■ <\ - r &< C tf« c c • <-< . < c cc << cc c c c c CC c < Cc vC ccc c c '"•CCCCCC c CCCCC ((CC C i i. c cc c c cc ccd c c c c cc •' (^ c c « < cc c cccciC c:;c co c< ' CC C C C< C C CCCCC CCC c Cx 4 t cc c c cc c « cccv*r t.cc c cc c C C tC((( C CCCCC n CC — _ -^- —.---ir -Ccr cc *C c «^C c< «H Cc CT C cTcc «isx «(( Cc:■«Cuic CIC cc - - -^ -»"■<.< cc «C3 C CC OE CC CCC C • 11 / •, QV 1854 /!>, .' 101 -.; "■>■ ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. Ma. President and Gentlemen of the 5 attention or error connected with their admin- Medical Faculty:—Agreeably to appoint- istration, and trusted that all bad consequen- ment, I appear before you, at this time, to ces might, by care, be easily obviated ; and, make my apology for discontinuing the use inasmuch, as I then supposed, its exhibition of mercury, or any of its preparations, in my j was absolutely necessary to the successful medical prescriptions. This reasonable request {treatment of almost all serious complaints, of my medical brethren I cheerfully obey; concluded that we must be content to put up not, however, expecting that offering a few of with some inconveniences, when to be coun- the reasons, which satisfy myself, that the use j terbalanced with so much real good, as I then of calomel and its kindred of the family of I expected, from the use of these substances, Ilydrargyrus, in their varied forms that have j which I then, and for many years after, con- been, with the most honest and benevolent jsidered medicines; and, in consequence, I intentions, introduced into the human system, j have, in the course of my practice, dealt out under the supposed idea of their curative vir- many pounds of calomel and other mercurials, tues have, on the whole, done more harm than how many now I could not tell, neither is it good; however well lam myself satisfied of the j of any moment; hereafter, with my present fact, after more than forty years' conversance j views of their deslructiveness, I shall use no with the healing art. j more, except with the view of destroying life, But though I may fail in bringing over my I exterior to the human system, as rats, mice brethren generally, to the acknowledgement | and smaller animals. For, since my gradual, of my views, I think I shall at least get them j but,Ithink; very thorough medical conversion, to award to mo that, which I most cordially j1 could no more consciously administer calo- reciprocate to them respectively, that is, hon- j mel, blue pill, tartarised antimony in emetic esty of purpose, in each one pursuing that j doses, or the "Sampson doses" of the "Samp- raode of practice, which, according to his best j son" medicines generally, than Paul could means of information, his conscience dictates, j conscientiously persecute Christians after his I think, Sir, I shall also be the occasion of \ extraordinary visit to Damascus. putting at least some of my brethren upon their j One reason, Mr. President, why I continued guard in respect to the habitual administra-j the use of mercurials so long, was possibly tion of what I esteem, on the whole, one of the same which actuates some of my medical the most destructive poisons in the material j brethren at present, that is, the iorce of habit: world, especially because of its habitual and we are told, truly too, sir, that "education general use. j forms the mind," and that "it is hard to learn When, in the year 1816, I commenced the j old animals new tricks," however this may be. practice of medicine, in this State of Ohio, j with others, it has unquestionably had a good and was licensed to poison men, women and children according to law et secundem artem, I entertained the highest expectations from the use of the lancet, opium, antimony and mer- cury, especially the latter; I ever/supposed oalomel to be useful in a large majority of the diseases which afflict the human family, though not serious in their nature; and that it was indispensable in all violent cases, high fevers, visceral obstructions and most chronic affec- tions; for, although most of the books, and measure of truth in my case. Another reason may have been, that I found myself in so good company, being encouraged by the uniform practice of my brethren ; we are all aware, sir, how much we are apt to conform to our asso- ciates. I had not, however, been long in practice before I began to discover, by painful ocular demonstration, the uncertainty of the effects of calomel, as well as other substances, used as medicines, upon the human system, and there • ■orae of our medical teachers, especially Dr. j manifestations have increased with my own Chapman, warned us of some occasional un- practice a-nd that of my medical brethren ; to toward effects, following the use of these go into a detail of them all, would require P"if>nous minerals, I still hoped and even be- volumes of paper and weeks of time; I will liev-'d lhat those evil consequences Were only mention a few, andl presume the recol'ec!.'- a occasional, and as I supposed, from some in- 'of my observing brethren will ripply to *r.ca 4 ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. minds a large number of additional facts of a j happily disappointed, for she lived, and I be- similar nature, which to me at least, if not to { live still lives, had no indication of salivation them, evinces the uncertainty of the effect of J and, though her bowels were, in the course of mercurials upon the human system, and the j a few days, moved, were not purged according often unlooked for and more unwelcome symp- j to the usual acceptation of that term. toms, evidently arising from their use. I presume the brethren present will recol- But to the few cases. 1 shall name : j lect reading the report of cholera cases of Dr. 1st, J. I., a hard laboring, robust man, of I Cook, in 1833, in which he administered to about 26 years, of a costive habit, called on j the same patient, table-spoonful doses of cal- me one day, for something to regulate his t omel; and, where his patients recovered, for bowels. I gave him some cathartic pills, con- some did recover, some were moderately sali- taining a portion of calomel. In a few days, \ vated, some violently and some not at all/— I was called on to do something to obviate its evincing, as has all my observations, the entire effects upon his mouth, which had become uncertainty of the effects of the medicine un- very sore. After weeks of intense suffering, J der consideration. and profuse salivation, with the loss of a num-j 6th, In 1818, I was desired to investigate ber of his teeth at the time, and the remain-1 the case of D. D., Esq., about 40 years of age, der afterward, he got about, was able to per- form some labor, but was never, as I should judge, the same man afterward. 