, that the constant application GUNX'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 479 of cold bathing, as the infant advances in age and strength, will always remove these early ruptures. Tongue tied.—In this case, the tongue is confined to the roof of the mouth, by a small cord which prevents its motion. Sometimes, indeed, the tongue is so confin- ed that the infant cannot suck. But, I have sometimes known children cut for it where it did not exist; there- fore great caution ought to be used in this operation, although it may be a very simple one. If the physi- cian, or other person, who cuts this smaU cord, does not understand it properly, or does it carelessly, so great a quantity of blood may be lost as to prove fatal to the child. As many women are very uneasy, re- specting their children being tongue tied, I will inform them that they are often alarmed unnecessarily, and have their children operated on when they are not tongue tied. A very simple method of discovering its situation is, by putting the end of your finger in the child's mouth: if it is able to clasp it with the same force it would the nipple, or the end of the tongue moves, it does not require cutting. Hare lip.—There are different kinds of hare lip distinguished under the names of single and double hare lip—and not unfrequently both lips are disfigured by the opening or space extending along the roof of the mouth. When this is the case, it has a very un- sightly appearance, and the operation of closing the lip cannot be performed, however skilful the physician, with any probability of success. But where there is only a single opening, or even double, provided it does not extend to the roof of the mouth, as I have descri- bed, the cure or operation, can be performed without much difficulty. You will bear in mind, that an opera- tion, v.iiich means endeavoring to close up the lip, 480 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ought never to be performed on an infant, until it is a year old; requires strength to bear the operation, by which it is to be removed. In some cases, but they are very rare, the infant is unable to suck; if this is the case, the operation may be performed; but at this early stage, I should consider the success very doubtful. The method used in the country of sewing it up, is highly improper. The operation to be performed in closing up the lip, where the fissure or opening does not extend beyond the upper part of the gum, is as follows:—At any silversmith's shop, have two silver pins made, something longer than a common pin, and without any heads to them. With a sharp knife pare well the edges of the opening; then with one of these pins, pierce the lip at the upper side entirely through, in a slanting direction: then pierce through on the other side in the same way. You will recollect to take a good hold, so that it will not easily tear out; then with your thumb and finger close together the edges that have been cut; now you are to wind tight around these pins some silk, which has been properly w7axed, so as to draw it together that it may heal. In six or seven days or perhaps earlier, it will heal or adhere together; then draw out the pins, and dress it with any simple ointment or salve, and if properly performed, the scar in a few days will scarcely be perceptible. The feet of infants are sometimes deformed by what are called club feet; if this is permitted to go on without immediate attention, the deformity will be very great, and cannot be removed after the infant is a few months old; the bones of the feet become hard and firm, whereas, at an early age, or immediately after birth, they are in a soft gristly state, when, if proper means are used, the foot or feet, by gradually compres- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 481 sion may be reduced to their natural form in a few months, if the deformity is not great; but in some cases, a longer time will be required. EXERCISE OF CHILDREN AND PURE AIR. If you are desirous of preserving your children's health, and giving them good constitutions, give them exercise, and let them be frequently in the open air, so as to accustom their bodies to the various changes of the atmosphere. By no means keep them in a close room, or cooped up as if you were afraid they weuld catch cold at every gentle breeze. I have never seen children thus confined whose health and constitutions were not, through, life, extremely delicate, and subject to colds and various diseases, which, by a contrary course they would have entirely escaped. As an evi- dence, take twe children, let one be clothed in flannel and protected from the slightest exposure or change of weather; feet constantly supplied with stockings and shoes, and not suffered to go out in the least damp or inclement weather. While the other is moderately clothed, perhaps hardly enough to cover it with decen- cy; no shoes or stockings; exposed to all kinds of weather, even during our inclement winters, without a shoe to its little feet. The first will be pale, thin, weak- ly, and of a delicate constitution through life, subject to colds on every change of the weather; perhaps not attiining the age of manhood, before a breast com- plaint commences its ravages. While the other, full of strength, vigor, and a cheek like a rose, with healthy constitution, exempt from colds, and free of every dis- order, reaches a good old age without an hour's sick- 6.1 2Q 482 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ness. Are we not furnished daily with evidences of this fact. Why then take pains to throw up obstacles in the way, wiien, if children were permitted to exer- cise freely, and not so much unnecessary care bestowed upon them after a certain age ; or in other words, when able to run about themselves, parents weuld be blest with a more healthy and vigorous offspring, and have very little necessity for doctors or medicines. By the use of cold bathing, or in other werds, washing the child in cold water, you will, in a great measure, pre- vent the galling and excoriation which frequently occur about the groins and privates, in the neck, behind the ears, &c. which are produced by the sweat or urine. The parts after being washed in cold water, should be suffered to dry, and a little fine starch dusted upon it, this will very much relieve the child. THE SNUFFLES. This stoppage of the nose is quite common to young children. It frequently prevents them from breathing freely and they cannot suck or swallow without consi- derable difficulty. This is quite a simple complaint, which will be speedily removed by giving the infant a purge of castor oil; about a tea-spoonful is the dose; and bathing its feet or body in warm water, pleasantly warm; and for a few days keeping its head a little warm. A little lard or sweet oil may be rubbed upon the nose and around the nostril. GUNN'3 DOMESTIC MEDICINB. 483 THE RED GUM. The red gum breaks out in small .pimples on the skin, generally of a red, but not unfrequently, of a yellow appearance. This complaint appears princi- pally on the face and neck ; but it sometimes breaks out on the hands and legs, and the pimples contain, not unfrequently, a white clear matter. It would be highly improper to use any means outwardly to remove it, for by so doing, you might suddenly drive in the complaint, and thereby destroy the life of the infant. The child while laboring under this disorder, should be prevented from being exposed to the cold air. The only danger in this disorder, is in driving it in; when this is the case, the infant is greatly distressed in the bowels, screams, and cries constantly; and not unfrequently has fits. In the management of this disorder, you are to keep the infant's bow els open with a little magnesia and rhubarb:—for the dose of either of these medi- cines, see table: or a tea-spoonful of castor oil may be given. Should the disorder suddenly disappear, and file child become sick from it, put it immediately in warm water—and give it one or twe drops of antimo- nial wine, in a little sage tea. This may be repeated every hour or two, until a moisture on the skin is pro- duced, and the pimples or eruptions brought out again on the body. YELLOW GUM. This is a disorder similar to the jaundice, and takes place with some infants a few7 days after their birth; it is knowm by a yellow tinge of the skin, high colored urine, and a constant desire to sleep. This simple 4S4 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. complaint can be removed by a gentle puke of one or two grains of ipecacuanha, mixed with a little warm w7ater, and in a short time followed by some mild purge. THRUSH. The thrush or sore mouth, is a very common disease in early infancy. The child suffers a great deal of pain in sucking, and frequently this complaint is attended with some fever. This disorder appears in small white spots on the tongue, corners of the lips, and inside the cheeks, and by degrees spreading itself over the whole inside of the mouth and throat; and in some cases, extending down through the stomach and navel. If the white spots on the tongue resemble coagulated milk, or in other words, look as if the child had been eating curds, and that some of them remained sticking on the tongue, you will know by this appearance, that the thrush or sore mouth is commencing. The thrush is produced from acidities in the stomach and bowels, occasioned from some particular quality of the milk, which disagrees with the infant, or from improper food. Those children who are raised by hand, are more sub- ject to this complaint, which shows plainly, that it is the food which disagrees with the stomach and bowels, -and brings on the thrush or sore mouth. The reme- dies are then very plain and simple; attend to the stomach and bowels first, before you use any astringent washes; after which it will be proper to use a wash for the mouth, made of a little borax, honey, and alum, dissolved or mixed in a small quantity of sage tea. Then, with a rag tied to a stick, rub or wash the mouth ^ GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 485 with this preparation, tw o or three times a day; regu- larly persevering in washing, while any appearance of the disease remains. To regulate the stomach and bowels, give equal quantities of magnesia and rhubarb: for doses of either of these medicines, refer to the table. CONSTIPATION. Constipation means costiveness, or being bound in the body, so that the infant cannot pass its stools. This complaint is sometimes hereditary, or natural to the child; when this is the case, and it does not exceed proper bounds, it may not require the use of any rem- edy ; but should the infant's health begin to suffer, from frequent attacks of colic, flatulence, &c. it should be strictly attended to, as it may produce convulsions or fits, inflammation of the bowels, or other diseases of a difficult and lingering nature, thereby establishing this costive habit of body for life. If the predisposition descended from a mother of the same habit, or in other werds, if the mother herself is subject to being bound in her body, the child may be relieved for a short time, but it will again return. When this is the case, the mother, if possible, should change the quality of the milk, by being attentive to her diet, and to take occasionally some mild purge, which will alter the quality of her milk ; for this pur- pose there is no medicine superior, or more innocent than magnesia and epsom salts, of equal quantities, mixed and ground very fine in a mortar. Of this take a tea-spoonful or two in a tumbler of cold water of a morning on an empty stomach. When the constipa- 2 q 2 486 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. tion originates from the child's food, it must be changed, and simple medicines given occasionally, to act as a mild purge, such as magnesia, rhubarb, manna, sweet oil, or castor oil; either of these may be given; for doses of either of these medicines, see table. But if the costiveness is obstinate, a little aloes pounded fine and mixed with honey and molasses, will procure a pas- sage or stool. Or you may give a laxative clyster, made of a little warm water, in which put a tea-spoon- ful of lard, and with a clyster pipe or syringe, throw or squirt it up the fundament. In administering clysters, you are to-recollect, that they should not be given hot, but milk warm; by giving them hot you increase the disorder, and do serious injury to the child; this is a mistake winch is often made, and the consequence both to children and grown persons, when clysters are given hot, is extremely dangerous. For directions as to clystering, look under that head. COLIC. Whenever the child cries, the general practice is to suckle it, or feed it, by which its little stomach is kept constantly loaded, and being unable to digest the food, colical pains, griping and purging are the consequen- ces. The suffering of the infant in such cases being very acute or painful, recourse is had to Bateman's drops or Godfrey's cordial, and sometimes laudanum, or paregoric, all of which contain opium, and relieve the little sufferer for a short time; when the colic or griping again returns. "From my experience in the diseases of infants," says a distinguished writer in the New York Medical GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICUNE. 4^7 Inquirer, " I am satisfied that these complaints, if not produced, are nevertheless cherished by the causes already mentioned. I have in my practice been in the habit of administering ipecacuanha in the dose of one grain, so as to produce puking in imitation of that excited by nature; and 1 am happy in saying that in no instance did it fail to produce the desired effect; that in some obstinate cases, it has acted like a charm, and that the parents declared it must have contained opium. " In cases of griping, or violent pain in the bowels of infants, I have also found the application of the follow- ing anodyne plaster to the abdomen or belly, highly beneficial: "Take of gum plaster three drachms: camphor, half a drachm ; opium, twenty grains; oil of anniseed, ten drops ; to be made in a plaster and spread on 'soft leather.' " Professors Meyer and Reich, of Berlin, employ as a principal remedy in cases of bowel complaints of children, one drachm, of the diluted muriatic acid, in three ounces of simple syrup, of which they direct a lea-spoonful to be given about every twe hours." Colic generally takes place in early infancy, from the first six weeks, to the tenth or twelfth month; and is easily knowm by the infant's suddenly screaming or crying, and at the same time drawing up its legs; if the complaint is severe, the child cannot urinate cr make water. If the colic is slight, and arises from flatulence or wind, give one or two drops of pepper- mint, to which if necessary, you may add a drop or twe of laudanum; at the same time expose the infant's belly to a warm fire, and rub it with the following mixture:— Take three table-spoonsful of spirits, in which camphcr has been dissolved, add to this a tea-spoonful of lauda* 488 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. num, and bathe the child's belly with it. You will also find the application of warm salt, or bathing it in w7arm water, valuable remedies. When the colic originates from acidity, as may be knowm by the bowels not being bound, and the stools of a green color and sour smell, in addition to the above means, you should give occasionally a dose of magnesia:—see table for dose ; this will correct the acidity, and assist the discharge of offending mat- ter from the bowels. You will find the infusion of rhubarb, in small doses, given so as to keep the bowels gently open, whilst at the same time, it communicates tone to the stomach and boWels, and increases the peristaltic action. The infant must be kept w7arm, and a flannel be applied round the belly, which gives support to the muscles, and is a valuable assistant in diseased conditions of the intestinal canal. SORE EYES. Sore eyes are very apt to make their appearance a few days or weeks after the birth of the infant, which occasions it to be fretful and uneasy, and sometimes if neglected, may produce blemishes or blindness. It is often brought on by exposure of the infant to large fires, or the imprudent practice of holding it to a light- ed candle to keep it quiet. It is also caused by cold; and wrhen the eyes are sore at a more advanced age, it may be produced by cutting teeth.—The remedies are to avoid cold, and exposure to too much light, particu- larly the fire; bathe the eyes three or four times a day in cold water, or make the following preparation, with which you are to bathe the infant's eyes frequently GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 489 through the day: about the size of a common pea of sugar of lead, dissolved in a pint of cold water. If this should not relieve it, give it a purge of castor oil. The application of lead water as mentioned, is general- ly successful, and a valuable remedy. TEETHING. Children suffer a great many complaints, during the time of cutting teeth. Some infants suffer much less than others ; but all seem, during this necessary opera- tion, to undergo pain and a disordered state of the sys- tem. The symptoms which go before and accompany the cutting of teeth are more or less violent, according to the manner in which the teeth come through the gum, or in other words, the resistance which the gum makes; and to the irritability of the infant's constitution, &c. When the child cuts its teeth in the most easy manner, the pressure of the gums, however slight, gives pain, and produces an increased flow of the fluids furnished by the mouth ; the child is fretful and restless during the night, is constantly putting its little hands or any thing that it can get hold of, into its mouth. The spittle which it. is constantly discharging or slobbering from the mouth, when swrallowed produces sickness, gripes and looseness; after a short time the corner of a tooth is perceived ; but the pain and uneasiness still continue for several days, when a second tooth is cut. During the time between the cutting of the lower and upper teeth, the child generally improves in health and strength; but in a short time is again subjected to the 62 490 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE same uneasiness. In strong, healthy, or fat children, a fever generally, and that sometimes violent, comes on before, or about the time of cutting every tooth; the gums are swelled and inflamed, the eyes much disor- dered, the belly bound, the skin hot, and the child cries constantly, and sucks with much pain; sometimes it is unable to suck, and its sleep is very much disturbed. Weakly and delicate, children, where teething is pain- ful and difficult, lose their color, fret constantly, vomit or puke frequently, attended with looseness or purging, and become quite emaciated, or in other w7ords reduced to great weakness. 1 have discovered that those children I have last mentioned, pass through the painful and dan- gerous process of teething, much easier, and with greater safety than those who are fat and robust; and have particularly remarked, that those children who slaver, (vulgarly called slobber) most, cut their teeth with the greatest ease. The treatment during teething, should be a particular attention to the bowels, by keeping them sufficient!? open; always paying due attention to every circumstance likely to promote the general health of the child, such as pure air, exercise, strict cleanliness, food easily diges- ted in the stomach, and taken in small quantities. As the difficulties sometimes are greatly lessened and fre- quently entirely prevented, by a looseness eoming on spontaneously, or more plainly speaking, of its own accord, it must not be checked, particularly in*children of a fat or full habit, but permitted to go on, unless it weakens the infant too much, or runs to excess, when it may be stopped by degrees. But if the child is bound in its body, you will recollect that it should take some laxative purge, so as to produce two or three stools daily; for this purpose, give twe grains of calomel, to GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 491 which add three or four grains of rhubarb or magne- sia. If necessary, the operations of this medicine may be assisted by clysters—for directions &c. as to clys- tering, look under that head. When fulness and quick- ness of the pulse, increase of heat, flushed face, frequent startings, oppressed breathing, immoderate fits of cry- ing, &c. denote fever; the irritation of the gums must be removed, which is done bv cutting or lancing the * v CD CD gum down to the teeth, for which purpose, a gum lan- cet must be made use of. CONVULSIONS JOR FITS. Convulsions or fits, are at all times alarming and dangerous, and require a very great variety of treat- ment: therefore procure in such cases, a skilful physi- cian. But as these fits are frequently very sudden, I shall direct the means wiiich may be used before a phy- sician can be obtained, and I will make some observa- tions as to the general causes which produce them. It is not unfrequently the case, for convulsions or fits, to come on suddenly, in others, the attack is gradual, and the symptoms so slight as to pass unobserved by the mother or nurse. In the former, the child, from being in the most perfect health, turns of a purple color, the features and eyes are changed, and the whole frame is violently convulsed or agitated. In a short time these symptoms are followed by faintings, or medically speak- ing, by a suspension of the vital powers: after which, the child gradually recovers ; but for some time remains stupid and drowsy. In the latter cases, the infant shows uneasiness, changes color suddenly and fre- quently, the lips quiver, the eyes are turned upwards, 492 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE: and it stretches out, the hands become clenched, when the convulsion or fit comes on. Fits are apt to be produced by any thing which affects the whole nervous system, or that which produces irri- tation of any particular nerve; and by the sudden striking in of any eruptive disease, such as the measles, or any complaint which breaks out on the skin, from improper food, or irritating substances applied to the stomach or bowels will produce this disorder. These convulsions