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                ■ fjviu -X/-7 off ir6a. 
NEW
      GUIDE  TO HEALTH;

                     OR


BOTANIC FAMILY PHYSICIAN.

                   CONTAINING

     A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF PRACTICE,

        ON  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 PREFIXED,



                    OF THE

LIFE  AND MEDICAL  DISCOVERIES
OF THE AUTHOR.    y^
ty
„nr.G-
       BY SAMUEL THOMSON.
           -_________m---------------------------■ -----,----i------  .        'i >

                          /v. 7 S*£ 4^r>.
              BOSTON:    vC°     ?;■;
Printed for the Author, and sold by his General 'Agent) 'at
       the Office of the Boston Investigator.
            J. Q. Adams, Printer.
                  1835. 
T-\%£'r]
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year
  1835, by Samuel Thomson, in the Clerk's Office of
  the District Court  of Massachusetts. 
ADVERTISEMENT.
                  TO THE PUBLIC.

    The preparing the following work for the press, has
  been a task of much difficulty and labor,  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 prac-
»  tice,  is a business  of no small magnitude.  The plan
  that has been adopted I thought the best to give a cor-
  rect knowledge of my system of practice; and am con-
  fident 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  written;  but the main object has been to
  confine it to the practice, and nothing more is stated of
  the theory than what was necessary to give a  general
  knowledge of the system.   If any errors should be dis-
  covered, it is hoped that they will be viewed with can-
  dor;  for in first publishing 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 prac-
  tice, or preparing the medicine. 
4
ADVERTISEMENT.
  Many persons are practising by my system,  who are
in the habit of pretending that they have made great im-
provements, 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 operation,
and thereby tended to destroy the confidence of the pub-
lic in my system of practice;  this has never been author-
ized by me.  The public are  therefore  cautioned against
such conduct, and all those  who are  well disposed to-
wards my system, are desired to lend their aid in expos-
ing  all such dishonest practices, in order that justice may
be done.   Those who possess this work, may, by exam-
ining it, be able to detect any improper deviations there-
from;  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 unauthor-
ized by me.

  N. B.   The work has undergone several revisions, as
well as passed through several editions, since it was first
published; but as the copy-right has been  now renewed,
(in  1835,) the number of the former  editions is not re-
garded. 
PREFACE;
           WRITTEN BY A FRIEND.

  There is no subject in which the great family of man-
kind have a deeper  interest, than that of medicine;  to
lessen the sum of human suffering by alleviating pain,
and removing those diseases that all are subject to, is a
duty of the greatest importance of any Undertaking that
man can  engage in.   Health is the greatest  blessing
that can be enjoyed in  this life; and to be deprived  of
it, takes away all our pleasures and comforts, and makes
every thing  in  this world appear a dreary waste.  This
will readily be admitted by every one;  but in what man-
ner disorder can best be removed or prevented, is a sub-
ject that  has engaged the attention of many wise men,
who have existed in different  ages,  from the  earliest
times to  the present day,  without,  as we humbly con-
ceive,  very  much benefitting  mankind  by their labors.
Their inquiries, it would seem,  have been directed  to
the investigation of visionary theories, of the form and
curious construction of  the  body and  members,  upon
mechanical  principles; to the neglect of what is of the
greatest importance, a correct and useful practice by a
direct  application to the  cause of disease.   This is like
pursuing a shadow, and  losing sight  of the substance;
for  there  are  certain causes and effects in the works  of
creation, that are beyond the comprehension of man, and
the general principles of animated nature are as correct-
ly known by the  whole  human family, a3  by the most
wise and learned.
  In the different ages of the world, the medical faculty
have been very prolific in forming systems of the theory
and practice of medicine.  One man builds up a system
              1* 
6
PREFACE.
   for  another that  comes after him, to pull down,  who
   erects one of his own, which is followed for a time, and
   is then  supplanted by another.   They have gone on in
   this way, almost every age producing  a new system,  to
   the present time;  each one pronounces the other  to  be
   wrong,  they certainly cannot all be right, and the most
   natural  conclusion is, that they are all wrong;  for  no
   good has  resulted from all they have  done, but on the
   contrary, it has tended to produce much  confusion and
   doubt,  in  the minds of all who seek to gain a correct
   knowledge  of the subject.  The  best  evidence  of this,
   is the bad success  that has attended the  regular faculty
   in all their  practice, for they do not pretend to a knowl-
   edge of a certain remedy for any case of disease; and
   it is readily admitted by the most distinguished  men  in
   the  profession, that  there is no art or science, so little
   understood and miserably conducted,  as that of medi-
   cine.
     The way to become a fashionable doctor at the present
   day,  is  to  spend three  or four years in what they call
   reading  physic,  when they receive  a  degree and a di-
   ploma from some  medical society.  This time is spent
   in learning the Latin names of the different preparations
   of medicine,  according to the plan adopted  by the fac-
   ulty, as  also of the different parts of  the  human  body,
   with the names, colors  and symptoms  of all  kinds  of
   disease, divided and subdivided into as many classes and
   forms as language can  be found to express; and suffi-
   cient knowledge of the nature of medicine to know how
   much poison can be given without  causing immediate
   death.   With these qualifications and a little self-impor-
   tance, they commence their medical career, as ignorant
   of what  is really useful in curing disease, as though they
   had been shut up in a cloister all the time.  Their heads
   are  filled with the theory, but all that  is most important
   in the  removal of disorder, they have to learn by prac-
a,  tice, which  can  never be learned  in any  other way.
   Those patients who are so unfortunate as to come under
   their care,  become subjects for them to learn upon, and
   have to suffer from their experiments.   After pursuing
   this course tor many years, they begin to learn that their
   practice has  been wrong; and it is  a  fact well  known, 
PREFACE.
7
that  all our old and most experienced physicians, who
have become distinguished in the profession, make  use
of but  very little medicine,  prescribing principally sim-
ples, with directions how they may cure themselves;  the
greater part of their patients are such as have been run
down,  and had  their  constitutions destroyed by the im-
proper treatment they have received from the young  and
inexperienced part of  the faculty.
  This picture may be  considered by  some as highly
colored; but if prejudice is  laid aside, and viewed with
candor, it  will  be found not to be far  from the  truth.
There  are, no doubt,  many  exceptions among the prac-
tising  physicians; but their  manner of treating disease
by bleeding and blistering, and administering  mercury,
arsenic, nitre, antimony, opium, &c. is directly opposed
to nature,  and  cannot be  justified  by any principles
founded on natural causes and effects.   Another serious
difficulty  exists,  which is, that the people  are kept ig-
norant of every thing  of importance in medicine, by
its  being kept  in a dead language, for which there  can
be no  good reason given. Dr. Buchan  has made some
very good remarks on this  subject  to show the impro-
priety  of such a practice, and  gives  it as his opinion,
that if physicians would write their prescriptions in the
language of our  country, and  lay medicine more opert
to the  people,  much good would result from it.  In the
new Pharmacopoeia, got up  lately by the medical  socie-
ties in this country, an entire new arrangement is  made,
and  new names adopted, which is to be revised  every
ten years.   This will completely keep the people  in ig-
norance of the  medicine they use, when prescribed by
the faculty.
  There  cannot  be the least  doubt  but there is medi-
cine enough grows in our country,  to answer all the
purposes necessary in curing every disease incident to
the  climate, if the people had a knowledge of it.;  but
the doctors have so much influence in society, and man-
age their  affairs with so much art, for their own profit
and praise, that the common people are kept back from
a knowledge of what is of the utmost  importance  for
them  to know.   If  any man  undertakes to  pursue a
practice differing from what is sanctioned by the regular 
8
PREFACE.
 faculty, let him show ever so much ingenuity in his dis-
coveries,  or be ever so successful in curing disease, he
 is hunted down like a wild  beast;  and a  hue and cry
 raised against him from one end of the  country to the
 other.  There must be some  reason for all this,  more
 than  an  aim  to the  public good;  for  the people are
 certainly  capable  of judging  for themsehes,  whether
 what is done  for them, removes their complaint, or in-
 creases it.  It is not unreasonable,  we  think,  to con-
 clude, that it  arises  from a  fear that the  craft is in
 danger.
   Nothing could more fully exemplify the above opinion
 than  the  treatment which Dr. Thomson has  received
 from the medical faculty, during the whole of his  prac-
 tice.   He has been persecuted and pursued with all the
 malice of demons, for no other cause  that  can be im-
 agined, than  because of his  extraordinary success in
 curing disease, which has tended to enlighten the peo-
 ple, and do away their blind confidence in the infallibil-
 ity of doctors.  This opposition has not  been from the
 people at  large, for all who have  been attended  by him,
 and those who have had a correct knowledge ©f his sys-
 tem of practice, are not only well satisfied,  but are tho-
 roughly convinced of its superiority over the practice of
 the doctors; and some of the faculty who have examined
 the subject, allow the discovery to be original and  inge-
 nious, and that the principles upon which it is founded,
 are correct.   If the physicians generally  had, instead of
 trying to destroy him  and his practice, inquired into and
 made themselves acquainted with  his improvements, and
 treated him with  that  courtesy due to every ingenious
 man, who devotes himself to the advancement of the arts
 and sciences,  they would have received much -useful in-
 formation on one of the most important branches of the
 medical art, that is, of the medicinal virtues of the  vege-
 tables of this country, with the best method of preparing
 and administering them to cure disease; but they seem
 to  consider every thing relating to the subject as a sort
 of holy ground, on which no one has a right  to tread,
 but the regularly initiated.
   Dr. Thomson began his practice as it  were from ac-
 cident, with no other view  than  an honest endeavor to 
PREFACE
9
be useful to  his fellow creatures;  and had nothing to
guide him but his own  experience.  He not  having had
an education,  has received no advantages from reading
books, which  left  his mind unshackled by the visionary
theories  and opinions of others; his whole studies have
been  in  the great book of nature,  and his  conclusions
have  all  been drawn from that unerring guide; by this
he was enabled to form correct opinions of the fitness of
things.   His  first inquiry was to know of what all animal
bodies were formed,  and then to ascertain what caused
disease.  After being  satisfied on  this head,  the next
thing  was to find what  medicine was the best calculated
to remove disease and restore health.   For this he look-
ed into the vegetable kingdom, where he found a large
field for  contemplation, and for the exercise of his  in-
quiring  mind.  Here,  by an invention of his own, that
of ascertaining the qualities and power of vegetables by
their taste, he was enabled at all times to find something
to answer the desired  purpose;  his apothecary's shop
was the woods and the fields.
  In his  practice, it has always been  his first  object to
learn  the course pointed out by nature, and has followed
by administering those  things best calculated to aid her
in restoring health.   This is unquestionably the only cor-
rect course that can be pursued with any chance of suc-
cess,  for all  the  good  that can be expected  by giving
medicine, is to assist nature to remove the disease.  The
success  with  which his practice has been attended, has
astonished all who witnessed it, and has led the people
to wonder  how a man  without learning could perform
what  could not be done by the learned doctors; this is
not strange,  for people most generally form their  opin-
ions by what  is fashionable, without examining into the
nature of things.   A man can be  great without the ad-
vantages of an education; but learning can  never  make
a wise man of a fool; the practice of physic requires a
knowledge that cannot be got by reading books; it must
be obtained by actual observation and experience.
   It is very common with the  doctors, to call all  those
who practise, and have not been regularly educated to
the profession, quacks, and empirics.   The definition of 
10
PREFACE.
the word quack, is an ignorant pretender;  and those who
are entitled to  this appellation,  are best known by the
knowledge they possess in their profession, and the suc-
cess with  which they pursue it; and there may be pro-
bably more ignorant pretenders found among those who
have  received a diploma,  than in any other  class.  An
empiric is one who is governed in his practice by his own
experimental knowledge; and Dr. Thomson can have no
reasonable objection to be honored by this title, for there
is  nothing valuable in the whole range of the  medical
science, but what has been derived from this source.  In
ancient times the man who could discover any thing that
proved to be useful in curing disease, was  entitled to
honorable notice, and a reward for his ingenuity, with-
out regarding whether he was learned or unlearned. . In
this way,  the.faculty have obtained all their  knowledge
of vegetable medicine,  and if they had confined  them-
selves' to  this, it would have been much  better for the
people, than to make use of those  poisonous minerals,
which have been the production of the learned, and is
the only addition they have been able to make to the
Materia Medica.
   In the following work,  Dr. Thomson has endeavored
to embody in a small compass, and to convey to the pub-
lic, in as  plain and  simple terms as he was  capable,,  a
correct knowledge of his system of practice, with his
manner of treating disease,  together with a description
of all the vegetable productions of our own country that
he  has found to be useful in  curing disorder, and  the
best manner of preparing and administering  them.  It
will be found of the  greatest importance to the people;
be,ing the  result of thirty years constant practice,  in at-
tending on all kinds of disease common in this country.
It offers to the public an opportunity to make themselves
sufficiently acquainted with the subject, to enable  every
one who avails himself of it, to become his  own physician,
with a trifling expense.
   To introduce a new system of medical practice,  and
to make an entire  change of the  public  opinion,  on so
important a subject, is an undertaking of  too  great mag-
ritude to  be effected without much  difficulty;  let its
superiority over all others be ever so great; for who- 
PREFACE.
11
ever undertakes it,  must  expect  to  have  to  contend
against  the  interest of a large  class of the community,
and the  prejudices of the  whole.   That Dr. Thomson
has been able to effect so much, is more surprising,
than that he has  not done more,  for he  has  labored
under many difficulties, besides being  opposed by a pow-
erful combination, whose interest it is  to keep the people
back from  adopting his practice.   He has been obliged
to satisfy the people of what is  for  their interest, as well
as for their peace and happiness,  against their own  in-
clinations;  and has pursued his own plan  with  wonder-
ful  perseverance,  and  with an honest and determined
zeal, to  do  what he thought to be his duty.  He seems
to have  had in view more the public good  than  his own
interest,  for his whole plan has  been to give information
to the  people,  as well as to relieve them from  disease;
and to put it in their power to cure themselves and fam-
ilies in  all cases of sickness,  without being under the
necessity of employing a doctor.   In  pursuing  this ob-
ject, he has spent the best part of  his days, and has  re-
ceived but very small compensation  for  all his labors;
the pecuniary benefit that he has realised for his practice
and rights sold, would be no temptation to any one to un-
dergo the  hundredth part of what he has suffered from
persecution.
  Notwithstanding all the difficulties  Dr. Thomson has
met with,  and all the opposition he has had to contend
against,  his system is made use of by the people gener-
ally, in many places, and it is fast  spreading in  all  parts
of the United States.  Wherever the people become ac-
quainted with it they universally adopt it, and  consider
it of the  greatest value; so much so, that there  are hun-
dreds who would not be deprived of the information they
have  received,  for any  sum of money whatever.   In
several towns, large societies have been formed of those
who have purchased the  rights, and who obligate  them-
selves  to assist each other in cases of sickness; where
this has been the case, great  benefit has been derived
and the success  of the practice  has been complete.
This seems to be the best plan for introducing a correct
knowledge of the system and practice  among the people,,
and putting it in their power to derive the  most advan- 
12
PREFACE.
tage from its use;  and if a few of those men who have
the most influence in society,  would  examine into  the
subject with impartiality, they would readily be convinc-
ed of its superior usefulness, and by taking  an interest
in diffusing a knowledge of the practice among the peo-
ple,  they would confer a greater benefit  on mankind,
than by any charitable act they could perform.
  There has been one great obstacle in  the way of a
general extension  of a knowledge of the practice,  for
the want of some means to convey correct  information
how to  prepare and  administer  the medicine, with  the
best manner of treatment in curing disease;  and also to
prevent all who adopt this system of practice, from being
imposed  upon by those who pretend to make use of it
without a proper knowledge of the subject; for there
are quacks under  this system as well as others.  This
is obviated by the following work, in which, it is thought,
will  be  found sufficient explanations  and directions to
enable any one who pays  strict attention to them, to
make use of the practice with safety and success. 
NARRATIVE
             OF THE


LIFE,  Ac.  OF  SAMUEL, THOMSON.
  THERE is nothing, perhaps, more unpleasant  than
to write one's own life; for in doing it we are obliged to
pass over  again, as  it were, many  scenes, which we
might wish to have forgotten, and relate many particulars,
which,  though they  may seem very important to  our-
selves, yet would be very uninteresting to the reader.
It is not my intention to attempt to write a history of my
life, nor would it be in my power to do it if I had such a
wish; but as I have been the greater  part of my life en-
gaged in one of the most important pursuits, and which
is of more  consequence to the great human  family,  than
any other that could be undertaken by man; that of al-
leviating human misery, by curing all cases of disease
by the most simple, safe, and certain method of practice,
I think the public will be interested to know something
of me, and the reason of my having taken upon myself
so important a calling, without being regularly educated
to the profession, which is thought by  the world to be in-
dispensably necessary;  but I shall take the liberty to
disagree a little with them in this particular; for, although
learning  may be a great advantage in acquiring a  pro-
fession, yet that alone will never  make a  great man,
where there is no natural gift.
  By giving a short sketch of the early part  of my exist-
ence, and  relating those accidental circumstances  that
have occurred during my life,  and which were princi-
pally the cause of  my engaging in the healing  art,  will
enable the public to judge more correctly, whether I
             2 
14            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
have taken that course, in fulfilling my duty in this life,
which  the  God of nature hath pointed out  for me.   In
doing this, I shall endeavor to give a plain and simple
narrative of  facts as they took  place, and relate only
those particulars  of my life, with such of the  cases that
have come under my care, as will best convey to the
reader, the most correct information of my system of
practice in curing disease!
' I was born February 9, 1769,  in the town of Als'tead,
county of Cheshire, and State of New Hampshire.  My
father, John Thomson, was born in Northbridge, county
of Worcester, and  State of Massachusetts;  he was
twenty-five years old. when I was  born.  My mother's
name was  Hannah Cobb; she  was born in  Medway,
Mass., and was four years older than my father.   I had
one sister older than myself, and three brothers and one
sister younger, who  are  all  living except my second
brother,  who  died in his fourteenth  year.  My  oldest
sister married Samuel Hills, and lives in Surry, New
Hampshire, and my two brothers live in Jericho, Ver-
mont.  My youngest sister married Waters Mather, and
lives in the State of Ohio.
  That country was a wilderness when I was  born; my
father  had  began there  about a year before,  at  which
time there  was no house within  three miles  one way,
and about one the other;  there were no roads, and they
had to go by marked trees.  The snow was very deep
when they moved there, and my mother  had  to  travel
over a mile on snow shoes through  the woods  to get to
their habitation.   My parents were poor, having nothing
to begin  the  world with; but had to depend upon their
labor for  support.   My father had bought a piece of wild
land on credit, and had to pay for it by his labor in what
he could  make off the land, which caused us great hard-
ships and deprivations for a long  time.
  As soon as I began to form any correct ideas of things,
my mind was much irritated by the impressions made on
it by my parents, who, no doubt with very good  inten-
tions, filled my young head with all kinds of hob-goblin
and witch-stories, which  made a very deep impression
on my mind,  and  which were not entirely eradicated  for
many years.   I mention this as a caution to parents, not 
Of Samuel Thomson.              15
 to tell their children any thing but the truth;  for young
 children  naturally believe  whatever their  parents tell
 them,  and  when  they frighten them with such stories,
 for the purpose of making them  behave well,  it will
 most  generally have a very bad  effect;  for when they
 arrive at years of discretion, and find that all  those sto-
 ries are falsehoods,  they will naturally form very unfa-
 vorable opinions of their parents, whose duty  it is to set
 them better examples.
   My father and mother were of the Baptist persuasion,
 and were very strict in their religious duties.   They at-
 tended meeting  every Sabbath,  and my father prayed
 night  and morning in his family.  One day they went to
 meeting, and left me and my sister at home alone, and
 told us that if we were wicked they should send the bear
 or the knocker to carry us off.   While they were absent
 I was at play, when we heard a hard knocking on  the
 outside of the house, which frightened us very much, and
 when  they came home I told them what had happened;
 but instead of letting us know what it was, they told  us
 it  was the  knocker thp.y ko<i *~u nc nf, and that or the
 bear would always come, if we were wicked, and did not
 mind  and do as they told us.  It was several years after
 that my reason taught me that this knocker, as they call-
 ed it, was a wuud-pecker that came on the end of the
 house.  Parents ought to be careful to impress on  the
 minds of young children, correct  ideas of things, and
 not mislead their understandings by telling  them false-
hoods; for it will be of  the greatest importance as  re-
 spects their future conduct and pursuits in life.
   When I was between three and four years old,  my
 Father took me out with  him to work. The first business
 I  was set to do was  to drive the cows  to pasture, and
 wateh the geese, with.other small chores,  which occu-
 pation kept me all day in the fields.   I was very curious
 to know the names of all the herbs which I saw grow-
 ing, and what they  were good  for; and, to satisfy my
 curiosity was constantly making inquiries of the persons
 I happened to be with, for that purpose.  All  the infor-
 mation I thus obtained, or by my own observation, I care-
 fully laid up in my memory, and never  forgot.  There
 was an old  lady by the name of Benton lived near  us, 
16
Narrative of the Life, &jc
who used to attend our family when there was any sick-
ness.  At that time there was no such thing as a Doctor
known among us, there not being any within ten miles.
The whole of her practice was with roots and herbs, ap-
plied to  the  patient,'or given in hot drinks, to produce
sweating; which always answered the purpose.  When
one thing did not produce the desired effect,  she would
try something else,  till they were relieved.   By her
attention to the family, and the  benefits they received
from her skill, we became very much attached  to her;
and when she used to go out to collect roots and herbs,
she would take me with her, and  learn me their  names,
with what  they  were good  for;   and I used to  be very
curious in my inquiries, and in tasting every thing that
I found.   The information I thus obtained at this early
age, was afterwards  of great use  to me.
  Sometime in th£ summer, after I was  four  years old,
being out in the  fields in search of the cows, I discov-
ered a plant which had a singular branch and pods, that
I had never before seen, and I had the curiosity  to pick
some of the pods nnrl oUro *Vipm; the taste and opera-
tion  produced was so remarkable, that I never forgot it.
I afterwards used to induce other boys to chew it, merely
by way of sport, to see  them votntt.  I tried  this herb
in this way for  nearly twenty years, witnout knowing
any thing of its  medical virtues.  This plant is what I
have called the Emetic Herb, and is the most important
article I make use of in my practice.   It is very common
in most parts of this country, and may be prepared ano*
used in almost any manner.   It is a certain counter poi-
son,  having never been known to fail to counteract the
effects of the most  deadly poison,  even  when taken
in large  quantities  for self-destruction.  There is no
danger to  be apprehended  from  its use, as  it  is per-
fectly harmless  in its operation,  even  when a large
quantity is taken; it operates as an emetic,  cleanses
the stomach from all improper aliment, promotes an in-
ternal  heat, which is immediately felt at the extremi-
ties,  and  produces perspiration.  The exclusive right
of using  this plant for  medical purposes is secured to
me by patent, and my right.to the discovery has never
been  disputed;   though the Doctors have  done every 
Of Samuel Thomson.              17
thing they could to destroy the credit  of it,  by false
statements,  representing it to be a deadly poison,, and
at the  same time they knew to the contrary,  for they
have made  use of it themselves for several years, and
have tried to defraud me of the discovery.  I feel per-
fectly convinced from near  forty years experience of
its medical  properties, that the discovery is of  incalcu-
lable importance, and  if  properly  understood by the
people  will  be more useful in curing the diseases inci-
dent to  this climate,  than the drugs and  medicines sold
by all the apothecaries in the country.
  At five years of age my father put me to hard work,
and was very strict, using the greatest  severity  towa*»ds
me.   I  used to suffer very much from pains in  my hips
and  back, being lame from my birth, and the hard work
made me so stiff, that in the morning it was with diffi-
culty I  could walk.   My father's severity towards me
made me very unhappy;  for I was constantly in fear
lest he should call and I should not hear him, in which
case, he used to punish me very severely.   I continued
in this  situation till  I was  eight years  old, when my
brothers began to be some help, which took part  of the
burthen off from me.  We suffered great hardships and
lived very poorly; but we always had something to eat,
and  were contented, for we knew of nothing better;  a
dish  of  bean-porridge and some potatoes, were our con-
stant fare, and this was  better than many others had.
The  greatest  part of this  winter we had to live in the
barn.   In July my father had got a part of the roof of
a new house covered, and we moved into it; which was
more comfortable than  the barn.  About this time my
mother  was taken sick, and was carried to Mrs. Benton's
for her  to take care  of,  where she remained for  several
weeks,  during which time, by using such means as this
old  lady prescribed,  she recovered.   At this time I had
never been  to school, or had any chance whatever to
learn to read.   My  father  kept me constantly at work,
all week  days,  and  on Sunday  I  had to go  a con-
siderable distance on foot  to meeting, and the rest of
the  day was kept on my feet in  hearing him read the
catechism,  creed and prayers, so that I  had little time
to rest on that day.
              2* 
18            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
  The winter  I was eight years  old, I was very sick
with the canker-rash;  but was attended by the  widow
Benton, who cured me by making use of such medicine
as our country afforded, and I was in a short time  able
to be about.  After I had got well, my mind was more
attentive to the use of roots and herbs as medicine,  than
ever.   I had at that time a very good knowledge of the
principal roots and herbs to be found in that part of the
country, with  their names  and medical uses;  and the
neighbors  were in the  habit  of getting me  to go  with
them to show them such roots and herbs as the doctors
ordered to be made use of in  sickness,  for syrups,  &c.
and by way of sport they used  to call me doctor.   While
in the field at work I used often to find the herb, which
I tasted when four years old, and gave it to those  who
worked with  me, to see them spit and often  vomit; but
I never observed any bad effect produced by it, which
simple experiments eventually led me to observe the value
of it in  disease.
  When I was about ten years old, there was a school
a little more than a mile from my father's,  where I had
the  opportunity  of attending  for  one month.  The
weather was cold and the going bad, which  caused me
to make very slow progress in my learning;  but the
chance  we considered a great privilege, for the country
was new   and people  poor,   and the opportunity for
children to get learning very  small.  I  took a great dis-
like to working on a farm,  and never could be  recon-
ciled  to it; for nothing could  strike me with greater
dread than to hear the name  of a plough, or any other
thing used on a farm mentioned.  This I have  always
attributed to the hardships I underwent, and the severity
which my father used constantly to  exercise towards
me from the time I was five  to ten years old.   At that
time, I  used to think that if ever I had any land I would
not plough it; and if my father's treatment of me was
the effect  of his religion, I never wished to have  any.
This  was when he was under the strongest  influence of
the baptist persuasion, and used to be very zealous in
his religious duties, praying  night  and morning,  and
 sometimes three times a day.   He was a man of violent 
Of Samuel Thomson.              19
and quick temper,  and when in his fits of passion, my
mother  used frequently to remind him of certain  parts
of his prayer;  such as this,  which I  never forgot:
" May we live  soberly, righteously, and godly, in the
present  evil  world."  She was a woman much respected
in the town where we lived.
  About the time I was fourteen years old,  my father
left the baptist  persuasion and embraced that of uni-
versal salvation; By grace are  ye saved, through faith
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.  If he ever ex-
perienced a change of heajrt for the better, it was  at
this time;  his  love  to  God and man was great, and
I had great reason to rejoice,   for he was like  another
man in  his  house.   He continued  to enjoy the  same
belief,  with  much  comfort to  the time  of  his  death,
which  took place  in  August,  1820, aged  76.   My
mother  remained  many years in  the  full  belief  of
the salvation  of all men, and continued so  till her
death.
  Sometime during  the year that I was sixteen  years
old,  I  heard my parents say,  that  as my mind was  so
much taken up with roots  and herbs, they thought it
best to send me to live  with a Doctor  Fuller,  of West-
moreland, who was  called a root doctor.  This pleased
me  very much,  and in some measure raised my ambi-
tion;  but I  was soon  after disappointed in my hopes,
for  they said I had  not learning enough, and they did
not know how to  spare me from my work, which de-
pressed',hiy spirits, and was very discouraging to me.  I
now gave up  all hopes of going to  any other business,
and tried to  reconcile myself to  spend my days in work-
ing on  a farm,  which made me very unhappy.  I had
little learning,  and was awkward and ignorant  of the
world, as my father had never  given me any chance  to
go into company, to learn how to behave, which caused
me great uneasiness.
  In the year  1788,  when I was in my nineteenth  year,
my father purchased a piece of land on Onion  river,  in
the state of Vermont,  and on the 12th day of October,
he started  from Alstead, and took me with him, to go
to work on the  land  and clear up some of it to build a
house on, as it was  all covered with wood.  In about 
20           Narrative of the Life, Sfc.