2d, Mrs. C. E., a Hdy of about 22, though not so robust an individual as the former, was under similar circumstances, operated upon in like manner and remained very feeble, as long as I was acquainted with her. 3rd, Miss A. N., aged about 14, laboring under general fever, and peritoneal inflama- tion; and in which, according to the foolish custom ol those times, I wished to see the system affected by mercury, I gave calomel in who had at that time, according to his state- ment, for upward of twenty years, been af- flcted with a necrotic state of the tibia and ul- ceration of the super incumbent integuments, ever supposed to be the effect of mercurials administered in his younger years ; various physicians, he states, of Philadelphia and of \ the State of Delaware, had made unsuccessful attempts to arrest its progress. I did not at- ; tempt the case myself, he being a cripple in consequence ; and holding the office of Jus- tice of the Peace till the day of his death, at about 50, it gave an opportunity for hundreds, regular and often repeated doses, and applied! if not thousands, who called at his office on strong mercurial ointment at the'same time, [ business, to experience the unpleasant, but and all for about a week; the whole was well! unmistakable mercurial odor. retained, but had no manifest effect whatever at the time. She was married a few years afterward, but has ever lived a sterile lady of feeble health. 4th, At the identical time of the last named case, Mrs. L. R. was lying much enfeebled with previous disease, and considerable med- ication; and, wishing to give her a cathartic, I could not think of anything that would be more likely to agree with her irritable stom- ach than a dose ef calomel, which I exhibi- ted, without any adjuviant, at 10 o'clock at night. Very early the next morning, (it was in the month of August,) I found her severely salivated, with swelled tongue, which contin- ued a number of weeks and, with her previ- ous weakness, occasioned me, as well as her friends, not a little anxiety and the most dil- ligent attention. But she lived, to be a bur- den to herself and friends, and one more wit- ness of the often unexpected, unintentional, but very distressing effects of a single dose of calomel. 5th, 'Not far from the sam« time, in a case Of violent constipation, in consultation with the late Dr. D., of G. County, 0., case of Mrs. S. In the course of two days we ad- ministered more than two ounces of calomel, besides using a great variety of other cathar- tic medicines in large doses, and using the other means then common in cases of violent A few years ago, as I was passing through G----county, in this State, I learned that Dr. P. had been immerged in two thousand dollars damages, by the Court of Common Pleas, for that county, in consequence of an unfortu- nate and, no doubt, unlooked for subsequen- tia to the administration of calomel, which he had prescribed. 1 believe the verdict was wrong, for I suppose it was administered w- cundem artem. The Dr. appealed the case, but how it was decided in the higher Court 1 never learned. In this case, the patient lived, but lived only to suffer and to be a terror to herself and her associates. But let me ask, and it is a solemn questioa. How many to whom the medicine, (so called,"! has been given, have not lived to tell the sad after tale, but which misfortune, to call the circumstance by no harder name, the cold clods have covered from human view? I have been told, sir, by a member of this society, that a prominent professor, in one of the medical Schools of Philadelphia, stated that he had never witnessed any unpleasant effects from the exhibition of calomel, not- withstanding his high station. I must say, sir, he has had or seen very little practice, or in* has been very blind, or very fortunate—more fortunate than most of the meihbers of this society—for who, among us, fcave not seen teeth destroyed, maxillaTy and other bonas of constipation. We stated, between ourselves, j the face and head, as well as of other parts •! that if she lived, she would be likely to have! the body, rendered necrotic, carious or fracile* ptyaLsm that would be hard to control, and 1 and the health of the individual injured for probably Ilypercatharsis to boot. But we were' life, and who are easily salivated at any s»l»- ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. 5 sequent period of life, by the most minute j second ceverial vertebrae, and so destroyed its dose of mercury. If my brethren have never j texture that it was Salable to sustain the witnessed any of these effect?, following the ! weight of the head. use of the medicine, I must say, sir, they have Another case of Fragilitas ossium, of which been most fortunate, more so than even the \ I have been informed, happened in the ad- laity, {joining county of Athens, not many yeara I am at this day acquainted with a consider- i since. A gentleman while sitting in his chair, able number of persons, of different ages, in the act of throwing one of his lower ex- and both sexes, having formerly been mercu- j tremities across the other, fractured the body rialized, who, upon the slightest indisposition, j of the thigh bone. I state briefly the facts, as (and such are, and must be frequently com- \ I heard them, not having the whole history of plaining,) state that they can taste the mer- | the case. ruiry, some such will experience more or less j We are persuaded, sir, that every effect has salivation, even without additional mercury, j a cause; and this disease, Fragilitas ossium, or medicine of any kind, and upon the slight- j (or brittleness of the bones,) is, I believe, pe- est addition of any mercurials are profusely j culiar to the human family; and, like many salivated. j other ailments peculiar to man, must have a An acquaintance of mine, Esq. S., of P----j cause or causes which operate upon man, that Co., for seven or eight months, (after the ! do not affect other animals; and may we not subsidence of a fever, for which he had been j suppose that these causes are the unphysio- thoro'ughly mercurialized,) remained exceed- logical habits of man, in the various items of ingly feeble in both body and mind. He was \ food, drinks, exercise, medication, &c, inclu- finally advised, by the late D*. A. W----, to j ding all the wrong habits, the most of which take a minute portion of the sulphur sublima- are fostered by what is considered civilized turn, once or twice a day. In about 2 weeks j life, and especially this now under considera- a salivation commenced and continued most j tion, the brittleness of the bones? And inas- profuse for 6 weeks or more and subsided.— much as the animals and man, in a state of He was somewhat improved, but never during j nature, are nearly or quite free from this dis- the remainder of his life, some 10 to i2 years, j ease, and inasmuch as one of the acknowl- was he able to attend to business. edged effects of mercurial medicines is to de- And here, Sir, I would suggest whether it is stroy the vital texture of the jaws, skull, and not probable, that close observation would other bones; and inasmuch, also, as these ef- lead at least to the strong appearance of pos- fects were seldom- heard of, before the intro- sibility, that, although some of the medicinal duction of the various preparations of mercu- "snmpsons," and calomel in particular, may ry, into the materia medica, by Paracelsus, and do, for the time being, have the appear- about 330 years ago — that is, about the year ance of curing many acute diseases, whether, 1520—and are increasing, in proportion totho even in those cases of apparent good, they do growing use of calomel, blue pill, &c, havtj not, in fact, merely alter the state of diseased we not good reason to conclude that a very action, and thus produce life-long chronic dis- large majority of the cases of Fragilitas ossium, eases of the bones, and