frequently occur during the period of teeth- ing ; but I have found from particular attention to the causes which produce convulsions or fits, that worms are very often the cause of this complaint. But if they take place frequently, and with great violence, occa- sioned from pressure on the brain, or any cause in that organ, they generally terminate fatally, or cause the child as he advances in years, to become foolish. The treatment of convulsions or fits must depend on the cause which produces them. If the sudden striking in of any complaint, as the rash, measles, &c. or the drying up of any eruption or discharge on the body, it ought to be brought out by putting the child into a warm bath, then giving a dose of Godfrey's cordial or Bate- man's drops, so as to produce to the surface, the com- plaint; if indigestion or improper food has occasioned it, give a gentle emetic or puke of ipecacuanha, or emetic tartar—see table for dose. If the bowels are stopped, or the fits are supposed to arise from irritating matter of any kind in the body, it must be removed by purgative medicines, as twe grains of calomel, mixed with five grains of rhubarb or jalap, which if neces- sary, assist with a clyster—for the method of preparing and administering a clyster, read under that head;— but if produced by teething, then scarify the gums, or GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. • 493 in other words, cut them down with a lancet immedi- ately over the tooth; this operation ought to be per- formed daily, until the tooth is through the gum, or the fits cease. When worms are suspected to be the cause from which the convulsions or fits are produced, the reme- dies recommended under that head must be employed. CROUP. This is a very dangerous complaint, and the rapidity with which it proceeds, requires prompt and immediate attention, or the disorder will prove fatal in a short time. Of all the diseases to which children are liable, croup is certainly the most dangerous. Every mother should understand the symptoms and treatment of this disease; as in many instances, before a physician can possibly be obtained, suffocation is the consequence. The croup comes on with a difficulty in breathing and wheezing, a short, dry cough, and a rattling in the throat when asleep. In a short time the difficulty of breathing increases, the face of the child is flushed, and the veins in the neck are very full of blood, and throb or beat very fast. The voice and coughing has a strange sharp sound, something like Ihe crowing of a young cock; the child is very restless and uneasy, the body is hot, and attended by great thirst, and the pulse very quick. Those in whom the face is much flushed, seem over- powered by a heavy sleep, from which they are roused only by the violent fits of coughing. As the disease continues, the fits of coughing return more frequently, and are attended with an uncommon degree of agita- tion throughout the wdiole frame ; the breathing becomes 2 R 494 GUNN^ DOMESTIC MEDICINE. more and more noisy; and unless relief is speedily obtained, the infant will die by suffocation. The remedy is an emetic, or puke. The moment the complaint is discovered, put six grains of emetic tartar into six table-spoonsful of warm water, and give the child about a half taole-spocnful every ten or fifteen minutes. The intention i.s, to keep up a constant sick- ness and vomiting or puking. Eutif it is a violent case, 3 ou are to bleed it from the arm, and put it up to its neck in warm water. But recollect you are to keep up the sickness at the stomach, and puke it freely. I have frequently when the croup was severe, kept the child puking occasionally, through the whole night, and using now and then the warm bath, before relief could be given. In this complaint you will find the seneka snake root a valuable remedy; it must be given to the child frequently made into a strong tea. After using the remedies 1 have already described, without success, and the disease is desperate, the best remedy is calo- mel, in doses of forty or fifty grains. Do not be alarmed at this dose. 1 know hy experience, in a hun- dred instances of the lives of children being preserved by large doses of calomel, which must otherwise have proved fatal. Then let me urge upon you the necessity of laying aside your prejudices against this medicine, and not to slacken your hand in this trying moment, if you wish to preserve the infant. So powerful and salu- tary is this medicine, that it frequently relieves the complaint in ten or fifteen minutes, without recourse to any other means. It acts on the stomach, bowels, and skin. Smaller doses may be given wiiere the complaint is not very alarming; when given in smaller doses, you may add a little ipecacuanha, say two or three grains with the calomel, from which much benefit will be derived. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 495 The following simple remedy is highly recommended by Dr. John D. Goodman, an eminent physician of Charlottesville, Virginia. The simplicity of the reme- dy, and the facility of its application, entitle it to a trial. " Whenever children are threatened with an attack of croup, I direct [says the doctor,] a plaster covered with dry Scotch snuff, varying in size according to the age of the patient, to be applied directly across the top of the chest, and retained there until all the symptoms disappear. The remedy is found to be always effectu- al when applied to the first and second stages of the malady. This mode of treatment was from prejudice neglected by me, and in one instance, in which, with very considerable difficulty, one of my children was rescued by the ordinary treatment. But on being urged to make a trial of the snuff plaster, I determined to make the experiment whenever opportunity present- ed. This was not long wanted; and when called to a child laboring under all the symptoms of the early stage of croup, such a plaster, made by greasing a piece of linen, and covering it well with snuff, w7as directed to be applied to the chest. The event was most happy, the symptoms of irritation, and half crouping cough, ceased shortly after; the child fell into a profound sleep, with gentle perspiration, and by the next morning, was free from all distressing symptoms. The plaster was re-applied for a night or two following, and then discontinued. Since that time, my family has been saved from a great deal of anxiety and alarm, to which previously they were subject, as we were obliged to keep Coxe's hive syrup, tartar emetic, and all other articles resorted to, constantly ready to meet the attacks of the croup, wiiich were very sudden and frequent in 496 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. cold wet seasons. Since then we have found nothing necessary but the snuff plaster. If a child is heard to breathe hoarsely, or cough with an}7 thing of a dread- ful ringing sound of croup, it is only necessary to apply the snuff plaster, and we feel under no further anxiety. Instead of being obliged to watch with the child all the rest of the night, when once the snuff is applied, we go to rest again, with a feeling of entire security, which we have never had the least cause to regret." FEVER OF CHILDREN. The various complaints to which children are sub- ject, being, as I have before mentioned, of an irritative nature, will generally produce fevers, and although severe while they continue, are not frequently produc- tive of danger if properly managed. A disordered state of the stomach and bowels, teeth- ing, exposure to cold, striking in of any eruption, and in short, every thing which can excite an increased action in the heart and blood vessels, will produce more or less fever. The treatment of these complaints has already been described. When these fevers take place, cleansing the stomach and bowels, will be pro- per, for which purpose, give an emetic, or puke, follow- ed by two or three grains of calomel, to which add four, five, or six grains of rhubarb:—for the dose of either of these medicines, see table ; after which, Bate- man's drops, Godfrey's cordial, or paregoric, at the same time bathing the child in warm water, will greatly assist in lessening the irritability of the system, and removing the fever. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 497 SCALD HEAD. This complaint begins in brownish spots on the head, and in a few days forms a scab, and discharges a thick gluey matter, that sticks among the hair. The sores gradually increase, until the whole head is covered with a scab, discharging this matter, which is very offensive. You are to cut off the hair as close as possible, and w7ash the head well every night and morning with fresh lime w7ater. This is easily prepar- ed, by slacking a piece of quick lime, of the size of a hen's egg, in a quart of water, and when settled, pour the liquor into a bottle and keep it corked for use. CHOLERA INFANTUM OR PUKING AND PURGING. This vomiting and purging of children, called by physicians, cholera infantum, prevails during the heats of summer; it is a dangerous and destructive disorder throughout the United States. Of all the complaints with which childhood becomes afflicted in its earlier stages, this is, at least amongst the infantile population of the western country, the most destructive. When this disease commences, it is very rapid in spreading itself through the section of country or neighborhood in which it first makes its appearance. Its desolation or fatal termination depends very much upon the sea- son, section of country, and state of the atmosphere. The disorder generally shows itself before the middle of June, or about the commencement of our summer months, continuing its ravages through the w7arm sea- son, gradually lessening in violence as the cool weather approaches. Its frequency and danger are always in 4&S GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. proportion to the heat of the weather; children are subject to it from the third week after birth, to the second summer, at which period it is the most fatal to them. Many distinguished physicians have been disposed to consider teething as the cause of this complaint. I am, however, convinced, that this is not the cause of cholera infantum, or puking and purging. Yet, in children laboring under the irritation of cutting teeth, I have no doubt this complaint is much more severe than it otherwise would be, and that it is more easily taken by them, and that the disorder is more apt to be fatal in its consequences, I admit. But that it is brought about by the causes which I have before mentioned, will be admitted by every physician who has taken the trouble to investigate, or in other words, to search out the original causes of this disease. As I have before told you, the digestive organs in the early stages of childhood, are liable to constant irregularities and irritations; but what excites morbid irritations in the intestinal canal, is perhaps difficult for the most learned of the profession, at the present day, to determine. Yet, whatever influence the irregulari- ties of diet, teething, or other complaints, may have in producing this disorder, I am assured from long expe- rience, that the violent heats of summer, together with sudden changes, or exposure to a moist and unhealthy state of the atmosphere, are the usual exciting causes of cholera infantum, or puking and purging. SYMPTOMS. This disorder commences generally with a purging, but when severe, the child is seized with a puking and purging at the same time, when a few moments before it appeared in the enjoyment of full health. The dis- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 499 charge, or stool is highly offensive, and colored, with a dark or yellow hue; the stools now become frequent, attended with severe griping; probably the motions will be as often as fifteen or twenty times during the twenty-four hours. So soon as the operation com- mences freely from the bowels, the vomiting or puking begins to cease; over the region of the stomach the slightest pressure will give pain, being very tender, and probably swelled : tongue white, thirst great, a constant craving for water between the times of purging, Which cannot be satisfied. The skin becomes dry, and from the child falling away, which it does with great rapidi- ty, the skin is very much shrunk on the inside of the thigh; and while the feet are cold, the head and belly are hot; pulse small and quick, sometimes full; gener- ally tow7ards evening the child is better, but after a short time the purging commences again. Countenance pale, wan, and languid; eyes sunk and dull; the child moans and sighs much; cannot sleep, is excessively irritable, sometimes attempting to bite its nurse, or rolling about its head, or constantly putting up its hands to its face; the steols become bloody. Even water itself will produce purging. The least jar or irregular motion gives it pain ; noise and light cannot be endur- ed. It will scream on barely being touched. The gums are black and swelled; the lips on their edges are filled with a dark scurf; the inflammation takes place; the breathing becomes hurried and laborious: the pulse quick, weak, and irregular, and death closes the suffer- ings of one of the most painful and distressing diseases. REMEDIES. When this complaint is about to make its appear- ance—which you will know by a purging, a white tongue, skin dry and hot, slight fever attended with 500 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. gripings, and occasionally accompanied with cramps of the abdominal and other muscles—nothing is of greater service than a gentle emetic in the morning, followed by a dose of calomel, mixed with a small quantity of ipecacuanha, at night. For doses medicine see table. The emetic not only cleanses the stomach, but produ- ces a soft moist state of the skin. The calomel and the ipecacuanha as I have described, will greatly lessen the severity of the disease, and not unfrequently entire- ly check it. But should there continue looseness of the bowels, with a dry skin and wakefulness, you are to obtain at a doctor's shop, a phial of wine of ipe- cacuanha—which is nothing more than the ipecacuanha steeped or mixed in wine—of this medicine, give the child a few drops through the day, in a little warm tea of any kind: this will produce a gentle moisture, or in other words, a moist sweat. At night give a dose of paregoric. Fcr dose of this, or any other medicine refer to the table. The warm bath, that is, bathing the whole body of the child once or twice a day in warm water, will be found a valuable remedy, and greatly assist in the cure. Many children have entirely esca- ped this dangerous complaint by using daily the warm bath. By following the directions I have laid down, in a great many cases, the complaint will be so relieved as to render the further use of medicine unnecessary. When the remedies which I have mentioned, fail, which is sometimes the case, give occasionally a dose of calomel, to which add a little ipecacuanha. As soon as the medicine has purged the child—or in other words, it has had three or four stools—you are to give a little paregoric, in which put a few7 drops of the wine of ipecacuanha. This moderates the operation of the purge and brings on a gentle moisture, or sweat of the GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 501 skin. You will find great benefit from covering the child's belly with carded cotton, over which you are to put a broad bandage, drawn moderately tight. The cotton thus borne, will check the purging. Should the child be teething when it t. es this complaint, immedi- ate attention ought to be paid to the gums, and cut, if necessary, when the teeth cannot pass through them. If the emetic or puke wiiich I have directed, should hap- pen to act too severely, you can easily stop it by giving a dose of paregoric or laudanum, in a little tea made of cin- namon. So distressiinr in some cases are the effects of CD vomiting and puking—not from the emetic, but from the disorder itself—that you will be under the necessity of seeking means to check it: for this purpose there is nothing better than weak lime water and new milk, in which put a few drop3 of laudanum or paregoric, or apply green peach-tree leaves, lest up, over the stomach and the breast—this is a valuable application for put- ting a stop to bilious vomiting: sulphuric ether is also a good remedy. If these, liowever, should fail in remo- ving the vomiting or puking, a blister applied over the pit of the stomach will scarcely ever fail. This last remedy should not be applied until a fair trial is given those which precede it. WHOOPING COUGH. This complaint occurs only once during life, and is contagious, or catching. It prevails in the western country during the winter and spring months, and its being mild or severe depends very much on the atmos- phere. When the winter and spring are extremely cold 502 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. and wet, the whooping cough is generally severe, but on the contrary it appears under a much milder form. Symptoms.—Whooping cough commences like a common cold, and as it gradually advances, the breath- ing becomes more hurried and difficult, the voice hoarse, attended with cough; great thirst; after a few days a strange whooping sound is made whenever the child drawrs a long breath, followed immediately by the cough. The agitation of the wiiole system is such at this moment that the child lays hold of whatever is nearest, in order to support himself during the fit of coughing; after which he pukes or spits up a tough, frothy, slimy mucus, and is for a short time relieved. The treatment is quite simple:—when you discovei the child to have taken it, give instantly an emetic, or puke, of antimonial wine—see table for dose;—and should this puke not lessen the severity of the complaint, you are to give a second, and if necessary, a third; if bound in its body, a dose of castor oil. To lessen the cough, give frequently the juice of garlic sweetened with honey, or a tea-spoonful of sweet oil, to which you may add a few drops of paregoric or laudanum. The whooping cough is generally most severe during night: to allay or ease the cough, the use of paregoric or laudanum will be highly necessary—for doses see table. I have found great benefit in my practice by using in this complaint the tincture of assafoetida— which is nothing more than a small lump of assafcetida steeped for a few days in a little whiskey, or any kind of spirits—of this tincture you are to give a few drops whenever the cough is severe, and you will find it to allay the irritation of the system, and mitigate or calm the cough. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 503 Doctor Robertson, in the January number of the London Medical Repository, states that of all the remedies he has ever employed in whooping cough, friction—which. means rubbing—on the region of the stomach with the tartarised ointment, has been the most undeviatingly useful: for as soon as the pimples begin to appear on the breast, the disorder begins to abate. This ointment is nothing more than emetic tartar mixed with a little hog's lard. For a description how to prepare it, look under the head "tartarised ointment." MEASLES. The measles generally make their appearance in the spring season. It is a contagious or catching disorder, and like the whooping cough, attacks*but once during life. Symptoms—For a few days before they break out on the body, the child complains of sickness ; seems dull and heavy; very great thirst; short, dry cough, with frequent sneezing, as if laboring under a severe cold; the eyes look red, and much inflamed. On the fourth day, the eruptions, or red pimples,—wiiich resem- ble flea-bites—make their appearance on the face and neck, wiiich soon extend to the breast, and then cover the whole body. In three or four days they begin to go off; at the same time, the fever wiiich always accom* panies the measles, begins gradually to decline. In some cases, the fever and cough will continue without lessening in their violence for several days or a week after the measles have entirely disappeared. 