four days after our arrival, we were enabled to clear a
small spot and to build us a camp to live in; we had to
do our own  cooking and washing; our fare was poor,
and we had to work very hard; but we got along tolera-
bly well till the 2d of December^ when I had  the  mis-
fortune to cut my ancle very badly, which accident pre-
vented me from doing any labor for a  long time, and
almost deprived me of life.  The wound was a  very bad
one, as it split the joint and laid  the bone entirely bare,
so as to lose the juices of  my ancle joint to such a de-
gree as to reduce my strength very much.  My father
sent for a Doctor Cole,  of Jericho, who ordered sweet
apple-tree bark to be boiled, and the wound to  be wash-
ed with it, which caused great pain, and made it much
worse, so that in eight days my strength was almost ex-
hausted;  the flesh on my leg-and thigh was mostly gone,
and my life was despaired of;  the doctor said  he could
do no more for me;  my father was greatly alarmed about
me, and said that  if Dr. Kitteridge, of Walpole, could
be sent for, he thought he might help  me; but I told
him it would  be in  vain to send  for him, for I could
not live  so  long  as it  would take  to  go  after  him,
without some immediate  assistance.  He said he did not
know what to do;  I told him that there was  one thing I
had thought of which I wished to have tried, if it could
be obtained, that I thought would help me.  He anxious-
ly inquired what it was, and I  told him if he could find
some  comfrey root, I would try a plaster made of that
and turpentine.  He immediately went to an old  place
that  was settled before the war,  and had the good  luck
to find some;  a plaster was prepared by my direc-
tions and applied to my ancle, the  side opposite to the
wound, and had the desired.effect; the juices stopped
running in  about  six  hours,  and  I  was  very much
relieved; though the pain continued to be very severe
and  the  inflammation was great;  the  juices settled
between  the skin  and  bone, and  caused a  suppura-
tion, which  broke in about three weeks;  during which
time I did not have three nights sleep, nor did I eat any
thing.   This  accidental  remedy  was  found  through
necessity, and was  the first time the  mother of in-
vention held  forth  her hand to  me.   The   success 
Of Samuel Thomson.              21
which attended  this experiment, and the natural turn
of my mind to  those things,  I think was a  principal
cause of my continuing to practise the healing art to
this time.
  Our stock of provisions being now exhausted, and my
wound somewhat better, my father was very anxious to
return to Alstead.  He asked me if I thought  I could
bear  the journey, if he should place me on a bed laid
in a sled.   I answered that I was willing to try.   He
immediately went to work and fixed a sled,  and  put
me in it on a straw bed; and  on the first day  of Janu-
ary,  1789,  we  began  our  journey.   There was  very
little snow,  and the road rough,  which caused  the  sled
to job very much, and my sufferings were great.  It was
very  doubtful with  my father,  and  likewise with  me,
whethe- I should live to perform the journey; but we
proceeded on,  however, without any thing important
happening except wearing out the runners of our  sled,
and having to make new ones, and accomplished twenty
miles the first day.   At a place where we stopped all
night, there was a woman whose situation appeared to
me so much worse than my own, that I felt much  en-
couraged.   She  had been  sick with  a fever,  and  the
doctor had  given so much poisonous raedicine, to break
the fever, as he  called it, she was left in a most misera-
ble situation.  Her side and shoulder were in a putrid
state, and in full as  bad a condition as my ancle.   My
father in dressing my wound had drawn a string through
between the heel-cord and bone, and another  between
that  and the skin;  so that two-thirds  of tiie  way round
my ancle was hollow.
  At a place  where we stopped on the  third  right, a
circumstance had occurred which, from its novelty, I
think worth mentioning.  A young  woman who lived
in the family had discovered a strong inclination to sleep
more than what is common; and had  expressed a  wish
that  they would  let her sleep enough  once.  She went
to bed on Sunday night, and did  not wake again  till
Tuesday morning,  having  slept thirfy-six hours.   On
awaking, she had no idea of having slept more than one
night;  but began to make preparation for  washing,  as
was  the custom  on Mondays, till she was informed that 
22            Narrative of the Life, Sec
they had washed the day before.   Her health was good
and she never after that required more sleep than other
persons.
  When we got on to the high land there was considera-
ble snow, and we got  along much more comfortably.   I
had to be carried in  on the  bed and laid by the fire,
every night  during. the journey.  The people  gener-
ally, where we  stopped, treated me with kindness, and
showed much pity for me in my distressed situation;
but they all thought that I  should not live to get through
the journey.  The doctors had advised to have my leg
cut off, as the only means of saving my life, and all those
who saw me during our journey,  expressed the same
opinion;  and I think  it would  have been done had  I
given my consent;  but I positively refused to sgree to
it, so the plan  was given up.  I preferred to take my
chance with  my leg on, to having it taken  »ff;  which
resolution I have never repented of, to this <?ay.
  On arriving in Walpole, my father proceeded  imme-
diately to the house of the famous Dr. Kitteridge, to
have  him dress my wound, and get  his opinion of my
situation;  he not being at home,  and it being  nearly
dark, we  concluded to put up for the night,  and  I was
carried in on my bed and laid by the fire.  The  doctor
soon came home,  and on entering  the  room where  I
was, cried out in a very rough manner,  Who have you
here?  His wife answered, a sick man.   The devil, re-
plied he, I want no sick man here.   I was much terri-
fied  by his coarse manner of speaking,  and thought if
he was so rough  in his conversation, what  will he be
when he comes to  dress my wound; but I was happily
disappointed,  for  he took  off the  dressing' with  great
care, and handled  me very tenderly.   On  seeing the
strings that were in the  wound, he exclaimed, what the
devil  are these  halters  here  for?   My father told him
they were put in  to keep  the sore  open.  He said he
thought tine  sore  open enough  now, for it is all  rotten.
Being  anxious  to  know his opinion of me,  my father
asked him what he thought of my situation.   What do
I think?  said he, why I think he will  die;  and  then
looking very pleasantly  at  me, said,  though I  think
young man, you will get well first.   In  the morning he 
                 Of Samuel  Tlwmson.             23

dressed my ancle again, and  gave me some salve to use
in future;  and my father asked him for his bill, which
was,  I think, for our keeping and his attending  me,
about fifty cents.  A great contrast  between this  and
what  is charged at the present time by our regular  phy-
sicians;  for  they will hardly look at a person without
making them pay two or three dollars.   I have been
more particular in describing this* interview  with  Dr.
Kitteridge,  on account  of his extraordinary skill in
surgery,  and  the great name he acquired,  and justly
deserved,  among the people throughout  the country.
His system of practice was peculiarly his  own, and all
the medicines  he used were  prepared by himselfj  from
the roots and  herbs  of our  own  country.  He was  a
very  eccentric character, and uncouth in his  manners;
but he possessed a good heart, and a benevolent  dis-
position.   He  was governed in his practice by  that
great plan  which is  dictated by nature;  and the un-
common  success he  met with is evidence  enough to
satisfy any reasonable  mind, of the superiority of  it
over  what  is the practice of  those who become doctors
by reading  only, with  their poisons and their instruments
of torture.
  We left Walpole, and arrived at our home about noon,
and my mother,  brothers  and sisters, were  much re-
joiced to see me,  though grieved at my distressed situa-
tion;  and  never  was  any one more in need of the  ten-
der care of friends than I was at this time.   My mother
proved to  me  the old saying, that a friend in need  is  a
friend indeed. My case was considered  doubtful for
some  time.   I  was from the  first of December to the
first of March unable  to walk; but by good nursing and
constant  care, I was enabled in the spring  to  attend to
the business at home,  so that my father left me  in charge
of the farm, and went with my brother to Onion  river,
again to work on his land.
  On the 9th of February, 1790, I was twenty-one years
of age, and  my  father gave  me  a deed of one half of
his farm in  Alstead, consisting of  one  hundred  and
twenty-five acres; and I carried it on for three years,
and he had the liberty to take such stock as he pleased.
He then made preparations and removed to Onion river, 
24            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 and left my mother and sister in my care.  Soon after I
 took a bad cold, which threw me into a slow fever.   In
 the  month of March we all had the meazles,  and my
 mother had what the doctors called the black kind,  and
 was so bad  that her life was despaired of.  The disease
 turned in and seated on her lungs, and she never recov-
 ered her health.  Several doctors attended her without
 doing her any  good.   Her cough was  very severe  and
 her  mouth was sore, and she was greatly distressed.  I
 attended upon  her under the direction of the  doctors,
 and  took the cough, and had much the  same symptoms.
 She  continued  to  grow worse daily; the  doctors gave
 her  over, and  gave her disease the name of galloping
 consumption, which I  thought was a  very appropriate
 name; for they are the riders, and their  whip is mer-
 cury, opium and vitriol, and they galloped her out of the
 world in about nine weeks.   She died on the 13th  day
 of May,  1790.
  I  was at this time very low with the same  disorder
 that  my mother died with, and the doctor often impor-
 tuned me to take some of his medicine; but I declined
 it, thinking  I had rather die a natural death.  He tried
 to frighten me  by telling me it was the last chance of
 getting help, and he thought he could  cure  me;  but I
 told  him I had observed the effect his medicine had on
 my mother, for  she constantly grew worse under the ope-
 ration of it, and I had no desire to risk it on myself.  I
 have always been of the opinion, that if I  had followed
 his advice, I should have been galloped out of the world
 the same as my mother was; and I have never  repented
 of my refusal to this day.
  After my mother died, I undertook to doctor myself,
 and  made  some  syrups of such  things as I  had  the
 knowledge of, which relieved my cough;  and  with  the
warm weather, I so far recovered my health, as to be able
to work  some  time  in June.  Being without women's
help, I was obliged to hire such as I could get, which
 proved a disadvantage to my interest, and I thought it
would be best to find some  person who  would take an
 interest  in saving  my property.  On the  7th  day of
July, 1790,  I was  married to Susan Allen.  We were
 both young,  and had great hardships to encounter, but we 
Of Samuel Thomson.
25
 got  along very well, and both .enjoyed good health until
 our  first  child  was born, which was on the  fourth day
 of July following.  My wife was taken ill on Saturday,
 and sent  for help;  she lingered along till Sunday night,
 when  she became  very bad; her situation was danger-
 ous,  and she was in hand constantly the  whole night,
 until sunrise the next morning, when she was delivered;
 but  her senses  were gone.  During the whole night it
 was one  continued struggle  of forcing nature, which
 produced so great an injury to the nervous system,  as to
 cause  strong  convulsion  fits in  about an hour  after her
 delivery.   The  witnessing of this horrid  scene of hu-
 man butchery, was one great cause of my paying atten-
 tion to midwifery, and my practice has since been  very
 successful in it.
   Her fits  continued and grew worse;  there  were six
 doctors attended her that day, and a seventh was sent
 for;  but she grew worse under their care; for one would
 give her  medicine, and another said that he did wrong;
 another would  bleed her,  and  the other would say he
 had  done  wrong; and so on through the  whole.   I heard
 one  of them say that  his experience in this  case was
 worth  fifty dollars.   I found that they w<?re trying their
 practice  by experiments;  and was  so  dissatisfied  with
 their conduct, that at night I told them  what I  thought;
 and that I had heard them accusing each other  of doing
 wrong; but I was  convinced that they had all told the
 truth, for they had all done wrong.  They all  gave her
 over to die, and I dismissed them, having seen  enough
 of their conduct to convince me that they were doing
 more hurt than good.
   After they were  gone, I sent for Dr.  Watts  and  Dr.
 Fuller,  who were  called root doctors.   They attended
 her  through the nigbc,  and in  the morning  about the
 same hour  that  they began, the fits left  her.   She  had
 in the whole, eighteen ot the most shocking convulsion
 fits that had heen  ever seen by any one present  The
 spasms were so  violent that it jarred the whole house.
 After the fits had  left  her, she was entirely senseless,
 and  was raving distracted for three days; and then be-
 came perfectly stupid, and lay in that situation for three
clays; she then laughed three days, and then cried three
             3 
26            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
days;  after which she  seemed to awake like  a person
from sleep,  and had no knowledge of what had passed,
or that she had been sick, or had a child.   These  two
doctors continued to attend her, and used all the means
in their power to strengthen the nervous system.   She
gained very slowly, and it was a long  time before  she
got about; but she never got entirely over  it.  This
sickness put me back in my business very much, and the
expense was above two hundred dollars.
  In about a month after my wife had recovered from
her sickness, she  was attacked with the cholic,  which
required all my attention, and that of the  two doctors
who attended  her before;  but  all  our exertions  ap-
peared to be in vain, for the disease  had its regular
course for several days,  and then left her. These  at-
tacks continued once a month, or oftener, and  it was so
much trouble to go for the doctor so often,  as  I had to
during these turns, that I let a young man who studied
with Dr. Watts, have a house on my farm, so as to have
him handy; but I soon  found that by having a doctor
so near, there was plenty of business for him;  for there
was not a month  in the  year but what  I had  some-
body  sick in my family.   If  a child  was attacked with
any trifling complaint, the doctor was sent for,  and they
were  sure to have a \ong sickness; so he paid  his rent
and keeping very  easy.   This doctor  lived on my farm
seven  years, during  which  time  I  had  a very good
knowledge of all the medicine he mvde use of, and  his
manner of curing diseases, which has been  of great use
to me, in finding  out the use, or rather the abuse  and
imposition of a family doctor, as the family is of no use
to the doctor, unless they are sick, and it is  for his profit,
if not  sick, to make them so.  During the first  of his
practice, he used chiefly roots and herbs,   and  his suc-
cess was very great in curing canker and old complaints;
but he afterwards got into the fashionable mode of treat-
ing  his patients,  by giving them apothecary's drugs;
which made him more popular with the faculty,  and  less
useful to his fellow creatures.
   My mind was bent on learning the medical proper-
ties of such vegetables as I met with, and was  constant-
ly in the habit of tasting every thing of the  kind I saw; 
Of Samuel Thomson.              21
and having a retentive memory, I have always recollect-
ed the taste  and use of all  that were ever  shown me
by others, and likewise of all that I discovered  myself.
This practice of tasting of herbs and roots has been of
great advantage to me,  as I have always been  able to
ascertain  what is useful for any particular disease, by
that  means.  I was often told that I should poison  my-
self by tasting every thing I saw; but I thought  I ought
to have as much knowledge as a beast, for they  possess
an instinct to discover what is good for food, and what is
necessary for medicine.   I had but very little  knowledge
of disease at this  tune; but had a great inclination to
learn whatever I had an opportunity;  and my own expe-
rience, which is the best school, had often called my at-
tention to  the subject.
  The herb which I  had  discovered when four years
old,  I had often met with;  but it had never occurred to
me that it was of any value as medicine,  until about this
time, when mowing in the field with a number of men,
one  day,  I cut a sprig of it, and gave to the  man next
to me, who ate it;  when we had got to the  end of the
piece,  which was about six rods,  he said  that he believ-
ed what I had given him would kill him, for he never
felt so in his life.   I looked at him and saw that  he  was
in a most  profuse perspiration,  being as wet all over as
he could be;  he trembled very much, and there  was no
more color in him than a corpse.  I told him to go to
the spring and drink some water;  he attempted to go,
and got as far as the wall, but was unable to get  over it,
and laid down on the ground and  vomited several times.
He said he thought he threw off his stomach two quarts.
I then helped him into the house,  and in about two hours
lie ate a  very hearty dinner,  and in the  afternoon  was
able  to do a good half day's labor.   He  afterwards  told
me that he never had any thing do him so much gnod in
his life;   his appetite was remarkably good, and he felt
better than he had for a long time.   This circumstance
gave me the first idea of the medical virtues of this valu-
able  plant, which I have since found  by forty years ex-
perience,  in  which time I have made use of  it in every
disease I have met with, to great  advantage, that it  is a
discovery  of the greatest importance. 
28            Narrative of the Life, See.
  In March, 1794, my second  daughter was born;  and
my wife had no medical assistance except what I could
do for her, with the advice of  the doctor who lived on
my farm.  After this she was never  again afflicted with
the  cholic.  In the course of this year the  lease of my
father's  half of the  farm expired,  and we  made a  di-
vision of the stock.   My half was five yearlings  and
half a colt;  this, with half the farm, containing about
one hundred and twenty-five acres,  was all the property
I possessed,  and I was mostly clear of debt.   Soon after,
I purchased of my father the other half of the farm, for
which I  gave six hundred and thirty-six dollars,  payable
in stock, one  half in two years, and  the other in four.
In order to meet these  payments, I  purchased calves
and colts;  but it proved  hard for me, as they brought,
when the payments became due, but little more than the
first cost, after having to keep them two years;  I offered
them to my  father for what the  hay they  ate  the  last
year would have sold for,  but he would not agree to it.
I settled with  him, however, and paid him according to
contract.  I  afterwards purchased of a neighbor a small
piece of land, which incommoded me by keeping the sun
from my house part of the forenoon; for which I agreed
to pay him seventy-three dollars and thirty-three cents,
in three years,  with  interest.   This turned out a trou-
blesome affair for me, for when I came to pay the inter-
est the second  year, the note was more than when  first
given, having  been  altered;  and I refused to  pay any
thing.   When the note became  due, I  would pay no
more than what it was given for, and it was sued and  my
cattle and horses were  attached.  It went through a
course of law,  and cost us both a great deal of expense
and trouble; but I finally beat  him;  he lost  his note and
I recovered damage for his taking my cattle and  horses.
This Was the  first  time I had any thing to do with  the
law, and in the whole it cost me about one hundred  dol-
lars; but it was a good lesson,  and has been worth tome
the expense.
  When my  second daughter  was about two years  old
she was taken sick, and had what is called  the  canker-
rash.  Dr. Bliss, who lived on  my farm, was sent for, and
he said  she had that disorder as bad  as any one  he  ever 
Of Samuel Thomson.              29
 saw.   He tried his utmost skill to prevent putrefaction,
 which he  feared  would  take  place;  but  after using
 every exertion in his power, without doing her any good,
 he said  he could do no more, she must die.  She  was
 senseless,  and the canker was to be seen in her mouth,
 nose, and ears, and one of her eyes was  covered with it
 and closed;  the other began to swell and turn purple
 also.   I  asked the doctor if he could not  keep the can-
 ker out  of this eye;  but he said it would be of no use,
 for she could not live.   I told him that  if he could do
 no more, I would  try  what I could do myself.  I found
 that if the canker could not  be stopped immediately, she
 would be blind with both eyes.   She was so distressed
 for breath that she would spring straight up on end in
 struggling to breathe.  I sat myself in a  chair, and held
 her in my lap, and put a blanket round  us both;  then
 my wife  held a hot spider or shovel between my feet, and
 I poured on vinegar to raise a steam,  and kept it as hot
 as I found she could bear, changing them as soon as they
 became cold;  and by following this plan for about twenty
 minutes, she became comfortable and breathed easy.  I
 kept a cloth wet with cold water on her  eyes,  changing
 it often, as it grew warm.  I followed this  plan, steam-
 ing her  every two hours,  for about a week, when she
 began to gain.  Her eyes came  open, and the one that
 was the worst,  was completely covered with canker, and
 was as white  as paper.   I  used a wash of rosemary to
 take off  the canker;  and when  the scale  came off, the
 sight  came out with  it; and it entirely perished.  The
 other  eye was saved, to the  astonishment of all who saw
 her, particularly the doctor, who used frequently to  call
 to see how she did.  He said she was saved entirely by
 the plan  I had pursued, and the great care and attention
 paid to her.  She  entirely recovered from the  disease,
 with  the  exception of the loss of one eye, and has en-
joyed good health to this time.   This was the first of my
 finding out the plan of steaming and using cold water.
 After this  I found by experience that by putting a hot
 stone  into  a thing  of hot water,  leaving it  partly out of
 the water, and then  pouring vinegar on the stone, was
 an improvement.   Care should be taken not to raise the
 heat too fast;  and I  used to put a cloth  wet with cold
              3* 
30            Narrative of the LifeT Sfc.
water on the stomach, at the same time giving hot medi-
cine to raise the heat inside; and when they had been
steamed in this manner so long as I thought they could
bear it,  then  rub them all over with a cloth wet with
spirit,  vinegar, or cold water,  change their clothes  and
bed clothes, and then let them go to bed.
  A short time before this daughter was sick, my oldest
son was  born,  and was very weakly in consequence of
his mother's having previous to his birth, what is  called
a three months'  fever,  which  experience gave  me a
pretty good knowledge of the practice of the doctors in
prolonging a disease;  for I never could reconcile myself
to the  idea, that a doctor  could be of any use,  if the
fever must  have its course, and nature had to  perform
the cure, at the same time the doctor gets his pay  and
the credit of it.  If the patient's constitution is so strong
as to enable them to struggle against the operation of
the medicine and the  disorder, they will recover;  but it'
not,  they run down in what the doctors call  a galloping
consumption.  The doctor proceeded  in  this way with
my wife, until I  was satisfied of his plan, when  I inter-
fered and dismissed him.   As soon as she  left off taking
his  medicine,  she began  gradually to  gain her  health,
and soon got about.
  When this son was about six weeks old,  he  was at-
tacked with the croup, or rattles.   He was taken a little
before  sunset with a hoarseness,  was very much clog-
ged  with phlegm, and breathed with so much difficulty,
that  he  could  be  heard all over the house.   I  sent
for the doctor, and he attended him till  about ten o'clock
at night  without doing  him any good, and then went
away, saying that he would not live till morning.  After
he was gone, I  was again obliged to call on the  mother
of invention, and try what I could do myself.  I search-
ed the house for some  rattlesnake's  oil, and was so
fortunate  as to  find  about three or four drops,  which I
immediately gave him, and it loosened  the phlegm,  and
he  soon  began  to breathe easy; by close  attention
through the  night, the child was quite comfortable in the
morning.  The  doctor came in the next day and  ex-
pressed great astonishment on finding the child  alive;
and was anxious to know by what means he had been re- 
Of Samuel Thomson.              31
lieved  from so desperate a situation.  On my informing
him, he seemed well pleased with the information;  and
observed that he was willing to allow, that the  greatest
knowledge that  doctors ever obtained was either by ac-
cident  or through necessity.   So the discovery of a cure
for this desperate disease by necessity,  was of great use
both to me and the  doctor;  notwithstanding,  however,
the information he  gained of me,  instead of giving me
credit for it, he charged me for his useless visit.
  I was in the habit at this time of gathering and pre-
serving in the proper season, all kinds of medical herbs
and roots that I was acquainted with, in order to be able
at all times to prevent as well as to cure disease; for I
found by experience, that one ounce of prevention was
better than a pound of cure.   Only the simple article of
mayweed, when a person has taken a bad  cold, by taking
a strong cup of the tea when going to bed, will prevent
more disease in one night, with one  cent's expense, than
would  be cured by the doctor in one  month,  and  one
hundred  dollars  expense in their charges, apothecaries'
drugs, and nurses.
   I  had  not the most distant  idea at this time of ever
engaging in the practice of medicine, more  than to as-
sist  my own family;  and little did I think  what those
severe trials and sufferings I  experienced in the cases
that have been mentioned, and which I was  drove to by
necessity,  were  to  bring about.  It seemed as a judg-
ment upon me, that either myself or family, or some one
living  with me,  were  sick most of  ^he time the doctor
lived on my farm, which was about  seven  years.  Since
I have had more experience, and become better acquaint-
ed with  the subject, I am satisfied  in my own  mind of
the cause.  Whenever any of the family took a cold, the
doctor was sent for, who would always either  bleed or
wive physic.  Taking away the blood reduces the heat,
and gives power to the cold they had taken, which in-
creases the disorder,  and the coldness of the  stomach
causes canker;   the physic drives all the  determining
powers from  the  surface inwardly, and scatters  the
canker through the stomach  and bowels, which holds
the  cold  inside, and  drives the heat on the  outside.
The consequence is,  that perspiration ceases,  because 
32            Narrative of the Life, Sjc.
internal  heat is the sole cause of this important evacua-
tion;  and a settled fever takes place, which will continue
as long  as  the cold keeps the upper hand.   My expe-
rience has taught me that by giving  hot  medicine, the
internal heat was increased, and by applying the steam
externally, the natural perspiration was restored;  and by
giving medicine to clear the stomach and bowels from
canker, till the cold is driven out and  the  heat returns,
which is the turn of the fever, they will  recover  the  di-
gestive powers, so that food will keep the  heat where it
naturally belongs, which is the fuel that  continues the
fire or life of man.
  After the doctor, who lived on my farm, moved away,
I had very little  sickness in my family.  On the birth
of my second son, which  was about two  years from
the birth of the  first son,  we had no occasion for a
doctor;  my wife did well, and the child was much more
healthy  than the  others had been;  and  I have  never
employed a doctor since;  for  I  had found  from  sad
experience, that they made  much more  sickness than
they cured.   Whenever any of my family were  sick, I
had no  difficulty  in restoring them  to  health by such
means as were within my own knowledge.  As  fast as
my children arrived at years of discretion, I instruct-
ed them how to relieve themselves, and  they have  all
enjoyed good health ever since.  If parents would adopt
the same plan, and depend  more upon themselves, and
less upon the doctors, they would  avoid much sickness
in their families, as well as save the  expense  attending
the employment of one of the regular  physicians, when-
ever any trifling  sickness  occurs,  whose extravagant
charges is a grievous and heavy burthen upon the peo-
ple.   I shall endeavor to instruct them all  in my power,
by giving a plain  and  clear  view  of the  experience I
have had, that they mar benefit by it.  If they do not,
the fault will not be mine, for I shall have done my duty.
I am  certain of the fact, that there is medicine enough
in the country,  within the reach of every one, to cure
all the disease incident to it,  if timely and properly  ad-
ministered.
  At the birth of our third son, my  wife was again given
over by the midwife.  Soon  after  the child was  born, 
Of Samuel Thomson.
33
she was taken with ague fits and cramp in the stomach;
she was  in great pain,  and we were much  alarmed at
her situation.  I proposed giving her some  medicines,
but the midwife was much opposed to it;  she said  she
wished to have a doctor,  and the sooner the better.   I
immediately sent for one, and tried to persuade her to
give something which I thought would relieve my wife
until the doctor could  come;  but  she objected to it,
saying that her case was a very difficult one, and would
not allow to be trifled with;  she said she was sensible
of the  dangerous situation my wife was in, for not  one
out of twenty lived through  it, and probably she would
not be  alive in twenty-four hours  from that time.  We
were thus kept in  suspense  until the man  returned  and
the doctor  could not be found, and there  was no other
within  six miles.   I  then  came to the determination of
hearing to no one's advice any longer, but to pursue my
own plan.  I told my wife, that as the midwife said  she
could not live more  than twenty-four hours, her  life
could not be  cut short  more than that time, therefore
there  would  be  no hazard in trying what I could do to
relieve her.  I gave her some warm medicine to raise
the inward heat, and then  applied the steam,  which was
very much opposed by the midwife;  but I persisted in it
according to the best of my judgment, and relieved  her
in about  one hour, after  she had laid in that situation
above  four hours,  without any thing being done.  The
midwife  expressed a great deal of astonishment at  the
success I had met with,  and said that I had saved  her
life, for  she  was certain  that without the means I  had
used,  she could not have lived.  She continued to  do
well,  and soon recovered.  This makes the fifth time I
had applied to the mother of invention for assistance, and
in all of them was  completely successful.
  These  things began to be  taken some notice of about
this time, and caused much conversation in the neigh-
borhood.   My assistance was called for by some of the
neighbors,  and I attended several cases with good suc-
cess.   I  had  previous to this time, paid some attention
to the farrier business, and had been useful in that line.
This,  however, gave occasion for the ignorant and cred-
ulous  to  ridicule me and laugh at those whom I attend- 
34            Narrative of the Life, Sec
ed;  but these things had little weight with me,  for I
had  no other object in view  but  to  be serviceable to
my fellow  creatures,  and I was too firmly fixed in my
determination to  pursue  that  course, which I  consid-.
ered was pointed out  as my duty,  by the experience
and  many  hard trials I had suffered, to be deterred by
the foolish remarks of the envious or malicious part of
society.
  The last sickness of my wife, I think took  place in
the year  1799, and about two years after she had another
son and did well,  making five sons  that she had in suc-
cession;  she afterwards  had  another  daughter, which
was  the  last,  making eight children in the whole  that
she was the mother of; five sons and  three daughters.
I mention these particulars, in order that the reader may
the better  understand  many  things that took  place in
my family,  which will give some idea of the experience
and trouble I had to encounter in  bringing up  so large
a family, especially with  the  many  trials I had to go
through in the various cases of sickness  and  troubles,
which  are  naturally attendant on  all  families,  and of
which  I had  a very large  share.   The  knowledge  and
experience, however, which  I gained  by these trying
scenes, I have reason to be satisfied with, as it  has prov-
ed to be a  blessing, not only to me, but many  hundreds
who have been relieved from sickness and distress through
my means; and I hope and trust that it will eventually
be the cause of throwing  off  the veil of ignorance from
the eyes of the good people of this country, and do away
the blind confidence they are so much  in the  habit of
placing in  those who call themselves  physicians,  who
fare  sumptuously every day;  living  in splendor  and
magnificence, supported by the impositions they prac-
tise upon a deluded and credulous people;  for they have
much  more  regard for their  own interest than  they
have for the health and  happiness  of those  who  are
so unfortunate  as to have any thing to do  with them.
If this  was the worst side of the  picture, it might be
borne with  more patience; but their practice is  altogeth-
er experimental, to try the effect of their poisons upon
the constitutions  of their  patients, and if they happen
to give more than  nature can bear, they either die or 
Of Samuel Thomson.
35
become miserable invalids  the rest of their lives, and
their friends  console themselves with the idea that it
is  the  will of God, and it is their  duty  to submit; the
doctor  gets well paid for his services, and that is an end
of the tragedy.   It may be thought by some that this is
a highly colored picture, and that I am uncharitable
to apply it to all who  practise  as  physicians; but the
truth of the statements, as respects what are called reg-
ular physicians,  or those who get diplomas  from the
medical society,  will not be doubted by any who are
acquainted with the subject, and will throw aside  preju-
dice and reflect  seriously upon it—those whom the coat
fits I  am  willing should wear it.   There are, however,
many physicians within my knowledge, who do not fol-
low the fashionable mode  of practice of the day, but
are governed by their own judgments, and make use  of
the vegetable medicine of our own country, with the
mode of treatment most consistent with.nature;  and
what is the conduct of those who have  undertaken  to
dictate to the people how and by whom they shall be at-
tended when  sick, towards them?  Why,  means that
would disgrace the lowest dregs of society, that savages
would not be guilty of,  are resorted to for the purpose of
injuring them, and destroying their  credit with the public.
I have had a pretty large share of this kind of treatment
from the faculty, the particulars of which, and the suf-
ferings I have undergone, will be given  in detail  in  the
course of this iiarrative.
   Sometime in the month of November, 1802, my chil-
dren had the measles, and some of them had them very
bad.  The want of knowing how to treat them gave  me
a great deal of trouble, much more than it would at the
present time, for experience has  taught me that they
are very easy to manage.   One of  the children took the
disease and gave it to the rest, and I think we had four
down with them at the same time.  My third son had
the disorder very bad; they would not come out, but
turned in, and  he became stupid.  The canker  was
much in the throat and mouth, and the rosemary would
have  no effect.   Putrid symptoms made their appear-
ance, and I Was under the necessity of inventing  some-
thing for that, aW for the canker,   I used the steam of 
36            Narrative of the Life, Sec
 vinegar to guard against putrefaction,  and gold thread,
 or yellow root, with red oak acorns pounded  and steep-
 ed together,  for the canker.  These had  the desired
 effect;  and by close attention he soon got better.   The
 second son was  then taken down pretty much in the
 same manner, and I pursued the same  mode  of treat-
 ment, with similar success; but the disease  had so af-
 fected  his lungs, that I feared it would leave him  in a
 consumption,  as  was the  case  with my mother.   He
 could not speak loud for three weeks.  I could get noth-
 ing that would help him for some time, till at last I gave
 him several portions of the emetic herb,  which relieved
 him and he soon  got well.  During this sickness we suf-
fered much from fatigue and want of sleep;  for neither
 my wife nor myself had our clothes off for twelve nights.
 This was a good fortnight's school to me,  in which I
 learned the nature of the  measles; and  found it to be
 canker and putrefaction.  This experience enabled me
 to relieve  many  others in this disease, and  likewise in
 the canker-rash; in these two disorders,  and the small
 pox, I found a looking-glass, in  which we may see the
 nature of  every other disease.  I  had  the small pox in
 the year 1798, and examined its symptoms with all the
 skill I was capable of, to ascertain the  nature of the dis-
 ease ; and  found that it was the highest stage of canker
 and  putrefaction  that the human  system, was capable of
 receiving;  the measles the next, and the canker-rash the
 third; and other  disorders partake  more   or  less of the
 same, which I am satisfied is a key to the whole; for by
 knowing how  to cure this, is a general  rule to know how
 to cure all other cases;  as  the same means that will  put
 out a large fire will put out a candle.
   Soon after  my family had got well of  the measles, I
 was  sent  for  to see a woman by the name of Redding,
 in the  neighborhood.   She had  been for many years
 afflicted with  the cholic,  and could  get no relief from
 the doctors.   I attended her and found the disorder  was
 caused by canker, and pursued the plan  that my former
 experience had taught me, which relieved her from  the
 pain, and so far removed the cause that  she  never  had
 another attack of the disease.   In this  case the cure
 was  so simply and easily performed, that it became a 
                 Of Samuel  Thomson.              3?