various other tissues of as well as a vast number of other chronic af- the animal economy? fections, are the consequence of mercurial And here, sir, I would state another case:— preparations, introduced into the animal econ- I was called, in the dead of night, to assist omy under a false idea of their curative vir- Dr. F. to replace (as was stated) a dislocated tues ? hip-joint of an elderly lady who had, in early And here, sir, permit me to propound an- life, been thoroughly mercurialized, and had other important question for the future inves- been steadily running down for a number of tigatjon of physicians, and others; it isthis:— years, and "bed rid" for about 2 or 3 years, Whether a large majority of the chronic dis- only rising once or twice in 24 hours, to have eases, (and a most fearful catalogue is exhib- her bed adjusted. The accident happened as Sited,) are not the consequence of erroneous she was passing from her arm-chair to her Habits of diet, regimen, and medication, too bed,.leaningupon her daughter. Upon inves- pften prescribed, indulged, or encouraged, by tigation, it was found, instead of a dislocation, I professed practitioners of the healing art ? to be a fracture of the thigh bone, in conse- ( Having, sir, by way of introduction, men- quence of Fragilitas ossium. She survived } tioned but a small proportion of the cases of about two weeks after this occurrence. the prejudicial effects of mercury, that have The members of this society may recolleet come under my own observation and knowl- reading an account of a case that happened, edge, in the course of about forty years expe- not long since, in one of the London hospitals,' rience, I shall take the liberty to quote the of a lady supposed to be recovering from a opinions and observations of a few noted med- disease for which she had been treated with ical men, both of this and the eastern conti- calomel, and while sitting up in bed, eating a j nent, either in their own words, or in sub- bowl of broth, her head fell suddenly forward, stance, interspersing occasional remarks of and she instantly expired. A post-mortem in- my own. vestigation disclosed, to the satisfaction of the And first, Hooper says: "Mercury is carried attending physicians, that the mercury had \ into the system in the same way as other su1) combined with the odontoid process, of the stances—either absorbed from the surface t (J ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE, the body, or that of the alimentary canal; it; Precoidia, frequent sighing, trembling, partial cannot, however, in all cases, in both ways ;" or universal, a small, quick, sometimes inter- and he might have added, in either way, so mitting pulse, occasional vomiting, a pale, awfully forbidding is it to the animal economy, contracted countenance, a sense of coldness in some instances, "at least, no effect is appa- &c. When these, or a greater part of these rently produced; in many persons, the bowels > symptoms are present/-a sudden exertion of can hardly bear mercury at all. When it can ; the animal powers, such as rising up in bed, be thiown into the constitution by the skin, it; will often prove fatal. The use of this mine- is the better way, because the skin is not so \ ral is also attended with, or followed by, sev- essential to life as the stomach, and the con- eral forms of diseases of the skin; of these, the stitution is less injured;" admitting, of course, j most important is mercurial eczema which oj- that it must be injured. He says, further.— ten occurs, when only a Tery small portion of. "Many courses of mercury would kill the pa- ; a mercurial preparation has been taken. It tient" Now, sir, if a plurality of courses \frequen.hj assumes a severe charader. When would kill, by parity of reasonirg, one course, { it is ushered in with fever, difficult respiration, or one dose, will help to kill; and, if killing dry cough, and tightness across the chest, with is the legitimate object of medical prescrip- a general smarting, and burning feel of the tions, let us give mercury " to kill." Further skin, over the whole body. These symptoms are soon followed by an eruption of minute vesicles, which break, and discharge a veTy fetid fluid; as the disease advances, it increa- ses in severity, the eruption extends over the on, he says: " It occasions a fever, and acts like a poison." Now, sir, if it acts like a poison, what does it differ from a poison ? — And again, who can tell upon what constitu- tion it will act as a poison? Then why try the experiment? He says, again: "In some, it produces a hectic fever." I recollect, sir, that Dr. Chapman, in his lectures, said that this was its usual effect in all pulmonics, ac- celerating Phthisis Pulmonalis oftentimes with iriost alarming rapidity; and this I believe to be the experience of all observing medical men; for, says he, again: "Mercury often pro duces pains, like those of Rheumatism, and nodes of a scrofulous nature." Now, sir, since scrofulous diseases have become so very face and the whole of the body, which become covered with ihcrustalions; the fever assumes a typhoid type, the difficulty of breathing in- creases, and is accompanied with bloody ex- pectoration, spots of purpura appear, ami death ensues, preceded by deliiium and con- vulsions." Dr. Hamilton, of Edinburgh, says: "Among the numerous poisons that have been used, there are but few which possets more active, and, of course, more dangerous powers, than mercury; even the simplest and mildest forms rife, why add to their frequency and fatality, j of that mineral exert a most extensive influ- by persisting in the use of this " poison ?."— Again, says he: "Mercury occasionally at- tacks the bowels, and causes violent purging, even of blood. At other times, it is suddenly determined to the mouth, jiroducing inflam- mation, ulceration, and mortification." And, sir, does not this coincide with the experience ence over the human frame; and many of its preparations are so deleterious, that, in the smallest doses, they speedily destroy life." Dr. Falconer, of I^th, gives, in effect, \lc same testimony. "When the effects of mer- cury upon the human system are accurately investigated, and duly considered, it cannot of us all, proving the often uncertain and] fail to appear, that in uniteinjury must accrue poisonous effects of mercury ? Next, Neligan, after speaking of the mercu- rial palsy, or what the French call trcmblemat metalique, says: " Individuals are met with, in whom almost the minutest dose of ANY preparation of mercury will produce the ?nost violent salivation ,• while, on the other hand, some persons appear to be totally insensible to the operation of the drug." This leads me, sir, to compare the case of Mr. S., of Cincinnati, who stated to me that he was most severely salivated by taking a few Homoeopathic pellets, with that of Mrs. S-, of G---- county, before mentioned, who took more than two ounces of calomel, from my hand, without any apparent effect. But N. further states, that, as the effect of a profuse mercurial salivation, "a frightful train of symptoms, in MANY instances followed by death itself, is the result." And again: "The effects of mercury are sometimes accompanied by a peculiarly alarming state, described by Mr. Pearson, under the name of Mercurial erethism. It is characterized by great