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NEW
        GUIDE TO HEALTH;

                    OR,




                  CONTAINING

 A COMPLETE SYSTEM OP PRACTICE,

            On a Plan entirely New;

WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE VEGETABLES MADE USE
  OF, AND DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING AND ADMIN-
        ISTERING THEM, TO CURE DISEASE.

               TO WHICH IS ADDED,

A DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL CASES OF DISEASE
   ATTENDED BY THE AUTHOR, WITH THE MODE
           OF TREATMENT AND CURE.
c*fc* suction.
               \ III
BY SAMUEL THOMSodj^^^VX/■ -— v. -, xv \	Vy
	
Boston: <t^	/
PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BT J. HOWS.	
1831.	
 
                          T4«SVv

                             1S3I



     District of ffiJasB<atrjttsrtts....to  toft:
                            DISTRICT  CLERK'S OFFICE.
  Be it remembered, That on the twenty-third day of Novem-
ber, A. D. 1822, in the forty-seventh year  of the Independence
of the United States, of America, Samuel Thomson, of the
said  District, has deposited in this Office  the Title of a  Book,
the  right whereof he claims as Author and Proprietor, in the
words following, to wit:
  "New Guide to Health; or, Botanic Family Physician.   Con-
taining a complete System of Practice, upon a plan entirely new;
with a description of the vegetables made use of, and directions
for preparing and administering them to cure disease.  To which
is added, a description of several cases of disease attended by
the  author, with the  mode of treatment and  cure.   By Samuel
Thomson."
  In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States,
entitled, " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by secur-
ing  the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the  Authors and
Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned :"
and also to An Act entitled " An Act Supplementary to an Act,
entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by secur-
ing  the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to  the Authors and
Proprietors of such Copies during the times  therein mentioned ;
and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, En-
graving and Etching  Historical  and other Prints."
                                JNO.  W DAVIS,
                 Clerk of the District of  Massachusetts. 
                TO THE PUBLIC.

  The preparing the following work  for the press has
been a task of much difficulty and  labour; for to com-
prise in a short compass, and to convey a correct under-
standing of the subject, from such  a  mass of materials
as I have been enabled to collect by thirty years practice,
is a business of no small magnitude.   The plan that has
been adopted I thought the best to give a correct knowl-
edge of my system of practice ; and am confident that
the descriptions and directions are sufficiently explained
to be understood by all those who take an interest in this
important subject.   Much more might have  been  writ-
ten ;  but the main object has been  to  confine it to the
practice,  and nothing more is stated of the theoryr than
what was necessary to give a general  knowledge of the
system.  If any  errors should be discovered, it is hoped
that they will  be viewed with candour; for in first pub-
lishing a  work,  such things are  to  be expected; but
much care has been taken that there should be no error,
which  would cause  any mistake in the practice,  or pre-
paring the medicine.
  Many persons  are practising  by  my system, who are
in the habit of pretending that they  have  made great
improvements, and in some instances, it is well  known
that poisonous drugs have  been  made  use of under the
name of my medicine, which has counteracted its opera-
tion, and  thereby  tended to  destroy the  confidence  of
the public in my system of practice ; this has never been
authorized by me.   The public are therefore cautioned 
4
Agreement.
against such conduct, and all those who are well dispos-
ed towards my system, are desired to lend their aid in
exposing all such dishonest practices, in order that jus-
tice may be done.   Those  who possess this work, may,
by examining it, be able  to  detect any improper  devia-
tions therefrom ; and they are assured that any practice
which  is not conformable to the directions  given, and
does not agree with the principles herein  laid down, is
unauthorized by me.
                   AGREEMENT.

   The Subscriber, who is the discoverer and proprietor
of the system of medical practice contained in this work,
agrees to give,  whenever  applied to,  any information,
that shall be necessary  to. give a complete understand-
ing of the obtaining, preparing and using all such vege-
tables as are made use of in said  system, to  all  those
who purchase the right; and  the  purchasers, in con-
sideration of the above information, and al?o what is
contained in this book, agree m ths spirit of mutual  in-
terest and honour not to reveal any part of said informa-
tion, to any  person, except  those who purchase the right,
to the injury of the proprietor, under the penalty  of  for-
feiting their word and honour, and all  right to the  use
of the medicine.  And  every person who  purchases  the
ri^ht, is to  be  considered  a member  of the Friendly
Botanic Society, and entitled to a free intercourse with
the members for information and friendly assistance.
                              SAMUEL THOMSON. 
            NEW GUIDE TO HEALTH;

                         OR,




                  INTRODUCTION.

   There are three things which have in a greater or
less degree, called the attention  of men, viz. Religion,
Government, and Medicine.  In ages past, these things
were  thought by millions to  belong  to  three classes of
men, Priests, Lawyers, and Physicians.   The Priests held
the things of religion in their own hands, and  brought
the people to their terms ; kept the  Scriptures in the
dead languages, so that the common  people could not'
read them.   Those  days of darkness are  done away;
the Scriptures are translated into our own language, and
each one is taught to read for himself.   Government was
once  considered  as  belonging  to  a  few, who  thought
themselves " born only to rule."  The  common people
have now become acquainted with the  great secret of
government, and know that " all men are born free and
equal,"  and that Magistrates are put in authority,  or
out, by  the voice of the  people, who choose them for
their public servants.
   While these, and many other things are brought where
*' common  people" can understand them ;  the knowl-
edge and use of medicine, is in a great measure conceal-
ed in  a  dead language, and a sick man is often  obliged
to risk his life, where he  would not risk a dollar; and
should the apothecary or  his apprentice make a mistake,
              1* 
6.             New Guide to Health ;

the sick man cannot correct  it, and  thus  is exposed  to
receive  an instrument of death, instead  of that which
would restore him to health had he known good medicine.
  " It may be alleged," said  Dr. Buchan, " that laying
medicine more open to mankind, would lessen their faith
in it.   This  indeed would  be the  case  with regard to
some;  but it  would  have a  quite contrary effect upon
others.  I know many people who have the utmost dread
and horror of every thing prescribed by a  physician, who
will nevertheless, very readily take a medicine which
they know, and whose qualities they are in some measure
acquainted with."
   "Nothing ever can, or will inspire mankind with an ab-
solute confidence in physicians but by their being open,
frank, and undisguised in their behaviour."
   " The most effectual way  to destroy quackery in any
art or science, is to diffuse the knowledge of it among
mankind.   Did physicians write their prescriptions in
the common  language of the country, and explain their
intentions to the patient, as far as he could understand
them, it would enable them to know when the medicine
had the desired effect; would inspire him with  absolute
confidence in the physician ;  and would make him dread
and detest every man who pretended  to  cram a secret
medicine or poison down his throat."
   It is  true that much of what is at this day called medi-
cine, is deadly poison; and were people to  know what
is oftere<i them of this kind, they would absolutely re-
fuse ever to receive it as a medicine.  This I have long
seen and  known  to  be  true; and  have laboured hard
for many years  to  convince  them of the evils  that at-
tend such a mode of procedure with the sick ; and have
turned  my attention  to those medicines that  grow in
our own  country,  which Nature has prepared  for the
benefit of mankind.  Long has a general medicine been
sought  for, and I am confident I have found  such as are
universally applicable in all  cases of disease, and which
may be used with safety and success, in the hands of
the people.
    After thirty years study, and repeated successful trials
of the medicinal vegetables  of our  own  country, in all
the diseases  incident to our climate : I can  with well 
or, Botanic 'Family Physician.          7
grounded assurance, recommend my system of practice
and medicines to the public, as salutary and efficacious.
  Great discoveries and improvements  have been  made
in various arts and sciences since the first settlement of
our country, while its medicines have  been  very  much
neglected.   As these medicines, suited to every disease,
grow spontaneously upon our own soil;  as they are bet-
ter adapted to the constitution ;  as the price of imported
drugs is very high;  it follows, whether we consult health
which is of primary importance, or  expense,  a decided
preference should be given  to the former, as an  object
of such magnitude  as  no longer to be neglected.   Yet
in the introduction of those medicines I have been vio-
lently opposed, and my theory and  practice condemned,
notwithstanding the demonstrative proofs in their favour.
But those who thus condemn  have taken  no pains to
throw off prejudice, and examine the subject with can-
dour and impartiality.    Such as have, are thoroughly
satisfied of their utility and superior excellence.
  From those who measure a  man's understanding aqd
ability to be beneficial  to his fellow men only from  the
acquisition  he has made in literature from books; from
such as are governed by outward appearance, and who
will not stoop to examine a system on  the ground of its
intrinsic merit, I expect not encouragement, but opposi-
tion.   But this will not discourage me.   I consider the
discovery I have made, of inestimable value to mankind,
and intended for the great benefit of those who are will-
ing to receive it.
  Being born  in  a new  country, at that time almost a
howling wilderness, my advantages for an education were
very small;  but possessing a natural gift for  examining
the things of Nature, my mind  was left entirely  free to
follow that inclination, by inquiring into the meaning of
the great variety of objects around me.
  Possessing a body like other men, I was led to inquire
into the nature of the component parts of what man  is
made.   I found  him  composed of the  four  elements—
Earth, Water, Air and Fire.    The earth and water I
found  were the solids ; the air and fire the fluids.   The
two  first I  found to  be  the component parts; the two
last kept him in motion.   Heat, 1 found, was life ;  and 
8              New Guide to Health;
Cold, death.   Each one who examines into it will find
that all constitutions are alike.   I shall  now describe the
fuel which continues the fire, or life of man.  This is con-
tained in two things, food and medicines; which are in
harmony with each other ;  often grow in the same field,
to be  used by the same people.  People who are capable-
of raising their  food, and  preparing the same, may as
easily learn to collect and prepare  all  their medicines
and administer the same when it is needed.   Our  life
depends on heat; food is the fuel that  kindles and con-
tinues that heat.   The digestive powers being  correct,
causes the food to consume;  this continues  the  warmth
of the body, by continually supporting the fire.
  The stomach is the deposit from which the whole body
is supported.   The heat  is  maintained in the stomach
by consuming the food; and all the  body and limbs  re-
ceive  their proportion of nourishment and heat from that
source ; as the whole room is warmed by the fuel which
is consumed in the fire place.  The greater the quantity
of wood consumed in the fire place, the greater the heat
in the room.   So in the body; the more food, well  di-
gested, the more heat  and support  through the whole
man.   By constantly receiving food into the stomach,
which is sometimes not suitable for the best nourishment,
the stomach becomes foul,  so that the food is  not well
digested.   This  causes the  body to lose its heat; then
the appetite fails ; the bones  ache, and  the  man is sick
in every part of the whole  frame.
  This situation of the  body shows the need of medi-
cine,  and the kind needed ; which is such as will  clear
the stomach and bowels, and  restore the digestive powers.
When this is done, the food will raise the heat again, and
nourish the whole man.   All the art required to do this
is, to  know what medicine  will do it, and how to admin-
ister it, as a person knows  how to clear  a stove  and  the
pipe when clogged with soot, that the fire may burn free,
and the whole room be wanned as before.
  The body, after being cleared of whatever  clogs it,
will consume double the food, and  the  food will afford
double the nourishment and heat, that it did before.    We
know that our life depends on food, and the stomach be-
ing in a situation to receive  and digest it.   When  the 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.          9
stomach and bowels are clogged, all  that  is needed, is,
the most suitable medicine to remove the obstructions in
the system.   All disease  is caused by clogging the sys-
tem ;  and all disease is  removed by  restoring the diges-
tive powers, so that food may keep up that heat on which
life depends.
  I have'found by experience, that the  learned doctors
are wrong in considering fever a disease or enemy; the
fever  is a friend, and cold the enemy.   This I found by
their practice in my family, until they had five times given
them  over to die.    Exercising my own  judgment, I fol-
lowed after them, and relieved my family every time.  Af-
ter  finding a general principle respecting fevers, and re-
ducing that to practice, I found it sure in all disease,
where there was any nature left to  build on, and in three
years constant practice, I  never lost one patient.
  I attended on all the fevers peculiar to our country, and
always used it as a friend, and that  returned the gratitude
to the patient.  I soon began to give this information to
the people, and convinced many that they might  as cer-
tainly relieve themselves of their disease, as of their hun-
ger/  The expense to them to be always able to.  rcIlEV?
themselves  and  families, would be but small; and the
medicine tney may procure and prepare themselves.
  This greatly disturbed the learned doctors, and some of
them  undertook to destroy me, by reporting that I used
poison; though they made no mention of my using their
instruments of death,  Mercury, Opium, Ratsbane, Nitre,
and the lancet.   I considered  it my duty to  withstand
them, though I found my overthrow was what they aimed
at.   A plan was  once laid to take me in the night, but I
escaped.   Next I was indicted as though I had given poi-
son, and a bill brought against me for wilful murder.   I
was bound in irons and thrust into prison, to be kept there
through the winter, without being  allowed bail.   I peti-
tioned for and obtained a special court to  try the cause,
and was honourably acquitted, after  forty days imprison-
ment.  I maintained  my integrity in the place where my
persecution began.   In five years, while vindicating this
new and useful discovery, 1 lost five thousand dollars, be-
sides  all the persecution, trouble, loss of health, and re-
proach which has been in connection with the losses, 
10
New Guide to  Health;
  It has been acknowledged, even by those who are un-
friendly to me and my practice,  that  my medicine  may
be good in some particular cases, but not  in  all.    But
this is an error.   For there are but two great principles
in the constitution of things, whether applied to the mind
or body ; the principle of life and the principle of death.
That which contains the  principle of life, may be per-
verted,  by  a misapplication, into an administration of
death ;  as the stomach may be overloaded, and injured,
even by wholesome food; but nothing that  is  wholesome
in any  case, unless abused, can be even tortured into an
administration of death.   If, then, a medicine is good in
any case, it is because it is agreeable to  nature, or  this
principle of life, the very opposite of disease.   If it is
agreeable in one  case, it must be absolutely  so in all.
By  the active  operation  of nature,  the whole  animal
economy is carried  on ; and the father of the healing
art, Hippocrates, tells us, what is an  obvious truth, that
Nature is heat.    The principle  is the  same  in all, dif-
fering only in degree.  When disease invades the frame,
it resists in proportion  to its force, till overpowered into
submission, and when extinguished, death follows,  and
it ceases tjo«4perate  alike  in all.   If then, heat  is  life,
and  its extinction death, a diminution of this  vital flame
in every instance,  constitutes disease,  and  is an ap-
proximation to  death.   All then, that medicine  can do
in the  expulsion of disorder, is to kindle up  the decay-
ing spark, and  restore its  energy till it glows in all its
wonted vigour.   If a direct administration can be made
to produce this effect, and  it can, it  is  evidently imma-
terial what is the name, or colour of the disease, whether
bilious, yellow, scarlet or  spotted; whether  it is simple
or complicated, or  whether  nature  has one  enemy or
more.    Names  are arbitrary things, the  knowledge of
a name is but the cummin and annis, but in  the knowl-
edge of the  origin of a malady, and its  antidote, lies
the  weightier  matters of  this science.   This  knowl-
edge makes the genuine physician ;  all  without it is real
quackery.
  It has been a general opinion that extensive study and
great erudition, are necessary to  form the eminent phy-
sician.   But all this may.be as Paul saith, but science, 
or, Botanic Family  Physician.         11
falsely so called.   A man may have  a  scientific knowl-
edge of the human  frame, he  may know the names in
every language of every medicine, mineral  and vegeta-
ble, as well  as every disease, and yet be  a miserable
physician.   But  there have  been men without this to
boast of,  from the earliest  ages of the world, who have
" arisen, blest with the sublimer  powers of genius, who
have as it were, with one look pierced creation, and with
one  comprehensive view, grasped the whole  circle of
seience, and  left learning  itself, toiling after  them in
vain."  A man never can be great without intellect, and
he never can  more than fill the measure of his capacity.
There is a power beyond the reach of art, and there are
gifts that study and learning can never rival.
  The practice of the regular physicians, that  is  those
who get a diploma, at the  present  time, is not to use
those means which would be most likely to cure disease;
but  to try experiments  upon  what they have  read in
books, and to see how much a patient can  bear without
producing death.   After  pursuing this plan during their
lives, they know just  about as much  as they did when
they began to practice, of what is really useful to man-
kind.  If a patient dies under their hands, why, it is the
will of God, and they are sure to get extravagantly paid
for their trouble, and nothing more is said about it; but
if one out of  hundreds of my  patients die, and where the
doctors have given them  over as  incurable, they at once
cry out, that it is quackery, that I gave them poison, &c.
for the purpose of running me and  my medicine  down,
and to prevent its being used  by the people.  The fact is
well known to thousands who have  used my medicine,
and  to which they are ready to attest, that it is  perfectly
harmless, and I defy the  faculty to produce one instance
wherein it has had any bad effects.
  It is true that the study of anatomy, or structure of the
human body, and of the  whole animal  economy is pleas-
ing and useful; nor is there any objection to this, how-
ever minute and critical, if it is not to the neglect  of first
great principles, and the  weightier matters of knowledge.
But  it is no more necessary to mankind at large, to quali-
fy them to administer relief from pain and sickness, than
to a cook in preparing food to  satisfy hunger and nourish- 
12            New  Guide to Health;
ing the body.   There  is one  general cause of hunger
and one general supply of food;  one general cause  of
disease, and one general remedy.   One can be satisfied,
and the other removed,  by an infinite variety of articles,
best adapted to those different purposes.  That medicine,
therefore, that will open obstruction, promote perspira-
tion, and restore digestion, is  suited to every  patient,
whatever form the  disease assumes, and  is universally
applicable.  And acute  disorders, such as fevers, colicka,
and dysentery, may be relieved thereby, in twenty-four
or forty-eight hours, at most.
              REMARKS ON FEVERS.
   Much has been said and  written upon fevers, by the
professedly learned Doctors of Medicine, without throw-
ing the most profitable light on the subject, or greatly
benefiting mankind.  They have been abundantly fruit-
ful in inventing names for disease, and with  great  care
and accuracy distinguished  the different symptoms;  but
they appear  quite barren  as to  the knowledge of their
origin and remedy.  To the first, but little importance,
comparatively speaking, can be attached;  the latter is of
the highest importance to all classes of people.
   According to the writings of learned Physicians, there
are a great variety of fevers, some more  and some less
dangerous.   But  to begin with a definition of the Name.
What is fever ? Heat, undoubtedly, though a disturbed
operation of  it.   But is there in the human frame, more
than one kind of  heat ?  Yes, says the physician, strange
as it may appear, there  is  the  pleuritic  heat,  the  slow
nervous heat, the putrid heat, the hectic heat, the yellow
heat, the spotted  or  cold  heat, the typhus or  ignorant
heat, and many other heats; and sometimes,  calamitous
to tell, one poor  patient has the  most, or the  whole of
these fevers,  and  dies at last for want of heat!
   Is fever or heat a disease ? Hippocrates, the acknowl-
edged  father of  physicians, maintained that nature is
heat; and he is correct.   Is nature a disease ?  Surely
it is not.   What  is commonly called fever, is the effect,
and not the cause of disease.   It is the struggle of na-
ture to throw off  disease.    The cold causes an obstruc- 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         13
 tion, and fever arises in consequence of that obstruction
 to throw it off.  This is universally the case.   Remove
 tbe cause, the effect will cease.   No person ever yet
 died  of a fever!  for as death  approaches, the  patient
 grows cold, until in death, the  last spark of heat is ex-
 tinguished.  This the learned doctors cannot deny ;  and
 as this is true, they ought, in  justice, to acknowledge that
 their whole train of depletive remedies, such as  bleed-
 ing, blistering, physicking, starving, with all their refrig-
 eratives; their opium, mercury, arsenic, antimony, nitre,
 &c. are so many deadly engines, combined with the dis-
 ease, against the constitution and life of the patient.  If
 cold, which is the commonly received opinion, and which
 is true, is the cause of fever, to  repeatedly bleed the pa-
 tient, and administer mercury, opium,  nitre, and other
 refrigerents to restore him to health, is as though a man
 should, to increase a fire in his room, throw a part of it
 out of the house, and to increase the remainder, put on
 water, snow and ice !
  As it is a fact, that cannot be denied, that fever takes
 its  rise  from one  great cause  or  origin,  it follows of
 course, that one method of removing  that  cause,  will
 answer in all cases; and the  great principle is  to assist
 nature, which is heat.
  At the commencement of a fever, by direct and proper
 application  of suitable medicine, it  can  be easily  and
 speedily removed,  and the patient need not be coufined
 long.  Twenty-four or forty-eight hours, to the extent,
 are sufficient, and  often short of that time, the fever may
 be removed, or that which is the  cause of it.   But where
 the patient is left unassisted, to struggle with the disease,
 until his strength is exhausted, and more especially, when
 the most unnatural and  injurious administrations  are
 made  if a recovery is possible, it must of necessity take
a longer time.   These declarations are true, and have
been often proved, and can be again, to the satisfaction
of every candid  person, at the hazard of any forfeiture
the faculty may challenge.
  Notwithstanding all these things, how true  are  the
 words of the intelligent Dr. Hervey, who says, "By what
 unaccountable perversity  in  our frame  does it appear,
 that we set ourselves so much against any thing that is
              2 
14             New Guide to Health;
new ? Can any one  behold, without scorn, such drones
of physicians, and after the space of so many  hundred
years experience and practice of their predecessors, not
one single medicine has been detected, that has  the least
force  directly to prevent, to oppose, and expel a  continu-
ed fever?  Should any, by a more sedulous observation,
pretend to make the least step towards  the  discovery of
such remedies, their hatred and envy would swell against
him,  as  a legion  of devils against  virtue ;  the  whole
aociety will dart their  malice at him, and torture hiin
with all the calumnies  imaginable, without  sticking at
any thing that should destroy him root and branch.  For
he who professes to be a reformer of the art of physic,
must  resolve to run the hazard of the  martyrdom of his
reputation, life and estate."
  The treatment  which the writer  has received from
some of the  learned  physicians, since his discovery of
the remedy for the fever, and various  other diseases, is
a proof of the truth of  this last saying of Dr.  Hervey.
They have imprisoned him, and charged him with every
thing cruel and unjust;  though  upon  a fair trial, their
violent  dealings  have come down upon their heads;
while he has not only been proved innocent before the
court, but useful;  having relieved many which the other
physicians had given over to die.                ^
  I will no-v'-jeake notice of the yellow fever.   The cause
of this fatal disease is similar to  the spotted fever.  The
cause-of death in the  latter, is in consequence of its
producing a balance by cold, outward and inward; and
in the former there is a balance of heat, outward and in-
ward ; both produce the same thing, that is a total cessa-
tion of motion, which is death.  The colour of the skin
has given name to both these diseases.   The  yellow is
caused.by the obstruction of the gall; instead  of being
discharged through its  proper  vessels, it  is forced and
diffused through the pores of the skfn.   The  same ef-
fects that are produced  by these two fevers  may be ob-
served in the motion of the sea ; when the tide  is done
running up, there  is what is called  slack  water, or  a
.balance of power, and the same thing takes place when
it is done running down; when  the fountain is  raised,
f he water runs from it; but when it is lowered the water 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.         15
runs towards it.   The  same cause  produces the same
effects in the spotted  and  yellow  fevers; for  when a
balance of power between the outward and inward heat
takes place, death follows.
  Having described the two kinds of fever  which  are
the most alarming, they being most fatal, I shall pass
over those of a less alarming nature, and merely observe,
that there is no other difference in all cases of fever, than
what  is caused by the different  degrees of cold, or  loss
of inward heat, which  are  two adverse  parties in  one
body, contending for power.   If the heat gains the vic-
tory,  the cold will be disinherited, and health will be re-
stored; but on the other hand,  if cold gains the ascen-
dency, heat, will be dispossessed of its empire, and death
will follow of course.    As soon as life ceases, the body
becomes cold, which is conclusive evidence that its gain-
ing the victory is the cause of death.   When the power
of cold is nearly equal to that of heat, the fever or strife
between the two  parties, may continue  for a longer or
shorter time, according to circumstances ; this is what is
called a long fever, or fever  and ague.    The battle  be-
tween cold and heat will take  place periodically,  some
times every day,  at other times, every  other  day,  and
they will leave off about equal,  heat  keeping a little  the
upper hand.   In attempting to  cure a case of this kind,
we must consider  whether  the  fever is a friend or an
enemy ;  if it is a friend, which I  hold  to be the fact,
when the fever fit is on, increase the power of heat, in
order to drive off the cold, and life will  bear the rule ;
but, on the contrary, should cold be considered  a friend,
when  the  cold  fit  is  on, by increasing its power,  you
drive off the heat, and  death must  ensue.   Thus  you
may promote life or death, by tempering cold and heat.
   Much has  been  said  by  the doctors  concerning  the
turn of a fever, and how long a time it will run.  When
it is said that a fever will turn at such a time, I presume
it must mean that it has been gone;  this is true, for it is
then gone on the outside, and is trying to turn again and
go  inside, where it-belongs.   Instead of following  the
dictates of nature and aiding it to subdue the  cold,  the
doctor uses all his skill to kill the fever.  How,  I would
ask, in the name of common sense, can any thing turn 
1C
New Guide to Health;
 when killed 1  Support the fever and it will return in-
 side; the cold,  which is the cause of  disease,  will be
 driven out, and  health will be  restored.   In all  cases
 called fever, the cause is the same in a greater or less de-
 gree, and may be relieved by one general remedy.   The
 cold causes canker, and before the canker is seated, the
 strife will take  place between cold and  heat; and  while
 the hot flashes and cold chills remain, it is evidence that
 the canker is not settled, and the hot medicine alone, oc-
 casionally assisted by steam, will throw it off; but as the
 contest  ceases, the heat is steady on the outside;  then
 canker assumes the power inside; this is called a settled
 fever.  The  truth is,  the canker is fixed on  the inside
 and will  ripen and come off in a short time, if the fever
 is kept up so  as to overpower the cold.   This idea is new
 and never was known till my discovery.   By  raising the
 fever with Nos. 1 and 2, and taking off  the canker with
No. 3, and the same given  by injections, we may turn a
 fever when we please; but if this is not understood, the
canker will ripen and come off itself, when the fever will
turn and  go inside and the cold will be driven out; there-
 fore they will do much better without any aid, than with
a doctor.  The higher the fever runs, the sooner the cold
 will  be subdued; and if you contend against the heat,
the longer will be the run of the fever, and when killed,
death follows.
  When a patient is bled, it lessens the heat and  gives
 double power to the cold;  like taking out of one side of
 the scale, and putting it in the other,  which doubles the
 weight, and turns the scale in favor of the disease.  By
 giving opium it deadens the feelings;  the small doses of
 nitre and calomel tend to destroy what heat remains, and
 plants new crops  of canker, which will stand in different
 stages in the body, the same as corn planted in the field
 every week, will  keep some in all stages: so is  the dif-
 ferent degrees in canker.   This is the reason why there
are so many different fevers as are named ; when one fever
 turns another sets in and so continues one  after another un-
 til the harvest is all ripe, if the season is  long enough ; if
 not, the cold and frost takes them off—then it is said they
 died of a fever.   It might with as much propriety be said
 that the corn killed  with frost, died with the heat,  The 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.         17

question, whether  the heat or eold killed the patient, is
easily decided, for that power which bears rule in  the
body after death is what killed the patient, which is cold;
as much as that which bears rule when he is alive is heat.
When a person is  taken sick, it is common to say I have
got a cold, and am  afraid I am going to have  a fever;
but no fears are expressed of the cold he  has taken ; nei-
ther is it  mentioned when the cold left him.   The fash-
ionable practice is to fight the remains of heat till the pa-
tient dies, by giving cold the victory; in  which case is it
not a fact that the doctor assists  the cold to kill the pa-
tient ?   Would it not have been more reasonable, or likely
to have cured them, when  the fever arose to throw off
the  cold, to  have  helped  the  fever  and give  nature  the
victory over its enemy, when the health would be restored
the same as before they took the cold.
   We frequently see in the newspapers accounts of peo-
ple dying in  consequence of drinking cold  water when
very warm.   Some fall  dead instantly, and others linger
for several hours, the doctors have not been able to afford
any  relief  when called.  The principal symptoms  are
chills, and shivering with cold, which is  viewed  with as-
tonishment  by those who witness  it.   Proper caution
should always  be observed by persons when  very warm
and  thirsty, who go to a  pump to drink, by-swallowing
something hot before drinking the water,  and swallowing
a little at a time, which will prevent any  fatal effects.
   This strange circumstance of being cold on a hot day,
and which has never been accounted for in a satisfactory
manner to the public,  I shall endeavour  to explain in as
comprehensive and plain language as I am capable. The
component parts of  animal  bodies are earth  and water,
and life and motion are caused by fire and air.   The in-
ward heat is the fountain  of life, and as much as that has
the power above the outward heat, so much we have of
life and strength,  and  when  we lose this power of heat,
our strength and faculties decay in proportion; and it is
immaterial whether we lose this power by losing the in-
ward heat or  raising the  outward heat above  it, as  the
effect is the same.   If you raise the stream level with the
fountain, it stops the current, and all motion will cease,
              2* 
18             New Guide to Health;
and the same effects will follow by lowering the fountain
to a level with the stream.   When the outward heat be-
comes equal with  the  inward, either  by the  ones being
raised, or  the others  being lowered, cold assumes  the
power, and death takes place.
  The cause of the fatal effects by drinking cold water,
is because the fountain of life is lost by the  stream be-
ing raised above the fountain, or the inward  heat  low-
ered by throwing into the stomach so large a quantity of
cold water as to give the outward heat the power of  bal-
ancing the inward, and  in proportion as the  one ap-
proaches to an equality with the other, so  the strength is
diminished, and when equal, they die.
  I shall now make some further remarks on  this  and
other subjects, with a hope  that it may  be beneficial to
mankind.   The reason why these extraordinary cases
appear so wonderful to the  people, is because  they are
unacquainted with the cause.   Why should  we wonder
at a person being cold on a hot day, when  we are  not,
any more than we should wonder at another  being hun-
gry, when  we have  just been eating;  or  that others
can be in pain,  when  we are enjoying good  health'*
The one is as plain  and simple as the other, when un-
derstood.   The want of inward heat is the cause of their
being  cold, just  as  much  as the want  of  food is the
cause of hunger, or the want of health is the cause of
pain.   One person may have lost the natural power of
heat, by an effect which others in similar situations  may
not haye experienced, and  will- suffer the consequences
of  cold in proportion to the loss of inward heat; this is
manifest in the different degrees of sickness.   If the
inward heat loses its  balance of power suddenly, death
is immediate ; which is the case in spotted fever, and in
drowned persons.   When  the  inward and outward  cold
 Is balanced, life ceases, and the blood being stopped in
 its motion, settles in spots,  which appearance has given
 name to  what is called spotted fever.   The same ap-
 pearances take place on drowned persons, and from the
 same cause.
   The practice  of bleeding for the purpose of curing
 disease, I consider most unnatural and injurious.   Na-
 ture never furnishes the  body with more blood than is 
Or,  Botanic Family  Physician.         10
necessary for the maintenance of health ; to take away
part of the blood, therefore, is taking away just so much
of their life, and is as contrary to nature, as it  would be
to cut away part of their flesh.  Many experiments have
been tried by the use of the lancet in fevers;  but I be-
lieve it will be allowed  by all, that most of them have
proved fatal; and several eminent  physicians have died
in consequence of trying the  experiment on themselves.
If the system is diseased, the blood  becomes  as  much
diseased as any other  part; remove the cause of the
disorder, and the blood will recover and become healthy
as soon  as  any other  part;  but how taking  part of it
away can help to cure what  remains, can never be re-
conciled with common sense.
   There is no practice used by the physicians that I
consider more inconsistent with  common sense, and at
the same time more inhuman than  blistering, to remove
disease ; particularly insane persons, or what the doctors
call dropsy on the brain ; in which cases  they  shave the
head and draw a blister on it.   Very few patients, if any,
ever survive this application.   What would be thought
if a scald should be caused by boiling water to remove
disease?  Yet there is no  difference  between this and a
bitter made by flies.   I have witnessed many  instances
Athere great distress_and very bad effects have been caus-
ed by the use of blisters; and believe  I  can  truly  say
that I never knew any benefit derived from their use.  It
very frequently causes stranguary, when the attempted
remedy becomes much worse than the disease.
   In support of my opinions  on the subject, I will give
the following extract  from  the writings  of Dr. Hillary,
an eminent physician of London.
   " I have long observed that blisters are too frequently,
and too often improperly used, as they are now so much
in  fashion.   It is  very probable, that we have no one
remedy, in all the Materia Medica, that is so frequently,  ,
and so often  improperly applied, not only in too many
cases, where they cannot possibly give any relief, but
too often where they must unavoidably increase the very
evil, which they are intended  to remove or relieve.   How
often do we see them applied, and  sometimes  several of
them, by pretended dabblers  in  physic, not only where 
20             New Guide  to Health;

there are no indications  for applying them, but  where
the true indication are  against their  application ; as,
in the beginning of most fevers,  and especially those
of the inflammatory, and of the putrid kind,  where, in
the first, the stimulous of the acrid salts of the cantha-
rides, which pass into the blood,  must unavoidably in-
crease, both the stimulous,  and the momentum  of the
blood, which were too great before, and so render the
fever inflammatory, and all its symptoms worse.
   " And it is well known that  the cantharides contain
a great  quantity of alkaline semi-volatile salts,  which
pass into the blood, though  they are applied externally;
and attenuate, dissolve, and hasten, and  increase its pu-
trefaction, which is also confirmed by the putrid alka-
line acrimony  which   they  produce in the urine,  with
the heat and stranguary, which  it gives to the urinary
passage."
                  ON STEAMING.