504 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. REMEDIES. As soon as the sickness or drowsiness is observed, and you have cause to apprehend, from the symptoms 1 have already described, that your child is about to take the measles, open the bowels by castor oil, so as to pro- Cure two or three stools: the next evening—for it is at this time the fever is at the highest—give a gentle vomit, or puke, of antimonial wine. You will find, by giving gentle pukes, that the child will be greatly reliev- ed, by lessening the fever and oppression—this being the cause of the drowsiness and stupor. If the vomit should both puke and purge, so much the better, for the child will be the sooner relieved. When the fever and cough continue for a few days after the measles have entirely disappeared, a dose of castor oil will be proper, and which should be occasionally given during its con- tinuance. About this time, there is a dark and offensive matter remains in the bowels that produces this fever, and which ought and must be removed by means of these gentle purges. You will ahvays know if the fever continues, by the dullness, thirst, and want of appetite. Sometimes the measles and whooping cough attack the child at the same time; when this is the case, a physi- cian should be immediately called, as there is consid- erable danger. The diet in this complaint ought to be low; such as mush and boiled milk, chicken soup, &c. Nothing to be taken cold or hot, but moderately warm. Exposure to cold or damp must be avoided, or the disorder may strike in, which would be very dangerous. Let the child be kept in a room neither hot nor cold, but of a pleasant temperature. And you are to recollect that spirituous liquors of any kind, administered in anyway, GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 505 is highly improper. Bleeding is sometimes necessary when the inflammatory symptoms run high, or the cough is very severe; but it ought always to be performed, if possible, under the advice of a physician. Blisters applied between the shoulders or on the sides, will abate the cough, and may be safely used at any time during the complaint. WORMS. * The worms wiiich infest the human body are—the long round werm, the maw, or thread worm, the tape or long joint worm, and the fluke worm. The long round werm is called by the physicians, the ascaris lumbri- coides, deriving its name from slipperiness. It has three nipples at its head, and a triangular mouth in its middle. Its length is from four to twelve inches, and its thickness, when at its largest size, about that of a common goose quill. The body is furrowed on each side, and the tail somewhat blunt. This werm is quite common in children, and not unfrequently, it crawls out at the mouth. It is generally of a milky brownish or ash color. The maw or thread werm—called by physicians ascaris vermicularis—has a blunt head ; the tail of the male is blunt, but that of the female quite sharp and winding. It is generally from two to four inches long, quite small, about the size of a small thread, of a white color, and very elastic or springy. This worm is generally found in the straight gut, or fundament—most commonly in children, but not unfre- quently it is met with in grow n persons also. They are frequently found in the intestines, or guts, in the form 64 2S 506 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE of a ball so completely covered with a slimy mucus, as to prevent the medicines which are usually given for worms, from acting—or in other words—causing their discharge by stool. In women, they sometimes escape into the vagina, or womb, and thence into the urethra, or canal through which the urine passes—and they are also found in the intestines of children. The long thread worm—called, medically speaking, tricocephalus dispar—is from an inch and a half to twe inches long—of a clear white; tlie head is sharp; the body of the male is constantly in motion, in a curved or winding form. The female is straight, with a blunt head and sharp tail; they contain a brown matter, and generally inhabit the large intestines. The long tape worm—called by medical men taenia solium—is from one to six hundred feet in length: it is gifted with the power to contract or enlarge its diameter; that is, to draw7 up or increase its size at pleasure. It rolls itself into a round form, and falls from one side of the stomach to the other on turning, when in a recum- bent or lying position. When cramped by the position of the patient, or by hard pressure over the belly, or disturbed by food which does not agree with it, by medicine, or some disease proper to it, or tormented by the approach of death, it leaves its hold, leaps about and falls, as it were, into convulsions or fits. The broad tape werm—called, medically, boihrio- cephalus latus—the head is longer than it is broad; scarcely any neck. Its body is flat; generally from ten to twenty feet long, and at its broadest part, from a quarter to a half an inch across, and of a white color. The fluke worm is about an inch long, and of a dirty yellowish, greenish or brownish color; you will know7 it by examining the worm which infests the livers of ani- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 507 mals, as the sheep, the hog, the goat, &c. being the same worm. It is extremely difficult to say what are the original causes which produce worms. It is therefore impossi- ble that any physician, however learned he may be, can determine with any kind of certainty, the origin. That improper diet and food, assists in producing worms. is correct; but it is only true so far as this improper food deranges the action of the stomach and bowels, and weakens their action: for worms seldom occur if the action of the bowels is healthy, strong and vigorous. " Few infants have worms until they are weaned, which is to be accounted for on the principle, that the bowels are in better order during suckling than afterwards, when the diet is more varied and indigestible." To the learned and distinguished Robley Dunglison, Professor of the Practice of Medicine in the University of Virginia, I am indebted for the highly valuable infor- mation on this subject. Climate, infancy, weakened state of the bowels, and improper food, favor the production of worms. That climate has a particular influence, and is favorable to the origin of certain worms, is evident. A fourth part of the inhabitants of Grand Cairo have the tape worm; and in Holland—according to Rosen—it is quite com- mon. In the United States it is quite rare. SYMPTOMS. The head is generally affected; the face is pale, and sometimes of the color of bees-wax : the lower eye lid becomes of a leaden color: itching is felt in the nose occasionally picking it; the saliva, or spittle runs down over the pillow during sleep; the breath has a remark- able bad foetor, or bad smell; frightful dreams; the child cries in its sleep and awakes with great terror; 508 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. itching about the navel; creeping or tearing pain in the belly, or a pricking and gnawing about the stomach; constant hunger, and yet the system becomes weak; frequent itching of the fundament; frequent dry cough, With tickling in the throat, accompanied with slow fe- ver ; these symptoms, singly or together, denote the presence of worms. REMEDIES. A great many medicines are daily employed for worms. From long experience, and an extensive prac- tice, I have had a fair opportunity of testing their virtues, at the head of which stands calomel, worm- seed oil, Carolina pink root—sometimes called Indian pink root, or pink root—and spirits of turpentine: all of which, when properly given, are valuable medicines for expelling worms. You are first to commence by giving the child a suitable dose of calomel;—for which see table of med- icines. You are occasionally to repeat this medicine as long as the stools have an offensive smell, and look unnatural. On the days between the administer- ing the calomel, give the child a little aloes, pounded very fine, and mixed with honey. For dose see table. " I have never known a case of failure," says a distin- guished physician, "when the patient, or child was freely purged with calomel, and then given either the worm-seed oil, agreeably to the directions on the phials in which it is sold, or the Indian pink root m tea." For a description of this root look under the head Car- olina pink root. The oil should be given on an empty stomach in the morning, on a lump of sugar, and when the pink root is used make tea of it, by pouring a quart of boiling water on a handful of the roots, of which you are to give a cupful night and morning to GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 509 the child; and to cause him to take it more readily, you may add milk and sugar: by this means children will take it as soon as any other tea. Sometimes the pink root will occasion the eyes to become sore; when this is the case, you are to stop using it until the eyes are perfectly well; this is produced, as is supposed, from some other root which grows with the pink root, and is frequently gathered with it. After using the pink root for a week or ten days, give a dose of calo- mel or castor oil. In those species of worm which I have described as uncommon, in our country, their ex- pulsion, or discharge is produced by spirits of turpen- tine, in large doses requiring the advice and attendance of a physician. Mr. Cloquet, a distinguished physician of France, affirms, that he has seen the long worm, or the one to which children are most subject, evacuated, or dis- charged by stool, after the belly had been rubbed with a mixture of ox's gall and common soap, oil of tansey or of camomile, mixed with spirits in which camphor has been dissolved, or garlic; and by the application of a plaster composed of common yellow7 wax, lith- arge, assafcetida, and galbanum, applied to the belly. Pure air, simple digestible food, exercise, and the use of all those means by which the system is strength- ened, should be attended to; otherwise as soon as they are expelled, they will again return. For this purpose occasionally administer to the child or person subject to worms, a simple dose of charcoal in new milk. According to the latest and most enlightened experience of the Medical Schools in Europe, charcoal is highly recommended. 2 s 2 DESCRIPTION OF MEDICINES. REMARKS. I have now7 given a full and general description, of the important diseases to which the human body is liable, and of the various remedies to be used in their cure. I shall now proceed to describe, as far as prac- ticable, all the valuable roots, plants, and so on, possi- ble to be included in the work. 1 have observed in several books, purporting to have been written for the use of families, descriptions of many plants and roots, merely calculated to fill up and increase the size of such works, without being of any benefit as medicines, or even affording any useful information to the reader. I shall therefore, mention only such as are truly useful as medicines, and whose virtues are highly important in the cure of diseases. SENEKA SNAKE ROOT. This root possesses more virtues than any one used in medicine ; and of all the roots used in medicine it is by far the most valuable. It is now7 more than eighty years, since its virtues were made known to physicians, by Doctor John Tenant, who learned its use from the Senagaroes tribe of Indians. By rewarding them liberally, he obtained their secret remedy against the bite of the rattle-snake, which he called snake root on 510 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 511 that account. According to their practice, it was ap- plied both outwardly and inwardly: either chewed and applied to the wound, or in the form of poultice. Doct. Tenant thought the Seneka a certain remedy against the bite of the rattle-snake, but it has since been doubt- ed. A reward w7as given to the doctor for this dis- covery, by the legislature of Pennsylvania. The Seneka was recommended by him, to be used in pleuri- sy ; and in this disease it is a truly valuable remedy, after the free use of the lancet and the warm bath. Sir Francis Milliman, Doctor Percival, and many other distinguished physicians, have borne testimony in favor of its powers as a diuretic in dropsies—diuretic means whatever acts on the urinary organs so as to produce an evacuation of the water from the bladder freely. In croup this is a valuable medicine : and the discovery of it being such, is due to Doctor Archer, of Hartford county, Maryland, who first discovered its great effica- cy in croup, that frequently unmanageable disease. My practice is, in the first instance to employ the lancet, in the next the warm bath, and in the next the Seneka snake root, as directed under the head of croup. Giv- en as a strong decoction, which is made by pouring on one or two ounces of the best root, coarsely pounded with a hammer, about a quart of boiling water, which is to be stewed down to half a pint or less, in a close vessel over a slow fire :—a tea-spoonful every hour, or indeed every twenty minutes to a child as the case may be dangerous or otherwise, will answer the effect in croup. It is of infinite service if it pukes- the patient when given in this way; because it brings on a dis- charge of mucus or tough slime from the mouth and throat, which almost always relieves the person afflicted. It is proper, if the case is a dangerous one, to give a 512 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. dose of calomel with the snake root, adding to the cal- omel a small portion of ipecacuanha; in fact, in this disease, when very dangerous, I give large doses of calomel when I resort to this remedy: in simple and gentle cases of croup, an emetic of ipecacuanha, and the werm bath, will frequently give relief. A strong tea made of this root, and given as in croup, is an excellent remedy for the hives, or for rheumatism of an inflam- matory nature ; and in violent colds, it is an admirable medicine to promote perspiration or sweating. Used in these cases, the best form is that of a handful of the root to a quart of boiling water, giving a wine-glassful of the decoction every twe hours, if a grown person, and increasing or lessening the quantity as may seem to be necessary. The virtues of this root, in obstructions, or stoppages of the menses or monthly discharges, are absolutely incalculable; and every woman should return thanks to the author of all good, for giving such virtues to this root as are possessed, perhaps, hy no other, in relieving this diseased state of the female system which, of all others, is probably the most dangerous. When the menstrual discharge is looked for and does not appear, four ounces of the decoction above described ought to be taken in the course of the day—indeed, as much ought to be taken as the stomach will bear without incon- venience. When sickness to puking is induced—which is sometimes the case when the stomach is weak or irri- table—add in the tea or decoction some cinnamon, or calamus, or angelica, or a little ginger; either of these in addition, will cause the stomach to retain the decoc- tion : there is no danger in the Seneka snake root, for I have frequently given it in very large doses in croup. The only difficulty is, that it sometimes passes off by GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 513 stool, without being productive of its usual benefits in female cases—the remedies for which will be spoken of under the proper heads. But in dropsy, this purgative effect of the seneka snake root is of great and impor- tant service, as well as its active and powerful influ- ence on the urinary organs. In all dropsical swellings, it ought to be used very freely, and will always be found a medicine of high and inestimable value. I will close the notice of this great root, by observing that it has the confidence of the most distinguished physicians of the United States, as well as those of Europe. The discovery of its virtues in female ob- structions, is due to Dr. Hartshorn, of Philadelphia, one of the best men. and whose heart is devoted to the cause of suffering humanity. SASSAFRAS. A particular description of sassafras is unnecessary, being known and found in every part of the western country. The root, bark, or flowers, made into a tea, is used considerably by the people in the country. It cleanses any impurities of the blood, and if distilled, affords a valuable oil, which is a good remedy in rheu- matism. It ought to be rubbed on the afflicted parts in small quantities: and if taken inwardly, a few drops are to be given on a lump of sugar, being highly stim- ulating. The oil rubbed on wens is considered a good remedy, and frequently removes them entirely. The sassafras bark, mixed with sarsaparilla, makes a good diet drink for cleansing impurities of the blood, &c. 65 514 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. SARSAPARILLA. This root was first brought into notice by the Span- iards, in the year 1563, and was for some time after- wards, considered a certain cure for venereal diseases; [see page 346, where you will see venereal described.] It, however, aftenvards proved unsuccessful, either for wrant of proper attention, or from w7ant of knowiedge how to treat the complaint. This little root has excited a great deal of inquiry and discussion among medical men, throughout Europe and the United States, as to whether it really is or is not, a cure for this wretched disease, the venereal. It has fallen several times into almost entire neglect, and as often been again revived into use. It has, however, lately been brought forward, with much higher reputa- tion than it ever held before, and if used in the manner I have described in. venereal, may be relied on as a certain cure. Years of practical experience have con- vinced me of the fact, even in the worst of the com- plaint. I will go still further, by asserting that the virtues of this root are not yet fully knowm and duly appreciated; and I sincerely regret, that the limits of my work will not permit me to go more fully into the great benefits I have witnessed from its use in chronic affections of the liver—for a description of which dis- ease, see page 241. In scrofulous sores, in all diseases of the skin, and for cleansing the blood, it will be found valuable. In rheumatism, gout, and to stop the effect of mercury, or to remove any bad consequences which have been pro- duced by its use, the sarsaparilla is also good. In weakness of the stomach called dyspepsia, [see that head,] it is an excellent remedy, by giving tone and GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 51 j strength to the bowels and stomach. The method of preparing it is simply boiling, after washing it clean, in the proportions of an ounce of the root, split and finely cut up, to two quarts of w7ater, which must be boiled down to one quart, and suffered to get cold be- fore it is taken. Take of it from a pint to a quart daily, or as much as the stomach will bear. The bark of the root contains the virtues. You must obtain it sound; and recollect always, that it loses its powers by being kept any length of time. The tea should always be made fresh every day. Sarsaparilla grows plenti- fully in the western country, and may be found along creeks, and on the banks of rivers. It is a small run- ning vine when torn from the ground, and extends some distance from the head, which is of a dark brown color on the outside, and a pale white within. When cut into short pieces it splits easily, and has a very bit- ter taste. The main vine is about the size of a com- mon goose-quill. It is a native of the Spanish West Indies, from whence it was formerly imported, until discovered to be also a native of the United States. The imported root is not quite as large as ours, and is of a darker color and much wrinkled on the outside^* It may be considered as one of the most valuable roots in the western country, and although possessing great power, is entirely innocent. It ought most certainly to be used, in all cases in which mercury has had any effects on the system, or in which there is the least doubt that any infection lurks in the system connected with venereal. 516 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. JAMESTOWN WEED. Sometimes called jimson, thorn-apple, stink-weed: and, by the learned, usually called datura stramoni- um. Whether this plant is a native of the United States or not, cannot at this late period be known; ner is it material that the fact should be ascertained, be- cause it is now found in every part of the American Union, from the state of Maine, to the Mexican gulf, and from the Atlantic sea-board, to the Rocky, or Oregon mountains. It was first noticed by the original settlers of Virginia, at Jamestowm, from which circumstance, it took the name which 1 have adopted. Beverly, who in very early times, wrote a history of the first settlement of Virginia, thus speaks of its effects on a party of Brit- ish soldiers, who had eaten of the leaves of the James- town weed as boiled greens. " One would blow up a feather into the air, whilst another would dart straws at it with great fury; another would sit stark naked in a corner of the room, grinning like a monkey, and making mouths at the company; whilst another weuld caress and paw his companions, and sneer in their faces. In this frantic condition they were confined, under the ap- prehension that they might destroy themselves, though it was observed that all their actions were those of inno- cence and good nature. They were by no means clean- ly, and would have wallowed in their own excrements, had they not been prevented. After the lapse of ten or eleven days, their senses again returned, without their being able to remember any thing that had occurred in the interim." I will give for the satisfaction of my read- ers some account of the discovery of the medical proper- ties of the Jamestown weed, and also adduce several cases in proof of those medical properties, abridged from GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 517 the account of Doctor Storck, whose authority may be relied on. " In the months of June, July and August, I observed in the neighborhood of Schcenbrun," says the doctor, "great quantities of the Datura Stramonium, or thorn- apple. I well knew this plant w7as altogether out of use as a medicine, because several authors had pro- nounced it highly dangerous. On the 23d of June 1760, I went out very early in search of the weed, and gathered a large quantity of it, and resolved to give it a fair trial, notwithstanding all I had heard and read respecting its poisonous effects, and of its producing in- sanity or derangement of mind. I next cut off the roots and threw7 them aside: then beat the leaves, branches and stalks in a large marble mortar, and pressed out about one gallon of the juice. This I evaporated to the consistence of an extract, over a slow fire, in a glazed vessel, often stirring it with a wooden spoon to prevent its burning; and the extract, when it became cold, I found to be a black brittle mass. I laid a grain and a half of this extract on my tongue, dissolved it against the roof of my mouth, and swallow- ed it down. It neither produced disorder of my body, nor the least derangement in my intellectual fac- ulties. After making several experiments on myself, and perceiving no manner of disorder, I concluded that the extract could be safely given to patients in small doses. We happened at that time to have a case in the hospital, in which it might be presumed this extract of thorn-apple, (which the reader will please to remember we call Jamestown weed,) would be of service. Before using it however, I consulted both ancient and modern writers, and all to no purpose. They had all laid it down in explicit terms that it would disorder the mind, 518 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. destroy the ideas and memory, and produce convul- sions. These were all dreadful effects—but notwith- standing a query suggested itself to my mind in the fol- lowing form : " If the thorn-apple, by disordering the mind, causes madness in sound persons, may we not try whether by changing and disturbing the ideas and com- mon sensory, it might not bring the insane, and persons bereft of their reason, to sanity, or soundness of mind, and by a contrary motion, remove convulsions in the convulsed." This notion. I confess, was far-fetched, yet it was not without some good success. The experi- ments I made were as follow7: "Case 1st. A girl aged twelve