depres- sion of strength, a sense of anxiety about the from its use." Now, sir, if it is so, and I be- lieve it is, why use it? Says Dr. Beach: "In detailing the changes produced upon the system by preparations of mercury, it is unnecessary to premise the well known fact, that there are some individuals on whom the medicines, though continued for a considerable length of time, have little or no perceptible influence; and other constitutions, where a few grains will prove fatal. Prepa- rations of mercury, exhibited either internally or externally, for any length of time, increase, in general, the action of the heart and arte- ries, and produce salivation, followed by ema- ciation and debility, with an extremely irrita- ble state of the whole sys'em; these effects are espressly mentioned, or virtually admitted, by every author, ancient and modern, who have directed its use. Blood drawn from the most delicate and debilitated individual, while under the influence of mercury, exhibits the same buffy coat with that drawn from a plu- retic patient, and the strength of the person rapidly declines. It appears, therefore, that the increased action of the heart and arteries, ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. 7 excited by mercurials, produces not only the } But, sir, may we not rather suppose that same injurious effects upon the body, with \ the emaciation is, in a great measure, the re- those arising fiom inflammation, [produced by j suit of the serous portion of the blood being other causes,] but also certain effects peculiar j expended, by passing off through the various to itself." Thus, } emunctoris, generally most manifest in the Dr. Carmichael says: "Mercury induces a j salivary ducts, in the attempt—a vain one, in specific fever, different from all others, and | many instances—to wash out the poisonous attended with an increase of various secre- mineral, introduced into the system under the tions, the health is rapidly undermined, and j false idea of its curative virtues? as the tears if there be any ulcerations, in any part of the | are secreted most abundantly, to wash out of body, they must certainly degenerate into ma- j the eye any foreign substance. In all these lignant sores, as blistered surfaces and wounds j extra exertions of nature, debility is the uni- mortify, in cases where the living powers are; versal and necessary result. much exhausted." Dr. Benj. Bell, late, of Edinburgh, remarks Mr. Matthews has unquestionably shown what, -"besides the usual symptoms of fever, "That certain changes upon ulcerations, orig-j mercury is apt to excite restlessness, anxiety, inally syphilitic, and certain derangements of j general debility, and a very distressing, inita- health occur, whenever mercury has been ad- j ble state of the whole system. In some, tem- minstered in too acrid -a form, or in too large porary delirium takes place; in others, palsy, quantity." And his remarks are confirmed by or epilepsy, supervene, and, in many, the all experience. But the question is, how are j memory or judgment is more or lesspermanent- we to know a priori — how much, and how ( h impaired. Instances, too, have occurred, strong doses to give ? t j where sudden death has supervened, in conse- Mr. M. imagines that the action of the \ quence of very trifling exertion or agitation," "medicament" is peculiar to those apparent\ corroborating a former quotation from Mr. cases. But, sir, may we not rather conclude j Pearson. that it is merely an excessive degree, and not' It may be said, sir, that these are the ex- any peculiar action? For "it is a well known j treme cases, and we readily admit that, in fact, that exposure to cold, bodily fatigue, ir- J many instances, these violent effects do not regularities in diet, and particularly indulgeh- ( immediately follow. Individuals, however, pf c.es in intoxicating liquors, have aggravated a delicate habit and scrofulous diathesis, (and the severity of syphilitic ulcers, whether pri- these, at this age, constitute a large and rapjd- mary or secondary. But, as all those different ly increasing proportion of our population,) causes concur only in one respect, viz: in ex- j are ever liable to experience, to a greater or siting inflammation,'it is evident that mercu- J less degree, the evil effects enumerated, from rv, when it affix's the system, must be pro- j the use of mercury; so much so, that, for one, ductive of equally injurious changes upon the I have come to the conclusion that, on the ulcers in question, and upon the general I whole, its use, as a medicine, has done, is -do- health; and because it produces a more vio- j ing, and if persisted in, is likely to do, infi- Jent degree of inflammation than almost any { nitely more harm than good—if real good it other natural or artificial cause we know of, ever does. except those articles set down in the catalogue I I can, with Dr. Falkner, say that "I might <>f poisons." Upon the same principle may | cite all the writers on the materia medica, for be explained the fact, mentioned by all prac- j authorities to show that the long continued tical writers, that schirrous tumors, cancerous and frequent use of mercury is not free from affections, and scrofulous diseases, of every danger." And I have already proved that a grade, are much aggravated by mercurials. j desultory and even minute dose, has often Dr. Blackall has shown that, " from the i produced most distressing and disastrous ef- same cause, thickening of various membranes, j feets. particularly the Pericardium and Pleura, has j Both Falconer and Blackall mention instan- accrued." And it is more than probable,*sir, | ces of dropsy, evidently produced by the use that the aching pains which so often, and al- i of mercury. Dr. F. gives a fatal case, where most invariably, follow courses of mercury, hydrothorax immediately followed the cure of are owing to partial thickening, or adhesions a facial eruption by a mercurial application. taking place in the serous and more cellular Dr. Alley asserts that he has seen an erup- membranes, especially those near the joints,! tion appear, over the entire body of a boy whence so many cases of mercurial rheumatism. | of about seven years, for whom but three From Dr. B.'s cases, too, we have reason to grains of calomel had been prescribed. The believe that the rheumatic or inflammatory di- following case, also, is instructive : "A lady othesismay continue long after the disuse of aged twenty-eight, the mother of four children, the medicine—perhaps for life. had a miscarriage, at the end of the fourth • Emaciation so commony follows a mercii- j month, and was very much reduced with hem- rial course, that seme have, and with reason, orrhage ; three days after, she complained of supposed that it had that tendency. Thus, j a bad taste in her mouth, with soreness of her Van Sweiten observed that "all the pinguid hu- \ gums, and the- next day, salivation took mors are dissolved by the action of mercury ; | place; on enquiring, it was found that four therefore the patysntTs body is totally emacia- < years previous, she had taken blue pill, for ted." } two weeks, which had but slightly touched 8 ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. the gums, and it was solemnly asserted that she had taken no mercury since that time, and during which she had enjoyed apparent health; the ptyalism was, therefore, attributed to some accidental cause, but continuing with great violence, the medicines were chemically ex- amined, but found to contain no mercury whatever. The salivation, with the usual de- bility and emaciation, continued above twelve months; occasionally, indeed, it was checked for a day or two, but would return, with alarming vomiting, and sinking of the living powers." It is, sir, universally acknowledged, that, although the morbid, that is, the poisonous effects of mercury, are often induced by very small doseS of the mineral, and that very sud- denly; that at the same time it must be freely admitted, that there are no marks, as yet ascer- tained and probably never can be, by which a priori we may know in what constitution such results would be likely to follow.