  Steaming is a very important branch of my system of
practice, which would in many cases without  it, be in-
sufficient to effect a cure.   It is of great importance in
many cases,  but  considered  by the  medical faculty as
desperate;  and they  would  be  so under  my mode of
treatment,  if it was not for this manner of applying heat
to the body, for the purpose  of reanimating the system
and  aiding nature in restoring health.   I had but little
knowledge of medicine, when through necessity, I dis-
covered the use of steaming, to  add heat  or life to the
decaying spark ;  and  with it I was enabled by adminis-
tering such vegetable preparations as I then had a knowl-
edge of,  to effect  a cure in cases where the regular prac-
titioners had  given them over.
   In all  cases where the heat of the body  is so  far ex-
hausted as not to be  rekindled  by using the  medicine
and  being shielded from the surrounding air by a blanket,
or being in bed, and chills or  stupor attend the  patient,
then applied heat by  steaming, becomes indispensably
necessary ; and  heat  caused by steam in the  manner
that I use it, is more natural  in  producing perspiration, 
or, Botanic  Family Physician.         21
than  any dry heat  that can  be applied to the body in
any other manner, which will only serve to dry the air
and prevent perspiration in many cases of disease, where
a steam  by water or vinegar  would promote it and add
a natural warmth to the body, and thereby increase the
life and motion, which has  laid silent in  consequence
of the cold.
  Dr. Jennings has contrived a plan to apply heat to the
body  by  a  dry vapour, caused by burning  spirit, which
he calls a vapour bath, the  idea of which was,  I have no
doubt, taken from  hearing of my steaming to raise the
heat of the body.   It may answer  in  some cases and
stages of disease ; but in a settled fever and other cases
where there is a dry inflammation on the surface of the
body, it will not answer any good purpose,  and I think
would be dangerous without the  use of my medicine to
first raise a free perspiration ; for when the surface of the
body  is dry the patient cannot bear it, as it will crowd to
the head and cause distress, the same as is  produced by
burning charcoai, or from  hot stoves in a tight room, and
will bring on a difficulty in breathing, which is not the
case in  steaming in my way.    This machine  can only
be used in  bed, where the vapour cannot be applied to
the body equally at the same  time, therefore is no better
than a hot  dry stone put on each side  and  to the feet of
the patient, for he can turn  himself and get heat  from
them  as well as to have all  the trouble  of burning spirit
and turning to the vapour  of  it, to get warm by this dry
heat.   When the patient stands over a  steam  raised by
putting a hot stone in water, which  gives a  more equal
heat  all  over  the  body than  can  be  done  in  any other
manner,  it  can be raised higher, and may be  tempered
!j.t pleasure by wetting the  face  and stomach with  cold
water as occasion requires.
  The method adopted  by me, and which has  always
answered the desired object, is as follows:  Take several
stones of different sizes and put them  in the fire till red
hot, then take the smallest first, and pi* one of them into
a pan or  kettle of hot water,  with the  stone about half
immersed;  the patient must be urxlressed and a blanket
put around him so as to shield his whole body from the
iur, and then place him over  the steam.   Change the 
22             New Guide to Health;
stones as often as they grow cool,  so  as  to  keep up a
lively steam, and keep  them over it; if they  are  faint,
throw a little cold water on the face and stomach, which
will let down the outward heat and  restore the strength;
after they have been over the steam long enough, which
will generally be about fifteen  or twenty minutes, they
must be washed all over with cold  water  or  spirit, and
be put in bed, or may bedressed.as the circumstances of
the case shall permit.    Before they are placed over the
steam, give a dose  of No.  2 and  3, or composition, to
raise the inward heat.   When the  patient is too weak to
stand over the steam,  it may be done in bed, by heating
three stones, and put them in water till  done hissing, then
wrap them  in a number of thicknesses of cloths  wet
with water, and put one on each side and  one at the
feet, occasionally wetting the face and stomach with cold
water, when faint.
   Many other plans may be contrived in steaming, which
 would make less trouble and be more agreeable  to the
 patient, especially where they  are  unable to stand over
 the steam.    An open worked  chair  may be made, in
 which they  might sit and be steamed very conveniently;
 or a settee might be made  in the same manner, in which
 they might  be laid  and  covered with  blankets so as to
 shield them from the surrounding air.  Such contrivances
 as these would be very convenient in cases where the
 patient would have to be  carried through  a course of
 medicine and steamed a number of times, as is frequent-
 ly necessary, particularly in complaints that have been
 of long standing.
    As I have frequently mentioned a  regular course of
 medicine, I will here  state what is meant by it, and the
 most proper way in which  it is performed.   Firstly, give
 No. 2 and  3, or composition, adding  a  tea  spoonful of«
 No. 6; then steam, and when in  bed repeat it, adding
 No. 1, which will cleanse the stomach and assist in keep-
 ing up a perspiration ; when this has done operating, give
  an injection made with the same articles.  Where there
  are symptoms of nervous affection, or spasms, put half a
  tea spoonful of the nerve powder  into each dose given,
  and into the injection.   In violent  cases,  where imme-
  diate relief is needed, Nos. 1, 2,  3, and 6, may be given 
or, Botanic Family  Physician.         23
together.  Injections may be administered at all times,"
and in all cases of disease to advantage ; it can never do
harm, and in many cases, they are indispensably necessa-
ry, especially where there is canker and inflammation in
the bowels, and there is danger of mortification, in which
case, add a tea spoonful of No. 6.  In cases of  this kind,
the injection should be given first, or at the same time of
giving the composition or No. 3.  The latter is preferable.
   The use of steaming is good  in preventing sickness
as well as curmg it.  When a person has  been exposed
to the cold, and is threatened  with disease, it may be
prevented, and  long sickness and expense saved  by a
very little trouble, by standing over a steam  and follow-
ing the directions before given, till the cold is thorough-
ly thrown off, and a lively perspiration takes place ;  then
go to  bed,  taking the  stone from the kettle,  and  wrap
it in wet cloths, and put  it  to the feet.   This may be
done without the medicine, when it cannot be  had; but
is much better to take something to raise  the  ipward
heat  at  the same time.   A tea made of mayweed or
summer-savory,  or ginger and hot water sweetened, may
be given, or any thing that is warming.   This advice is
for the poor, and those who have not a knowledge of the
medicine ; and  will many times  save them much trouble
and long sickness.                     I
   Steaming is of the utmost importance in cases of sus-
pended animation, such as drowned persons; in which
case, place  the body over a moderate  steam, shielded by
a blanket, from the weight of the external air, and rari-
 fying the" air immediately around them with the steam.
 Pour into the mouth some of the tincture of  Nos. 1, 2,
 and 6; and if there is any internal heat  remains, there
 will be muscular motion about  the eyes,  and  in the ex-
 tremities.    If  this  symptom appears, repeat the dose
 several times, and renew tfie hot stones, raising the heat
 by degrees;, if the outward heat is raised  too sudden, so
 as to balance the inward, you will fail of the desired ob-
ject, even after life appears.  This  is the  only danger of
 any difficulty taking place ;  always bear in mind to keep
 the fountain above the stream, or the inward heat  above
 the outward, and all will be safe.  After life is restored,
 put them in bed and keep the perspiration free for twelve 
24
New Guide to  Health ;
hours, by hot stones wrapped in cloths wet with  water,
and occasionally giving the tincture as before mentioned,
when the coldness and obstructions are thrown off, and
the patient will  be in the  enjoyment of  his natural
strength.   Beware of bleeding, or blowing in the  mouth
with a bellows, as either will generally prove fatal.
   In many cases of spotted fever, steaming is  as  neces-
sary as in drowned persons; such as when they fall ap-
parently dead;  then the same  treatment is necessary to
lighten the surrounding air till you can raise the inward
heat so as to get the determining power to  the surface.
Begin  with a small stone,  and as life gains, increase the
steam as the patient can bear it; if the distress is  great,
give more hot medicine inside, and as  soon as an equi-
librium takes place the pain will cease. In all cases of
this kind, the difficulty cannot be removed without appli-
ed heat to the body, and is more natural  by steam than
by any other means that can be made  use of.   In cases
of long standing, where the patient  has been run down
with mercury, and left in a cold and  obstructed  state,
liable   to rheumatism  and other similar complaints, they
eannot be cured with  medicine without applied heat by
steam, as nothing will remove mercury but heat.
  When a patient is carried through a  course of my med-
icine and steamed, who has been long under mercurial
treatment; and while  under the operation of the steam,
when the heat is at the highest, the face will swell, in
consequence of the poisonous vapour being condensed
by the air, the face being  open to it.   To  relieve this,
put them in bed, and take a hot stone wrapped in several
thicknesses of cloth wet with  water, pouring on a little
vinegar, and making a lively steam; put  it  in  the bed
and cover the head with the clothes and let them breathe
the steam as hot as can be borne, until the sweat covers
the swelled part.   This will  in about fifteen or twenty
minutes throw out the poison, and the swelling will  abate.
This method also is of great service in agues and  teeth-
ache caused by cold ;  and many other  cases of obstruc-
tion from the same cause,  especially young children
stuffed on the lungs.
  To steam small children, the best way is  to let them
sit in the lap of a person, covering both with a blanket 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
25
and set over the steam, pouring  a little vinegar on  the
stone ; or it may be done in bed with a hot stone, wrap-
ped  in cloths wet with water, putting on a little vinegar;
and covering them with the bed clothes laid loosely over
them ; but in this way you cannot exercise so good  judg-
ment in tempering the steam, as when you are steamed
with them.   If the child appears languid  and faint, the
outward heat is high enough ; put a  little cold water on
the face or breast, which will restore the strength, then
rub them in a cloth wet with vinegar, spirit  or cold water,
put on clean clothes, and put them in bed, or  let them
sit up as their strength will  permit.   This is safe in all
cases of cold and obstructed perspiration.   It ought al-
ways to be borne strongly in mind, to give a child drink
often,  when under  the operation  of  medicine, or while
steaming;* if this is not  done, they will suffer  much, as
they cannot ask for it.
  In all cases of falls or bruises, steaming is almost- in-
fallible;  and  is  much  better than  bleeding, as is the
common practice, which only tends to destroy life  in-
stead of promoting it.    If the  person  is not ahle to
stand over the  steam, it must be done in bed, as has been
described.    Give the hottest medicine inside that you
have,  and  keep  the  perspiration  free till the  pain and
soreness abates,  and  the strength will be  soon restored.
If the advantages of  this mode of treatment was gener-
ally  known, bleeding in such  cases, or  any othervto
remove disease, would never be resorted to by the wise
and' prudent.
  The use of steaming  is  to  apply heat to  the  body
where it is defioient, and clear off obstructions caused
by cold, which  the operation of the medicine will not
raise heat enough to do ; for as the  natural heat) of the
body becomes  thereby lower  than the natural state of
health, it must by art be raised as much above as it has
been bedow; and this must be repeated  until the diges-
tvwa powers are restored, sufficient to hold the h.oatl by
digesting the food, then  the health of the patient will be
restored by. eating and drinking such things as the appe-
tite  shall require.   In  this way the medicine removes
disease, and' food,  by being  properly digested, supports
nature and continues that heat on which life depends.
               3 
26             New Guide to Health;

  Some who practise  according to my system, boast of
carrying their patients through in a shorter time without
the trouble  of steaming; this is easily accounted for;
steaming is the  most laborious part of the practice for
those who attend upon the  sick, and the most useful to
the patient;  as one operation  of steaming will  be more
effectual in removing disease, than  four courses without
it; and to omit  it is throwing  the  labour  upon  the pa-
tient, with the expense of three or four operations more
of the medicine, than  would be needed, did the  person
who attends  do his  duty faithfully.
        ON GIVING POISON AS MEDICINE.

  The practice of giving poison as medicine, which is
so common  among  the  medical faculty at the present
day, is of the utmost importance to the public; and is a
subject that I wish to bring home to the serious con-
sideration of the whole body of  the people of this coun-
try, and enforce in the strongest manner on their minds,
the  pernicious consequences that have happened, and are
daily taking place by reason of giving mercury, arsenic,
nitre, opium and other deadly poisons to cure disease.   It
is admitted by those who make use of these things, that
the  introducing them into the system is  very dangerous,
and that they often prove fatal.  During thirty years prac-
tice, I have had opportunity to gain much experience on
this subject, and  am ready to declare that 1 am perfectly
and decidedly convinced, beyond all doubt, that there
can be no possible good derived from using in any man-
ner or form whatever,  those poisons ; but  on  the other
hand, there is a  great deal of hurt done.   More than
nine-tenths of the chronic cases that have come under my
care, have been such as had been  run down with some
one or the whole of the above named medical poisons;
and the greatest difficulty I have had to encounter in re*
moving the complaints which my patients laboured under,
has been to clear the system of mercury, nitre, or opium,
and bring them back to the same state  they were in be-
fore taking them.    It is a very easy thing to  get thera
into the system, but rery hard to get them  out again. 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         27
   Those who make use of these things as  medicine,
 seem to cloak the administering them under the specious
 pretence of great  skill  and art in preparing  and using
 them :  but this kind of covering will not blind  the peo-
 ple, if they would  examine it and think for themselves,
 instead  of believing that every thing said or  done by a
 learned  man must  be right;  for poison given to the sick
 by a person of the greatest  skill, will  have exactly the
 same effect as it would  if given  by  a fool.  The fact is,
 the operation  of it is diametrically opposed  to nature,
 and every particle of it, that is taken  into the system,
 will strengthen the power of the enemy to health.
   If there should  be doubts in the  minds of  any one of
 the truth of what  I have said concerning the articles I
 have named  being  poisonous and destructive to the con-
 stitution  and  health of  man, I  will refer them to the
 works published by those  who recommend  their  use;
 where they will find evidence enough to satisfy the most
 credulous, of the dangerous consequences  and fatal ef-
 fects, of giving thern as medicine.  To remove all doubts
 of their being  poison I will  make  a few extracts from
 standard medical works, as the best testimony that can
 be given in the case.
   "Muriate of Mercury, is one of the  most violent poi-
 sons with which we are acquainted.  Externally it acts
 as an escharotic or  a caustic; and in solution, it is used
 for destroying fungous flesh, and for removing hepetic
 eruptions; but even externally, it   must be  used  with
 rery great caution."   Yet, reader, this  active poison is
 used as  medicine,  and by being prepared in a different
 form, and a new name given it, Calomel, its good qual-
 ities are said to be invaluable, and is a certain  cure for
 almo«t every disease.
   "Oxyd of Arsenic, is one of the most  sudden and vio-
 lent poisons we are  acquainted with.  In mines, it causes
 the destruction of numbers of those who explore them:
 and it is frequently the instrument by which victims are
 sacrificed, either by the hand of wickedness or impru-
 dence.   The fumes of Arsenic are so deleterious to the
 lungs, that the artist ought to be on his guard to prevent
their exhalation by the mouth; lor if they be mixed and
•wallowed with the saliva, effects will take place similar 
28
New Guide to  Health;
to those whioh follow its introduction into the stomach
in a  saline state;  namely, a  sensation of a  piercing,
gnawing^.and burning kind, accompanied with> an acute
pain in  the stomach and intestines, which last are vjo^
lently contorted;  convulsive vomiting; insatiable thirst,
from the parch'd and rough state of the tongue and throat:
hiccough, palpitation of. the heart and a deadJy oppres-
sion of the whole  breast, succeed  next; the matter eject-
ed by the mouth, as well as the  stools, exhibit a black,
fasted, and putrid appearance ;  at length .with ijfche  mon
tification of the bowels, the pain subsides, and .death ter-
minates the  sufferings  of  the paUept.V   " When the
quantity is so very small as not to Drove fetal, tremors,
paralysis, and lingering  hectics succeed."          ;
  'Notwithstanding this  terrible description ofuhe fatal
effects of  this article,  the author says, " though the
most  violent  of mineral  poisons, arsenic,  according  to
Murray, equals, when properly administered, the first
medicines  in  the  class  of  tonics."    "Of all the dis-
eases, says Dr. Du.ican, in which white Oxyd of Arse-?
nic has been  used internally, there is  none  in  which it
has been so  frequently and, so successfully employed,
as in the  cure of intermittent  fevers.   We  have now
the most satisfactory information  concerning this article
in the Medical Reports, of the effects  of arsenic in the
cure of agues, remitting fevers,  and periodical  head-
aches, by  Dr. Fowler,  of Stafford."   Such  are the
powers of this medicine, that two grains of it are  often
sufficient to cure an intermittent that  has continued for
weeks !  " As an  external remedy, arsenic has Jong been
known  as the basis of the celebrated cancer powders;
"Arsenic has ever been applied in substance, sprinkled
upon  the ulcer; but this mode of using it is exceeding*
ly painful, and extremely dangerous.   There have been
fetal effects produced from its absorption."  No other
escharotic possesses equal  powers in cancerous affec-
tions ;  it not  unfrequently amends the discharge, causes
the sore to contract in size, and cases have  been related
of its  having effected a cure.   But, says Dr. Willich,
" we  are, on  the combined testimony of many medical
practitioners,  conspicious for their professional zeal and
integrity, irresistibly induced  to declare our  opinion, 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
29
at least,, against the  internal use  of this  active  and
dangerous medicine."
   I shall  leave it to the reader, to reconcile, if he can',
the inconsistencies and absurdities of the above state-
ments,  of the effects  of ratsbane; and  ask  himself the
question, whether  it can be  possible, for an  article, the
use of which is attended  with such  consequences, to
be in any shape or form, proper to be used as medicine;
yet it is a well known  fact, that this poison is in constant
use among  the faculty,  and  forms the principal  ingre-
dient in most  of those  nostrums sold  throughout the
country, under the names of drops, powders, washes,
balsams, 6&c. and there can be no doubt that thousands
either die, or become miserable invalids in consequence.
  "Antimony, in the modern nomenclature,  is the name
given to a peculiar metal.   The antimrmial  metal is  a
medicine of the greatest power of any known substance;
a quantity too  minute to be sensible  in the most deli-
cate balance, is capable of producing violent effects,  if
taken dissolved, or in  a soluable state."  " Sulphureted
antimony  was  employed by  the  ancients in Collyria,
against inflammation  of the eyes,  and for staining the
eyebrows  black.  Its internal use does not seem to have
been  established till  the end  of the fifteenth century;
and  even at that time it was  by many looked upon as
poisonous."   "All the metalic preparations are  uncer-
tain, as it entirely depends on the state of the stomach,
whether they have  no  action at  all,  or operate with
dangerous violence."    " The  principal general  medi-
cinal application of antimony has been for the use of fe-
brile  affections."  " In the latter stage of fever,  where
debility prevails, its  use is inadmissible."  Of the  pro-
priety of using  this metal as medicine, I shall leave it
to the reader to judge for himself.
  Nitre.   Salt-Petre.   This  salt,  consisting of nitrio
acid and potash, is found  ready  formed on  the surface
of the soil in warm climates.''   " Purified nitre is  pre-
scribed with advantage in numerous disorders.  Its vir-
tues are those of a refrigerent and diuretic.  It is usu-,
ally given in doses from two or three grains to a scru-
ple, being a very cooling and resolvent medicine,  which
by relaxing the spasmodic rigidity of the vessels, pro- 
SO             New Guide to Health;
motes not only the secretion of urine, but at the same
time insensible perspiration, in febrile disorders; while
it  allays thirst aud abates  heat; though in malignant
cases in which the pulse is low, and the patient's strength
exhausted, it produces contrary effects."   "This power-
ful salt, when inadvertantly taken in too large quantities,
is one of the most fatal poisons."  " For some interest-
ing observations relative to the deleterious properties of
salt-petre,  the reader is referred to Dr. Mitchell's letter
to Dr.  Priestly."
   I have found from a series of practical experiments for
many  years, that salt-petre has the  most  certain  and
deadly effects upon the human system, of any drug that
is used as medicine.   Although the effects produced by
it are not  so immediately fatal  as many others,  yet its
whole  tendency is to counteract the principles of life, and
destroy the operation of nature.  Experience has taught
me that it  is the most powerful enemy to health, and  that
it is the most difficult opponent  to encounter, with  any
degree of success, that I have ever met with.   Being in
its nature cold, there  cannot be any other effects produc-
ed by  it,  than to increase  the power of that enemy of
heat, aud lo lessen its necessary influence.
   "Opium, when taken into the stomach, to such an ex-
tent as to have any sensible effect, gives rise to  a pleas-
ant  serenity of the mind, in general proceeding to a cer-
tain degree of languor and drowsiness."  " It  excites
thirst and renders the mouth dry and parched." " Taken
into the stomach in a larger dose, gives rise to confusion
of the head and  vertigo.  The powers of all stimulating
causes of  making impressions on the body are diminish-
ed ; and even at  times, and in situations, when a person
would naturally be awake,  sleep is irresistably induced.
In still larger doses, it acts in (he same manner as the
narcotic  poisons, giving  rise to vertigo, headache,  tre-
hjors,  delirium and  convulsions; and  these  terminating
 in a state of stupor, from which the  person cannot be
 roused.   This stupor is  accompanied with  slowness  of
 the pulse, and with stertor in breathing, and the  scene is
 terminated in death, attended with  the same  appear-
 ances as take place in  an  appoplexy."  "In  intermit-
 tents it is .said to have been used with good effect."  " It 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.         31

is  often  of very great service  in fevers of the typhoid
type."  " In  small pox, when the convulsions before er-
ruption are frequent and considerable, opium  is liberally
used."   " In cholera and pyrosis, it is almost the  only
thing trusted  to."  " The administration of opium to the
unaccustomed, is sometimes very difficult.   The requisite
quantity  of opium is wonderfully  different in different
persons and in different states of the same person.  A
quarter of a grain will in one adult, produce effects which
ten times  the  quantity will not do in another.    The
lowest fatal dose to the unaccustomed, as  mentioned by
authors,  seems to be four grains;  but a dangerous  dose
is  so apt to puke, that it has  seldom  time to occasion
death."
   From  the above extracts, it will readily be seen that
the use  of opium  as medicine, is very  dangerous, at
least, if  not  destructive to  health  ; its advocates, it will
be observed, do not pretend that it will cure any disor-
der, but  is used as a  paliative for  the purpose of easing
pain, by destroying sensibility.  Pain  is  caused by dis-
ease, and there can be no other way to relieve it, but by
removing the cause.  Sleep produced by opium is unnat-
ural,  aud affords no relief to the patient,  being  nothing
more  than a suspension of his senses;  aud it might
with  as much propriety be said, that a state  of delirium
is beneficial, for a  person  in that  situation is not sen-
sible  of  pain.  The fact is, opium is a poison, and when
taken into the system, produces no other effect than to
strengthen the power of the  enemy to health, by dead-
ening the sensible organs of the stomach  aud intestines,
and preventing them from performing their natural  func-
tions  so important  to the  maintaining of health and
life.   In all  the cases that have come within  my knowl-
edge, where  the patient has  been long in the habit of
taking opium, I have found it almost impossible, after re-
moving  the  disease, to restore the digestive powers of
the stomach.
   I have made the foregoing extracts  on  the subject of
poisons, for the purpose of giving  a more plain and sim-
ple view of the pernicious consequences caused by their
being given as medicine, than I  could do in any  other
manner.  In  this short address, it is impossible  to do 
32             New Guide  to Health;
that justice to the subject that I could wish, and Which its
importance demands; but I am not  without  hope, that
what is here given will satisfy every candid  person  who
reads it, of the truth of those principles which it has beer*
at all times my endeavour to inculcate, for the benefit of
mankind, and convince them, that what has a tendency
to destroy life, can never be useful in restoring health.
  In support of what  has  been before said on the use
of mercury, I will  here  give  a short extract from Dr.
Mann's Medical Sketches, which  is but a trifle in  com-
parison with the  many cases  that he has given of the
fatal effects of that poison.  " Calomel should never be
administered, unless the patient is so situated that the
skin may  be preserved in its natural warmth.   If this is
not  attended  to  during  its  administration, either the
bowels or the glands of the mouth suffered.    To one of
these parts it frequently directed all its stimulating pow-
ers,  and induced on one or the other high degrees of in-
flammation, which terminated  in mortification of the in-
testines, or destruction of not only the muscles,  but the
bones of the face.
  "Four cases under these formidable effects of  mercu-
rial  ptyalism, were admitted  into the general hospital,
atL«ewistown ; three of whom died  with  their jaws and
faces dreadfully mutilated.  The fourth  recovered with
the  loss  of the inferior  maxilla  on one side, and the
teeth on the other.   He lived  a most wretched life, de-
formed in his features, when I last  saw  the patient, in-
capable of taking food, except through a  small aperture
in place of his mouth."
  There are several  vegetables that grow common in
this  country, which are poisons ; and  in order that the
public may be on their  guard against  using them as
medicine,  I-will  here give a list  of those within my
knowledge, viz.   Garden  Hemlock, Night Shade, Apple
Peru, Poppy,  Henbane, Poke-root, Mandrake-root, Gar-
get-root,  Wild Parsnip,   Indigo-weed,  Ivy,  Dogwood,
Tobacco, and Laurel.   In case either of these articles,
or any other  poison should be taken through  accident,
or otherwise, a  strong preparation of  No.  1,  with  a
small quantity of  No. 2, will be found to be a  sovereign
remedy.  ■ 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.         33
  Cases frequently occur in the country, of being poison-
ed externally, by some of the  above vegetable  poisons,
in which they swell very much.  When this happens, by
taking No.  2, or  Composition,  and washing with the
tincture, or the third preparation of No. 1, relief may be
speedily obtained.
  It is a common thing with the doctors  to make use of
many of the above mentioned vegetable poisons as medi-
cine.; but I  would caution the public against the use of
them in any way whatever, as  they will  have no other
effect than to increase the difficulty, and  injure the con-
stitution of the patient; being deadly  poisons, it  is im-
possible that they can do any good.  No dumb beast will
ever touch them, and they are correct judges of what is
good for food or medicine.
  Great use  is made  in  many parts  of  the  country of
garden  hemlock, Scicuta, and  is recommended by the
doctors for many complaints, to be taken or applied ex-
ternally.   I  have been credibly informed that large quan-
tities of this article are  collected and  boiled down to a
thick substance, by the people in .the country, and sold
by them to  the doctors and  apothecaries.   It is well
known to  be the  greatest poison of any vegetable, and
was used in  ancient times to put criminals to death ; but
this was before it was ever thought of, that  the same ar-
ticle that would cause  immediate death when taken  for
that  purpose, would also cure disease.
  Many persons that pretend to make use of my system
of practice,  are in the habit of using some  of the vege-
tables that I have mentioned as  poisonous.   I wish the
public to understand that it  is  entirely unauthorized by
me, as there is nothing in my  practice or  writings, but
what is directly opposed  to every thing  of a poisonous
nature being used  as a medicine ; for it has always been
my aim, to ascertain and  avoid  the use of every thing
except sucharticles as I knew by actual experience to
be agreeable to nature, and also free from all danger or
risk in using them to cure disease.  I therefore, caution
the public against putting any confidence in such as
make use of either vegetable or mineral poison.
  There has been several cases of death published by
the doctors, which they say were caused by  those who 
84             New Guide to Health;

practice by my system;  and from the description  they
have given of the treatment, 1 have good  reason to sup-
pose, if there is any truth at all in them, were  attended
by such as I have before mentioned, pretending to  prac-
tise by my system without having  a correct  knowledge
of it; and who are tampering with every kind of medi-
cine they can find ;  for there is no such treatment of dis-
ease, as they  describe, ever been  recommended by me,
or that can be found in my  writings or practice.   It  is
rery convenient for  them, and  has become common, to
say, when they happen to be successful, it is their own
great improvements ; but when the patient dies, it is then
laid totheThornsonian system of practice.  This is unjust,
and ought to  be exposed ; and I ask all those who  have
a wish to promote the practice, to adopt some means to
ascertain the  truth, and make it public.
      THE DOCTORS WITHOUT A SYSTEM.

  That the doctors have no system is a feet pretty gen-
erally acknowledged by  themselves ;  or at least  they
have none that has been fixed upon as a general rule for
their practice.   Almost  every great man among them
has had  a system of his own, which has  been  followed
by their adherents till some other one is brought forward
more  fashionable.    This is undoubtedly a  great evil,
for it  makes every  thing uncertain ;  where it is  con-
stantly changing, there can  be no dependence on any
thing, and the practice must always be experimental;  no
useful  knowledge can  be obtained by the young practi-
tioners,  as they will  be constantly  seeking after new the-
ories.   What should we  say of a  carpenter who should
undertake to repair a building without having  any rule
to work by,  and should for want of one, destroy the half
of all he undertook to repair.   The employers would
soon lose all confidence  in him, and dismiss him as  an
ignorant blockhead.  And is it not of infinitely more im-
portance for those who undertake  to repair the human
body, to have some correct rule to work by ?  Their
practice is founded on  visionary theories, which  are  so
uncertain and contradictory, that it is impossible to form 
            or, Botanic Family  Physician.         35

any correct general rule as a guide to be depended upon.
In order to show the  opinions of others as well  as my
own, I shall make a few extracts from late writers on
the subject.  Speaking of the revolutions of medicines,
one says:
   " We  have now noticed  the  principal  revolutions of
medicine; and  we plainly  perceive that the  theory of
medicine, not only has been, but  is yet, in an  unsettled
state, that its practical application is wavering, fallacious,
and extremely pernicious;  and  taking a  survey of the
various fortunes of the  art, we may well say with Bacon,
that medicine is a science that hath  been  more professed
than laboured, and yet more laboured than advanced, tho
labour having been in a circle,  but not in  progression."
   "Theories are but  the  butterflies of the day; they
buzz for a while and then expire.    We  can  trace for
many centuries past,  one theory overturning another, yet
each in its  succession promising  itself immortality."
   " The application of the rules  which the practitioner
lays down  to himself is direct, and in their choice, no one
can err with impunity.   The least erroneous view leads
to some consequence.   We must remember the lives of
•ur fellow creatures are at stake.   For how many cruel
and premature deaths, how many  impaired and debilitated
constitutions have paid for the folly of theories' Follies,
which have proved almost always  fascinating.   The study
of a system is more easy than an investigation of nature;
and in practice, it seems to smooth  every  difficulty."
   " In^y lectures on the art of physic, says Dr. Ring,
both theoretical and  practical, I  have  fully proved that
there is no necessity  for that bane of the profession, con-
jecture or hypothesis; and if I were asked whether, if  I
myself were dangerously ill, I  would  suffer  any hypo-
thetical, however plausible physician, to prescribe form?
malady, my answer  would be no, assuredly no, unless   I
wished to risk the loss of my life.   I could give  a re-
markable instance of this.
   " Speculation  and hypothesis  are always at variance
with sound experience and successful practice."
   The above extracts  evince  the  pernicious  effects of
liaise theory and hypothesis, which  at the present day,
constitute nearly the whole art of physic. 
36
New Guide to Health;
    The following just remarks are copied from the writ-
 ings of the Rev. John Wesley.
    "As theories increased, simple medicines were  more
 and more disregarded and disused ; till, in a course of
 years, the greater  part of them were forgotten, at  least
 in'the more polite nations.  In the room of these, abun-
 dance of new ones were introduced, by reasoning, spec-
 ulative men ; and those more and  more difficult. to.- be
 applied, as being more remote from common observation.
 Hence rules  for  the  application of these,  and  medical
 books were immensely multiplied ;  till at length physic
 became an  abstruse  science, quite out of the reach of
 Ordinary  men.   Physicians now began to be held in^ ad-
 miration, as persons who were something more than hu-
 man.  And profit attended  their  employ, as  well as
 honour.   So that they had now two weighty reasons for
 keeping the bulk of mankind at a distance, that they
 might not pry into the mysteries of their profession.  To
' this end they increased  those  difficulties, by design,
 which were in a manner by accident.  They filled their
 writings with abundance of technical terms, utterly unin-
 telligible to plain men.
    " Those who  understood only how to restore the sick
 to health,  they  branded with the  name  of Empirics.
 They introduced  into practice abundance  of compound
'medicines, consisting of so many ingredients, that it was
 scarce possible for common people to know which it was
 that wrought a  cure.   Abundance of exotics,-'neither
 the nature nor names of which their  own  countrymen
 understood."
    "The history  of the art of medicine in all ages," says
 Dr. Blane, " so teems with the fanciful influence- of su-
 perstitious  observances, the  imaginary virtues.-of medi-
 cines with nugatory, delusive, inefficient, and capricious
 practices, fallacious  and sophistical reasonings,  as to
 render it little more than a chaos of error, a tissue of de-
 ceit unworthy of admission among the useful arts  and
 liberal pursuits of man." 
DESCRIPTION
                     OF THE

Vegetable Medicine, used in my System of Practice.
   IN describing those vegetables  which 1 make use of
 in removing disease and restoring the health of the pa-
 tient, agreeably to my system of practice, I shall men-
 tion those only which I have found most useful by a long
 series of practical knowledge; and in the use of which
 I have been successful  in effecting the desired  object.
 A much greater number of articles  in the vegetable king-
 dom, that are useful as medicine, might have been describ-
 ed and their medical virtues pointed out, if I had thought
 it would be beneficial; in fact I am confident there are very
 few vegetable productions of our country, that I have  not a
 tolerable good knowledge of, it having been my principal
 study for  above thirty years; but to  undertake  to de-
 scribe them all  would be useless  and unprofitable to my
 readers, and could lead to no good result.  The  plan
 that I have adopted in describing  such articles as I  have
 thought necessary to mention, and giving directions how
 to prepare and administer them,  is to class them under
 the numbers which form my system  of practice j this
 was thought to be  the  best way   to give a correct and
 full understanding of the whole subject.  Each number is
 calculated to effect a certain object, which is stated in the
 heading to each as they are introduced ; every article
 therefore, that  is useful in promoting such objects will
 be described as applicable to the number under which
it is classed.  The three first are used to remove disease
and the others as restoratives.  There  are a number of
preparations  and compounds, that I have made use of and
found good in curing various complaints ;  the directions
for making them and a description of the articles of which
              4 
38
New Guide  to Health;
they are composed are given as far as was deemed neces-
sary.  The  manner of" applying  them will be hereafter
more particularly stated, when I come to give an account
of the manner of treating some of the most important case?
of disease which have come under my care.

No.  1.—To cleanse the Stomach, overpower the
      cold, and promote a free perspiration.

EMETIC HERB.   LOBELIA INFLATA OF LIN^EUS.
  In giving a description of this valuable herb, I shall be
more particular, because it is the most important  article
made  use of in my system of practice, without which it
would be incomplete, and the medical virtues of which
and the administering it in curing disease, I claim as my
own discovery.  The  first knowledge I ever had  of it,
was obtained by accident  morelhan forty years ago, and
never had  any infomation  whatever  concerning  it, ex-
cept what  I  have gained  by  my own experience. A
great  deal  has been said of late about this plant, both in
favour and  against its utility as a medicine ;  but all that
the faculty have said or published  concerning it, only
shows their ignorance on the subject; for there  is very
little truth in what they have stated concerning its medi-
cal  properties, except wherein  they  have admitted  it to
be  a certain cure  for the  asthma, one of the most dis-
tressing complaints that human nature is subject to.   It
is a truth which cannot he disputed  by any one, that all
they have known  about this article, and the experiments
that have been made to ascertain its value, originated in
my making use of it in my practice.
  In the course of my practice, a number of  the doctors
discovered  that the  medicine  I made use of, produced
effects which astonished them,  and which they could not
account for;  this  induced  them to conclude, that because
it  was  so  powerful  in  removing  disease,  it must be
poison.   This I think can  be very satisfactorily account-
ed  for ;  they have no knowledge of any thing in all
their medical science, which is capable of producing  a
powerful effect upon the human system, except  what is
poisonous,  and  therefore  naturally  form their opinions
agreeably to this erroneous theory.   There  is a power 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.         39