years, had been disor- dered in her mind twe months; she answered confusedly when asked any questions, and what werds she did utter were very imperfectly articulated. She was sul- len and refractory, and could be prevailed on by no means to do anv thins;. All the medicines she had taken had produced no effect. I gave her half a grain of the extract morning and night, and made her drink after each dose, a cup of tea, or some veal broth. On the third week she began to be less sullen; returned more rational answers, and spoke distinctly. In two months time—continuing the use of the same medicine, and giving three doses each day—she began to reason extremely well, and said her morning and evening pray- ers with a clear and distinct voice; gained a good memory, and gradually recovered her understanding. " Case 2d. A woman over forty years of age, was afflicted with vertigo, or dizziness of the head, and could find no relief from the medicines; she became gradually disordered in her mind, and finally a degree of madness accompanied her vertigo. She was brought to our hospital. The medicines first prescribed gave GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 519 her no manner of relief. She began to be raving and furious; rose out of bed during the night, and by her bawling disturbed and frightened the other patients- some of whom she would forcibly pull out of bed. In this situation I gave her—says Dr. Storck—half a grain of the extract of thorn-apple twice a day. The first day she became more composed, but in the night she turned as furious as ever. The third day, I gave her one grain of the extract morning and evening, and all the symptoms became milder. She made some noise indeed, in the night, but soon fell asleep again. On the fourth day she began to give more reasonable answers, but soon fell again into raving fits. Her days and nights then became calm and quiet. On the eighth day, I gave her one grain of the extract three times, and continued these doses until the fourth week, when all her fury was laid. Her madness went off; soundness of mind, speech and judgment returned, and she slept as soundly as any of the other patients : yet the vertigo frequently and Mieldenly returned upon her as before, and at times with such violence as to make her fall down as if in a fit, but she ahvays retained her presence of mind. It was enough for the purpose of my experiment, that the extract of the thorn-apple cured her madness ; and perceiving that the vertigo was not removed, I forbore its further use. She lived five months in the hospital. All the functions of her mind were good and sound, but the vertigo turned gradually stronger, and the fits of it became more frequent, until at length a true fit of apoplexy carried her off. I dis- sected her and found many of the blood vessels of the head distended or swelled, and one of them turned bony, for the distance of an inch and a half: besides which, says the doctor, I found the two anterior ventri- 520 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. cles of the brain distended greatly, and filled with many hydatids of all shapes and sizes. Hydatids are little animals, formed like bladders, and distended with a watery fluid. All the viscera in the rest of the body, were in a very sound state. From these discoveries made alter her death, it appears that the vertigo of the patient was an incurable disease; and it also appears, that the extract of the thorn-apple, or Jamestown weed, not only allayed her rage, but cured her madness without any bad symptoms." I have accompanied the discoveries of the medical virtues of the Jamestown weed by Dr. Storck, with the twe preceding cases, to prove clearly to my readers, that in the beneficence of his mercy, the great Father of the ^Universe, has clothed our soil with means, and those means powerful ones, of curing our diseases, with which we are measurably acquainted and with the medical properties of which it is our duty to become familiar. There is, in my opinion, nearly as much folly and stupidity in importing costly drugs at enormous expenses from foreign parts, while we have their equals at home, as there weuld be in importing bricks and timber from Europe to construct our habitations. Industry and science alone can develope the immense resources of this unrivalled country, and these we are personally, morally, and politically bound to employ. Every part of the Jamestown weed, exclusive of the root—of which we know nothing by experiment—when taken in considerable portions, operates as a strong nar- cotic, or stupifying poison. This is, however, no valid objection to its medical uses and properties; because some of our most powerful medicines, such for instance as opium and aqua-fortis, invariably destroy life, when injudiciously taken. I am not alone in considering this GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 521 plant as possessing high and invaluable medicinal pow- ers ; it has been spoken of in terms of high commenda- tion by many of the most distinguished physicians of the present age, among whom are Barton, Fisher, Bige- low, and King, of Connecticut. Among the Indian nations, the leaves of this weed are made much use of, especially in cases of wounds, contusions or bruises, ulcerations, and the bites of rep- tiles, yhe extract of this weed, procured in the manner above stated by Dr. Storck, is valuable in various cases of the chronic kind ; by which I mean those of long standing; also in all those kinds of epilepsy, commonly called fits—those especially, which give warning of their coming on, or those which occur at regular times. It is also a better medicine than any thing yet known, for lessening the pain in sciatica, or hip gout. The leaves of the dried plant, smoked as we do tobacco, are of great use in attacks of spasmodic asthma—which means phthisic accompanied with cramp. In making use of this medicine internally, the dried and pounded leaves may be given in doses of a single grain. If the first dose produces no sickness or vomiting, you may give a grain of the leaves three times a day, and even increase the dose each time, until the effects are felt by the patient, or relief produced. The extract, however, is always to be preferred, given as before described by Dr. Storck, the real discoverer of the medicine. The bruised or wilted leaves are valuable in painful tumors, and, indeed, in most swellings accompanied with pain. They are, in these cases, to be applied externally, and in such quantities as to preserve their moisture against the fever of such tumors. The ointment made from the bruised leaves, is also valuable, and is made by 66 2 t2 522 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. boiling them in lard or tallow, straining it well, and set- ting it off to cool. In the abridged extract from Doctor Storck, I have shown the value of this medicine in mania, madness, or frenzy; and I now say that the value of this discov- ery in 1760,notwithstandingwhathasbeen said against it, has been amply substantiated by experiments of many distinguished men of the present age, among whom are Barton and Fisher—in fact, Barton's experimental tes- timony alone, would be quite sufficient: and here I wish it to be distinctly noticed by those afflicted with epilepsy or fits, that his testimony is clearly in its favor, as a most powerful remedy, even in deplorable cases—he has proved the fact from actual experiment. I wish the reader also to bear in mind the following facts, with regard to the value of simple medicines: the most learned sometimes decry their use, because there is not scientific mystery enough about them to excite the aston- ishment of the common people; and second, because they are often abused by quacks and pretenders, and men who have not perseverance and resolution enough to give them a fair trial. DOGWOOD. The dogwood is so common throughout the United States as to require no description whatever : it is in fact to be found in every forest in our country. The dog- wood bark is generally considered equal to the peruvian bark; but I conceive it greatly superior, not only on account of our being always able to procure it fresh from the tree, but because the peruvian bark is old GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 523 before it reaches this country, and nearly, if not always adulterated. It is among the best tonic and strength- ening medicines to be found in this or any other country* The bark of the root of the dogweod tree is the strong- est ; next in strength to which is the bark of the body and smaller branches. In all intermittent fevers—by which I mean all fevers which go off and return again —it is an excellent remedy; and the only reason why it cannot be given in other fevers, is that wdien given in actual fever, it increases the pulse, and by so doing, does mischief; hence you will see the necessity of never giving it except when the fever is entirely off. In cases where it produces pain, or griping of the bowels, a few drops of laudanum will remove the difficulty if given with the bark. In most cases the dose in powder— which is the best way of giving this bark—is from thir- ty to thirty-five grains; and in some particular cases— mentioned under the proper heads—an addition of the snake root is to be made, in the proportions of thirty grains of the dogwood bark to six grains of the snake root, pounded to a powder. The wood itself, of the dogwood tree, is considerably used by dentists—by which I mean tooth-cleaners and setters—in putting in artificial teeth. The young branches, stripped of their bark, and rubbed with their ends against the teeth, ren- der them extremely wiiite and beautiful. These are tooth-brushes of nature's presenting, and are infinitely better than those made of hog's bristles, and filled with snuff, and such other delightful aromatics! The negroes of the southern states, and those of the West India Islands, who are remarkable for the wrhiteness of their teeth, are in the constant practice of rubbing them with the small branches of the dogweod, or of some other tree which will answer the purpose. The ripe berries 524 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of the dogweod, in spirits of any kind, make an excel- lent bitter for common purposes, and one well adapted to persons of weak stomachs, taken in the morning. All the Indian nations use the flowers at the proper season, in warm water, or in spirits, as a remedy in windy colic. The dogweod is an excellent remedy— boiled strong as a tea or decoction—for horses having that destructive disease, the yellow7 water: a distemper which carries off thousands of that useful and noble animal every year. Horses having the yellow-water, should be bled every day freely, and given nothing to drink but strong dogweod tea. The pow7dered bark of this tree makes an excellent ink, and the process is very- simple :—Take half an ounce of the powdered bark, two drachms of copperas, two scruples of gum arabic, or cherry-tree gum, and put them into one pint of rain water: mix them together, and in a few days it will be fit for use. The medical virtues of this bark were dis- covered as early as the year 1787. It is an astringent, and also a stimulant, and the internal use of it ren- ders the pulse ahvays quicker, and often fuller than it naturally is. ALUM ROOT. This is a native of all the North American forests, from Georgia to Maine, and from the Atlantic ocean to the Oregon, or Rocky mountains. It is a very strong vegetable astringent; by which I mean, that when applied to the human body, it makes the solids harder and firmer, by contracting their fibres. As a powerful astringent, it is usually employed in all cases of weak- ness and irritability, and report speaks favorable of its GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 525 virtues. It is generally used in external applications more than as an internal remedy: in piles, for instance —or hemorrhages from any part of the system: by which I mean spontaneous bleedings. GINSENG. This root is called by the people in the country gen- erally, for shortness, 'sang. It is found in great plenty among the hills and mountains of Tennessee, and brought into Knoxville daily for sale. Some few years back it w7as used as an article of commerce, and sent to the eastward in wagons as a commodity of foreign export, and afforded considerable employment and profit to the gatherers of it who resided near and among the mountains. It has latterly, however, fallen in price and value, as an article of exportation, and therefore but little of it is brought in for sale. This root was exported to China, and afforded to the shipper a handsome profit—generally selling it in the Chinese dominions for its weight in silver. The Chinese attributed great virtues to this root; so many indeed, that at one period—1784—the price at Pekin is said to have been eight or nine times its weight in pure silver. They considered it as a sovereign remedy in all diseases incidental to their climate and country, and had no confidence in any medicine that was not combined with it: and such was its astonishing reputa- tion, that it was rarely, if ever, administered to the poor, on account of the highness of its price. They chew7 it, and take it in strong decoction, so as to get all the vir- tue from this precious drug. These people are remark- able for their superstitious prejudices, civil, moral, 526 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. and religious: as a proof of which, they set a higher value on those roots which have a resemblance to the human form, and ascribe greater powers to them than to those of a different shape. The ginseng has been fully tested by the best physi- cians in the United States, and they ascribe to it noth- ing more than its being a pleasant bitter, and a gentle stimulant for strengthening the stomach. It gives all its strength and virtues by being steeped in whiskey, or any other kind of spirits. TOBACCO PLANT, Called by the learned nicoliana tobacum. This very common plant was found in cultivation by the Indian nations, when the continents of North and South America were first discovered:—these, how ever, are not the only regions of the globe in which it is found to flourish: the East Indies have long been known to produce it. To describe the tobacco plant, would be entirely useless; it would answer as little pur- pose, as to describe on paper the countenance of an old friend, with whom Ave had long before shaken hands, and become perfectly familiar. I shall, therefore, con- sider it in no other light than as a medical drug. I shall first, notice tobacco as a remedy for worms. I do not recollect ever to have tried it myself, but Doct. Barton expressly says—and his authority can in all cases be relied on—that " tobacco leaves pounded and mixed with vinegar, and applied as a poultice to the breast and belly, will frequently expel worms, in cases where very powerful remedies have been resorted to in vain. In cases, also, where poisons of any kind have been taken GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 527 into the stomach, and emetics given internally, and prove deficient in their operation, the tobacco poultice, as just described, if applied to the stomach will act powerfully, and force it to discharge the contents. In cases where the bowels are obstinately constipated, in other werds, where great costiveness exists, the leaves of the tobacco plant, cured in the usual manner, stewed in vinegar, and applied to the belly, will be attended with signal success, when the most powerful purges internally taken have failed. The last mentioned ap- plication—tobacco leaves stewed in vinegar—is a good remedy in what physicians call ascites, or dropsy of the belly, of which there are two kinds: one kind is, where the dropsical water is lodged in the great cavity enclos- ing the intestines or guts, &c-—this is called ascites abdomincdis by medical men. The other is, where the water is lodged in a membrane, sack, or tube, about the womb, and is called ascites saccatus by physicians. I will, for the satisfaction of the reader, abridge a case of the latter kind from a letter of Dr. Cutbush, physi- cian of the American Marine hospital at Syracuse. The subject of the disease presumed by Dr. Cutbush to be dropsy, was a young woman brought to him by her parents. Some of her former physicians—thirty-three of whom had been consulted in her case—were of opinion that her disease was a collection of water in the womb ; others, that it was dropsy of the ovaria— these are the parts taken out of female swine when spaying—others, that it was an enlarged liver; and others still, that it was an extra-uterine fetus, which is a case of conception, in wiiich the child is not in the womb where it should be, but in the cavity of the belly, outside of the womb. On examination, Dr. Cutbush discovered a large tumor, or swelling in the abdomen, 528 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. or belly, which extended diagonally across it from the left to the right. The swelling, or tumor, which was unusually great, had a number of inequalities on its surface, which could be easily felt, and which when pressed upon, produced extreme pain; no fluctuation or movement of water, however, could be discovered on such pressure. The case w7as new to him; and in addition greatly perplexing, because the first physicians of Naples had given contrary opinions respecting it, and had also disagreed in their practice. She had been under the free use of mercury twice—once at Naples, and once at Syracuse: at the latter place, mer- cury had been given in large quantities by a surgeon belonging to Lord Nelson's fleet, without any beneficial effect. "From this history and examination," says the Doctor, " I entertained no hopes of relieving her; but the solemn entreaties of her parents determined me to make trial of a remedy which I had found useful in obstinate tumors, and which finally proved the disease to be a dropsical affection of the womb itself, or of the right fallopian tube." [These tubes extend from the sides of the womb towards the ovaria—which I have before explained—and are supposed to grasp them in sexual communication.] "I directed the leaves of the tobacco plant, recently collected, to be stewed in vine- gar, and applied to the abdominal tumor." The first application produced sickness at the stomach, puking, vertigo, or swimming in the head, great depression of muscular strength, copious sweating, and a loose state of the bowels. Her pulse became low: and the vio- lence of the symptoms induced the doctor not to con- tinue the application long. On the succeeding day it Was repeated twice—morning and evening—and pro- duced the same symptoms, but less violent; and attend- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 529 ed with an immoderate flow of water from the vagina and womb. This remedy was continued twenty days, and the patient was completely cured. No medicines were given, except a little opium, and some wines occa- sionally. In cases of dropsy generally, the tobacco plant has been found very serviceable. When given in proper quantities, it acts as a powerful diuretic—or in other words, it produces a great flow of urine—entirely dis- proportioned to the quantity of liquor taken into the stomach. This is a conclusive proof that it acts upon, and dislodges the dropsical fluid from the system. In cramps, or spasms it is also productive of much benefit; being well known to produce great relaxations of the muscular powers, and unusual prostration of strength —on which account, it may also be given with advan- tage in cases of tetanus, or locked-jaw7, and in fact, in all cases where there appears to be a derangement of the muscular energies, local, or relating to a particular part, or general, and involving the whole system. When tobacco is to be taken internally, by the stomach, it ought either to be in the extract, as described hy Dr. Storck, or in infusion. The infusion is made by steep- ing an ounce of tobacco leaves in a pint of boiling water, and give it by the tea-spoonful with much cau- tion. One, two, or three table-spoonsful, in half a pint of warm milk, or thin gruel, will generally produce relief, if given in clysters, in cases of colic or very ob- stinate costiveness, where all other medicines have proved ineffectual. If these quantities produce no relief, and there is no sickness of the stomach, the clysters must be repeated every half hour, gradually increasing the infusion until one or the other of these effects be produced. In this w7ay, the dangerous effects 07 2U 530 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. of tobacco may ahvays be avoided. I will record a case in which obstinate constipation of the bowels w7as relieved by an infusion of tobacco when all other rem- edies had utterly failed:—In the city of Charleston, South Carolina, some years since, and before reading medicine, I was attacked at night with severe colic, which terminated in obstinate constipation of the bow- els. The pain was so excruciating that I was com- pelled to send for a physician: it was Dr. Whitterage, a gentleman equally celebrated for his philanthropy, and his profound knowledge of medical science. Dur- ing a period of ten days, apprehending an inflamma- tion, and consequent mortification of the bowels, this gentleman resorted to almost every know n and power- ful remedy, without effect. As a last resort—of which he candidly informed me—recourse was had to clysters made of tobacco. The first, which was a weak infu- sion, had no effect; and the doctor directed my nurse to give a strong one at midnight. Her fatigue caused her to fall asleep, and it was neglected till morning. By this time—the tobacco having remained in the wa- ter all night—the infusion had become unusually strong, in which state a clyster of it was given. The immedi- ate derangement of my feelings and sensations, and the horrible nausea and sickness of the stomach I suffered, are absolutely indescribable. I perspired at every pore, and so entire was the prostration of my muscular powers, that I had to be held on the close- stool. It was with difficulty that I could draw my breath. In a few7 minutes, by an almost unconscious effort, an extremely foetid discharge took place from the bowels, of the color and consistence of molasses, when I was entirely relieved. Subsequent