— Hence, the awful danger in administering the poison at all. Dr. Steele observes, and, sir, I can most cor- dially reiterate his remarks, "I know full well the effects of mercury upon the human system, for I have tried it in every shape, and for al- rnost every disease, and have found it always attended with uncertainty and risk; and if pushed to salivation, absolute consequences of a dangerous character, either open or hid- den, were produced." This fact is, or ought to be, ne secret to physicians, when almost all admit, that mercury does produce diseases of the most disagreeable and dangerous charac- ter. Why then persist in the use of it? But, sir, "if they will thus persist, in the face of all the evidence they have, or might and ought to have, and in defiance of all moral obliga- tion, imposed by the sixth commandment, surely the people will not, and ought not, to be so infatuated much longer, as deliberately to swailow down the seeds of certain disease and death — the mass of them, at least, will halt and consider. Dr. Porter, after much observation and ex- perience, says in effect, "We have no need to resort to the use of such poisonous ingredients as mercury, arsenic and the like, in the cure of diseases, because there are more safe and certain remedies, and because they do not an- swer the purpose of their application: they clog up the system, and poison the fountains of life, and make the patient a sickly wretch- ed being, through the remainder of his days. I appeal to the lame, the chronically sick, the blind, the toothless, the deformed, the dyspep- tic the hypochondriac, to the individual of scrofulous habits, and ulcerated gums> to the rheumatic invalid, and broken down constitu- tion, the unhappy victims of mercurial prac- tice." It is, sir, a lamentable fact, that those very articles, upon which we have been placing our chief dependence in practice, with strong, but misplaced confidence, are most destructive to the life these intended to prolong, and to, the health which they intended to restore and promote. But I am well aware, that th« old prejudices are so completely "grouud in" to some, both physicians and patients, that for a while, they will continue to use them, to some extent, but there is a "better time com- ing." Fashion, sir, is the tyrant "ruler, even in diseases and remedies ; our unphysiological habits have rendered diseases of the liver and prima vice very common, and mercury has, with the majority of physicians, become equal- ly fashionable; and it is admitted that it some- times appears to relieve them ; I say appears, because it.is only in appearance; for if the pa- tient's life' is continued, alter their use, the complaints always recur, calling for more mercury; in truth, mercurials answer the same purpose with the hepatic, that a quid of to- bacco does with the consumer of that detestable weed, or the abominable dram to the inebri- ate, always crying "give, give," and always destructive to the constitution. But 1 said, it is only in some cases, that the mercury apparently answers even for the time being, the end proposed. For, as Dr. Eberle observes, "in seme cases calomel fails to ex- cite the action of the liver, and causes injuri- ous irritation of the mucus membrane of the bowels, giving rise to frequent, tuibid, and watery discharges, attended with severe grip- ,ing and abdominal tenderness." Here again, sir, as always, we see the uncertainty of its effect, and its aptness to produce disease, instead of curing it. And here permit me to observe, that the persevering and scientific use of pure water, that great boon of a kind Providence, is infi- nitely more efficacious, and always perfectly safe, in curing diseases of the liver, and other i diseases for which mercurials have been em- ployed, than all the mercury that has been dug from the bowels of the earth, and all of the j various combinations into which it hasenter- I ed, since the days of Bombastes Paracelsus. Dr. Shew observes, in effect, that, "as long as the mercurial mania rages, so long will phy- j sicians be called upon to treat; many anoma- lous varieties of chronic rheumatism, made such by the mercury with which the patient had« been dosed, for some aeute disease, which may properly be called mercurial rheumatism." It may, here, be weil to name some of the contradictory opinions entertained by different men, of medical eminence, briefly drawn from Pereira: "Mercury is, by several writers, as Cullen, Young, Chapman and Eberle, placed in tha class of siolagogues; by many, as Dr. A. T. Thomson, Edwards, Rovasseun, &c, among excitants; by Conrad, Butell» Horn, &c, as sedative; by Wilson Phil- ips to be stimulant, in small doses, and1 sedative in large ones; by John Murray, it is placed among the. tonics; by Yogt, ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. 9 ----****,----------.____.-------.....___________ , ■ '■—■ ■ '; - " - ""J"-------- among the resolventia alterantia; by j with a host of others, too numerous t© Sunderlin, among the liquifacients; by specify in a brief essay—ought it not to Brousais. and his followers, among .re- bring practitioners to a solemn stand, vulsives; by the Italians, as Giaccomini,] with regard to continuing its use, as a among contra stimulants; by others, as] remedy? Barbier, among the incertia sidis, or Its'tendency to produce tubercles, is thoee drugs whose modus operandi is not attested bv a host; amongst them, Drs. understood." I must confess, sir, that} Chapman," Sweetser, and Traver?. NP- here I am a follower of BarDier. j cliols, in water-cure, says, patients oftea And after reading the above brief throw off large quantities of mercury, as ■tatement of discordant opinions, of well as other poisons, which may have prominent medical men, upon this mugh lain in the system for years, producing used poison, upon much abused patients, j rheumatic, neuralgic, and other nervous I am almost inclined to believe in the j and chronic diseases; and that its dir>* truth of the following definition of the effects can hardly be exaggerated. word physician, as being " a man who . Raush speaks of caries of the bones as puts drugs, of which he knows nothing, amongst the direful effects of mercury; into stomachs of which he knows less." he also attests of its long continuance in Dr. Shew, (in his manual,) observes, the system, ''being divided," he says, that "chronic disease of the,liver is often t "into minute atoms." brought on by the use of calomel; the Harsa, speaking of the scientific effects liver is torpid, the patient takes blue j of water in the cure of diseases, observes pill, calomel, or mercury, in some form, that " it cools raging fevers, soothes the the liver is goaded on in its action more most violent pains, invigorates the or- vigorously, for the time, and the patient) gans of life, cleanses the system; some- feels better. But then again follows the i times mercury, &c, taken years befora, old difficulty, in an increased form. The are brought out through the pores of the remedy (!) is used again, again and skin, or made to pass off through some again, and at last loses its power, even salutary crisis; strange as it may appear, to bring about apparent good, and the j it has beer* proved, times without num- patient sinks into an incurable state."