to produce life and a power to produce death, which are
of course directly opposed to each other; and whatever
tends to promote life, cannot  cause death, let its power
be ever so great.  In this consists all the difference be-
tween my system of practice and  that  of the  learned
doctors.   In consequence of their thus forming an er-
roneous opinion of this  herb, which they had no knowl-
edge of, they undertook to represent it as a deadly poi-
son ; and in  order to destroy  my practice,  they  raised a
hue-and-cry  about my killing mv patients by administer-
ing it to them.   Some  of the  faculty even made oath,
that it was poison, and when  taken into the stomach, if
it did not cause immediate vomiting it was certain death.
It is unnecessary for me  now to point out the falsity of
this, for the fast is pretty  well known, that  there  is no
death in it;  but on the contrary, that  there is no vegeta-
ble that the earth produces, more harmless in  its effects
on the human system, and none more  powerful in  re-
moving disease and promoting health.
  There  is no mention  made  of this herb, by  any  au-
thor, that I have been able to find, previous  to  my dis-
covering it, excepting l»y  I .uncus, who bus given a cor-
rect description of it  under the name  of Lobelia Inflata;
but there is nothing said of its  medical properties, it is
therefore  reasonable  to  conclude  that  they  were  not
known  till I  discovered  it, and proved  it to be useful.
When the faculty first made the discovery tint 1 used the
Emotic Herb in my  practice, they declared  it to be a
deadly poison ; and while persecuting me by every means
in their power, and representing to the world that I  killed
my patients with it, they were very ready to call it  my
medicine,  and allow  it to be  my own  discovery; but
since their ignorance  of it has  been exposed, and they
find  it is going to become  an article of great value,  an
attempt seems to be making to rob me of all the credit
for causing its value to be known, and the profits which
belong to  me  for  the discovery.   In  which some who
have  been instructed by me are ready to join,  for the
purpose of promoting their own interest at my expense.
  Dr. Thacher,  in his Dispensatory, has  undertaken to
give an  account of this herb ; but is very erroneous, ex-
cept in  the description  of it, which is  nearly  correct. 
40             New Guide  to Health;
 It appears that all the knowledge he has on the subject,
 as to its virtues, is borrowed from others, and is  proba-
 bly derived from the ridiculous ideas  entertained of its
 power by  those doctors who  knew nothing about it, ex-
 cept what they gaiued  by my making  use of it,  as has
 been before stated.   As- to its  being dangerous to ad-
 minister it, and that if it does  not puke,  it frequently
 destroys the patient, and sometimes in five or six hours ;
 and  that even horses and cattle have  been  supposed to
 be killed by eating it accidentally, is  as absurd  as  it is
 untrue, and only proves their ignorance of the  article.
He tells a melancholy story about the Lobelia Inflata
 being administered  by the adventurous hand  of a noted
 empiric, who  he says  frequently administered  it  in a
 dose of "a tea spoonful of the powdered leaves, and often
 repeated ;  which he says furnishes alarming examples
of its  deleterious  properties  and  fatal effects.   This,
 there is no doubt, alludes to me, and  took  its rise  from
the false statements circulated about me at  the  time of
 my  trial,  to prejudice  the  public  against  my practice.
 It is true  th% dose that I  usually prescribed is a tea-
spoonful of the powder ;  but  that it  ever produced any
 fatal  effect, is altogether  incorrect,  and is well known
 to be so by all who  have any  correct  knowledge on the
 subject.
   What is quoted  in  the  Dispensatory, from the Rer.
 Dr. M. Cutler, concerning this herb, is, in  general, cor-
 rect, particularly as it regards its being a specific for the
 asthma ; though he laboured  under  many  mistaken no-
 tions about its effects when taken into the  stomach; he
 says, "if  the quantity  be a  little increased,  it  operates
 as an emetic and then as a  cathartic, its  effects being
 much the  same as those of the common emetics  and ca-
 thartics."    In this he is mistaken, for it is entirely dif-
 ferent from apy other emetic  known ;  and as to its oper-
 ating  as  a  cathartic,  I never  knew  it to  have such an
 effect in all my practice.   And I certainly ought to know
 something about it, after having made use of it for above
 twenty years, and  administering it  in  every form and
 manner that it can  be  given, and for every disease that
 has come within my knowledge.  It appears that all the
 knowledge he and other  doctors have got  of this herb's 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
- 41
being useful in curing disease, particularly in the asth-
ma, was obtained from me ;  for when  I was prosecuted,
I was obliged to  expose my discoveries to show .the
falsity of the indictment.   Dr. Cutler was brought for-
ward  as a witness  at  my trial, to  prove  the virtues of
this plant, by his  evidence, that  he  cured himself of
the asthma with  it.   He says the first  information he
had of its being good  for that complaint, was from  Dr.
Drury, of Marblehead.   In  the fall of the  year, 1807,
I introduced the use of the  Emetic Herb,  tinctured in
spirit, for  the asthma and other complaints of the lungs,
and cured several of the consumption.   In 1808, I cur-
ed a woman in Newington, of the  asthma, who had not
laid in her bed for six months.   I  gathered some of the
young plants not bigger than a dollar, bruised them, and
tinctured  them in spirits, gave her  the tincture and she
lay in bed the first night.   I showed  her  what it was,
and how to prepare and use  it, and by taking this  and
other things according to my direction, she  has enjoyed
a comfortable state of health for twelve  years, and  has
never  been obliged to sit up one night since.   The
same fall  I used it in Beverly and Salem  ; and there can
be no doubt but all the information concerning the value
of this article was obtained  from my practice.
   After Dr. Cutler had given his testimony of  the vir-
tues of this herb, and the doctors  having become con-
vinced of its value, they come forward and say it  is
good  medicine in  skilful hands.   Who, I  would  ask,
is more  skilful  than he who discovered it, and taught
them how to prepare and   use it in curing one of the
most  distressing complaints known ?  If it is  a  good
medicine, it  is mine, and I  am entitled  to the credit of
introducing it into use, and  have paid dear for it;  if it
is poison, the doctors do not need it, as they have enough
of that now.   Dr. Thacher undertakes  to make it ap-
pear that  the fatal  effects  he tells  about  its producing,
was  owing to the quantity  given ; and  says I  adminis-
tered a tea-spoonful of the powder ; and  when he comes
to give directions for  using it, says that  from ten  to
twenty grains may be  given with safety.   It  appears
strange that different  terms should produce such different
              4* 
42
New Guide to  Health;
effects in the operation of medicine.   If a tea-spoonful
is given by an  empiric, its effects  are fatal ;  but if the
same quantity is administered by a  learned doctor, and
called grains, it is a useful medicine.
  This  herb is described  in  Thacher's Dispensatory
under the names  of Lobelia Inflata, Lobelia Emetica,
Emetic  Weed, and Indian Tobacco ; and  several other
names have been given it, some by way of ridicule and
others for the purpose of creating  a prejudice  against
it;  all of  which has so confounded it with other articles
that there is a difficulty in  ascertaining what  they mean
to describe.   I have been informed that  there is a  poi-
Bonous root grows in the  Southern  States, called Lobe-
lia, which has been used  as a medicine ;  the calling this
herb by that name, has probably been one reason of its
being thought to be poison.   Why it has had the name
of Indian  Tobacco  given  it, I know not ;   there is  a
plant that is called by  that name, which  grows in  this
country, but is entirely different  from this herb both  in
appearance and medical  virtues.    In the United States
Pharmacopoeia, there are directions given for preparing
the  tincture of Indian  Tobacco;  whether  they mean
this  herb or the plant that  has been always called by
that  name, does not  appear ;  but  it  is  probable  they
mean the emetic herb, and that all  the knowledge  they
have of it is from Dr.  Cutler's description.    It is said
by Thacher, that it was employed by the aborigines and
by those who deal in Indian remedies ;.and  others  who
are  attempting to rob me of the discovery affect to be-
lieve the  same tiling;  but this is founded altogether upon
conjecture, for they cannot produce  a single  instance of
its having been employed as a medicine  till I made use
of it.  The fact is, it is a  new article, wholly unknown
to the medical faculty, till I introduced  it into use, and
the best evidence of this is, that they are now ignorant
of its powers ; and all the knowledge they have oT it has
been obtained  from my practice.  *lt would  be folly for
 me  to undertak* to say,  but that  it may  have been used
 by the  natives of this country ; but one thing I  am cer-
 tain of, that 1 never had any knowledge  of  their using
 it, nor ever received any information concerning it from
 them,-or  any one else. 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         43
   The Emetic Herb may be found in the first stages of
its  growth at all times  through the summer, from the
bigness of a six cent piece to that of a dollar, and larger,
lying flat on the ground, in  a round form, like a rose
 firessed flat, in order to  bear  the  weight of snow which
 ays on it during the winter, and  is subject to be winter-
killed  like wheat.   In  the  spring it looks yellow and
pale, like other things suffering from wet and cold ; but
when the returning sun spreads forth its enlivening rays
upon it, it lifts up its leaves and shoots forth a stalk  to the
height of from twelve to  fifteen inches, with a  number
of branches, carrying up its leaves  with its growth.   In
July it puts forth small pointed pale blue blossoms, which
is followed  by small pods about the  size  of a  white
bean, containing numerous very small seeds.  This pod
is an exact resemblance  of the human  stomach, having
an  inlet  and outlet higher than  the middle ; from thu
inlet it  receives nourishment, and by the outlet dis-
charges the seeds.   It comes to maturity about the first
of September, when  the leaves  and pods  turn a little
yellow ;  this is the best time  to gather it.   It is what is
called  by  botauists, a  bienneal  plant, or of only two
years existence.
   This  plant is common in all  parts of this country.
Wherever the land is fertile enough to yield support for
its  inhabitants it  may be found.   It  is  confined  to  no
soil  which is fit for cultivation,  from the highest moun-
tains to the lowest valleys.   In hot and  wet seasons it is
most plenty  on  dry and  warm lands:  in  hot and dry
seasons on clayey and heavy  lands.   When the season
h cold, either wet or dry, it rarely makes its appearance;'
and if the summer and fall  is very dry the seed does
not come up, and of course there will be  very little to
be  found the-next season.    I  have been  in  search  of
this herb from Boston to Canada, and  was  not  able  to
collect more than two  pounds; and in  some seasons I
have not been able to colhct any.  I  mention this  to
show the uncertainty of its growth, and  to  put the peo-
ple on their guard to be careful and lay up a good  stock
of it when plenty.  In the year 1807, if I had offered  a
reward of a  thousand dollars for a pound of this herb, I
«hould not have been able to have obtained it.  I havtj 
44
New Guide to Health;
seen the time that I would have given two dollars for an
ounce of the powder, but there  was  none to be had ;
which necessity taught me to lay up all  I could obtain
when it was plenty.
  In seasons when this herb is plenty, it may be found
growing in  highways and  pastures, by the side of old
turnpikes, and in stubble land, particularly where it has
been laid down to grass the  year before; when grass  is
Bcarce, it is eaten by cattle, and  is hard to be found
when full grown.   It is a wild plant, and  a native of this
country ; but there is no doubt of its  being common to
other countries.   It  may be transplanted and cultivated
in gardens, and will be much larger and more vigourous
than when  growing wild.   If some  stalks are left, it
will sow itself, and probably may be produced from the
seed ; but how long the seeds remain in the  ground be*
fore they come up, I  do  not  know, never having made
any experiments to ascertain the fact.   It is certain that
it is produced  from the seed, and there is no good reason
to suppose that it may not be cultivated in gardens from
the seed as well as other vegetables;  I think it most
probable, however, from the nature  of the plant, that it
will not come  up till the seeds have laid at least one win-
ter in the ground.
  This plant is different in one  very important  particu-
lar, from all  others that I have a knowledge of, that  the
name quantity will  produce the same effect in  all stages
of its growth,  from its first  appearance till it comes to
maturity ; but the best time for gathering if, as  has  be-
fore  been mentioned, is when the leaves and  pods begin
to turn yellow,*for then the seed  is ripe, and you have all
there can be of it.   It should then be cut and kept clean,
and spread  in a large chamber or loft, to dry, where
it is open to the air in the daytime, and to be  shut from
the damp air during the night.  When perfectly dry, shake
out the seed  and sift it through a common meal  sieve,  and
preserve it by itself; then beat off the leaves and pods from
the stalks, and preserve them clean.    This herb may be
prepared for use in three different ways: viz.  1st.  The
powdered  leaves and pods.  2d.  A tincture made from
the green herb with spirit.  3d. The seeds reduced to a
fine powder  and compounded with Nos. 2 and 6. 
           or,  Botanic Family Physician.         ' 45

  1. After the leaves and pods  are separated  from the
stalks, pound or grind them in a mortar to fine  powder,
sift it through a fine sieve, and preserve it from the air.
This is the most common preparation, and may be given
in many different ways, either by itself or compounded
with other articles.   For  a common dose,  take  a tea-
spoonful of this powder with the same quantity of sugar
in half a  tea-cupful of warm water, or a tea  of No.  3
may be used instead  of the water ; this dose may be
taken all at one time, or at  three  times,  at  intervals of
ten minutes.    For a  young child strain off the  liquor
and give a part as circumstances shall require.   There
is but one way  in which this herb can be prepared, that
it will  refuse  its services,  and that  is when  boiled or
scalded; it is therefore important to bear in mind that
there must never be any thing put to it  warmer than a
blood heat.
   2.  To  prepare the  tincture,  take  the green herb in
any stage of  its growth, if the small plants are used, take
roots and  all, put them into a mortar and  pound them
fine, then add  the same quantity of good spirits ;  when
well pounded and worked  together, strain it through a
fine cloth and squeeze  and press it hard to get out all the
juice ; save the liquor  in bottles, close stopped, for use.
Good vinegar,  or pepper-sauce may be used instead  of
the spirit.  Prepared  in this manner, it  is  an  effectual
counter-poison, either taken, or  externally applied.   It
is also an excellent medicine  for  the asthma, and all
complaints of the lungs.  This is the only way in which
the doctors  have  made  use  of  the   Emetic  Herb;
and they  acknowledge it to  be  one of the best remedies
in  many complaints, that has been found,  though they
know  but little about it.  -For a dose, take  from  half to
a tea-spoonful.    Its effects will be more  certain if about
the same  quantity of No. 2, is  added, and  in  all cases
where there are nervous symptoms, add half a tea-spoon-
ful of nerve powder, Umbil, to the dose.
   3.  Reduce the seeds to a fine powder in a mortar, and
take  half an ounce of this powder,  or about a  large
spoonful, with  the  same quantity of No. 2, made fine,
and put them in  a gill  of No. (i, adding a tea-spoonful of
 Umbil;  to be  kept close stopped in  a bottle for use j 
46             New Guide  to Health;
when taken, to be well shaken together.  This prepara-
tion is for the  most  violent attacks  of disease,  such as
lock-jaw, bile of mad dog, drowned  persons, fits, spasms,
and in all cases of suspended animation, where the vital
spark is nearly extinct.   It will go  through the system
like electricity, giving heat and life to every  part.   In
cases where  the  spasms  are  so violent that they are
stiff, and the  jaws become set, by pouring some  of this
liquid into the mouth between the cheek  and teeth, as
soon as it touches the glands at the roots of the tongue,
the spasms will relax, and  the jaws  will become loosen-
ed so that the mouth will  open ; then give a  do«e of it,
and as soon as the spasms have abated, repeat it, and af-
terwards give a tea  of  No. 3, for canker.   This course
I never knew fail of giving  relief.   It is  good  in less
violent cases, to bring  out the measles and small pox ;
and if applied to pimples,  warts, &c. will  remove them.
1 have cured three dogs with this preparation, who were
under the most violent symptoms of hydrophobia ; one
of my agents  cured a  man with it who had been bitten
by a mad dog ; and I have not the least doubt of its be-
ing a specific for that disease.   For a  dose, take a tea-
spoonful.
   Much has  been said of  the power of the Emetic Herb,
and  some have expressed  fears of  it on that account;
but 1 can assure the public, that there is not the least
danger in using it;  I have given it to children from one
day  old to persons of eighty years.   It is most powerful
in removing disease, but innocent on nature.    Its oper-
ation in  different persons, is according to their different
tempers, moving with  the natural current of the animal
spirits.   There is two cases  where this  medicine will
not operate,  viz. when the patient  is dying,  and where
there is  no death ; or in other  words, when there  is no
disease.   There can be no war where there is no enemy.
When  there  is no cold in the body there  is nothing to
contend against, and  when there is no heat  in the body
there is  nothing to kindle ; in either case  therefore this
medicine is silent and  harmless.  It is calculated to re-
move the cause  and no  more, as food removes hunger,
and drink thirst.    It  clears all obstructions to the ex-
tremities, without regard to the names of  disease, until 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         47
it produces  an equilibrium in the system, and will be felt
in the fingers and toes, producing a prickling feeling like
that caused by a knock  of the elbow; this symptom  is
alarming to those unacquainted with its operation ; but is
always favourable, being a certain indication of the  turn
of the disorder, and  they  generally gain from that time.
   In regard to the quantity to be  given as a  dose, it is
matter of less consequence  than  is generally  imagined.
The most important thing is  to give enough to produce
the desired effect.   If too little  is given, it will worry
the patient, and do little  good ;  if more  is given  than
what is necessary, the surplus will be thrown  off, and is
a waste of medicine.   I  have given directions what  I
consider as  a proper dose  in  common cases, of the dif-
ferent preparations,  but still it must  be  left to the  judg-
ment of those who use  it, how much to  give.   The  most
safe way will  be to give  the smallest  prescribed  dose
first, then repeat it till it  produce  the wished  operation.
 In cases where the stomach is cold and very foul, its
operation will be slow and  uncertain  ; in which  case
 give No. 2, which will assist it in doing its work.   See
 also, page 90, § 11.
   When this medicine is given to  patients that are  in
 a decline, or are labouring under a disease of long stand-
 ing, the symptoms indicating a crisis will not take  place
 till they have  been carried through from three to  eight
 courses of the medicine ; and the lower they have been
 the more alarming will be the symptoms.   I  have seen
 some who would lay and  sob like a child that  had  been
 punished, for two hours, not able to  speak or to  raise
 their hand to their head ; and the next  day be about, and
 soon get well.    In  cases where they have taken consid-
 erable opium, and  this medicine is  administered, it will
 in its operation produce the same appearances and symp-
 toms that  is produced  by opium when first given, which
 having  laid dormant, is  roused  into action  by the en-
 livening qualities  of this  medicine,  and they will be
 thrown  into a senseless  state; the whole system will be
 one complete mass of confusion, tumbling in every direc-
 tion ;  will take  two or three to hold them on  the bed ;
 they grow cold as though dying; remaining in this way
 from two to sight hours,  and then awake, like one from 
48             New Guide to Health ;
 steep after a good nights rest; be entirely calm and sensi-
 ble as though nothing had ailed them.  It is seldom they
 ever have more than one of these turns;  as it is the last
 struggle of the disease, and they generally begin  to recov-
 er from  that time. I have been more particular in describ-
 ing these effects of the medicine, as they are very alarm-
 ing to those unacquainted with them, in order to show that
 there is no danger to be apprehended, as  it is certain
 evidence of a favourable turn of the disease.
   The Emetic Herb is of great value in preventing sick-
 ness  as well as  curing  it; by taking a dose when first
 attacked  by any complaint it  will throw it off, and fre-
 quently prevent long sickness.  It not  only acfs as  an
 emetic,  and throws off  the  stomach  every thing that
 nature  does not require  for  support  of the  system ;
 but  extends its effects  to every part of the body.  It is
 searching, enlivening, quickening and has a great power
 in removing  all obstructions; but it soon exhausts itself,
 and if not followed by some other medicine to  hold the
 vital heat  till nature is able to support itself by digesting
 the food,  it will not be sufficient  to remove a disease
 that has become seated.   To effect this important object
 put  me  to  much trouble and after trying  many experi-
 ments to get something  that would answer  the  purpose,
 I found  that what is described under No. 2,  was the best
 and  only  medicine I have  a knowledge of, that would
 hold the  heat  in the stomach, and not evaporate; and
 by giving No. 3 to remove the canker, which is the great
 cause of disease; and then  following with Nos. 4 and 5 to
 correct  the   bile, restore  the  digestion,,and strengthen
the system, I have had  little trouble in effecting a cure.
Directions for preparing  &c.—see page 79.
Jfo. 2.—To retain the internal vital heat  of the
      system and  cause a free perspiration.
               CAYENNE.—Capsicum.
  This article being so well known it will be unnecessa-
ry to be very particular in  describing it.  It has been a
long time used for  eulinary purposes,  and  comes to us
prepared for use by being ground to powder, and a pro- 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.
49
portion of salt mixed with it;  this destroys  in some  de-
gree its stimulating effects and makes it  less pungent;
but it is not so good for medicine  as in the pure state.
It is said to be a native of South America and is cultivat-
ed  in many of the West India Islands ; that which comes
to this country is brought from Demarara and Jamaica.
It also grows in other parts of the world.  I once bought
one hundred  pounds of it in the pod,  which was brought
from the Coast of Guinea ; had it  ground at  Portsmouth,,
and it was as  good as any lever used.  There are sev-
eral species that are described under the  name of Cap-
sicum ;  all of which are about the same, as to their stimu-
lating qualities.  The pods only are used; they are long
and pointed, are of a green colour till ripe when they turn
of a bright orange red.   When the pods are green they
are gathered and preserved in  salt and water and brought
to this country  in bottles, when vinegar is put to them,
which is sold under the name of Pepper-Sauce.  The ripe
pods ground to a powder is what is used for medicine and
cooking ; but the Pepper-Sauce is very good to be taken
as medicine and applied externally: the green pods hold
their attracting power till ripe, and therefore keep their
strength much longer when put in vinegar; as the bottle
may be filled up a number of times and  the strength seems
to be the same ; but when the ripe pods are put in vinegar,
the first time will take nearly all the strength.
  I shall not  undertake to dispute but that Cayenne has
been  used for medical purposes long before I had any
knowledge of it;  and >*hat it is one of the safest and best
articles ever discovered  to  remove disease, I know to
be  a  fact, from  long experience ; but it is  equally true
that the medical faculty  never considered  it of much
value,  and the  people had no knowledge of it as a medi-
cine, till I introduced it, by making use of it in my prac-
tice.   Mention  is made of  Cayenne  in the Edinburgh
Dispensatory,  as chiefly  employed  for culinary  purpo-
ses, but that of late it has  been  employed  also in the
practice of medicine.  The author says that " there can
be little doubt that  it furnishes one  of the purest and
strongest stimulants which  can be  introduced into the
nomad) ; while at the same time it has nothing of the
nurcotic effects of ardent spirits.  It is said to have beer*
             5 
50
New Guide to Health;
 used with success in curing some cases of disease, that
 bad resisted all other remedies."    All this I am satisfi-
 ed  is true, for if given as a medicine it always will  be
 found useful; but all the knowledge they had of it seems
 to have been derived from a  few experiments that  had
 been made, without fixing upon any particular manner
 of preparing or administering it, or  in  what disease, as
 is the case  with  all  other  articles that are introduced
 into general practice.    In Thacher's Disponsatory, the
 same account is given of Cayenne, as in the Edinburgh,
 and in almost the same words.
  I never had any knowledge of Cayenne being useful
 as a medicine, or that it had ever been used as such, till
 I discovered  it by accident, as has been  the case with
 most other articles used by me.  After  1 had fixed upon
 a system for my government  in practice, I found  much
 difficulty in getting something that  would  not  only pro-
 duce a strong heat in  the body, but would retain it till
 the canker could  be removed and the digestive powers
 restored, so  that  the food,  by  being properly digested,
 would maintain the natural heat.   1 tried a great num-
 ber of articles that were of a hot nature ; but could find
 nothing that would hold  the  heat  any length of time.
 I made  use of ginger,  mustard, horse-radish, peppermint,
 butternut  bark, and many other  hot things;  but  they
 were  all more or less volatile, and would not have the
 desired  effect.  With these, however,  and the Emetic
 Herb, together with the aid of steam, I was enabled to
 practice with pretty general success.   In the fall of the
 year 1805, I was out in search of Uwbil, on a mountain,
 in Walpole,  N. H.  I went into  a house at the foot of
 the mountain, to  inquire Jbr  some  rattlesnake  oil ;
 while  in the house I saw a large  string of red peppers
 hanging in the room, which put me in mind of what I
 had been a long time  in search of, to retain the interna]
heat.   I knew them to be very hot;  but did not know of
 what nature.  I obtained  these peppers, carried  them
home, reduced them to powder, and took some of the
 powder myself, and found it to answer  the purpose bet-
 ter than any thing else I had made use  of.   I put it in
 spirit with the Emetic Herb, and gave the  tincture mix-
 ed in a tea of witch-hazel leaves, and found that itwoald 
           or, Botanic  Family Physician.         51

retain the heat in the stomach after puking;  and pre-
serve the strength of the patient in proportion.   I made
use of it in different ways for two years, and always with
good success.
  In the fall of 1807, I  was in Newburyport, and saW a
bottle of pepper-sauce, being the first  1  had ever seen ;
I bought it and carried it home ;  got some  of  the same
kind of pepper that was dried, which I put into the bot-
tle; this made it  very hot.   On my way home, was  taken
unwell, and was quite cold ; I  took  a  swallow  from the
bottle, which caused violent pain for a few minutes, when
it produced perspiration, and I soon grew easy.  I after-
wards tried it and found that  after  it  had expelled the
cold,  it would not cause pain.  From these experiments,
I became convinced that this kind of pepper  was much
stronger, and would be  better  for  medical use than the
common  red pepper.    Soon  after  this  I  was again in
Newburyport, and made inquiry, and  found some  Cay-
enne  ; but it was prepared with salt for table use,  which
injured it for medical purposes.   I tried it by tasting,
and selected that which had the least salt in  it.   I af-
terwards made use of  this  article, and  found it  to an-
swer  all the purposes wished ; and  was  the very  thing
I had long been in search of.  The next year  I went to
Portsmouth, and made  inquiries concerning  Cayenne,
and from those who dealt in the article,  I learned  that it
was brought to this country from Demarara and Jamaica,
prepared only for table  use, and that salt  was  put with
it to preserve it and make it more palatable.   I became
acquainted with a French gentleman who had a brother
in Demarara ; and made arrangements with him to send
to his brother, and request him  to procure some, and
 have it  prepared  without  salt.    He did  so, and  sent
out a box  containing  about  eighty pounds, in a pure
state.   I sent also by  many others, that were going to
the places  where  it  grows, to procure  all  they could ;
 in consequence of which, large quantities were import-
 ed into Portsmouth, much more than there was  imme-
 diate demand for.   I  was  not  able to purchase but a
 small part  of  what was  brought, and it was  bought
 up by others on  speculation,  and  sent  to Boston ; the
 consequence was, that  the price was so  much reduced, 
55
New Guide to Health;
that it would not bring the  first cost,  which  put  a
atop to its  being  imported, and it  has since  been very
scarce.
  When I first began to use this article, it caused much
talk among the people in Portsmouth, and the adjoining
towns; the doctors tried to frighten them by telling that
I made use of Cayenne Pepper as a medicine, and that
it would burn up the stomach and lungs as bad as vitriol.
The people generally,  however, became convinced by
using it, that  all  the doctors said  about it  was false,
and it only proved their  ignorance of its medicinal vir-
tues and their malignity towards me.   It soon came
into general use, and the knowledge of its being useful
in curing disease  was spread all through the country.   I
made use of it in  curing the spotted fever, and where  it
was known, was  the only  thing  depended on  for that
disease.  I have made use of Cayenne in  all kinds  of
disease, and have given  it to patients of all ages and
under  every  circumstance  that  has  come  under  my
practice ; and can assure the public, that  it  is  perfect-
ly harmless, never having known it to  produce any bad
effects whatever.    It is no doubt the  most powerful
stimulant known  ;  its power is  entirely congenial   to
nature,  being powerful only in raising  and maintain-
ing that heat on which life depends.   It  is  extremely
pungent, and when  taken  sets the  mouth as it were on
fire; this lasts, however, but  a few  minutes, and  I con-
sider it essentially a  benefit, for its effects on the glands
causes the saliva to flow  freely and  leaves  the mouth
clean and moist.
  The only preparation necessary, is to have it  ground
or  pounded to a  fine powder.  For a dose, from half to
a  tea-spoonful  may  be  taken in  hot  water sweetened,
or the same quantity may be mixed  with either  of the
other numbers when  taken.  It will produce  a free
perspiration, which should  be  kept up by repeating the
dose, until" the disease  is  removed.    A spoonful, with
an  equal quantity of common salt, put  into a  gill of vin-
egar, makes a very good sauce, to be eaten on meat, and
will assist the appetite and  strengthen the digesture.
One spoonful of this preparation  may be taken to good
 advantage, and will remove faint, sinking feelings, which 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.         63

 some are subject to, especially in the spring of the year.
 Pepper-sauce is good for the same purpose.   A tea-spoon-
 ful of Cayenne may be taken in a tumbler of cider,  and
 is much better than ardent spirits.   There is scarce  any
 preparation of medicine that I make use of in  which I
 do not put some of this article.  It will cure the ague in
 the face, by taking a dose, and tying a small quantity in
 fine cloth, and put it between the cheek and  teeth, on
 the side that  is affected, setting by the fire covered with
 a blanket.  It is good to put on old  sores.

                   RED PEPPERS.
   These are very plenty  in  this country,  being culti-
 vated  in gardens, and are principally  made use  of for
 pickling; for which purpose the pods are gathered when
 green,  and preserved in vinegar.   It is  of the same na-
 ture as Cayenne pepper, but  not so strong;  and is the
 best substitute for that article, of any thing I have ever
 found.   For medical use they should not be gathered till
 ripe, when they are of a  bright  red colour;  should be
 reduced to a fine  powder, and may be used instead of
 Cayenne, when that article cannot be obtained.

                      GINGER.
  This is a  root  which is brought from foreign coun-
 tries, and is too well known to need  any further descrip-
 tion.   It is a very good article,  having a warming  and
 agreeable effect on the stomach.   It is a powerful stim-
 ulant, and is not volatile like many other hot articles;
 and is the next best thing to raise the  inward heat  and
 promote perspiration ;  and may be used with good suc-
 cess for that purpose, as  a substitute for Cayenne, when
 that or  the red peppers cannot be had.    It is sold in  the
 shops ground, but is sometimes mixed  with  the other
 articles to increase the quantity, and  is not  so strong.
 The best way is  to get the  roots  and grind or pound
 them  to a fine powder.    The dose must be regulated
according to  circumstances ; if given  to raise the  in-
 ternal  heat and cause perspiration, it must be repeated
 till  it  has the desired effect.   It   makes an excellent
poultice, mixed  with pounded  cracker,  or  slippery-elm
bark, for which I make much  use  of it.   To  keep a,
              5* 
54             New Guide to Health;

piece of the root in  the mouth and chew it like tobacco,
swallowing the juice, is very good  for  a  cough, and
those of a consumptive  habit; and  this should be also
done by all who are exposed to any contagion, or are at-
tending on the sick, as it will guard the stomach against
taking the disease.  It may be taken in hot water sweet-
ened, or in a tea of No. 3.

                BLACK PEPPER.
  This may be used to good advantage  as a  substitute
for  the foregoing articles, when they are not  to be had,
and  may  be prepared and administered in the same man-
ner.   These four that I have mentioned, are all the ar-
ticles I have been able to find, that would hold the heat
of the body for any length of time ;  all  the others that
I have tried, are  so  volatile, that  they do little good.
See Directions, page 80.
No. 3*—To scour the Stomach and Bowels, and
                remove the Canker.
  Under this head I  shall  describe  such vegetable pro-
ductions as are good for Canker, and which 1 have found
to be best in removing the thrush from the throat, stomach
and  bowels, caused by cold, and there will be more or
less  of  it in  all  cases of disease ;   for when  cold gets
the power over the inward  heat, the  stomach and bowels
become coated with  canker, which prevents those nu-
merous  little vessels  calculated to  nourish the system
from performing  their duty.    A cure, therefore, cannot
be effected without removing this  difficulty, which must
be done by such things as are best  calculated to scour
off the canker and leave the  juices flowing free.  There
are many articles which are  good  for this, but  I shall
mention only such  as  I  have found  to be  the best.
Several things that are used  for canker, are too  bind-
ing, and do  more hurt than good, as they cause obstruc-
tions.   I have adopted a rule to ascertain  what  is good
for canker,  which I  have  found very  useful ; and shall
here  give it as  a guide  for  others; that is, to  chew
some of the article, and if it  causes the saliva  to flow 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
55
freely, and  leaves  the mouth clean  and moist, it  in
good;  but on the other  hand, if it dries up the juices,
and  leaves the  mouth  rough and  dry,  it is  bad,  and
should be avoided.

       BAYBERRY; or, CANDLEBERRY.
  This is a species of the myrtle,  from  which wax  is
obtained  from the berries, and grows common in many
parts of this country.    It  is a shrub growing from two
to four feet  high, and is  easily known by the berries
which it  produces annually, containing wax  in abund-
ance ;  these grow on the branches close to them, similar
to the  juniper ; the leaves  are of a deep  green.   Th«
bark of the roots is what is used for medicine, and should
be collected in the spring, before  it puts forth its leavers,
or in the  fall, after done growing, as  then the  sap is  in
the roots; this shrfhld  be  attended  to in gathering all
kinds of  medicinal roots ;  but those  things that the tope
are used, should  be collected in the summer when near-
ly full  grown, as then  the sap is  in the top.   The roots
should be dug and cleaned from  the dirt, and  pounded
with a mallet or club, when the  bark is easily separated
from the  stalk, and  may be obtained  with little trouble.
It should be dried in a chamber or loft, where  it is not
exposed to the weather; and when perfectly dry, should
be ground or pounded to a fine powder.   It is an ex-
cellent medicine either  taken  by itself or compounded
with other articles ; and is the  best thing for canker  of
any article I  have ever found.    It is highly stimulating
and very pungent, pricking the glands and  causing the
saliva and other juices to flow freely.   Is good used  as
tooth  powder, cleanses the teeth and gums, and removes
the scurvy;  takenassnuff.it  clears the  head and  re-
lieves the head-ache.   It may be  given to advantage in a
relax, and all disorders of the bowels.   When the stom-
ach is very foul, it will frequently operate  as an emetic.
For a dose, take a tea-spoonful in hot water, sweetened.

         WHITE  POND LILY__The Root.
  This is well known  from the  beautiful flower which
jjt bears,  opening only to the  sun, and  closing  again  at
n"ight.   It grows  in fresh water ponds, aud is common  in 
56
New Guide  to Health;
 all parts of this country where I have been.   The best
 time to gather it, is  in the fall of the year, when dry,
 and the water in the ponds is low, as it may then be ob-
 tained with little  difficulty.   It has large roots, which
' should  be dug, washed clean, split into strips, and dried
 as has been directed for the Bay berry root bark.   When
 perfectly dry, it should be pounded in a mortar, and pre-
 served for use.  This article is a very good medicine for
 canker, and all complaints of the bowels, given in a tea
 alone, or mixed with other articles.

            HEMLOCK—the inner Bark.
   This is the common Hemlock tree,  and  grows  in all
 parts of New England.   The best  for medicine is  to
 peel the bark from the young tree, and shave the rose
 from the outside, and preserve only the inner rhine ; dry
 it carefully, and pound or grind it to*i powder.   A tea
 made by5 putting boiling water to  this  bark, is  a good
 medicine for canker, and many other complaints.   The
 first of  my using the Hemlock bark as  medicine, was in
 1814; being  inywant  of something for canker, I  tried
 some of it by  chewing, and found it to answer, made use
 of it to good advantage.   Since then, have been in con-
 stant use of it, and have always found it a very good med-
 icine, both for canker and other complaints of the bowels
 aud stomach.   A tea made of this bark, is very good and
 may be used freely ; it is good to  give the emetic and
 No. 2, in, and may be  used for drink in al! cases of sick-
 ness, especially when going through a course of medicine
 and steaming.   This, with Bayberry bark  and the Lily
 root, forms No. 3, or  what has been  commonly  called
 coffee, though many other things may be added, or either
 of them may be used to advantage alone.  The boughs,
 made into  a tea,  are very good for gravel and other ob-
 structions of the urinary, passages, and  for rheumatism.

          MARSH ROSEMARY—the Root.
   This article is very well  known  in all  parts of this
 country, and has been  made use of for canker and  sore
 mouth.   I  have made use of it with  Bayberry bark as
 No. 3,  in  my practice, for many  years, with good suc-
 cess ; but after finding that the Lily  root and Hemlock 
or, Botanic Family Physician.         57
bark were  better, have  mostly laid  it aside.   It is so
binding in its nature that it is not safe to  use it without
a large proportion of the Bayberry bark.

      SUMACH—the Bark, Leaves and  Berries.
  This  appears to be a new article in  medicine, entirely
unknown to the medical faculty,  as no mention is made
of it by any author.    The first of my  knowledge that it
was good for canker, was when at Onion  River in 1807,
attending the dysentery ; being in want of something to
clear the stomach and bowels  in that  complaint, found
that the bark,  leaves  or berries  answered  the purpose
extremely well,  and  have  made much  use of  it ever
since.   It is well  known, and is found in  all parts of the
country ; some of it grows from eight to twelve feet high,
and has large spreading branches ; the berries grow in
large bunches, and  when ripe,  are  a deep  red  colour,
of a pleasant sour taste ; and are used by the country
people to dye with.    The leaves and young sprouts are
made use of in tanning morocco leather.   For medi-
cine, the bark  should be peeled  when full  of sap, the
leaves, when full grown,  and the  berries, when ripe;
they should be carefully dried, and when  used as part of
No. 3, should  be  pounded, and may be used altogether,
or either separate.   A tea made of  either or altogether,
is very good, and may be given with safety in almost all
complaints, or put into the injections.   It will scour the
stomach and bowels, and  is good for  stranguary, as it
promotes urine and  relieves  difficulties in the kidneys,
by  removing obstructions and strengthening  those parts.
I have been in the habit of late years, of  making use of
this article with Bayberry bark and Lily root, or Hem-
lock bark, equal  parts, for No. 3, or coffee, and it has
always answered  a good purpose.

            WITCH-HAZLE—the Leaves.
   I found the  use of this  article as medicine, when I
was quite young ; and have made much use of it in all
my practice.  It is  too well known in the country to
need any description; is a small tree or bush, and grows
very common, especially in  new land.   A tea made of
the leaves, is an excellent medicine  in many complaints, 
68
New Guide to  Health;
and may be freely used to advantage.   It  is  the  best
thing for bleeding at the stomach of any article I have
ever found, either by giving a tea made of the dry leaves,
or chewing them  when green ; have  cured several with
it.  This complaint is  caused by canker eating off the
small blood-vessels, and this medicine will  remove the
canker and stop the bleeding.    I  have made much use
of the tea,  made strong for injections, and found it in all
complaints of the bowels  to  be very serviceable.   An
injection made of this  tea, with  a little of No. 2, is good
for the piles, and  many complaints common to females ;
and in bearing-down pains it will afford immediate relief,
if properly  administered.    These leaves may be used in
No. 3, to good advantage, as a substitute for either of
the other articles, or alone for the same purpose.

           RED-RASPBERRY—the Leaves.

   This is an excellent article, and I believe was never
made use of as medicine,  till discovered by me.   When
at Eastporr, I  had no  article  with me good for canker
and resorted  to my old rule of tasting, and  found that
these leaves were good for that complaint; made into  a
strong tea, it answered every purpose wished.   I gath-
ered a large quantity of the leaves, and dried them, and
have been in constant  use of it as a medicine ever since,
and have found it an excellent article,  both for canker
and  many  other  complaints; for relax and  other bowel
•omplaints of children, it is the best thing that I hav«
found;  by  giving the tea  and using it in the injections,
it affords immediate relief.  A  tea made of the leaves
sweetened, with milk in it, is very pleasant, and may be
used  freely.  It is the best thing for women in travail,
of any article 1 know  of.   Give a strong tea of it, with
a little  of No. 2, sweetened, and it will  regulate every
thing as nature requires.   If the pains are  untimely,  it
will make  all quiet; if timely and lingering, give more
No. 2 and Umbil in the tea.  When the child  is born,
give it some of the tea with sugar and milk in it; this
prevents sore mouth ;  and the tea is good to wash sors
nipples with.    A poultice made  with this tea and crack-
er, or  slippery elm bark, is  very  good for burns or 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.        59
scalds; if the skin is  off,  by applying  this poultice or
washing with the tea, it  will harden and stop smarting.
It may be used in No. 3 as a substitute for other articles,
or alone, to good effect.