experience has taught me to believe that, had this great and good GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 531 man applied tobacco leaves, stewed in vinegar, to the abdomen, whilst I was under the operation of medi- cines taken by the stomach, I would much sooner have been relieved from my miseries. In concluding this subject, it can scarcely be necessary to advise my readers, that the tobacco plant is an active and power- ful medicine, and dangerous when used to injudicious excess. THE UVA URSI. Sometimes called the bear-berry, the bear's whortle- berry, and the wild cranberry. The uva ursi—sometimes designated by the names I have noted above—is a native of the mountains and cold regions of Europe, and it is said, of the north- ern parts of the United States. It is presumed, from numerous and well authenticated experiments, to be the best remedy ever yet discovered in all diseases of the urinary organs, whether of the kidneys, ureters, or bladder, and is therefore entitled to no ordinary consid- eration as a medicine. The dose usually given, of the powdered leaves of the uva ursi, in any kind of syrup, is from twenty to thirty grains, three or four times a day. which may be doubled in quantity, in cases of extreme urgency and danger. The descrip- tion of this plant, given by the celebrated Galen, which is considered the most accurate one on record, is in substance as follows:—it is a low7 shrub, which grows and spreads itself near the surface of the ground, and has pensile, or hanging branches; bark of a reddish or pink color, and is thickly set with oblong, oval, and entire fleshy leaves. The flower is oval shaped, and 532 GUNNo DOMESTIC MEDICINE. broader near the base than the mouth, wiiich has an edge scolloped into five divisions, with small, blunt, and curled points. The fruit is a roundish, red colored berry, similar in appearance to the small wild cherry, and contains five hard bony seeds, with plain sides, and no more. It is an evergreen, and produces fruit every twe years. Every part of this shrub, particularly the bark and leaves, has a bitter and astringent taste. I am thus particular in the description of it, because the bil- berry, or red myrtle, is often mistaken by good botanists for the uva ursi—they being so nearly alike as scarcely to be distinguishable from each other. The only dis- tinguishing characteristics which can be depended on are these: the flower of the uva ursi has ten stamina, more commonly known hy the name cf antlers, or uprights, and the berries contain five seeds only—while the other, the bilberry, or red myrtle, has only eight stamina in the flower, and sometimes twenty seeds in the berry. I have some doubts, notwithstanding the opinion of the celebrated doctors Bigelow and Chap- man, for both of whom I entertain a high respect—that the real and genuine uva ursi cf Galen, is not a native of any known and inhabited part of the North Ameri- can continent; and that its having been measurably brought into disrepute, like many other medicines, has been owing to the fact of other plants having been mis- taken for it, and used medically in its stead. Galen says that it is a rare plant, and is only to be found in the coldest countries, and in the neighborhood of moun- tains covered with eternal snows; and that he never met with it but upon twe of the highest mountains in Europe, one of which was an Austrian Alp, called Gans, and the other a Styrian Alp, called the snowy moun- tain, six leagues from Marianstein. We have no such GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 533 mountains in North America, unless the Oregon or Rocky mountains, west of the Mississippi, of whose botanical productions we know little—perhaps nothing. But whether the uva ursi be an American plant or not, it can always be had genuine in the shops, and my prin- cipal motive for mentioning any doubts respecting its being a native of this country, is to guard those afflicted with diseases of the urinary organs, against the use of spurious or worthless plants in its stead. The following cases, abridged from a work of high authority, will show the genuine uva ursi in its true light. Case 1st. "A man about sixty years of age, had been about twenty years afflicted, at times with a diffi- culty of making wrater, which w7as usually voided by single drops, accompanied with exquisite torture, a foetid smell, and a mucus mixed with blood. Some- times there was a total suppression of urine, which could only be relieved by the catheter. He first took proper laxatives for the relief of the bowels, and then commenced taking half a drachm of the uva ursi every morning. This prescription w7as continued for seven complete months; by which time his urine became more frequent and full of mucus, but not so foetid as before; and the pain which had tortured him so many years, w7as quite gone; he slept well; had a good appe- tite ; grew strong; walked well; and made w7ater with- out any pain. Case 2d. "This was also a man about sixty years of age, who had for a long time been afflicted with exquisite pains, and a suppression of urine to so great a degree, that for seven weeks he had never passed his water but by the help of a catheter. Half a drachm of the powdered leaves of the uva ursi was given him every morning, and a gentle dose of paregoric at night; and 2 u 2 534 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. after six days he had no further need of the catheter,* Having persevered in the use of the medicine for four- teen weeks, he was restored to perfect health. Case 3d. " A man came to us, whose name was Christian: he was afflicted with hydrocele, or dropsy of the scrotum, or bag, for which he had taken medicines usually given in such cases. When this course was finished, a defect in the urinary system began to threaten —insomuch that in a short time his urine became of a White color; was passed with great difficulty and pain: and as soon as discharged, had a very bad and offen- sive smell. The catheter being introduced repeatedly, evidently proved that there w7as a calculus, or stone in the bladder. The uva ursi was therefore given in the quantities before noticed ; by which, in a short time, so great relief was obtained, that not only a due retention of urine took place, hut it was also passed without pain, in smell and color perfectly natural; and I assert it— says the writer—that by continuing the use of this med- icine for two months, every calculus sign and symptom was entirely removed ; although by sounding him again, the calculus or stone was still found in the bladder. This is the first, and the only person, among all I have seen, who frequently made water of a healthy appear- ance whilst a stone remained in the bladder. How it came to pass, and by what means the patient should obtain such benefit from this plant, as to be entirely exempt from pain, and other inconveniences, when a stone still existed in the bladder, is what I must con- fess myself entirely unable to explain." GUNN'S DOMESTIu MEDICINE, " 535 SLIPPERY ELM. This tree deserves great attention, as being among the best remedies in our country. I have mentioned frequently, that in many diseases it should be used as a poultice, and in many others as a clyster. I shall now describe the valuable properties of this tree more at large. The inner bark must be used—and that of the young tree is preferable. As a poultice, nothing is supe- rior, particularly in old gun-shot wounds. During the revolutionary war, our surgeons used it with the happi- est effects. They applied poultices of it to fresh wounds, and always produced immediate suppuration— in other words discharge of matter—and a quick dis- position to heal. When any appearance of mortifica- tion was evident, the bark was pounded, and boiled in water, and made into a poultice. When applied, it produced immediately a surprising change for the bet- ter. In dysentery and consumptions, the inner bark boiled in water and drank freely, will be foundavalua* ble medicine. It is cooling end soothing to the bowels. It may be made into a fine jelly, which if taken freely, is a certain and astonishing remedy in all bowel and breast complaints, and may be freely administered to children. This mucilaginous bark is so nutritive, that it supplies the Indians with food in times of scarcity. It is one of the most cooling and pleasant remedies. and I may add, that it is not. only one of the most valu- able articles we have, but deserves the confidence cf every person who practices or administers medicine. 536 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. JERUSALEM OAK. From this plant—which grows plentifully throughout the State of Tennessee, and too well knowm by almost every person to require a description—the oil called worm seed oil is made. This oil has for some time attracted a considerable share of popular favor, as an antidote against worms in children. It is sold in almost every store, under the name of " worm seed oil;" and persons who purchase this oil or medicine, should be careful that they are not imposed upon ; because it is very often adulterated with spirits of turpentine, by which they are always disappointed in their expectation of benefit. In its pure and unadulterated state there is no medi- cine preferable to the oil made from the Jerusalem oak for expelling werms from children; but it must never be given when the child has fever, because it will in that case increase the fever—the oil being highly stimulating and inflammatory. When this oil is admin- istered, from eight to ten drops must be given to a child two years old, on a lump of sugar—it ought to be given three times a day, for three days in succession ; after which you must give a good dose of calomel, say five or six grains, or a dose of castor oil—the calomel, how7- ever, is the most certain to produce a full discharge of worms. If no worms are discharged, and they are still suspected to exist in the system, repeat the dose again, and again, until you bring them from the child. A wine-glassful of a decoction of the Jerusalem oak, made by boiling it in milk, in the proportion of a hand- ful of the leaves to a quart of milk, is a dose for a child: but the pure oil is by far the best. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 537 DITTANY. This handsome little plant belongs exclusively to America, and is known by almost every farmer and his family in the country. It grow7s plentifully in Tennes- see. The dittany is always found in dry soils, and in shady and hilly places; it is used in slight fevers as a tea: every old lady in the country has more or less used dittany tea in colds. It is excellent to relieve nervous head aches, and is a good remedy in the hys- terical affections of women. In South Carolina and Georgia, the dittany is given frequently by infusing the leaves in hot water and administering it as a tea, drank as warm as possible, to produce sweating. The medi- cinal virtues of dittany are much the same as penny- royal, mint, and sage : it is a perfectly innocent plant. MAY APPLE, Sometimes called wild lemon, duck's foot, ipecacu- anha, and by the learned, podophyllumpeltalum. This plant, wiiich possesses very important medicin- al virtues, is presumed to be an exclusive production of the North American continent: it is every where found in abundance on congenial soils, from the state of Maine to the Mexican Gulf, and from the Atlantic sea-coast to the Oregon mountains. In the language of the learned, it is a perennial herbaceous plant; in other words, the roots do not perish by the frosts and snows of the winter. The May apple is well known to almost every citizen in the United States: it has a plain upright stem, of a yellowish green color, about twelve or fourteen inches in height; two large horizon- 68 538 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE; tal leaves at the top, between which, and in the fork, when in bloom, there is a wiiite flower, which is suc- ceeded by a yellow acid fruit. Respecting the different properties of this plant, the reader is desired to recol- lect the fruit is good for food—the leaves poisonous— and that its medicinal virtues are wholly confined to the root. The season proper for gathering the root, is late in the fall, when the leaves begin to drop: if gath- ered in the spring, it is comparatively good for nothing. The Indians dry it in the shade, and use it in powders. The American May apple root is an excellent, gen- tle, and effective purge, and is presumed by many cele- brated practical physicians, to be greatly superior to the jalap obtained in the shops. Practical experiment has proved that, this root operates more gently as a purge than jalap ; that it operates a much longer time; and that it is by no means so drastic and griping as jalap. It is also preferable to jalap in other respects; it is less nauseous, and more easily taken : less irrita- ting to the stomach and bowels, and may be more easily used by delicate females and persons having weak and sensitive stomachs. It. may be given with much advantage in what physicians call colica picto- neum, or dry belly ache—sometimes a dangerous com- plaint—in intermittent fevers; and particularly in dropsy, on account of its producing continued and large evacuations. Taken in a small dose, say of ten or twelve grains in powder, it is a gentle and easy laxa- tive : twenty, twenty-five, or thirty grains, usually oper- ate with activity and power; and wiiere griping is apprehended, the mixture of eight or ten grains of calomel will be of advantage. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 539 CANCER ROOT—BEECH DROPS, Called by the learned, Orabanche Virginiana. This plant is the natural grow7th of every part of the United States: is usually found under the beech tree, and is of a sickly yellow7, or pale pink color, and entire- ly without leaves. The root, which appears blunt and round at the bottom, and is covered with twisted and matted fibres on its lower end, is of a yellow color: the stems and branches are finely furrowed; and on the ridges formed by these furrows, there will be found dark, purple, white and yellow stripes. Between the root and the first divisions of the stalk, there arc blunt pointed and bud-like scales which stand out from the surface: and similar ones, but more resembling buds, are scattered along the branches nearly to their tops. The plant grows from eight to fifteen inches high. The reasons for my being thus particular in the descrip- tion of this plant, will be presently seen. From the best information I can collect respecting the history of the Cancer root, it appears to have been originally a cure for cancers, used by the Indians, and communicated by them to a surgeon of one of the Pennsylvania regiments many years ago, stationed at what was then called Fort Pitt. The physician to whom the secret w7as communicated by the Indians, afterw7ards came to Philadelphia, and adverthcd for the cure of cancers. He had been the student of Dr. Rush, who speaks thus of the application. "It gave me great satisfaction to witness the efficacy of the doc- tor's applications : in several cancerous ulcers, the cures he performed were complete. But when the cancers were much connected with the tyrnphatic system, or accompanied with a scrofulous habit of body, his 540 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. medicine ahvays failed, and in some instances did evident injury." The werd "scrofula," is derived from scrofa, a hog—because this animal is subject to a simi- lar disorder, which means king's evil. The physician who had the secret from the Indians, died in 1784, and it was supposed the secret had died with him: but Dr. Rush procured from one of his administrators, some of the powders, and found them compounded of the dried and pounded cancer root and arsenic; the proportion of arsenic—of the pure white kind—w7as not more than one fortieth part of the whole compound. Most of the cures effected by these powders, were situated about the nose, forehead and cheeks, and upon the surface and extremities of the body. Cancers, taints of the fluids of the body, or those which affect the whole lymphatic system, must be cured by diet and internal medical remedies. Dr. Rush says, that the powder compounded of cancer root and arsenic, in the proportions I have mentioned, and applied in the proper cases of cancer, produced inflammation, which separated the sound flesh from the cancerous ulcer and its roots, and that he therefore preferred the application of those powders to the use of the knife, in all such cases. I will conclude these remarks by observing, that the cancer root is a valuable remedv in old and obstinate ulcers, in which it has often been known to succeed, w7hen all other applications had failed. It must be gathered in the month of September. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 541 BONE SET, Sometimes called thorough-wort, cross-wort, Indian sage, and perhaps more properly, by the Indians, ague weed. The learned name of it is eupatorium perfoliatum. The boneset is a valuable plant, and cannot be too highly prized as a medicine. I regret to say, that at this time most of its medical virtues remain unknown. It has been used in the hospitals in New York with great success, given either as a tea or in pow7der. The limited size of my book prevents me from writing at large on the great virtues it possesses: but I will merely make this remark, that it is endowed with more real and genuine virtues than any plant now known. The stalk is heavy, and rises from two to four feet, perfora- ting or bearing the leaves at each joint. The flowers are wiiite, and appear in July and August. The leaves at each joint are horizontal, teethed and rough, from three to four inches long, about an inch broad at their base, gradually lessening to an acute point, of a dark green color, and covered with short hairs. It is a native of the United States, and is every where to be found in Tennessee. It is generally found in abundance on the edges of ponds which are surrounded by thickets of brushwood; in low and damp woodlands; on the banks of small water courses, creeks and rivulets, which are deeply shaded by the close foliage of the trees; and sometimes in open meadows, and waste low lands. I do not know what the name of bone set was derived from; nor do I think it very material that the reader should be informed; because real wisdom and useful intelligence, have much more relation to the nature of things, than to the mere names of things. The medical properties of this plant are various and powerful; nor 542 SUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. do I believe there is one which is a native of the soil of our country, more entitled to the attention and experi- ments of medical men. The whole plant is extremely bitter to the taste, and in some degree astringent; by which I mean, that when it is applied to the tongue, or any other part of the body, it contracts the fibres and surface, without any voluntary exertion of the muscular power. It is a very strong tonic or strengtliener to the stomach; end always when used internally, produces an increased discharge frcm the skin.which, when con- densed on the surface, is called sweat: in these respects, from well attested experiments, its medical virtues are unequivocal as well as powerful. It can ahvays be given successfully, and without danger, in violent catarrhs er colds, even when attended with some fever; because its stimulating effects are too slight to increase the fever, while the other qualities of imparting strength and causing perspiration, are in active operation. I wish the reader particularly to notice, that I mention the beneficial effects of the bone set plant, in cases of violent catarrh or cold, because it is a dangerous fore- runner of phthisis, or pulmonary consumption, in very many instances, and ought ahvays to be removed imme- diately, if possible. This plant is also an excellent remedy in ague and fever, which is the reason of its being called by the Indians, by a name which in their language signifies ague weed. It is also a valuable remedy in all intermittent and remittent fevers, ahvays acting as powerfully and beneficially as Peruvian bark. In fact, I think it in many cases preferable to the bark; because it can be given where there is considerable fever: in which condition of a patient, the bark cannot be administered without great danger. For this reason also—I mean because it never increases fever—it can GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 543 always be given, and has been repeatedly administered successfully, not only in remitting bilious fever, but in typhus and yellow fevers. Dr. S. G. Hopkins, of New Jersey, a physician of much celebrity, in an extensive practice of several years, during which the intermittent and remittent fevers were very prevalent, gave the bone set freely, in w7arm decoction, with great success. By giving the bone set very copiously, he alw7ays produced sweating to allay the fever; and in dangerous cases, pushed the remedy so far as to produce emesis, or vom- iting, and also purging. He related to several of his friends, that many of the farmers in his vicinity, without calling in a physician, had by the liberal use of bone set tea, given warm, entirely succeeded in curing them- selves and their families of both intermittent and typhus fevers. The truth is, that in low typhus, wiiich is very dangerous, and alw7ays attended with an unusually hot skin, the bone set is an inestimable remedy. It is always used with the best effect, in a warm decoction of the flowers and leaves, which ought to be dried in the shade, and kept for use; the warm decoction is generally preferable to the plant in substance ; and from one to two table-spoonsful, given every half hour, will in most cases produce sweating without causing so much nausea of the stomach as to induce vomiting. If the fever is broken, and you wish to give strength to your patient, give the bone set in the powdered leaves and flowers, from twenty grains to a drachm, from three to six times in the lapse of twenty-four hours. Used in decoction as above stated, it is also a valuable remedy in yellow fever, as has been proved by repeated and well attested experiments. The bone set is also very efficacious in removing active rheumatism—for descrip- tion of which, look under