— \ ber, and without the possibility of a mis- And in speaking of what has been lor.gj take." He further says that "disea?«, called the secondary effects of the vene- j originally acute, is often, hurried into a real disease, such as caries and necrosis, chronic form by the excessive debilita he says: "It is impossible to tell how tion of poisonous drugs. I assert this much of those affections actually depend i from a knowledge of the fact. It is a upon the medicine that had been admin- solemn truth, that will sooner or later istered to the patient, as it is allowed by j startle the world, from its confidence in all medical men, that mercury is capable a system so destructive to human life, (and often does) produce affections en- > health, and happiness.'' lirely similar." Dr. Thatcher, both in his "Practice," If mercury is capable of producing j and " Dispensatory," informs us that no dropsy, as stated by Sir Astley Cooper; \ rules can be given, or re°;qrded, to regit- oc enlargement of tho glands, according j late its (mercury's) administration, cr to Dielerick; or sloughing, and ulcera- { obxnate the uncertainty always attend- tion of the gums, according to Sir Astley ing its introduction into the sto?nach.,, and many others; or mercurial leprosy,; And Dr. Chapman, in his materia according to Moriarty; or mercurial fe- j medica, tells U3 that, "occasionally mer- rer and salivation, as known by every I cury, from some unaccountable cause, in- practitioner; or palsy, according to Chris-i stead of operating as a remedy, acts ae a tison; or mercurial wasting of the bow-: poison." els, and dysentery, as observed by many;; And here let me ask, does not our own or rotting of the bones, as known (or; experience, with such authorities, suf5- ought to be known) to all meflical men;j ciently protest against destroying an/ I say, sir, if mercury does often cause more tongues, teeth, bones, gums, pal- any or all of these evils—which it does,' ates,jaws, lips,and whole animal frames, 10 ANTI-CALOMEL LECTURE. by this POISON? The above observa-j'poisons ; prescribed quantities of these tion of Dr. C. probably slipped his I are conveyed into the stomach, from time memory, when, a few years since, before j to time, until the whole system is under his class, he addressed them as follows:} their influence; in other words, till the "Gentlemen, if you could see what I al-j whole mass of blood is poisoned. But most daily see, in private practice, in does the patient who has been swallow- this city—persons from the South, in the | ing mercury, suppose that'the gums only very last stages of wretched existence, are inflamed, by this circulation ofmer- emaciated to a skeleton; with both ta-j curialized blood through them? Does bles of the skull almost completely per- he suppose that the other organs, the forated, in many places; the nose half brain, the lungs, the kidneys, and the gone; with rotten jaws; ulcerated throats; I eyes, have a charmed life, and that they breaths most pestiferous, more intolera- are proof against all injury from the ble than poisonous upas ; limbs racked,! poisoned blood passing through the del- as it were, with the pains of the inquisi-j icate network of their tissues? What is tion; minds as imbecile as the puling! to protect the heart, the brain, the lungs, babe's; a grievous burden to themselves, j the liver, the ki:lneys, the stomach, and and a disgusting spectacle to others — I (especially) the bones from the same sort you would exclaim, as I have done, '0 ! j of irritation as that which has loosened the lamentable want of science that die-j and destroyed all his teeth? And here, tates the use of this noxious drv.g, calo-) Mr. President, let me remark, that when mel, in the southern States.' Gentle-j the teeth are affected by mercery, we men, it is a disgraceful reproach to the have reason to believe that all the bones profession of medicine! It is quackery, > of the body are more or less diseased, horrid, rnwarr-anted, murderous quack- > with the same poison, and that one, if try!! What merit do gentlemen of the > not the principal* reason why the teeth south flatter themselves that they pos suffer more, extensively than the other sess, by being able to salivate a patient?; metallic portion o'f the system — the Cannot the veriest fool in Christendom [ bones—is their contact with atmospheric ' salivate, give calomel? Bufl will ask { air, upon the principle that all raetah another question: Who can stop its ca- j so exposed are more readily oxydize I reer at will, when it has taken the reins) than if perfectly protected from the air. into its own destructive and ungovema-j Dr. Rush remarked, in a public lec- ble hand? j ture: "I am here incessantly led to "He who, for an ordinary cause, re-i make an apology for the instability of signs the fate of his patient to mercury, the theories and practice of physic; and is a vile enemy to the sick; and if he is those physicians generally become the tolerably popular, will, in one season, most eminent who have emancipated have paved the way for the business of a j themselves from the schools of physic.— life, for he has enough to do, ever after-j Dissections daily convince us of our ig- wards, to stop [or rather to endeavor to j norance of disease, an 1 cause us to blush stop] the mercurial breach of the consti-j at our prescriptions; an 1 what mischief tutions of his dilapidated patients. He I we have done, under the belief of false has thrown himself into a fearful prox-1 theories, and false* facts; we have assis- ' imity to death, and has now to fight him ted in multiplying diseases; we have at arms' length, and without weapons, done more — we have increased their as long as the patient maintains a mise- mortality. I will not stop tobegpardon rable existence." And now, Mr. Presi- of the faculty, for acknowledging, in this dent, permit me to ask, where is the in- public manner, the weakness of "our pro- trinsic difference between " murderous fession. I am pursuing truth, and atn quackery" in the south, and the east, indifferent where I am led, if she only is west, anrt north? { my leader." On another occasion,' he Says Dr. Edward Johnson, of England,) said: "The art of healing is like an un- for many years an allopathist, hut now j roofed temple, uncovered at the top, and a hydro-drujrgist, " [hegreat remedies off cracked at the foundation." the allopathic school, are medicinal' Said Briehat: "To what errors have ANTI CALOMEL tECTURE. 11 not mankind been led", in the employ->ence (!!!) of medicine is a barbarous jar- ment and denomination of medicine.