subject of ridicule, for when she was asked about it,
she was ashamed to say that I cured her.  The popular
practice of the physicians had so much influence on the
minds of the people, that they thought nothing could be
right but  what was done by them.  I  attended in this
family  for several years, and always answered the de-
sired purpose; but my practice was so simple, that it
was  not  worthy of notice, and being  dissatisfied with
the treatment I received, I refused to do any thing more
for them.   After this they employed the more fashion-
able practitioners, who were ready enough to make the
most of a job, and they had sickness and expense enough
to satisfy them, for one of the sons was soon after taken
sick and  was given over by the doctor, who left him to
die;  but after he left off giving him medicine he got well
of himself, and the doctor not only had the credit of it,
but for this job and one  other  similar,  his charges
amounted to over one  hundred dollars.  This satisfied
me of the foolishness of the people, whose  prejudices
are always  in favor of any thing that is fashionable, or
that  is done by those who profess  great learning; and
prefer  long  sickness  and great expense, if'done in this
way, to a simple and natural relief, with a trifling ex-
pense.
  Soon after this, I was  called on to attend a Mrs.
Wetherbee,  in the neighborhood,  who had  the  same
disorder.  She had been  afflicted  with the  cholic for
several years, having periodical turns of it about once a
month;  had  been under the care of a  number of doc-
tors, who had used all their skill without affording her
any relief, excepting a temporary one by stiyifying her
with opium and giving physic, which kept ter along till
nature  could wear  it off, when she world get a  little
better  for a few days, and then have another turn.   Af-
ter hearing  of my curing Mrs.  Reddng,  they sent for
me;  I  gave  her my medicine to rerrove  the canker, and
steamed her, which gave relief in one hour.  She had a
very large family to attend to, having thirteen children,
and before she had recovered her strength she exposed
herself and  had another turn;  I attended again and
relieved her  in the same manner as before; but she
could not  wait till she gained her strength, and exposed
              4 
38
Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 herself again as before, took cold and had another turn.
 Her  husband said  1  only relieved her for the time,  but
 did not remove the cause, and being  dissatisfied with
 what I had  done,  he sent for a doctor to  remove  the
 cause;  who carried her through a course of physic, and
 reduced her so low, that  she lingered along for eight
 weeks,  being unable to do anything the whole tune;
 they then decided that she had the  consumption, and
 gave  her over to die.   After the doctors had left  her in
 this situation as incurable,  she applied again to me;  but
 I declined doing any thing for her, as I knew  her case
 was  much more difficult than it was before she applied
 to the doctor,  and if I should fail in  curing  her, the
 blame would  all be laid to me, or if she got well I should
 get no credit by it; for which reason I felt very unwill-
 ing to do any  thing for her.   After finishing my fore-
 noon's work, on  going home to dinner, I found her  at
 my house, waiting for me, and  she insisted so much upon
 my undertaking to cure her,  and seemed  to  have  so
 much faith in my being able to do it,  that I  at last told
 her,  if she would come to my house  and stay with my
wife,  who was sick at the  time, I would do  the best I
could to cure her.   She readily consented, and staid but
three  days with us;  during which time I pursued my
usual  plan of treatment, giving her  things to remove
the canker, and steaming  to  produce a natural perspi-
 ration;  at the  end  of the  three days she went  home,
 taking with her some medicine, with directions what  to
 do for herself, and in a short time entirely recovered her
 health.  In less than a year after, she had another child,
 which was> a  conclusion of her having  children or the
 cholic, and she ever after enjoyed as good health as any
 woman in the neighborhood; but this cure was  done  in
 so unfashionable a way, that they were hardly willing to
 acknowledge it, &ad they would not apply to me for  re-
 lief,  when any of %ir family were sick, till they had
 failed in getting it in hoy other way.
   In  about  a year aftbr the  above case, one of this
 family, a young man  aboau. sixteen years old,  was  at-
 tacked with a fever; the doctor was sent  for, who fol- *
 lowed the fashionable course  of practice, and  reduced
 him  with mercury and other poisons, so  that he linger- 
Of Samuel Thomson.              39
ed along for three or four months, constantly  growing
worse, till the doctor said it was a rheumatic fever,  and
afterwards  that he was in a decline.   He  had taken so
much  mercury that it had settled in his back and hips,
and  was so stiff that he could not bring his hands lower
than his knees.  By this time, the doctor had given  him
over as incurable,  and he was considered a fit subject
for me to undertake with.  They applied  to me, and I
agreed to take him home to my house, and do  the  best
I could to cure him.  It was a difficult task, for I  had
in the first place to bring him back to the same  situation
he was in when he had the fever,  and to destroy the ef-
fects of the poison, and regulate the system by steaming,
to produce a natural perspiration;  by pursuing this plan,
and  giving such  things  as I  could  get to restore  the
digestive powers, in two months  he was completely re-
stored  to health; for which I received but five  dollars,
and this was more grudgingly paid than if they had given
a doctor fifty, without doing any good at all.
   In the spring of the  year 1805, I was  sent for to go
to Woodstock, in Vermont,  to attend a young  woman,
who  was considered in a decline, and the  doctors could
not help  her.   I found her very low,  not being  able to
set up  but very little.  I staid and attended her  about a
week,  and  then left her, with  medicines and directions
what to do, and  returned  home.   In about a month, I
went again to see  her, and found her much better, so
that she was able to ride  to her father's, which was above
twenty miles.  All this  time I had  not formed  an  idea
that I possessed any knowledge of disorder or of medi-
cine, more than what I had learned by accident; and all
the cases I had attended were from necessity;  but the
success I had  met with, and the extraordinary  cures I
had  performed, made much talk, and were heard of for
fifty  miles around.
   I began to be  sent for by the  people of this part of
the country so much, that I found it impossible to at-
tend to my farm and family as I ought; for the  cases I
had  attended, I had received  very little or nothing, not
enough to  compensate  me for my time; and I found it
to be my duty to give up practice altogether, or to make
a business  of it.   I  consulted  with my wife  and asked 
40            Narrative of the Life, Sec
the advice of my friends, what was  best for me to do>;
they all agreed, that as it seemed to be the natural turn
of my mind, if I thought myself capable of such an
important undertaking,  it would be best to let  my own
judgment govern me, and to do as I thought best.   I
maturely weighed the matter in my  mind, and viewed
it as the greatest  trust that any one could engage in,   I
considered my want  of  learning and my  ignorance of
mankind, which  almost discouraged  me from the under-
taking; yet I had a strong inclination for the practice, of
which  it seemed impossible  to  divest my  mind; and  I
had  always had a very strong aversion to working on  a
farm, as every thing of the kind appeared  to  me to be
a burthen; the reason of which I could not account for,
as I  had carried on the business  to good advantage, and
had  as good  a farm as any in the neighborhood.   I
finally concluded to make use of that gift which I thought
nature, or the God  of nature, had implanted in me;. and
if I possessed such a gift, I had  no need of learning, for
no one can learn  that gift.  I thought of what St. Paul
says in his epistle to the Corinthians, concerning the dif-
ferent gifts by the same spirit; one had the gift of pro-
phecy; another, the gift  of healing; another, the work-
ing of miracles.  I am satisfied in  my own  mind,  that
every man is made  and capacitated for some  particular
pursuit in life, in which, if he engages, he  will be more
useful  than he would if he happens to be so unfortunate
as to follow a calling or profession, that was not conge-
nial  to his disposition.   This is a very important con-
sideration for parents, not to make their sons learn trades
or professions, which are contrary to their inclinations and
the  natural turn of their minds; for it is certain if they
do, they never can be useful or happy in following them.
  I am convinced myself that I possess a gift innealing
the  sick, because of the extraordinary suceess I have
met with, and  the  protection and support I have been
afforded, against the attacks of all  my enemies.   Whether
I should  have  been more useful had it been  my lot to
have had an education, and learned the profession in the
fashionable way, is impossible for me to say  with certain-
ty; probably I should have been deemed more honora-
ble in the world;  but honor obtained by learning, with- 
0/ Samuel Thomson.              41
 out a natural gift, or capacity, can never, in my opinion,
 make a man very useful to his fellow creatures.  I wish
 my readers to understand me, that I do not mean to con-
 vey the idea, that learning is not necessary and essential
 in obtaining  a  proper knowledge of any profession or
 art;  but that going to college will make a wise man of a
 fool, is what I am ready to deny;  <* that a man cannot
 be useful and even great in a profession,  or in  the arts
 and  sciences, without a classical education,  is what I
 think no one will have the hardihood to attempt to sup-
 port, as it is contrary to reason and common sense.  We
 have many examples ot some of the greatest philosophers,
 physicians,  and divines the world ever knew, who were
 entirely selAtawght; and who have done more honor, and
 been greater ornaments to society, than a million of those
 who  have  nothing to recommend them but having their
 heads crammed with learning, without sense enough  to
 apply it to any great or useful purpose.
   Among the practising physicians, I have found, and
 I believe it to be a well known fact, that  those  who are
 really great in. the profession, and have had the most ex-
 perience, condemn as much  as I do, the fashionable
 mode of practice of the  present day,  and use very little
 medical poisons, confining themselves in their treatment
 of patients to simples principally, and the use of such
 things as will promote digestion  and aid nature;  and
 many ofthem  disapprove of bleeding altogether.  Those
 of this  description, with whom I have had an oppor-
 tunity to converse, have treated me with  all due atten-
 tion and civility;  have heard  me with pleasure,  and
 been ready to allow  me  credit for my experience,  and
 the discoveries I have made in curing  disease.  The
 opposition and abuse  that I have met with, have been
 uniformly from those to whom I think I can with pro-
 priety, give the name of quacks, or ignorant pretenders;
 as  all their merit consists in their self-importance  and
 arrogant behaviour towards all those who have  not  had
 the advantages of learning,  and a degree  at  college.
This  class compose a large  proportion of the  medical
 faculty throughout our country; they have  learned just
 enough to  know how to deceive the  people, and keep
them in  ignorance, by covering their  doings under  an
              4* 
42            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
unknown language to their patients.  There can be no
good reason given why all the technical terms in medical
works  are  kept in a dead language,  except it be to de-
ceive and keep the world ignorant* of their  doings, that
they may the better  impose upon  the credulity of the
people; for if they were to be written in  our own lan-
guage, every body Vrould understand them, and judge for
themselves; and their poisonous drugs would be thrown
into the fire before their patients would take them.   The
ill-treatment that I have  received from them,  has been
mostly where I have  exposed tiioir ignorance, by curing
those they had given over to die;  in which cases they
have shown their malice by  circulating all kinds of false
and ridiculous reports of me and my practice>  in order
to destroy my credit with the people;  and I am sorry to
say that I  have found many too ready to join with  them,
even among  those who have been relieved by  me from
pain and sickness.   Such ingratitude I can account for
in no other way, than by the readiness with which the
people follow whatever is fashionable, without reflecting
whether it be right or wrong.
  After I  had  come to the  determination to  make  a
business of the medical practice, I found it necessary to
fix upon some system or plan for my  future government
in the treatment of disease;  for  what I  had done  had
been as it  were from  accident, and the necessity arising
out of the particular cases  that came  under  my care,
without any fixed plan;  in which I had  been governed
by my judgment and the advantages I had received from
experience.  I deemed it necessary, not  only as my own
guide,  but that  whatever  discoveries I should make in
my practice,  they might be  so adapted to  my plan that
my whole  system might be easily taught to others,  and
preserved  for the benefit of the world.  I had  no other
assistance  than my own observations, and the natural
reflections of my own mind, unaided  by learning or the
opinions of others.   I took  nature for  my guide,  and
experience as my instructer; and after  seriously con-
sidering every part of the  subject,  I came to certain
conclusions concerning  disease, and the whole animal
economy,  which more than  forty years experience  has
perfectly satisfied me is the only correct  theory.  My 
Of Samuel Thomson.               43
practice has invariably been conformable to the  general
principles upon which my system is founded, and in no
instance  have I had reason to doubt the correctness of
its application to cure all cases of disease when properly
attended to; for that all disease is the effect of one general
cause, and may be removed by  one  general remedy, is
the foundation upon which I have erected my fabric, and
which I shall endeavor to explain in  as clear and concise
a manner  as I am capable, with a hope that it may be
understood by my readers, and that they may be con-
vinced of its correctness.
  I found,  after maturely considering the subject,  that
all animal bodies are formed of the four elements, earth,
air,  fire,  and water.  Earth  and water constitute  the
solids, and air  and fire, or heat, are the cause of  life
and motion.  That cold, or lessening the power of heat,
is  the cause of all disease;  that to restore heat to its
natural  state, was the only way by which health could
be produced; and that, after restoring the natural  heat,
by clearing the system of all obstructions and Causing a
natural  perspiration, the stomach would digest  the food
taken into it, by which means  the  whole body is nour-
ished and  invigorated,  and heat or nature is enabled to
hold its supremacy; that the constitutions of all mankind
being essentially the same, and  differing only in the dif-
ferent temperament of the same  materials of which they
are composed; it appeared clearly to my mind, that all
disease proceeded from one general cause, and might be
cured by one general  remedy;  that a state of perfect
health arises from a due balance or temperature of  the
four elements; but if it is by  any means  destroyed,  the
body is more or less disordered.   And when this is  the
case, there is always an actual diminution or absence of
the  element of  fire, or heat; and in proportion to this
diminution or absence, the body is affected  by its oppo-
site, which is cold.   And I found that all disorders which
the  human family were afflicted with,  however  various
the symptoms, and  different the names by which they are
called, arise directly from obstructed perspiration, which
is always caused by cold, or want of heat; for if there is
a natural heat, it is impossible but that there must be a
natural perspiration. 
44            Narrative of the Life, Sfc.
   Having fixed  upon these general principles, as the
 only solid foundation upon which a correct and true un-
 derstanding of the subject can be founded, my next busi-
 ness was  to ascertain what kinds of medicine and treat-
 ment would best answer the purpose in conformity to this
 universal  plan of curing disease;  for it must, I think, be
 certain and  self-evident to every one, that whatever will
 increase the internal heat, remove all obstructions of the
 system, restore the digestive powers of the stomach,  and
 produce a natural perspiration, is universally applicable
 in all cases  of disease, and therefore may be considered
 as a general remedy.
  The first and most important consideration was to  find
 a medicine that would establish a natural  internal heat,
 so  as  to  give nature its proper command.  My emetic
 herb,  (No.  1,)  I found ,would  effectually cleanse  the
 stomach,  and would  very effectually aid  in  raising  the
 heat and  promoting perspiration; but would  not  hold it
 long enough to effect the desired object, so but that  the
 cold would  return again and assume its power.  It was
 like a fire made of shavings; a strong heat for  a short
 time,  and  then all go out.   After much experience  and
 trying every thing within my knowledge, to gain  this
 important  point, I fixed upon the medicine  which I have
 called No. 2, in my patent,  for that  purpose; and after
 using it for many years, I am perfectly convinced that it
 is the best thing that can be made use of to hold the heat
 in the stomach  until the  system can be cleared  of  ob-
 structions, so as to produce a natural  digestion of  the
 food, which  will nourish the  body,  establish perspiration
 and restore the health of the patient.  I found it to be
 perfectly safe in all cases, and never knew any bad ef-
 fects from administering it.
  My  next  grand  object  was to get  something that
 would   clear the  stomach and  bowels  from  canker,
 which  are more  or less affected  by it  in all  cases of
 disease to which the human family  are subject.   Can-
 ker and putrefaction  are  caused  by cold, or want of
heat;   for  whenever any part of the body is so affected
by  cold as to overpower the  natural heat, putrefaction
commences, and  if not checked  by  medicine, or if the
natural constitution is  not strong enough to overcome its 
Of Samuel Thomson.              45
progress, it will communicate to the blood,  when death
will end the contest between heat and cold,  by deciding
in favor of the latter.   I have made use of a great many
articles, which  are useful in removing canker;  but  my
preparation called No. 3, is the best for that  purpose,
that has  come  to my knowledge; though  many other
things may be made use of to good effect, all of which I
shall  give particular a description  in my general direc-
tions hereafter.
   Having endeavored to convey to my readers, in a brief
manner, a correct idea of the  general principles  upon
which  I formed my system of practice, I shall now give
some  account of the success I met with in the various
cases that came under my care, and the difficulties and
opposition that I have had  to encounter, in maintaining
it till this time, against all my enemies.
  My general plan of treatment has been in all cases
of disease,  to cleanse  the  stomach by giving No.  1,
and  produce as great  an  internal heat as I could, by
giving No. 2, and when necessary, made use of steam-
ing, in  which  I have  always  found great  benefit, es-
pecially in fevers;  after this,  I gave  No.  3,  to clear
off the canker;  and in all cases where patients had
not previously become so far reduced as to have nothing
to build upon, I have been  successful in restoring them
to health.   I found that fever  was a disturbed  state of
the heat, or more properly, that it was caused by  the
efforts  which  nature  makes to throw off disease,  and
therefore ought  to be aided in its cause, and treated as
a friend; and not as an enemy, as is the practice of the
physicians.  In all cases of disease, I have  found that
there is more or less fever, according to the  state of the
system;  but that all fevers proceed from the same cause,
differing only in  the  symptoms; and  may be managed
and brought to a crisis with much  less trouble  than is •
generally considered practicable, by increasing  the  in-
ternal heat, till the cold is driven out, which is the cause
of it.   Thus keeping the fountain above the stream, and
every thing will take its natural course.
  During the year 1805, a very alarming disease pre-
vailed in Alstead and Walpole, which was considered the 
46            Narrative of the Life, tyc.
 yellow fever, and was fatal to many who were attacked
 by it.   I was called  on, and  attended  with  very great
 success,  not  losing one patient that I attended; at the
 same  time, nearly one half of those who had regular
 physicians, died.  This disease  prevailed  for  about
 forty days,  during which time, I was  not  at  home  but
 eight  nights.   I was  obliged to be  nurse as well as
 doctor,  and do every thing myself, for  the people had
 no knowledge of my mode of  practice,  and I  could  not
 depend  upon what any person did,  except what was
 under my own  immediate  inspection.  I  pursued the
 same  general plan that I  had before adopted; but the
 experience  I  had from this practice,  suggested to me
 many  improvements, which I had not before thought of,
 as respects the manner of treatment of patients to effect
 the  objects I aimed at in curing the disease, which was
 to produce a natural perspiration.   I found great benefit
 in steaming in the manner that I had discovered and
 practised with my little daughter; but I found by ex-
 perience, that by putting a hot  stone  into a spider or
 iron basin, and  then  wetting the top of the  stone with
 vinegar,  was an important improvement; and  with this
 simple method, with a little medicine of my own pre-
 paring, answered a much better  purpose,  than all the
 bleeding  and  poisonous physic of the doctors.   While
 I  was attending  those  who were  sick, and  they found
 that my mode of treatment  relieved them from their
 distress,  they were very ready to flatter and  give  great
 credit  for my practice; but after I had worn myself out
 in their service, they began to  think that it was not done
 in a fashionable way;  and the  doctors made use of every
 means in their power to ridicule me and  my practice,
 for the purpose  of maintaining  their own  credit with
 the  people.  This kind of treatment was a new  thing
 to me, as I did not at that  time so well  understand the
craft,  as  I have  since, from hard  earned  experience.
The word quackery,  when used by the doctor against
me,  was a very important charm to prejudice the people
against my  practice;   but I would ask  all the candid
and  reflecting part of the people, the following ques-
tions, and I will leave them to their consciences to give
an answer;  which is the greatest  quack, the  one who 
Of Samuel Thomson.
47
relieves them from their sickness by the most simple and
safe means,  without any pretensions to infallibility or
skill, more than what nature and experience  has taught
him, or the one who, instead of curing the  disease,  in-
creases it by administering  poisonous medicines,  which
only tend to prolong  the distress of the patient, till either
the strength of his natural constitution, or death relieves
him ?
   I  was called  upon  to  attend a man by the name of
Fairbanks, who lived in Walpole; he was taken with
bleeding at the lungs.  I found him  in a very bad con-
dition;  the  family judged that  he had lost nearly  six
quarts of blood in twenty-four hours.  He was in despair
and  had taken leave  of  his 'family, as they considered
there was no hope of his living.   The doctor was with
him  when I first entered  the house;  but he fled at my
approach.   Both his  legs were corded by the doctor, and
the first thing I did  was to strip off the  cords from  his
legs; and then gave  medicine to get as great an internal
heat as I possibly could produce; got him to sweat pro-
fusely ; then gave him medicine to clear the canker;  and
in four days he was so well as to be able to go out  and
attend to his business.
  Sometime in October, 1805, I attended a Mrs. Good-
ell, of Walpole; she had been confined  and  had  taken
cold.   The most noted doctors in the town had attended
her through what they called a fever, and she was then
pronounced  by them to be  in  a decline.  After three
months practice  upon her, they had got her into so des-
perate  a situation, that they gave her over, and said that
her case was so putrid and ulcerated  that it was utterly
incurable.  She had  in addition to the  rest  of her  diffi-
culties, a cancer on her back.   In this desperate  situa-
tion, it was thought by her friends that she was a proper
subject for me to undertake with.  I, with a great deal
of reluctance, undertook with her at her earnest solicita-
tion and that of her husband; but met  with much greater
success than I expected.   In four weeks she was able
to be about the house and do some work.
  In the same year, I was  sent for to attend a woman
who had  been  in a  dropsical  way  for a number of
years.   The  disease had of  late  gained  with  rapid 
48            Narrative of the Life, Sec
 progress.  Her husband had previously conversed  with
 me upon the subject, and said that he had applied to Dr.
 Sparhawk, and others, and  they  had agreed to make
 a trial of mercury.  I told him that it would not answer
 the purpose; he. said he was afraid of it himself; but the
 doctors said there was no other possible way.   The
 doctor tried  his mercurial treatment for several days,
 which very nearly proved fatal;  for I was sent for  in
 great haste,  with a request that I would attend as  soon
 as possible, as they expected she would not live through
 the day.   I  found  her situation  very distressing;  she
 said it appeared to her that she was full of scalding wa-
 ter.   She began to turn purple in spots, and  it was ex-
 pected that mortification  had taken place.  In the first
 place, I gave her about a gill of checkerberry and hem-
 lock, distilled, which allayed the heat  immediately.  This
 answered the purpose, till I could clear her  stomach,
 and by the greatest exertions, and close attention through
 the day, I was  enabled to relieve  her.  I  attended her
 for about a week, and she was so far recovered as to en-
joy comfortable health  for twelve years.
  Notwithstanding this desperate case was cured, to the
 astonishment of all who witnessed  it, the doctors had  so
 much influence over the people, and  made so many false
 statements about it, that I got no credit for the  cure.
 This woman's brother had said that her husband wanted
 to kill her, or he would not have sent for me.   Such kind
 of ingratitude was  discouraging to me;  but it did not
 prevent me from persevering in my duty.
  A short time after  the  above  case  happened,  that
 woman's brother, who made the speech about  me,  was
 taken  very sick, with what was called the yellow  fever,
 and sent for me.  I attended  him and asked him if he
 wanted to die.   He said no;  why do you  ask  that?  I
 told him, that I should  suppose from the speech he made
 about my being sent for to his sister,  that he did,  or he
 would not have sent  for  me, if he  believed  his own
 words.  He said he thought differently now.  I attended
 him through the day with my new practice.  To  sweat
 him, I took hemlock boughs, and put a hot  stone in the
 middle of a  large bunch of them, wrapping the whole
 in a cloth, and poured on hot water till I raised a lively 
                0/ Samuel  Thomson.              49

steam, and then put one at his feet and another near his
body.  I gave  him medicine to raise the inward heat,
and for the canker; after attending him through the day,
I went home;  and on calling to see him the next morn-
ing, found his fever had turned, and he was  quite com-
fortable,  so that he was soon about his business.
  I was about this time sent for to see a child in Surry,
a neighboring town,  which was  taken very sick, and
was  entirely stupid.   I told the father of the  child that
it had the canker,  and made  use of my common mode
of practice  for that  difficulty.  Being sent for to go to
Walpole, to see two young men who had been taken the
day before  with the prevailing fever,  I  left  the  child,
with directions how to proceed with it.   I then  started
for Walpole, and found the  two young men violently
attacked with the fever.  They had a brother who had
been  attended  by the doctor  for  above four  weeks for
the same disease, and was then  just able to  sit up.  It
was  thought by all, the two that were  attacked  last,
were as violently taken as the other was;  and they ex-
pressed a strong wish, that they might be cured without
so long a run as their brother  had.  I was  as anxious
as they were to have a short job, and  exerted  all my
powers to relieve  them, which I was enabled to do that
night,  and left them in the morning quite comfortable,
so that they were soon able to  attend to their work.
The brother who had the doctor,  was unable  to do any
thing for several months.  The doctor was paid a heavy
bill for his visits; but my cure was done  so quick, that
it was thought not to be worthy of their notice, and I
never  received a cent from them for my trouble.   On
returning to the child that I had left the day before, I
found  that the  doctor had been  there and  told them
that I did not know what was the  matter with  the child;
and had  persuaded them to give him the care  of it.  He
filled it  with mercury and run it down; after  having
given as much mercury inside as nature could move, and
the bowels grew silent, he then rubbed mercurial oint-
ment on the bowels as long  as it had any effect; after
which he agreed  that the child  had the canker  very
badly; but he still persisted in the same  course till the
child wasted away and died, in  about two months after it
             5 
50            Narrative of the Life, Sfc

was  first taken sick.  After the child was dead,  its pa-
rents were willing to allow that I understood the disorder
best.  The doctor got twenty-five dollars for killing the
child by inches, and I got nothing.
  In the spring of 1805, a Mrs. Richardson was brought
to my house.   She was brought in her bed from  West-
ford, Vermont, about 130 miles, and was attended by a
son and daughter, the one  21, and the other 18 years of
age.  The  mother had> lain in her bed most part of the
time for ten  years.   All the doctors in that  part of the
country had  been  applied to  without  any  advantage;
and  they had spent nearly all their property.  I under-
took with her more from  a charitable .feeling for the
young man and woman, than from any expectation of a
cure.  Their conduct  towards their  helpless mother,
was  the greatest  example of affection  of children to a
parent that I ever  witnessed.  The young man stated
to me  that his mother had been a year together  with-
out opening her eyes;  that when she could open them,
they thought her almost well.  She was  perfectly  help-
less, not being able to do the least thing;  not even to
brush off a fly, any more than an infant. She had laid
so long that her knee joints had become stiff.
  I began with her by cleansing her stomach, and pro-
moting perspiration;  after which, I used to try to give
her  some  exercise.  The  first trial I made  was to put
her  bed into a wheelbarrow and lay her on it: when I
would  run her  out,  till  she  appeared to  be  weary;
sometimes I would make a misstep and  fall, pretending
that I had  hurt me; in order to try to get her to  move
herself by frightening  her.   After exercising  her in
this way for  a few days, I put  her in  a wagon, sitting
on  a bed,  and drove her  about in that manner;  and
when her joints became more limber, I sat  her on the
seat of the wagon.  She insisted that she should  fall off,
for she said  she  could not use  her feet; but the driver
would sometimes drive on  ground that  was sideling,
and rather than turn over, she would  start her  foot
unexpectedly.  After exercising  her in  this  way  some
time, I put  her on a  horse  behind  her son;  she at
first insisted that she should  fall off;  but when I told
her she  was at liberty to fall, if she chose, she would 
Of Samuel Thomson.              51
not;  choosing rather to exert herself to hold on.  When
she  had rode a few times in this way, I put  her on the
horse alone, and after a few trials she would ride very
well, so that in  the  course of two months  she  would
ride  four miles out  and back every day.  She used to
be tired after riding, and would lay  down and not move
for six hours.  I continued to give her medicine to keep
up perspiration, and  restore the digestive powers,  and
to strengthen the nervous  system.  I  attended her in
this  way for three months, and then went with  her and
her  son and daughter to Manchester; she rode upwards
of thirty miles in a day, and stood the journey very well.
I never received any pay for all my trouble and expense
of keeping them for three months, except what the two
young people did more than take care of their  mother;
but I accomplished what I undertook, and relieved these
two  unfortunate orphans from their burthen;  which  was
more satisfaction to me  than to have  received a large
sum of money, without  doing any good.   I saw  this
woman three years after  at the wedding  of her son,
and  she was quite comfortable, and has enjoyed  a tolera-
ble  degree  of health to this time, (1822, the date of th"e
first  edition,) being able to wait on  herself.
  On my return from Manchester, I stopped at Walpole,
and  it being on  the  Sabbath, I attended meeting.  In
the afternoon during service, a young woman was taken
in a fit  and carried out of the meeting-house.  I went
out  to see  her, and found that she  had been subject to
fits  for some time.  She, was much bloated, and very
large, weighing about three hundred.   A few days after,
her  friends brought her to my house, and  were very
urgent that  I  should undertake to help her; but I told
them I was satisfied that it would be a very difficult un-
dertaking, and I did not feel  willing  to engage in it;
but  they were  so urgent, I  agreed  to do what I could
for  her.  Every time she  took medicine, when  I  first
began with  her, she would have  a strong  convulsion
fit;  but I soon  got her to sweat freely,  and her fits were
at an end.  By persevering in my  usual plan  of treat-
ment, I got a natural perspiration, and her other evacu-
ations became regular;  she  was considerably reduced
in size,  and I  have never  heard of'her having any fits 
52            Narrative of the Life, Sec
since.  The cause of her fits was  taking  sudden cold,
and all perspiration and the greater part of other evacu-
ations ceased, leaving the water in her body.
  In the fall of  1805, I was sent for to  go to Rich-
mond, to see the family of Elder Bowles,  who were all
sick with the dysentery; and Mrs. Bowles had a cancer
on her breast.   I  relieved them  of their disorders by my
usual mode of practice; and gave the woman medicine
for the cancer, which  relieved  her.  I had occasion to
visit  her  again, and the tumor was about the size of an
egg; but by following my prescriptions, it was dissolved
without  causing any pain,  and  she has been well for
twelve years.   I  then  practised  in different  parts of
Royalston  and  Warwick, and  my  practising in these
places, was the way that my mode of sweating  for the
spotted fever, came to be known  and practised by the.
physicians  in Petersham.  I had discovered the  benefit
of steaming by trying  it upon  my daughter two years
before, and had been constantly practising  it ever since;
but the doctors,  though they  condemned me  and my
practice, were willing to introduce it and take the credit
to themselves as an important discovery.
  After returning home,  I was  sent for to attend  a
woman in  the  neighborhood, who had been  under the
care of a celebrated doctor, for a cancer in her breast.
He had  tortured her with his  caustics, till her breast
was burnt through to the bone;  and by its corrosive na-
ture,  had  caused the  cords to draw up into  knots; he
had likewise burnt her leg to the cords.  She had  been
under his care eleven weeks;  until she was much wast-
ed away,  and her strength nearly gone.   In this situa-
tion the doctor was willing to get her off his hands, and
wished me to take charge of her.   After  some hesita-
tion, I consented, and attended her three weeks,  in which
time I healed up her sores, and cleared her of the humor
so effectually, that she has ever  since  enjoyed  good
health.
  While attending upon this case, another woman  was
brought to  me from Hillsborough, who had a cancer
on the back of her neck.  I dissolved the tumor,  and
cured her by applying my cancer balsam, and the com- 
Of Samuel  Thomson.              53
mop course of medicine, in three weeks,  without any
pain: and she has ever since enjoyed good health.
  About this time I was called on to attend a woman in
the town where I lived.   She was an old maid, and had
lately been married to a widower, who was  very fond of
her.  She had been  much  disordered for  many years,
and was very spleeny; she had been  under  the care of
several doctors without receiving any benefit.   I  visited
her several times and  gave general satisfaction; so much
so that she allowed that I had done her more good than
all  the others that had attended her.   A short time after
I had done  visiting her, the  old man  came out one
morning to my house at sunrise,  and I being about six
miles from home, he  came with all speed where I was,
and said he wished me to come to his house as soon  as
possible, for  his wife  was very sick.   I told him to re-
turn, and I would be there as soon as he could.   I soon
after set out,  and we both arrived there about the same
time; and I was very much  astonished to  find his wife
about her work.  I was asked into another room by the
old man and his wife, and he said she had something to
say to me.   She then  said that, " if I could not  attend
her without giving her love powder, she did  not wish me
to attend her  at  all." I  was very much astonished at
her speech, and  asked what she meant.   She said that
ever since  she had taken my  medicine she had  felt  so
curiously, that she did not know what to make  of  it.
The old man  affirmed to the  same, and he thought that
I had given her love powder, and did not know what the
event might be.
  This foolish whim of the old  man and his wife, caused
a great bluster, and was food for those idle  minds, who
seem to take delight in slandering their neighbors; and
was made a great handle of by the doctors,  who spread
all  kinds of ridiculous stories about me during my ab-
sence in the summer of 1806.   In the autumn, when I
had returned  home,  I found  that a  certain  doctor  of
Alstead, had circulated some very foolish and slander-
ous reports about me and the old woman, and had given
to them so much importance, that many people believed
them.   I found that I could prove his assertions, and
sued him for defamation;  supposing that by appealing
             5* 
54            Narrative of the Life, See.
to the laws of my country I could get redress;  but I
was disappointed in my expectations, for I was persuad-
ed to leave the case to a reference,  and he had raised
such a strong prejudice in the minds of the people against
me,  that they were  more  ready to favor  a man whom
they considered great and learned, because he had  been
to college, than to do justice to me; so they gave the
case against me, and I had to pay the cost.  After  this,
I refused to attend those  people  who  had assisted in
injuring me, and gave them up to their  fashionable  doc-
tor.   A curse seemed to follow them and  his practice;
for  the spotted fever  prevailed in this place soon  after,
and the doctor took charge of those who had  sided  with
him against me, and if he had been a butcher and  used
the knife,  there would not have been more destruction
among them.  Two men who swore  falsely in his favor,
and by whose  means he got his cause,  were among his
first victims; and of the whole that he  attended, about
nine tenths died.   He lost upwards of sixty patients in
the town of Alstead in a short time.
  I attended the funeral of a young man, one of his
patients,  who  was sick but twenty-four  hours, and but
twelve under the operation of his medicine. He was as
black as a blackberry, and swelled so as to be  difficult to
screw down the lid of the coffin;  when I went into the
room where the corpse was, the doctor followed me, and
gave  directions to  have the coffin  secured so as to pre-
vent the corpse from being seen;  and then began to insult
me, to attract the attention of the  people.  He said to
me,  I understand, sir, that you have a patent to  cure
such disorders as that, pointing to the corpse.  I said no,
and at the same time intimated  what I  thought of  him.
He put on an air of great importance, and said to me,
what can you know about medicine ?  You have no learn-
ing;  you cannot parse one  sentence  in  grammar.   I
told him I never knew that grammar was made use  of as
medicine; but if a portion of grammar is so much  like
the operation  of ratsbane,  as appears on this  corpse,  I
should never wish to know the  use  of it.  This unex-
pected application  of the meaning of \  hat he said,  dis-
pleased the medical  gentleman very much; and finding
that many  of the people present had the same opinion 
Of Samuel Thomson.
55
that I had, it irritated him so much, that he threatened
to horsewhip me; but I told him that he might do what
he pleased to me, provided he did  not poison me with
his  grammar.  He did  not attempt to carry his threat
into  execution, so I have escaped his whip and his poi-
son ;  but the people were justly punished for their in-
gratitude and folly, in preferring death and misery, be-
cause it was done more fashionably, to a mode of prac-
tice  by which they might relieve themselves in a simple
and safe  manner.
  I have been more particular in relating these  circum-
stances,  in order  to show my reasons for  refusing to
practise so near home; for I had been in constant prac-
tice  among them  for four or five years,  and had  been
very successful, not having lost one patient during the
whole  time.  My house had been constantly  filled with
patients  from all parts  of the  country, for which I had
received very little pay;  myself and  family were worn
out with nursing  and  attending upon them; so that I
was  compelled in a measure to leave home, to free my-
self  and family from so heavy a burthen.  Besides, I
felt  it more a duty to assist the people in those  parts
where I had been treated with more friendship, and had
received more assistance through my troubles, than what
I had experienced from those whom I had reason to con-
sider as under the greatest obligations to me.
  In the spring of the year 1806, I  came to a determi-
nation to go to New York, for the purpose of ascertain-
ing the nature  of the  yellow fever,  having been im-
pressed  with the  idea, that this disease was similar to
that  which had been  prevalent in  different parts of the
country, only differing in causes which were local.  I
made  arrangements with a man to take charge of my
farm, and on the 26th of June started for Boston, where
I took passage for New York,  and  sailed on the third of
July.  In passing through the Sound,  I was  very  sensi-
bly affected by the cold  chills  I experienced in conse-
quence of the sea air;  having never been on the salt
water before, this was new to me;  although the weather
was very hot on the land, I suffered with the cold.  We
arrived  at New York in eight days;   and the  weather
was extremely hot when I landed; this sudden change 
56            Narrative of the Life, Sec