         8QUAW-WEED—Indian name Cocash.
   This is known in the country by the name of frost-
weed, or meadow scabish; it is a wild weed, and grows
in wet land,  by the sides of brooks;  it has a stalk that
grows four or five feet high, which is rough and  woolly
with  a narrow leaf; and bears a blue blossom late in
the fall,  which remains till the frost  kills it.   The root
lives  through the winter,  and in the spring puts forth
a new stalk ;  the leaves  at the bottom remains green
through  the  winter.  The  roots and top are used for
medicine;  it has a fragrant taste and smell like lovage.
It was the first thing 1 ever  knew used for canker, and
was given to  me when I had the canker-rash, being con-
sidered then the best article  known for  canker; I  have
frequently used  it for that complaint and  found it very
good.  Take  the  green roots and  leaves,  bruise them,
and pour on  hot  water; give this tea sweetened. It
may be  kept  by adding  a little spirit,  and is good for
rheumatism and nervous affections.   It is perfectly harm-
less and  may be used freely.   It makes a very good bit-
ter tinctured with hot  water and spirit, and  is good for
dizziness and cold hands and feet.   See Directions, &c.
page 80.



No,  4.—Bitter8, to  correct the  Bile and  restore
                     Digestion.

           BITTER HERB, or  BALMONY.
   This herb  grows in wet  mowing land  by the side of
brooks;  it  is  about the  size of mint, the leaves some
larger ; the stalk  is  four  square;  the leaves are  of a
dark  green, of a sweetish bitter taste.  It bears a white
blossom of singular form, resembling a snakes head with
the mouth open.  This herb is very good to correct the
bile, and create an appetite.  A tea of it may be  used 
60             New Guide to Health;
 alone, or it may be added to  the other articles described
 under this number, which  are all  calculated to restore
 the digestive powers.

                  POPLAR BARK.

   There are several  species of the  poplar tree, that
 grow common in this country.  One kind is called the
 white poplar and another stinking poplar;  the  bark of
 both these kinds are good for medicine; but the latter
 is the  best, being the  most bitter.  It has tags  hanging
 on the limbs, which remain  on  till it leaves  out, which
 is about  a week  later than the other kind.  It has short
 brittle  twigs, which  are extremely bitter to the taste.
 The inner bark given in tea is one of the best articles
 to regulate the bile and  restore the digestive powers, of
 any thing I have ever used.   The bark may be taken
 from, the body of the tree, the limbs or the roots, and the
 outside shaved off and preserve  the inner bark, which
 should be  dried  and  carefully preserved for use.   To
 make the bitters, No.  4,  it should be pounded or ground
 fine, and mixed with the  other articles, or it may be used
 alone for the same purpose.  To make a tea, take a hand-
 ful of the bark pounded or cut intb small strips  and put
 into a quart mug, and  fill it with  boiling water, which if
 taken freely will relieve a relax, head-ache, faintness at
 the stomach, and many other complaints caused  by bad
 digestion.  Is good  for  obstructions of the  urine and
 weakness in the loins; and those  of a consumptive habit
 will find  great relief in using this tea freely.

              BARBERRY—the Bark.

  This is a well  known shrub, producing red berries, of
a pleasant sour taste, which are much used as a pickle,
and.are also  preserved with  sugar or  molasses.  The
 bark of the root or top  is  a good bitter and useful to cor-
 rect the bile and assist the digesture.   The bark should
 be collected at the proper season, carefully dried and
pounded  or ground to fine powder; and is used as a part
of the bitters, No. 4.   A  tea  made  of this  bark is
very good for all cases of indigestion, and may be free-
ly used. 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.
61
BITTER-ROOT, or WANDERING MILK-WEED.

  This valuable  vegetable grows in meadows and in
hedges, and in appearance is something like buckwheat,
having similar white  blossoms; when the stalk is broken
it discharges a milky substance ;  it has two small  pods
about the size of the cabbage seed  pods, with a silky
substance.  This  herb is wandering, that is, the roots
run  about under  ground to a considerable distance and
produces many stalks, which grow up from different parts
of the root to  the height of about two feet.  The  kind
that is  commonly known by the name  of wandering
milk-weed,  grows only  on upland; there  is  another
kind which grows near rivers and on islands, whrte
high water flows over it, this  differs some from the
other in appearance ;  the roots run deep in the  sand;
it has leaves and pods  like the first, and both are  good
for  medicine.  The bark  of the root  is  used.   The
roots should be  dug  and dried;  and  when  perfectly
dry  may  be pounded  in a mortar, when  the  bark  is
easily  separated  from  the woody part.   This root  is
very bitter  and is  one  of the  greatest  correctors of
the  bile  I  know Of;  and  is an  excellent medicine
to  remove  costiveness,  as  it  will cause  the bowels
to move  in a natural manner.    A strong decoction
of  this  root, made by steeping it in  hot water,  if
drank freely  will operate as a  cathartic,  and  some-
times  as  an emetic;  and is most sure to throw  off a
fever in its first  stages.    It should be used in  all cases
of costiveness.

GOLDEN  SEAL;  or, OHIO KERCUMA—the Root.

   This article grows  only in the  Western country; I
am not well enough acquainted with the herb, to give
a  description  of it; but of the medical virtues  of the
root, I have had a sufficient experience, to  recommend
it as a very pleasant bitter, and in cases where the food
in the stomach of weak patients causes distress, a tea-
spoonful of the powder given in  hot water sweetened,
will give  immediate relief.    It is an excellent  corrector
 of  the bile and  may  be used' for that purpose alone, or
              6 
62             New Guide  to Health;
with the bitter root, or may be compounded with either
or ail the articles described under this number,to restore
the digestive powers.  See Directions, &,c. page 82.
  The purposes for which the articles  described  under
tj'is head are used, is  to  regulate the stomach, so that
fho food taken into it, may  be properly digested ; and
I have mentioned enough to enable those who make use
of the practice to effect that object, if properly attended
to.  This is a very important  part of  the system of prac-
tice, for unless  the food is digested, it is impossible to
k^r-p up that heat upon Which life depends.
No. 5.—Syrup for the Dysentery, to strengthen
   the Stomach and Bowels, and  restore weak pa-
   tients.

   The  articles used in this preparation, are the bark of
poplar and  bayberry, which have been described, peach-
meats, or meats of cherry-stones, sugar and brandy.

                 PEACH-MEATS.

   The meats that are in the peach stones have long been
used as medicine, and need but  little to be said about
them, except that they are of great value  to strengthen
the stomach and  bowels,  and  restore the digesture  ;
for which purpose I  have made much use of them, and
always to good advantage.    Made  into a  cordial, with
ot";;er articles,  in'the  manner  as  will be  hereafter di-
rtied,  forms one of the  best remedies I know of^ to re-
cover the natural tone of the  stomach after long sick-
ness ; and  to restore weak patients,  particularly in dys-
entery.   A tea made of the leaves of the peach-tree is
very good  for bowel complaints in children and  younw
people,  and will remove cholic.

                CHERRY-STONES.

   The meats of the wild cherry-stones, are verv  crood
and may be used instead of the peach-meats, wbeii"thej 
or, Botanic  Family Physician.         63
cannot be had.  Get these stones as  clean as possible,
when well dried, pound them m a mortar, and  separate
the meats  from the  stones, Which is done  with  little
trouble ;  take the  same quantity as is  directed, of the
peach-meats, and it will answer equally as well.    A tea
made  of the  cherries, pounded with  the stones, and
steeped in hot water, sweetened with loaf sugar,  to which
add a little brandy, is good to restore the digestive pow-
ers, and create an appetite.
   Bitter  almonds  may be used as a substitute for the
peach-meats or cherry-stones, when they cannot be had.
See Directions, &c. page 82.
No. G,^-RIieumatic Drops, to remove pain, pre-
    vent  mortification,  and  promote  a  natural
    lieat.

  The principal articles used  in  this preparation, are
high wines, or fourth proof brandy, gum myrrh and Cay-
enne ;  for external  application, spirits  of turpentine  is
added, and sometimes gum camphor.    The manner of
preparing will be hereafter given.

                   GUM MYRRH.

  This is  a  gum obtained from a tree, which grows in
the East Indies, and is brought to  this  country and sold
by the  apothecaries  for medicinal  uses ;  there is noth-
ing sold by them that possesses more  useful and medi-
cinal properties than  this article ;  though  the  Doctors
Beem to have but little knowledge of its virtues.   All
those whom  1  have heard express an opinion upon it,
consider it or very  little value.   When  I  obtained my
Datent   Dr. Thornton, the  clerk of the  Patent  Office,
said it  was good for nothing ; all this  however, does
not lessen its value.   The first knowledge I had of it,
was when I was laid up with my lame ancle, at Onion
River, as has been before related in my narrative.   An
old man from Canada, passing that  way,  and hearing
of my  case, called to see me, and  observing the putrid 
64             New Guide to Health;
state  I was  in, told my father  that gum myrrh would
be good for me, as  it was  an excellent articje  to  pre-
vent mortification.   He immediately obtained  some of
the tincture, and not  having a syringe, he  took some
in his mouth,  and  squirted  it through a quill into the
wound ; the smarting was severe for a  short time.   By
tasting it himself and  finding  it  a pleasant bitter, he
gave me some to take ;  by using it, there was a favoura-
ble alteration,  both in my bodily health, and in the
•state  of my wound.   After  this, I had  great  faith in
this article, and was seldom without  it.   When I came
to have a family, I made  much use of myrrh; it was
one of the principal articles used  in restoring my wife,
when given over  by the mid-wife,  as related in my  nar-
rative.  In several cases of bad  wounds and  old sores,
it afforded great relief; and  in what the doctors  call
worm  complaints in  children, by  giving the tincture,
when such  symptoms appeared, it removed threm.   I
used it at this time, by  making  a  tincture  with  spirit;
but after having a knowledge of Cayenne, I put some
of this with it, which made it much better.    I  found
out by accident, that boiling it would prevent the fumes
of the spirit  from  rising  to the   head, which  would
Otherwise, in some  cases, produce  bad effects, particu-
larly  in such as were  subject  to  hysterical  affection.
This  was  the origin of  my rheumatic drops,  a  prepara-
tion which has proved  more generally useful  than  any
one compound I make use  of.   In selecting myrrh for
use, take that of a light brown colour, somewhat trans-
parent,-and of a bitter taste, a little pungent.   It should
be  reduced to a fine powder, by being pounded in a
mortar, before used,
 . »      *
            SPIRIT OP TURPENTINE.
  i
  This article is too  well known to need any descrip-
tion, being used by painters.    The only way in  which
I use it, is in such preparations as  are  intended  for ex-
ternal application, in  which I have found it useful.   A
proportion of it should be added to the  rheumatic drops,
when used for the itch or other bad  humours.   It is a
powerful article, and should be used with caution. 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         65
                 GUM CAMPHOR.

   I  shall say but little  about this article, as  I  never
found any very great advantages from its use, though I
never knew it to do any harm.   It is  made  much  use
of, and  I  think  there  is  more credit given to it than
what it deserves.   I have been in the habit of adding
soipe of it to the  rheumatic drops, when  used  for  bad
sprains, and in such cases  have found  it useful ;  and I
have no doubt but  that  it may be sometimes  given to
advantage to warm the stomach, and relieve  pain ; but
there are other articles  which I  make use of for that
purpose, that  are much better^   See  Directions, &c.
page 83.
                 NERVE POWDER.

 American Valerian, or Ladies' Slipper; sometimes call*
        ed Umbil, or Male and Female Nervine.

   There are four species of this valuable vegetable, one
 male and three female; the male is called yellow umbil,
 and grows in swamps and wet land ; has a large cluster
 of fibrous roots matted together,  joined to a solid root,
 which puts forth several stalks that grow about two feet
 high ; it has leaves something resembling* the poke leaf.
 The female kinds are distinguished  by  the  colour of
 the blossoms, which are red, red and white, and white.
 The  red  has but two leaves, which grow out  of the
 ground,  and lean  over to  the right  and  left, between
 which a  single  stalk  shoots up to the height of  from
 eight to ten inches, bearing on its top a red blossom of
 a very singular form, that gives it the name of female
 umbil.    This  kind is found on  high ledges 'and  in
 swamps.    The  red and white, and white umbil, grows
 only in swamps, and is in  larger clusters of roots,  than
 the yellow, but in a similar form ; its  top  is similar  to
 the red, except the colour of the blossom.   The  yellow
 and red are the best for medicine ; the roots should be
dug in the fall, when done growing, or in the spring, be-;
             6* 
66             New Guide  to Health;
fore the top puts*forth.   If dug when growing, the roots
will nearly all dry up.   When the roots  are dug, they
should be washed clean, carefully dried, and pounded or
ground to a fine powder, sifted through a fine sieve, and
preserved from the air for use.
   This powder is the best nervine  known ; I have made
great  use of  it, aud have  always found  it to produce
the most  beneficial effects,  in all  cases of nervous af-
fection, and in hysterical symptoms ;  in  fact, it  would
be difficult to  get along  with my practice in many cases
without this important article.   It is perfectly harmless,
and may be used in all cases of disease with safety ; and
is much better than opium, which  is  generally given  in
cases  of spasmodic  affection, and which  only deadens
the feelings, and relieves pain only by destroying sen-
sibility, without doing any good.   It has been supposed
 by the doctors to be of a narcotic nature ; but this is a
 mistake.   They have drawn this conclusion, I suppose,
 from  its tendency to  promote  sleep; but this  is alto-
 gether owing to its quieting the  nerves, and leaving the
 patient at ease, when nature requires  sleep to recover
 the natural  tone  of the system.   Half a tea-spoonful
 may be given in hot water sweetened, and the dose re-
 peated if necessary ; or the same  quantity may be mix-
 ed with a do3e of either the other numbers, when given,
 and put into the injections ; and where there is nervous
 symptoms, it  should never be dispensed with.   See Di-
 rections, &<e. page 83.
  I have, thus far given a description of all the impor-
tant vegetables made use of in my system of practice,
with the manner of preparing and using them.   I shall
now proceed to describe a number of articles of less
importance, all of which I  have used  and found good
in various complaints.  Some of them form a part of my
medical preparations, and many others may be used aa
substitutes for some  that have been mentioned.  They
are all of  a warming nature, and may be  used to advan-
tage in throwing off disease in its first stages. 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         67
                   SPEARMINT.

  This is a well known herb, and makes a very pleas-
ant tea, which may be freely used  in  sickness.   Tho
most  valuable  property it possesses, is to stop vomit-
ing.    If the  Emetic Herb, or  any other  cause should
produce violent vomiting, by giving a strong tea made
of this herb, it will stop it, and sit pleasantly on  the
stomach.

                   PEPPERMINT.
   This article  is very hot in its  nature, and may be
used to advantage to promote perspiration and overpower
the cold.   I have frequently used  it  for  that purpose
with success;  but it is volatile, and will not retain the
heat long in  the stomach.   In colds and slight attacks of
disease,  to drink  freely of a tea made of this herb on
going to bed, will throw  it off.   The essence, put in
warm water, is good  to  give  children, and will relieve
 pain in the  stomach and bowels.   A  few drops of the
oil,  given in  warm  water, or  on  loaf sugar, is  good
 for the  same purpose.

                   PENNYROYAL.

   This herb grows common in all  parts of  the country,
 and is too well known to need  any description.    It is
 an  article of great value  in medicine, and a tea of it
 may be freely used in  all cases of sickness.    It is good
 for the  stomach, being warming and cleansing ; if drank
 freely,  will produce  perpsiration,  and remove obstruc-
 tions.   In  colds and slight attacks of disease, it will be
  likely to throw it off, and prevent sickness.   It is very
  good for children, and will remove pain in  the bowels
  and wind.   In going through  a  course  of medicine, a
 • tea of this  herb may  be given for drink, and will cause
  the medicine to  have a pleasant operation.

                  SUMMERSAVORY.

     This herb grows in gardens, and  is made use of to
   i^ason  meats in cooking ; it is of  a very pleasant flavour
   and of a hot nature.   A tea of it is good for colds, and 
68             New Guide  to Health;
may be used  freely in case of sickness.   There 'is  an
oil made from this herb, which will cure the tooth-ache,
by putting a little on cotton wool, and applying it to the
affected  tooth.

                 . HOARHOUND.
  This plant grows common in this country, and is
made much  account of in removing cough.   An  in-
fusion  made  of the leaves,  sweetened with honey, il
good for  the  asthma, and all complaints of the  lungs.
The syrup of this plant will loosen tough phlegm, and
remove hoarseness caused by a  bad  cold.   The hoar-
hound candy is very  useful  for  such as are  troubled
with cough, particularly old people, and those -that are
short winded.

                  ELECAMPANE.

  The root of this plant made into syrup, is good for a
cough ; and I have made use  of it for that purpose with
advantage in  many cases, and can recommend it as a
safe and useful remedy in complaints of that  kind.

                   MAYWEED.

  A tea made of this herb, to be drank hot when going
to bed, is very good for a cold ; and  in slight attacks of
a fever, if used freely, and a hot  stone put  to  the feet,
will in most cases throw it off.  It grows common  in old
fields, and by the sides of roads.

                  WORMWOOD.
  This .herb  is a very wholesome  bitter, and  may  be
taken to advantage in different ways.  It is of  a hot
nature and is  good for the  stomach,  to create  an appe-
tite,  and assist the digesture.   It may be taken in tea,
or the green herb may be pounded and tinctured in spir?
it, which is good to apply to a bruise or sprain.

                     TANSY.

  This is a hot bitter herb, grows common in highways,
and is cultivated in gardens.  A tea made of this herb 
or, Botanic Family  Physician.         69
is  good for hysterics and  other female, complaints ;  it
will strengthen those that have weak reins and kidneys,
and  is good for the stranguary, or stoppage of urine.—
The green leaves pounded, are good to  put  on  bruises
and sprains, and will allay the swelling.

                   CHAMOMILE.

   This is a  well known herb, the. flowers are sold, by
the apothecaries and are made much use of in a tea for
many complaints.   It is good given in a tea for bowel
complaints,  and externally applied, will  relieve sprains,
bruises, and swellings, and remove callouses, corns, &c.
and restore shrunk sinews.

                 BITTER-SWEET.

   This herb  has long  been esteemed  as  a medicine
of considerable value for  many complaints.   It grows
common  in this country, in  hedges  where the  ground
is  moist, and the top runs  along the ground or  climbs
on  bushes.   Its taste when  chewed is first bitter and
then sweet, which has given its name.   It is said to be
a  good medicine  for internal injuries and  to  remove
obstructions,  which I  have no doubt is correct; but
the only  way I  make use of it is for  external applica-
cation; the bark of the root with chamomile and worm-
wood makes  an  ointment of great  value, which is an
excellent  thing for  a  bruise, sprain,  calice, swelling,
or for corns.
                     MULLEN.

   The  leaves of this plant are very  good to bring down
swelling and to restore  contracted sinews, by pounding
them and applying them  warm  to the part  affected.
For external use, they are an excellent article in  many
complaints.   This herb is too well known to need any
description.   It is an important article  in my strength-
ening plaster.

                    BURDOCK.
   The leaves of this plant wilted  by the fire and ap-
plied to an  external injury, will -allay the  inflammation 
70
New Guide, to  Health;
 and ease pain; and they are good pounded  and put on
 to  a bruise or sprain, as it  will give immediate relief.
 It  is  made use  of in the strengthening plaster.   The
 leaves are good applied to the  feet in case of (evei, to
 keep them moist and promote perspiration.

                SKUNK-CABBAGE.
   This vegetable  grows common in  all  parts of New-
 England ; it has large leaves something resembling  cab-
 bage, from which and its disagreeable smell, it takes its
 name; it may be found  in the  meadows  and wet land.
 The root only is used  for medicine,  which should be
 dug and split  into strips and carefully dried; when  dry
 it should  be  pounded  or ground to a powder.  This
 powder may be taken in tea sweetened, or made into a
 syrup, or half a tea-spoonful  may be mixed in honey
 and taken in the  morning, or  at night when going to
 bed.   It is good for asthma, cough, difficulty of breath-
 ing, and all disorders of the lungs, and  with other ar-
 ticles makes, one of the  best preparations for those com-
 plaints I .have ever found.

                WAKE ROBIN.

   This plant grows wild in  this country.   It has three
 triangular leaves, from between them it puts forth a na-
 ked stalk,  on the  top of which, is a  singular stem or
 pistil enclosed in a sheath, resembling a flower, which is
 followed by a bunch of reddish berries.   The root is used
 for medicine, and resembles a small turnip.   This  root
 is extremely pungent and stimulating,  and is often given
 for cholic  and pain in the  bowels, and  to  expel  wind.
 I have mostly made use  of it for cough and disorders of
 the lungs, for which I have fouud it a very useful article,
*nd it forms part of my composition  for coughs.  The
 root should be dried and reduced to a powder, and uiay
 be given mixed with honey, or in a syrup.

               THOROUGHWORT.

  This herb is well known in the country, and is made
use of  by the people in  tea for many complaints.  It is 
or, Botanic  Family Physician.
71
of a warming nature, and is good for  cough and other
complaints of the lungs.  It is used in my compound,
prepared for coughs.

                 FEATHERFEW.

   This herb is stimulating and is good for hysteric com-»
plaint.*, and many other disorders common to females.
It promotes the passage of urine, and  removes obstruc-
tion/ in those parts.    It should be  taken in tea alone,
or oiay be added with  chamomile, and used  to advan-
tage in all cases' of obstructions.

                     CLIVERS.
                                                   »
   This is a sort of joint grass and grows in mowing land,
 where the ground is wet.   It has small leaves  at each
joint; the stalk is four square and the edges are rough
 like a sickle.   This herb made into  a  strong tea and
 drank freely is very  good for-the stoppage of urine, and
may be made use of for all obstructions in those parts to
 advantage.

              BLACK BIRCH BARK.

   A tea  made of this bark is useful in curing all com-
 plaints of the bowels  and to remove obstructions.   I
 hare made much use of it in dysentery.   This tea with
 peachmeats or cherry stone meats, made into a syrup,
 is an  excellent article to  restore patients after having
 been  reduced by that  disease, and to promote the  di-
 gesture.   It is good for canker and all complaints of the
 bowels.

                    EVAN ROOT.

   This is called by some  people  chocolate root, on ac-
 count of its resembling that article in taste, and is made
 use of by some for  common drink instead of tea or cof-
 fee.   It is good  for canker, and may be used in  No. 3
 as a substitute for other articles.   It grows  common in
 thid country and is  too well known to need describing. 
72             New Guide  to  Health;
             SLIPPERY ELM BARK.

   The  inner  bark of this  tree  is an article of much
value, and may be  used to advantage in maay different
ways. .  There are  several species of the elm  vhat grow
common in this country-;  and there are two kinds of the
slipperry elm,  one  the bark  is  rather hard and tough,
and  the other is  very brittle;  the  latter is the best for
medicinal uses.   The bark  should be peeled, the nut-
side  ross shaved off, dried, and ground or pounded u a
fine  powder.   If used internally, put a  tea-spoonful of
this  powder into a tea-cup  with as much sugar, mix
them well together, then add a little cold water and stir
it till perfectly mixed, and then put hot water to it and
stir till it forms a jelly thick enough to be eaten with a
spoon.  A tea-spoonful may be  taken at  a  time, and
is  an excellent medicine to heal soreness in the throat,
stomach and bowels,  caused by canker;  or  more hot
water may be put to it and made into a drink, and free-
ly  taken for the same  purpose.   I have made much use
of this bark for  poultices, and  have in all cases found
it  a  most excellent article  for that  purpose.   Mixed
with  pounded cracker and  ginger it makes the  best
poultice I have ever  found; for burns,  scalds,  felons,
old sores, &c. it  is  the  best  thing I nave  met  with,
to  allay  the inflammation, ease  the  pain and heal  them
in  a  short time.

                   BALSAM  FIR.

  This. balsam is  obtained from  a  tree  well  known in
many parts of  this country;  it  is taken "from small blis-
ters which form in the bark.  It is of a very healing na-
ture, and is good to remove internal soreness.  It forms
an important article in my healing salve.   When taken
it may be dropped on  loaf sugar.

                    GENTIAN.
  This  root grows wild in this country; and is found
plentifully in Vermont.    It  was  formerly collected for
exportation, and large quantities of it were  sent to  Chi-
na, where it brought  a great price.  It is said the peor 
            or, Botanic  Family Physician.         73

 pie of that country considered  it of great value;  but
 for what purpose  they use it, is, I believe, only known
 to  themselves.   It  is a  nervine  and may be used to
 advantage  in all  cases of nervous affection, either  alone
 or mixed with  other articles.  The root  should be dug
 in the fall, dried  and reduced to a fine powder;  from
 half to a tea-spoonful may be given for a  dose, in  hot
 water sweetened.

                   SNAKEROOT.

   This is  a well known article,  grows wild, and may
 be  found  in most parts  of  this  country.   It is of a
 hot nature, and  is  made much use  of in tea,  for mea-
 sles and  other eruptions, to  keep the  disorder out,
 for which  it  is  considered  very  good;  this is owing
 to  its warming  qualities, which  keeps  the determin-
 ing powers to  the surface, which  effect may be produc-
 ed  by almost  any strong  stimulant; but No. 2, or  the
 composition powders, is much the best for that purpose.
 A tea made of  this root may  be given to advantage
 in  many case's of disease ;  it has  a  tendency to pro-
 mote  perspiration,  and  is good to remove pain in  the
 stomach and bowels, and expel wind.  The roots  re-
 duced to powder  maybe mixed with  gentian-or umbil
 for all nervous  complaints.

                     MUSTARD.
  The seed of this  herb is principally made use of  for
 culinary  purposes, being eaten -on meat; for which it is
 ground  to  a fine  powder and  mixed with warm water.
 It is  very  pungent and  of a hot nature;  but is volatile
 and will not hold the heat long enough to do much good
 in retaining the internal  heat.  It is good to create an
 appetite and assist the digesture;  and given in hot wa-
ter  sweetened,  will  remove  pain  in  the  bowels and
stomach.   It is frequently used for rheumatism, both  in-
ternally and externally;  but Nos. 2 and 6, are much bet-
ter  for that purpose. 
74             New Guide to  Health;
                 HORSERADISH.

  The root of this  plant  is mostly used  for  culinary
purposes,, and it has s,ome medicinal  properties.  It is of
a hot nature, but very volatile-,  its warming  qualities
will  mostly evaporate  before it gets into the  stomach.
The roots  may  be given  to promote the  appetite and
assist the digesture.   The  leaves are sometimes applied
to remove external pain, but is apt to raise a blister.

               BALM OF GILEAD.

  This tree is of the species of the poplar and possesses
some medicinal virtues.   It resembles the kind of poplar  ■
that  has been described, having similar tags;  but  the
buds and,  leaves are larger.    The buds bruised and
tinctured  in spirit, produces an effect something like the
tincture of myrrh ; and is  good taken inwardly as a res-
torative, and for bathing sores.  The bark scraped from
the  twigs  and steeped in hot water, is a"good  corrector
of the  bile, and will operate  both as an emetic and
cathartic;  it  is  more harsh than  the  other  kind  of
poplar,  but may  be  used  to advantage  in many cases
of disease.

                   BUTTERNUT.
   This tree grows  common in this country, and is well
 known  from  the nut which it bears, of an oblong shape
 and nearly as large  as  an egg, in  which  i*a  meat con-
 taining much oil, and very  good to eat.   The bark of
 this tree  is used by the  country people to colour with.
 The bark  taken from  the body of the tree or roots and
 boiled  down  till thick, may be made into pills, and  op-
 erates as a powerful emetic  and cathartic ; a syrup may
 be made by boiling the bark and adding  one  third mo-
 lasses  and a little spirit, which is good to  give children
 for  worm  complaints.  The buds and twigs may also be
 nsed for the same purpose, and are more  mild.   White
 ash bark and balm  of gilead may be added, equal parts,
  and made into  syrup  or pills.  Those  who are  fond
 of drastic  purges  may  have their  ends  sufficiently an-
 swered by these preparations,  and they are  the most 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.         75

safe  and harmless of any'that I know of; and  those
who wish to  be tortured  with  blisters, can have them
cheap, by bruising  the green  shell of the nut, or  the
bark, and  applying  it where the  blister  is  wanted,
keeping  the  bandage wet, and in  three hours  they
will  be completely  drawn,  and the  sljin  as  black as
that of an  African.   This  is  much  quicker  and safer
than if done  with flies, and will not  cause stranguary.
The  bark of the butternut is  the principal ingredient
in Dr. Hawkes' rheumatic and cancer pills,  and  also
of Chamberlain's bilious  cordial, which hava been so
celebrated  for many complaints.  It is called  by some
people oilnut and lemon walnut.

         BLUE AND WHITE VERVINE.

  This is' a well known  herb, growing very common;
it ranks next  to  the  emetic herb, for  a puke;  and may
be  used for  that purpose  either   alone  or  combined
with  thoroughwort.   It  is  good  to  prevent  a fever
in its first stages.   This  herb has  been used  with
considerable  success  in   consumption, having  cured
several  cases  where the doctors had given them over.
It may be used in a tea made of the  dry herb, or  pre-
pared in powder like the emetic herb.

      PIPSISWAY, or RHEUMATIC WEED.

  This herb  grows on mountainous land, and on pine
plains, where the boxberry or checkerberry  is  found
plenty.   It is an ever-green,  and  grows  from three to
six inches high, has a number of dark  green leaves,
about half an inch wide  and  from one  to two inches
long,  with a scolloped   edge; bears several brown
seeds resembling  all-spice.   The  tops and  roots are
used  for  medicine.   The roots   when  chewed  are
very pungent, which  will  be  felt  for  several  hours on
the tongue, as though  burnt.   A strong tea  made of
this  plant  is  good  for cancers and all  scrofulous  hu-
mours,  by drinking the  tea  and  bathing with it  the
parts affected. 
76            New  Guide to Health ;

  Another  evergreen plant, called wild lettuce, grows
on the same kind of land, which possesses much the
same medical properties as the above.  It has round
leaves, from the size of a cent to that of  a dollar, re-
sembling a  common lettuce.  The roots  of this plant
and  of the pipsisway,  dried  and powdered together,
equal parts, is good to  cure all bad  humours.  Take a
tea-spoonful of the powder in  a glass  of hot water, and
bathe the parts affected with the same.  It is also good
tt) restore weak nerves.

                  GOLDENROD.

  This herb  may be  found  common on pine plains
and  in hedges; it grows  about two or three feet high,
has  a long  narrow leaf, very smooth  and  glossy, and a
large cluster  of yellow blossoms; it  has  a sweety spi-
cy taste and smell, resembling fennel or annise.  There
is an oil obtained from this  herb good  for medicine;
and  also prepared in  essence, is good for pain in the
head, to be taken, or the outside bathed with it.  The
oil  is good to scent the bayberry and bitter-root snuff,
which is  very good to be. taken and snuffed  up the
nose.   There  are  several  herbs that  resemble this
in   appearance,  but are  very  different  in smell  and
taste.

                 MEADOW FERN.

   This is  a shrub, and grows in meadows and by the
side of stagnant  water, sometimes growing in the water;
 it is found in thick bunches, and grows from two to
 three feet high.  When the leaVes are off it has a large
 bud which is larger on some bushes  than others;  some
 of  them bear a small bur, or cluster of seeds, which,
 when rubbed between the fingers, leaves an oily or bal-
 samy substance,  having a fragrant smell, something like
 spirits of turpentine.
   These burs pounded fine  and  simmered in cream,
 hogs lard,or fresh butter, is almost a sovereign remedy
 for  the itch, or  external poison,  and all  bad  humour
 sores  When the  burs  cannot be had, take the bush
 and buds and make  a strong decoction; drink of this 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         77
and wash with the same.  This  liquor may be  prepar-
ed in  syrup, and by boiling it  down  may be  made in-
to ointment as has been described  fof  the burs;  the
syrup  should  be  taken  and   the   ointment put  on
the affected  parts.   This  ointment, or the wash,  is
good  for salt-rheum,  or canker  sores, and  may  be
used freely.

                 YELLOW DOCK.

   The  root of this plant is well known  as being made
into ointment  for the itch.  The roots should be  bruised
fine in a mortar and put in a pewter  bason, add cream
enough  to make an ointment, keep it warm for twelve
hours, be careful  not to scald it.  Rub  it on at night
when going to bed.  Three times using it will generally
effect  a cure.   The  foregoing described ointments,
together with  No. 3, and the rheumatic  drops prepared
with  the spirits of turpentine, will  be sufficient to cure
any case of this complaint.

                  PRICKLY ASH.  .

   This  is a shrub or bush that  grows  in the Western
country, and  is well known by the people  there.   It
grows from eight to twelve feet  high, and bears a berry
that grows close to  the limbs;  it has  leaves like  the
 white-ash.   The bark  and the berries are used  for
 medical  purposes.    The  berries are  very pungent,
 and are a powerful stimulant, as also the bark  of the top
 and roots, though not so strong.   It  should be pounded
 to a powder and steeped in hot water, then put Into wine
 or spirit, and it  makes a very good hot bitter.  Take
 half a glass  two or three times  a day;  it is good for fe-
 ver and ague, for which it is much  used;  and for leth-
 argy,  or sleepiness, and for cold feet  and hands, and
 other complaints caused by cold.

                 BITTER THISTLE.

    This herb is a species of the thistle, and is cultivated
 in gardens.   It  is of one years growth, the seed  being
 sown in the  spring and it comes to  maturity in the fall.
 The stalk has a number of branches, and  a great quan-
               7* 
78             New Guide to Health;
thy of leaves.   The leaf is some larger than Jthe Canada
thistle, with pricklds like it;  and  it bears seeds  about
the size of  the  barley corn,  with  a beard  on the end
nearly as  long  as  the  seed.  The  leaves are used for
medicine, which may be steeped in hot water, and drank
like other  herb tea, or they may be reduced to a powder
and taken in molasses or warm water, or in wine or spirit.
It is  an excellent corrector  of the bile, and  may  be
safely used for that purpose.   The Cardis Benedictus, or
beloved thistle, is  cultivated  in the same manner, and
may be used for the same purpose.

                  ARCHANGEL.

   This herb grows wild in wet land, and may be often
found among the grass, and at the edges of plough fields.
It grows  from  four  to  twelve  inches high ; the leaves
are rather smaller than mint leaves;  it  bears a kind of
bur containing seed, which grows round the stalk at each
joint.   There are two kinds which grow near each other;
they look' very much alike,  but are very different  in
taste.  One is very  bitter and the other has no bitter
taste, but is very rough and of a balsamic taste.   They
may be used together in a lea or syrup, and answer two
important purposes;  the  rough removes the canker and
the bitter  is a corrector  of the bile.   By  adding  No. 2,
the compound  contains the three great principles of the
healing art, viz. hot, rough and bitter. 
           DIRECTIONS

      rOR PRKPAKING AND USINO

VECtETABEE  MEDICIIVE.
               JVo. 1.—Emetic Herb.

   The  preparation of this herb has been sufficiently de-
scribed, for  which see page 43.  It  is prepared and
used in three different ways,  viz: *
*   1. The powdered leaves and pods.   This is the most
common form of using it;  and from half to a tea-spoon-
ful may be taken in  warm  water sweetened ;  or the
same quantity may be put into either of the other num-
bers when taken ; to cleanse the stomach,  overpower
the cold, and promote a free perspiration.
   2. A tincture  made from  the  green herb in spirit.
This is used, to counteract the effects  of poison ; to  be
either internally or externally used ;  and for asthma and
other complaints  of the  lungs.   For a dose take  a tea-
spoonful, adding  about  the same quantity of No. 2, in
half a  tea-cupful of warm water sweetened, and in  all
cases of nervotfs affection add half a tea-spoonful of nerve
powder.  For the external effects of  poison, take the
above dose, and bathe the parts affected with the tincture,
repeating it till  cured.
   3. The seeds  reduced to  a fine  powder and mixed
with Nos. 2 and 6.  This is for the most violent attacks
of spasms and other complaints, such as lock-jaw, bite of
a mad dog, fits, drowned persons, and all cases of suspend-
ed animation,  where the vital spark is nearly extinct.
For a dose give a tea-spoonful, and repeat it till relief ia
obtained ; then follow with a tea of No. 3, for  canker.
   For children, the dose must be  regulated according to
their age.  If  very young, steep a dose of the powder 
80
New Guide to  Health;
in half a tea-cupful of warm water,'or  tea  of raspberry
leaves, and give a tea-spoonful  at  a  time of the tea,
strained through a fine cloth, and  sweetened, repeating
the dose  every ten  minutes,  till  it operates; and give
pennyroyal, or some other herb tea for drink.


                No.  2.—Cayenne.