— »gon, and the effects of our remedies in If they wanted deobstruents, they made\ the highest degree uncertain, except, them, anc-l so on through the whole cata-i indeed, that they have already destroyed logue of medicines; and if they thought more lives than war, pestilence and fam- proper, (and they have often done so,) ine combined." An unquestionably just made the same article answer very op- judgment, as regards mercury, if not posite intentions, and at the same in-j many—and even a large proportion—of sta"nt, blowing hot and cold ut the same j what have been esteemed the most pow- breath." How often, sir, has this beenjerful medicine; powerful, indeed, they the case, with the effects attributed to the have been, at least for evil. Then let various preparations of mercury? If i us, hereafter, take the advice of Naoole- physicians wished to reduce the system, ion to his physician: "Donot cotinteract they gave calomel; and if to tone it, cal- j the living principle." omel still; and so on through the chap-1 Dr. James Clark, in his long and en- ter. Indeed, sir, it has become, with tertaining article on phthisis, in the cy- many, the medicamentum—so much so, clopedia of practical medicine, observes that it might well be asked, with some, that, "Mercury has very generally been why should they be at a loss what to j considered, as capable of producing tu- prescribe, if they have only calomel in bercular disease; we are inclined to be- their pocket? Maeendie savs: 'I hesitate not to d( lieve this fact; and, therefore, consider that its use requires the greatest care, in clare, no matter howsorely it may wound j persons of adelicate and strumous con- our vanity, that so gross is our ignorance ; stitution." of the real nature of physiological dis- And since so large a majority of tho orders, called diseases, that it would, human family, at least in our country, perhaps, be better to do nothing, and re- \ are of a strumous habit, either hereditary Mgn the complaint we are about to treat, j or acquired, had we not' better entirely (and especially the patient) to the re- j and forever suspend its use ? I, for one, sources of nature, than to act, as we fre- (sir, have come to that conclusion; 1 be- quently do, without knowing the why j lieve that nature actually performs her find the wherefore of our conduct, and at' own cures, and that whatever is so en- tile obvious risk of hastening the end of Uirely opposed to nature, as the various the patient." \ preparations of mercury, is also opposed And here, Mr. President, Jet me say ho the recovery of the sick; that, when that the orthcepalhist, or the honest ho- < the system is put under the best possible mceopathist, has entirely the advantage condition, as to diet, regimen, &c, it of the allopathist, for, by doing nothing < will, by its ris medicatrix natures, much at all, medicinally, he is certainly doing (easier counteract the effects of disease, no hurt; and we had infinitely better do j without the intervention of extra poison. nothing at all, than to introduce abso- ( Sir W. Knighton, late physician to lute poison into the system, upon the j George the fourth, observes that, "it is principle of the Doctor's prescription who \ somewhat strange, that though in many directed the, lady to swallow a living cat j arts and sciences, improvements haTe to catch the live mouse, which she fan- j advanced, in progression with time, cied she had swallowed. We should \ others have remained in statzi quo, and think it better to Jet the mouse have a medicine, appears to be one of these chance to creep out, by the way he got ill-fated arts, whose improvement bears in, or otherwise drown him, or wash him out with WATER. Said Dr. Waterhouse, when retiring from the medical chair which for more than twenty years he had filled, in Har- vard College, "I am sick of learned quackery.'' And Dr. Good observed: "The sci- no proportion to its antiquity." Had not facts borne out the truth of'his re- marks, how could we account for a sim- ilar assertion of Abernethy, the truth of which is, however, to all careful obser- vers? He says, "diseases appear to be on the increase, and have been for three or four hundred years." That is, sir, 12 anti-calomel lecture. from the time that that apostle of whole- sale murder, Paracelsus, introduced the quicksilver and other violent poisons in- to the materia medica. In Holland, we are informed, there is a law, fining heavily, any person who administers mercurial medicines, and w since that salutary regulation, that the j fatality of diseases has greatly decreased in that country. And we find, sir, from statistics and observation, that where the least medicine is used among the sick, as in the Hydropathic establish- ments, and such hospitals and bettering houses as are conducted upon Homeepa- thic principles, diseases are less fatal, by more than fifty per cent., in propor- tion to the numbers admitted and dis- eases treated, than in those institutions where heavy medication is the practice, and especially when mercurial medicines are almost considered as the sine quo non. And, now, Mr. President, though I have made but a beginning, of the ex- tracts of different authors which I had marked for quoting; I suppose I have well ivigh exhausted your patience, and that of the audience; and will close) these extracts, by stating a few cases,! from different "water-cure" works, show- ing the tenacity of mercurials to the an- J imal system, as well as the power of! pure water, scientifically applied in erad- icating it, and other diseasing matter, from the animal economy. "A gentleman, aged 33, having used mercury with great freedom, fell into a state of great debility and nervousness, and gradually became almost bald, and wasdescribed to look more like a corpse ^han a living person. His first treatment was a sitz bath, two lein tuchf*, followed by a shallow tepid bath, and free drink- ing of water; afterward he sweated in the blanket, and used the plunging bath every other day; douching, also, on most days; but omiting the lein tuchs, and not using any douche on the day of the sweat- ing blanket. He took as much exercise on the mountains as his strength would allow. Soon after his arrival, the few hairs on his head, which he brought with him disappeared, and the baldness was complete. Boils formed, and suppurated freely, when the treatment was reduced to the use of two lein tuchs, and a sitz bath per day. Soon after, an eruption appeared over the whole body; first ve- sicular, afterward, scaly; also, mora boils. The linen was stained with ap- pearances which were supposed to arise from mercury. At the end of six months he gained some color of the cheeks; he grew stronger; but, also, new shoots of hair appeared on the head, and which, in two months more, increased that he had a fine head of hair;—he was pursuing treatment, and was evidently in quite a fair way of recovery." "During my stay'at Grafenburg," says Dr. Shew, who also reported the forego- ing case, "I heard frequent mention of the stains of mercury, and iodine, ap- pearing in the lein tuchs, either of a blue or reddish color; but Preisnitz assured my friend, Dr. Buxton, that he had seen mercurial gobules issue at the ends of the fingers, after a continued course of the water-cure, in patients who had made great