that head :—but it ought ti 544 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. be employed in this case after blood-letting to reduce the inflammatory action. With the above commentary on the important uses of this plant in medicine,! recommend it to the serious attention of my readers. It affords another proof that Providence has given us the means of curing many of our diseases, without resorting to the adulterated drugs of foreign lands. COMMON BLACKBERRY BUSH, Called by botanists rubus villosus. This root is every where known, and therefore requires no descrip- tion. It is eminently useful in all such diseases as are to be treated with astringent medicines: the root par- ticularly, is powerfully astringent, and when used medicinally, is generally made into a tea. When the ripe fruit itself is employed, it ought to be given in the juice, or made into a syrup or jelly. The tea or decoc- tion is made by boiling a handful of the bruised roots in a pint and a half of water, until it is reduced to a pint; thus prepared, it is given with success in diarrhoeas and dysenteries—a small tea-cupful even two hours— and has often been known to effect cures when many other remedies had failed. In the disease called by physicians, cholera infantum, known by painful gri- pings and purgings of children, a weak decoction of the blackberry root may be given with good effects; but as these purgings may in many cases be considered as the efforts of nature to remove the causes of disease, it ought to be given with much caution, and not until proper evacuations have been made to remove offensive matter from the stomach and bowels. In fact, it ought GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 545 to be given in no case of dysentery or cholera infan- tum, until all offending matter, if any is presumed to exist, be removed by gentle pukes and purges. Black- berry syrup, made from the ripe fruit, ought to be kept prepared in all families, and given freely in all cases of derangement of the bowels. BUTTON SNAKE ROOT. This is a native of all the Southern States, from the sea-board to the Mississippi; the root has a sharp, aromatic, and very bitter taste, and whenever chewed, it produces a considerable flow of saliva, or spittle. A tea or decoction of it, taken internally, produces a dis- charge from the skin, and expectoration from the throat and lungs. By many physicians of reputation, it is held in higher estimation than the Seneka snake root. which it very much resembles in its effects. CAMOMILE. The tame species is a native of Europe, but may be cultivated in most parts of the United States, and par- ticularly in the mild climate of Tennessee. It is perennial: that is to say, its roots do not die by the frosts of winter, but shoot forth and blossom through succeeding years. The flowers are generally used for medical purposes, and sold in the shops: the single ones are the best, because they are the strongest. Infusion in water, extracts the medicinal properties of the cam- omile flower, which, drank cold, is highly useful as a tonic: in other words, it will give tone and strength to 69 2 v 2 546 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. an irritable and weak stomach, repair a debilitated or lost appetite, and operate favorably on such young fe- males as labor under what is called green sickness: wiiich mean the retention or suppression of the menses. It also operates as an anti-spasmodic : that is to say, it relaxes the involuntary contractions of the muscles of all parts of the body, and particularly of the stomach, in what is commonly called cramp: it is also of service in all nervous weaknesses of females. When taken warm, and in considerable quantities, it aids materially in the operation of emetics, or pukes, &c. &c.—The camomile flower, w7hen steeped in old whiskey, or in any good spirits, and taken two or three times a day, in moderate quantities, is an excellent medicine to give tone or strength to a weak stomach and restore the appetite. For women, given in hysterical complaints, this is a valuable remedy. IPECACUANHA. This root is a native of Spanish America ; and in the Spanish language, it means vomiting or puking root. The word ipecacuanha is applied to several other roots which produce vomiting or puking to any extent. The proper or botanical name of this root is the raicilla: I have, however, adopted the name ipe- cacuanha—by which it is most commonly known to physicians. This root was first brought into Europe about the middle of the last century, but did not come into general use until about the year 1786, when it was introduced into the practice of medicine by Helvetius, under the patronage of Louis XIV. The ipecacuanha is one of the mildest and safest emetics, or pukes, with GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 547 which we are acquainted, and has this great advantage; that if it should fail to puke, it passes off by purging or sweating; and further, if by accident an over dose is taken, it is attended w ith no danger; as the whole of it is vomited with the contents of the stomach, as soon as it operates.—The vomiting or puking is promoted by drinking freely of w7arm water. The genuine ipecacuanha in its dry state, is a small wrinkled root, about the size of a hen's quill, variously twisted, and marked with projecting parts, apparently like rings—ash colored. Its taste is sickening, and slightly bitter, with little smell, and covering the tongue with a kind of mucilage. On breaking the root, the outer bark is very brittle; and it is in this brittle part that the activity and power of the root as a puke resides -—the centre of the root being nearly destitute of medi- cinal virtues. This root is generally sold in the shops in a powder, that being the form in which it is used as a vomit or puke: the powder is the color of common ashes. I have now described to you the imported ipecacu- anha, or the medicine which is now used throughout all the world under that name; and I may justly re- mark, that it stands at the head of vegetable emetics, for the promptness, efficacy, and safety of its operations. In powder, wiiich is the manner in which it is gen- erally given, full vomiting or puking will be produced in a grown person, by a dose of a scruple, or half a drachm: or you may. put a drachm into six table- spoonsful of warm water, and give a table-spoonful occasionally, until it operates: or you may steep it in wine, and give it in small doses, until the effect you desire, is produced. 548 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. The medicinal uses of this powder, when properly applied, are very great and valuable. In addition to its acting as a vomit or puke, when given in small doses, so as to produce nausea—which means sickness of the stomach—it generally produces moisture of the skin—or sweat—evacuation of the bowels; and in still smaller doses, it generally stimulates the stomach, in- creases the appetite, and assists digestion. In small doses, it acts not only as a diaphoretic—which means sweating—but as an expectorant—which means a free discharge of tough mucus and spittle from the mouth and throat. It is also a valuable medicine when given in small doses, to stop spontaneous bleeding from the lungs and womb. These bleedings are called hemorrh- ages. In intermittent fevers, it has generally succeeded in stopping them, especially when given about an hour before the coming on of the fever; and also when given so as to produce vomiting at the time of the fever, or end of the cold stage. Great benefits are often derived from this medicine in continued fevers, and particularly in the commencement of typhus fevers; an emetic or puke of ipecacuanha, followed with a sufficiency of this medicine in very small doses, to keep up a gentle moisture or sweat, will, if attended to in the early stage of this complaint, probably at once cut short the disease, or greatly lessen the severity and symptoms of the fever. Wine of ipecacuanha is sometimes substituted for the powder: it is, however, better suited to children. As an emetic or puke, the dose for a grown person, is one fluid ounce—which is about half a large wine or stem glassful. For a description of this wine of ipe- cacuanha look under that head. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 549 COMMON TANSY. Tansy is perennial, or perpetual, and grows wild by the sides of roads, and the borders of fields, but is most frequently cultivated in gardens, both for culinary and medicinal purposes: it flowers in July, and fre- quently in June. The leaves are generally used as a medicine, and when steeped in whiskey, or any kind of spirits, make a moderately warm, and highly valuable bitter for weak stomachs, very beneficial to children in preventing worms. It should be given to them in the morning, oil empty stomachs. Some physicians have spoken highly of its virtues in lrysteric disorders, par- ticularly those proceeding from a deficiency or sup- pression of the menses or courses. An infusion or tea made of tansy, and drank freely, has been strongly recommended as a preventive of the return of gout. SAGE. This valuable garden herb was once supposed by the ancients, to prolong the lives of those w ho would frequently use it. They dedicated to it the following maxim:—" How can a man die. in whose garden there grows sage?"—in allusion to its many virtues. It is too well known, and too much used to require a descrip- tion. It makes an excellent tea to produce sweat or moisture of the skin—reed by adding a little lemon juice or vinegar so as to make it pleasantly sour, is a good remedy in fevers. 550 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. RUE AND BALM. Run is also a garden herb; the leaves of which, made into tea, will produce perspiration, or sweating, quicken the circulation, and remove obstructions of the blood. It is valuable to weak and hysterical constitu- tions. Balm is also a garden herb, and affords a pleasant tea to be drank in fevers. When drank freely, it will pro- duce perspiration or sweat, and of course, is good in slight fevers, AMERICAN COLUMBO. This stately and elegant plant is a native of the United States, and is found in abundance in both Ken- tucky and Tennessee. It has various names: such as Columbia, Indian lettuce, columbo root, Marietta co- lumbo, and wild columbo. The stalk growrs from eight to ten feet in height; it is strong, juicy and fleshy, near- ly square, and furrowed at the sides, and sends off its leaves, which are of a deep green color, at intervals of six or eight inches, to something more than half its length, and smaller leaves and flowering branches to the top. The root is biennial—that is, it lives two years—it is large, full of knots, plump and full, and of a yellow color: the leaves are occasionally opposite to each other; and usually grow from four to eight to- gether : they are something sharp, and sometimes ob- long: or in other words, oval, or egg shaped, and sharp at the points. The flowers grow in clusters, and are of a greenish yellow, or cream color. The columbo root, which is the only part to be used —is a mild, pleasant, and highly valuable bitter—act- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 551 ing as a powerful tonic, or strengthening medicine. It is valuable in dyspepsia, or indigestion, and in diarrhoea, or looseness of the bowels, arising from a redundancy of bile. It will generally check vomiting or puking, and will always be found beneficial in colic, or cramps of the stomach, want of appetite, and cholera morbus —which means puking and purging: it may be taken in substance—by wiiich I mean powdered—a tea- spoonful every three or four hours: or a decoction or tea, a wine glassful three or four times a day: or you may sleep the root (say two ounces) in a quart of old whiskey^ which must stand for a few days, that the spirits may extract the virtues from the root. This valuable bitter may be used three or four times a day, in doses of a table-spoonful or more ; and by adding a few drops of peppermint to this preparation, it is a good remedy to moderate the puking which sometimes oc- curs with pregnant women. All persons who are sub- ject to lowmess, or depression of spirits, instead of resorting to more dangerous stimulants, should use this Columbo bitter freely. BLOOD, OR PUCCOON ROOT, Sometimes called Indian paint, and red root, but learnedly denominated Sanguinaria canadensis. This plant is a native of North America, from the Canadian provinces to the Gulf of Mexico, and per- haps of no other region cf the globe. It is not only a plant peculiar to the continent of North America, the virtues of which are so well known to the Indian nations, but its root is perennial: in other words, it is not destroyed by the frosts and snows of winter. It 552 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINU generally grows about a foot high in rich wood lands, and varies in thickness from a quarter to three quarters of an inch in diameter—which means across. It is generally about the size and length of a finger; fleshy and round, and the end of the root has the appearance of having been cut off by a dull instrument, or as if it had been broken off in removing it from the ground. The outside color of the root is browmish, but on being cut, the juice flowrs of a blood-red color. The puccoon flowers early in April, bearing but single flowers on each stem. The blossoms are white, the steins perfectly naked; the upper side of the leaf of a pale, sickly green, and the veins which pass through it, of an orange color. The flower bud is of a faint, or delicate rose color: the seeds, which are round and pointed, are very numerous. The leaves and seeds of the puccoon plant—which is the name I have adopted—like the seeds of the stramonium.; or Jamestown weed, are poisonous, and must never be used. The root seems to contain all its medicinal qualities; and is closely allied in its effects on the human system, to the seneka snake root, and in some of its effects, to the digitalis purpurea, or fox-glove. A decoction or tea, as it is usually called, made of the puccoon root, is highly recommended in the treatment of old and indolent ulcers—which simply means old sores that do not seem inclined to heal—and the dried and pounded root, applied a few times, in some cases of ill-conditioned ulcers, with callous edges, and an ichorous or itching discharge, seldom fails to produce a healthy state of the sores. It is an excellent remedy in croup, and must be given in doses sufficient to pro- duce vomiting, or puking; some physicians rely on it wholly in croup. It is also an excellent remedy in GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 553 dropsy of the chest—called by physicians hydrothorax— given in doses of sixty drops of the juice three times a day, and increased until nausea or sickness of the stomach follows each dose. This root in powder, from twenty to thirty grains, is an active emetic puke. Dr. Barton, one of the professors in the Philadelphia medi- cal college, thinks it nearly equal to the seneka, or rat- tle snake root, in cases of ulcerous sore throat, croup and hives, and diseases of this nature. It is a valuable medicine to produce a determination to the surface- by which I mean sweating—and also in colds, pleuri- sies, rheumatism, and other inflammatory disorders. When used for these last diseases, it should be given as a tincture—which is the root steeped for several days in spirits of any kind—and given in doses of ten drops every two or three hours, until a moisture or sweat is produced on the skin. This tincture is also valuable in jaundice, in torpor of the liver, attended with colic and yellowness of the skin, a disease com- mon to southern climates. The puccoon root, made into a tincture, and gradually and cautiously used, will be found a valuable medicine in stoppages of the men- ses or courses in women. I have used it with great success in my practice, wiien every other medicine usually resorted to had failed. My usual method of preparing it is, to steep about a handful of the root sliced, in half a pint of old whiskey, letting it stand five or eight days, wiien the tincture is fit for use; be- ginning with ten drops, and gradually increasing the dose, as circumstances may require. But you may give it in a deCoction or tea—a handful of it to a quart of boiling w7ater—a table-spoonful every two or three hours, as the situation of the patient may require. 70 2W 554 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE This root, powdered very fine, and snuffed up the nose, is said to be a certain cure for polypus, a fleshy teat, or gristly substance, which grows in the nostril, gradually increasing in size, until breathing becomes difficult, and wiiich sometimes, unless removed, ends in suffocation. I have lately made experiments with this root in a disorder called tetter worm, and in several instances succeeded in curing it when other valuable remedies had failed. Steep the sliced roots in strong vinegar ten days, and wash the part affected two or three times a day. I shall conclude my remarks on this valuable root by observing, that it possesses a great many valuable qualities wiiich are probably yet unknowm. The best time to collect it for medical purposes, is when the seeds are ripe—which is about the beginning of May. SENNA. I shall first describe to you the foreign, or imported senna, generally used in the practice of medicine; after wdiich I shall describe the American plant senna, which, on almost numberless trials, has proved to be but very little, if any, inferior to the imported, or that sold in the shops, and mostly used by physicians. I have used them both and can discover no difference. This affords another proof of a bountiful providence, in bestowing on this people, a plant of so much value, and one which, before its discovery here, we were compell- ed to import from Egypt. Here I again repeat what I have frequently said in this work, that all that is re- quired of us are industry and attention, and we will GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE, 555 discover in a few years, thousands of medical plants in the western country, superior in every respect to the foreign, by which we will have this further advantage: we will always have them fresh, and in full possession of their virtues. The leaves of the senna are alone used in medicine. The imported plant grow7s in Turkey, Syria, and Per- sia. It is commonly called Alexandria senna, because it was once imported exclusively from the city of Alex- andria in Egypt. This medicine was originally receiv- ed from the Arabians—and large quantities of it are now brought from Nubia, which is known in Egypt by the name of the valley or country of Barabras; it is a narrow valley through which the Nile flows, wiiere the view is confined on two sides alternately, by a lofty chain of mountains. Senna is the chief production or commodity of this country. It is not cultivated, but grows naturally on the sides of the hills and ravines. Each person has the right of gathering what grows in his district. Two crops are annually made, the pro- ductiveness of wiiich depends on the duration of the rains, which fall periodically every year. The first, and most fruitful crop, is that gathered at the termination of the rains—the second crop is small. No expense attends the preparation of the plants, which merely consists in cutting and spreading them on the rocks to dry. This process, in that warm climate, only occu pies a single day. The senna is then put up in bales of one hundred pounds, and the slave merchants con- vey them by camels to Sienne and Darao, where they are sold for eleven or twelve francs a bale—which is about two dollars and twenty-eight cents. They are then carried to the farmer-general at Cairo—an officer appointed by the government to examine and purchase 556 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. them. The sum fixed by him is from thirty to thirty- three francs—wiiich is about eight dollars and twenty- seven cents. They are then sold by them to the European factors or merchants, for one hundred and six francs each bale, which is equal to twenty dollars and fourteen cents, and by them exported to the differ- ent quarters of the werld. American citizens! why will you pay such accumulated and enormous expenses to foreign governments and merchants, for an article which is furnished plentifully by the soil of your own country ? The demand for this article from Europe every crop is, generally, from about fourteen to fifteen hundred quintals, of one hundred pounds each. The great de- mand for this medicine, both in Europe and the United States, has induced the Egyptian merchants to mix with it senna of an inferior quality, which sometimes occa- sions it to fail in producing the immediate effect intend- ed. Although this fraud, when practised, does no serious injury, it frequently disappoints us in the active operation of the medicine : the inferior senna, although producing eventually the same effects, is much slower and weaker in its operation. AMERICAN SENNA. Having given you the history of the European, I shall now proceed to describe to you our own senna, which grow7s abundantly in the United States, and particularly in the western country. In fact, it is found plentifully about Knoxville, and on the shores of the Holston river. I have told you that I had used both, and could perceive no difference in their operation—- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 557 and I now repeat the fact, that it may be the more for- cibly impressed on your mind. Notwithstanding this, those who prefer the foreign senna to our own, may easily gratify their preference, as the imported kind is now cultivated in North Carolina, and is found to flourish abundantly. It is evident that we do not obtain the pure plant from abroad: I have shown the manner of adulteration : why, then, should we not cul- tivate the foreign plant sufficiently for our own cul- sumption, if we must and will have it? The wild senna of America is a most beautiful plant. I will describe it in as plain terms as possible—knowing at the same time, that it is very difficult, if not utterly impossible, to delineate in mere language, what can only be known to the eye:—It has frequently several stems from the same root; these stems are, generally, either entirely smooth, or