produced a powerful effect on my feelings; the cause
of which I was  satisfied in my own mind, was in con-
sequence of the cold I had experienced  on the  water,
having reduced the natural heat of the body; thus, com-
ing into a very warm atmosphere, the external and  in-
ternal heat were  upon nearly an equal  scale, and when
there is an exact balance, so as to stop the  determining
powers to the surface, mortification immediately takes
place,  and death follows.   This is  the  cause why  the
fever is so fatal to those who go from the northward  into
a warm climate.
  On my arrival, I looked round to find a place to board,
and took up. my lodgings  with  a  Mr.  Kavanagh,  an
Irishman, and a Roman Catholic.  After spending some
time in viewing  the city, I applied to the Mayor  of  the
city, and to the Board of Health, to ascertain whether I
could  have an opportunity to try the effect  of my med-
icine  and  system of practice on the  prevailing  fever.
They told me that I could;  but that I could - get no pay
for it by law.   I  went to see Dr. Miller,  who was then
President of the  board of health, and had some conver-
sation with him upon the subject.  He told me the same
as the Mayor had,  and inquired of me in what manner
I expected to give relief;  I told him my plan was to
cause perspiration.   He said if I could cause them to
sweat,  he thought there was a good chance  to effect a
cure.
  After spending several days in  New  York, I went
to West  Chester Creek to procure some medicine.  I
thought that I was going to have the yellow fever,  for
I felt  all the symptoms, as I thought, of that  disease;
my strength was nearly gone,  my  eyes were yellow,
and a  noise in  my head;  my tongue was black,  and
what passed my  bowels was like  tar.  I was among
strangers,  and had little  money; I went to the house of
a Quaker woman, and asked her to let me stay with her
that day; she gave her consent.  Had but  little  medi-
cine with me, and could find nothing that I could  relish
but salt and vinegar; I used about half a pint of salt,
and double that quantity of vinegar,  which gave  me
relief, and I gained so much strength, that the next day
I was  able to return to the city of New York.  On my 
Of Samuel Tlwmson.              57
arrival there, I was so weak that it was with the greatest
difficulty I could walk to my boarding house, which was
about forty rods from the place where we landed.   I im-
mediately took Nos. 2 and 3,  steeped,  and No. 4; in a
short time,  I began to have an appetite; the first food
that I took was a piece of smoked salmon, and  some
ripe peach sauce.  I soon recovered my strength and
was able to  be  about.  This  satisfied me that I had
formed a correct idea of this  fatal  disease; that it was
the consequence of losing the inward heat  of the body,
and bringing it to a balance with the surrounding air;
and the only method by which a cure can be effected,
is by giving such medicine  as will increase the fever  or
inward heat to such a degree as to get  the determining
power to the surface,  by which means  perspiration will
take  place, and which is called the turn of the fever; if
this is not accomplished  either by  medicine,  or by
nature  being sufficient to overcome the disease, morti-
fication will  be as certain a consequence as it would  be
if a  person  was strangled.  The reason why they lose
their strength in  so short a time, is  because it depends
wholly upon the  power of inward heat;  and as much as
they lose of that,  so much they lose of their strength and
activity.
  I had a good opportunity to  prove these facts,  and to
satisfy myself, by attending upon a Mr. M'Gowan, who
had the yellow  fever.   He   was the  teacher  of  the
Roman  Catholic school,  and  an acquaintance  of Mr.
Kavanagh, with  whom I boarded, and who recommend-
ed  him to my care.  He was attacked about noon, was
very cold,  and had no pain; his eyes were half closed,
and appeared like a person half way between sleeping
and waking; he lost so much strength that in two hours
he  was unable to walk across the room without stagger-
ing.   I began with him by giving Nos. 2 and 3, to raise
the inward heat and clear the stomach,  and in an hour
after  getting him warm,  he was in very extreme pain,
so  much so* that his friends  were  alarmed about him;
but I told  them  that it was a favorable symptom.  After
being in this situation about an hour, perspiration began
and  he grew easy; the next day he was out about  his
business.  The   effect in these cases is exactly similar 
58            Narrative of the Life, Sec
to a person being recovered after having  been drown-
ed.  The cold having  overpowered  the  inward  heat,
all  sensation or feeling  ceases, and  of course there is
no pain; but as soon as the heat begins to increase,  so
as to contend with the cold,  sensation  returns, and  the
pain will be very great till the victory is gained by heat
having  expelled the cold from the body, when a natural
perspiration commences,  and  nature is restored to  her
empire.
  I will here make a few remarks upon the food  taken
into the stomach,  which is of the utmost importance to
the preservation of health.   While I was in New  Verk,
I took  particular notice of their manner of living; and
observed  that  they  subsisted principally  upon  fresh
provisions, more particularly the poorer class of people;
who are in the habit in warm weather of going to mar-
ket at a late hour of the day, and purchasing  fresh meat
that is  almost in a putrid state, having frequently been
killed the  night previous,  and being badly cooked, by
taking it into the stomach, will produce certain disease;
and I am convinced  that  this is one of  the greatest
causes  that  those  fatal epidemics  prevail in the  hot
season,  in our large seaports.  Mutton and lamb is often
drove a great distance from the country, and having been
heated  and fatigued, then are  cooled  suddenly,  which
causes  the  fat to turn to water;  and often  when killed,
are in almost a putrid  state, and the  meat is soft and
flabby.   Such meat as this,  when brought info the mar-
ket on a hot day, will turn green  under the  kidneys in
two or three hours, and  taken into the  stomach will  pu-
trify before it digests, and will communicate the same to
the stomach, and the whole body will be so affected by
it, as to cause disorders of the worst  kind.   If people
would get into the practice  of eating  salt provisions in
hot weather, and fresh in cold, it would be a very great
preventive of disease.   One ounce of putrid flesh in the
stomach is worse than  the  effect produced by a whole
carcass  on the air by its effluvia.  Much mdre might be
said upon this important subject; but I shall defer  it for
the present, and shall treat more upon it in another part
of the work.  It is a subject that has been too  much  ne-
glected  by our health officers in this country. 
Of Samuel Thomson.
59
  While in the  city of New York, I attended an Irish-
man by the name of Doyle, who had the fever-and-ague.
This disease gives a complete view of my theory of heat
and cold;  for it is about an equal balance  between the
two, heat keeping a little the upper hand.   He had been
afflicted with this distressing disorder about four months;
he had the fits most of the time every day and was very
bad.  I began by giving him such medicine as I usually
gave to increase the inward heat of the body, which sub-
dued the cold, and  gave heat the victory over it; and by
strictly attending him in this way four days, he was com-
pletely cured.   Being short of money, I asked  him  for
some  compensation for my trouble; but he refused, and
never paid me a cent; observing that he must have been
getting well before, for no one  ever heard of such a dis-
order  being cured in four days.
  A gentleman  whom I had  formed an  acquaintance
with, by the name of James Quackenbush, who had  the
care of the state  prison warehouse,  finding how I had
been treated, invited me to go  to his house and live with
him, which I thankfully accepted.  I was treated with
much kindness by him, for which he has my most sincere
thanks.
  On the  16th of  September  I  started for  home; and
took passage on board a packet for Boston,  where I  ar-
rived in five days; and on the 26th reached my home,
after  an absence of three months, and found my family
well.   I was often called on to practise  in the neigh-
borhood;  but declined  most part of the applications,' in
consequence of the treatment I had received from them,
which has been before related.  In November, I went
to Plum Island to collect medicine;  on my way I called
on  Joseph Hale, Esq., of Pepperell,  and  engaged him
to come down with his  wagon in about  three weeks,
to bring back what medicine  I should collect.  I went
by  the way of Newburyport;   and  after being on  the
Island three  or four  days, collected such roots as  I
wanted and returned to that place.  While there, being
in a store in conversation with  some  persons, there came
in a man from Salisbury mills,  by the  name of Osgood,
who stated that he was very unwell, and  that his wife
lay at the point of  death, with the lung fever;  that she 
60
Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 had been attended by Dr. French,  who had  given her
 over.  One of the gentlemen standing by, told him that
 I was a doctor, and used the medicine of our own coun-
 try.  He asked me if I  would go home with him, and
 see his wife.  As I was waiting for Mr. Hale, and had
 nothing to do, I told him I would,  and we  immediately
 started in the chaise for  his home, which was about six
 miles.   On our arrival,  he introduced me to his wife  as
 a doctor who made use of the medicine of our country;
 and asked her if she was willing that I should undertake
 to cure her.  She said if I thought that I could help her
 she had  no objection.  I gave  my opinion that I could,
 and undertook, though with some reluctance, as I was in
 a strange place,  and  no one that I knew.   I proceeded
 with her in my usual method of practice, and in  about
 fourteen  hours her fever  turned, and the next day she
 was comfortable,  and  soon got about.
  This cure caused considerable talk among the  people
 in the neighborhood,  who thought very favorably of me
 and my practice; but it soon came  to the  ears of Dr.
 French, who was very much enraged to think one of his
 patients,  that he  had given over, should be cured by one
 whom he called a quack;  and  attempted to counteract
 the public  impression in my favor, by circulating a re-
 port that the woman was getting better, and sat up the
 greatest  part of the day before I saw her;  but this was
 denied by the woman's husband, and known by many to
 be false.
  While I remained in this place,  waiting for Mr.  Hale
to come  down with his wagon to carry home my med-
 icine, I was called on  to  attend  several cases, in  all  of
which I was very successful;  most of them were such
as had been given over by the doctors.  One of them
was the case of  a young man, who had cut three of his
fingers very badly, so as to  lay open the joints.  Dr.
French had attended  him three weeks, and  they had
got so bad that he advised him to have them cut off, as
the only  alternative.  The young man  applied to me
for  advice.  I told him if I  was  in his  situation,  I
should not  be willing to have them  cut off till  I had
made  some  further trial to cure them without.  He
requested me to  undertake'to cure  him,  to which I 
0/ Samuel Thomson.              6i
 consented and began by clearing the wound of mercury,
 by washing it with weak lye;  I then put on some drops,
 and did it up with a bandage, which was  kept wet with
 cold water.  While I was dressing the wound, a young
 man, who was  studying Avith Dr. French, came  in and
 made  a great fuss,  telling the young man that I was
 going to spoil his hand.  I told him that I was account-
 able for what I was doing, and that if he had any advice
 to offer I was ready to hear him; but he seemed to have
 nothing to offer  except to find fault, and went  off, after
 saying that Dr.  French's bill must be paid very soon.  I
 continued to  dress his hand, and in ten  days  he was
 well enough to  attend to his work, being employed in a
 nail factory.   Soon after. I saw him there  at work, and
 asked him how his fingers did;  he said they were per-
 fectly cured;  he wished to know  what my bill was for
 attending  him.  I  asked  him what Dr. French had
 charged,  and he said he had sent his bill to his mother
 amounting to seventeen dollars;  I told him I thought
 that enough  for us  both,  and  I  should charge  him
 nothing.  His mother was a poor widow  depending on
 her labor and that of her son for a living.  I  remained
 in this place about two weeks, and the people were very
 urgent  that I should stay longer; but Mr.  Hale  having
 arrived, I left them with a promise  that  I  would visit
 them  again in the  spring.   We arrived  at Pepperell,
 where I remained several days with Mr. Hale,  who was
 an  ingenious  blacksmith  and a chemist,   having  been
 much engaged in the preparation of mineral medicine.
 He had  an inquiring turn of mind,  and  was  very en-
 thusiastic in his undertakings;  although  he  prepared
 medicines from minerals, he acknowledged that he was
 afraid to use  them on account  of his knowing their
 poisonous qualities.   I convinced him of the superiority
 of my system of practice, and instructed him in the  use
 of my medicine,  so that he engaged in it and soon had
 as much practice as he could  attend to; being so well
 satisfied of its general application to the cure of all cases
of disease, that  he looked no more for it in his mineral
preparations.
  In the  winter of 1807, I went with my  wife  to Jeri-
cho, Vermont, to visit my father  and friends who lived
              6 
62            Narrative of the Life, Sfc.
there.  While there I was called on to see a number
who were sick, among whom was a young man that had
been  taken  in what  is called  cramp  convulsion fits.
He was first taken on Sunday morning, and  continued
in fits most  of the  time till Tuesday; he was  attended
during this  time by the best doctors that could be pro-
cured, without  doing  him  any  good.   They could  not
get their medicine to have  any effect upon him; he con-
tinued in convulsions most  of the time;  every part of him
was as stiff as a wooden image;  after trying every thing
they could they gave him over.  His father came after
me,  and just as we entered the room where the  young
man was, he was taken in a fit.  His  feet and  hands
were  drawn in towards his body, his jaws were set,  his
head  drawn back, and every  part of him as completely
fixed  as a statue.  The first difficulty was to get him to
take any thing; his jaws were set as tight together as a
vise.   I took a solution of Nos.  1, 2. and 6, as strong as
it could be made, and putting my finger into the  corner
of his mouth, making a space  between his  cheek  and
teeth,  poured some of it down; and as soon as it touched
the glands at the roots of his tongue, his jaws came open,
and he swallowed some of the medicine; which had such
an effect upon the stomach, that all the spasms immedi-
ately ceased.  I left him some medicine with directions,
and he entirely recovered his health; I saw  him three
years after,  and he told  me that he had not had a fit
since  the one above described.  I was convinced from
this circumstance, that the cause of all cramps or spasms
of this kind, is seated  in the stomach, and that all appli-
cations for relief in such cases should be made there; as
it will be of  no service to work on the effect as long as
the cause remains.
  Before returning  home,  I  was called on by Captain
Lyman, of Jerichb, to advise with me concerning his
son, who had a fever  sore on his thigh, with  which he
had been afflicted for seven  years.   He had  been at-
tended by all the doctors in that part of the country to
no  advantage.  They had  decided that the  only thing
which could be done to help him,  was to lay open his
thigh  and scrape the bone.  I told him that I did  not
see how they could do that  without  cutting  the great 
Of Samuel Thomson.              63
artery,  which lay close to the bone, where they would
have to cut.  He said he was satisfied that it would not
do, and was very urgent that I should  undertake with
him.   I told  him that it was  impossible  for  me  to stay
at that time;  but if his son would go home  with me, I
would  undertake to cure him;  to which he consented,
and the young man returned Avith me; which was in the
month of March.  I began Avith him by  giving medicine
to correct and strengthen the system; bathed the wound
with my rheumatic  drops, or No. 6, sometimes bathing
with cold water to strengthen it, and after proceeding in
this manner for about a month, he Avas  well enough to
do some Avork;  he remained with me till August, when
he was entirely cured, so that he was able to return to
his father's on foot,  a distance of one hundred miles.
  In the fall of this year, the dysentery, or camp dis-
temper, as it was called, was very prevalent  in the above
named town of Jericho;  and was so mortal that all but
two who had the disease and were attended by the  doc-
tors, died, having lost above twenty in a short time.  The
inhabitants were much alarmed, and held a consultation,
to advice what to do; and being informod by the young
man above mentioned, that I Avas at home, they sent  an
express for me, and I immediately made  arrangements to
comply with their request.  In tAventy-four hours I start-
ed, and  arrived there on the third day after, and found
them Avaiting with great anxiety for me,  having refused
to take any thing from the doctors.  I had an interview
with the Selectmen of the  town, who  had taken upon
themselves the care of the sick;  they informed me that
there were about thirty then sick, and Avished me to un-
dertake the care of them.   I agreed to take charge of
them on condition that I could have tAvo men to assist me;
this  was complied with, and I commenced my practice
upon thirty in the course of three  days. The  disorder
was the most distressing of any that I had ever witnessed.
One man had been speechless for six hours, and Avas sup-
posed to be dying; but on my giving him some medicine
to warm him, he seemed to revive like an insect that Avas
warmed by the sun after having laid in a torpid  state
through the winter.  I had but little medicine  Avith me,
and  had to use such as I could procure  at this place.   I 
64            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 found the cause of the disease to be coldness and canker;
 the digestive powers being lost, the stomach became clog-
 ged,  so' that it would not hold the heat.   I made  use of
 red pepper steeped in a tea of sumac leaves, sweetened,
 and sometimes the bark and berries, to raise the heat and
 clear off the canker, which had the desired effect.  After
 taking this tea, those  who were strong enough, I  placed
 over a steam,  as long as they could bear it, and then put
 them in bed.  Those who were too weak to stand, I con-
 trived to  have sit over  steam;  and  this  repeated  as oc-
 casion required.  To restore the digestive powers,  I made
 use of cherry stones, having procured a large  quantity
 of them, that had been laid up and the Avorms had eaten
 off all the outside, leaving the stones clean.  I  pounded
 them fine, then made  a tea of black birch bark, and
 after  cleaning  them,  by putting them into this  hot  tea,
 and separating  the meats from the stone part, made a
 syrup by putting from two to three  ounces  of sugar  to
 one  quart of the liquor; this was given  freely,  and  an-
 swered a good  purpose.   I continued to attend upon my
 patients,  aided  by those appointed to assist me,  and in
 eight days I had completely subdued the disease.  They
 all recovered  except  two, who  were dying Avhen  I  first
 saw them.   I gave the same medicine to the nurses and
 those exposed to the disease, as to them that were sick,
 which prevented their having the disorder.  The same
 thing  will prevent disease that will cure it.
  After finishing my  practice at  this place, I was  sent
 for and Avent to the town of Georgia, about thirty miles
 distance, where I practised with general success for one
 week, and then returned  to Jericho.   Those  patients
 whom I had attended,  were comfortable, and soon entire-
 ly recovered.   The doctors were  not very well  pleased
 with  my success, because I informed the people how  to
cure  themselves, and they have had  no need of their  as-
sistance in that disorder  since.'  They circulated reports
for twenty miles round,  that I killed all that I attended;
but the people were all perfectly satisfied with my prac-
tice,  and were willing to give me all credit for my skill,
so their malice toAvards me was  of no avail.
  About this time being  in the town of.Bridgewater, Vt.
 I was called on to see  a young man about  eighteen years 
Of Samuel Thomson.              65
 of age,  who had lost the use of his arm by a strain;  it
 had been in a  perishing condition for six months.  The
 flesh appeared to be dead,  and he carried it in a sling;
 his health was bad.  Being unable to stop to do anything
 for him at this time, he was sent to my house.   I  began
 with him in my usual manner, by giving him warm med-
 icine,  and bathed his arm with the oil of spearmint; in
 about  ten  days, he was well enough to use his arm  and
 do some work;  in  about two months he  was1 entirely
 cured  and returned home.
   In the spring  of the year "1807, I went  to Salisbury,
 according  to my promise when there the fall before.
 On  my  way there,  I stopped at Pelham; the man at
 whose house I staid, insisted on  my going to see his
 father-in-laAV, who had the rheumatism very bad, having
 been confined two months.   I attended him three  days,
 when  he was able to Avalk some, by the assistance of a
 cane;  he soon got about and was comfortable.   While
 at this place I was sent for to a young woman, sick of a
 consumption; she had been a long time attended by  a
 doctor, who  seemed very willing for my advice;  I car-
 ried her through a course   of my medicine, and  the
 doctor staid to  see the operation of it; he  seemed well
 pleased with my  system of practice, and gave me much
 credit, saying that  I was the first< person he ever  knew
 that could make his medicine do as he said  it  would.   I
 was sent for to attend several cases of consumption and
 other complaints at this time,  in all of which I met with
 success,  and gave general satisfaction to the people.
  After stopping at Pelham three weeks, in which time
 I had as much practice  as I could attend  to, I went to
 Salisbury Mills, where I was  very cordially  welcomed by
 all  those who had  been attended by me the season  be-
 fore.   I  was called on to  practise  in  this  place and
 Newburyport, and my success Avas so great  that it caus-
 ed  much alarm among  the  doctors, and a class of  the
 people who were their friends, who did all they could to
injure  me,  and destroy my credit  Avith the people.   A
considerable part of the patients, who were put under
mv care, were such as the doctors had given over, and
those being cured by me, had a tendency  to open  the
             6* 
 66            Narrative of the Life, Sec.

 eyes of the people, and give them a correct understand-
 ing of the nature of their practice,  and convince  them
 that a simple and speedy cure was more for their interest
 and comfort, than long sickness, pain, and distress; be-
 sides having to pay exorbitant doctors' bills,  for  useless
 visits and poisonous drugs, Avhich have no other effect
 than to prolong  disease, and destroy the natural  consti-
 tution of the patient.
   Among those doctors who seemed so much enraged
 against me, for no other reason that I could learn, than
%because I had cured people whom they had given over,
 and instructed them  to  assist themselves Avhcn  sick,
 without  having  to  apply to them; there was  none that
 made themselves so conspicuous as Dr. French.   I had
 considerable  practice  in his  neighborhood,  and was
 very successful in  every case;  this seemed to  excite
 his malice against  me  to  the greatest pitch; he made
 Use of every means  in  his poAver, and took  every op-
 portunity  to insult  and  abuse me both to my face and
 behind my back.   A  few of the  inhabitants  who  Avere
 his friends, joined  with him,  and  became  his  instru-
 ments to injure me; but a large proportion of the peo-
 ple were friendly  to me,  and took great interest  in my
 safety  and success.  The  doctor  and  his  adherents
 spread  all kinds of ridiculous reports concerning me
 and  my practice,  giving me the  name of the old wiz-
 zard;  and that my cures were done under  the  poAver
 of witchcraft.   This  foolish  whim Avas  too ridiculous
 for me  to  Undertake to contradict, and I therefore rather
 favored it merely for sport; many remarkable  circum-
 stances took place tending to strengthen this belief,  and
 some of the silly and  AveaR-minded people really believ-
 ed  that  I possessed  supernatural  powers.   This Avill
 not appear so strange,  when we take into  view, that
 the people generally  Avere  ignorant  of my  system  of
 practice,  and when they found that I could cure those
 diseases  that the doctors, in Avhom they had been in the
 habit of putting all their confidence,  pronounced  as in-
 curable;   and  that  I  could turn  a fever  in  two days,
 Which would  often  take them as many months,  they
 were led to believe that there was something supernat-
 ural in iti 
Of Samuel Thomson.              67
    A man who was one of the friends of Dr. French, and
  who had been  very  inimical to me,  doing all in his
  power to injure and ridicule  me, sent word one day by a
  child, that his calf was sick, and lie wanted me to come
  and give it a green powder and a sweat.  Knowing that
  his  object  was to insult, I returned for answer, that he
  must send for Dr. French, and if he could not  cure it, I
  would come, for that was the way  that I had to practise
  here.   It so happened that the calf died soon after, and
  his  youngest child was taken  suddenly and very  dan-
  gerously sick.  Not  long after, he found another  calf
  dead in  the field, and about the same time his oldest son
  Was taken sick.  These things happening in such an ex-
  traordinary manner, caused him to reflect on his conduct
  towards me, and his conscience condemned him, for try-
  ing  to injure me without cause.   He had the folly to be-
  lieve, or the wickedness to pretend  to believe, that it was
  the  effect of Avitchcraft;  and wishing to make his peace
  with me, sent me Avord, that if 1  would let his family
  alone,  he would never do or say any thing more to my
  injury.  This I readily assented to;  and his  children
  soon after  getting Avell, though there Avas nothing  very
  extraordinary in it, as it might all be easily accounted
  for by natural causes;  yet  it afforded much conversa-
  tion  among the gossips, and  idle busy-bodies  in  the
  neighborhood;  and was  made use of by my  enemies
  fo prejudice the people against me.  Being  in  company
  with a young woman who belonged to a family that were
  my  enemies, she, to insult me, asked me to tell  her  for-
  tune.   I consented,  and knowing her character not to
  be the most virtuous, and to amuse  myself at her ex-
  pense,  told  what had taken place between her and  a
  certain young man the night  before.  She seemed struck
  Avith astonishment; and said that she Avas convinced that
  I Avas a wizzard, for  it Avas impossible that  I could have
•  knoAvn  it  without  the devil had told me.  She  did  not
  Avish me to tell  her any more.
    I practised in this place and vicinity a few months and
  returned home to attend to  my farm for the  rest of the
  season.   While at home  I Avas  sent for, and attended in
  different parts of the  country, and Avas very successful in
  mv  mode  of practice, particularly in  places  where  the 
68            Narrative of the Life, Sec.
dysentery and fevers Avere most prevalent;  never failing
in any instance of giving relief, and completely putting a
check to those alarming epidemics, which caused so much
terror in many places in the interior of the country.
  In the year of 1808,  I went again to Salisbury, and on
my way there, stopped at Pelham, and attended and gave
relief in several  cases of disease.  On my  arrival  at
Salisbury Mills, Avhere  I made it my home,  I Avas imme-
diately called on to practise in that place and  the adja-
cent  towns.  Many came to me from  different parts,
whose cases were desperate, having been given over by
the doctors,  such as humors,  dropsies, mortifications,
fellons,  consumptions,  &.c.   Fevers Avere so  quickly
cured, and  with so little trouble,  that  many  were un-
willing to believe  they had the disease.   My success was
so great, that the people generally Avere satisfied of the
superiority of my mode  of practice over all  others.
This  created considerable alarm with the  doctors, and
those who  sided with them.  Dr. French seemed to be
much enraged, and  having failed to destroy  my credit
with the people by false reports, and ridiculous state-
ments  of Avitchcraft, shifted  his course of proceeding,
and  attempted  to frighten me by  threats, which only
tended  to show the malice he bore me;   for no  other
reason, that I could conceive of, as I had never  spoken
to him, than because of my success in  relieving  those
he had given over to die.  He would frequently cause
me to be sent for in great haste to attend some one  in
his neighborhood, Avho was stated to be very sick; but
I saw through these tricks, and avoided  all  their snares.
It seemed  to be his determination, if he failed in de-
stroying my practice, to destroy me.  Being in company
one  day at Salisbury village, Avith Mr. Jeremiah Eaton,
of Exeter, whose wife Avas under my care  for a dropsi-
cal complaint, I was sent for four times to visit a young
man at the house of Dr. French; the last  time, a man
came on horseback  in the greatest haste,  and  insisted
that  I should go and see him.   I asked why Dr.  French
did not attend him; he answered  that he had  rather
have  me.  Being convinced,   from  the appearance  of
things,  that  it Avas an attempt to put some trick upon
me, I refused to go, and  the man returned.  In a short 
Of Samuel Thomson.              69
 time  after, Dr  French came into the village,  and Mr
 Eaton, who was present when they came after me, asked
 him what  ailed the young  man  at his house; he  said
 nothing, but that he Avas as well as any body.   This re-
 vealed  the  Avhole secret.   Mr. Eaton then asked  .him
 Avhy he caused me to be sent for so many times, under a
 false  pretence.  He said to  see if I dared to come  into
 his neighborhood;  that he did  not care how much I
 practised on that side of the river; but if I came on his,
 he Avould blow  my brains out; that I Avas  a murderer,
 and he could prove it.  Mr. Eaton observed  that it  Avas
 a heavy accusation to make  against a  man,  and that he
 ought to be made to prove his Avords, or to suffer the con-
 sequence;  that his wife  was under  my care,  and if I
 was a murderer, he ought to see to it.   Dr. French again
 repeated the words, with many threats against me,  and
 shoAved the spite and malice of a savage.
   Mr. Eaton and others of my friends  considered my life
 in  danger;  and came immediately to me  and  related
 Avhat  had been said by the  doctor; and  advised me to
 be on my  guard.   I had to pass his house every day to
 visit my patients;  but did not consider myself safe in
 going in the night, nor in  the day time without some
 one with me.  I continued in this manner for several
 days,  and finding his malice  toAvards me to be as great
 as  ever, and  still continuing his threats; with the ad-
 vice of my friends, I  was  induced to have resort to the
 law for protection.  I went to Newburyport and enter-
 ed  a  complaint against him  before a magistrate, who
 granted a Avarrant, and he was brought before him for
 a trial.   My  case was  made out by fully proving his
 words;  he  asked for an adjournment for three  hours to
 make  his defence, which was granted.   He then brought
 forward evidence in support of his character, and prov-
 ed  by them that  he  had  always been  a  man of his
 word.   The Justice told him that he thought he proved
 too much,  and to his disadvantage, for it had been fully
 proved  that he  had made the threats alleged  against
him,  and to  prove that he  was  a man of his word,
went to satisfy the court  that the complaint was  Avell
grounded.  He  was  laid  under  two  hundred  dollars
bonds to keep  the  peace  and appear at the  next  court 
70            Narrative of the Life, fyc