   This is a medicine of great value in  the practice, and
may be safely used in all cases of disease, to raise  and
retain the internal vital heat of the system, cause a free
perspiration, and keep the determining  powers to the
surface.   The only preparation is to have it reduced to
a  fine  powder.   For a  dose, take  from half to a tea-
spoonful, in hot water, or a tea of No. 3, sweetened ; or
the same quantity may be mixed  with  a dose of either
the other  numbers  when  taken.   The  dose  should be
repeated every ten or fifteen minutes till the desired ob-
ject is  effected, and continued occasionally  till health is
restored.   When this number is given, the patient should
be kept  warm, by sitting by the fire, covered with a
blanket, or in a warm bed.

               No. 3,—For Canker.

   Take Bayberry root bark, white pond Lily root, and
the inner bark of Hemlock, equal parts  of each pound-
ed and well  mixed together; steep one ounce  of the
powder in a pint of boiling water, aud  give  for a dose, a
common wine glass full, sweetened.
   If the  above cannot be  had,  take  as  a substitute,
sumach bark, leaves  or berries, red-raspberry or witch-
hazle  leaves, marsh  rosemary, or either of  the  other
articles described under the head of No.  3; they are
all good for canker, and  may be.used  together  or  sep-
arate.
   When  the violence of the disease requires a course of
medicine, steep one ounce of the above mentioned pow-
der, No. 3, in a pint of boiling water,  strain off a wine
glass full while hot, and  add a  tea-spoonful of No. 2,
and the same quantity of sugar;  when  cool  enough to 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.         81

take, add a tea-spoonful of No. 1, and half that quanti-
ty of nerve powder.   Let this dose b© given three times,
at intervals of fifteen minutes ; and let the same  com-
pound  be given by injection, and if the case requires it
again repeat it.  If mortification  is apprehended, a tea-
spoonful of No. 6, may be added  to each  dose, and-to
the injections.
   After the patient has recovered sufficiently from the
operation of the medicine, which is  usually in two or
three hours, place them over the steam, as is directed in
page 21.
   This operation is sufficient for one time,  and must be
repeated each day, or  every other  day, as  the circum-
stances of the case may require, till the disorder is re-
moved.   Three times will generally  be sufficient, and
sometimes once or twice will  answer the purpose ; but
in bad chronic cases it may be necessary to continue to
carry them through a regular course two or three  times
a week,  for a considerable length of time.
   Great care must be taken to keep up an internal heat,
so  as  to produce  perspiration,  after  they have been
through  the operation, by giving  occasionally No.  2, or
the composition powder, for if this is not  attended to,
the patient may have a relapse, in which case it will be
very difficult to raise it again,  as they will fall as much
below  a  natural heat as they have been raised  above it
by artificial means.
   During the operation give milk porridge, or gruel, well
seasoned, with a little cayenne in it; and after it js over,
the patients may  eat  any" kind of nourishing food that
the appetite may crave.
   A tea-cupful of the tea of No. 3, should be taken
night and  morning, to prevent a relapse of the disease,
and during the day drink frequently of a  tea made of
poplar, bark ; and if costive, use the bitter root.
   Aslsoonasthe disorder ft  removed, use the bitters,
No. 4,  to correct  the  bile  and  restore  the  diges-
ture ;  and half a wine glass  full of  the syrup, No. 5,
may be  taken  two or  three  times a day, which  will
strengthen the stomach and assist in regulating the d\~
gestivc powers. 
82             New Guide to Health;

  The foregoing directions are calculated  for the more
.violent attacks of disease, and such as have become set-
tled ;  but those of a less violent nature must be  treated
according to circumstances.   In  the first stages of a
disease, it may  be most generally thrown  off by a dose
of the emetic herb, with No. 2, to raise a  free perspira-
tion, followed by a tea  of No. 3, to remove the canker,
and the bitters  or a tea of poplar  bark, to regulate the
digesture.    For a sudden cold, take a dose of the com-
position powder on going to bed, and put  a  hot stone,
wrapped in  wet  cloths, at the  feet, which will  in most
cases remove the complaint;  but if these applications do
not answer the purpose, the  patient should be  carried
through a regular course as soon as possible.  Steaming
is safe and will always  do good, and  the injections must
not be neglected, particularly where  the bowels  are dis-
ordered.   In consumption, and all  old lingering com-
plaints, give  the composition  powder for  two or  three
days before going through a regular course.


                 No. 4*—Bitters.

  Take  the  Bitter Herb,  or Balmony, Barberry and
Poplar bark, equal parts, pulverized, one  ounce of the
powder  to a pint of hot water, and half a  pint of spirit.
For a dose, take half a wine  glass full.  For hot bitters,
add a tea-spoonful of No. 2.
  This  preparation is calculated to correct the  bile and
create an * appetite, by restoring  the  digestive  powers;
and may be freely used both  as a restorative and to pre-
vent disease.
  When the above" articles cannot  be had, either  of
those that have  been  before described  under No.  4,
which are all good  for the same  purpose, may be used
as a, substitute.

                  No. 5.—Syrup.

  Take Poplar bark and bark of the  root  of Bayberry,
one pound each, and boil them in two gallons  of water,
strain off and add seven pounds of good sugar; then 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.         83

scald and skim it, and add half a pound of peachmeats;  -
or the same quantity  of cherry-stone  meats, pounded"
fine.   When cool, add a gallon of good  brandy ;  and
keep it in bottles for use.  Take half a wine  glass full
two or three times a day.
   Any other quantity may be prepared, by observing the
same proportion of the different articles.
   This syrup is very good  to strengthen the stomach
and  bowels,  and   to  restore  weak  patients ;  and  is
particularly useful in  the dysentery,  which leaves the
stomach  and bowels in  a sore state.   In a relax, or
the first stages of the dysentery, by using  a tea of No.  "•
3, freely, and  giving this syrup, it  will generally cure
it, and will also prevent those exposed, from taking the
disease.


            No.  6.—Rheumatic  Drops..

   Take  one gallon of  good  fourth proof  brandy, or any
kind of high  wines, one pound of gum  Myrrh pound-
ed fine,  one ounce of No. 2, and put  them into a stone
jug, and boil it a few minutes in a kettle of water, leav-
ing  the jug  unstopped.   When settled, bottle,it up for
 use.  It may be prepared  without boiling, by letting  it
stand in  the jug  for  five or  six 3ays, shaking it well
every day, when it will be fit for use.
   These  drops are to  remove pain and  prevent morti-
fication, to be taken, or applied externally or to be put •
into the injections  One or two tea-spoonfuls of these
drops  may be given alone, or  the  same  quantity  may
be put  into  a dose of  either of the medicines before
mentioned ;  and may  be also used  to  bathe with in all
cases of external  swellings  or pains.  It is an excel-
lent remedy  for  rheumatism,  by-  taking  a dose  and
 bathing the parts affected  with it.   In.the headache,
 by taking a swallow, and bathing  the head,  and  snuff-
 ing a little up the nose, it will remove  the  pain.   It is
 good for bruises, sprains, swelled joints, and  ojd sores ;.
 as it will allay the inflammation, bring down swelling,
 ease pain, aud produce a  tendency  to  heal ;  in  fact,
 there is hardly a complaint, in which  this useful medi- 
84
New Guide to Health;
 cine cannot  be used to advantage.   It is the best
 preservative against mortification  of any  thing I have
 ever found.
    For bathing, in  rheumatism, itch, or other humours,
 or in any swelling or external pain, add one quarter part
 of spirits of turpentine ;  and for sprains and bruises, a-
 little gum camphor may be added.

                 NERVE POWDER.

    This is the  American Valerian,  or Umbilj and the
 preparation  has been sufficiently  described,  for  which
 see page 65.   This powder is a valuable and  safe medi-
 cine, and may be used in all cases without danger; and
 when there are  nervous symptoms,  it  must never be dis-
 pensed with.    For a dose, take  half a tea-spoonful  in
 no't water sweetened ;  or  the same quantity  should be
 put into a dose of either of the other  medicine, and also
 into the injections, in all nervous cases.

   COMPOSITION ; or, VEGETABLE POWDER.

   Take two pounds of the bayberry-root bark, one pound
 of the  inner  bark  of Hemlock,  one  pound  of ginger,
 two ounces of Cayenne, two ounces of cloves,  all pound-
 ed fine, sifted through a fine  sieve, and well  mixed to-
 gether.  For a dose, take a tea-spoonful of this powder,
 with an equal quantity of  sugar, and put to it half a tea-
 cupful of boiling water ;  to be taken  as soon as suffi-
 ciently  cool, the  patient being in bed, or by the  fire,
 covered with a blanket.
   This composition is calculated  for the first stages and
 in less violent attacks  of disease.  It is a medicine of
 much value, and may be safely used in all complaints of
 male or female, and for children.    It  is good  for relax.
 dysentery, pain in the  stomach and bowels, and to re-
 move all obstructions caused by cold, or loss of inward
 heat: by taking a dose on going to bed, and  putting a
 hot stone to the feet, wrapped in wet cloths, it  will cure
 a bad cold, and will generally throw off a disease  in its
first stages, if repeated two or three times.   If the symp-
 toms are violent, with much pain, add to each  dose a 
or, Botanic  Family Physician.         85
 tea-spoonful of No. 6, and half a tea-spoonful of No. 1;
 and in nervous  symptoms, add  half a  tea-spoonful of
 nerve powder ; at the same time give an injection of the
 same.   If these should not answer  the  purpose, the pa-
 tient must be  carried through a  regular  course  of the
 medicine, as has  been before described.

                 COUGH POWDER.

    Take four  tea-spoonfuls of Skunk  Cabbage, two of
 Kbarhound, one of Wake-robin, one  of No. 1, one of
 No. 2, one of  Bayberry bark, one of. Bitter root, and one
 of nerve powder, all made fine and  well mixed together.
 When taken to be mixed with  molasses.   Take half a
 tea-spoonful of the powder on going to bed ; keep warm,
 and continue taking it till relief is obtained, particularly
 on going to bed.
    Where the  cough has been of long standing, it will
 be best, while taking this prescription, to go through
 a  regular  course of  the  medicine, and repeat it  if
 necessary.

                CANCER PLASTER.

    Take the heads of red clover, and fill  a brass kettle,
 and boil them in  water for one hour ;  then  take them
. out, and fill the kettle again  with  fresh ones, and boil
 them as before in the same  liquor.   Strain  it  off and
 press the heads to get out all  the  jjiice ; then  simmer
 it over a  slow  fire till  it is  about the consistence of
 tar, when  it will be fit for use.   Be careful not to let
 it burn.    When used  it should be spread on a piece of
 bladder, split  and made soft.   It is  good to cure cancers,
 sore lips, and  all  old sores.

                       SALVE.

    Take one pound of Bees-wax, one do.  of salt Butter,
 one and  a half  do.  of  Turpentine, twelve1 ounces of
 Balsam-fir ; melt and simmer them together ;  then strain
 it off into a basin, and keep itfor use.  It may be used to
 heal fresh wounds, burns, scalds and all bad sores, after
 the  inflammation is allayed, and the wound cleansed.
               8 
86             Neto Guide to  Health;
          STRENGTHENING PLASTER.

   Take Burdock leaves and Mullen leaves, bruise them
 and put them in  a kettle, with a  sufficient quantity of
 yater, and boil  them  well ; then  strain off the  liquor,
 press or squeeze the leaves, and boil it  down  till  about
 hair as thick as molasses.; then add three parts of Rosin
 and one of Turpentine, and simmer well together, until
 the water is evaporated ;  then pour it off into cold water,
 and work it with the hands  like  shoemaker's wax ; if
 too hard put in more turpentine, when  it  will  be fit for
 use.   It should  be spread on soft leather and applied to
the part affected ;  and  it is good to strengthen weakness
in the back  and  other parts of the  body.

                VOLATILE  SALTS.
   Take crude Sal Amoniac, one  ounce, Pearlash, two
ounces,  and pound each by  itself, mix  them well to-
gether, and  keep, it close stopped in a bottle for use.   By
damping it  with spirit or essence,  will  increase the
strength. This  applied to the  nose, is good for faint ties?,
and to remove pain in the  head ; and is  much better
than what is generally  sold by  the apothecaries.

              NERVE  OINTMENT.
   Take the bark of the root of Bitter-sweet, two  parts ;
of wormwood and  chamomile, each equal,  one  part,
when green, or if dry,  moisten it with hot water ;  which
put into horse or porpoise  oil, or any kind of soft animal
oil, and simmer them over a slow fire for twelve hours ;
then strain it off, and add  one ounce of spirits of Tur-
pentine to each pound  of ointment.   To  be used for a
bruise, sprain, calice, swelling, or for corns.

                    POULTICE.
   Make a strong tea of Raspberry leaves, or of No. 3 ;
take a cracker pounded fine, and  slippery-elm bark pul-
verized, with ginger, and make a pouitice  of the same.
This is  good  for  old sores, whitlows,  felons, and for bad
burns, scalds, and  parts frozen.   Apply this poultice and
renew it, at least as often as every twelve or twenty-four
hours, and wash  with soap suds at  every renewal; wet- 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.       w 87
ting it in the interim with cold water, or a  tea of Rasp-
berry leaves, till it discharges ;  then apply  the salve till
a cure is effected.

           INJECTIONS, or CLYSTERS.
  This manner of  administering  medicine  is  of the
greatest importance to the sick;  it will  frequently give
relief when all other applications fiil. . It is supposed that
the use of them is of great  antiquity ; whether  this  be
true or not, the using theru to relieve the sick, was cer-
tainly a very valuable discovery ;  and no doubt thousands
of lives have been saved by  it.   The* doctors  have long
been  in the practice of directing injections to be given to
their patients, but they seem to have no-other object in ad-
ministering them, than to cause a movement in the bowels;
therefore  it was immaterial what they were made of.
   According to the  plan which I  have  adopted, there
are certain  important objects" aimed  at in the adminis-
tration of medicine to remove  disease,  viz. to raise the
internal heat, promote perspiration, remove the canker,
guard against  mortification, and restore  the digestion.
To accomplish these objects, the medicine, necessary to
remove the  complaint,  must be applied  to that part
where the disease is seated ; if in  the  stomach only, by
taking the  medicine, it m,ay be removed ;  but if in the
bowefs, the  same compound must be administered by
injection.    Whatever is good  to cure disease when ta-
ken into  the stomach,  is likewise gaod  for the  same
purpose if given by injection, as the grand  object is to
warm the bowels, and remove the canker.    In  all cases
of dysentery, cholic, piles, and  other complaints, where
the bowels are badly affected, injections should  never
be dispensed with.  They are perfectly safe in all cases,
and better that they be used ten times when not needed,
than  once  neglected when they are.   In many violent
cases particularly  where there  is  danger of mortifica-.
tion  patients may be relieved by administering medicine
in  this way, when  there would be no chance in any
other.  I d"o, therefore, most seriously advise that  these
considerations  be always  borne  in  mind ;  and  that
this important way of giving relief, be  never neglected,
where there is any chance  for it to do  good.    In many 
88-            New Guide to Health;
  complaints peculiar to females, they are of the greatest
  importance in  giving relief,  when  properly attended to;
  for which purpose it is only necessary to repeat what has
  been before stated : let the remedy be applied with judg-
  ment and discretion to  that part where  the  disease is
  seated.
    The common preparation for an Injection or Clyster,
  is to take a tea-cupful of strong tea made of No. 3, strain
  it off when hot, and add  half a tea-spoonful  of  No. 2,
  and a  tea-spoonful of No.  (5; when c,ool enough to give,
  add half a tea-spoonful of No.  1, and the same quantity
  of nerve  powder.    Let it be given with a large" syringe
  made  for that,,purpose, or  where this cannot be  had, a
  bladder and pipe may be  used.   They  must be repeated
  as occasion may require,  till relief is obtained.
    Many other  articles may be used to advantage  in  the
% injections; a tea of witch-hazle and red-raspberry  leaves,
  either  or  both together,  are very good in  many cases.
  For canker, a  tea of either the articles described under
  the heati  of No. 3, will answer a good purpose.   When
  the canker is removed, the bowels will be'left sore, in
  which case, give injections  of witch-hazel or  raspberry
  leaves tea, with slippery-elm bark.  When injections ar*s
  used to move the bowels only, No. 1, should be left out.
  It is always safe to add the nerve powder, and  if there is
  nervous symptoms,  it must never be omitted.
    STOCK OF MEDICINE FOR A FAMILY.
   -.     1 ounce of the Emetic Herb,
         2 ounces of Cayenne,
         h lb. Bayberry root bark, in powder,
         I 11). of Poplar Bark,
         1 lb. of Ginger,
         1 jvint of the Rheumatic.Drops.

  This stock will be sufficient for a family for one year
and with such articles  as they can easily procure them-
selves, when wanted, will enable them  to cure any dis-
ease, which a family of common size  may be afflicted
with during that time.   The expense will be small, and
much better than to employ a  doctor, aud have  his  exi
travagant bill to pay, 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         69
              GENERAL DIRECTIONS

          In Curing or Preventing  Disease.

  1.  Be careful to always keep the determining powers
to the  surface, by  keeping the inward  heat above the
outward, or-the fountain  above the stream,  and all will
be safe.                                     v
  2.  It must bp recollected that  heat is  life, and cold
death ; or in other words, cold is disease ;  that fever is
a friend and cold the enemy ; it is therefore  necessary to
aid  the friend and oppose the enemy, in order to restore
health.            J
  3.  That  the construction  and organization of the
human frame, is in all men essentially the same ; being
formed of the  four elements.  Earth  and water consti-
tute the solids of the body, which  is  made  active by
fire and air.   Heat  in  a peculiar  manner,  gives life
and motion to the  whole ;  and when entirely overpow-
ered  from whatever cause by the other elements, death
ensues.
  4.  A  perfect state of health arises  from a due bal-
ance  of temperature of the elements ; and when it is
by  any means destroyed, the body is more or  less disor-
dered.   When this is the case, there is always a diminu-
tion of heat, or an increase of the power of cold, which
is its  opposite.
  5.  All disorders are caused  by obstructed  perspira-
tion,  which  may  be  produced  by  a  great  variety of
means;  that medicine, therefore, must be administered,
that is best calculated to  remove  obstructions  and pro-
mote  perspiration.
  6.  The food  taken into the stomach, and being well
digested, nourishes the system and keeps up  that  heat
on  which  life depends ;  but by constantly taking food
into the  stomach,  which  is sometimes  not  suitable  for
nourishment,  it becomes foul, so that  the food is not
well digested ; this causes the body to lose its heat, and
disease follows.
  7.  Canker  is caused by cold, and there is  always more
or less of it in all cases of disease ; continue to make use
              8* 
00             New Guide  to  Health;
 of such articles as are calculated to remove it, as long
 as there is any appearance of disorder.
   8.  When the  disease is removed, make free use of
 those things that are good to restore the digestive powers,
 not  forgetting to keep  up the inward  heat, by giving
 occasionally, No. 2.
   9.  Keep always in mind, that an ounce of preven-
 tion is better than a pound of cure ; and  give medicine
 on the first appearance  of disorder, before it  becomes
 seated ; for it may  be then easily thrown off, and  much
 sickness and expense prevented.
   10.  In case of a fever, increase  the  internal heat by
 giving hot medicine, so as to overpower the cold, when
 the  natural heat  will  return  inwardly,  and the  cold
 will  pervade the  whole  surface of the -body, as the heat
 had done before; this is what is called the turn of tho
 fever.
   11.  If No. 1 should sicken and  not puke, there may
 be two causes for it, viz. the  coldness*or acidity of the
 stomach ; for the first, give No. 2  more freely,  and for
 the latter, dissolve a piece of pearlash about the size of
 a  large pea, in a wine glass of water, and let them take
 it, which will counteract the acidity.  If this fails, make
 use of the steam, which will open the pores, extract the
 cold, and set the  medicine into operation.
   12.  In giving medicine to children,  give about one
 half, a little more or less according  to  their age, of the
quantity directed, for a grown person.  Be particular to
 offer them drink  often,  especially young children  who
 cannot ask for it.
   13.  Dysentery is  caused by canker on  the  bowels,
 for which, make free  use of the tea of No, 3, with No.
 2, and give  the same by injection, in  the first of the
 disease,  and  afterwards  give  the  syrup, No. 5,  to
 strengthen the stomach and bowels, and restore the di-
 gestive powers.
   14. The piles is  canker below  the reach of medicine
given in the usual way, and must  be cured by using a
wash of No. 3, made strong, and by giving injections of
the same, with.No. 2.   What  is  called  bearing down
pains in women, is from the same  cause ; and  must be
relieved by injections made of witch-hazle or red  rasp- 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
91
berry leaf tea, steeped strong, with No. 2, strained.    If
this does not give relief, go through a regular course of
medicine.
   15.  Women in a state of pregnancy, ought to be car-
ried through a regular course of the medicine, espec-
ially when near the time of delivery.  When in travail,
give raspberry leaf tea, with a  tea-spoonful  of  the com-
position powders, or No. 2, and keep them in a  perspira-
tion.   After  delivery, keep  up the  internal  heat,  by
giving the composition powder, or No.  2.   This will
prevent cold and after pains ; if there should  be symp-
toms of fever, carry  them through  a  regular course of
the medicine,  which  will guard  against all  alarming
complaints, peculiar  in such cases.
   1(3.  In all cases of a burn,  scald, or being frozen,
wrap up the part  in cloths wet with cold  water, often
wetting them with the same, to prevent  their becoming
dr.y, and be careful to give hot medicine, such as No. 2,
or the composition powders, to keep up the  inward  heat.
Pursue this'plan for twelve  hours ;  and then, if the skin
is off, apply the poultice, or salve.   If there should  be
convulsion/, or fever, a regular coarse of the  medicine
must without fail be attended to.
   17. When a scald  is over  the whole or  greatest part
of the body, apply cotton cloth of several thicknesses to
the whole body, wet with  the  tea of raspberry leaves,
thoroughly wetting it  with the same to  prevent it  from
becoming dry ; and give the hot medicine.   When  the
scald is  under the stocking, or  any other tight garment,
let it  remain  on, adding  more cotton  cloths, and wet
the whole with cold wate« as often as the  smart of the
 burn returns.
   18. If the skin is  off, or in case  of an old bum, to
guard against canker, apply a  poultice  of  cracker and
slippery-elm bark, made  with  a tea of raspberry leaves ;
washing it with soap suds, when the poultice is changed,
 and the°n with the same tea.   When any part is frozen.
 the same method  must be taken, as for  a burn.
   19.  For a fresh wound,  cut, or  bruise, wash immedi-
 ately with cold water, and  bind up in   cloths  wet  with
 the same;  keep a hot stone at the feet,  and take  medi-
 cine to raise a  gentle perspiration ; continue this till 
92              New Guide to Health;
the inflammation  is  allayed,  and the  wound perfectly
cleansed, then  apply the  poultice  or  salve,  till  heal-
ed.  The air must be kept from all wounds  or sores, as
it will cause pain, and prevent them from healing.
  20.  In sudden and deadly attacks, such as spotted or
yellow fevers,-fits, drowned persons,  croup, &c. the heat
and activity of the patient is so much diminished, that
the common administration will  not give relief;  the de^
termining power to the surface,  being so small, through
the loss of internal heat,  that it  will not give  the  medi-
cine operation,  as  its effects are. resisted,  and  counter-
balanced by the pressure of the  external air.  To  coun-
teract this pressure, keep  the room, by aid of a  good
fire, about as warm as a  summer heat; and more  fully
to rarify and lighten  the  air, and aid the  operation of
the medicine", make a free use of the steam bath  ;  and
keep  the patient  shielded by a blanket, at  the  same
time  give occasionally   Nos. J  and  2.    This course
should  be unremittingly persevered in, till  the  patient
is relieved.*
  21.  If the glands are dry, so that there is  no moisture
in the mouth, or if the patient is much pressed for breath,
give a strong tea of No.  2,  sweetened, and  repeat it till
the mouth becomes moist.    No. 3, should  not be used
while the mouth is dry; if any is used, add  a large por-
tion of No. 2.
  22.  Be careful  not to have the outward heat too hig\
by too many clothes  or  fire;  for if this  is  the  case, it
will cause a balance  of the outward and  inward  heat,
and will prevent the  medicine from  operating, by stop-
ping the circulation ;  and the patient will be very  much
distressed.   When this  happens, throw cold vinegar on
the face and stomach, and give more  hot medicine, which
will let down the outward heat, and raise the inward.

  *ftoer> always in inind to give the pitient fresh air  when steami-c.
and while going through a course of medi>:i'io, by making a quick fire
of shavings, or very light wood, and opening a window ft the snme
time-, as this will  immediately change the foul air in the room bv
driving it oil, and supplying its place by the fresh  air from the sur-
rounding atmosphere.   This mode is essential in all disorders  both in
hot weather and in  cold.   Steaming is  not rx-vuial  in hot weather
except when going through a course of medicine;  after which, a
shower-bath is gooa in the morning, as it Jeta down the outward heat
which gives power  to the inward. 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.         93

  23.  If the patient is restless, wet the  head and body
with  cold  vinegar ; ' and  if  there  are  convulsions or
spasms, give the nerve powder with  No. 2.   Injections
must also be used.
  24i  Never make use of physic in cases where there
is canker inside, for it will  draw the determining powers
inward, and increase the disease.  I have seen so many
bad effects from giving physic, that. I have disapproved
the use of it altogether ; but  if any is  given, after  the
operation, be careful to  keep up the inward  heat, so* as
to cause a free  perspiration.
  25.  Avoid all minerals used as medicine, such as mer-
cury,  arsenic, antimony, calomel, preparations of  copper
or lead ;  and also nitre and opium.   They are all poison,
and deadly enemies to health.
  20.  Beware of  bleeding and"  blisters, as they can
never  do any  good, aud may be productive of much
harm; they are'coutrary to nature, and  strengthen  the
power of the enemy to health.  Setons and issues should
also be avoided, as they only  tend to waste  away the
strength of the patient,  without doing any goo|J;  it is a
much better way to remove the cause by a  proper  ad-
ministration of  medicine, which will be more certain and
safe in its effects.
  27.  Be careful not to make  use of salt-petre  in any
way whatever;  it is the greatest cold of any thing that
can be taken into the stomach, and was  never intended
for any other purpose than to  destroy life.    It is a very
bad practice to put it  on  meat, for it destroys*  all  the
juices, which is the nourishing part,  and leaves the flesh
hard and difficult to" digest.
  28.  Never eat meat that is  tainted, or any way injur-
ed, as it will engender disease ; for one ounce  in  the
stomach is worse than the  effluvia of a  whole ^carcass.
Eat salt provisions in hot weather, and fresh-in cold.
  29.  Be careful about drinking cold water, in very Jiot
weather, as it will tend to let  down  the  inward heat so
suddenly,;vs to  give full power to the cold.   If this should
happen, its fatal effects  may be  prevented by giving  the
hot medicine, to raise the inward heat above-the outward.
Be careful also not to cool suddenly, after  being  very
warm, in consequence of uncommon exercise. 
 94            New  Guide to Health;

    30. Remember that regularity in diet is  very impor-
 tant to preserve health; and that if more food is  taken
onto the stomach, than is well  digested, it clogs the sys-
 tem and causes disease.   Therefore  be cautious not to
 eat too much at a time, and have your food well coBked.
 This is very important-to those who have weakly consti-
 tutions.
    31. Ardent  spirit is slow poison ; it is taken to stimu-
 late, but this effect is soon over, and  much use of it de-
 stroys the tons of the  stomach, injures the digestive
 powers, and causes disease.  It is therefore much better,
 when the feelings require any  thing of the kind, to make
 use of stimulating medicine, such as  Nos.  2 aud (i, for
 these will answer a far better  purpose.
    By a strict observance of the foregoing directions, you
 may save much pain and expense, and -enjoy good health
 and long life, which is the earnest wish of the writer.
         *     To make Milk Porridge.
  Put a quart of water in a kettle, with a proper quan-
tity of salt, and while heating, mix  a gill of flour in a
bowl with water,  made  thick, and  when the  water is
boiling,  hot, drop this  into it with a  spoon ;  let it be
well boiled, then add half a  pint  of milk.   This to be
eaten while under  the  operation  of the  medicine; and
is also good food for the sick, at any other time, espec-
ially while the'stomach is weak.
              To make Chicken Broth.
  Take a chicken and cut it in pieces ;  put the gizzard
in with it, opened and cleaned, but not peeled.   Boil it
till the meat drops from the  bone.   Begin to  give  the
broth as soon as there is any strength in  it ; and when
boiled, cat some of the meat.   Let  it be well seasoned.
This may be given instead of the milk porridge, and is
very good, for weak patients, particularly in cases of  the
dysentery. 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.         95

  When the  operation of medicine is gone through,
I have said that the patient may eat any kind of nour-
ishing food his  appetite should  crave ;  but  the  best
thing is,  to take a slice of salt pork boiled, or beefsteak,
well done, and eat it with pepper-sauce ; or  take  cay-
enne, vinegar and salt, mixed together, and eat with it,
which is very  good to create an appetite, and assist the
digesture.                      •


                    DESCRIPTION

Of several Cases of Disease, with Directions how they
                    may be Cured.

                      FELONS.
  This sore always comes on a joint, and is often caused
by some  strain or bruise, which  makes  a leak  in the
joint  or  muscle,  and the sooner it has vent, the  better.
If it is  brought: to a head  by poulticing, the skin being
so thick that it will often be caused to break through the
back of the hand, before it can get through the skin on
the inside.   The best way to give it vent, that I have ever
found, is to burn a small piece of punk, the bigness of half
a pea, on the place affected.  If you think the flesh is dead
down to the matter,  you may prick the  point of a  needle
into the dead skin, and raise it  up  and cut out a piece un-
der the needle  sufficient to let out the matter; then ap-
ply poultice or salve.   If painful, wrap it in cloths of seve-
ral thicknesses, wet with cold  water, and  repeat this as
often as  it  becomes hot or painful.  Take the composi-
tion or warm medicine, to keep up an inward heat.
  If the  sore has been several days coming, and appears
nearly ripe, apply a  piece of unsiacked lime to the part
affected, wrap  it up  and wet  the  cloth with cold water,
till thelime  is  slacked;  and repeat  this till the  skin
looks of a purple colour: then open it as before directed.
This method  is  more safe arid quick in causing a cure.
than laying it open with a  knife, as  is  the practice of
some doctors.  By cutting the live flesh,  it  forms a leak
and often spoils the  joint;  but  by searing them by either
of the above modes, it secures and prevents the leak,  and
makes a speedy cure. 
96             New Guide to Health;
                 Freezes and Burns."
  These two .names of disorder arc  one and  the same
thing, and require the same treatment.  Take  a cloth
wet in cold water, and wrap  several  thicknesses round
or laid on to the part, to be  kept wet as often  as  the
pain increases.    Give warm medicine inside.   If the
scald is dangerous, car?y them through a regular course
of medicine as  though  they had  a  fever, or any other
acute disorder ;  keep the cloth  or poultice on to secure
it from  the  air, from twelve  to  fourteen hours, till the
soreness or pain is entirely gone.   If the skin  is off, a
poultice of flour bread wet with any  of the articles com-
posing  No. 3, and keep  it wet with this tea or water till
the sore discharges, then  wash  with soap suds ; when
dressed, wash with the tea of No. 3, and continue  the
poultice or salve until a cure is effected.
  A freeze is direct cold, and a  burn is attracted cold ;
for as much as the heat opens the pores more than usual,
the cold follows  and closes them as  much more than
they were before the  operation of the heat; this stops
the perspiration  from going through the.surface,  and the
water collects under the grain of  the skin, which is call-
ed blistering; the water applied in the cloth on  the out-
side, opens the pores and lets the  water out  by perspira-
tion, and the grain adheres to the skin ; the pain ceases
and the cure is  completed.
         Cure of My Brother's Son of a Scald.