employment of. mercury, either in- ternally, or externally, or both; notwith- standing that they had desisted from the use of the medicine for several years. I cannot doubt the veracity of Preisnitz, and Lebig, with whom I dis- cussed the subject, had no doubt of such a fact, and offered as his explanation, that mercury combines with animal mat- ter, and may remain so combined, for an indefinite time; and that the quick change of matter, which belongs to the water-cure treatment, would tend to the separation of the mercury, which might appear either in the globular or other form." For, Libig says, " By means of the water-cure treatment, a change of mat- ter is effected, in a greater degree in six. weeks, than would happen, in the ordi- nary course of nature, in three years." Says Shew again, "1 have witnessed examples of the latent stag of mercury in the system, and shall cite the follow- ing:—I prescribed to a poor woman, af- flicted with rheumatism of the wrist joint, threatening anchylosis, which she had rubbed, at occasional intervals, with mercury, from January to the end of May. No mercury was taken internally; none used externally after May; in No- vember following, she was seized with anti-calomel lecture. 12 the most violent salivation that can be \ cury, are so saturated with this metal, imagined." Such cases, Mr. President, that a gold piece laid upon their tongues and those approaching to the like, are becomes white; — that, in the skeletons not uncommon. I could name quittf a of old syphilitic patients, long after pu- number in this county, who at every trefaction, globules of mercury have been change of weather, are sensible of a mer- found." curial taste; and it is but a short time These facts, Mr. President, show |th« since, I was'conversing with a cripple strong affinity that exists between the from amputation, who stated that at \ metal under consideration, and the ml n- every change he could taste mercury, and presumed that he also experienced a mercurial rheumatism. He does not know that he ever took any mercurials into his stomach, but had it applied to \ an ulcerated knee joint. Differertmem hers of this medical association are ac- quainted with him, and can converse with him at their leisure. 1 hope no one will take any exception to this disclos- ure, since I have, in this apology, freely confessed my own former errors. My desire is, that the serious consideration oi these facts, may be a benefit to our- selves and to any patients for whom we may hereafter respectively prescribe; and hope, if we iepent, and do works meet for repentance, that we may be forgiven for past sins. Says Rause: "Very often, persons who eral portion of our frame ; the lime of our bones, which is analogous to th« amalgamation of mercury with other metals, a fact so well known to all, who have the slightest conversance with chem- istry. Dr. Nichols, water-cure physican, in New York city, observes: " the bath room is filled with dense vapor, by tin active skin; and we can smell opium, tobacco, and other drugs, wlych may have been taken years before. The blankets used in packing require to bs aired every day. One patient, at one house, amused himself with collecting little globules of mercury, which came out under his wet bandage, though he had taken none for years. Bandages and sheets are often deeply stained with matter which come lrom the skin, and have gone through a mercurial course, j they are, at times, so coroded as to fall years before, have again in the water- to pieces;—and it is not uncommon te cure, been salivated anew, which saliva have them stiff with glutinous exceda- lasted, and smelled so decidedly of mer- tions as if they had been starched.' cury, that not only the patients them- , Mr. President, multiplicity of domes- selves have distinctly observed it, but tic and other duties, must be my excuse also others coming in contact with them, for the broken and unsystematic manner have noticed distinctly, the most marked of these observations, and of the quota- mercur.al smell. * * * It has fur- tions, being but the moiety of what I thermore occurred, that, by evaporating might have adduced, would your time the critical discharges, from boils in the and mine have justified it. Ihe same water-cure, mercury and other metallc cause has prevented my examining and poisons have been, in their chemical na-1 reviewing what I have penned. [ure, brought to light." But, sir, from all the evidence pro- Dr. Herr, professor in the University duced by others, as well as from my own of Freiburg, says: "Certain medicines, observations, I have come to the iollow- after having been in any manner appli- jing^conchisions- ed, are found deposited in the solid parts of the body. Thus, in persons who have taken mercurial preparations, we find mercury in the brain, muscles, bones, &c, &c. Copper deposits itself in the liver, &c. Sufficiently well known and established facts, in vast numbers, cou Id be here cited as proof of the de- so, to a greater or less extern position of medicaments in the body: First. That mercurial preparations are always uncertain in their operation, so that, « priori, we cannot tell what will be their apparent effect. Secondly. They are often evidently deleterious. Thirdly. I believe them uhvays to b« Fourthly. That their tendency, when amon g others, that of workers in mer- 'they do not very sooi.destroy the powers 14 anti-calomel lecture. of life, is, and ever must be, when re- ceived into the system, to render it, ever afterwards, subject tg chronic diseases. Fifthly. That any .person who has been thoroughly mercurialized, and is subse- quently attacked with any acute disease, that their case is consequently less man- ageable, with any rationally intended curative process. And having been, as I verily believe, much more succesful in my prescriptions since I have discarded j alt mercurials from my materia medica, (having, in one winter, treated twenty-! two cases of "lung fever," without pre- scribing a particle of mercury, and with- out the loss of a patient—the most were ! violently attacked, and were from 80 years down to infants of less than onw year,) I am therefore driven to the ne- cessity of believing — Sixthly. That there are other and more safe means, that may, and ought to be brought into use, and which will cure all curable diseases; and — Therefore, to use mercury, in any form, with a view of curing the sick, would, in me, at least, be inexcusable. And I fully believe that the human family would be inconceivably better off, if all who may hereafter prescribe for the dis- eases of their fellow mortals, would come to the same happy conclusion. [republished.] DIET AND REGIMEN, For Invalid's and those afflicted with, or who wish to prevent Chronic Diseases, such as Dyspepsia, Liver Complaint, Lung Affections, Sick Headache, Chronic Nervous Affections, ^.d cool, and the more than milk-warm. < feet comfortably warm. Avoid tea, coffee, all fermented and Be moderate in all, even lawful, ani- d;~*:)!r>d Honors, and tobacco,in all their mal indulgences. r ■ r. ' > WILLIAM N. HUDSON M J). c..^Vt v. ;.,s Co., 0., Ov/lI 18S2. V -> > 7JO > >> ^ • >;> >> - :>» ~> >■> - ?&> .».»_> > ^->~> > £ » > > x>» Jj K|jK{)^£.%£» ;> V> > > ,., > > > > 5 >^*, >J> =>. -> «» J>> >,2> v '^>>> ,-> >>• > ■» » »> > , h. > -■> > ■ flk. Ik V % > ■> > ^