of common pleas.   He appeared at the next court, was
ordered to pay all the  costs, and was discharged from
his  bail.  This was an end  of our  controversy for that
time; but his malice continued  against me long after;
seeking every means to destroy me and prevent my prac-
tising, that he  could  devise;  but proceeded with more
caution, which  caused me a great deal of trouble and
much suffering, as will be hereafter related.
  I continued to practise in  this place, and had as many
patients as I could possibly attend upon,  notwithstand-
ing  the opposition I  constantly met with from the doctors
and  their  friends;  for Avith  all their arts and falsehoods
they Avere not able to prevent those laboring under com-
plaints,  which they had found could not be removed by
the  fashionable mode of treatment, from applying to me
for relief;  none of whom but what were either cured or
received great relief by the practice.   Some of the most
extraordinary cases I shall give a particular account of
for the information of the reader.
  Mr. Jabez  True, the minister of Salisbury, was afflict-
ed with what the doctors called nettle-rash, or what is
commonly called St. Anthony's fire.   He stated to  me
that  it Avas caused  by fighting fire,  about tAventy-five
years before,  and that he had been subject to a breaking
out  ever since;  which at certain times  was very painful
and  troublesome, as it felt like the  sting of  bees, and
Avould swell  all over his body.  He had  applied to all
the  doctors  in  those  parts, for their  advice, but got no
assistance from  them.   I told him that he  had  heated
himself to such a degree by violent exercise,  and being
exposed to the fire,  that there  was nearly a  balance  be-
tween the outward and inward heat, and  then  cooling
too  sudden,  the inward heat had fallen as much below
the  natural state as it had been above it before, and  the
only way  to .effect  a cure  was to  bring  him  into  the
same state as he Avas in when fighting  the  fire.   He
wished me to undertake his case.  I carried him through
a course of my medicine, and  made use of every means
in my poAver  to raise the inward heat, pursuing my plan
with  all zeal for two  days; when he became alarmed,
and  said he felt as though he should die,  for he felt  the
same as he did  when he was fighting  the  fire.   I then 
Of Samuel Thomson.              71
kept him in that situation as much as possible; and  it
went  down gradually so as to hold a natural  proportion
of heat.  My plan succeeded so completely, that he was
perfectly cured and has enjoyed good health ever since.
I attended upon his wife at the same time, who had  been
long in a consumption, and had been given over.  She
was perfectly  cured;  and they are now (in 1822) living
in good health and are ready to  testify to  the  truth of
these statements.
   Previously to my difficulty with Dr. French, as has
been before mentioned, Mrs. Eaton and another  woman
by the name of Lifford,  came to me at Salisbury Mills
from Exeter.   Their complaint was dropsy;  and Avere
both desperate cases,  having been given  over by the
doctor who had attended them.   Mrs. Eaton was swell-
ed  to  such a degree,  that  she could not  see  her knees
as she sat in a chair,  and her limbs  in  proportion.   I
felt unwilling  to  undertake with them, as I considered
there  Avould be but little chance of a cure;  and declin-
ed fedomg any  thing  for them,  and sent  them away,
stating that there  Avas no place  that they  could  get
boarded.  They went away as I supposed to go home;
but they soon returned, and said they had found a place
where  they could stay, and a young woman had agreed
to nurse them.  I undertook  with  them  very reluctant-
ly; but  could  not  avcII  avoid it. • I  gave them some
medicine, and it operated favorably on both,  especially
on Mrs.  Lifford;  then gave strict  orders to the nurse,
to attend them attentively through  the  night, and keep
up a perspiration;  but she almost totally neglected her
duty,  spending her time with the young  people.   On
visiting them in the morning, I was very much hurt to
find my directions neglected.  Mrs.  Lifford  was quite
poorly; and stated to me that the  nurse  had neglected
her, and that she had got her feet out of  bed;  her  per-
spiration had ceased, and other symptoms appeared un-
favorable.                           ►
  I attended upon her through the day and did all I could
to relieve her, but  could not raise  a perspiration again.
She continued  till  the next  night about midnight  and
died.   My hopes of doing her any good were small; but
think  that  if she had not been neglected  by the nurse, 
72            Narrative of the Life, Sfc
there might have been some small chance for her, as the
first operation of the medicine was so favorable.  Her
bowels Avere in a very bad state, and had been almost in
a mortified  condition for three weeks, and  what passed
her was by force, and very black.
  This  caused great triumph among my enemies,  and
Dr.  French tried to have  a jury on the body;  but he
could not prevail; for the circumstances Avere Avell known
to many, and all that knew any thing about it, cleared
me from all blame.  The nurse said that I did all I could,
and  if there was any blame it ought to fall on her and
not on me.   So they failed in their attempt to make me
out a murderer;  but this case was  laid up to be brought
against me at another time.  This  shows what  may be
done by the folly of people, and the malice  and  Avicked-
ness of designing men, who care more for their  own in-
terested ends, than  for the health and happiness of a
whole  community.   The  fashionable educated doctor
may lose one half his patients without being  blamed;  but
if I lose one out of several hundred of the  most desper-
ate cases,  most of which were given over as incurable,
it is called murder.
  Mrs. Eaton remained under my care about three weeks,
in which time she was reduced in size eight inches;  she
then returned home to Exeter.  I  had several  cases of
dropsy and consumption from the same town, about this
time, who  were all  relieved; all  of them were very
solicitous for me to go to Exeter and practise.   As soon
as I could get the patients under  my care in  a situa-
tion  to leave them, I left  Salisbury Mills,  and  went to
Exeter,  and commenced  practising in  my usual way,
and  was applied to from all parts.   I had not'  so many
to attend  as I  had in some places;  but they  were all
of the most desperate nature, such as had been  given
over by the doctors, in  all of which I met with  great
success.  Many of the cases had been attended by Dr.
Shephard; he had attended with me upon  his  patients
at Salisbury; was a very plain,  candid sort of a man,
and treated  me with much  civility.   I well remember
his first speech to me, Avhich was in the following Avords:
"Well, what  are  you doing here, are you killing or
curing the  people?"  I  replied, you must judge  about 
Of Samuel Tlwmson.              73
that for  yourself.   "Well,"  said  he,  "I  will  Avatch
you, not for fear of your doing harm, but for my oAvn
information;- I wish you well,  and will do you all the
good I  can."  I ahvays found him candid and friendly,
without any  hypocrisy.  He once called on rne  to visit
with him one  of  his  patients  in  the town  Avhere  he
lived, who had the  rheumatism in his back and hips.
The doctor had attended him about two  months, and
said he had  killed the pain, but his back  was stiff, so
that he could  not bring his hands below his knees.  I
attended him  about forty-eight hours, and then went
with him to  see the doctor, which was half a mile; the
doctor appeared to be much  pleased to see him so well,
and have the use  of his limbs;  for he  could stoop and
use  them as well  as he ever  could.  He said that he
was as glad for the young man's sake as though he had
•cured him himself.  He frequently came  to  see Mrs.
Eaton, whom I was attending for the dropsy; and ex-
pressed much  astonishment at the effect the  medicine
I gave had in relieving her  of a disease which he had
considered incurable.   At  one time when conversing
with her upon  her  situation, and finding her  so much
better, having been reduced  in size above fifteen inches,
he  expressed himself with  some warmth on the occa-
sion, saying, that  it was what  he had  never  seen or
heard of being done before,  and  Avhat he had consider-
ed  impossible to be done  with  medicine.  Addressing
himself to  me  Avith much earnestness, inquired how it
was that I did it.   I replied, you know doctor that the
heat had gone out of the body, and the water had filled
it up; and all I had to do Avas to  build fire enough in
the body to boil away the water.  He burst into a laugh,
and said that it  was a system very short.
  While practising in" Exeter,  I  had many desperate
cases from the  different parts of the country, and from
Portsmouth.  One  from the latter place I shall mention,
being different from what  I had before witnessed.  A
woman applied  to  me  who  had the venereal, in conse-
quence, as she  stated,  of having had a bad  husband;
which I believed to be true.  She had been attended
by the doctors  in  Portsmouth for nearly a year, Avho
had filled her with  mercury, for  the purpose of  curing
             7 
74
Narrative of the Life, Sfc.
 the disorder till the remedy had become  much worse
 than the disease.   Her case was alarming,  and very
 difficult; she was brought on a bed,  being unable to sit
 up; and seemed to be one mass of putrefaction.  I  pro-
 ceeded  with her in my usual way of treating all cases
 where the system is greatly disordered,  by giving medi-
 cine to promote perspiration,  steaming to throw  out the
mercury, and restore the digestive powers;  and in three
weeks  she  returned  home  entirely cured.   Another
woman  came to me from the same place, who  had been
sick five years, which had been in consequence  of hav-
ing had  the same disease, and the doctors had  filled her
with mercury to kill the disorder, as they called it, then
left her  to linger Out a miserable existence.   When she
stated her case  to  me,   I felt very uiiAvilling  to under-
take with her, apprehending that it would be very un-
certain  whether  a cure  could be effected, having been
 of so long standing; but she insisted upon it  so strong-
 ly,  that I could not put her off.  After attending upon
 her three weeks, however,  her health was restored,  and
 she returned home well; and in less than a year after,
 she had two children at one birth.   She had  not had a
 child for eight years before.  This disease is very easily
 cured in  the  first stages of it, by a common  course  of
 medicine, being  nothing  more than a high stage of can-
 ker seated  in the glands of certain  parts of  the body,
 and if  not  cured,  communicates to the glands of the
 throat  and other parts;  by giving mercury, the whole
 system  is completely disordered, and although the  dis-
 ease may disappear, it is not cured;  and there is more
 difficulty in getting the mercury out  of the body of one
 in this situation, than to cure a dozen of the disease who
 have not taken this dangerous poison.
   While in Exeter, I had a case of a young man, son of
 Col. Nathaniel Gilman,  who was in a decline.   He  was
 about fourteen years old, and  had been troubled with
 bleeding at  the nose.  They had made use of such pow-
 erful astringents, with corrosive sublimate snuffed up his
 nose, that the blood  vessels in that part seemed to be
 shrunk  up,  and his flesh much wasted  away; I carried
 him through a course of medicine,  and gave  an equal
 circulation  of blood through the body,  and stopped its 
Of Samuel Thomson.              75
course to the head; then raised a natural perspiration,
restored the digestive powers, and regulated the system,
so as to support the body with food instead of medicine.
In a short time he recovered his health so that he com-
manded a company of militia at the alarm at Portsmouth,
during the late war.
  My  success while at this place, and the many extra-
ordinary cures I  performed,  gained  me great  credit
among  the people; but  the  medical  faculty became
much  alarmed, and made use of every artifice to preju-
dice them against me.  The foolish stories about  witch-
craft,  which  had  been made a handle of at Salisbury,
were repeated here,  with a thousand  other  ridiculous
statements for the purpose of  injuring me;  but I treat-
ed them with  contempt, as not worthy my notice,  except
in some instances, to amuse  myself with the credulity
of the ignorant,  who  were foolish  enough  to  believe
such nonsense.   I will relate  one circumstance for  the
purpose  of showing upon what  grounds they founded
their belief of my possessing supernatural powers, and
which caused much talk among the people  at the time
it happened.  Mrs. Eaton, where 1 boarded,  had a five
dollar  bill stolen  out  of her  pocket book.    She made
inquiry of all the family, who denied having any knowl-
edge of it.  A girl that  lived in the family denied it so
strongly, that I thought she discovered guilt, and  led
me to believe that  she  had taken the  money.  I pre-
tended that  I could certainly  discover Avho  stole  the
money,  which was believed  by many; and  told Mrs.
Eaton, in presence of all the family, that if I did not  tell
who took it by the next day at twelve o'clock, I would
pay the amount lost myself.  In the evening I had them
all called  into the room,  and took the Bible and read
from the laAV of Moses the  penalty  for stealing; then
took the purse and put it into the place, and shut  the
book and  gave  it to Mrs. Eaton, with strict  injunction
to put it under her pillow and let no one touch it; and
that the  person Avho stole the money could have no peace
nor rest till he or she confessed his or her guilt.  They
then all  retired to bed.   As soon as it Avas daylight in the
morning the girl came down stairs crying, and went to the
bed where Mrs. Eaton lay, and confessed that she took 
76            Narrative of the Life, fyc.

the money, saying that she had not slept any during the
night, as I had said would be the case.   It will be unne-
cessary to inform the reader, that this Avonderful  discov-
ery was brought about by the effect of a guilty conscience
on a credulous and Aveak mind.
  While I was at Exeter, a woman brought her son to
me,  who had a  fever sore, so called, on  his hip;  he
had  been in this situation  so  long,  without any assist-
ance, that  his legs had perishefl, and he was so much
wasted away by the continual discharge of the sore, and
his nature had become so far spent,  that I felt  perfectly
satisfied  that a cure  was impracticable,  and  declined
undertaking with him..  This honest declaration on my
part  very much  affronted the boy's mother,  and  she
turned against me  and  did me all the  hurt she could,
because  I Avould not  undertake  to do what I knew  was
impossible for any one  to accomplish.   She went with
her son to a fashionable  doctor, who said he Avould cure
him  out of spite  to me.   They continued with the doc-
tor several weeks,  till the expense  amounted  to about
fifty  dollars;  the lad continued  to  groAV  worse till he
died.   This  woman seemed  satisfied with  having her
son die, after spending fifty dollars, because it was done
in a fashionable manner; but my refusing  to  undertake
to cure him, was sufficient reason for  her to circulate
all kinds of  false  and   ridiculous  reports  about  me.
However strange this  may appear, it is no more  strange
than true, for this is but  one out of many hundred  simi-
lar cases, where  I have  received  injury, when I Avas en-
titled to credit, by being honest and  sincere in  my en-
deavor to do Avhat I conceived my duty towards  my fel-
low creatures.
  About this time, among the rest of my troubles, I met
with a new  difficulty Avith an  apprentice that  I  had
taken,  by the name of William Little; whom I had taken
from a state of poverty  and sickness,  cured  him, and
supported him for two years, until he had gained knowl-
edge  enough of  my  medicine and system of  practice
to be useful to me, he  then proved dishonest.  While
I was  absent from home, he collected all the money he
could,  and sold all my medicine,  and then went off.  On
my return, I found my debts collected, and my medicine 
Of Samuel Thomson.              77
gone, so that I was obliged to go back immediately, to
collect more before I could attend to my practice.  This
Avas the first time I had met with difficulty by employing
agents; but since then I have had experience enough to
satisfy me of the difficulty of trusting to other  people;
having found  but very few of those I have been under
the necessity of employing, who have  proved trusty  and
honest.   I have suffered much pecuniary loss in this way,
besides in some instances, those I have assisted and given
instruction  to, so as to be  useful in the  practice, have
become my enemies, and been made instruments to  de-
stroy me.
  A  son of Mr.  John Underwood, of Portsmouth,  was
brought 16 me while at Exeter,  who had  what is called
a scalt  head.   He had  been afflicted with  it for nine
years.  The  doctors  had  been  applied to,  to  no pur-
pose;  and when he brought him to me, agreed  to give
a generous  price if I would cure him.  I took charge
of him, and  after  pursuing my usual  plan of treatment
three Aveeks, he  returned home perfectly cured,  and  has
not since had any  appearance  of the disease.  This
man  had the meanness, in order to get clear of paying
any thing for curing his  son, to turn against me and  my
practice, although he had acknowledged that I had saved
his life, and had recommended me to many others, Avhom
I had relieved; yet to get clear of paying a trifling sum
according to his agreement, he did all  he could to injure
me, and through his influence, many were kept from  be-
ing cured.   He was taken sick, and notwithstanding  he
had  said so much against  my medicine,  he applied to
some Avho had the right of using it,  and was relieved
thereby.
  Some time towards the close of the  summer,  while I
was at Exeter, I Avas sent for to g« to Portsmouth to see
a young man by the name of Lebell, who was in a very
dangerous situation,  supposed by his  friends to be in a
dying state, having been given over by Drs. Cutler and
Pierpont, at ten o'clock that morning.  I  arrived about
two  in the afternoon.   He had been attended  by the
tAVO  doctors above named  for upwards of a month,  to
cure   the venereal;  they had filled him Avith mercury,
so that he  had sAvelled all over with  the  poison.  The
             7* 
78            Narrative of the Life, Sjc

doctors pronounced it to be the dropsy.   His legs had
been scarified to let off the  Avater; the disorder  and the
mercury had gained the poAver, and  nature had submit-
ted.   I at  once pronounced  it to be a desperate  case,
and told the French Consul, who had the care of him,
that I could give no encouragement that I could do him
any good;  but he was very solicitous for me to do some-
thing  for him.   I told him the only chance  was to raise
perspiration,  and that twenty-four  hours Avould  deter-
mine  his case;  for  he  would either  be  better in that
time,  or be dead.   The  idea of perspiration caused him
to urge me to try;  and he said if I  could effect  it,  he
would give me one hundred  dollars; the doctors had
tried  for a  month,  and could not succeed.  I gave him
some  medicine, then  put  on the  clothes  by degrees,
until he was  shielded from the air,  and he sAveat  freely
in about an hour.   The two doctors Avere present,  and
seemed astonished at my success; they walked the room,
talked low, then  Avent  out.   I staid with him till six
o'clock, and  the  sympioms seemed to be favorable; he
sweat  profusely, and spit much blood.   1 told the nurse
to keep him in  the same situation till I returned; went
out and was gone about an hour, and come back  again
Avith Mr. Underwood.   When we came  into the  room,
found that  the doctors had taken him out of bed and sat
him in a chair,  and opened the Avindow against him.  I
told them that their conduct would cause his death, and
I would do no more for him; but should give him  up as
their  patient.
  It appeared to me  that they were  afraid I should cure
him, and thus prove the superiority of my practice over
theirs;  for  they had tried a month to get a perspiration,
without success,  and I had done  it in one hour.  The
man fainted before I left the room.   I went home with
Mr.  Underwood and staid  that night, and  left them to
pursue their  own  course;  the man died before  morn-
ing.   Instead of getting the  hundred  dollars, as was
agreed, I never got a cent  for all my trouble  of coming
fifteen miles, and returning back again on foot;  and be-
sides this  loss, afterwards,—when I came to be  perse-
cuted by the  faculty,—the above two doctors gave their
depositions against me, in which I was  informed they 
Of Samuel Thomson.              79
swore that I killed this man, notwithstanding they had
given him  over to die the morning  before I saw  him,
and  they had taken him  out  of my  hands, as above
stated.  On being informed  that  they Avere  trying to
support a complaint against me, I got the  depositions of
Mr.  Underwood and  others, who Were knowing to the
facts, to contradict these false  statements.   On finding
that  I was determined to oppose them, and prove  what
they had sworn to be all false,  they thought  proper to
drop  the matter;  but I was  informed  they had sworn
fhat  my medicine  was of a poisonous  nature, and if it
did not cause the  patient to vomit soon after being taken,
they would certainly die.  It is unnecessary for me to
contradict this, for its incorrectness and absurdity is too
well  knoAvn to all who have any knowledge of the medi-
cine I use.
   I was frequently in Portsmouth to visit those Avho had
been sent to me to be attended upon at Exeter.  Some-
time in September in  1808, when there, 1  was called on
to visit Mr. Richard  Rice,  who was sick with the yelloAv
fever, as it was called.  The reason for his sending for
me,  was in consequence of having  heard  the reports of
the doctors, that I sweat my patients to death.  He con-
ceived an idea that if he could sAveat, he should  be bet-
ter;  but they would not allow him to be kept warm, tak-
ing the clothes off of him, and keeping the windows and
doors open;  no fire Avas permitted in the room, while he
was shivering with  the cold.  The plan Avas to kill the
fever, and to effect this with more certainty, the doctor
had  bled him, and told his sister that he had given him
as much ratsbane as he dared to give, and if that did not
answer he did not know Avhat would.
   I  began to give  him medicine  a little before night,
and  in one hour perspiration  took place.  He was so
weak that he was unable to help himself.   In the morn-
ing  the  doctor proposed to  bleed him; but he Avas dis-
missed.   I was with him till the symptoms were favora-
ble, and then left him in the care of three persons whom
I  could confide  in.  After I Avas  gone, Dr. Brackett
came into the room Avhere the patient Avas, in  a  great
rage, saying that they were  killing him; for the mortifi-
cation Avould soon take place, in consequence of keeping 
80            Narrative of the Life, Sec.

him so warm.  He was asked by one of those present,
in Avhich case mortification was most likely to take place,
Avhen the blood Avas cold and thick, or warm  and thin
He suspected some quibble, and would not give an  an-
sAver;  and it Avas immaterial Avhich way he answered;
for in either case he had no grounds to support an argu-
ment upon, but what might be easily refuted.  After he
had failed in the interference  with  those  who  had  the
care of the patient, he Avent to his  wife and other rela-
tions, and tried to frighten them; but he did not succeed,
for they Avere well satisfied Avith what was  doing.
  The patient Avas  much out by spells, sometimes  im-
agining himself  to be a lump of ice; but  my directions
were pursued by the person I  left in charge of  him dur-
ing the night, keeping up a perspiration, in the morning
he was much relieved, and had his right mind.  He had
no pain except in the lower  part of the bowels; to  re-
lieve Avhich he was very anxious that I should  give him
some  physic.  I opposed this, being  confident that it
would  not do in such  putrid cases.   He Avas so urgent,
however, I gave him  some, which  operated very soon;
and the consequence Avas, that it reinforced his disorder,
and threAV him into the greatest distress.  He asked  for
more  physic, but I told him that I would  not  give him
any more, for  I was  satisfied of the impropriety of giv-
ing it in such cases, and I have never given any since.
It checked the perspiration,  and drew the determining
powers  from the  surface  inward;  so that I had to  go
through the same process again of raising perspiration,
and vomiting,  which was much more  difficult than at
first, and  it was with the greatest attention that I was
able  to keep off the mortification for twelve hours that
he was kept back by taking this small dose of physic.   I
kept up the perspiration through Friday and Saturday,
and on Sunday  morning  when I called to see  him,  he
was up and dressed.  On asking how he did, he said as
strong as you are, and took me under his arm and car-
ried me across the room.  On Monday he  was doAvn  on
the wharf attending to his business.
  This cure caused considerable talk in the toAvn, and
because it Avas done so quick, the doctors-said that there
was  but little  ailed him,  and he would  have got well 
                Of Samuel Thomson.              81

himself if he had taken the physic and been left alone;
but those who saw it were convinced to the contrary;
others doubted,  and  said among themselves, how can a
man, who has no  learning, and never studied physic,
know  how to cure disease.  Mr.  Rice,  however,  gave
me credit for the cure, and was very grateful for it, and
I made  his  house  my home, when in Portsmouth, and
was treated  with much  respect.  He introduced me to
his uncle, Alexander  Rice, Esq., a man  of respectabili-
ty,  and  high standing in that  place; Avho at first could
not believe  that so valuable a  discovery could be made
by a man without an education.  I conversed with him
upon  the subject, and  explained  the  principles  upon
which my system  was  founded; how every thing acted
under the nature and operation of the  four elements,
and by  one  acting upon  another" caused  all motion;
how the element  of fire,  by rarifying water and air,
keeps the whole creation in motion;  how the tempera-
ment  of the  body, by  adding or  diminishing heat and
cold, would  promote either life or death.  After hearing
my explanation,  he became satisfied of its  correctness,
and confessed that my natural gift was of more value
than learning.   He  then made known  to  me  his  in-
firmities, and wished me to take the care of his family,
and give him and his wife such  information as  would
enable them to  attend upon themselves and family  in
case cf sickness.  I readily agreed to this, and soon
after carried some of the family through Avith the medi-
cine, and gave them all the information in my power, of
the principle, and  the medicine Avith Avhich it was done.
Mrs. Rice  undertook the management of the business;
she was  a kind  and affectionate  woman, possessing  a
sound judgment without fear.   After she had gained the
information,   she wished me  to attend to carrying her
through a course of the medicine,  for a bad humor, call-
ed the salt rheum, which she had been long afflicted with;
she was attended a few times, which effected a complete
cure
  Major Rice had  been for  many years subject to  turns
of the gout; and  had been in some  instances confined
by it for  six  months at a time, and forsixAveeks not able
to sit up, much of  the time  not  able to lift his hand 
 82            Narrative of the Life, Sec