furnished with a few strag- gling hairs. The larger sized leaves, I believe, are mostly confined to the larger branches, and are disposed in pairs opposite to each other, on the sides of those branches which run out in a nearly horizontal direction from the stem. The flowers are of a bright orange color, and are usually found on small sprays or sprigs which shoot out in the angles formed by the stems and larger branches. Near the top the flowers are attach- ed to the main stems. The stems rise from two to four feet in height. The leaves are rather long—green above, and pale underneath; they should be gathered about the last of August for use. Dr. Barton, an eminent physician, and professor of Botany in the University of Philadelphia, informs us that he had some experience with the American senna during a term of practice in the Marine Hospital of that city. " I have," says the Doctor, " for some months 2w 2 558 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. past, substituted the American for the Alexandrian senna, and very frequently employed it. I have, also in a single instance, used it in my own family. I have had reason to confirm the high character which the American plant has long maintained." But, reader, whether you may prefer the imported or the American senna, which I consider equal in their medicinal powers, the following remarks are applicable to both or either of them. The senna is a valuable purge, and when good, is active in its operation, and at the same time quite in- nocent. Senna is seldom given by itself, but is ahvays mixed with manna—a description of which will imme- diately follow this. When you inquire for senna as a medicine at a doctor's shop, ahvays ask for a dose of senna and manna, because these two medicines are ahvays given together. Sometimes a little salts is mix- ed with the senna and manna, especially if you wish to make the operation sure and active. In fevers, first giving a good dose of calomel, follow it up with the senna, manna, and salts : senna has but one fault; it is apt to gripe during the operation: this can alw7ays be prevented, liowever, by adding a little ginger. But, I believe, from an extensive experience, that after calomel to remove bile, if the following mixture be made up and given, it is superior and more innocent than any medicine now known as a purge :—Take of senna and mamie, each half an ounce; of ginger, one drachm; of salts one ounce—pour on these medicines a pint of boiling w7ater; cover over the vessel in which you make this tea, so as to prevent the steam from esca- ping. This tea is to stand until it becomes cool. You are to give of it to grown persons, one gill every hour or tw o, until it operates freely. According to the age GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 559 of the person, you are to give this tea in smaller doses, and as it is quite innocent, it may be given to children occasionally in small doses, until the desired effect is produced—which is a free operation as a purge. If you wish it to act as a very mild and gentle purge, you may leave out the salts. I repeat, in order that you may remember it, that whenever the bowels are ob- structed, or whenever you require an active and search- ing purge, senna, manna, and salts, in the proportions 1 have just mentioned, adding thereto a little ginger, are superior to any means of operating on the bowels now in use. MANNA. The word manna, means a gift; it comes from the Syrian word mano, being the food supplied by the Almighty to the children of Israel in the wilderness: or it comes from the word mahna, what is it? an ex- clamation used by the Israelites on its appearance—so say the best authorities. The manna, or medicine so called, and that which is mostly used by physicians, comes from Naples on the Mediterranean sea. The best manna is in long flakes, moderately dry, brittle, and crumbling, of a pale yellow7- ish color, and considerably transparent; in other words, you can partially see through it. If it is moist, very sickly, and dark colored, it is considered of an inferior quality, although not less purgative. The manna is principally collected in Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily, in the warmest season of the year, from the middle of June to tlie end of July. Various trees afford it: par- ticularly a kind of ash, called manna ash, It flowTs 560 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. from the trunk of the tree when tapped, similar to the juice or sap of our sugar tree when used in the same manner. The liquor first flow7s from the tree like a white froth, extremely light and of an agreeable taste. The heat of the sun, in a few days, hardens it to the consistence we find it. Manna has something the taste of sugar, and is sickish and searching on the tongue. Its great resemblance to sugar, both in appearance and taste, induces children readily to eat it—in its effects, it acts on them as a mild purge. Manna is, however, a very feeble purgative medicine, requiring large doses for a grown person, say an ounce or two : for this rea- son, as I Lave before told you, and so directed, it must always be mixed with senna and salts. It ought never to be given alone, except to small children, as a mild and opening medicine. See table of dee es. WHITE WALNUT. During our revolutionary war, when medicines be- came scarce, the physicians of the army employed the inner bark of the white walnut as a purge. In the dose of from ten to twenty grains, it operated well, by evacuating the bowels thoroughly, and was much resorted to by them as a purgative, in all bilious cases of fever. By the addition of eight or ten grains of calomel, the efficacy of the white walnut may be great- ly and beneficially increased. As I have stated to you, the medicinal virtues of this bark are confined to the inner bark ; and the proper time forgetting it in the full possession of its virtues, is about the month of June, because the bark is at this time considerably more powerful than at other periods. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 561 I have used the white walnut in my practice, and always found it among the best purgative medicines pos- sessed in the Western country, and have very often been surprised that the article is not kept in the family of every farmer in the country. The manner of ex- tracting the virtues of this bark, is very simple:—It is merely to be boiled in water several hours, then strained and boiled again, until it becomes about as thick as honej7. Two, three, or four pills, which it can be made into with a little flour, make a dose of this ex- tract. One or two of these pills, taken at bed time, is a valuable remedy in the removal of costive habits of body, which occasion head-aches, colics, &c. &c. By increasing the dose, these pills are good in dysenteries and bilious fevers, and will be doubly beneficial, if com- bined or mixed with a little calomel. RHUBARB. Rhubarb, properly so called, is the root of a plant designated by the learned, rheum palmatum. It is a native of various countries of Europe and Asia, and might be cultivated with perfect ease perhaps, in every part of the United States. Attempts have been suc- cessfully made to introduce the culture of this valuable drug into England : and it appears from authentic accounts, not only that immense quantities of it maybe produced there, but that the English root is fully equal- to the best rhubarb obtained from Turkey or China. The greatest difficulty seems to be in drying it proper- ly. Its cultivation is by no means difficult; it is merely to sow the seed in a light soil in the spring: to trans- plant the smaller roots the nex* spring, into a light soil, 71 562 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. well trenched, and set them about three or four feet apart. The third year, the plants will produce the flowers; but the roots are not to be raised for use until the fall of the sixth year. This is the whole process of rearing the rhubarb: a process w7hich I am convin- ced every American farmer is fully equal to. The cultivation of this valuable medicine in the United States, ought to be considered an object of high individual and national importance. That our climate throughout the different States, particularly the Western States, is fully equal to its production, there can be no doubt, as it has been fully ascertained by actual experi- ment. That it will grow in Tennessee, I well know7; be- cause it is now7 flourishing in abundance in the garden cf Mr. Woods, fifteen miles from Knoxville. The root was originally purchased by Mrs. Woods, from some drug store in Knoxville, and planted for the pur- pose of an experiment, which has perfectly succeeded. I mention this fact in order to prove conclusively, with how much ease we might become independent of for- eign countries for thousands of medical drugs which are annually draining our country of immense sums of money. Such experiments as that made by Mrs. Woods, ought to be made by every person who has opportunity and leisure : They are duties the American people owe both to themselves and their country. There are three varieties of rhubarb found in the drug shops ; the Russian, the Turkish, and the East Indian rhubarb; the two first, the Russian and the Turkish, re- semble each other in quality and appearance, whilst the East Indian is of a somewhat different character. The best Russian and Turkey rhubarb, is in roundish pieces, with a large hole in the middle of them. The GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 563 East Indian 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 in 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 wiiere purging would be connected with great pain, its being combined with opium, relieves the pain, while 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 ahvays 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 dysentery 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 innocent 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 their systems from cos- tiveness. In such cases, if they will chew7 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 atonic, 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 everywhere found in the western country, inhabiting shady weods, 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 twe 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, safe, 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. 2X 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 grow7s 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 w7hole plant itself varies so much in its different states, that it is often mistaken 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 yellowish hue above it. The leaves are opposite to each other, and generally of an oval form; I say generally, because they are some- times of a long oval, sometimes pointed, and, unfrequent- ly, linear. 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 tri- angular, or three square capsule, or case. I mention these things particularly, because they afford the best possible means of knowing the plant. The root is per- ennial ; 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 yellowish color; sending off towards its upper part, many smaller roots, about the size of small quills. I believe, and am sustained in the opinion by sever- al 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 dowrnwTards, as an active purge. Larger doses produce, in addition to the above effects, heat, vertigo, (wiiich means swimming in the head,) and great prostration or loss of strength. Dr. barton gives us the following experiments on the American ipecacuanha, winch 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 coses; and in a single instance, hav- ing given the pow7der 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 (he American root in various combinations, and can confidently assert, that in all the instances it has proved equal if not superior to tlie 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 568 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 tuberosa, 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 bloom—which is about the month 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 the 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 inestimably 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 2x2 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 twe 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 Bigelow7, whose testimonials alone in its favor would be sufficient to establish its reputation, for the virtues 1 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 permanency 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." UUNN'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 Yera 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 gray 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 has ever been bestowed on it by the medical profession; yet I am induced to believe, from actual experience, and the practice 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, 572 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. constitute probably, one of the best medical prescrip- 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 I am 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 growrs 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 zanthoxylum, 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, w7as the result, of accident: it w7as 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 its 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. 1 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 perspiration, 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 ounse 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 w7ash 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 low7 rich meadow7s and woodlands, to the height of from two to three feet, and is too well known to requiie 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 1 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 ring worm, 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 intermittent 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 effect seems to be dependent on the presence of the same poisonous principle which exists in peach kernels, and other substances of a similar kind, lately showm 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 few7 thick yellowish fibres, generally sends up but a single stem, which growrs from a foot to eighteen inches high: this stem is smooth and four- sided, and wiiere 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 grow7 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 w7ater and spirits—it has no astringent power.*. 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 scys 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 1NFLATA, 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 axillary 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* 578 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. ed with the perristent calyx, and containing in two cells numerous very small, brown seeds. This species of lobelia is a verj7 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. Eberle, 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 powTder. Dried lobelia has a slight irritating 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 pow7der is of a greenish color: the plant yields its active properties readily to water or alcohol, and wTater distilled from it retains its acrid taste: it has not 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 prostra- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 579 tion, great anxiety and distress, and ultimately death preceded by convulsious: 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 often 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, croup, 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 distresr 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 narcotic in 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- Tbr full dose of *he preparation for ?.n 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 stimulant 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 colicky pains. It is very often beneficial when cramp takes place during the operation of an emetic, or puke. 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 potatoes 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 cr 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 ahvays 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 and 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. 2 y 2 582 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 im properly called, the monarch of medicinal powers, the soothing angel of moral 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 twe 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 othei 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. Bateman's drops and Godfrey's cordial, both GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 583 of which have sustained their character for near a century, have opium for their bases or principal parts, and they are 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. TI, 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 ow7n soil. Tlie 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 flow7s 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 earthen vessel. This is the whole secret of opium making, a secret which every man in this country ought to know7 and profit by, and the ignorance of 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 been lately 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 moae of cultiva- tion and preparation, both easy and profitable. The plan will be put into 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 much 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 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 effects 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 these 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 permanent 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 pleasurable 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 feelins: and sensibility which we CD v would almost suppose to have accompanied man in his primeval and unfallen state. Wine or spirits, if taken to any excess, always lead men to the brink of absurd- ity and extravagance; and beyond a certain point, invariably produce a distraction of the mental facul- ties ; while opium, on the contrary, soothes cur irrita- tions of feeling, concentrates our intellectual energies, and robs pain and misfortune cf 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 these 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 Mahomme- GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 587 dan creed. Opium, if habitually taken, or in other words, when it is made use of as a stimulant or luxu- ry, 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 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 wiiich 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 parent 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 wiiich is nothing more than opium dissolved or steeped in any kind of spirits—for which look under the head laudanum—I shall now close these remarks. Opium and laudanum w7hich 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. I have now7, 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 ahvays 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 ail 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 wemen, 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, wdvich 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 grow7 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 aftenvards subject what may be called the pumice, to a pressure sufficient to throw out the oil. The oil thus ex- tracted, 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 nau- seous, of a much darker color, more easily becoming 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 light 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, wiiich if intermixed with the oil, sometimes makes it operate as a puke, and always as a drastic or griping purge. It i - not improbable that the ' 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 barm, and it is better to have only one »5 9 G 674 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. wound at a time, than two. When a ball has weunded 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 hy 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 be included in these adhesions, and with the slough, will be conducted by one of the orifices to the outward surface. If the ball has weunded 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 w7as 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 tlie adhesive inflammation, so as to form one complete canal, and that neither the extraneous matters, carried in with the bails, nor any slough, which 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 werk its owrn exit somewhere. Soon after this conclusion, some fseces, (meaning that wiiich 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 weund. 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 w7arm wrater, and then, having secured every bleeding vessel, lay them all dow7n 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 wdiole. 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. SUNN'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 weund 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 piaster, 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 be confined to his bed, kept on very low diet, and bled and purged, in ordT to prevent inflammation. If. however, inflamma- 3 g 2 678 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 stijtches 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. w7ash it carefully in wrarm 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. TTTTNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. $79 WOUNDS OF JOINTS. In wounds of this description, you are to bring th*. 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 v/arrant, and by a blister covering the whole joint. If the joint seems like it weuld 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 weund, by keeping their divided parts together. The tendon wiiich 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, wiiich 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 towT 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 maybe 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 bone is fractured, it will be 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 the bones of the nose, they are frequently forced in. When this is the case, 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, &e. 