  He was about 14 years of age, and was  taking off
from the fire a kettle  of'boiling cider, the  leg  of the
kettle .caught by the log, tipped  it forward, and poured
the cider boiling  hot, into a large bed of live embers,
which covered tits bare feet  with this hot mass ; he was
obliged  to hold on till the kettle was  set on  the floor,
and then jumped into a  pail of cold  water, and  stood
there until his father procured  some  cloths,  which he
immediately-wrapt his feet up in :  his father laid  by the
fire to attend to  pour on  water, to keep the cloths filled,
which  keeps  the air  from  the  surface, and  eai-vs  the 
or, Botanic Family Physician.         97
pain ; for as the water wastes  and lets the air to the
burn, the pain will increase ; but by pursuing this course
for about two  hours, the  paih abated, and  the  boy fell
asleep.   Water was  poured on the  cloth but two  or
three times during the rest of the night, and in the morn-
ing, preparation was  made  to dress the wound, when,
to the surprise of all present, no blister had arisen, nor a
particle of skin  broken.   He put on his stockings and
shoes as usual, and went about his work, perfectly well.
        Case of a Boy who was badly Scalded.
   A lady took off from the fire a tea-kettle  filled with
boiling water, when her little son, about six years old,
stepped on the bail and turned the contents on to both his
feet, and falling, one hand went into^the tea-kettle; both
feot'and one hand were very badly scalded.  I happened
to be present, and immediately toro up cloth sufficient
to do up eaeh part, wetting them with cold water.    I
then put him in bed and gave him some warm medicine,
put a warm stone at his feet, and wet the cloths as often
as he complained of pain.   In about  two  hours he fell
asleep, after which, two or  three times wetting the cloths,
kept him easy through the night.   In the  morning on
takino- off the cloths, there was no appearance of blis-.
ters nor any skin broken; and he put on his shoes and
stockings and appeared as well as before  the accident
happened.   It  had been  the  declared  opinion of  the
family the night before, that the boy would not be able
to go to  school for a fortnight;  but on finding  him well
' in the morning, were hardly willing to believe their own
senses, or that the child had been scalded.
             General Remarks on Burns.
  Burns are the most easily cured, if rightly managed
and  understood, of any  wounds I ever  attended; and
are the most difficult and dangerous, when not under-
stood, and wrongly treated.   How often have we seen
these sores continue all winter and could not be healed I
              9 
98
New Guide to  Health;
 as also, burns caused  by blisters  made with Spanish
 flies, which amount to the same thing.   By  not  being
 treated in a proper manner in season, the canker gets in
 and eats out the flesh, after which what is called  proud
 flesh fills up the sore.   The  doctor  applies his sugar of
 lead, vitriol and red precipitate to eat out the dead flesh,
 this affects the cords and  draws them out of shape, and
 many times makes a sore that they cannot cure, which
 terminates in a mortifying canker sore.  My  fricrida, if
 you wish to avoid  all this trouble, attend to what belongi
 to your peace and comfort, before it is hidden from your
 eyes;  that  is, to  attend  to the canker, which always
 awaits such cases, and where the skin  is off, in all cases
 of burns or blisters, apply  a  poultice of cracker, or elm
 bark wet with a tea of No. 3, until the canker is  gone.
 Sometimes add ginger;  if the imflammntion is high add a
 little of No. 2, with the ginger, keeping the puoltice wet
 with cold water;  when the sore discharges, apply  salve
 till a cure is effected.
   I shall continue my remarks on burns, by showing the
 evil consequences  arising from blistering.   Not long
 since 1 knew a case whore a doctor drew a blister on a
 child's breast up  to the neck, for being stuffed at  the
 lungs.  It lingered, with this scald ner.r  its vitals,  about
 a  week ; I  was then called to visit the child  and  found
jt  to be dying.  The mother asked me what I thought
 was the matter with  it ;  I  took off  the  dressing and
 showed her  the mortified flesh all  over the blister, and
 told her that was the disorder.   She seemed much sur-
 prised ; and I then asked her  if the  child  had  been
 scalded and.it had mortified in like manner, whether she
 would have had any doubt of its being  the  cause of  her
 child's death? she said that she should not.   I gave her
my opinion,  that it was exactly a similar  case, aud that
the child's death was caused as much bv  the blister as it
would have been by a scald.  The child died before morn-
ing.   I had declined doing any  thing lor it, as I was  satis-
fied that 1 could do it no good • and if I had made the at-
tempt, it would have been  said that I killed it.
   I have seen many cases  where I was perfectly  satis-
fied that the  patients  died in consequence of blisters,
not only on the stomach, but  on  the head.   In many 
           or.  Botanic Family Physician.         99

that I have witnessed, where a blister was drawn on the
head, as soon as it began to draw, their senses were gone,
and did not  return till they died raving, or  stupified.
More than half the cases where the head wr.s shaved and
blistered,  that have come within my  knowledge, have
died.   1 never could see any reason why a scald on the
head or body, done on  purpose, should  have a  tendency
to effect a cure, when the  person is  sick, and the same
thing, happening to them by accident, when well, should
destroy their health or cause their death.    If a person
should have their head or stomach so badly scalded as to
take off the skin, we should  consider  them  in the most
dangerous condition;  but  nothing is said about it when
drawn on  purpose.   I shall leave it to the reader to re-
concile, if he can, this inconsistency.   I have  known
most dangerous stranguaries caused  by blisters  on the
sides and  limbs, and those who  applied them did not
know the  cause, and I have been applied to for relief.
             Mortification of the Limbs.
  I was called on to go on  board a vessel, at Eastport,
to see a young  man, who had had a block fall from mast
head on his foot, weighing 13$ pounds, which bruised all
his toes to pieces except the little one.   The  accident
happened on Friday, and I  did not see him till the Tues-
day following ;   during  which he  had neither  eat  nor
elept.  His nerves were much affected, and had  spasms
nnd convulsions through the whole system.   I  took off
the dressing from his foot, and found it  black, and the
smell very offensive.  The  captain of the vessel appear-
ed to be very anxious about him, asked me if  I could
help his  foot;  I told him  that I must first try to save
his life, for his whole  body was as much  disordered as
his foot.  He requested me to  do what I thought best.
I put a poultice of meal on his foot, and  wet the cloth
with cold water, to allay the heat; then gave him medi-
cine the same as though he. had been attacked with a
nervous fever.   The captain attended him  through the
night, and  I went to see him  the  next  morning,  and
found  him much better.  The captain said he was aston- 
100            New Guide  to Health;
  ished at the operation of the medicine, for that his vom-
  iting and sweating had carried off all the pain in his body
  and foot, and had also reconciled the nerves.
    I unbound his foot and found that the black and yellow
  streaks up the leg. had  disappeared, and on the foot, all
  the flesh that was alive, seemed to receive fresh support
  from the body ;  and the living and  dead  flesh appeared
  as though two colours were painted by the side  of each
  other.    I then made a lie of pearlash in warm water,
  and soaked his foot in it, which  caused   a  slimy glaze
  all  over his foot; this took away all the offensive smell;
  and I washed it with vinegar to kill the alkali and keep
  it from  irritating the skin.    The  acid  cleared off all
  the slimy matter, so that  it wiped clean.   I then cut
  off the great toe at the middle joint, and  the two next
  at the upper joint, and set the next, which was  broken.
  I cut none of the flesh  but what was dead, to stop in
  part the putrefaction.  I then  put on another poultice,
  and ordered it  to be  kept wet with cold water,  and, a
  warm stone wrapped in a wet cloth, to  be put to his
  feet to keep a steam, giving him warm medicines inside
 to keep up the  inward heat;  and  by wetting the foot
 with cold water, it kept the determining  power to the
 surface;  thus raising  the  fountain  and  lowering the
 stream.    By this treatment it becomes impossible that
 mortification can go from the limbs to the body, any more
 than a log that floats over the dam, can go back again
 into the pond, when the fountain is kept full.   The next
 day I dressed his foot and found that the dead flesh had
 digested very  much ; I  again soaked it in pearlash, and
 then washed in  vinegar as before, which  was of great
 service in  allaying the  bad smell.   I then caused him
 to be carried through  a regular course  of  medicine,
 which completely restored his  bodily health ;  his  appe-
 tite was good, and all pain and soreness abated, so that
 he took  food  regularly, and lost  no sleep afterwards,
 till he got entirely well, which was in about four weeks.
 The  captain was a  very good  nurse, and was faithful
 in attendance on the young  man till  he got  well ; and
expressed the  highest  gratitude for my attention  and
 success;  and as a proof of his confidence  in   the medi-
 cine, he purchased a right, for which he paid me tweiirf 
or, Botanic Family  Physician.        101
silver dollars, observing at the same time, that he never
paid for any thing with more satisfaction.
            Old Canker Sores on the Legs.
   When  I was a  young man, I was  much  troubled
through the winter, for  many years,  with  sores on my
legs.  At the commencement of cold weather, if I broke
the grain on my shin, it would become a bad sore, and
continue through the winter ; the canker would get into
it and eat to the bone, and sometimes spread under the
grain like a burn, and feel the same, being extremely
sore, with stings and twinges like a cancer.   These sores
were so troublesome, that it led me to invent  a cure;
finding the cause to  be  canker, I took some of the ar-
ticles composing No. 3, steeped  strong, and washed the
part affected, with it; if there was a bad  smell, I first
washed the sore with strong soap suds, taking off all the
loose  skin, which was blistered with cankery humour,
and then washed with a tea of No. 3, to destroy the
canker and harden the sore; sometimes  wetting it with
the drops.   If the inflammation run high,  and  the 60re
spread fast, I put into it a pinch of fine No. 2; then put
on a poultice of white bread and ginger,  wet  with the
above tea,  wrapping it  up with several thicknesses  of
cloths wet with cold water ; wetting them as often as dry,
so as to be painful, and did not let the sore come to the air
for twenty-tour hours.  In this time, if kept well wet and
warm, it will discharge ripe matter, and the inflammation
and canker will abate.  When next dressed, wash fir6t
with soap suds as before, then with the tea;  if the  sore-
ness is gone, you may apply the healing salve, with the
wet cloths, if going to bed, to keep out the air; put oc-
casionally a hot stone wrapped in wet cloths, to the feet
to keep up a steam, and wetting the sore if painful with
eold water.   Take  medicine to keep up the inward h«at;
6uch as composition or  hot bitters, and  when  these do
not answer the purpose, go through a course of the medi-
cine, and repeat as occasion may require.   This method,
if persevered in, I seldom knew to fail of success.
              9* 
  102            New Guide to Health t

    I was called to altend  a case of this  kind, not long
  since, where the inflammation and pain  was very great,
  and fast spreading under the  gfain  of the  skin ;  there
  had been applied an elm and ginger poultice, made with
  tea of No. 3.   I opened  and only added a pirfch of No.
\ 2, and laid on thej>oultice again, putting  on  a wet cloth,
  and ordered it kept wet with cold  water  till next morn-
  ing ; when on dressing it, found the inflammation abated,
  the sore discharged ripe matter, and  by two dressings
  moro of the same, the cure was completed^
    Case of the Bite of a Rat, supposed to be Mad.
   Not  long since, I  was sent for to attend a man who
 had been bitten on one of his eyebrows by a  rat, sup-
 posed to be mad.   The wound healed in a few  days,
 then turned  purple round it, as though  the blood had
 settled, and turned more black, until he was'blind.  He
 was sick at the stomach, and had  - high  fever.   I car-
 ried him through a course of the medicine, but with little
 advantage.   The  swelling and dark  colour progressed
 till he was about the colour of a blackberry pie.  These
 appearances led me to suspect that  the madness of the
 rat was caused by eating rats-bane, and  communicated
 this poison to the man by the  bite, as he  appeared the
 same as a person I had once seen, who had been  killed
 by taking that poison.    I then washed his face with a
 strong tea of Nos.  I and 2,  and gave the  same inward
 with No. 3, carried him through another course of medi-
 cine, keeping a cloth on  his face wet with  the tea  as
 before, to keep out the  air  when  under  the operation
 of the medicine, to sweat his face and throw the poison
 out.  I kept him in a sweat for several days, occasion-
 ally with his face secured  from  the air, which  method
 had the desired effect, by bringing the poison  out.   By
 continually  keeping up  the perspiration,  the swelling
abated ; but whenever this was not  well  attended to, so
 as to keep the determining powers  to the surface, the
 spasms would increase to such a degree that his life was
 frequently despaired of.    He was carefully attended in
this manner  about one month, before 1 could determine 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.        103

in my own mind, whether the  disease or nature would
gain the victory ; after which  time he began gradually
to gain  his health, arid in about six months, he appeared
to be clear of the poison.  The  man was sixty years of
age;  and the accident happening in the fall of the year,
it was much more difficult to conquer this cold and dead-
ly poison, than it would  have been  in warm weather.
This* case convinced me that the cause of mad rats and
mad cats, is owing to the rats having been poisoned by
ratsbane, the cats eat them and become  affected by the
poison,  which makes them mad, and  by biting the  peo-
ple, communicate  the poison, from  which many  fatal
consequences  have frequently happened.
            Bad wound in the Eye cured.

  While I was at Eastport, Maine, a  man was cutting
turf, about twelve miles from that place, and accidentally
had a pitchfork stuck into one of his  eyes, by a  person
who was pitching the  turf near him.    It passed by
the eyeball  and  stuck fast in the  scull, so that  it was
with considerable exertion that he  could  draw  it out.
The eye swelled and  closed  up  immediately, and  the
people were much frightened, and sent for  me ; but it so
happened that I  could not go.   I gave directions to the
man who came after me, to return and  carry him through
a course of medicine as soon as possible, keeping  several
thicknesses of cloth wet with cold water on his eye, and
not open it for twelve  hours ; and  to  keep him in  a
perspiration tho whole time.   This was faithfully  attend-
ed to; and on opening the wound after the above time,
tho swelling was all gone, the eye was open, and a large
quantity of blood was in the wet cloth, which had been
drawn from the eye.   They continued the  wet cloth, and
gave him warm medicine inside, keeping him in a gentle
perspiration for the next twenty-four hours, which clear-
ed the  eye of all  the  blood, restored  the sight, arid
amended his health, that he was well in  about a week,
to the astonishment of all who saw him. 
104
New Guide to  Health;
                    Caucer Sores.
  A concise and general  treatise  on this  violent and
often fatal disease may convey some useful  ideas  on the
subject.  The cause of this sore is very little understood.
In all sores  of an eating nature, there  is more or less
canker, according to their violence.   A cancer is  the
highest degree of canker, being the most powerful effects
of cold, and consequently the greatest degree of inflam-
mation-, therefore the  remedies  ought to be  those of a
warming nature, as the greatest preventives against can-
ker.  Whenever a  violent inflammation is discovered, it
is supposed  that heat causes the difficulty ; but the fact
is, it is only evidence of a war between heat  and cold ;
for there is no inflammation where there is perfect health,
because heat then bears complete rule; and no disease
can take place until the cold makes an attack on the body,
which causes an unnatural heat to oppose an unnatural
cold; wherever  the cold takes possession, the inflamma-
tion shows itself, by stopping the circulation ; the  effect
is swelling, inflamed calous, arising from some leak, caus-
ed  by the natural course being stopped.   If itsupperates,
and discharges,  it is called ulcer, bile, and the like, and
the canker goes off with the putrefaction.   If the leak is
so slow as to calous as fast as they discharge it, it becomes
a hard  dead lump of  flesh, and  not  having circulation
enough to support it, it begins to rot;  here  the  canker
•hows its eating nature ; being seated in the dead flesh,
and eating on the live flesh, which is intermixed with it,
causes pain and distress, in proportion as  the body is
filled with coldness and canker; if this is  sufficient  to
keep the power  above  the natural circulation, the patient
will continue in this distressed situation, being eaten up
alive, until worn out  with the pain, death  comes as a
friend to relieve them.   .This is  the natural termination
of this dreadful  malady ; which is far better than to com-
bine with it the common form of practice in using arsenic,
which only  helps to eat up ajul distress  the patient.
   In order to give a more correct idea of the dangerous
effect of making use of arsenic  in cancers,  I shall make
a short extract  from  Thatcher's Dispensatory, on the
subject.   " Arsenic  has long been  known  to  be the 
or, Botanic Family  Physician.        105
 .basis of the  celebrated cancer  powder.   It ha6  been
 sprinkled in substance on the  ulcer ;  but this mode of
 using it is excessively painful,  and extremely dangerous;
 fatal effects  have been produced from its  absorption.
 This fact I  have known in  several  instances, where
 Davidson's agents, and others have undertaken  to  draw
 out cancers when the patient would  absorb enough of
 this poison, which seating on the lungs, caused  them to
 die with  the consumption in  the  course of one year."
 My wish  in exposing  this nostrum, is to  benefit those
 who may be ignorant of the imposition; for it  may be
 relied on as a truth, that there is. more or less poison in
 all those burning plasters, used  to cure cancers; and I
 would advise all to beware  of them; it  will be much
 safer to risk the cancer than the cancer quack.
   The principal object aimed at is to take out the bunch,
 and in doing that by the above  method, a worse evil is
 inoculated, which is  more fatal than the cancer.   The
 tumour is a mixture of live and dead flesh, and  is often
 under a  live skin ; if it is necessary to make an incision
 through  the live skin in order  to disolve the dead flesh,
 the  best way is to burn a piece  of  punk on the place,
 and repeat it till the flesh is dead enough to  suppurate.
 The smart will be but two or three* minutes, and not so
 painful as the arsenic for the same time, which will last
 for twelve hours.  Where the tumour is small, the  can-
 cer  balsam,  will  be found  sufficient,  by repeating the
 plaster for two or three weeks,  to  take  out the  dead
 flesh, and remove the canker; after this is done,  apply a
 ginger and elm poultice wet with  a tea of No. 3.   If the
 system appears to be generally affected with the cancer
 humour,  carry them through a common course of med-
 icine, and  repeat the same while attending to the sore.
   I had a cancer on my foot about the bigness of an In-
 dian corn, which had troubled  me twice, by acute dart-
 ing pains  and twinges.  I  cured it by applying  a plas-
 ter of the  cancer balsam: repeating it  twice at each
 time.  Where there is dead  flesh under the skin, it is
 best to burn the' punk first and then apply the poultice
or balsam ; and it is  also recommended to  always give
medicine to eradicate the canker  from the system, both
before and  after the operation on the sore. 
106
New Guide  to Health;
   Three cancers on  the  breast have come under my
care, that I  could not cure.  One of them was as largo
as a half peck  measure, and  grew fast to the breast
bone.  I carried the woman through a course  of medi-
cine several times and" applied a poultice of butternut
shucks, to  dissolve the dead flesh, and  continued this
course for some months, until the bunch had more  than
half dissolved, and had grown off from the bone, so that
it was quite  loose; and  I  was in hopes to have effected
a cure; but she  was taken with a fever in my absence,
and  died.   The other two I could relieve and keep
them free from pain, making them comfortable as  long
as they lived ; but nature was too far exhausted to com-
plete a cure.  I  have had under  my care many other
cases of cancers on the breast and  other parts-of the
body, which 1 had no difficulty in curing in the manner
before stated.
   I  shall  conclude this  subject by a few  general re-
marks, viz:  Guard thoroughly against canker and cold-
ness.  Attend to the  canker by a course of medicine,
and  repeat  it.  Use the ginger poultice if the inflamma-
tion  is great, putting some No. 2, raw in the lore, then
apply the poultice,  keeping it wet with cold water, not
forgetting the composition and No. 2 inside, at the same
time.  Let  all poisonous  drugs, burning plasters,  and
caustics alone.   Attend faithfully to the directions  here
given;  honour your own  judgment; keep your money:
and  bid defiance to doctors.
                PILES; how cured.
  I was called to attend an elderly mnn in South  Read-
ing, who had been  confined to the house, and much of
the time to his  bed, for  seven weeks, with the Piles.
Seven doctors attended him before I was sent for,  aud
he had  continued  to  grow worse.   The  doctors- had
operated on one side, and said they must on the  other ;
it was their opinion, as well as his, that he was in a de-
cline.   The side that they had operated upon was much
(vorse to cure than the other.  1 carried him through a
regular  course of medicine twice in-three  days, when 
           or, Botanic  Family Physician.        107

he was able to go out of doors.   The injection compos-
ed of No. 3, steeped, and a small quantity of No. 2, was
used; warm  tallow was applied freely several times in
the day, sometimes washing externally with the same
tea.   He  had been dieted  very low; I  restored  his di-
gestive  powers,  and recovered his appetite; his sores
healed,  his general health  amended to such a  degree,
that he  was no more confined with that complaint.   A
littlo tallow used when going to bed, prevents piles and
chafes in young and old.  Remember this.
        Sore Heads in Children; (Scalt Heads.)
  This sore often comes after having had the itch ; ker-
nels form  in the neck ; it is  contagious, being  caused
by canker arid  putrefaction.  The most  effectual way
to cure this disease, is  to carry them through a course
of medicine several times, as the  case may require, pre-
vious to which  the head  should  be  oiled; and covered
"with cabbage leaves ; or draw  a  bladder over the head,
to keep out^the cold air.  The head should be covered
no as to make it sweat as much as possible, in order to
dissolve the hard scabs.  After laying all night the smell
will be offensive; wash the head in soap  suds; when
clean, w;ish it also with a  tea of No. 3, after which wash
with a tea of  No.  1.  Sometimes  annoint it with the
 Rheumatic drops and  nerve ointment—let it  come to
the  air by  degrees.  Be  careful to guard  the stomach
by giving composition, warm bitters, &c.   The oint-
•ment, drops and No. 1,  in powder or juice, may be oc-
casionally used together or separate.   Continue to wash
with soap suds, and  then with No. 3, occasionally, until
a cure is  effected.
                    Sore Breasts.
  Some women  suffer very much from this complaint,
which is caused  by cold, occasioning obstructions in ths
glands of the breast.  When they  are swelled, bathe
with the rheumatic  drops,  or pepper vinegar;  if this
does not remove the swelling, and it should be necessa- 
 108           New  Guide to Health;

 ry to bring it to a head, apply a poultice of lily root
 made thick with ginger  or slippery  elm  bark;  at the
 same time give the composition powder or  No. 2, to
 keep up  the  inward  heat.  If the woman is sick, carry
 her  through a regular course of the medicne,  which
 will  remove  the  complaint and restore her to health in
 a short  time.   I  have cured many who were  very bad,
 by pursuing the above plan, and never met with difficul-
 ty.   I  attended a  woman in Portsmouth, who had both
 breasts badly swelled.   She was setting by the window
 with it up, and could hardly get her breath; she could
 not bear to have any fire in the room, complaining that
 it made her faint.   I told her that if I could  not make
 her bear heat, I could do her no good.   I gave her some
 No. 2, to raise the inward heat, and caused a good fire
 to be made in the room.   The inward heat gained as
 fast as the outward, and in one hour she could bear as
 warm a  fire as I could.  I carried her through three reg-
 ular courses of the medicine  in five  days, and at  the
same time applied the lily poultice, which brought them
 to a head without pain ;  and she was soon well.
                  To stop Bleeding.
   Internal bleeding is from the s'tomach or lungs, and
 is caused by canker, or soreness of the stomach ;  it often
 takes place very  suddenly, and creates  much  alarm.
 The patient sometimes trembles with  fright, and  often
 has fits of the ague, which is caused by the cold increas-
 ing in proportion to the loss of blood.   In the first  place*
 shield them from the air with a blanket, by the fire, and
 give the  hottest medicine  you  have; if nothing  better
 can be had, give hot water or any kind of hot tea ; and
 get a perspiration  as soon as possible ; then apply the
 steam bath ; giving ginger  tea, or No. 2. if you have it,
if not, black pepper.  As soon as there is an equilibrium
in the circulation, there u ill'be no more pressure of the
blood to the stomach or lungs,  than  to  the extremities
and the bleeding will cease.  It has been my practice in
cases of this kind,  to give some of the rheumatic drops,
 shield them from the air  with  a blanket, placed by the 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.        109

fire ;  then give a dose of the composition  powders, and
No. 2 ;  and if this does not answer the purpose, give a
dose  of No.  1, which, with the  steam, I  never  knew
fail of stopping the blood; and  by giving medicine to
remove the canker and restore the digestive powers, I
have always been able to effect a cure.   The same ap-
plication will answer for other weakening and alarming
complaints In women.
   External  bleeding,  caused  by wounds in  the  limbs,
may  be  stopped by placing the  wound higher than the
body.  One of my sons cut his leg very badly ; I placed
him on  the floor and took his foot in my lap ; as soon as
the wound was higher than the body, the bleeding ceased.
I then poured on  cold water till the wound  was white ;
then put in a few drops of No. 6, took two or three stitches
to bring the wound together, dressed it with salve, and it  ^
soon got well with very little soreness.   Another case of
a little girl, who cut off the  main artery of  the middle
finger, and it bled very fast.  I put my thumb above the
wound and stopped the blood ; then poured on cold water
with my other hand, and washed  the wound well ; then
placed her  hand above her head, which  prevented  it
from bleeding, till I could get ready to dress the wound.
It bled no more, and soon got well.
                     Rupture.
  This  difficulty is  caused by a hurt or strain, which
makes a breach in the tough film, or membrane, that
supports the  bowels  in their  place, and the  intestines
come down into the cavity between this  membrane and
the skin;  being sometimes very painful and  difficult to
be got back;  and have to be kept from coming down by
a truss.    When the bowels come down and remain any
length of time, they become swelled, and are very painful,
causing great distress and danger ; and sometimes have
proved  fetal,  as they cannot be got  up again till the
swelling is removed.   This may be effected by a course
of the medicine without danger.
   A Mr. Woodbury, of Durham, was troubled  with  a
rupture; his  bowels came down, swelled, and was very
             lO 
110
Ncic Guide to  Health;
painful;  a doctor was sont for from Portsmouth, who ap-
plfed a bag of snow, which drove the pain to the stomach
and caused puking.   The swelling increased, and be-
came very hard.   The case now becoming desperate,
and the  family being  alarmed, I  was sent for,  and on
hearing the circumstances, sent some medicine, and gave
directions to sweat him as soon as possible.   My direc-
tions were faithfully attended to, and as soon as  he be-
came  warm, the nerves slackened, the  swelling  abated,
all appearance  of mortification  disappeared, the bowels
went back, and in twelve hours he  was restored from a
dangerous situation, to almost his  usual  state of health.
In this case may be seen  the difference between the ar-
tificial doctor, and nature's physician, which is the same
as between fire  and snow.
                 Ague in the  «'ace.

  T,his is  caused by cold in the glands of the mouth,
which  keeps back the saliva  tiil  if causes  swelling and
soreness ;   the canker  becomes prevalent  at  the  same
time, which causes  severe  pain  in  the  face and throat.
The sooner a cure is  attempted the  better ; to effect
this, take a dose of  the tea of No. 3, with a tea-spoonful
of No. 6, in it, for the canker ; then tie a small quantity
of No. 2 in a fine piece of cloth, wet with No. 6, and
put it between the teeth and cheek, on the side where the
pain is ; set by the fire covered by a blanket, and breathe
the warm  air  from  the fire,; this will prick  the glands
and cause the  saliva to flow very freely, which will take
out the soreness  and relieve  the  pain.    The face may
br- bathed   at the same time with  No.  6.   If the case
is of long standing, to that the  system  is  affected, and
this does not remove the complaint, give a dose of No.  I.
If it is caused  by decayed teeth, fill the  hollow with cot-
ton wool,  wet with oil  of summersavory,  or spirits  of
turpentine, which will  deaden  the nerve,  and stop its
aching.   This is good in all cases of the teeth-ache,
and will generally effect a  cure without extracting. 
or, Botanic  Family Physician.        Ill
       To relax the Muscles in setting a Bone.
  This  may be  done by bathing the part with warm
water, and is much  better than the method that is gener-"
ally practised, of extending  the muscles by the strength
of several  persons, which  weakens the  part so much,
that the  bones are  liable to  get out of place again ;. be-
sides, the operation  causes severe pain to the patient and
much trouble  to the  operator, which is all obviated by
my method. In cases where a joint is put out, or a bone
broken, give a dose of No.  2, or  the composition pow-
der with half a tea-spoonful of nerve-powder, which
will promote a perspiration, prevent fainting, and quiet
the* nerves; then  wrap the part  in cloths wet  with
water as hot as it caj* be borne, and pour on the warm
water, placing a pan underneath to  catch it, for a short
time,  when t.he  muscles will become relaxed, so that
the bon»s may be put in their place with little trouble.
   I was  once  culled to a woman who had  put her elbow
out of joint by a fall from her horse.  It was badly  out,
being twisted  about  one quarter of the way round.  1
ordered  some water  to be made hot immediately, stripped
her arm, and as soon  as the  water was hot, put a towel
ill a large tin ptiu and pouved the hot water on it till wejl
wet;  as sopn as cool  enough, wrapped it round her arm
from her wrist to her  shoulder; then placed the pan un-
der her  arm, and poured on  the water from a  pitcher, as
hot as she* coidd bear it, for about fifteen minutes.  I
then took off  the towel  and  directed one person to take
hold of  the arm above the elbow and another below, to
Bteady it; aud then placed my fingers against the end of
the bone on the under side, and  my thumb against that
oil.the upper  side, and  by a gentle pressure  each  way,
set the  joint  without pain,  or force on the muscles, to
the astonishment of all present, who calculated that it
would require  the strength of several men.   I  then wrap-
ped it up with the same towel, which had  become cold ;
this brought the muscles to their proper tone, and kept
the joint iirm in its place;  put her arm in  a sling  and
she walked home that night about, a mile, and the  next
day was well enough  to  knit all day.
   In case  a shoulder is  out  of joint, I relax the muscles
in the same maimer,  and put the  arm over my shoulder 
112
New Guide to Health;
and lift up, which has  always put the joint in  its place,
without any danger and with very little pain to  the pa-
tient ;  and then bv applying cold water, the muscles will
become braced, so that  there will  be no danger of its
getting out again.  I knew of a case where a man had
his hip turned out, and  several doctors had exhausted all
their skill  in  vain to set it; when one of my agents be-
ing present, undertook it by my plan  of treatment, and
after he had relaxed the muscles sufficiently, put his  knee
against -the hip joint, and placing his hand on the inside
of the knee, turned the leg out and crowded the  joint
into its place without any difficulty.
              Poison by Ivy or Dogwood.
   Many people  are  troubled  with  this difficulty every
 season, and I have beeh much afflicted with it myself in
 my younger days, often being poisoned in such manner
 as to swell and break out  very badly, and  knew no rem-
 edy but  to let it have its course, which was almost as
 bad as the small pox.  One" of my sons was often afflict-
 ed in this way, and one season was poisoned three times,
 so as to be blind for several days.  I long  sought a rem-
 edy without success, till I found it in  the emetic herb.
 By washing with a tincture of the green  plant as is di-
 rected in the second preparation of the emetic herb, on
 the first appearance of the disease, is a certain remedy.
 If the complaint has been for any length of time, and has
 become bad, it will "be necessary to take a dose of the pow-
 dered emetic, first preparation, to clear the system of the
poison, at the same time  of washing with the tincture.
A tea made of the powdered leaves and pods, will do to
wash  with, when the tincture, or green plant cannot be
had.   The powdered seeds, with Nos. 2 and  6, third
preparation, may also  be used for the same purpose.
                      Measles.
  This disease is very common,  especially among chil-
dren, and is often attended with bad consequences, when 
or, Botanic  Family Physician.         113
aol properly treated.  It is a high state  of canker and
putrefaction; and if the  determining powers are kept
to the  surface, it will make its appearance on the out-
side, and go off of itself;  but if cold overpowers the in-
ward heat, so as to turn the determining powers inward-,
the disease will not make its appearance, and the patient
will become much distressed, frequently producing fatal
consequences, if some powerful stimulant is not admin-
istered  to bring the disorder out.    To give physic in
cases of this kind is very dangerous, as  it strengthens
the power of cold, and keeps the canker and putrefaction
inside, which sometimes seats upon the lungs and causes
consumption ;  or turns to the stomach and bowels,  when
they die suddenly, as has been the  case with hundreds,
for a few  years past.  I  have  attended  a  great  many
rases of the measles in the course of my practice, and
never lost one; and  never have known of any that have
died of this disorder, who were attended by any  of my
agents.    When the symptoms make their appearance,
give a  dose of the  composition powder, or of No. 2;
then give the tea of No. 3, to guard against canker, and
add some  No. 2, to overpower the  cold ; and when the
second dose is given, add No. 1, to  clear the  stomach
and promote  perspiration.  As soon as this"takes place,
the disorder will show itself on the  outside.   By con-
tinuing to keep the  determining power to the suface,
nature will take its regular course, and the  disea?e will
go off without  injuring the constitution.   If the bowels
appear to be disordered, give an injection ; and be care->
ful to keep the patient warm.
   I once had a case of a young  woman who had  the
measles ; she lingered with  the symptoms  four or five
days, and then become very sick, turned of a dark pur-
ple colour, and had a high fever, when I  was called  to
attend  her.  I gave'her a strong dose of No. 3, steeped,
and put in it a spoonful of the  third  preparation of No,
1, which caused such a violent struggle,  that I had to
hold her in the bed ; but it was soon  over, for in about
ten minutes she vomited, and a perspiration  took  place,
which was followed  by the measles  coming  out, so that
she was completely covered with the eruption.  She was
soon well and about her work.
              lO* 
IM
New Guide  to Health;
                     Small Pox.
   This disease is the highest state of canker and putre-
 faction, which the human body is capable of receiving,
 and is the most contagious, being taken in with the breath,
 or may be communicated  by inoculation, in  which caso
 it is not so violent and dangerous  as when taken in the
 natural way.  The distressing and often fatal consequences
 that have happened in cases of the  small po.x, arc more
 owing to the manner in which it  has been treated, than
 to the disease.   The fashionable mode of treatment in
 this disease, has been  to  give physic,  and reduce  the
 strength, by starving the patient and keeping then; cold.
 This  is contrary to  common sense, as  it weakens  the
 friend and strengthens the enemy ; and the same cause
 would produce similar effects in any other disorder.  All
 that is necessary, is to assist nature to drive out the can-
 ker and putrefaction, which  is the cause of the disease,
 by keeping  the determining powers to the  surface, in
 which case there will be no danger.  The same manner
 of treatment should  be used in this complaint as has been
 directed  for  the  measles.   The canker-rash, and  all
 kinds of disease that a  person is not liable to have but
 once, such as chicken-pox, swine-pox, &x. are from the
same  cause,  and must be treated in a similar  manner.
                      Congh.
  The general  opinion is,  that cough  is an  enemy to
health, and ought to be treated as such ; but this idea I
hold to be altogether  an  error;  for it is the effect, and
not the cause of disease.  When the lungs are diseased,
there will be a collection  of matter,  which  must  be
thrown off; and the cough is like  the pump of a ship,
which discharges the water, and prevents her from sink-
ing ; so also the cough throws off what collects on the
lungs, which, if suffered to remain, would soon putrify
and cause death.   It is,a  common saying, that I have
a bad cough, and can get nothing to stop it; and  the
doctor often says, if I could stop your  cough, I  should
have hopes of a cure; but  this is  as  imreasonable*as it
would be to stop the pumps  of a ship, which would cause 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.        113
her to sink the sooner.  Ask a sailor what he would do,
and he would say, keep the pump going till you can stop
the leak, and when  that  is  stopped, the  pump  will be-
come useless, as there  will be  nothing to  throw  off.
Such medicine should be given as will promote the cough,
till the cause can be removed, which is cold  and canker
on the lungs;  after  this is done, there  will  be no more
cough.   I f a cough is caused by a sudden cold, it may be
removed by taking the composition powder on going to
bed, with a  hot stone wrapped in wet cloths put the feet,
to produce a perspiration, and at  the same time taking
the cough powder, which  will make the patient raise easy,
and also help to remove  the  cause.   When  the cough
has become seated,  and the lungs are diseased, they hiuf.
be carried through a regular course of  the medicine, re-
peating the same as occasion may require, till a cure is
effected,  at the  same time giving the  cough-powder,
especially on going to bed.
   Whooping cough must  be treated in the same manner;
continue to give the cough-powders till cured.
                      Jaundice.
   Much has been said about the  bile, or gall, being an
«n«*mv in case of sickness ;  but this is a mistake, for it is
a friend and  should be treated as such.   It is the main
*prin<r to life, and the regulator of health, as  without it
flie food could not be digested.  When people have what
ii called the  jaundice, it is  the prevailing  opinion  that
the? have too much bile, and it is said they are bilious;
thiJ m a mistaken notion, for there  is no such  thing as
beinff too much gall, it would be more correct to say there
was not enough.  The difficulty is caused by the stomach
beinir cold and  foul, so that the food is not properly di-
gested ; and  the bile not being appropriated to its natural
u«e is  diffused through the pores of the skin, which be-
comes of a yellow colour.   The symptoms are want of
appetite, costiveness,  faintness, and the patient  will be
dull and sleepy ; these are evidences of bad digesture
and loss of inward  heat.   The only way to effect a cure
is, to promote perspiration, cleanse the stomach, and re- 
 116           New  Guide to Health;