 to his head.  He had been constantly under the care of
 the most  skilful doctors, who would bleed,  and blister,
 and physic  him,  till  his strength Avas exhausted;  after
 attending  him in  this way through the  winter,  they said
 he must Avait till warm weather, before he could  get
 about.  When the warm weather came, he would  crawl
 out to the sunny  side of the  house, and in this way he
 gradually gained his strength.  After this, he was afflict*
 ed Avith a violent  burning in the stomach, which was al-
 most as troublesome as the gout.
   After he had the right of my medicine, he had frequent
 turns  of the  gout;  but no attack of this disease  has con-
 tinued more than  twenty-four hours, before he was com-
 pletely relieved; and he has been but little troubled with
 the burning of the stomach  since,  [in 1822.]   He  has
 told me since,  that if he could have been as sure of re-
 lief, when he was first  subject to the  disease,  as  he is
 now certain of it in twenty-four hours, he  would  have
 been willing to  give all he was worth.   This family  has
 been  so much  benefitted  by  the use  of the. medicine,
 that no sum of  money would  be any temptation to  them
 to be  deprived of it.   This man has never been lacking
 to prove his gratitude to me;  in the time of  my troubles
 his assistance was of the greatest importance to me, and
 I  shall  ever feel grateful to him and his family  for their
 goodness.
   Soon  after I went to Portsmouth,  I was sent for to go
 to Deerfield, where  the dysentery  prevailed,  and had
 become very alarming.   A young man by the  name of
 Fulsom, came after me, and said  that the doctor had lost
 every patient he had attended; that  seven had died, and
 many were sick;  that his father and two brothers  Avere
 given over by the doctor that morning  to die.
  The young man seemed so anxious, and was  so much
 frightened, that I  concluded to  go with him;  the dis-
tance  was twenty-eight miles.   We started a little  be-
 fore night, and arrived there about ten o'clock.  I found
the father and the two sons as bad as they could be and
be alive; they were stupid and cold.   I told  the mother
that it was very uncertain whether I  could  help  them.
 She begged  of me to save her husband's life if possible.
 I told her that I could not tell whether they were dying, 
Of Samuel Thomson.              83
or whether it  was the deadly effect of opium.   I gave
them  all medicine.  The two  children died in about
three hours; but Mr. Fulsom soon grew better by taking
my medicine.  I had not only the sick to attend to, and
do every  thing myself; but the opposition of  all  the
neighborhood; there was eight of the family sick, and
if I went out of the house, some person would open the
doors  and  windows, which would cause a relapse; while
perspiration continued, they  were easy,  but as soon as
they grew cold, the pain would  return and be  very vio-
lent.  In the  morning  I was preparing to come away;
but the father  urged me  so  hard to stay, promising that
I should be treated in a better manner than I had been,
that  I consented  and remained  with them about  ten
days.   I caught the  disorder myself and was very bad;
on taking  the medicine, the operation  was so violent,
that the neighbors were  much  frightened, and left  the
house, and were  afraid  to  come nigh us, leaving us to
die altogether. I soon got better and was able to carry
Mr. Fulsom through for the first time;  which relieved
him, and he soon got better.  In  the mean time a small
child  was  brought home sick, that had been  carried
away  to prevent it from taking  the disorder.   It was so
far gone, that  the medicine would have no effect upon it,
and it soon died.   All that were not in a  dying situation
before they took the medicine, were relieved and got well.
I attended some that had the  disorder in other families, all
of whom got  well;  fifteen in the whole recovered  and
three  died.  Two years after, the death of these three
children was brought against me on a charge of murder.
  All that I ever received for my trouble in these cases,
was fifteen dollars; there was  no credit  given  me for
curing the fifteen out of eighteen, when  the doctor had
lost all that  he attended; and although  he had given
over three to  die,  I  cured  one  of them twelve hours
after.  When I left this place the  doctor adopted my
mode of practice as far as he knew it, particularly in
sweating,  and about  one half lived.  Notwithstanding
all this, the doctor, as I Avas informed, made oath that
the three children died in  consequence  of taking  my
medicine;  and the good minister of the  parish, I Avas
also informed, testified to the  same thing;  though I am 
84
Narrative of the Life, Sec
confident that neither of them knew any thing about mc
or my  medicine.   A judgment  seemed  to  follow this
clergyman, for a short time after he had lent his aid in
promoting the prosecution  against  me, a circumstance
took place in his family, which, if it had not been done
by a fashionable doctor, might have been called murder.
His Avife was  at times troubled with a  pain in her face,
something like a cramp; a certain  doctor said that he
could help her by cutting.   He used the knife and other
instruments of torture for four hours, Avhich stopped her
speech, and let loose the juices that filled the flesh from
her breast, so that the blood  and Arater crowded out of
her ears in  striving for breath.   She remained   in this
distressed situation about seven days and died.  This in-
formation I had  from two  respectable men, who were
present at the time of her sufferings and death.
  I  continued to  practise  in Portsmouth and vicinity
during this autumn, and  while there, was sent for to go
to Salisbury, to see a child  that had been attended by- a
woman for several days, who I had given information to,
but they said the  perspiration Avould not hold; and they
wished  for further  information.  On seeing the child, I
at once found that they had  kept about an equal balance
between the outward and inward heat;  'when they gave
medicine to raise the  inward heat and  start the  deter-
mining power to the surface, they at the same time kept
the outward heat so high as  to counteract it.  After ex-
plaining to them the  difficulty, I raised the child up and
poured  on to it a pint of cold vinegar, and it immedi-
ately revived.  Applied no more outward heat, but only
to shield it from the air; and gave  the warmest medi-
cine mward,  on the operation of which, the  child grew
cold and very much distressed.  As soon  as  the inward
heat had gained the full  power, and drove the cold out,
the  circulation became free, and the  child Avas relieved
from pain and fell asleep; the next day the heat was as
much higher than what was  natural, as it had been low-
er the day before; and Avhen heat had gained the victo-
ry over cold, the child gained its strength  and was soon
about, perfectly recovered.
  I had not  practised in Salisbury before, since I went
to Exeter, which  was  in June, and my returning there 
Of Samuel Thomson.              85
seemed to give Dr. French great offence.   He had been
to see the child mentioned above, and tried to discour-
age the people  from using  my medicine; and threaten-
ed them that he Avould  have them indicted by the grand
jury, if they made use  of  any without his consent; his
threats, however, had  very little effect, for the  people
were well satisfied of the superiority of my practice  over
his.  About this  time  the  bonds for his  good behavior
were out; I did  not  appear against  him, and when the
case was  called,  the court  discharged him and his  bail,
on his paying the cost.  The action Avas  brought on  a
complaint in  behalf of the  Commonwealth; but I had
caused another action of damage to be brought against
him, which  Avas  carried to the  Supreme  Court,  and
tried at Ipswich the  spring  following.  I employed two
lawyers to manage  my case, and brought forward two
witnesses to prove  my declaration, Avho swore that the
defendant made the  assertion, that I was guilty of mur-
der and he could prove it.  His lawyer admitted the
fact, but pleaded justification on the part  of his  client,
and brought witnesses on the stand to prove  that what
he had said was true.   The young Avoman who nursed
Mrs. Lifford,  and by Avhose  neglect she took cold, swore
to some of the most ridiculous occurrences concerning
the death  of that  woman, that could be uttered, which
were perfectly contradictory to every thing  she had be-
fore confessed to be the truth.  Another young woman,
the daughter  of a  doctor  at Deerfield, made a state-
ment, to make it appear that I  Avas  the  cause  of the
death of the three children, who  died  as  has been be-
fore related.   I had no knowledge  of ever seeing this
woman, and have since ascertained that she was  not  at
the house  but once  during the  sickness, and then did
not go  into the room where the sick  were; and her ex-
aggerated account must have been made up of Avhat she
had heard others say.
  These things  Avere a complete surprise to  me, not
thinking it possible that people could be induced to make
such exaggerated statements under the solemnity of an
oath.   I could have brought forward abundance of tes-
timony to have contradicted the  whole evidence against
me if there was time, but not expecting that the cause
                 8 
86            Narrative of the Life, Sjc
would have taken the  course  it did, was unprepared.
There appeared to be  a complete  combination of the
professional craft against  me,  of both the doctors and
lawyers,  and a  determination  that I  should lose the
cause, let the evidence be what  it  might.   My  law-
yers gave up the  case  without making  a plea ;  and
the judge gave  a very partial charge to the jury, repre-
senting me in the worst point of view that he possibly
could, saying that the evidence was sufficient to prove
the facts  against me,  and that  if I had  been tried for
my life, he could not  say whether  it would hang me or
send me  to the state prison  for life.  The jury of course
gave their verdict against me, and  I had to pay the cost
of the court.
   The counsel for Dr. French asked the judge whether
a  warrant  ought not to be  issued against me, and I be
compelled to recognize  to appear at the next court, to
which he ansAvered  in the  affirmative   This  so fright-
ened my  friends, that  they  were much alarmed  for my
safety, and advised me to go out of the way of my ene-
mies, for they seemed to be determined  to destroy me.
I went to Andover to the house of a friend, whose wife
I had cured of a cancer, where I was very cordially re-
ceived, and  staid that night.  The  next  day  I went to
Salisbury Mills, and made arrangements to pay the cost
of my unfortunate lawsuit.
  In  the fall of the  year 1808, I was sent for to go to
Beverly,  to  see the Avife of a Mr. Appleton,  who was
the daughter of Elder Williams, the Baptist Minister in
that toAvn, and  was very low in  a consumption.  She
had formerly been afflicted  with the salt rheum on her
hands, and had applied to  a doctor for advice; he had
advised her to make use of a  sugar of lead wash, which
drove the disease to her  lungs, and  she had been in that
situation  for a long time, and very little hopes  were en-
tertained  of her ever being any better.  I carried her
through a course of the medicine, with very good suc-
cess.   I remained in Beverly  about a  week;  and while
there, became acquainted with  Mr. Williams, and also
Mr. William Raymond,  to Avhom I  afterwards gave in-
formation of my practice and  he assisted me  to attend
on my patients.  Then  returned to Portsmouth, where 
Of Samuel Thomson.              87
I was constantly called on to practise, and had  all the
most desperate cases put under my care, in all of which
I met with very great success.
  After staying here about two weeks, I returned to
Beverly, to see Mrs. Appleton and other patients there,
and  found them all doing Avell;  Avas called on to attend
many  desperate  cases;  in all  of which I  effected a
cure, except one, Avho was dying before  I was called on.
While practising in Beverly, was  called on by a Mr.
Lovett, to attend his son, who was sick, as they suppos-
ed with a bad cold; some thought it a typhus fever.   I
was very much engaged in attending upon the sick at the
time,  and could not go  with  him;  he  came  after me
three times before I could go.  On seeing him, found
that  he complained of a stiff neck, and appeared to  be
very stupid, and had no pain.  His aunt, who took care
of him, said  that he would certainly die, for he had the
same  symptoms as his mother, who  died  a short  time
before.  I gave some medicine which relieved him; the
next day carried him through a course of the  medicine,
and he appeared to be doing well.  Being called on to
go t® Salem, I left him in the care of Mr. Raymond, with
particular directions to keep in the house and not  expose
himself.   This was on Wednesday, and I heard nothing
from him,  and knew not but what he was doing well, till
the Sunday afternoon folloAving, when I Avas  informed
that he was worse.  I immediately inquired of Mr. Ray-
mond,  and learned from  him that he had  got so much
better, he had been down on the side of the water, and
returned on Friday night; that  the  weather Avas  very
cold, being in the month of December; that he had  been
chilled with the cold, and soon after his  return had  been
taken very ill; he staid with him on Saturday  night, and
that he was raving  distracted all night;  that he had not
given any medicine, thinking he was  too  dangerously
sick for him to undertake with.
  I told the young man's father,  that it was very  doubt-
ful whether I could do any thing  that would  help  him;
but that I would  try, and  do all I could.  I found that
the patient was so far  gone  that the  medicine would
have no effect,  and in tAVo hours told him that I could 
88
Narrative of the Life, Sec
 not help his son, and advised him to call some other adi-
 vice; this was said in presence of Elder Williams,  and
 Mr. Raymond.   Mr. Lovett made answer that if I could
 not help his son, he kneAv of none who could;  and  was
 very desirous for me to stay with  him  all  night,  which
 I  did, and  stood by his bed the whole time.  He  was
 much deranged in  his mind till morning, when he came
 to himself, and was quite sensible.   I then again request-
 ed the  father to send for  some other  doctor, as I  was
 sensible that I  could do nothing  for him that would be of
 any benefit.  He immediately sent for tAvo doctors,  and
 as  soon  as  they arrived, I left him in their care.   The
 tAvo doctors  attended him till the  next night  about  ten
 o'clock, when.he died.  I have been more  particular in
 giving the history of this case, because two years after
 it  Avas brought as a charge against me for murdering  this
 young man.  The father and friends expressed no dissat-
 isfaction  at the  time, in  regard to my conduct, except
 they thought I ought not to have  neglected the patient
 so long; but it was a Avell known fact, that I attended as
 soon as I knew of  his being worse, and that the  Avhole
 cause of his  second attack Avas owing to his  going  out
 and exposing himself,  and could not be imputed as  any
 fault of mine.
   In the latter part of December, 1808, I was sent for to
 attend Elder  Bolles, the Baptist  minister of Salem.  I
 was introduced to him by Elder Williams, and found  him
 in bed, and very weak and low, in the last stage of aeon-
 sumption;  all hopes of a recovery were at an end;  his
 doctors  left him as incurable.   He asked my opinion of
 his case; I told him that I could not tell whether  there
 Avas a possibility of a cure or not  till after using the  medi-
 cine; being doubtful Avhether there was mortification or not.
 H e was a man very much respected and beloved by his peo-
 ple, and the public anxiety Avas very great about him.   He
expressed a strong desire that I should undertake with him;
but I declined doing any thing until he consulted his dea-
cons and other members of his church, who were his par-
ticular friends, and their advice taken; which being done>
they offered no objection, but wished him to act his own
mind, and whatever the result should be, they would be 
0/ Samuel Thomson.              89
satisfied.  He replied that  he was  convinced that  he
could not live in his present  situation more than a Aveek,
and therefore his life  could not be shortened  more than
that time;  and it was his wish-that I should undertake
to cure him.  His strength was so far exhausted that it
was with the greatest exertions and difficulty that they
could get him to sit up about three minutes in a day, to
have his bed made.
   I gave his friends as correct an account of his disorder
and the  operation of the medicine as I could; and that
I did not wish to do any thing which might cause reflec-
tion hereafter; but they promised that,  let the result be
Avhat it might, they should  be satisfied, and would  not
think  hard of me.  On these  conditions  I  undertook,
and told  them that twenty-four hours time would  decide
whether  he lived or died.  I began to give the medicine
in the morning, which had a very calm  and easy opera-
tion.   The emetic herb operated  very kindly, and threw
off his stomach a large quantity  of cold jelly, like  the
white of an egg; the perspiration moved gently on, and
was free;  the internal heat produced  by the medicine
fixed  the determining power to the  surface,  and threw
out the putrefaction to such  a degree that the smell was
very offensive.   Mr. Bolles  had  a brother present who
was a doctor; he observed that he did not know whether
the medicine made the putrefaction, or whether it made
visible what was secreted in the body; but he was soon
convinced  on that head, for  when  the medicine  had
cleansed him, all this putrid smell ceased.   While  the
medicine was in the greatest operation, the perspiration
brought  out  the putrefaction to such a degree, that  the
nurse in  making his bed Avas so affected with  it, that  she
fainted  and fell on the floor.  I attended on  him  for
about three weeks, in which time he was able to set up
tAvo or three  hours in a day; his food nourished  his
body, and his strength gained very fast, considering  the
season of the year being unfavorable.   I  gave him  my
best advice and left directions hoAV to proceed,  and  re-
turned home to my family to spend the rest of the win-
ter with them.   I returned in the  spring to see Mr.
Bolles, and  found him so far recovered as to be able to
ride out and in good spirits.   He  soon gained his health,
              8- 
90            Narrative of the Life, S/c
and is now well and ready to give testimony of the facts'
as I have related them.   [1835.]
  In the season of 1809, I suffered much.  In  the  first
part of the summer, I attended many patient3of old com-
plaints; in particular, one case that I shall  mention of a
young Avoman in Kitter-y in a consumption.   She had
been  confined to her house four months; her flesh was
exhausted  and  she had a violent  stricture of the  lungs,
Avhich she said  seemed  as though there  was  a  string
that, drawed  her lungs to her back;  this caused  a dry,
hacking cough, which was very distressing.  I could give
her friends no encouragement of  a cure; but the  young
woman and her friends were so urgent, that I undertook
with her.   Her  courage was very great, and  she took
the medicines and followed all my directions with great
perseverance.  She said  she wished that it  might  either
kill or cure,  for she  did not desire to live  in the  situa-
tion she was then in.  I left her medicine and directions,
and occasionally visited her.  My plan of treatment was
followed  Avith much  attention and seal for six months,
before I  could  raise  an inward  heat  that would  hold
more  than six hours.  She then  had Avhat  Avas called a
settled fever; and I gave her medicine to get  as great
an  internal heat as I possibly could; this caused  much
alarm  among her  friends, as they thought she  'would
certainly die.  I told  them that the heat holding,  which
was the cause of the fever, was the first favorable  symp-
tom that I had seen in her favor.   She soon gained her
health, to  the astonishment of all her friends  and ac-
quaintances.  She  continued to  enjoy good health till
the  next season,  when she had another turn of the fever.
I  attended her in my usual way, and raised  the  heat till
it completely overpowered the cold, when she was entire-
ly cured, and  has ever since enjoyed good health. [1822.]
  During  this summer, a woman  applied to me from  a
neighboring  town,  who  had the  dropsy,  and  brought
with her a little girl, who had the rickets very bad, so
that she was grown much out of shape.   I carried them
both through a course of the  medicine, attended them
for three or four weeks, and then gave the woman  infor-
mation how to relieve herself and the girl,  occasionally
visiting them.  They both recovered of their complaints, 
Of Samuel Thomson.            .  91
and have enjoyed perfect health since.   This  woman
paid me  the  most liberally of any that I had  attended,
and has on all occasions manifested her gratitude for the
assistance I afforded  her.   Another  woman  from the
same  town applied to me,  who  had a cancer  on her
breast.   She  had been under the care of several doctors,
who had by their course of practice made her worse.  I
undertook with her, and by giving medicine to check the
canker and promote perspiration, effectually relieved her
from the disease.  Many other desperate cases, such as
consumptions, dropsies, cancers, &c. most of which had
been given over by the doctors,  were attended by me
about this time,  which it will be unnecessary for me to
particularize;  all of them were either completely cured
or essentially relieved and made comfortable by the sys-
tem of practice.   One case I shall, however, state, being
rather of an extraordinary nature, to show the  absurdity
of the fashionable manner of treating disease by the doc-
tors of the present day.
   A young  lady applied to me who had been much
troubled with bleeding  at the stomach.   She  stated to
me that  she  had been bled by the  doctors  forty-tAvo
times in two years;  and that they had bled her seven
times in six Aveeks.   So much  blood had been taken
from her, that the blood vessels had contracted in  such
manner  that  they would hold very little blood;  and the
heat being thereby so much diminished, the Avater  filled
the flesh, and what little blood there Avas rushed to her
face, while all the extremities were cold.   This produced
a deceptive appearance of health, and caused those who
judged by outAvard appearances, to doubt whether there
was  any disease;  so that she had  not only to bear her
own infirmities, but the reproache of her acquaintances.
I kindled heat enough  in the body to throw off the use-
less  water,  which gave  the blood  room to circulate
through  the  whole system, instead of circulating  as  it
had done before, only in the large  blood  vessels, and
they being much extended by not having  heat  enough
to <rive  it  motion, leads the doctors  into the erroneous
idea  that there  is too much blood,  and  resort to the
practice  of bleeding,  Avhich reduces the strength of the
patient,  and  increases the  disease.   There is no  such 
92            Narrative of the Life, Sfc.
thing as a person having too much blood, no more than
there is of having too much bone, or too much  muscle,
or sinews; nature contrives all things right.  The blood
may be too thick, so as not to circulate, and is liable to
be diseased,  like all other parts of the body; but how
taking part of it away can benefit the  rest, or tend in
any way to remove  the disease, is what I  could  never
reconcile with common sense.  After I had carried this
woman through  a  full operation  of the medicine, and
got the heat to hold, so as to produce a natural perspi-
ration, she at once  exhibited a true picture of her situ-
ation;  instead of appearing  to be so fleshy and well  as
she had done, she fell away and became quite emaciated;
but as soon as the digestive powers were restored, so that
food could nourish her body, she gained her strength and
flesh, and in a  short time was  completely restored to
health.
  I was about this time called to attend a woman who
was very severely attacked with the spotted fever.   The
first appearance of it Avas a pain in her  heel, Avhich soon
moved up to her hips and back,  from thence to  her
stomach and head;  so that in fifteen minutes her sight
was  gone,  and in less than half an hour she was sense-
less and cold. About this time I saw her and examined
well the cause of the disease; I was well satisfied that
it Avas the  effect of cold  having overpowered the inward
heat.   By confining her from the air, giving her Nos. 1
and 2, and keeping her in a moderate  steam,  she in a
short  time came to her senses; and the symptoms were
exactly similar  to  a drowned  person coming to, after
having life suspended by being under water.   As soon
as the perspiration became free, all pain ceased, and she
was  quite comfortable; in twenty-four hours the disease
was completely removed, and she was  able to attend to
her work.
  The same  day I had another case of a child Avhich
the doctor had given over.   When I came to this  child
it was senseless, and I expected in a mortified state.   I
gave it the hottest medicine I could get, with the emetic;
it lay about  six hours silent, before the medicine had
kindled heat enough to cause motion in  the stomach and
bowels, when it began to revive, and Avhat came from it 
Of Samuel Thomson.              93
 was black and putrid; the bowels just escaped mortifica-
 tion.  The child was soon well.   These two cases were
 both cured in twenty-four hours time.
   When the spotted fever first appeared in Portsmouth,
 the  doctors  had five cases and all of them died.  I had
 five cases similar, all of which lived.  Because my pa-
 tients did not die, the doctors said they did not have the
 fever.   In this they had much the advantage of me, for
 there could be no doubt of theirs all having it,  as death
 was, in most of the cases under their care, on their side,
 and decided the question.   I have had a great number
 of cases of the  spotted fever under my care,  and in all
 of them used the remains of heat  as a friend, by kindling
 it so as to produce heat enough in the body to overpower
 and drive out the cold;  and have never failed of success,
 where  there was any chance of a  cure.
   Some time this season I was sent for to attend Captain
 Trickey, who was very sick.  I examined  him and was
 confident that  I could not  help  him, and took my hat
 in order to leave the house.   His family insisted on my
 stopping and doing something for him; but I told them
 that I  thought he was in a dying state, and medicine
 would  do no good.  I  told his son that in  all proba-
 bility, he would  not be alive over  twenty-four hours, and
 that he had  better go for some other help, for I could
 do him no good.  I told the wife that I should  give no
 medicine  myself,  but  as they had  some in the  house
 that they kneAV the nature of, she might give  some of it
 to her husband, which she did.  Two doctors were sent
 for;  the first one that arrived  bled  him, and he soon
 breathed very short,  and grew worse; the  other doctor
 came,  and said  that his breathing short was in conse-
 quence  of the medicine I had given  him;  but by this
 he did not gain credit, for  all the family knew to the
 contrary;  and the woman soon  after told me  of his
 speech.  The patient  continued till the next  day about
ten o'clock,  and died.   Soon as he Avas dead, the doctors
 and their friends spared no pains to spread the report in
every direction, that I had killed this man with my screw
auger,  a cant name given to my emetic herb, in conse-
 quence of one of my patients,  when under the operation
of it, saying that it twisted in him like  a screw auger. 
94            Narrative of the Life, Sec
This was readily seized upon by the doctors,  and made
use of for the  purpose of trying to destroy the reputa-
tion  of this medicine by ridicule.  They likewise gave
similar names to several  other articles of my medicine,
for the same purpose; and represented them as the names
by which I called them.  They had likewise  given me
several names  and  titles, by way of reproach;  such as
the sweating and steaming doctor; the Indian doctor;
the old wizzard;  and  sometimes  the  quack.   Such
kind of management had a great effect on the minds of
many weak minded people; they were so afraid of ridi-
cule,  that those whom I had  cured Avere unwilling to
OAvn  it, for  fear of being laughed  at for employing
me.
   The circumstance of the death of the above mention-
ed Capt.  Trickey, Avas seized upon by the doctors  and
their friends, and the most false and absurd representa-
tions made by them through the country, with the inten-
tion of stopping my practice, by getting me indicted for
murder, or to drive me off;  but my friends made out  a
correct  statement of the facts, and had them published,
which put a stop to their career  for that time.   I  con-
tinued my practice, and had a great number of the most
desperate  cases,  in  most of which  I was  successful.
The extraordinary cures I had performed,  had the ten-
dency to make  many people believe,  that I could  cure
every one who had life in them, let their disease be ever
so bad;  and where I had attended on those  who were
given over as incurable, and they died, whether  I gave
them  any  medicine or not, the report was immediately
circulated that they were killed by me, at the same time
the regular doctors would lose their patients  every day,
without there being any notice taken of it.   When their
patients died, if appearances were ever so much  against
their practice, it Avas said to be the will of the  Lord,  and
submitted  to Avithout a murmur; but if one happened to
die that I had any thing to do with, it was readily report-
ed by those interested in destroying my credit with the
people, that I killed them.
   I could  mention a great number of cases of the cures
that I performed,  if I thought it necessary; but  my in-
tention is to give the  particulars  of  such only as  will 
Of Samuel Thomson.              95
have the greatest tendency to convey to the reader the
most correct information of my mode of practice, with-
out repeating any that Avere treated in a similar manner,
to those already given.  I shall noAV proceed to give the
particulars of one of the most important circumstances
of my life, in as correct and impartial a manner as I am
capable of doing from memory; in order to show what I
have suffered from the persecutions of some of the medi-
cal faculty, for no other reason, as I conceive, than that
they feared my practice would open  the  eyes of the  .
people, and lessen their importance with them; by giving
such information as would enable them to cure them-
selves of disease, without the aid of a doctor; and  from
many others, who were governed altogether by the  pre-
judices they had formed against me by the false  reports
that had been circulated about my practice, without hav-
ing any other knowledge of me.  Many of the latter,
however, have since been convinced of their error, have
a very favorable opinion of my system,  and are  among
my best friends.
  After practising in those parts through the  season of
1809, I  went home to Surry, Avhere I remained a  few
weeks, and returned back to  Salisbury.   On  my way
there, I  made  several stops in different places Avhere I
had before practised, to see my friends and to give infor-
mation to those Avho made use of my medicine and prac-
tice.  On my arrival at  Salisbury, my friends informed
me that  Dr. French had been very busily employed in
my absence, and that he  and a  Deacon  Pecker,  who  .
was one of the  grand  jury, had  been to Salem, to the
court,  and on their return had said that there had been
a bill of indictment found against me for wilful  murder.
They advised me to go off, and keep  out of the way;
but I told them I should never do that; for if they had
found a bill against me, the government must prove the
charges, or I  must be honorably acquitted.   About
ten o'clock at night Dr. French came to the place where
I stopped, Avith a constable, and made me a prisoner in
behalf of the commonwealth.   I asked the constable to
read  the Avarrant,  Avhich he did; by  this I found that
Dr. French was the only complainant, and the justice
who granted the warrant, ordered me before him to be 
96            Narrative of the Life, 8ec.
 examined the next morning.  I was then taken by the
 constable to Dr.  French's  house,  and keepers  were
 placed over me to  prevent me from escaping.   While at
 his house  and a prisoner, Dr. French took the oppor-
 tunity to abuse and insult me in the most shameful man-
 ner that can  be conceived  of, without  any provocation
 on my part.  He continued his abuse to me till between
 two  and three o'clock, when he took his horse and set
 out for Salem to get the indictment.   After he was gone,
 I found on inquiry  of the constable,  that after he had
 been  before the grand  jury and caused  me to be indict-
 ed, he came home before the bill was  made  out, and
 finding that I was at Salisbury, fearing I might be gone,
 and he should miss the chance of gratifying his malicious
 revenge  against me, he  went to a brother  doctor,  who
 was a justice of the peace, before Avhqm he made oath,
 that he had probable ground  to suspect, and did suspect,
 that I had Avith malice aforethought, murdered  sundry
 persons in the course  of the year past, Avhose  names
 were  unknoAvn to the  complainant;  upon which a war-
 rant was issued against me, and I was arrested as before
 stated, in order to  detain  and keep me in custody, till the
 indictment could be obtained.
  In the morning I was brought  before the said justice,
 and he not being  ready  to  proceed  in my examination,
 the court was  adjourned till one o'clock;  Avhen I was
 again brought  before him, and he said he could not try
 me until the  complainant was  present,  and  adjourned
 the court again till  near night.  The  constable  took
 me to  his  house in the  mean  time, and put me in a
 back  room  and left me alone, all  of them leaving the
 house.   When they came back, some of them asked me
why I did  not  make my escape, which I might  very
easily have done out of a  back window;  but I told them
that I stood in no fear of  the consequence, having done
nothing whereby I ought to be punished; that I was
taken up as a malefactor,  and was determined to be  con-
victed  as such, or honorably  acquitted.   Just  before
 night,  Dr. French arrived with a Sheriff, and ordered
 me to be delivered up by the constable to the Sheriff;
 and after Dr. French had again  vented his Spleen upon
 me by the most savage abuse that language could ex- 
Of Samuel Thomson.              97
press,  saying that I was a murderer, and that I had
murdered fifty, and he could prove it;  that I should be
either  hung or sent to the State prison for life, and he
would  do all in his power to have me convicted.  I was
then put in irons by  the sheriff, and  conveyed to the
jail in Newburyport, and confined in a  dungeon, with  a
man who  had been convicted of an assault  on a girl
six years of age, and sentenced to solitary confinement
for one year.  He seemed to be glad of company; and
reminded me  of the old saying, that  misery loves com-
pany.  I Avas not  allowed a chair or a table, and nothing
but a  miserable straw bunk on the floor, Avith one poor
blanket which had never been washed.  I Avas put into
this  prison  on the 10th day  of  November,  1809; the
weather  was  very cold, and no fire, and not even the
light of the sun, or a candle; and to complete the whole,
the filth ran from  the upper rooms into our cell,  and was
so offensive that I was almost stifled Avith the smell.   I
tried  to rest myself as Avell as I could,  but got no sleep
that night, for I felt something crawling over me, which
caused an  itching,  and not knowing  what the  cause
was, inquired of my fellow sufferer;  he said that it was
the lice, and that there Avas enough of them to shingle  a
meeting-house.
   In  the morning there Avas just light enough  shone
through the iron grates, to show the horror of my  situa-
tion.   My  spirits and the justness  of my cause  pre-
vented me from  making any  lamentation, and I  bore
my sufferings without complaint.  At  breakfast time  I
was called on through the grates to take our  miserable
breakfast;  it consisted of an old tin pot of musty coffee,
without sweetening  or  milk, and was so bad as to be
unwholesome; with a tin pan containing a hard  piece
of Indian  bread, and the  nape of a fish, which was so
hard I could not eat it.   This had to serve us Jill three
o'clock in the afternoon, when Ave had about an  equal
fare, Avhich was all Ave had till the next morning.   The
next day  Mr.  Osgood came from Salisbury to  see me,
and  on witnessing my miserable situation,  he  was so
much affected, that he could scarcely speak.  He brought
me some provisions, which I was very  glad to receive;
and when I described  to him my miserable lodgings, and
              9 
 98            Narrative of the Life, Sec.