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 elbow7, 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 w7rist, 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 01 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 now7 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 wrrist 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 tow7 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 light diet. FRACTURES OF THE THIGH. The 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 werld 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 twe splints, mader 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 twe tenons, which enter two 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 screw7, which passes through the female one just mentioned. On the top of this cross piece, to which the foot block is attached, ar^ 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 twe 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 screw7 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 screw7 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 screw a little every day until the limb is extended. As this apparatus may not ahvays 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 below7 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 tow7. 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 twe 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,) wiiile 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, wiiile 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 tow7, 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 everywhere 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 twe 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, liowever, stands Dr. Physic's, which can be made by any car- penter in a few minutes, and wiiich, 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, liowever, 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 mote powerful ones have been used without effect Also recollect to vary the direction of the extending " 87 3 h 2 690 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. force. A slight pull in one way, will often effect wrhat has been in vain attempted by great force in another. DISLOCATION OF THE LOWER JAW. Dislocation of the lower jaw7 is produced by blows, or yawning, usually called gaping. It is known hy 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 elbow7, 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 be 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 U92 GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. they are 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 bjr 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 will 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. 69# 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 weuld 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 few7 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 full 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 water in which sugar of lead has been dissolved, and apply a splint on each side of the le°", 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 1 could, before told vou 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 hy which a man is thrown from a height. On examination, a wound is found in his thigh—it is bleeding profusely, his ankle on examination is out of joint, with a weund commu- nicating with the cavity, and his leg broken. In the first place stop the bleeding from the weund, 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 -T 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 was 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 these 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 carvin«" 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 awi will answer—a pair of slender pincers—several narrow7 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; now7 having all things in readiness, seat him on a narrow and firm table or chest, of a convenient height; he is now7 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 Gf 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 draw7s 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; when 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 down to the bone, as close as you can to the doubled edge of the GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 6$7 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 weund by the person who holds mc 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 ail 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 sponge 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 [ 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 weather is cool; but if warm weather, it should be removed in three days. But this you must do with great care, after soaking it well with w7arm wrater, 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 twe 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. Yon can grind down a carving or case knife to answer every purpose; the blade however must be reduced to less Ihan 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 narrow7 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—w7hich 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 draw7 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 maybe 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 vou find the blisters should fail to 3 i & 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 wine. 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 wiiich 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 the 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 dowrn the canal, it will be thrown farther from it, until it enters the bladder, which you will know hy the w7ater 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 tlie building gave way, and he was dreadfully mashed, with a fall of thirty feet. I w7as immediately called in to his case; it was 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 wrater. 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 flowed. 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 drawm 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 w7ater 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 mosl 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 wiiich 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. 89 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 few7 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 wrater 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, wrater 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 cleanee 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 putreseency, which symptoms I will plainly describe to you, so that you may know them; having fully the marks of typhus fwer—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 browm 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 fellow7 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 wTiting 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 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 twe 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 wras 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; but 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. 7H 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 owm 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 tiie 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 march throughout Europe and the U. States—the physical agents, &c. connected with the disease—its locations, and the causes by which it w7as 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 district 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 twe 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 tlie superstitious desire to await the termination of the malady, they generally resorted to some sacred place, or near an idol or weoden 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 w7as 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 3k2 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 twe 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 w\as 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 cr 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 cf 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 w7as opposed by medical assistance, the deaths among the troops rare- ly amounted to the third of the sick, and w7as 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 were 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 twe 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, tliere 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, toeing 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 twe 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 lman 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 w7as made from the imperial treasury; hun- dreds of dead bodies being frequently exposed for weeks for wrant 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 werk of this kind, the various ravages in towns, districts, &c. cc mmitted 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, follow7- 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 Eombay, 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 DOME OTIC 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 cf 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 w7as one scene of des- olation. This part of the subject cannot be placed in a clearer light than by simply observing that the instances o/ 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 wiiatever. 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 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 ahvays 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 twe 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 €>f 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 fary 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 wrho 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\mongst 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 en 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 bow els, 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] Now7 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 wiiich 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 trilling 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, tbiat is, in ot'.ier werds, 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 hollow7, 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 nol 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 mest common of the epidemic cholera, where its tendency to death is net 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 cf 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, cr if it has taken place for a time, it soon stops, from the stomach being paralyzed, or in other werds, as if it were really ('cad cr 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 (wiiich 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 w7hole 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 weuld 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 w7atery 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 knowm 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 tow7ards 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 now7 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 low7 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 3 M 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 w7as considered favorable as to the termination of the case. In India, wiien 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'S 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, cither 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 Moscow7, 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 wiiich 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, was 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 wniters, 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 knowiedge of the complaint, as to its vio- lence and progress in India, and the principal remedies which 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. Bleed his fr >m tie 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 wrarm 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 aw7ay in drops, or in a small broken stream, rarely exceeding a few ounces in quantity. On the contrary," he adds, "wiiere blood was freely obtain- ed to the extent of twenty or thirty ounces, and where the depletion was 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 sweat. Even under such circumstances, many attest the advantages of blood-letting, especially when preceded by sinapisms, or in other werds stimulating plasters of mustard to the belly, feet, ancles, &c.—the application of dry heat and frictions to the surface, by wdiich 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 reuse the circulation of the blood. In some cases of cholera, says that able and expe- rienced physician, Dr. Lefevre, tlie 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 would 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 wiien 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 advi.-ed 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, wrists, 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 weuld 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 werds 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 twefold. 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 pre? iously 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 powdered 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 w7ater, rolled in flannel, have been employed : and also hot ashes, bran, oat meal, hot mush, &c. To prevent less of time, however, ahvays take the first cr most convenient of the above articles that may come, to hand, so as to pro- duce any heat as early as possible. Ycu 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 Vcd clothes.) In hot weather, after perspira- tion has broken out, and above ah', 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 short 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 which is advanced in favor of the beneficial effects of calomel, under both modes of administration, might at first view7 appear perfectly con- clusive ; but in making up an opinion on this subject, it is necessary to recollect that in almost all the cases wiiich 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 w7arm bath. Upon the early and judicious employment of the last men- tioned medicines, nearly all the w7riters 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 few7 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 wiiich it was carried by the practitioners of India. In Warsaw, the result of experience showed, 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, cnly seventy-five terminated fatally. Opium. No remedy has been proposed in the treat- ment of cholera, which lias 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 3N 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, weuld 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 knowm 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. EnejMata. 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 well 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. Dkinks. 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 alw7ays 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, 1 3 >: 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 swallow small portions of ice some- what rounded into the shape of a pill by being rolled between the fingers—a practice also recommended hy 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 we now7 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, with 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 colomek 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 be 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 now7 fully, and as minutely as I conceived it necessary in a werk 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 sutject 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 cf 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-tw o, 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 or 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, wiiich 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, wiiich 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, thorough wort, 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 twe. 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 tins. Secondly, indul- gence in diet. Those who are recovering from cholera, whether slight cr 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 fellow7 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 <3UNN'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 weuld 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 w7arm 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- 3 O 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 affiictions 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 hy 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 will 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 be 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 Dre 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. Now7, 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 ail 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 wiiich 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 reestablished. 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. Diarrhoea—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 stomach. 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 vitge—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. Alvine—Bowel. Sulpt. quinine—Salt of barks. Synopsis—General view. GUNN'S DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 765 en • j CO Oh C _> en „j en s5 *i *J - •.£ «3 re 3 re oj m~ 2 -rt -3 CD -3 • -^ — .5 • --^ aSE'SSSFS'SS '-3 Ch\s C _o 3 re O • — CS a • re . o \3 re o ore O S re O Ore hWOO ho bo • ** S 2 a « O h- B e -si © IT3 H« i-l © © N © © "lc< © © i—l in .—* CO p-4 «D © i-H -^ i-< i—i co -th m eo >-i (N i-i !« «i« © © «ic> © © «ic( m m -id in NlN h H N I—1 r—1 "" en en en »• a s • A m S . . 2 2 Ss,.-gS a) p ° re "re .2 § 13 . . « &. o, S en en B to ■3-3 fr* fc* 'U S-i j_, L-3t-£i-Ct:£:t- t. !-. t- I_ H bCO "O bo bo O -a bji fco S -C-5 T3 bD bDT3 bD S w •<* © © © i—i (N 00 00 © « © m co © tj< -sj e o m 2 g.O-g'gt en o< . *> £ S . bDO 2 t. 03 g . E b .2 *w "re SIS « £ w^-c a » s m •? M J2 S. X TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR DOSES AND QUALITIES ANNEXED. OS Medicines. Jalap. Laudanum, Magnesia. Manna. Nitre. Opium. Paregoric. Rhubarb. Steel Dust. Sugar of Lead. Salts Epsom. Salt of Tartar. Spts. Lavender. Sulphur Flour. Sulphate Quinine. Tartar Emetic. Tincture of Steel. Tincture of Foxglove, Tinctre of Cantharide' Vitriol White, Adults. From 15 20 i a 1 10 1 2 1 15 5 1 1 10 30 2 2 3 8 10 10 20 To 40 grs. 60 drops. 2 drms. 2 ounces. 30 grains. 3 grains. 4 drms. 40 grs. 25 grs. 5 grs. 2 ounces. 25 grs. 100 drops. 8 drms. 8 grs. 10 grs. 20 drops. 50 drops. 50 drops. 60 grs. From 20 to 15. From To 10 30 grs. 20 50 drops. 2 1| drms. 1 1! ounces. 10 25 grs. h 2 grs. 1 3 drms. 12 35 grs. 4 20 grs. 1 4 grs. 1 2 ounces. 10 20 grs. 25 75 drops. 2 6 drms. 2 6 grs. 3 8 grs. 8 18 drops. 10 40 drops. 10 40 drops. 30 50 grs. From 15 to 10. From 15 20 1 8 To 23 grs. 40 drops. 60 grs. 11 ounces. 20 grs. a Igr- 1 2 grs. 10 35 grs. 3 15 grs. I 3 grs. 3 14 drms. 8 18 grs. 20 60 drops. 1 4 drms. 1 4 grs. 2 6 grs. 6 15 drops. 8 30 drops. 8 30 drops. 15 30 grs. FRom 10 to 6. Fro.. 5 10 15 x 6 50 8 2d i •i 2 G 15 1 1 2 5 5 5 12 To 20 grs. 30 drops. 45 grs. 1 ounce. 15 grs. 100 drops. 30 grs. 13 grs. 2 grs. 12 drops. 15 grs. 50 drops. 3 drms. 3 grs. 5 grs. 12 drops. 25 drops. 25 drops. 25 grs. Qualities. Purgative. c< Anodyne. % Absorbent. ^ Aperient. Febrifuge &diur. § Anodyne. g A nodyne. ^ Purgative. H Tonic. o Astringent. g Purgative. a Absorbent&Feb. 2 Cordial. O Aperient. Z, Tonic. . Emetic. Tonic. Diuretic. Stimulant. Emetic. A TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR DOSES AND QUALITIES ANNEXED. Medicines. From 6 to 4. From 4 to 2. From 2 to 1. Un der One. Qualities. From To From To From To From To Arsenical Solution. 2 5 drops. 1 4 drops. l 2 drops. l a 1 drop. Tonic. Antimonial Wine. 1 2 drachms. 1 Ik drachms. 1 Ik drms. l » 1 dram. Emetic. Aloes. 2 10 grs. 2 8 grs. 1 6 grs. 1 a 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 2 1 gr. 8 timulant. Cream of Tartar. 2 5 drains. 1 4 drms. i a 2 drms. I 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. 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. Ab'oorhent. Castor Oil. 2k 6 drms. 2 5 drms. U 4 drms. 1 2 drms. Purgative. Ess. Peppermint. 4 15 drops. 3 12 drops. 2 10 drop?. 1 6 drops. Carminative. P.lixir Vitriol. 5 15 drops. 3 42 drops. 2 10 drops. 1 4 drops. Tonic. [sps. ..'Ether "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. 1 5 grs. Emetic. A TABLE OF MEDICINES, WITH THEIR DOSES AND QUALITIES ANNEXED. Medicines. From 6 to 4. From 4 to 2. F ROM 2 TO 1. Ux derOne. Qualities. From To From To From To }''r'jin To Jalap* 5 15 grs. 1 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 drm.s. 1 2 drms. 1 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 2 grs. Tonic. Sugar of Lead. i 5 ligrs. i 4 1 gr. i 5 gr- Astringent. Salts Epsom. 2 8 drms. 2 6 drms. l 4 drms. 1 3 drms. Purgative. Salt of Tartar. 4 8 grs. 3 6 grs. 2 4 g-s. 1 3 grs. Absorbent&.Feb. Spts. Lavender. 10 35 drop-s. 5 20 grs. 4 15 drops. o 10 drops. Cordial. Sulphur Flour. i 2 2 drms. 20 grs . 1 drm. 10 40 grs. 5 20 grs. Aperient. Sulphate Quinine. I 2 grs. i 1 gr. i 5 gr. i 4 dgr. Tonic. Tartar Emetic. H 3 grs. , 1 2 grs. i a 1 gr. i 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 drop?. 2 10 drops. 1 5 drops. Stimulant. Vitriol White. 6 15 grs. 3 6 drops. 1 3 grs. Emetic. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 20 grains ) 3 scruples\ , (1 scruple make<. , \ (1 drachm 8 drachms 12 ounces £make<. 1 ounce pound 8 pints 16 fluid oz I [make] lgal. 1 pint 8fl'ddrms 60 drops sroake<. 1 fl'd oz. fl'd drm. 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