 store the  digestive powers, which will cause the bile to
 be used for the purpose nature designed  it.
   Nature has contrived that each part of the body should
 perform  its proper duty in maintaining  health, and  if
 there is no obstruction, there would  never be disease.
 The gall bladder grows on the liver, and  is  placed be-
 tween that and the stomach, so  that when the  latter  is
 filled with food, the bile is discharged  into the  stomach
 to digest it.   The bile never makes  disorder, for it  is
 perfectly innocent, being nature's friend ;  and  those ap-
 pearances called bilious, show the effect of disease, and
 not the cause.   The gall is a very  bitter substance, and
 it is the practice of the doctors,  to order bitter  medicine
 to cure the jaundice, and this seems to be  the  universal
 opinion, which is  correct; but  it certainly  contradicts
 the notion that there is too much bile,  for  if there be too
.much, why give medicine to make more?  I have attend-
 ed many cases of  this kind, and never had any difficulty
 in effecting a cure.  My method is to give No. 2, or the
 composition powders, to  raise  the  internal heat,- nnd
 No. 1, to cleanse  the stomach  and promote perspiration ;
 then give the  bitters, No. 4, to regulate the bile and re-
 store the digestive powers.   If the complaint  has been of
 long standing, and the system is much disordered,  they
 must be carried through a regular course  of the medi-
 cine, and repeat it as occasion may require, at  the same
 time give the bitters two or three time a day, till the ap-
 petite is good, and the digesture restored.    Any of the
 articles  described under the head of No. 4, are good,
 and may be freely used for all  bilious complaints.
                       Worms.
   A great deal is said about worms causing sickness and
(here is scarcely a disease that children are afflicted with
but what is attributed to worms.   The doctors talk about
worm complaints, worm  fevers, worm  cholics, 6lc. and
give medicine to  destroy the worms ;  by so  doing, they
frequently destroy their patients.   There was never  n
greater absurdity  than their practice^ and the universal
opinion about worms causing disease.   The  fact ia, they 
or, Botanic Family Physician.
117
are created, and exist in the stomach and  bowels for  a
useful purpose, and are friendly to health, instead of be-
ing an enemy; they are bred and supported  by the cold
phlegm that  collects in the stomach and bowels; this is
their element; and the  more there  is of it, the more
there will be of the worms; they never cause disease,
but are caused by it.  Those who are in health, are never
troubled with worms,  because they are then quiet, and
exist in their natural element;  every one  has more or
less  of them;  and the reason why children  are more
troubled with what is called worm complaints, is because
they are more subject to be disordered in their stomach
and bowels than grown persons. When children are sick,
and their breath smells bad, it is said they  have worms,
and every thing is laid to them ; but this is owing to dis-
ease caused by canker, for there is nothing  in the nature
of worms that  can affect the breath.  In  cases  of this
kind, the only thing necessary is to cleanse the stomach
by getting rid of the cold phlegm, and restoring  the di-
gestive powers, when there  will be no difficulty with
the worms.
  The common practice of the doctors is to  give.calo-
mel and other poisons to kill the worms;  this must ap-
pear  to  any one,  who examines inta the  subject,  to be
very wrong as well as dangerous;  for the worms can-
not be killed by it, without poisoning the whole contents
of the stomach.  I once  knew of a case of a child who,
after  eating a breakfast «f bread and  milk, was taken
sick ;  a  doctor was sent for, who said it was caused by
worms, and gave a dose of calomel to destroy them, which
caused fits;  the child vomited and threw  up its  break-
fast ; a dog that happened to be in the room eat what the
child  threw up; he was  soon taken sick and  died; the
child  got  well.  The fortunate accident of the child's
throwing off its stomach what it had taken, probably
saved its life, for if there was poison enough to  kill a dog,
it must  have killed the  child.  The absurdity of such
practice is like the story related by Dr. Franklin, of a
man who was troubled with a weasle in his barn, and to
get rid of the weasle he set fire to his barn and burnt it up.
I had the following relation from the doctor who attended
the cases;  three children had what he called a worm fe,- 
118
New Guide to Health;
 ver; and he undertook to kill the worms.   One of them
 died, and he requested liberty to open it to see what would
 destroy worms, in order to .know how to cure the others ;
 but the parents would not consent.  The sectmd died,
 and  the parents consented to have it opened;  but after
 searching the stomach and bowels, to the ir surprise, no
 woyns could bo found.  The third soou  after died.  The
 faot was, their death was caused by canker on the stom-
 ach  and  bowels,  and the medicine given increased  the
 difficulty  by drawing the determining powers inward,
 which aided  the cold to promote the canker.   Where
 children die  by  such'treatment, the blame is all laid Ki
 the worms, and the doctor escapes censure.
   1 have had  a  great deal of experience  in  what  are
 called worm complaints;  aud after having  become  ac-
quainted with the  real cause have'had no  difficulty in
 curing all-that  I have undertaken.  I  began with  my
 own  children.   One of them was troubled with  what
 was supposed to  be worms ; I employed a doctor, who
gave  pink root, and then physic to* carry it off  with  the
 worms.  It would shortly after have another*turn, which
 would be worse ;  he went on in this way, and the worms
 kept  increasing,  till I became satisfied that  he was
working  on the effect, and  neglected the  cause, when
 I dismissed him and  undertook the cure myself.   1 firstly
gave  the warmest  medicine I then knew of to clear
off the cold  phlegm ;  and  gave bitter medicine, such as
poplar bark,  wormwood, tansyrand physic made of the
twigs of butternut,  to cleanse the stomach and to cor-
rect the  bile.   By  parsuing this plan  the child soon got
well and was no  more troubled with Worms.   A child
in the neighbourhood where I lived, about six years old,
was taken sick in the morning, and the doctor was sent
for, who gave medicine  for worms ; soon after, it had
fits and continued  in  convulsions  during the day, and
at night died.  I  was satisfied that its death was hasten-
ed if  not caused by what was given.   When the stom-
ach is diseased, or  when  poison is taken into it, the
worms try to flee from their danger,  which causes dis,
tress,  and they sometimes  get into knots and stop the
passages  to  the "stomach.   Much more might be said  on
thia subject;  but  enough  has been stated  to put those 
or, Botanie Family Physician.        119
who attend  to  it on their guard  against the dangerous
practice of giving medicine to kill worms.
  My  practice  has  been what I  shall recommend to
others  to do, in  case of what is called worm complaints,
to give the composition powders, or No. 2, to  warm the
stomach, a tea  of No. 3,  to remove the canker, and the
bitters or either of the articles described under No. 4, to
correct the bile.  If they are bad, carry them  through a
course of the medicine, and give  the  bitters.   When
there are nervous symptoms give the nerve powder.  In-
jections should  also  be frequently given.   The butternut
syrup is very good.   If there should bo danger of  mor-
tification, make use of.  No. 6, both  in the medicine
given,  and in the injections.
  The tape-worm is from the same cause aa other worms,
and may be cured in the same manner.   They are, when
single, about half an inch long, and one third as wide;
they join together and appear like tape,  and often come
away in long pieces of several yards.   I was once troubled
with them, and  used to  be faint, and have no appetite ;
I cured myself by  taking the butternut physic, which
brought away several yards at a time; and by  taking the
bitter  medicine, to  correct the bile, was never troubled
with it again.
   I have often hear'' about people having a greedy-worm;
but thisjsa mistaken  notion, for  there was  never any
-tuch thing.   T.he difficulty is the stomach being cold and
disordered,  so  that the  food is not properly digested,
passes off without nourishing the system, and this creates
an  nnimtural appetite.    Remove the cause by warming
the stomach and correcting the digestive powers  and
there will be no farther difficulty.   In the year  180o, I
was called to see a  young woman who it was supposed
had a greedy-worm.   It was thought to be  very large,
and would frequently get into her throat and  choke her,
almost stopping her breath.  Her mother told  me that the
day before, one of the neighbours was in, and  told a story
 about a person having a  monster in their stomach which
 was taken in by drinking at a brook ;  this  terrible ac-
 count so frightened her d.fhghter, that the worm rose into
 her throat,  and choked her so bad that she had fits.   1
 took the girl home  with me, and gave her a dose of hot 
120
New Guide  to Health;
 bitters, with some of the nerve  powder that night; the
 next morning I carried her through a course of the med-
 icine, as well as I knew at that  time, which cleared the
 stomach  and bowels, and  strengthened the  nervous sys-
 tem.   I  told  her  there Was no worm that troubled  her,
 and she had faith in what I said.  I gave her medicine to
 correct the bile and restore the  digesture, and she soon
 got well-  being no more troubled about the worm.   The
 difficulty was caused by a disordered stomach, and want of
 digesture, which produced spasms in  the  stomach  and
throat.
                     Consumption.
   This complaint is generally caused by some acute dis-
 order not being removed, and the patient being run down
 by the fashionable practice, until nature makes a com-
 promise with disease, and  the  house becomes divided
 against itself.   There is a constant warfare kept up be-
 tween the inward heat and cold, the flesh wastes away in
 consequence of not digesting the  food, the canker be-
 comes seated on the stomach and bowels, and then takes
 hold of the lungs.  When they get into this situation, it
 is called a seated consumption, and is pronounced by the
 doctors to be incurable.  I have had a great many cases
 of this kind, and have in all of them, where  there was
 life enough  left to build upon, been able to effect a cure
 by my system of practice.  The most important thing is
 to raise the  inward heat, and get a perspiration, clear the
 system of canker, and  restore the digestive powers, so that
 food will nourish the body and keep up that heat on which
life depends.  This must be done by the regular course
of medicine, as has been directed in all violent attacks of
 disease, and persevering in it till the cause is removed.
  This complaint is called by the doctors a hectic fever,
because they are subject to cold chills, and hot flashes on
the surface; but this  is  an  error, for there  is  no fever
about it; and this is the greatest difficulty ; if there were
a fever, it would have  a crisis, and nature would be able
to drive out  the cold and effect a cure; the only difficulty
is to raise a  fever, which  must be  done by such medi-
cine as will raise and  hold  the  inward heat till nature 
or, Botanic Family Physician.        121
has the complete  command.   When  patients are  very
weak and low, they will haTe what is called cold sweats;
the cause of this is not understood ; the water that col-
lects on the skin does not come through the pores, but is
attracted from the air in the room, which is warmer  than
the body, and condenses on the surface; the  same may
be seen on the outside of a mug  or tumbler, on a hot
day, when  filled with cold water, which is from the same
cause.   It is of more  importance to  attend to  the pre-
venting of this complaint,  than to  cure it.   If people
would make use of those means  which I have recom-
mended, and cure themselves of disease, in its first sta-
ges, and  avoid all poisonous drugs, there would never be
a case of consumption, or any other chronic disorder.
                        Fits.
   These are produced by the same cause as other com-
plaints, that is, cold and obstructions;  and may be cured
by a  regular course of the medicine, which overpowers
the cold, promotes perspiration, and restores the  diges-
tive powers.  Poison, or any thing else, which gives the
cold power over the inward heat, will cause fits, because
the natural  tone of the muscular power is thereby des-
troyed, which produces violent spasms on the whole sys-
tem.  So much has already been  said  on this subject,
that it is unnecessary to say more, to give a correct idea
of the manner of cure..
       St. Anthony's Fire, Nettle Spring, or Surfeit.   „
   These  are all caused  by overheating  the system and
cooling too suddenly,  which leaves the pores obstructed,
and then by taking more cold, will bring on the warfare
between cold  and heat,  when  they break  out and  itch
and  smart, as if stung by an  insect.  When the heat
gets a little the upper hand, so as to produce perspiration,
it will disappear till they get another cold.  The only
way to effect a cure is to give the hot medicine, and steam
till  they are brought  to the same state of heat as that
which first caused  the disease, and then cool by degrees.
             11 
• --»            -,ci* v.u.>.c 10 ntUiu;

This I have proved in several instances, and never had
any difficulty in entirely removing the cause  in this way.
Make use of a tea of No. 3, for canker, and the bitters to
correct the  bile, and a  little  nerve powder to  quiet  the
nerves, and  they will soon be restored  to perfect health.
                Strangnary, or Gravel.
  This disorder is often caused by hard labour, and ex-
posure to cold, in the early part of life; and when they
grow  old their  heat diminishes, the bile becomes thick,
and a sediment collects in the bladder, which obstructs
the passages ; the glands through which the urine passes
are clogged and  become   diseased,  so that  there  is a
difficulty in voiding the  water, which causes great pain.
It is seldom  that there is a cure in such cases;  but re-
lief may  be  obtained, by a course  of the medicine, and
making free use of the  poplar  bark tea.   A tea of the
hemlock  boughs  is very good : and also  I have  known
groat  relief  from using  tbe wild lettuce and pipsisway,
the tops  and roots  bruised and steeped  in  hot  water.
Many other  articles  that are good to promote the urine
may be used to advantage.
                      Dropsy.
  There are two kinds of this complaint;  one is caused
by losing the inward heat so as to stop the natural per-
8]»ira:ion, which causes the water that  is usually thrown
off in this way, to  collect in the body and limbs.  This
may  be cured by raising  the internal heat and  causing
a profuse porspirrtion, when the water will pass off in a
nvmral way ;  then make use of such  medicine  as will
remove canker an 1 restore  the digestive  powers, when
t ie  food being  digested will  keep up  the natural  heat
of the body and continue the perspiration.   The other
kisid is caused by cold and obstruction;  but instead of
thn  water  collecting  and remaining in the  body and
limbs, a lf>ak  forms in the glands and  lets  it into the
trunk  of the  body, where there is no  vent  to let it off. 
           or,  Botanic Family Physician.        123

This cannot be cured without tapping, and  is very sel-
dom completely cured.  I  have never known but two
who were in this situation to be perfectly restored.   One
was a girl whom I attended  ; I tapped her aud took away
seventeen pounds of water; then swathed her up close,
and gave  medicine to keep a perspiration;  she did net
fill again, and was completely cured.  The other was a
man, ho had been tapped twice.  I carried hiai through
the course of medicine several times, and gave .the juni-
per ashes, with molasses and gin, which carried off large
quantities of water, and he entirely recovered from the
disorder.   I have  cured  a  number  who  had the first
mentioned complaint, by the common course of medi-
cine ; one woman was cured by taking the wild lettuce,
bruised and steeped in hot  water.   Mention has  been
made of several cases  of this disease, hi my narrative,
which were cured ; and enough has been said to give an
idea of the cause and manner of treatment.
                   Bilious Cholic.
  The name of this complaint is erroneous; for  bilious
means the bile, and no one ever heard of a bile  cholic,
Or pain caused by gall, as it is a  friend  to  health, and
never caused disease or death.   This pain is caused by a
disordered stomach and want of digesture; the stomach
is filled with canker, which gets into the narrow passage
from the  stomach,  when the action of the bowels ceases ;
after  the pain  subsides, those  parts where it was, are
very sore.   To cure it, raise the inward  heat, by giving
the hot medicine,  remove the canker  with  No. 3, and
give the bitters to correct the bile, and repeat  it, till a
cure is effected.   If the case is bad, carry them through
a course of the medicine, and often give injections.
                      Pleurisy.
  This is a distressing complaint, and is caused by cold,
or want  of inward  heat;  I never had  any difficulty in
curing it by my common practice.   The only remedy
made use of by the doctors, is to bleed; this only ia.^ 
 1*1            New Guide  to  Health;

 creases the disease, by reducing the strength of the pa-
 tient, without removing the cause.   I was once called to
 a Soldier at Eastport,  who had a violent pain in his side;
 the doctor that attended him, had  bled him  five  times,
 without removing the pain, which made him so weak, that
 it was with difficulty he could be held up in the bed.   I
 relieved him in one hour,  by a common course of medi-
 cine, and bathing his side with the rheumatic drops.   It
 look thsee weeks to get up  his  strength,  which  might
 have been  done in three  days, if he  had not  been bled.
 I was called to another case of the kind, of a soldier, at
 the same place.   He had been bled, and a large blister
 put on his side to remove the pain, which caused a stran-
 guary, and ho was in great distress.    I declined doing
 any thing for him without the consent of the  command-
 ing officer, who was not present.  The soldier begged of
 me to tell him what to do for the latter  complaint, as he
 could not live so.  I told him to take off the blister, which
 was immediately done, and it  gave instant relief.    By
 carrying them through a course of medicine, as has been
directed for other violent attacks, it will cure all cases of
this complaint without danger; and it is much better than
 bleeding, or blisters, which only increases the difficulty.
                       Relax.
   This complaint is caused  by indigestion, or loss of
the powers of the gall, which becomes thick,  in conse-
quence of cold, or loss of inward heat, when the stomach
will be sour.   The best remedy is, to give No. 2, which
will thin the gall;  cleanse the stomach with No. 1, and
give the bitters to correct the digesture.  A dose of the
composition powders, with a tea-spoonful of No. 6, in it,
will in most cases effect a cure.  The bayberry .;nd pop-
lar bark is good, aTid also many other articles that have
been described as good to restore the digestive powers.


                     Dysentery.
  This is a distressing complaint, and  is very common,
especially among children; although much has already 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
125
Wen said on this subject; yet its importance will justify
some further directions.   It is caused  by cold, which
gets .the ascendency over the inward heat, so as to draw,
all the determining-powers inward ; the stomach is  dis-
ordered, the digestive powers  are  lost, the bowels be-
come coated with canker, the food is not digested so as
to afford any nourishment or heat to the  system, and all
the juices flow inward, and pass  off by  the common
passage.   The canker makes the bowels very sore, and
when any thing passes them, it causes excruciating pain.
The  best  plan of treatment  is,  to. carry the  patient
through  a regular course of medicine, and repeat  it, it
occasion should require, every day till relief is obtained.
During the operation, give  the chicken broth, and after
the disease is checked,  give occasionally a little brandy
and loaf sugar burned together, and a strong tea of  pop-
lar bark.    Give the syrup, No. 5, two or three times a
day, until entirely recovered ;  and  the  bitters,  No. 4,
may be given night and morning, to restore the digesture.
Care must be taken to  keep up the inward heat in the
interim,  by giving occasionally, No. 2 in a tea of No. 3,
sweetened.  . Steaming is very important in  this com-
plaint, and injections must often be  administered.
                    Rheumatism.
  This complaint is caused by cold obstructing the nat-
ural circulation, which causes  pain and  swelling.   It
often affects the joints, so that they grow out of shape.
A cure is easily effected, if timely and properly attended
to,  which must be done by such  medicine as will cause
perspiration and remove obstructions.  In common cases,
by  taking the rheumatic drops,  and  bathing the part
affected,  with  the  same, will  remove  the  complaint.
When the case is  bad, carry them through a course of
the  medicine,  and bathe  with the drops, repeating it as
occasion may require, till cured.   At the same time, give
a tea of poplar bark or hemlock boughs; and many other
articles which have been described as good for this com-
plaint, may also be made use of to advantage.
              11* 
126
New Guide to Health;
  The gout is from the same cause, and  the stomach
Doing greatly disordered, and  very sour, which product a
a burning sensation.   I have  cured several cases by the
ooaimon  course  of medicine, and giving the bitters to
restore the digestive powers.
                     Sore Lips.
  They are common in very hot or cold  weather, whrn
there is nearly a balance of the power of outward and in-
ward heat, or outward and inward cold, which produces
canker.  To cure it, take a strong dose of a tea of No. 3,
with a  tea-spoonful of No. 2 in it, when going to bed, and
wash them with the  same, then wipe them dry to take off
the  matter collected ; then wet them ugain with the tea,
and put on as much  ginger as will stick, repeat the same
again for two or three times, till the coat is sufficient  to
keep out the air;  when this comes  off, repeat  the same
pro  ess again, until the soreness is gone, then wash again
with the tea, and wipe them dry, and apply warm tallow
till  a care is completed.
                     Sore Eyes.
  This is generally caused by being exposed to sudden
changes of heat and cold,  which produces canker: and
where this is, there will be  inflammation.   There  are
many things good for this complaint; but the best that I
have found, is white pond lily root, marshrosemary, witch
hazle and red raspberry leaves ; make a strong tea with
all or either, and add one third as much of No. 6, with a
little of No. 2; bathe  the  eyas  several times in a day;
every morning put  your face in cold water, open and shut
the eyes till well washed ;  repeat this till a cure is effect-
ed.  At the  same time take the tea to clear the  system
ef canker.

                     Headache.
  This pain proceeds  from a foul stomach, the bile loses
its powers, the food clogs, by not being digested, and the
effect is felt in the head, which is the fountain of sense. 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.        127
Sometimes there is sickness at  the stomach ;  when this
happens, it is called sick headache, and when they vomit,
the head is relieved.   This proves that the cause is in
the stomach.   It must be cured by cleansing the stomaeh
and restoring the digestive powers.   A dose of composi-
tion  powders, sitting  by the fire  wrapped in a blanket,
will generally give  relief;  but  if it  should not, take a
dose of No. 1, in a tea of No. 3, and take the bitters to
correct the bile ;  No. 2 should also be taken, to warm the
stomach, and  if it is sour, take the pearlash water.  It is
very fashionable with the doctors, to tell about dropsy in
the head, but in this I have no belief; for there  is no
disease in the head but what proceeds from the stomach,
except from external injury.  If they understood the real
cause, and would give the proper medicine to  remove it,
there would be no diffioulty in the  head; but  when  a
child is sick, they give calomel and other poisons, which
increases the disease; and if they die, it is  laid to the
dropsy in the head, and this is satisfactory, because  the
doctor says so.  *


                         Corns.
   These come on the joints  of the  toes, and are very
 troublesome.  They may be cured  by soaking the foot
 in warm water till the corn is  soft, shave it thin ;  take a
 strip of bladder or skin of suet, eight or ten inches long,
 and half an  inch wide,  rub it till so'ft; then supple  it
 well in rattle-snake's oil, or the nerve ointment; wrap it
 round the toe, and keep it on till worn out;  if this  does
 ■ot cure, repeat the same till  the corn  is removed.  I
 have seldom  known this  to fail of a cure.
                      Venereal.
  This disease, that is called by this name, is more com-
mon iaa seaports than in the country, because there is a
more promiscuous  and illicit  intercourse of the sexes,
than in other places.   It is a very high state of canker
and putrefaction, which takes hold of the glands of those
parts that are first affected with it; and if not checked, 
128
New  Guide to Health:
the whole system will become diseased  by the  venereal
taint.   It is more common  among sea-faring men, be-
cause of their being long absent at sea, and  on coming
on shore, they give free scope to their  passions, without
being very scrupulous about the manner of their indul-
gence.   It originates, probably,  with those  common
women, who have connection with many different men;
and going beyond the  impulse of nature ; this impure
connection causes uncleanness, which  produces the dis-
ease, and when seated, is contagious.
   The  reason why this disease causes so much fright
and alarm, is owing to two causes ; the first is  the  dis-
grace that is attached to the dishonesty in getting ijt; and
the other is the manner in which it  has generally been
treated, in giving  mercury to cure it;  the remedy be-
comes worse than the disease.   That this disorder cannot
be cured by any other means, is altogether an error ; for
1 have cured a number  of cases by very simple means.
The first symptoms felt, is a scalding sensation and pain
when voiding the urine ;'and  within twenty-four  hours
after this is experienced, it may be cured in that time, by
applying cold water, and making use of the  rheumatic
drops;  if there is much soreness, make use of the tea of
No. 3, with the drops in it; which must be taken, as well
as applied to the parts.  If the disease has been of long
standing,  and the  whole  system has become affected,
they must be carried through a course  of the medicine.
Where there has been mercury made use of, and there is
all the attendant consequences of such treatment, it is
much more difficult to effect a cure;  and is only done by
a full course of the medicine, and repeating it for a num-
ber of times ; raising the  heat by steam,  each time as
high as  they can bear, to throw out the mercury and re-
move the canker, at the same time applying the poultice;
then give the bitters to correct the bile.
  I had  a case of a woman, who was brought to me on
a bed, fifteen miles.  She was in a very putrid state, and
as bad as she could well  be, with all the  consequences
that are  caused by being filled with mercury.  Different
doctors had attended her for eleven months, and  she had
constantly been  growing worse.   She  had  been kept
ignorant of her disease,  till a few days before brought to. 
           or, Botanic  Family Physician.       129

me, on account of her husband.   I carried, her through
five courses of the medicine in two weeks, and applied a
poultice of white bread  and  ginger  made  with a tea of
No. 3.  This completely broke up the disorder, and  by
giving medicine to correct the bile and restore the diges-
tuse, she was cured, and returned home  in three weeks
after coming to me.   By  taking  things to restore her
strength, has enjoyed good health ever since.   Another
woman was cured in the same manner, who had been in
this way  for six years, and unable to do any business.
attended  her three  weeks, when she was restored  to
health, and returned home.   In less than  a year after
she had two children at  a  birth, and  has enjoyed good
health to this day.
  This  disease may be  produced  by other means than
what  have been described.  It may be taken in with the
breath by being much exposed in attending  on those
who are in a very putrid stage of the complaint; or may
be communicated to parts where the skin is broken, and
in many other ways;  when they will have many ot Hie
symptoms the same  as when taken m  the common way.
Children will  sometimes be affected with the venereal
taint, whose parents have had the disease.   A disease
similar in appearance,.with  much the same symptoms,
may be brought on  by overdoing  and being exposed to
the cold.  I once had the case of  a young married man,
who  by straining himself from loading mill logs and be-
ing exposed to wet  and  cold, caused a weakness in the
back  and loins, and  he had what is called a gleet, and an
inflammation, with all the symptoms common in  the ve-
nereal   His wife became  affected in the same manner,
and they continued  in this situation three months, when
I was called to attend them ; and by making use of such
things as I then  had a knowledge of  to strengthen the
loins  and remove the  canker, was able to cure both in a
short time.  The man had all  the symptoms that appear
fnthe venereal except hard bunches in the groins called
buboes.   These 1 am satisfied are caused  by.TtT£
for I  never knew any to have them except they  had taken
mercury.  By syringing with mercury and sugar of lead
U drtes fhe glands and contracts the passage and stops the
discharge, when the putrid  matter instead of going off, 
130
New Guide to  Health;
collects in the groin and forms hard tumours, which re-
main a long time and have to be brought to a head to lot
off the putrid matter.   Bunches of a similar kind often
some on different parts of the  body caused by mercury.
  Much more might be written on this subject, but it is
difficult to find proper  terms to convey all the directions
that may be necessary in all cases.   Enough has been
said to give to those who are so unfortunate  as to have
the disease, a general knowledge of the nature of the
complaint and the best manner of effecting a cure ; and
to those who are fortunate enough to escape it, any thing
further will be unnecessary.  If the disease be of recent
standing, let it be considered merely a case of  local can-
ker, and treated as such ; but if the whole system has be-
come tainted, and especially if  mercury has been given,
the disease  4s more  difficult to  remove, and must be
treated accordingly.
                MIDWIFERY.
   This is  a  very difficult subject to  write  upon, as I
know of no words, that would be proper to make use of,
•o convey the necessary information to enable a person
to attempt  the  practice with. safety.   The great impor-
tance of the  subject, however, induces me not to be si-
lent ;  and I shall endeavour to make known  to the pub-
lic such thoughts  and conclusions as long  experience
and much solicitude has enabled me to form, concerning
those who are suffering and are constantly liable to suf-
fer from  the  erroneous and  most unnatural  practice of
the present day.    The  practice of  midwifery at  this
time,  appears to be altogether  a  matter of  speculation
with  the  medical  faculty, by their exorbitant price for
attendance.  The  tax on the poor classes is very heavy ;
and  this is not the greatest grievance that they have to
tear, for  they  are often deprived of their  wives  and
children,  by  such  ignorant and unnatural practice as is
very common in all parts of the country.
   Thirty  years ago the practice of midwifery was prin-
cipally in the hands of experienced women,  who had no
difficulty ; and there was scarce an instance known ia 
or, Botanic  Family  Physician.
131
those days of a woman  dying in child-bed, and ft  was
very uncommon for them  to  lose the child ;  but at the
present time these things are so common that it is hardly
talked about.  There must be some cause for this differ-
ence, and I can account for it in no other way than the
unskilful  treatment they experience  from the doctors,
who have now got most of the practice into their  own
hands.   In  the country where I was born, and where I
brought up a family of children, there was no such thing
thought of  as calling'the assistance of a doctor ; a mid-
wife was all that was thought  necessary, and the instan-
ces were  very  rare that they were not  successful, for
they used no art, but afforded such assistance as nature
required ; gave herb tea to keep them- in  a perspiration
and to quiet the nerves.   Their price  was one dollar ;
 when the doctors began  to  practise  midwifery in the
 country, their price was three dollars, but they soon after
 raised it to five; and now they  charge from twelve to
 twenty dollars.   If they go on in  this ratio, it will soon
 take all the people can earn, to pay for their children.
    All the valuable instruction I ever received, was from
 a woman, in the town where  I lived,  who had practised
 as a midwife, for twenty years;  in an interview of  about
 twenty minutes, she gave me  more  useful  instruction,
 than all I ever gained  from  any other  source.   I have
 practised considerably in  this line, and have always had
  very good success.   It is very important to keep up the
  strength of women in  a  state of  pregnancy, so that at
  the time of delivery, they may be in possession of all theft
  natural  powers;  they should be carried through a course
  »f the medicine several times, particularly a little  before
  delivery and keep them  in a perspiration during and
  after deliverv, which will prevent after pains,  and other
  complaints common in such  cases.  Beware of bleeding
   opium, and cold  baths ; invigorate  all the faculties  of
   the  body and mind,  to  exert the most laborious efforts
   that nature is called upon to perform, instead of stupify-
   ing and substituting art  for nature.   I will relate a case
   that I was knowing to, which will give a pretty fair view
   of the  practice of the doctors.   A woman was taken in
   travail, and the midwife could not  come ;  a doctor was
   sent for; when  he  came, the prospect was, that she 
132           New  Guide to Health;
  would not be delivered in two hours;  he gave her some
  medicine, which caused vomiting, and turned the pains
  to the stomach ;  she continued in this situation for twelve
  hours, when her strength was  nearly  gone; he then
  bled her, and to  stop the puking, gave so much opium, as
  to cause such a stupor, that it required all the exertions
  of the women to keep the breath of life  in her, through
  the night; in the morning, she remained very weak, and
  continued so till  afternoon, when she was delivered with
  instruments.  The child was dead, and the woman came
  very near dying,  and it was six months before  she got
  her strength again.  Many more cases might be given of
 the bad success of bleeding and giving opium to stupify,
 and making  use of art, instead of assisting nature to do
 her own work.
   I have given instruction to several who have bought
 the right, and their practiee has been attended with com-
 plete success.   Many men that I have  given the infor-
 mation to, have since  attended  their own  wives, and I
 have never known an instance of any bad consequences ;
 and if .young married men would adopt the same course,
 it would be much more proper and  safe, than to trust
 their wives in the hands of young inexperienced doctors,
 wh© have little knowledge, except what  they get from
 books, and their  practice  is  to  try experiments; their
cruel and harsh treatment, in many instances, would in-
duce the husband to  throw them out at  the window, if
permitted to be present; but this is not allowed, for the
very same reason.
  The following cases, and the mode of treatment, each
of which presents something new,  and difficult, will
present to view all that  will be  further necessary on this
tubject.  These will  be added  by way of supplement. 
                swu>a>2i®saiaii?££

      TO  THE  THIRD EDITION.



                 INTRODUCTION.

  " The Hebrew women are lively, and  are delivered ere the
midwives come in unto them."  Exodus, i. 19.

  As an  introduction to what I have further  to  say on
the subject  of midwifery, the above  may answer as a
text;  from which, I have only to observe, that, had this
important branch  been preserved  in its simplicity, at-
tended only  by women, as it  seems to have been in the
days of the ancient Egyptians, when  the Hebrews were
slaves under Pharaoh, who ordered the midwives to kill
all the Hebrew male  children  at their birth,  women
might still have been delivered with  as  little  trouble to
the midwives,  and as little pain  to themselves, as from
the account, it appears that they  were then.   For, as a
cover to their humanity, and to escape punishment from
the king, the midwives excused  themselves for not kill-
ing the male children on account of the  liveliness of the
Hebrew women.   If those women had had the doctors
of the present day, with their pincers,  Pharaoh would
have had less cause to have issued his decree to  kill the
male children, as many might have been killed with im-
punity before it was known whether  they were male or
female.   Has  the nature ol^vomen altered, which makes
the mode of having children so much  more difficult and
mysterious now than it was then 1 or is it the speculation
of the doctors, for the sake of robbing the  people of
twenty dollars, the regular tribute here, for each child
born ? And should the child be born, fortunately for the
mother and  child both, before the arrival of the doctor,
he even then, instead of the  price of a common visit,
considers himself entitled to a half fee;  that is,  ten dol-
              12 
134            New Guide to Health;
lars.   In all this, you may see the mystery of iniquity.
Then  dismiss the doctor;  restore the business into the
hands of women, where it belongs; and save your wife
from much  unnecessary pain, your children, perhaps,
from death, and at all events, your money, for  better pur-
poses.    Then will  your children be born  naturally, as
fruit falls from the tree, when ripe, of itself.
  From  this source, the doctors and their  pincers, may
be traced the miserable health of women, unable to stand
on their  feet  for  weeks and  months, and  never  finally
recover; all caused by those horrid instruments of steel,
to extend the passage not only for  the child, but  for the
instruments also.   In this harsh and unnatural operation,
they often not only crush the head of the child, but also
the neck of the bladder.   After  this, there is an invol-
untary discharge of the urine, bearing-down  pains, &c.
insomuch that life becomes an intolerable burden without
remedy.   Can  any one believe there was ever  an in-
stance of this kind among the  Hebrew women,  where
midwives only were known,  or  where nature only was
the midwife ?  I  think not.   Is there  any such thing
known among the natives of this country, where  nature
is their only dependence?  History gives us an account
of their  squaws'  having a pappoos at night, and wade
several rivers the next day, when  driven  by  Christians
in warfare;  and by the simple use of taking the unicorn
root, they would prevent themselves from  taking cold.
If all these views of the subject, what has  been  6tated
in the body of this  work, and what is here to  fellow",
be not satisfactory,  neither would  people be  persuaded
though one should arise from the dead.
           Farther Remarks on Midwifery.
  Ajs I  am often called upon  for verbal information  on
this important subject, I shall  endeavour in this supple-
ment to give  some further instructions,  by  relating sev-
eral important cases, and their mode of treatment, which
have occurred since my last edition was published.
  In addition to the bad practice of the  doctors, as be-
fore related, I will state another case of  which I was  an 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.        135
eye-witness.  My brother's wife, about  thirty years old,
was in travail with her first child.   The midwife called
on me for advice, on account of a violent flooding, which
I immediately relic».:d by the hot medicine; at the same
time, some people present, privately  sent for  a doctor.
When he came, I told him there was no difficulty, and
all that was wanting was time.   After examination, he
said the woman had been  well  treated.   He then  took
the command, and very  soon began to use too  much ex-
ertion.   He was cautioned by the midwife ; but he show-
ed temper, and said, " Why did you  send for me, if you
know best."    I told him  he was not sent for  by our re-
quest ;  wo found no need of any other help.   The doc-
tor persisted in this harsh treatment for about seven hours,
occasionally trying to put on his instruments of torture.
This painful attempt caused the woman to shrink from
her pains, and the child drew back.   After making sev-
eral unsuccessful attempts, got himself tired out; he ask-
ed me to examine her situation.  I did so, and told him
that the child was not so far advanced as when he came.
He asked me to attend  her.    I refused the offer ; and
told him that he pronounced  the woman  well treated
when  he  came ;  but she had not been  so  treated since,
and I was not liable to  bear the blame.   He then sent
for another dnr-.ror, and  let her alone till the  other doc-
tor came, in which time nature had done much in ad-
vancing her labour. The doctors were astonished at her
 strength, in its thus holding out; and  1  now  firmly be-
lieve that with the use of the  medicine which had been
 given her, and which ought to  have  been continued, na-
 ture would have completed her delivery.   The second
 doctor did but little more  than to  say, the instruments
 could now be put on ; which shows  how far nature had
 completed her  work.   The first doctor put  on the in-
 struments of death, and  delivered her by force;  using
 strength enough to have drawn a hundred weight!  1 hus
 the child was, as  I should call it, murdered; the head
 crushed, and the doctor put it  in a tub of cold  water
 twice; an application, one would  have supposed, suffi-
 cient  to kill it, had it been well 1!
   The woman flooded, like the running  of water  so as
 to he  heard by all in the room.   The  doctor  called for 
13d
.Xeto Guide  to 1Lalth;
cold water to put on as soon as possible.   I told  the
doctor that he need not trouble himself any further about
the woman, I would take the care of her.  I gave her a
spoonful of fine bayberry, cayenne *nd  drops; got  her
into bed as soon as possible ;  the alarming situation soon
abated ; but her senses were gone, and her nerves all in
a state of confusion.    I repeated the dose with the ad-
dition of nerve powder.   1 put a hot stone,  wrapped in
cloths wet with vinegar, at her feet, and also  at her, back
and bowels, until she got warm.    Then her  nerves be-
came more  composed.   When  the doctor  left her, he
said there was a  doubt whether  she lived over  twelve
hours.   At that time  she  was so swollen as to stop all
evacuations, besides other injuries she had received  by
the use of force instead of aid.   The midwife used  her
best endeavours to promote  a natural discharge, but in
vain.   But, when all other sources fail, then comes my
turn.   I succeeded, and saved her from mortification.
The second day, I carried her through a course of medi-
cine ; steaming her  in  bed;  for  she was as helpless as
though all her bones had been broken.   All the way she
could be turned was to draw her on the under sheet,  and
so turn her that way.   After the second course, she be-
gan to help herself a little.   I was with her most of the
time for five days and nights   T then left her, with medi-
cines and directions, and she gained her health in about
two months.   I gave them directions how to proceed in
case she should ever be in the like situation again.  She
had another child in about two years; the child  lived,
and both did  well,  by keeping away the doctor, as I am
satisfied would have  been the case the first time,  had
this scourge or humanity been kept away.
   I have been more particular in relating this case, than
I otherwise  should  have been, had  I  not been an eye-
witness to all the  proceedings', and of course to  all  the
facts which I have stated, which I  could  not  have  be-
lieved had I not seen them ;  and had it been at my own
house, I think I should not have waited for  a  door, but
have pitched the monster  out at  the window.   Yet I
have reason to believe that this is only a sample of the
general practice where nature moves slowly.   The argot
or rye spur, which  is  a  very improper medicine,  was 
           ©r, Botanic Family  Physician.        137

also  frequenUy given  in  this case;  but  it ought to  be
particularly guarded against, in all cases.
   Another instance happened  in the  country, very re-
cently, only about six weeks since, where the doctor was
with a young woman in travail, who had fits.  The doc-
tor bled her, and took away her child dead  by force.
The woman is yet in a poor state of health.  What Could
we expect otherwise, where learned  men forbid the laws
of nature to take their  course, take  the blood,  "which
is the life," to enable women to  go through with the most
laborious task  which  nature is called onto perform?
Consider of these things, my friends, and govern your-
selves accordingly.
  Now let me exhibit the other side of the picture.    I
was called upon to attend a young woman in child-bed,
about four  weeks ago, eighty miles in  the  country.    I
attended.   She. had been sick, and sent for help, before
I arrived, and had got  about again.   About one week
after, she was taken  again, with every appearance that
she would be delivered soon.   In  about six hours  the
pains all flatted away ;  she grew pale and dull in spirits,
and the motion of the child  had  nearly ceased.   She
had laboured hard and got cold,  and had a bad cough ;
and the moisture of the glands  was so thickened, that
she could not spit clear of her mouth.  I saw that there
was no  use in any further delay.   On Thursday I car-
ried  her through a  thorough course of medicine, and
steamed her twice in the course of the day, and then let
her rest.  About the same time she was taken the night
before, to wit, about eleven o'clock, her pains were reg-
ular,  her animation and vigour returned, a fine son was
born  about three o'clock, she walked from the fire to the
bed, a portion of coffee and cayenne was  administered,
and'a steaming stone put to her feet.   As  soon  as  her
perspiration was free, all after-pains ceased, and there
were none of those alarming symptoms common to learn-
ed ignorance.  The second day she showed symptoms
of a child-bed fever and broken breasts.   I carried her
              12* 
13S            New Guide to Health;