 the  horrid  place  I Avas in, he wept  like a  child.  He
 asked liberty of the jailor  to furnish me Avith  a bed,
 which was granted,  and brought me one,  and other
 things to  make me more comfortable.  The next day I
 wrote  letters to my family, to Dr. Fuller, and to Judge
 Rice, stating to them my situation.
  The bed which Avas brought me, I put cm the old one,
 and  allowed my fellow sufferer a part of it, for  which
 he was very thankful.   I had provisions enough brought
 me by my friends for us both,  and  I  gave him  what I
 did not want; the crusts and scraps that Avere left, his
 poor wife would come and beg,  to carry to her starving
 children, who were dependent  on her.   Her situation
 and that of her husband were so much Avorse than mine,
 that  it made  me feel more reconciled  to my  fate; and I
gave her all I.could spare, besides making his condition
much more comfortable, for which they expressed  a great
deal of gratitude.
  In  a feAV  days after my confinement, Judge Rice
came to see me, and brought  with  him a lawyer.  On
consulting  upon the  case,  they advised me to petition
to the Judges  of the Supreme Court to hold  a  special
court to try my cause, as there would be no court held
by law, at which it could  be  tried,  till the  next fall,
 and  as there could be no  bail for  an indictment for
 murder, I  should  have to lay in prison nearly a year,
 whether there  was any thing against me or not.  This
 was  the policy of my enemies, thinking that they could
 keep me  in prison a  year, and  in  all  probability  I
 should not live that time, and their ends would be fully
 answered.
  I sent on  a petition agreeably to the advice of my
 friends, and Judge  Rice  undertook  to  attend  to  the
 business and do every thing to get the prayer of the pe-
 tition granted.   He followed the business up with great
 zeal, arm  did  every thing that could be done to effect
 the  object.  I  think  he told me that he or  the lawyer,
 Mr. Bartlett, had rode from Newburyport   to  Boston
 fifteen times in the course of three weeks, on the busi-
 ness.  At  length  Judge  Parsons  agreed  to  hold  a
 special court at  Salem, on the 10th day of December,
 to try the cause, which was one month from the day I 
Of Samuel Thomson.
99
was  committed.   My friends were  very attentive and
zealous in my cause, and every preparation  was made
for the trial.
   During this time  the  weather was very cold, and  I
suffered  greatly from that cause, and likeAvise from the
badness  of the air in our miserable cell, so that  I had
not much life or ambition.  Many  of my friends came
to see me,  and some of them Ave re permitted to come
into  the  cell; but the air was so bad and the smell  so
offensive, that they  could not stay long.  My friend,
Dr.  Shephard, came to  see me, and Avas admitted into
our dungeon.   He staid  a short time, but said it was so
offensive  he must  leave  me; that he would not stay in
the place a Aveek for all Newburyport.   On Thanksgiv-
ing day  we were taken  out of our cell and put in  a
room in  the upper story, with the  other prisoners, and
took supper together; they consisted of murderers, rob-
bers, thieves,  and  poor debtors.   All of us  tried to
enjoy our supper  and be in as good spirits as our con-
dition  would  permit. The most  of their  complaints
were  of  the filthiness and bad condition of the  prison,
in Avhich  we all agreed.   Before it was dark  I  and my
companion were  waited  upon to  our filthy  den again.
There was nothing in the room to sit upon  higher than
the thickness  of our bed; and when I  wrote any thing,
I had to  lay on my belly, in which situation I wrote the
Medical Circular, and several other pieces, which were
afterwards printed.
  After I had been in prison about  two Aveeks, my son-
in-law came to see me.  I had before my imprisonment
sent  for  him  to come to  Portsmouth on some  business,
and on hearing  of my being in prison, he  immediately
came to  Newburyport to see  me.  He  seemed  much
more  troubled about my situation  than I  was myself.
I felt perfectly conscious of my innocence and Avas sat-
isfied that I had done nothing to merit such cruel  treat-
ment; therefore  my  mind was free from reproach; for
I had pursued the course of duty,  which  I  conceived
Avas  allotted me by my Maker, and  done every thing  in
my power to  benefit my felloAv-ci  atures.  These re-
flections  supported me in my troubles and persecutions,
and I was perfectly resigned to my fate. 
100           Narrative of the Life, Sfc
   About this time, a laAvyer came  into the prison and
 read  to me the indictment, Avhich was  in  the  common
 form, that  I, Avith  malice aforethought, not having the
 fear of God before my eyes, but moved by the instiga-
 tion of the devil,  did kill and murder the  said Lovett,
 with lobelia, a deadly poison, &c.; but feeling so  per-
 fectly  innocent of the charges, Avhich  the bill alleged
 against me, it had A-ery little  effect upon my feelings;
 knowing  them  to be false,  and  that  they  had  been
 brought against me by my enemies, Avithout any provo-
 cation on my part.
   In  the morning  of the day that was  appointed for me
 to be removed to Salem for trialj I Avas taken out of my
 loathsome  cell by the jailor,  who gave me  water to
 Avash myself Avith,  and I was permitted to take my break-
 fast by a fire, Avhich Avas the first time I had seen any
 for thirty  days, and could not bear to sit near it in  con-
 sequence  of its causing me to feel faint.  As soon as I
 had eaten  my breakfast, the iron shackles Avere brought
 and put on my hands, Avhich I was obliged to Avear till I
 got  to Salem.   The Aveather was very  cold,  and the
 going  bad; Ave stopped  but once  on  the way, the dis-
 tance  being about twenty-six miles.  On our  arrival, I
 Avas delivered over to the care of the keeper of the prison
 in Salem,  and Avas confined in a  room in the second
,story,  Avhich Avas  more comfortable than the one I had
 left.  I was soon informed that Judge Parsons Avas sick,
 and had  put off my trial for ten days;  so  I  had  to re-
 concile myself to  the idea of being confined ten  days
 more Avithout fire.   However I Avas not Avithout friends;
 Elder  Bolles and  Capt.  Russell came to see me the first
 night,  and  Mrs.  Russell sent her servant twice every day
 with warm  coffee,  and other  things for my comfort, for
 which  I have always been grateful; and Mrs. Perkins,
 whom  I had cured of a dropsy, sent for my clothes to
 wash against the day of my trial.
   Many of my friends came to Salem to attend my  trial;
 some as Avirnesses, and others to afford me any assistance
 in  their  power.   A feAV days before my  trial, Judge
 Rice and  Mr. Bartlett, whom  I had  employed  as my
 lawyer, held a consultation Avith me, as to the arrange-
 ments necessary to be made; when it was  decided that 
Of Samuel Thomson.              101
 it would  be best to have other counsel; and Mr. Story
 was agreed upon, who engaged in my cause.  I  had
 also engaged Mr.  Bannister, of Newburyport, to assist
 in the  trial; but he Avas of no benefit to me, and after-
 wards sued  me  for fifty dollars,  at fifty miles  distance,
 to put  me  to great expense.  In order to be  prepared
 for the trial, my counsel held a consultation  together,
 and  examined the  principal Avitnesses in  the  defence.
 Mr.  Bolles,  Judge Rice, and several others gave great
 satisfaction as to the value and usefulness of the  medi-
 cine, and the  variety  of cures that had been  perform-
 ed Avith it within their knoAvledge.   Dr.  Fuller,  of Mil-
 ford, N.  H. was present  and made  many statements
 in my  favor,  as to the value  of the  medicine,  and
 advised to  have  Dr.  Cutler, of Hamilton,  summoned,
 which was done.  Every thing Avas done by my  friends
 that  was  in their power, to assist  me and give  me  a
 chance for a fair  trial, for which I shall always  feel very
 grateful.
  On the 20th  day of December, 1809, the  Supreme
 Court convened to hear my trial, at which Judge Parsons
 presided,   Avith Judges  SeAvall   and Parker,  assistant
 Judges.   The  case  was called about ten o'clock in the
 morning,  and the chief justice ordered me to be brought
 from the  prison  and arraigned at the bar  for  trial.  I
 was  Avaited on by two constables,  one on my right  and
 the other  on my left, in which situation I  was brought
 from  the  jail to  the  court-house  and placed in  the
 bar.   The  court-house was so crowded Avith  the  peo-
 ple,  that  it Avas  with much difficulty Ave could  get in.
 After I Avas placed  in  the criminal seat,  a chair  was
 handed  me  and  I sat  down to Avait for further  orders.
 Here I Avas the object for this great concourse of people
 to look at;   some Avith  pity,  others with  scorn.   In  a
 feAV  minutes I was directed to rise and hold up  my right
 hand, to hear the indictment read, Avhich the grand  jury
had  upon  their oaths presented against me.  It was in
common form, stating that I had   with malice  afore-
thought, murdered  Ezra Lovett, Avith lobelia, a  deadly
poison.  I Avas then directed by the  court to plead to the
indictment, guilty, or not guilty;  I plead not guilty, and
             9* 
102           Narrative of the Life, Sec
the usual forms, in such cases, Avere passed through, the
jury called and sworn, and the trial commenced.
  The Solicitor General arose, and opened the case on
the  part of the  Commomvealth,  and made many hard
statements against me,  Avhich he said he was  about to
proA'e;  he stated that I had at sundry times killed my
patients with the same poison.  The first Avitness called
to the stand, on the  part of the  government,  Avas Mr.
Lovett, the father of  the young man that I  was accused
of killing.  He made a tolerable fair statement of the
affair in general, particularly of coming after me several
times before I could attend; though I think he exagger-
ated many things against mo, and told over several ficti-
tious and  ridiculous names, which people had  given my
medicine,  by  Avay of ridicule, such as bull-dog,  ram-cat,
screAV-auger,  and belly-my-grizzle;  all of which had a
tendency to prejudice the court and jury  against me;
and  I also thought that he omitted to tell  many things in
my favor,  that  must  have been  within.his knoAvledge;
but there  was  nothing in his evidence that in the least
criminated me,  or supported the charges in the  indict-
ment.
  The next witness called, was Dr. Howe,  to prove that
1 had  administered  the  poison  alleged in the  indict-
ment.   He stated  that  1 gave the  poison to  the said
Lovett, and produced a sample of it, which he said was
the  root of lobelia.   The Judge  asked him  if he was
positive that  it was  lobelia;  he said he Avas,  and that
1 called it coffee.  The sample  was  handed round for
the court  to examine, and they all appeared to be afraid
of it,  and  after they had  all satisfied their  curiosity,
Judge Rice  took it in his hand  and  ate it, which very
much  surprised them.   The Solicitor General asked
him  if  he  meant to poison himself in presence  of the
court.   He said it would not hurt  him to eat a peck
of it,  which  seemed to strike the court with astonish-
ment   Dr.  Howe Avas  then called at my request for
cross-examination, and  Mr.  Story   asked  him to de-
scribe lobelia,  hoAV it looked when growing, as he had
sworn to it by the taste and smell.   This seemed  to put
him to a  stand, and after being speechless for several
minutes, he said he had not seen any so long, he should 
Of Samuel Thomson.
103
not know it if he should see it at this time.   This so com-
pletely contradicted and did away all that he had  before
stated, that he went off the stand quite cast down.
  Dr. Cutler was called on to inform the court what the
medicine was  that Dr. Howe had declared so positively
to be lobelia, and after examining it, he said that it ap-
peared t<5 him to be marsh-rosemary, which was the fact.
So far, all they had proved against me was, that I had
given the young man some marsh-rosemary, which Dr.
Cutler had declared to be a good medicine.
  Some young  Avomen were brought  forward as wit-
nesses, Avhom I had no knowledge of ever seeing before.
They made some of the most  absurd  and  ridiculous
statements about the medicine, that they said I gave the
young  man, that were probably ever made in  a court  of
justice before;  some of which  were too indecent to be
here repeated.   One of them  said that I  croAvded my
puke  down his throat, and he cried murder till he died.
This Avas well known to be a  falsehood,  and that the
story Avas Avholly made  up by my  enemies,  as well  as
what had been  before  stated by those women, for the
purpose of trying to make  out something against me.   I
had  tAvo unimpeachable witnesses  in  court,  ready  to
swear  that I never saw the  young man for more  than
fourteen  hours before he died, during all Avhich time he
was in the care of Dr. Howe; but by not having an op-
portunity to make my defence,  in consequence of the
government not making out their case against me, could
not bring them fonvard.
   John Lemon Avas the  next witness brought fonvard on
the part of the Commonwealth, and Avas directed to state
what he kneAV about the prisoner at the bar.   He stated
that he had been out of health for two years, being much
troubled  Avith a pain in  his breast,  and was so bad that
he  was unable to Avork; that he could get no help from
the doctors; that he applied  to me  and I had cured him
in one Aveek;  and that Avas all he kneAV about the pris-
oner at the bar.   By this time Judge'Parsons  appeared
to be out of patience, and said he  wondered what they
had for a  grand jury, to find a bill on such  evidence.
The Solicitor General said he had more evidence which
he Avished to bring fonvard. 
104            Narrative of the Life, Sfc
   Dr. French was called, and as he had been the most
busy actor in the whole business of getting me indicted,
and had been the principal cause, by his own evidence,
as I was informed, of the grand jury finding a bill against
me, it was expected that his evidence  noAV would be suf-
ficient to condemn me at once;  but it  turned out like the
rest, to amount to nothing.  He was asked if he knew
the  prisoner at the bar;  he said he did.  He Avas then
directed to state what he knew about him.  He said the
prisoner had  practised in the  part of the country where
he lived, with good success; and his medicine was harm-
less,  being gathered by the  children for the use of the
families.  The Judge was about  to charge the jury, when
the  Solicitor General arose and  said, that if it Avas not
proved to be murder, it might  be found for manslaughter.
The Judge said, you have nothing  against the man, and
again  repeated that  he  wondered Avhat  they had for a
grand jury.
   In his charge to the jury,  the Judge  stated that the
prisoner had  broken no laAV, common  or  statute,  and
quoted Hale,  who says, any person may administer medi-
cine with an intention to do good;  and if it has the con-
trary effect from his expectation, and kills the patient, it
is  not murder, nor even manslaughter.   If  doctors must
risk, the lives of their patients, who Avould practise?  He
quoted another clause of law from Blackstone, Avho says,
where no malice is, no  action  lies.*

  * As the learned Judge could find no law,  common or statute, to
punish the accused, he directed or advised  those present to stop
this quackery, as he called it., and for  this purpose, to petition the
Legislature to- make a l»w  that should make it penal  for  all  who
should practise without license from some medical college ; to de-
bar them of law to collect their debts  ; and if this  shoufd not an-
swer, to make it penal by fine and imprisonment.
  This hint, thus given by the Judge, was  seized upon  first in
Massachusetts; from thence if has spread H>  nearly all the Slates
in  the  Union.  From this s »urce may be traced all  those uncon-
stitutional laws  which have been enacted in relation to  this sub-
ject, and all those vexatious  suits which I  have had to attend  in
many of the States, from Massachusetts to South Carolina more
or less almost every year  sin e.   But I have  been  able  to break
them down  by  my patent  being from higher  authority, which
Judge Parsons could not prevent, or perhaps he never thought of.
He however made his own report, and handed  it to the reporter 
Of Samuel Thomson.
105
  The charge  being given to the jury, they retired  for
about five minutes, and returned into court and gave in
their verdict of Not Guilty.
  1 was  then honorably acquitted, without  having had
an opportunity to have my witnesses examined, by whom
I expected to have proyed the usefulness and importance
of my discovery before  a large assembly of people, by
the testimony of about tAventy-five creditable men,  who
were  present at the trial; besides contradicting all the
evidence produced against me.  Afier the trial was over,
I was invited to  the  Sun Tavern to supper, where  we
enjoyed ourselves for the evening.  When we sat  down
to the table, several doctors were present, Avho were so
offended  at my being acquitted, that they  left the table,
which made me think of what the Scripture says, that
"the  wicked flee Avhen  no man pursueth, but the righte-
ous are as bold as a lion."
  During the evening, I consulted with my friends upon
the subject of prosecuting Dr. French, and making him
pay damages for his  abuse to me Avhen a prisoner at his
house, in saying that I had murdered fifty, and he could
prove it;  and after having had a fair chance, and having
failed to  prove  one, it was thought to be a favorable  op-
portunity to  make him  pay something for  his conduct
towards  me,  in causing me so much suffering, and for'
the trouble he  had made me and my friends.   A prose-
cution Avas agreed  upon, and to bring the action  in  the
county of York.  Judge Rice agreed to be my bail, and
likewise  he undertook to pay my laAvyers  and witnesses
for  the above  trial,  and paid Mr. Bartlett  forty dollars
that night.   Mr. Story was paid twenty dollars by a con-
tribution  of my friends in Salem.   I staid at Mrs. Rus-
set's that night; I had but little sleep, for my mind was
so much agitated, when I came to consider what I had
gone  through, and  the  risk I had run in escaping  the
snares of my  enemies,  Avith  the  anxiety of my  family
till  they  got  the  news  of my acquittal,  that  sleep fled
from my  eyelids,  and I Avas  more  confused than Avhen in
prison.
which is  published in the (ith volume of Massachusetts' Reports,
and is resorted to by all the ene nice of the practice, for a defence
against the system. 
106           Narrative of the Life, Sfc
  The next day I went to Salisbury,  and stopped with
Mr.  Osgood, where I was first arrested.  Mrs. Osgood
and  a young woman who had been employed by me as
a nurse, assisted to clean my clothes, and clear me of
some troublesome companions  I  had brought with me
from  the prison;  and when I had paid a visit to all my
old  friends, Avho were  very  glad to see me, I went to
Portsmouth, to recover my health, which Avas very much
impaired,  by being confined  forty days  in  those filthy
and cold prisons, in the coldest  part of a  remarkably
cold  winter.  My friends attended upon me,  and carried
me through a regular course of medicine;  but the first
operation of it  had little effect, in consequence of my
blood being so much chilled,  and  it was  a long time be-
fore I could raise a perspiration that would  hold.  I am
confident that I shculd not have lived through  the  win-
ter in prison, and believe that this was their plan; for
which reason they managed to have me indicted for mur-
der;  knowing in that case there could be no bail taken,
and  there would be no court  at Avhich I  could  be tried,
for nearly a year, I should have to lay in prison during
that  time,  and  that I should  probably die there; or in
any case, they Avould get rid of me for one year at least,
whether there Avas any thing proved against me or not;
and in that  time; the doctors  and  their dupes would  be
enabled to run doAvn the credit of my medicine,  and put
my practice into  disrepute among  the  people;  but I
have been able, by good fortune, and the kind assistance
of my friends, to defeat all their  plans.   Most of those
that have been instrumental in trying to destroy me and
my practice,  have had some judgment befall them  as a
reAvard for  their unjust persecutions  and malicious con-
duct  towards me.  I Avas credibly informed that Dea-
con Pecker,  one of the grand jury  that found  a bill
against me, went Avith  Dr. French, to hunt up evidence
to come before himself, in order  to  have me  indicted.
A short time after I Avas put in prison,  he had a stroke
of the palsy, and has remained ever since, [1822,] one
half of his  body and limbs useless.    Dr. French, one
year   after  I was acquitted,   was  brought to the same
bar in Avhich I  Avas  placed, and convicted  for  rob-
bing   a grave yard of a dead body,  which  it was re- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             107
ported he sold for sixty dollars.   He lost, all his credit,
and was obliged to quit his country. *
  In  the month of January of 1810, I returned home
to my family,  and  staid till I had in some measure re-
covered my loss of health by imprisonment.  In March
I returned to • Portsmouth, and after taking the advice
of my friends, made  arrangements for prosecuting Dr.
French.   The prosecution was commenced,  and he
was  summoned before the  court of common  pleas,  in
the County of York.   Judge Rice undertook  the prin-
cipal management  of the business, and became my bail.
The  action was  called  and carried to the  Supreme
Court by  demurer, which was to set at Alfred, in Oc-
tober.  I attended with my Avitnesses, and  expected to
have  gone to trial; and after waiting several days to
know what the defence was going to be, the counsel for
the defendant made their plea of justification.  I found
that their plan Avas to  prove that I had murdered sundry
persons  whom I had  attended,  and by that means  to
make it out  that any one had a right to call me a mur-
derer; and that for this purpose, Dr. French had been
to every place where I had practised, collecting every
case of the death of any that  I  had attended in this
part  of the country, and had made out  eight cases,  all
of which have been before mentioned in 'this narrative,
most of whom had been  given over by the  doctors,  as
past  cure,  and the others known to be desperate cases.
He had obtained the depositions of all that were preju-
diced against  me, and had collected a mass of evidence
to support  his defence.   After finding what  their plan
was, it  was thought necessary for me  to go  to all the
places where  they had been, and get evidence to contra-
dict these  highly colored and exaggerated  statements,
and I Avas under the necessity of requesting a delay of
the trial for one week, which was granted.  I proceeded
immediately,  and took the depositions of those  who were
knowing to the facts;  but found that  these  were not
sufficient, and went again to Deerfield, and summoned two

  * 1 do not pretend that these things followed on account of their
treatment to me; but  I only state them as matters of fact; for so it
happened. 
108
Narrative of the Life, Sjc
  men to appear at court, and give their verbal testimony.
  When I had got  ready to come to trial, the defendant
  Avas not  ready,  and got  it put off to  the next term,
  which would be  holden at York the next year.  In the
  spring,  before the setting of the  court, I Avent to the
  clerk's office to find Avhat the depositions were that were
  filed against me; and the  Avhole appeared to be a series
  of exaggerated statements, made by those who Avere gov-
  erned by their prejudices, without having but very little,
  if any,  knowledge of the facts, more  than what they
  obtained by hearsay.   This caused me to redouble my
  diligence to get Avitnesses to appear on the stand to con-
  tradict their testimony, on each case they had  alleged
  against me.
     On the  day appointed  for the trial, every thing  was
  prepared on my part to have a fair hearing.   Judge Par-
  sons Avas on the  bench, and seemed, as 1 thought, to be
  determined to have the case go against me;  for he ap-
  peared to know every thing that was to be in the defence
  beforehand.  I made out my  case by proving the words
  uttered by  the defendant,  Avhich Avere in my declaration.
  They then  proceeded in the defence, to make out the
  eight cases of murder, which were alleged  against me.
  The first was the case of a man by the name of Hub-
  bard, of Eliot, who had been dead above two years, the
  particulars of which I have before  stated.   The  witness
  brought to  support this base, told a very lamentable and
  highly colored story;  and I brought on the  stand a very
  respectable witness,  Avho completely contradicted the
  whole statement.
     The next cases brought up, were the three children
  of Mr.  Fulsom, of Deerfield, the particulars of which
  have been  before  related.   A  number of depositions
  were read, which the defendant had obtained of those
  that had been my enemies,  and who knew nothing of
  the  matter,  more than hearsay reports among them-
^  selves.  They gave a very highly colored  account of
  my treatment of the children; so much  so,  that it would
  appear by their stories, that I had taken them in health,
  and had roasted them to death;  never saying  a word
  about the  fifteen that I cured, some of which had been
  given over by  the  doctors.   To  rebut  the evidence 
Of Samuel Thomson.             109
that  was  produced  to  prove that I had  killed  those
children, I brought on to the stand, two respectable wit-
nesses, who were knowing to all the  circumstances, be-
ing present at the time of  my attending the family.
They gave a correct and particular  account  of all the
circumstances as  they took place;  of the situation of
the family when I first saw them, and the violence of
the disorder;  how the doctors had lost all their patients
that had been attacked with the disorder before 1 came;
with the number that I cured by my mode of practice;
and that the  doctors afterwards adopted my plan, and
saved the  lives  of a number by it.  The  Judge inter-
rupted them and read some of the depositions over again;
but these witnesses stated that they Avere  not true, and
went on to give  some of the  particulars  of the opposi-
tion I met Avith in my practice from those very persons,
whose depositions  had been read, when the Judge seem-
ed put out, and attempted to  stop them, saying  they had
said  enough.  They said that having sworn  to tell the
whole truth, they felt it their duty  to do it.
  They next brought on the case of a Avoman who had
died at  Beverly, that I  had attended, and with  it the
case of Ezra  Lovett, whom I had been  tried for  mur-
dering.   I was very glad  to  have this case brought  up
again,  as I wished  to have an opportunity to prove  all
the facts relating to it, Avhich I had been prevented from
doing on  my  trial, in consequence  of being acquitted
without  making any defence.  The evidence  brought
forward to support this  case, Avere  the  depositions of
those who had testified against me  on my trial at Salem;
they were  pretty near  the  same as  then  given.  After
those  depositions were read, I called  on  to  the  stand
Elder Williams and Mr. Raymond, Avho gave all the par-
ticulars  of my attending upon the young man, as has
been  before  related, which completely contradicted all
the depositions they had read in the case. The Judge
interrupted these witnesses, and read  the deposition  of
the girl, who stated that  I crowded my pukes  down the
patient's throat, and he cried murder  till he died.  They
both  positively testified,  that  there Avas not a  word  of it
true-  for  when  he died, and for  twelve  hours before,
he was  under the care  of Dr. Howe,  during which
              10 
110           Narrative of the Life, Sec
time I did not see him.  As to the woman in Beverl>,
Avhom they tried to make  out that  I  murdered, it  wag
proved by these Avitnesses, that she was in a dying con-
dition when I first saw her, and that I so stated it as 7
opinion at the time, and that my medicine would not help
her.
  The next case was that of Mrs. Lifford, who  died at
Salisbury, the particulars  of which have  been before
given.   The  evidence brought to prove this  case of
murder, was the deposition of the  woman who nursed
her, and by whose neglect the patient took cold, after
the medicine had a very favorable operation, and ap-
pearances Avere much in  her favor; in consequence of
which she had a relapse, and I could  not produce  any
effect upon her  by the  medicine  aftenvards.   This
woman confessed at the time,  that she was the only one
to blame, and that no fault ought to be attached to  me;
but she afterwards was influenced by Dr. French to turn
against  me, and  made threats that she would swear to
any thing to injure me.  After her deposition was read,
I brought witnesses on the stand,  who completely con-
tradicted every thing contained in it; but the Judge read
her deposition  to the jury, and directed them to  pay
attention to that  in preference to  the  witnesses on the
stand.
  The  eighth  and last  case Avas  that of  the son of
Thomas  Neal,  of Portsmouth, who was very violently
attacked,  and was attended by Dr.  Cutter.  I Avas call-
ed on at night to attend  him, and  thought there was a
possibility of helping him; but the  man with  whom he
lived, would not  consent that I should do any thing for
him, and I went away, after telling them that  he Avould
be  either worse  or better before  morning,  and if he
was worse he  would  die.   I was  called to visit him in
the morning,  and was informed that he was worse  and
that his  master had consented to have me attend upon
him.  I told his father it was undoubtedly  too late; but
he insisted upon it so much, I attended, and  told them
the chance was very small for doing him any good,  as  I
 considered it a desperate case.  After being very hardly
 urged by his friends, I gave him some medicine, but it
 had no effect, and about sun-down he died.  The doctor 
Of Samuel Thomson.             Ill
who attended him was brought forward to prove that I
murdered the patient.-  If I  recollect rightly, he SAVore
that the patient had the  dropsy in the brain,  and that
tl' ' disorder had turned, and he Avas in  a fair way to re-
cover ;  but I came and gave him my poison pukes, and
killed him.   I  brought forward evidence Avho  swore to
the facts  as I  have above  related  them,  and that the
doctor  would give no encouragement of helping the pa-
tient.   The father of the young man gave his evidence,
and stated that the son was in a dying  situation when I
gave him  medicine; but the Judge interrupted  him, and
asked if he was a doctor, to which he answered no.   He
then  said the  doctor has stated that his  disorder had
turned,  and  he Avas getting better;  are you  going to
contradict the doctor? and thus managed to do away his
testimony.
   I have  thus given a brief sketch of the evidence in
the eight  cases, which were attempted to be proved as
murder, in  order to make out justification  on  the part
of the defendant,  with my defence to  the same, in as
correct  a manner as I am able  from memory; and am
confident  that  every circumstance as I have related  it,
can be  substantially proved by living witnesses.   After
the evidence Avas gone  through,  the  lawyers on both
sides  made  their pleas, making  the case on my part as
good  and as bad as they  could.  The Judge then  gave
his charge  to  the jury, which was considered  by those
who heard it, to be the most prejudiced and partial one
that had ever been heard before.  He made use of every
means to  raise the passions of the jury, and turn them
against  me;  stating that  the defendant  was completely
justified in calling me a murderer;  for if I was not guilty
of wilful murder, it was barbarous ignorant murder; and
he even abused my lawyers for taking up for me, say-
ing that they ought to be paid in screw-augers and bull-
dogs.   The  people that  Avere present  were very much
disgusted at his conduct, and they expressed themselves
very freely upon the subject.  It was said by some, that
our courts, instead of being courts of justice, had be-
come courts of prejudice.   One man said that he hoped
Judge  Parsons would never have another opportunity to
sit on a cause; which prediction turned out true,  for  he 
112           Narrative of the Life, Sec
 soon after had a stroke of the palsy, and as I am inform-
 ed,  died before the next court met.   The jury brought
 in their verdict of justification on the  part of the defend-
 ant, and throwed the Avhole cost on me, which amounted
 to about tAvo thousand dollars.
   When I found Iioav the case Avas going to turn, I Avent to
 Portsmouth,  and soon  after made arrangements to pay
 the costs.  Judge Rice Avas my bail, and undertook to pay
 all the bills that I had not paid at the  time.  On my set-
 tlement  Avith him, I owed  him six hundred  dollars  for
 money that  he had advanced on my account; for Avhich
 I had no Avay to secure him, but by giving  him a mort-
 gage of my farm; which I did, and it Avas put on record,
 and never known to any of my friends till I had paid it
 up.  He charged nothing for all  his  time and trouble,
 through the Avhole  of  my persecutions  and trials,  for
 which,  and for  his kindness and friendship  on all occa-
 sions, I shall ever  consider myself under the  greatest
 obligations.
   Some time in the spring of the year previous to  this
 trial at York, a young man came to  me at Portsmouth,
 by the name of Alfred  Carpenter, from the  town where
 my  family lived.  He  was recommended to me by his
 neighbors, as being lame and poor, and wanted my as-
 sistance.  I took him out of pity, and instructed him  in
 my mode of practice, under the expectation that it would
 be a benefit to him, and thereby  he would be able to as-
 sist me in attending the sick.
  About the first of June, 1811,  I received a letter front
Eastport, where I had  been the fall  before and  shown
some of my mode of practice.   Some of the people  in
that  place were so well satisfied with  it, that seven men
had  subscribed their names to the letter,  requesting mc
to come there and practise in the fevers,  which prevail-
ed in those parts.   I left  the care of my business  at
Portsmouth  Avith Mr. Carpenter, my apprentice,  and
immediately took passage for Eastport, where I arrived
about the middle of June.  I was very gladly received
by those who had wrote to me, and by those  with Avhom
I had become acquainted when there  before.   I agreed
to practise under the protection of those  who  had sent
for me, until I  had convinced  them of  its utility,  to 
Of Samuel TJiomson.             113
which they consented, and promised me all the assist-
ance in their power.  I was soon called on to practise,
and had all the most desperate cases that could be found,
in all of which I met with very great success.   The
first  cases I attended in presence of the  committee,
were five desperate cases of consumption.  These pa-
tients were all relieved in three Aveeks, and were all liv-
ing this  present year, (1831.)  While  attending  these
people,  I was  called upon to  attend a young  man on
board a  vessel, who had his foot bruised to pieces  by a
block falling from mast-head, weighing thirteen pounds.
It being done five days before I saw him, it was mortifi-
ed, and the whole body in convulsions.  I took off three
toes  and  set the fourth, and cured  him in five weeks
with the usual practice.  While attending him, I had to
pass a doctor's shop.   A scythe was thrown at me,  point
first, about the distance of two rods.   It passed between
my feet without  doing any injury.   In consequence of
this  assault,  I sent  word  to all the doctors who  had  op-
posed me, that for the  politeness with which they had
treated  me, I would  compensate them by taking off the
burden  of being  called up at night,  and thus breaking
their  rest, and would give them the chance of laying in
bed until noon, Avithout being disturbed by their patients.
  I Avas called on the night folloAving to attend a woman
in child-bed.   I attended according to my promise, and
let them rest; and if  I had remained there, they might
have  rested  until the present time, as I attended to all#
branches in practice.
  There  was,  I think, at that time,  five practising doc-
tors  on the  Island, among whom my success in curing
the sick  caused  great alarm; and I soon experienced
the same determined  opposition from them, with all  the
arts and plans to  destroy me and my practice, that I had
experienced from the same class of men in other places.
In order to show some of their conduct towards me, I
shall relate  the particulars of some of the cases I attend-
ed ;  but most of  the numerous cases which I had  under
my care, were so nearly similar to those that have been
already  given, and  my mode of treating them being
about  the same, that it  will  be unnecessary to repeat
 them.
               10* 
114           Narrative of the Life, Syc.
   I Avas sent for to visit a Mrs. Lovett, Avho was the
 daughter of Mr. Delisdernier, at whose house I attend-
 ed her.  She had the dropsy,  and had  been  under the
 care  of one of the doctors,  till he had given her  over
 as incurable.   I  Avent to see her in company Avith the
 doctor;  but  we could not agree as to the  cause  and
 remedy.   I asked him several questions concerning the
 power of the  elements,  and  the  effect of heat on the
 human system.  He  ansAvered that the  elements  had
 nothing to  do with the case.  After giving him my ideas
 on the subject,  Avhich all appeared to be neAv to him,  1
 told him  that the contending powers in this case were be-
 tween the fire and Avater; and if I could get heat enough
 in the body to make the water volatile, it could not  stay
 in the body.  He said  that any thing  Avarm  would not
 answer for her.  I then asked him how he thought the
 hottest  medicine would  do.   He said it would produce
 immediate  death.   I  then told him that if  I did  any
 thing for her,  I should administer the hottest  medicine  I
 could give.  Finding there Avould be a disadvantage on
 my part in doing any thing for her, as the doctor and  I
 could not agree, I left the house.   I was followed by the
 father and mother  and  the doctor, Avho all  insisted on
 my returning; but I told them that notwithstanding the
 doctor had given her over, if I was to attend her and
 she should die,  they would say that I killed her.  They
 promised that, let the consequences be Avhat they might,
kno blame should be alleged against me.  Upon which  I
 agreed that I would stop,  on condition that  two of my
 friends should be present as witnesses to Avhat was  said,
 and see the  first process of the medicine,  which  was
 agreed to,  and they were sent for, and heard  the state-
 ments of the doctor and family.  A Capt. Mitchell,  from
 New York, was also present,  and  heard the conversation
 between me and the doctor; and being pleased with the
 principles  that I laid down, which excited  his curiosity
 so much that he expressed  a  wish to be present and see
 the operation of the medicine, and staid accordingly.
   The doctor pretended to be going  away  till after  1
 had  given the first medicine, and appeared to be  very
 busy going out and coming in, and had  much conversa-
 tion  with Mrs. Lovett, the husband's mother, who  was 
Of Samuel Thomson.             115
the nurse.  After  the first medicine had  done,  which
operated very favorably,  I  gave directions Avhat  to  do,
and  particularly to keep the  patient  in perspiration
during the night, and left medicine for that purpose;  we
then Avent home.   In the morning I called to  see her,
and to  my surprise  found her sitting  Avith the Avindow
up,  and  exposed to the air  as  much  as  possible;  on
examination, I found that no  medicine had been used.
On inquiry, I found that the doctor  had been in fre-
quently to see  her; and on asking why they  had  not
folloAved my directions, the nurse appeared very cross,
and said  she would not  take any of my  medicine.  I
told them that  they had not killed her, but I did   not
thank them for  their good will any more than if they
had done it.  I was about leaving the house, as I found
my directions would not  be attended to by the nurse,
but Capt. Mitchell was  very  urgent for me to continiTe.
I told him that if he would attend upon her and see  the
medicine  given  and every thing done according to  my
directions, I would  continue, to Avhich he agreed.  I
left the  patient in his care, and he attended her faithful-
ly through the day;  at night I visited her, and found  the
SAvelling began to abate.   He  continued his care of her,
and in three days she Avas able to go up  and down stairs,
and in  one  week  she Avas well.  By  the influence of
the doctor, the Avoman and the husband all turned against
me, and I never received any thing for my trouble, but
their abuse and slander.   The woman's father and Capt.
Mitchell,  however,  gave me all credit for the cure, and
they both  purchased a right.
  About a year  after, at a private assembly of women,
this Mrs. Lovett, the mother-in-law of the sick  woman,
gave  an account of the  whole transaction, and stated
that there was a,private interview betAveen  her  and  the
doctor,  and it was agreed to  go contrary to  my direc-
tions, and  the  doctor said she Avould die in the course
of the night; and that he should take me up for  murder,
and that she must  be  an evidence.  This appeared to
be  almost  incredible, that they should be so void of  all
human  feelings, as to be Avilling to have the woman die,
in order to have the opportunity to take me up for mur-
der; but two women who were present when she told 
116           Narrative of the Life, Sec