through another course of medicine  and steam.   The
fifth day she took breakfast and dinner below  with the
family, and carried her child up stairs.   The eighth day
she rode out two miles, paid a visit and come back.  On
the ninth day, I carried her  through another course of
medicine, and got her so  far  cleared, that she could spit
clear of her mouth for the first time after I saw her.  On
the tenth day, she rode the  same distance; and I have
no doubt that, had she been attended in the common
way, she would have  had  the child-bed  fever, broken
breasts, and a poor health afterwards.
   This case caused much conversation.   Why so ? It
was the  different mode  of treatment, reversing every
mode commonly attended to.  What shall we  do? say
the people, we shall never dare to employ a doctor again.
I answer.  Call  the doctor  and obtain his advice; and
then reverse every prescription given by him in a case of
child-bed.   If he tells you to have a doctor, have  a mid-
wife.   If he says, " be bled,"  keep your blood for other
uses.   If he  says, " keep yourself  cold," Sweat your-
self.   If he says,  "put cold water on your  bowels,"
take hot medicine inside, and  a steaming stone at your
feet.   If he  says, "take physic," use warm injections.
If  he  says, "starve yourself," eat  what your appetite
craves.  By strict observance  of the foregoing  anti-di-
rections, you may enjoy your health, and save the heavy
bill for the many visits of the doctor, besides saving him
from the trouble of keeping you sick.  This is the mode
of having patent  babies,  so highly recommended by Dr.
Robinson in his 12th lecture, who says, " Even in child-
bed delivery,  a matter never to be forgotten, this prac-
tice has very  nearly removed the pain and punishment
from  the  daughters of Eve, threatened  to our  progeni-
tor and entailed upon her  offspring.  A lady of good
sense, and without  the  least colouring of imagination,
said it was  easier to have five children  under the op-
eration and influence of this new practice, than one by the
other management and medicine.   And she had had ex-
perience in both cases, and has been supported in the
evidence by every one  who has followed her example."
   This extract speaks volumes in  favour of the treatment
in the last named case. 
or, Botanic Family Physician.        139
  The following case of midwifery I shall mention, with
the mode of treatment, for the purpose of giving instruc-
tion to others.
  I was called to visit a woman in Greenfield, Saratoga
Co. N. Y. who had been in travail ten days, and her life
despaired of.   I think there was not less than ten men
and women present, and the seal of despair was set upon
each one's countenance.   The woman in a  low voice
said,  " I cannot see what can be the use  of a woman's
undergoing the distress I have for ten days, and die after
all, as two  sisters of mine have done in a similar case
but a short time ago."   I replied, that  pain and distress
were the common lot  of all mankind, and  the duty of
e*ery one is to alleviate the  miseries of others  as  far as
it is in our power.   She asked me if I thought I could
help her.    I assured her that I  would do every thing I
could  for that purpose.    There  were several persons
present who owned the right.  I took out my  medicine,
and put in  a tea-cup  a large  spoonful of composition,
one tea-spoonful of cayenne, one of nerve powder, and
one spoonful of sugar, filled the cup with  boiling  water,
stirred them well together, and set it down.   While set-
tling, I took a large tea-spoonful  of brown emetic, and
 having poured off the tea into another cup, stirred in the
powder, and handed it to the woman, who swallowed it,
apparently with all possible faith that it would  help  her.
I called for assistance, to  regulate the bed  and other
tilings, which were in disorder  about the  room, as soon
as  possible.   Every attention was paid, the  medicine
roused the efforts of nature, so that the woman  was in
readiness before we were.    This called  all to her as-
sistance ;  the desired object was obtained in less than
fifteen minutes after taking this friend of nature;  a fine
son was born alive, and the woman comfortable and able
with  steadying, to  walk from the fire to the bed, to the
great joy  of all present.   The  gloomy veil of despair
was raised from the  countenance of all, and they hearti-
ly partook  of the joy  and thankfulness of the woman
and family ;  insomuch that some of the women present,
declared that they would never have any other children
but patent  ones hereafter, 
140            AVw  Guia*e to Health;
  One of my agents, Joseph Michell, went with  me ;
and we returned in the space of two  hours, in a  violent
snow storm.  He declared that that expedition was worth
one hundred dollars to the society.   The next day, the
husband came, and purchased the right, with instruction
on the branch of midwifery ; and  has attended his wife
twice since, with unusual  success.   One of my agents
javs he has frequently heard the woman  relate the  fore-
going  case; but never without shedding tears.
        Case of Midwifery in Columbus, Ohio.
  This woman I agreed to be with when confined, which
was expected in about three  weeks.    I went to see my
son, about 130 miles.   While there, I fell and broke two
of my ribsi  I had a violent cough, and almost lost my
life.  I did not return short of about six weeks, and then
in a very poor state of health.   I arrived  at the house
about eleven o'clock at night.  The woman was then in
travail.   She said she had waited for me three weeks.
The midwife said the waters had been discharged three
days, and the woman was in a low and  lingering state,
often wishing for me.   I went to bed  that night,  but
did not  sleep much, on account of the distress of the
woman, and noise of the moving in the house.    I was
solicited about noon the next day, by the  husband and
wife, her father and mother, my agent and  his wife, with
an earnest desire to attend the woman, as her mind was
set on my attention.    I reluctantly consented,  as I was
weak in body and mind, and hardly able to undergo the
anxiety and responsibility of so  difficult a case.  I how-
ever agreed to do the  best I could.   I prepared a dose
similar to that mentioned  in the foregoing case.  It was
given.    It  soon had the desired effect, by rousing the
system to action.  I delivered her in about half an hour.
But the child was apparently dead.  I took the placenta
or after-birth, with  the child ;  the grandmother being
seated in the corner, she placed  the after-birth on a bed
of embers, while rubbing the child ; and as soon as the
substance on the coals had gained warmth enough to fill
the umbilieal cord  with  warmth and moisture, it was 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.
141
stripped towards the body of the child, and so continued
until a sufficient degree of warmth through this medium
was conveyed into the body of the child, as to expaud the
lungs, which was effected in about fifteen or twenty min-
utes ; then the string was separated in usual form.
   I relate this case for the information of those who may
not have studied the principle of heat's  giving life, as is
manifest in the present case.  There was no other possi-
ble way of communicating  heat  to the vitals,  except
through that channel or  stem which had supported the
"rowth of the child to that time, the  same as any  vegeta-
ble fruit is supported from the vine or tree by the stem.
If the vine be cut off, or pulled up, the fruit will wither
and die.   Now what was the cause of the death oi thit
child ?  Recollect the fore part of this statement.   1 ne
water had been discharged three  days.   All that  time
the child had b^r* starving, the same as the fruit loses
its support when the vine is cut.    But  by raising artifi-
cial heat, through  the placenta and umbilical  cord  by
putting  the  former  on the embers and  conveying the
 heat to the body of the child through the medium of  he
 latter it gave the child one  more meal, which roused it
 into  action,  and which was  to last  till  the next mean,
 nature has provided, can be obtained   Before the ch Id
 is born  U « supported  by this stem  from  the mo her in-
 ternal^  after ffrth, from the breast of the mother  ex-
 ternally.   This  food  supports the child, till he can eat
 more solid food, and thus no longer need  the brea.t.

           Now  the attention of the modier,
           May be employ'd to have another;
           And so go on with all <he rest,
          -Your house be fill'd with children bles, d.



               Case of  a False Conception.





   X ,„orc .ht half the  ,in,e, a,,d .hen, .he  res, part 
142
Nac Guide to Health;
 of the time, she was puking.   I  asked him if she was
 in a pregnant  state.   He thought not.   1 answered, I
 thought it must be the case.   I went with him ;  and, on
 the way, asked him if he had given her an emetic f. He
 had not.   If he had used an injection ?  No, he did not
 think it  would answer.   Not answer!  What is your
 medicine good for, if it is not a friend in the most alarm-
 ing case? When entering the house, the man said, "My
 wife has been fainted away more than  half the time,
 since  you  left, and the rest  of the time she has been
 puking."   I directed my agent to go after his syringe.
 The first thing I  could find warm was  some wormwood
 tea.   I  took some in a cup, and added some cayenne,
 nerve powder, and  emetic  herb,  sweetened, as hereto-
 fore directed.   She took it.   I then steeped one pint of
 coffee, and had time to give her about one glass, with a
 requisite  portion of the same artif.lps as  before, when the
 syringe arrived.   I then prepared  about  a gill of. this
 liquid, and  added  the  same proportion of the  articles
 taken, and charged the syringe with it,  and ordered the
 nurse  to administer it.  I, with my agent, left the room
 for the space of about ten minutes, when we were called
 in, and found the nurse much surprised at the discharge.
 The like  was never seen by any one present.   The ap-
 pearance  was like  a hog's  heart secured  in a membrane.
 The people were at a loss  what to call it.   My agent
 was of opinion that there was some human shape in it.
 I said, no.   To satisfy himself, he  opened it  with his
 knive, and found it solid flesh.   I  told  them it was  a
 false conception, and void of human shape.   I then re-
 peated the dose as before given, and repeated the injec-
 tion in usual form, which cleared her of all disorder, and
 set nature at liberty.  All flowing,  puking, and fainting,
 ceased from the first application I made.    The  woman
 soon got well, and  in less than one  year, had a fine son,
 and her health remains good.   Many thanks were given
 me by the family, believing, as they said, that  what  I
 administered to the woman, together with what I pre-
 scribed, had saved  her life.
  I shall close this subject with a few brief remarks.
  The foregoing cases I have described for the purpose
of showing the  difference between  forcing nature, and 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.        143

aiding and  assisting  her.   They are two theories, di-
rectly opposed to each other, and can never harmonize
together.    As soon  as learned ignorance begins to use
force to extend the  passage, the child  ceases from its
natural  progression and draws back;  as  nature shrinks
from all such  operations, and  force  must then  do the
whole;  and if the child should be caught by such force,
as the dog catches his game, it will be  likely' to share
the same fate, as in  the  case first mentioned.    I shall
not follow up the simile,  by comparing  the doctor to a
dog, though it might  be made a very  striking  one.    Is
not this the cause of  many women lingering out  a  mis-
erable existence in pain and torment, and are often heard
to say,  " I have never been well since my last child was
born.   I was in the hands of the doctor  three days, and
at last was delivered  with instruments.   I did not stand
on my  feet  for 6ix weeks, and have never  regained  my
health."  Yet the doctor is looked upon  as her benefac-
tor, and is thanked for saving her life.   Query.  Were
these evil consequences  ever known where nature did
her own work, and the child born before the doctor could
get there ?  In all my practice, I never knew an instance
where the M'oman could  not  bear her weight upon her
feet the same day.    Nor have I ever heard of a single
instance where nature had  been  assisted  according to
my practice by others, where the patient was not able to
bear her weight on her feet  the same day of  her delivery.
As to the cause of the difference  between  those  attend-
ed according to nature, and those attended secundum
nrtem,  according to art, I shall leave  the reader to  de-
cide for himself.
   Another  evil in this  branch, which  I shall mention
here, and of which women  have  generally either felt or
heard, is that of taking the after-birth by force.   The
doctor says, " It has  grown fast to the side ;"  and tares
it off, so as  to be heard by those present.    Alarming, if
not fatal consequences are the result.   The question is,
what other way can be done ?  Answer.   The  same  as
in taking the child.   Assist nature, instead of forcing it.
The only rule given  by me, to those who wish to attend
their own wives, or others, is  simply thjs.   After the
string is separated from the child,  be careful not to  lose 
144            New Guide to Health ;
 it, by letting it draw back, as this is the only sure guide
 to the placenta.   Take the  string between the thumb
 and finger of the  left  hand, drawing it  straight, while
 having the same between the thumb  and  finger of the
 right hand, slipping it forward until  you find the solid
 part to which the  string is attached.   Take a steady
 pull when the pain is on.   After  a few seconds, it will
 begin  to give way, turning  inside out as turning the
 lining to the sleeve of a coat.  But if it stick fast, take
 care not to break the string, as  if you do, you lose your
 guide.  Keep the woman well fed with hot  medicine, to
 prevent flooding.    Then carry her through a course of
 medicine;  and when the  system  is  slackened,  it will
often come of itself.   f would  prefer having  it  remain
till it discharges itself, according to nature,  as it certain-
 ly will in time, than to be taken away by force, as I have
 seen done.  The danger is far less.   But I never knew
 a case of the kind where the woman had been sufficient-
 ly cleared by the medicine near the time of her delivery.
 I knew one instance, where the  woman had been treat-
 ed by force in this way, that she had been so injured that
 all her urine run away as fast as it collected.   The doc-
 tors had so injured  her,  that they declared she  would
 never live to have another child.   But they were mista-
 ken.   The next one she was  attended by my direction,
 and carried through, 1 think, thirteen courses of medi-
 cine before delivery.  I attended her.   She was sick but
 about two hours; was delivered and cleared without any
 difficulty, and both she and her child did well.
  There are as great errors committed in using force for
 the after-birth, as for the child.   The inflammation caus-
 ed by using force in taking the child, causes the obstruc-
 tion in taking the after-birth.    When learned ignorant
 pretenders, who know nothing about following the um-
 bilical cord for their guide, proceed inward, where tjiey
 have no business, they often  commit  irreparable injury,
 and instead of taking  the after-birth, they injure the
 womb,  sometimes  by turning it wrong  side out, which
 causes  distressing bearing-down  pains, and thus the
 woman must linger out  a miserable existence until death
 comes as a welcome friend to relieve her. 
or, Botanic Family Physician.        145
  Thus, kind reader, I have given  you the most impor-
tant particulars I now think of, and as to any further
general directions, 1 can do no better than  to refer you
to the General  Directions, as laid  down in this book;
and it is my opinion  that you  are  better off with your
own judgment and this book, than with all the scientific
ignorance, called knowledge, as  taught in the schools,
without it.  Hence my advice to you is, dismiss all doc-
tors of law, physic  and divinity.    Pray for your own
soul, if you know what it is, doctor  your own body, and
make your own will.   By so doing, you will  save your
share of the greatest tax ever imposed on mankind.
     Outlines of Treatment in the hour of Travail.
  To point out. a regular rule or form  for every woman,
would be out of my power, as they are restless, shifting
their position in every form and  manner, to find a place
of rest,  which  is as difficult as that of Noah's  dove.
When  they become  so  far  advanced that  they cannot
satisfy themselves any longer in their own way, then you
may assist them in the best manner to help themselves,
and to enable others to help them, by assisting nature to
do her own work.
  The seat is prepared in different ways, according to
their fancy.  Those who have had children ought to be
the best judge  how to aid and assist them in this partic-
ular.  I shall only give advice how to proceed in some
alarming and difficult cases, to   be handed down for the
benefit of generations yet unborn, as  none can  be  ob-
tained from the progress of the learned, for four thousand
years   And if any  beneficial information shall now be
obtained it must be  from the illiterate, who have studied
nature rather than books.    I have no authors, dictiona-
ries or concordance, to assist my feeble efforts in acquir-
ing a correct judgment.    Necessity and experience are
the only sources of my knowledge, from  which  I draw
all my lessons.                                   . .
   Among the most desperate cases, is the flowing of fe-
rn lies • pregnant or not, the treatment is the same.   If
it happens before delivery, give a portion of  composition
              13 
146            New  Guide to Healh;

with more cayenne, and hot water sweetened ; or some
drops, cayenne and snuff, or fine bayberry, as substitutes.
If after delivery, the same.   When  the woman  grows
weary and worn out, and  pains begin to die away, give
a portion of the third  preparation, in  some composition
and nerve powder.  This will compose the system so as
to rest or reinforce nature, and hasten delivery.    It is
of great service, when the pains are  lingering,  at  the
time of giving the above named medicine, to use an in-
jection, in common form, made of the same compound.
This will hasten or delay delivery, as nature requires.
   Remark.....About the time of delivery apply a cloth of
several thicknesses wet with hot water, to slack the mus-
cles ; repeat it occasionally, and keep it hot till nature is
ready to perform her work.
   I attended one woman in this city, with  her first child.
Her  strength failed ; her pains slacked; I gave  her a
table-spoonful 'of the  liquid of the  third  preparation;
wrapped her warm, which caused her to vomit once, and
raised a perspiration;  she fell asleep, and  in  this situa-
tion  rested four hours, when the  head of the child was
so far advanced, as to have been  visible.   She awoke,
her travail re-commenced with  reinforced  vigour.    She
was  delivered rather in a cold state;  she flowed  badly;
I gave her some No. 2, and drops, with a little fine  bay-
berry, which had  the desired effect.   She walked from
the fire to the bed, and did well.
   There is another distressing  complaint incident to fe-
males, worse than  having children; and often no relief
from the doctors.   I have seen  women in as great agony
with false pains, as at the delivery of a child.  A  strong
tea of witch-hazle leaves and nerve powder, and  a little
cayenne, strained, used  by  injection either way, or both,
I have seen relieve, like throwing water on the fire.  The
disorder is canker, and must be met with its  adtidote
where it is.
   These few remarks, together with the foregoing cases,
will be sufficient information on this  subject.    In con-
clusion, I  would ask1, can we attach sufficient value on
a medicine that will give rest to a weary patient in  tra-
vail,  and restore the nerves and muscles to a giant-like
strength, as refreshed by wine, and continue the strength 
           or, Botanic Family Physician.        147

until delivery is completed ;  and at the same time guard
against all those alarming complaints  which too often
follow afterwards ?  A  medicine to which you may re-
sort  with perfect  confidence, in  times of the greatest
peril, that, if any thing can, it will save  your wife and
child, and  the fee. of  twenty dollars  from  the  doctor.
This is the regular  fee  in cities, though it is less in the
country.
     Supplement to the Venereal.....See page 130.
  There are four diseases, or rather  four names of dis-
ease, which are often made fatal, in consequence of the
name.   1.  Venereal.  2.  Hydrophobia.   3.  Smallpox.
4. Erysipelas.  As the remedy is laid down in the Med-
ical Pocket Book, the name is  doctored instead of the
disease.   If a child has a sore ear, and it runs a yellow
water, it will spread  like fire, as often  seen on  a  pot;
and it  will  inoculate  where it  touches.   While on the
child's ear, women call  it a  canker sore;  and there is
nothing  alarming  under this name.   Any old  woman
can cure it.   But take the same infection from the ear,
and inoculate with  it, in that part  of the body where
venereal is seated, and call it venereal, the  consequence
is the  same ; and  by the same mercurial treatment,  there
would be all the alarming consequences  as though the
disorder was generated in any other way.   Yea, if the
patient was well,  with  the same administration of mer-
cury, in the same way, and to the  same  extent, the  bu-
boes'and shankers would often  make their appearance
in  the same  manner without the supposed  disease as
with.    They doctor the name instead of the disorder.
The patient, therefore, as often  loses his life by the mer-
cury,  as by the supposed disease.
   Equally so in  hydrophobia,  by taking  mercury,  the
 remedy becomes worse than the disease.
   In either of the above cases, the disorder is far  easier
 cured by a regular course of medicine, than the poison
 given for it;  as the mercury is harder to eradicate from
 the  system,  than all  the  natural  disease  incident  to
 mankind. 
148            New  Guide  to Health;
   Since my last edition was published, the smallpox has
 been thoroughly  attended to, and the  general rule, as
 there laid down, found to answer every purpose, and pro-
 duce the desired  effect.   To bring out the smallpox, as
 in the measles and  other similar  disorders, be careful
 not to have too much outward heat while the pock  is
 filling.  I visited a family in Cincinnati, last winter, who
 had the smallpox, and who had had the kinepox previous.
 The appearance of the pustules were more like poison
 or measles than those of the smallpox.   When it turned,
 it began to  flat, instead  of drying off;  and when  it had
 flatted.down to the vitals, it turned in, and one died, and
 the other, it left in a miserable  state of health ; the pits
 hard and blue, like other poison sores ;  and I am  of an
 opinion that more people die in consequence of having
 the kinepox, than it would to let the smallpox  have  its
 natural  run.  Because the nature of the smallpox, when
 taken the natural way, is to clear the system from every
 other putrefaction, which, on the turn, scabs off with it.
 Not so  in the kinepox.   The infection partakes of every
 disorder of the persons  of which it was taken;  itch,
 venereal,  cancer  humours,  or worse than all the rest,
 mercurial taint given by the doctor.   When part, or all
 of these diseases are inoculated into a healthy person,
 and has no  way to  discharge itself from  the  system, it
 creates  worse disease than the smallpox.    I  knew  a
 man in  Portsmouth, N. H. who was inoculated with the
 kinepox, the infection taken from a man who had a can-
 cer  humour.   He was a  healthy man when inoculated.
 I  saw him within two years, and it was judged that he
 had more than half a peck of cancers on  different parts
 of the body and limbs.    He imputed it entirely to this
 inoculation;  and  highly disapproved  of  the kinepox.
He died  in the most distressed condition.

  The learned have added nothing to the healing art; but they have
done much in taking the knowledge of the simple remedies from the
people.   They have  substituted the poisonous minerals which have
multiplied the forms of disease, and thereby added to our bills of mor-
tality.  They have taken midwifery from the tender hands of women,
and substituted the torturing instruments of steel, whereby not only
children, but  even women nave been scarified.   In relation to such
practice, Robinson says. Lee. viii. p. 103. •' It is, in truth, like running
the gauntlet among armed  Indians, or red hot plough-shares, to escape
from the poisons or medical practice.*' 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.         149
   Wliy do old people die  more in  a warm  and rainy
winter than in a severe cold  one ?
  The answer to the above  question is at  hand.   Old
people are like  the  old  house which they  built in their
younger days.    The house decays  about  as fast as  its
builder, and  becomes racked with  wind and  storms
which have beaten upon it  until the cracks open, the
shingles  blow off, and the  house grows leaky and cold.
So is the man  in his  old age.  He becomes racked with
the storms  and  hardships of life;  his heat  goes out, the
fire-place  decays, his food digests poorly, and gives but
little nourishment or heat to warm the  body and expand
the lungs.   For the  inward heat rarifies the air in the
lungs, and causes them to expand, by lightening the  air
within, and the heft of the  surrounding  atmosphere,
being higher charged with oxygen or water, puts out the
fire faster than dry cold air ; and as the heat decays  in-
ward, the  weight of the air crowds heavily on the  lungs,
and causes great difficulty in  breathing;  the lungs  la-
bour like the wheel of a  mill  in back  water, the foun-
tain almost level with the stream, until the heat in the
lungs becomes  insufficient to  expand them any longer ;
the heft of the air comes to an equilibrium of heft  in-
side, and all motion ceases.  The water in the air has put
out the fire.  This is the cause why those people who have
but little fire in the body, and such a heft of damp air out-
side, the heat is so soon extinguished inside; like a person
falling into the water; the  cause  of death is, the water
has put out the fire ;  and when the air is full of water, it
puts out the fire in the same proportion.   Thus I think
I have given a satisfactory cause of death  upon natural
principles.   The cause and effect are in themselves.
  In this case, I  would  ask the Christian, of every de-
nomination, what God, here, either gave or took away life 1
Was there  any God in the case abstract from the cause
here given ? Or what soul or spirit went out at death,, ex-
cept the heat, or nature, which caused life  and breath ?
    How Doctors shorten the lives of their Patients,
  That the practice of the regular doctors,  as they are
termed, shortens the lives of their patients,  is a truth of
              13* 
150            New Guide  to Health;
 which'I have not the shadow of a doubt; and the cause,
 to me, is obvious.   The cold poisons which they admin-
 ister, have the effect of chilling the stomach and killing
 the digestive organs ; so that the food does not raise more
 than half the heat it did in a natural slate, before those
 poisons had been administered.  Then the bleeding and
 blistering lessens the remainder so as to reduce the heat
 to the capacity of old age.   It is the same thing, no mat-
 ter what  age,  from one hour old  to an hundred years.
i When the heat is so far exhausted that the air is not suf-
 ficiently lightened by the heat as  to  expand the adjoin-
 ing air, the pressure becomes equalled, external and  in-
 ternal, the same as in  the case of a drowned person.
 There is no difference, as to age, sect, or denomination,
 so far as the practice is concerned ;  and so  far as that
 goes to lessen  the  heat by bleeding, by  fever powders,
 or by poison;  all tend  to lessen inward  heat, and to di-
 minish life in the same proportion; and  when it  is en-
 tirely extinguished, death  follows, as a  natural conse-
 quence;  and from the  same  cause;  loss of  heat, what-
 ever it may be that  puts out the fire.   The  putting out
 of the fire, or extinguishing inward or vital  heat, is the
 cause of death.
    All  practitioners, therefore,  may by this  rule  either
 condemn or justify  themselves by looking back on their
 former practice,  and  asking themselves the question.
 " Have I cultivated  the heat of my patients, to prolong
 their lives; or have 1 extinguished their heat, and there-
 by killed or destroyed them 1"  Is not this question fully
 answered ?  See how the lives of human beings are daily
 sacrificed, at all ages, from birth to death ! Who, I would
 ask, is authorized to say, in such a case, " The Lord gives,
 and the Lord taketh away, and blessed be the name of the
 Lord," when they are  destroyed in this manner?
    In every thing that breathes, the breathing is  from the
 same cause.  Without  heat, their is no breathing.  But
 when heat is continually generated  or evolved in a con-
 fined  room, excepting  at one avenue, as in  the lungs,
 there must be breathing, or what is the same, an  inhal-
 ing of cold air, and an exhaling of oxygen  or vapour
 fr >m it.  Every animal body  has its lamp, in  proportion
 to its  bigness ;  and its continuing to burn, is much owing 
or,  Botanic Family  Physician.
151
to the one who trims or takes care df the lamp;  If. it b^e
replenished with water, instead of oil, and with an icicle
for a wick, it is like  the  method  in  which the doctors
trim the lamps of their patients.   Taking out the blood,
is like pouring out the oil; and the cold poison, is as the
icicle for a wick.   The effect soon follows, which is cold
and darkness.   Can we  doubt this being the fact at the
present time ? Do we not often see the head of a family
suddenly made cold by his lamp being put out; and three
or four children taken  from  one  house, all having their
lamps blown  out ?  Can any  one  suppose that had their
lamps been trimmed with good oil, and good wicks, but
that they would have continued burning as  long as the
body of the lamp remained whole?   But if we continue
not our own guards and  sentinels, but  employ artificial
and learned fools to watch over us, and save our oil  for
their own use, and trim our  lamps with  water  and ice,
we  cannot wonder  at seeing our wives and  children
" dashed in pieces like the potter's vessel."   When  we
employ  seamen  to  drive our coach of life, instead  of
horsemen; and  as  long   as custom,  superstition,  error
and bigotry,  are the ruling principles of the world,  we
never can expect to live while all  the oil  in  our  lamps
are consumed ; but to  be blown out by the breath of ig-
norance, if nothing worse, as mankind have  been in  all
ages  where  the  poisonous  breath of the Bohon  Upas
overtakes them.
      The Priest and Doctor claiming the control.
       One of the flesh, the other of the soul;
      Hell and the pit, from which they dig their stuff",
      Are never filled, yea, never cry enough.
   The effect of religious  meetings, where women chiefly
attend, in the absence of their husbands.
   If women are allowed  to attend day and night meet-
ing!*, for the purpose of having the priest pray for their
souls and pardon their sins,  while  their husbands  and
children are left at home,  how long will it be before the
sandals of the priest will be left at the  door, as in some
other countries,  as  a token  that the husband must not 
152            New  Guide to Health:
enter, lest he should see and  learn  how the  priest par-
dons his wife's sins?
  The doctor also, who comes in for a full share in these
secret privileges, if he be  allowed  to examine  secretly
our wives and daughters for the purpose of finding some
secret complaint, which is  indecent for the husband or
father to witness, or to know, as was the case ot K*    s
wife and-Dr. A****, of this city, but a few years since,
who is to  be responsible for the mode of examination.
  If men will allow their wives  to  be thus  privately ex-
amined by  these crafts,  for  the purpose  of pardoning
their  sins, and removing  their  indecent  disorders, will
they not soon claim all the indecent jobs  in their fami-
lies ?  If  it  be indecent for a man to be present at the
birth of his child, why not equally indecent to be present
at its generation ?  And so we must let the priest and the
doctor generate, as well as bring into the world, all our
children! The priest could still baptize them in the name
of the  Father,  Son and  Holy Ghost; in whose name,
also, he might pardon the  sins of their mother!  In this
way, these  two crafts might liberate the affectionate hus-
 band from all the toils of his  family, excepting that  of
 their maintenance! ! !
   Arouse, husbands, from your lethargy.   Gird on every
 man his sword by  his side.  The sword of truth, I mean.
 Go in and out of  your camp, and whenever you  please,
 till you have driven all such miscreants from your bor-
 ders.   Take the protection of your wives and daughters
 into your own hands; keep  them  at  home at all proper
 times, and when they go to meeting, go with them ; when
 they are so sick as to need  a  doctor, which, if properly
 treated, would seldom be  the case, be present at the ex-
 amination ; if they need  prayers, pray  for  them  your-
 selves;  if they want children, be  sure to  be their real
 father, and take a fatherly care of them in bringing into
 the world,  as well as afterwards; nourish them with due
 attention,  instruct them  in all  that is  good ;  but save
 them, by all means, from  the pincers of learned doctors,
 or the fears of  missionary mules.
   [TF All people who have been attended by Patent Doctors, are cau-
 tiooed against putting themselves under regular doctors, as the cases
 have generally proved fatal to the patient, and the blatne palmed on the
 Patent Doctor ; some after two weeks in their care. 
           or, Botanic Family  Physician.        153

              SEAMEN'S DIRECTIONS.
  After purchasing  the  right, and  having a  sample  of
Medicine numbered, these'Directions are the first les-
sons learned, as it gives a short and concise view of the
system and practice.   In the first stages of disease, one
gill of No. 3, may be used simple, with  or without su-
gar.  In more violent  attacks, use  from half to a tea-
spoonful  of No.  2;  let the patient  be  covered with a
blanket, by the fire or in  bed;  apply a hot stone at the
feet;  if this does not relieve them, add the emetic, No. 1,
and nerve powder, and go through a course of medicine.
In all cases where the glands are dry, and much fever,
the emetic should be used without spirit;  the bitters also
are best taken in hot water sweetened than with spirit.
The objection to  physic and bleeding, is given  in these
directions hereafter.  The complement of medicine given
as a family stock, is more to show  the simplicity of the
articles, than the requisite quantity required.   Give chil-
dren drink often, sick or well.
  05=*The public are cautioned  against employing any
one who shall pretend to use his own improvements with
my System of Practice, as 1 will not be accountable for
any mal-practice of  his.

       Th' Emetic number one's design'd
       A gen'ral med'cine for  mankind,
       Of every country, rlime, or place,
       Wide as the circle of our race.
       In every case, and state, and stage,
       Whatever malady may rage ;
       For male or female, young or old,
       Nor can its value  half be  told.
       To use this med'cine do not cease,
       Till you are helped of your disease ;
       For nature's friend, this sure will be,
       When you are taken sick  at sea.
       Let number two be used  bold,
       To clear the stomach of the cold ;
       Next steep the coffee, number three,
       And keep as warm as you can be, 
154
New Guide  to Health.
A hot stone at the feet now keep,
As well as inward warmth repeat,
The fountain 'bove the stream keep clear,
And perspiration will appear.

When  sweat enough as you suppose,
In spirit wash, and change your clothes;
Again  to bed, both clean and white,
And sleep in comfort all the night.

Should the disorder reinforce,
Then follow up the  former course;
The second  time I think will do,
The third to fail I seldom knew.

Now take your bitters by the way,
Two, three,  or four  times in a day;
Your appetite if it be good,
You may eat any kind of food.

Physic, I would  by no means choose
To have you first or last to use ;
For if you take  it much in course,
It will  disorder reinforce.

If any one should be much bruis'd,
Where bleeding frequently is us'd,
A lively sweat upon that day,
Will start the blood a better way.

Let names of all disorders be
Like to the limbs,  join'd on a tree;
Work  on the root, and that subdue,
Then  all the limbs will bow to you.

So as the body is the tree,
The limbs are cholic, pleurisy,
Worms and gravel, "gout and stone,
Remove the cause and they are gone.

My system's founded on this truth,
Man's Air and Water, Fire and Earth,
And death is cold, and life is heat,
These temper'd well your health's complete. 
           INDEX

To the New Guide to Health.
                       PAGE.
Ague in the Face.......110
American Valerian,......  66
Archangel,..............  76
Balm of Gilead..........  74
Balsam of Fir, ..........  73
Barberry,  ...............  61
Bayberjy,  ..............  55
Black Pepper...........  54
Bitter Herb,............  60
Bitter Root,  ............  61
Bittersweet,  ............  70
Birch Bark,.............  72
Bitter Thistle............  78
Bitters,.................  82
Bleeding, ............... 108
Bile, (see No. 4,)
Bilious Cholic, .......... 123
Burdock,  ...............  70
Butternut...............  75
Burns..................  97
Bones, how set.......... 110
Camphor,  ..............  65
Cayenne,  ............  49,80
Cancers,................ 103
Cancer Plaster,..........  85
Canker Sores,........... 103
Chamomile,.............  69
Cherry Stones, ..........  63
Clivers,  ................  71
Composition Powders,....  84
Cough, ................. 114
Chicken  Broth,..........  94
Consumption,............ 120
Counter-Poison, (see No. 1,)
Course of Medicine, ...  22,80
Corns. ..................127
Description of Diseases, ..  95
Directions for preparing
   Vegetable  Medicine, ..  79
Drowned Persons,-.......  92
Dropsy,  ................ 122
Dysentery,.............. 124
                        PAGE.
 Elecampane,............  69
 Elm Bark,..............  72
 Emetic Herb..........39, 78
 Evan Root, .............  72
 Featherfew,.............  71
 Felons..................  95
 Fevers,  ................  12
 Fits, ...................  121
 Fever and Ague.........  85
 Gentian,  ...............  73
 General Directions,......  89
 Gravel,.................  122
 Ginger,.................  53
 Golden Seal.............  62
 Gout,..................  125
 Golden Rod,............  76
 Headach,...............  126
 Hemlock Bark,..........  56
 Hoarhound,.............  68
 Horseradish,............  74
 Injections,  ..............  37
 Introduction,............    5
 Internal Heat,  (see No. 2.)
 Itch...................77,84
 Jaundice.................  115
 Ladies' Slipper,..........  66
; Lock-jaw...............  46
 Lily Root..........,___  56
 Measles,................  112
 Marshrosemary, ..........  57
 Mayweed,..............  69
 Milk Porridge...........  94
 Myrrh,..................  64
 Mullen..................  70
 Mustard,................  74
 Meadow Fern, ..........  77
 Mortification of Limbs,...  99
 Muscles, how relaxed,....  110
 Mad Dog, (see No. 1.)
 Midwifery...............  130
 Nerve Powder,..........  66
| Preparation of do  .........  84 
156       Index to the New Guide  to  Health.
60
                        PAGE.
 Nervine, see Nerve Powder,
 Nettle Spring,  ..........  121
 Nerve Ointment,  ........   86
 No. 1.   Emetic Herb, de-
     scription of,  ........   38
 Preparation  of  do.......   79
 No. 2.   Cayenne,  descrip-
     tion of,.............   49
 Preparation of do........   SO
 No. 3.  To remove Canker,
     description of Articles
     for  that purpose,  ....   54
 Preparation  of  do.......   80
 No. 4. Bitters to correct the
     Bile,description of Ar
     tides for that purpose,
 Preparation of do.......   82
 No. 5.   Syrup for the Dys-
     entery,  description of
     the  Articles used.....   63
 Preparation of dp........   82
 No. 6.  Rheumatic Drops,
     description of Articles
     used, ..............   64
 Preparation of do........   83
 Peach Meats............   63
 Peppermint, ............   67
 Pennyroyal,  ............   68
 Pipsisway...............   76
 Pleurisy, ...............  123
 Poisons,  ................   26
 Poison by Ivy, 8tc.......112
 Poplar Bark,............   60
 Prickly Ash,............   77
 Poultice, ...............   86
 Piles,  ..................  106
 Remarks on Fever3, .....   12
 Relax.............,___ 124
 Red Peppers, ...........  53
 Red Raspberry,  ........  69
Rheumatism............. 126
Rheumatic Drops,  ......  64
Rheumatic Weed;  ......  76
Ruptures............... 109
Salve,  ..................   85
Scalds.................   96
Scall Heads,........... 107
                        PAOF.
 Small Pox,  ............  lt=*
 Sore Lips,  .............  126
 Sore Eyes,  .............  126
 Sore Breasts,  ..........  1<>7
 Skunk Cabbage,  ........   70
 Slippery Elm Bark,  .......   72
 Snake Root, ............   73
 Steaming,  ..............   20
 Sumach,  ...............   57
 Squaw Weed, ..........   59
 Spirits  of Turpentine, ...   65
 Spearmint,  .............   67
 Summersavory..........   68
 Syrup,  .................   82
 Strengthening Plaster.....   86
 Stock of Medicine,......   88
 St. Anthony's Fire,----..  121
 Stranguary,  ............  122
 Surfeit, ................  121
 Tansy,  .................   69
 Thoroughwort...........   71
 Umbil, see Nerve Powder.
 Venereal,  ..............  127
 Volatile Salts...........   86
 Vegetable Powder,......   84
 Vervine, white and blue,     75
 Vegetable Medicine,  de-
     scription of,   .......   37
 Witch  Hazle,  ..........   58
 Wormwood, ............   69
 Wakerobin.............   70
 Worms, ............••••  116
 Yellow Dock,  ..........   77
 Supplement., ...........  133
 Midwifery, further remarks
     on,  ................  131
 Extraordinary case of,  ....  137
 Do. in Saratoga Co. N. Y.   139
 Do. in Columbus, Ohio, ..  140
 False Conception, case of   141
Outlines of Travail,...... 145
Supplement to the Venereal, 147
Why do old people die, &c. 149
How Doctors shorten, &c.  149
Religious Meetings, effects
    of  ................. 151
Seamen's Directions,  .... 153
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