the story,  gave their depositions proving the facts as
above stated.
  I continued my practice on the Island, at Lubec, and
on the main, paying my most particular attention to those
who sent for me, and wanted  information.  I practised
under their  inspection about five weeks,  and then told
them  that I had  done enough for a trial,  to prove the
use of the  medicine, and should do no more till I kneAV
whether a  society could be  formed.   They expressed
their  entire  satisfaction, and wished  to have a society
formed; a meeting was called for that purpose,  and six-
teen signed the articles at the first meeting.   After this,
a meeting was held every week,, at which a lecture was
given for the purpose of giving information, and for the
admission of members; and eight each Aveek were added
during the  summer.  In the fall, I went back to Ports-
mouth to attend  to  my business there, and see to the
society which had been formed in that place.
  After staying in  Portsmouth a few weeks to give in-
formation to the people, and procuring a stock of medi-
cine,  I  made arrangements to return to Eastport; and
some time in the  month of October, I set sail  for that
place, taking with me my apprentice and Stephen Sewell.
On my arrival, I  introduced  Mr. Carpenter as my ap-
prentice, and got Mr. Sewell into a school as an assist-
ant; in which he had fifteen dollars a month, and all his
leisure time he  attended to gain information of the prac-
tice.  I took a small shop, and put into it a o-ood assort-
ment of medicine, and attended to practice till I had got
Mr. Carpenter introduced among the  people.
   While practising here, I frequently heard of the abuse
and scandal  toAvards me and my practice,  from Mrs.
Lovett, the old Avoman before mentioned, as the nurse of
her  son's wife, whom I cured of the dropsy.  This old
woman was a singular character, and  was called a witch
by the people;  I have no faith  in these kind of things,
yet her conduct,  and certain circumstances that took
place, Avere very extraordinary, and puzzled  and aston-
ished me more than any thing I had ever met with,
and which  I have  never been  able  to account  for  to
this day.  Mr.  Carpenter  Avas attending a man, where
this woman  often visited, Avho had the consumption, and 
Of Samuel Tlwmson.             117
his child, which was sick and hiad fits.  He came to me
and said that the medicine he gave Avould not have  its
usual effect;  that the emetic, instead of causing them
to vomit, Avould make them choke and almost strangle.
I attended them  myself, and on giving the medicine, it
would operate on the man, and not on the child  at one
time, and  the  next  time on the child and not on  him.
Sometimes the child would lay in fits, for a whole night,
and nothing would have any effect upon it;  in the morn-
ing it would come out of them and appear to be quite
bright and lively.  I had never known the medicine to
fail of producing some effect  before,  Avhere the patient
Avas not  so far  gone as not to have life enough left to
build upon.  I can give no reason for this strange cir-
cumstance,  satisfactory to  myself,  or Avhich Avould  be
thought  reasonable by the readers.  The  old Avoman,
before mentioned, Avas frequently in and out of the house
where the  man and  child were, and seemed to be very
much interested  about them;  when she Avas gone the
child would frequently go into violent fits,  and when I
steamed  it, it Avas said the old  woman would be in great
distress.  It caused much conversation among the neigh-
bors; they believed  it to  be the poAver of witchcraft;
and that the old woman had a control over the destinies
of the man and  child, and was determined to destroy
them, in  order to get her revenge on me.  I have no be-
lief in these things;  but must confess that  her strange
conduct,  and the extraordinary circumstances  attending
the whole  affair, baffled me more than any thing I had
ever met Avith before.   I was unable to do any thing for
these two patients, except sometimes by a temporary re-
lief.   They continued to groAV  worse, and finding it  not
in my power to do them any good, I left them, and they
both soon after died.
  Whether the extraordinary circumstances attending
the tAvo cases above stated, Avere caused by a stratagem
of the doctors, in which the old woman was made their
agent, to injure me by causing in some  Avay or other
poisonous medicines to be administered to them in order
to prevent my medicine from having any salutary effect,
is Avhat I do not feel disposed to assert as a fact; but the
many cases in Avhich I have been certain that such things 
118           Narrative of the Life, Sec
have been done by the faculty, and their enmity  and
uniform opposition to my practice, both at this place and
elsewhere, as well  as the  confession made by the old
woman, would  tend  strongly to confirm such a belief.
I could mention  a great number of facts in addition to
what I have said in regard to this affair,  if necessary,
which appeared very  extraordinary to me and all who
witnessed them; but I think that enough has been said
on the subject,  and shall leave it to the public to decide
between us.  There were five doctors at Eastport when
I went there, who had a plenty of  business;  but my
success was  so great, and the people became so well
satisfied of foe superiority of my system of practice over
theirs,  that they were soon relieved from most of their
labours;  and in a short time after,  three of them had to
leave the place  for want of employment.
  I made arrangements to go back to Portsmouth to
spend the winter, and to leave Mr  Carpenter with the
care of my business and practice at Eastport, under the
protection  of John Burgin, Esq. a man who has  been
particularly friendly to me on all occasions.  I told  him
if he would be faithful in my business and in selling med-
icine, that he  should have  half the profits after the
money was collected; and in  December I  took passage
for Portsmouth.  We had a long and tedious passage of
eighteen days;  the  vessel took fire and our lives  were
exposed; but we were fortunate  enough  to  extinguish
it without much damage.  I stopped  in Portsmouth  and
practised some  time, then went to see my  family, where
I remained the rest of the  winter, in which time I  was
employed in collecting and preparing  medicine.   I re-
turned to Portsmouth  in the  spring  of 1812, and  after
making the necessary arrangements,  I set  sail for East-
port, where I arrived about the first of May.  I made a
settlement with  Mr.  Burgin, and paid him sixty-three dol-
lars  for the board of Mr. Carpenter, and  for shop rent.
Then furnished the shop with a complete  stock of med-
icine, to Avhich I added cordials and spirits, the  whole
of which  amounted to about tAvelve  hundred  dollars.
There was a great call for medicine this spring, and also
for practice. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             119
  After  arranging my business, I concluded, to return
to Portsmouth;  a short time before I came away, a Mr.
Whitney came  to me for assistance, and purchased a
right.  About the same time,  a Mr. McFadden  applied
also for  assistance,  who had  the consumption. I  left
them both under the care of Mr.  Carpenter, and imme-
diately  sailed for Portsmouth,  where I arrived in safety.
Soon after my arrival there, I  found there was going to
be  a war with Great Britain; in consequence of Avhich,
I returned immediately back  to  Eastport to settle  my
affairs in that place.  In a short time after my arrival
there,  the declaration of war came on, and I made  the
best arrangements of my business I could, leaving Mr.
Carpenter with  directions, if there should any thing
happen in consequence  of the Avar, so as to be necessary
for  him  to leave the Island, to come  to Portsmouth.
Before leaving the place, I called on him for some money,
and all he could pay me was sixty-four dollars, which
was but one dollar more than I had paid for his board
and shop  rent.   The people were in  such confusion it
was impossible to get a settlement with  any one.  I left
Mr. Whitney and Mr. McFadden in  his care,  and  left
the  Island  about the middle  of  June,  and arrived in
Portsmouth in forty-eight hours, where  I  remained  the
greater part of  the  summer;  during which time I had
constant  practice, and formed some regulations for  the
society,  which was established there, for the purpose .of
greater  facility  in  communicating information of  my
system of practice to the people who  wished my assist-
ance.  In the fall of  this year I published my pamphlet
of  directions, as many were urgent that  I  should  not
leave the place destitute of the knowledge of my prac-
tice and  medicine.   Many persons who  had been  the
most urgent for me  to  give them information,  now  be-
came the most backward,  and complained that the re-
strictions  were  too  hard with regard  to  their giving
the  information  to  others; some of  whom had never
done  the  least  thing to support the practice  or me.
When any of them  were sick they were ready enough
to  call on  me  for  assistance; and if I relieved them
iquick, they  thought it worth nothing,  and they run
out  against  my practice,  saying I deserved  no pay. 
120           Narrative of the Life, Syc
This sort  ©f treatment I  have met with  from a  cer-
tain class of people in all places where I have  practis-
ed.  I  Avas treated with  much attention  when   they
were in danger from sickness;  but Avhen I  had cured
them  I Avas  thought  no  more of.   This  kind of in-
gratitude I have experienced a pretty large share  of
during my practice.
   In the month of October, having got my business ar-
ranged, and a stock of medicine prepared, I returned  to
Eastport.  On my arrival there I went to my shop, and
found that Mr. Carpenter had gone home, and Mr.  Mc-
Fadden  and  a Mr.  Harvey, left very sick,  and only a
boy to take care of them and the shop.   Mr. McP'adden
Avas very low with a consumption, and unable to lay down.
I found there was  no regulation of the business  in the
shop, and  the property I  had, chiefly gone.  I  was
obliged to pay every attention to the sick men that  had
been left in this manner Avithout assistance; I attended
Mr. Harvey,  and got him  well enough to go home  in a
few days; and Mr. McFadden was so put to it for breath
and was so distressed,  that I had to be with him night
and day for  six weeks and three days,  when Mr. Car-
penter returned.  Previous to this, I found that Mr.  Mc-
Fadden had put his farm into the hands of Mr.  Carpen-
ter as security for his attending him in his sickness;  and
as he had  no  relations the  remainder to go  to him  and
me.  On inquiry into the business I found that  he  had
taken a deed in his own name and that  all the bills  and
accounts for  his practice  and medicine in my  absence
were in his own name.  I asked him  for a settlement
and he refused;  I then asked him what he meant by his
conduct; he said he OAved me nothing,  and bid me defi-
ance, saying if I chose  I  might take the  steps of the law.
I could not conceive what he meant by treating me .in
this  manner,  till  after  making further  inquiry,  I found
that he  had formed a connection in a  family;  that he
had been advised to take the course he did, and as I  had
no  receipt for the property, or any  Avritten agreement to
support  my claim, he could do  Avith me as he pleased,
and keep every thing  for his oAvn benefit.   The night
after he returned, and  before  I had any knowledge of-
his intentions,  he had robbed  the shop of all the  ac- 
                Of Samuel  Thomson.             121

counts,  notes,  bills, and all  other demands, so that  I
knew no more about the business than a stranger.
  I frequently tried to get a settlement with Carpenter:
but he  said he had  none to  make with me.  Mr. Mc-
Fadden died shortly after, and Carpenter came forward
and  claimed all his property, saying that it Avas all will-
ed to him.   I asked him Avhy it should be willed to him,
when I had borne the expense  and  done  the principal
part of the labor in taking care of him in  his sickness.
He said I must look to him for my pay.  I  told him that
it was very singular that my  apprentice had become my
master  in one year; he denied that he was my appren-
tice,  and said  that he was a partner; but I had said  in
order to encourage him to be faithful and do well by me,
he should have half the profits of the practice,  and that
I had no idea of his having  the whole of my property,
because I made  him this promise.  All I could say I
found would have no effect, for the more I tried to rea-
son  with  him, the more obstinate and impudent he Avas.
He even went so far as to say that the shop and all that
was in it was his, and that I had nothing to do Avith it;
he called a witness and forbid my having any concern in
the shop.  I found there was no other way for me, but
to turn him out and get rid of him in the best manner I
could;  to effect which  I applied to the owner of the shop
and got a writing to prove my claim to the  possession,
and immediately  took  measures to get rid of him.  He
made all the opposition,  and gave me all the trouble he
could;  he  went into the shop while I was absent, and
began to throAV the property out into the  street;  but I
soon put  a stop to his career, and secured the property
from his reach.  He still held all my books and accounts,
which put my business into such confusion that I was un-
able to collect any of the demands that were due; and
the  only  remedy I had was to advertise him as my ap-
prentice, and forbid all persons having any  dealings with
him on my account, or settling with  him.   My loss by
the dishonest conduct of this  man Avas very  considerable,
besides the injury to my feelings from his base ingrati-
tude to me; for I had taken  him from a state of poverty
and distress; supported him for a long time when he was
of very little benefit to me; and had instructed him in my
               11 
 122           Narrative of the Life, Syc.

system  of practice, and given him all the information in
my power; had introduced him into practice, and  given
him every encouragement#to enable him not only  to
assist me in  supporting my system of practice,  but to
benefit himself; and after all this, for him to turn against
me and treat  me in the manner  he did, was a deeper
wound to my feelings than the loss of my property.
  After having got clear of Carpenter, I hired a  young
man whom I  had cured and given  information to, and
put him into  the shop, and agreed to pay his board for
one year, and then returned to Portsmouth.   As Car-
penter  had bid me  defiance, and threatened  to sell my
rights,  and give information to any one who  would buy
of him; and  likewise I found that  there was another
plot got up to destroy  me; a petition had been sent on
to the Legislature, to have a law passed against quacke-
ry,  in which  I was named; and there  can be no  doubt
but that the  Avhole. object of it wa« to  stop my  prac-
tice; I was at  a  stand, and put  to  much perplexity to
know what course it was  best to steer.   I found  I had
enemies on every hand, and Avas in  danger of falling by
some  one  of them.   Every thing seemed to  conspire*
against me; but I had some friends avIio  have never for-
saken me; my courage remained good,  and my spirits
were never depressed; and it appeared  to me that the
more troubles I had to encounter, the more firmly I was
fixed in my determination to persevere unto the last.
  When I had maturely considered the subject  in all
its bearings, and  exercised my best  abilities in devising
some  plan by which  I could extricate myself from the
dangers Avhich threatened  me on every hand; and to
prevent those rights,  Avhich twenty years labor,  with
much suffering and great expense had given me a just
claim to,  from being  wrested from  me;  I finally  came
to the  conclusion that there was only one plan for me
to pursue  with any ehance of success; and that was
to go on  to Washington, and obtain a patent for my
discoveries; and  put  myself and medicine  under  the
protection  of the laws of my country, which would not
only secure to me the exclusive right to my system and
medicine, but would put me above the reach of the laws
of any state. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             123
  After coming to the conclusion to go on to the seat
of government and apply for a patent, made all necessa-
ry preparation for the journey, and started from Ports-
mouth on the 7th of February, and arrived at  Washing-
ton on the 23d!  The next day  after my arrival, I wait-
ed on Capt.  Nicholas Gilman. of Exeter, showed him my
credentials,  and asked his advice, what I must do to ob-
tain my object.  He said that he thought it could not be
made explicit enough to combine the system  and prac-
tice, without being too long; he however advised me to
carry my petition to the patent office;  which  Avas then
under  t.te control of Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State.
I went to the patent office, and  found that Dr.  Thornton
was  the Clerk, and presented him my  petition   He
asked  me many questions,  and  then  said I  must call
again; I called again the  next day,  and he said the peti-
tion  Avas not  right;  that  I  must  specify the  medicme,
and what disorder  it  must  be used in;  he said that those
medicines in  general terms to cure every thing,  was
quackery; that  I  must  particularly designate the medi-
cine,  and state how it must be used, and in what disease.
I then waited on Martin  Chittenden,  late governor of
Vermont,  who was  at Washington, and asked  his as-
sistance; he Avas from the same toAvn  Avhere my father
lived, and readily consented.  We made out the specifi-
cations in as correct a manner  as we could, and the
next day I carried them to the  patent  office,  and gave
them to Dr. Thornton; he  complained much about its
being  too short  a system,  and put me off once more.  I
applied again and asked  him  for  my patent;  but he
said I had not got the  botanic names for the articles,
and  referred me to  Dr. Mitchell, of  NeAV York,  Avho
was in the House of Representatives.   I applied to him,
and  requested him  to give  the  botanic names to the
articles mentioned in my  petition.  He wrote them, and
I carried them to Dr. Thornton; but he was  unable to
read  some  of the names, one  in particular;  he  said I
must go again  to Dr. Mitchell, and get him to give  it
in some other words, and not tell him that he  could not
read  it.  I went,  and the doctor Avrote the same  Avord
again, and  then Avrote, or  "Snap-dragon;"  which  I
carried to Dr. Thornton, and  requested him to put in 
124
Narrative of the Life, See.
the patent my names, and record it  for himself,  snap-
dragon, or any other name he chose.  He then talked
about sending me to Philadelphia, to Dr. Barton, to get
his names.
  I found  he  was determined to give me all the trouble
he could,  and if possible to defeat my getting a patent,
and I intimated  that I should go with my  complaint to
Mr. Monroe, upon  which he seemed a little more  dis-
posed to grant my request, and said he would do without
Dr. Barton's names.   He then Avent to work  to  make
out the patent,  and when he  came to the article of
myrrh, he found much fault about that, and said  it  was
good  for nothing.  I told him that I paid for the patent,
and if it Avas good for nothing it was my loss.   After
much trouble, I got it made out according to my request,
and the medicine to be  used in fevers, colics, dysen-
teries and  rheumatisms;  he then asked me if I wanted
any  additions, and I told him to add, "the three  first
numbers may be  used in any other case to  promote per-
spiration, or  as an emetic," Avhich he did.  I then  had
to go to the treasury  office and pay my money and bring
him duplicate receipts.  After all this trouble, I  at length
succeeded  in obtaining my patent according to  my
request, which was completed and delivered to  me on
the third day of March, 1813.
  The next day  after I had  completed  my  business,
was  the  day of  inauguration of the President  of the
United States; and I had the curiosity to  stay and see
the ceremonies on that  occasion.   After the  ceremo-
nies  were over  I Avent to the stage office and  found
that the seats Avere all engaged for a fortnight;  and  was
obliged to stay till the 13th before I could get a passage.
I then took passage in the stage and came on  to Phila-
delphia, Avhere I  remained several  days for the purpose
©f seeing  Drs. Rush and Barton, to confer with them
upon  the  subject of introducing  my system  of practice
to the world. I  spent considerable time with  Dr.  Bar-
ton;  but Dr. Rush Avas  so much engaged, that I  Avas
unable to  have but little conversation more than  stating
my business. He treated me with much politeness;  and
said  that whatever Dr.  Barton agreed to, he would give
his consent, so that my business was chiefly with the lat- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             125
ter gentleman.   I asked him many questions concerning
my system and  patent, and requested his advice of the
best mode of introducing it.  He  advised me to make
friends of some  celebrated doctors, and let them try the
medicine, and give the public such recommendation of it
as they should deem correct.  I told him  that I feared
that if I should do so, they would take the discovery to
themselves, and deprive me of all credit or benefit from
my labors, and  asked him if he thought that  would not
be the case.  He said it might with some, but he thought
there were some of the profession honorable enough not
to do it.   I asked him if he would make a trial of it him-
self, and  give it such credit as he  should find it to de-
serve.  He said that if 1  would trust it in his  hands,  he
should be pleased,  and  would do justice to me and the
cause.  I accordingly left some  of the  medicine Avith
him, with directions how to use it;  but before I received
any return from him, he  died;  and Dr. Rush  also died
some time previous; by which means I was  deprived of
the  influence of these two  men, Avhich I was confident
would otherwise have been exerted in my  favor.
  During my interviews with Dr. Barton, we had much
conversation upon the subject of the medical skill,  and
he being quite sociable and  pleasant, I expressed myself
very freely upon the fashionable mode of practice,  used
by the physicians of the present day.   He acknowledged
there was  no art or science so uncultivated as that of
medicine.  I  stated to  him pretty fully my opinion of
the absurdity of bleeding to cure  disease;  and  pointed
out its inconsistency,  inasmuch as the same method was
made use of  to cure a sick  man as to kill a well beast.
He laughed and said  it Avas  strange logic enough.
  While  in the  city of Philadelphia, I  examined into
their  mode of treating the yellow fever;  and found to
my astonishment that the treatment prescribed  by Dr.
Rush was to bleed twice a day for ten days.   It appear-
ed  to me very extraordinary to bleed twenty times to
cure  the  most  fatal disease ever known;  and am confi-
dent that the same manner of treatment would kill  one
half of those in  health.   This absurd practice  being
followed by the  more ignorant class of the faculty, mere- 
126           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
\y because it has been recommended in some particular
cases by a great  man, has, I have not the least  doubt,
destroyed more lives than has ever been killed by poAvder
and ball in this  country in  the same time.   Those I
met in  the streets, who had escaped the fatal  effect of
bleeding,  mercury, and other poisons, carried  death in
their countenance; and on conversing with them, they
said they had never been well since they had the fever;
that they took so much mercury and opium, they were
afraid that they were in a decline.
  After remaining in Philadelphia about two  weeks, I
went in the stage to New York,  where I obtained a pas-
sage in  a coaster, and arrived in Portsmouth on the  5th
day of April.  Immediately after my  arrival  at  Ports-
mouth,  I  gave public notice in the  newspapers, of  my
having  obtained a patent, and  forbid  all  persons tres-
passing upon it under  the  penalty  of the  law in such
cases provided;  and prepared and published a handbill,
in Avhich I gave a description of the  nature of disease
on the constitution of man;  and also  the  conditions of
disposing  of the  right of using my system of practice;
and taking a number of the  handbills with me, sat  out
for  Eastport,  where I arrived  about  the  first  of May.
On my arrival, the handbills Avere circulated among  the
people,  Avhich caused considerable stir among them, par-
ticularly with the doctors, who  seemed surprised  that I
had obtained a patent.   I again  called on Mr. Carpenter
for  a settlement; but could obtain none, for his friends
advised against it, telling him that he could still pursue
the practice in spite of my patent, by calling the medicine
by different names.   I furnished my shop Avith a stock of
medicine, and made- an agreement  with Mr. Mowe,  the
young man whom I had employed since Carpenter Avas dis-
missed,  to continue the practice for  me, and take charge
of my business at this place.   My expenses for his wages,
board and shop rent, were about one dollar per day; and
the amount of the practice and sale  of medicine, Avas
about one hundred dollars per month.
  While at Eastport,  I  met with a loss,  which I will
mention, to show the hard fortune I had to contend with.
Wishing to send one hundred dollars to my friend Judge 
Of Samuel Thomson.             127
Rice, in part payment  for what I owed him, took two
fifty dollar bills, and went to the post-office and gave them
to the post  master, Avith a letter directed to  Alexander
Rice, Esq.  Portsmouth, requesting him to secure  them
in the letter in a proper manner, and  send it on.  The
letter was never received in Portsmouth, and no traces
of it could be found.  I had strong suspicions that the
post master at Eastport destroyed the letter and kept
the money.   I  made arrangements to inquire  further
into his  conduct,  but shortly after he fell from a  preci-
pice and was killed, which put a stop to pursuing the
subject any  further; so  it turned out a total loss to me.
  After settling my business in Eastport, I returned to
Portsmouth, where I stopped but a short tinre; and tak-
ing Mr.  Sewell Avith  me, went to Portland, to introduce
my practice in that place.  On our arrival, I  advertised
my patent in the newspapers, and had  handbills  printed
and circulated among the people, giving the  conditions
on  which I  should practise, and the manner of selling
family rights,  to those  who wished the use of my  prac-
tice and medicine; and that I should  attend to no case
except such as  wished to purchase the rights, to give
them information, and prove the utility  of the medicine.
I gave the information to Mr. Fickett, where  Ave board-
ed, and a right of using the medicine  for himself and
family;  and gave information to several of his workmen.
Soon after making myself known, I had a great number
of desperate cases put  under my charge, all of which
were cured, or essentially relieved.   My success in the
cases I attended, most of which were such as had  been
given over by the  doctors, caused  great  alarm  among
those professional gentlemen Avho are styled regular phy-
sicians ; and I experienced the same opposition from them
that I had met Avith in other places.  I was followed by
them, or their spies, and all kinds of false and ridiculous
reports Avere circulated among the people to frighten and
prejudice them against me and my medicine.
  Soon  after  coming to this place, I was called on by
Capt. John Alden, to  attend his Avife, who was in a very
alarming situation.  She was  in a state of pregnancy,
and had the  dropsy, and  Avas then, as she  supposed,
several weeks over her time.   She had been in the same 
128           Narrative of the Life, Sec

situation once before, and Avas delivered by force,  and
came very near losing her life; the doctors gave it as
their  opinion, that  if she should ever be so again,  she
would certainly die.  I  told him  that  I  did not  attend
on any  except those who wished to purchase  the right,
in which cases I would give them the information.  I
explained to  him the principles upon which my system
was  founded, and he purchased a right; after Avhich, I
attended upon his wife, and  found  her very low;  she
had  not  lain  in bed for three Aveeks, being  so  put to it
for breath Avhen  she lay down, was obliged to get im-
mediately up  again.  I carried her through a course of
the medicine  three times in five days, during which she
was reduced in size about eight inches;  her travail then
came on natural,  and in about  two hours she was deliv-
ered of a daughter, and  they both did well.   She  was
able  to come  down stairs in one week, and in two weeks
was  well enough to be  about the house.  This cure so
alarmed  the  doctors, • that they circulated  a  story at a
distance, where  the facts were  not known, that I  was
so ignorant of this Avoman's situation, that I killed her
immediately;  but the woman and  her husband  gave me
all credit for the  cure, and appeared very grateful to me
for it.
  During the summer,  a son of Capt. Alden  was  vio-
lently seized Avith the spotted fever; he Avas taken very
suddenly, when  at the pump after water, fell  and  was
brought  into  the house senseless.   1 attended  him,  and
his jaws being  set, administered a strong solution of
Nos. 1.  2, and 6, by putting my finger between'his cheek
and  teeth,  and  pouring in the medicine;  squeezing it
round to the back of his teeth, and as soon as it reached
the roots of  his  tongue,  his jaAvs came open;  I then
poured  down more of  the  medicine, and soon  after
swalloAving it, his senses came to him, and he spoke;
he appeared  like a person waking out of a sleep.   As
soon as  the  warm effect of the  medicine was over, he
relapsed,  and life seemed to go  down with the heat.  I
found that I  could not restore him till  I could  rarify or
lighten the air;  I laid him across the laps of three per-
sons, shielding him from external air with a blanket, and
put under him a  pan with a hot stone in it about half im- 
Of Samuel Thomson.
129
mersed in hot water; while over this steam, again gave
the medicine,  which raised a perspiration; and  as the
heat raised inside,  life gained in proportion;  and when
the perspiration  had gained, so as  to  be equal to a
state of health, the natural vigor of life and action was
restored.
   I was called on to attend a woman who had a relax,
and  in a few  visits  restored  her to health.  One night
about midnight I was sent  for to visit this woman in con-
sequence of their being alarmed about her, the cause  of
which I could never learn; lor on my arrival she was  as
well as usual.   I returned immediately home and was
soon  after taken in  a violent manner  with the  same dis-
ease ;  and Avas so bad as not to- be able to do  any thing
for myself.   Mr. Sewell attended upon me, and did all
he could, which had no effect.   I was persuaded that I
should not live three days unless I  could get some relief.
I had no pain and every thing I  took passed through me
in tAvo minutes;  nothing  seemed to Avarm me.   I sent
and  obtained some  butternut bark, boiled it, and took
some as strong as it  could  be made;  as  soon as it began
to operate, I folloAved it with brandy and loaf sugar burnt
together, till it became a syrup;  this soon put me in pain;
I then followed my general rule of treatment, and was
soon relieved.
   While at Portland, I Avas sent for to see a Mr. Mason,
who was  very sick,  and it was  expected that he Avould
not live through the night.   He had been attended by
the doctors of the town,  for a sore on  his nose, which
was  much inflamed; they had given him so much salt-
petre to kill the  heat  that they almost killed him.  1
had  the hardest  trial to save his life  of any one I ever
attended;  and was obliged  to carry  him through  a
course of medicine tAvo or  three times a week  for  three
months, besides  visiting him every day.   The doctors
said  he would certainly die, and if he  did, they meant
to take me up for  murder; and every means were re-
sorted  to, by discouraging him and other ways, to pre-
vent his o-etting Avell; and when  he got so as to  be about,
and it was decided that he  was going  to recover  under
the operation of the  medicine, one who pretended to  be
his friend gaA'e him a bottle of  pepper vinegar.   I had 
130           Narrative of the Life, See.
made a free use of this article in his case, and he  took
some of what was given him by this friend,  and he  soon
grew Avorse.  The man who gave him the pepper vine-
gar often inquired how he did, and when told that he
Avas worse, he would say that I  should kill him.  I could
not ascertain the reason of this patient being affected in
the manner he Avas, till Mr. Sewell took some  of the
same,  and was immediately taken in the same manner
as the sick man.  He took medicine  and got over it,
and,  in a short time after, took some more,  and was at-
tacked in a similar manner.  I then began to mistrust
that there Avas something in the pepper vinegar, and on
examining it, Avas satisfied that it had been poisoned to
destroy the patient, in order to  take advantage of me.   I
was  obliged to carry them both through a course of the
medicine, and they aftenvards had no such turns.
  This patient, after about three months' close attention,
gained so as to enjoy a comfortable state of health.   The
undertaking was  very  tedious on my part;  I  should be
hardly willing to go, through the same process  again, for
any sum whatever.  The destructive effects of salt-petre
is the worst of any poison I ever UHdertook to clear the
system of.  The only method I have found successful, is
to give No. 1 and No. 2,  and  throw all of it  out of the
stomach  that can  possibly be  done; and by steaming
keep the  heat of the body above it;  all other poisons can
be eradicated by the  common  course of medicine.   I
was  called on to attend  the sick from all quarters; but
few of them were able to purchase the information, and
many who had it have never paid any thing.   The  peo-
ple generally Avere  Avell satisfied  with its utility;  my
friends Avere very zealous  in  introducing it among the
people; but my opponents were not slack  in doing every
thing in their power to prejudice the public against me
and the medicine.  The doctors seemed  much troubled
at the success of the practice, many having been cured
who  were given over by them.  One Avoman,  who  had
been unable to walk for  about nine  months,  after having
been  confined, and the doctors could not  help her, was
attended  by Mr. Sewell, and in a short time restored to
a comfortable state of health, which gave  them great of-
fence; and some of them  published in the newspapers, 
Of Samuel Thomson.
131
part of my trial for murder, in order to prejudice the pub-
lic against me.  I prepared an answer, but they had so
much  influence with the printers, that I Avas unable to
get it inserted; they had the meanness to circulate the
report that I acknowledged the  fact, because I did not
answer their statement.  Thus have the faculty, by such
unprincipled conduct, managed to keep the people blind
to the benefit  they  might  receive from  the use of the
medicine, for the purpose of keeping up their own credit
and  making them tributary to themselves, without regard
to the public good.
  This season I went to Eastport,  and collected some
money to pay  my friend Rice;  and  thinking to make
some profit,  laid it out in fish, and sent  it to  Portland,
consigned to my friend  Fickett.   When I  went there
myself, sold the fish to him. I afterwards made a settle-
ment Avith him, and took his note for one hundred  and
sixty-three dollars, which he agreed to pay Judge Rice;
as he Avas going to Boston  in a short time, and he would
call  on him at Portsmouth for that purpose.   I then went
home to see my family, and in about six months after,
returned to Portsmouth, and on  calling on Judge Rice,
found to  my surprise that Mr. Fickett had not  paid the
money, that he had  failed, and there was no chance for
me to get any thing of him.  So I was again disappoint-
ed in my expectations of paying  this demand, and it ap-
peared to me that all my hard earnings Avould  be sacri-
ficed to pay the expense of persecutions; but my friend
Rice was very indulgent;  and instead of complaining,
did all he could to encourage me and keep up my spirits.
  In the fall of the year 1813, I started  from Portland
to go to Eastport, and took Mr. Sewell with me, in order
to try to  get  a settlement Avith Mr.  Carpenter,  as he
knew all the  particulars of the  agreement between us.
After suffering  many hardships, and being at great ex-
pense, in consequence of having to go part of the Way
by water, and part by land, owing to the  war that then
existed, we arrived there on the  12th day of November.
On my arrival, I made inquiry concerning my affair with
Carpenter, and ascertained what proof I  could obtain to
support an  action against  him for the property he  had
wronged me out of; and after making an unsuccessful 
132
Narrative of the Life, S/c.
attempt to  get  my account books  out of his hands,
brought an action against him for the property left in his
possession;  this being  the  only way in  which I could
bring him to an account.  After much time and expense,
I at last obtained a judgment against him, got out an ex-
ecution,  Avhich was levied on the  land he had  unjustly
got a deed of, and  it was finally appraised to me;  and
after having to get a writ of ejectment to get Mr. Tuttle
out of possession of it, who claimed it  under  a pretended
deed from Carpenter, to prevent it from being attached,
I at last got the farm, Avhich had eost in getting it more
than it was worth;  so I  had to put up with the loss of all
my earnings at Eastport for  two years, with the loss of
medicine  sold by Carpenter, all of which amounted to
not less than fifteen hundred dollars.
  I returned to Portland,  where I remained to attend to
my practice and the society  that had been formed there,
for considerable time; and after  settling  and arranging
my business as Avell as I could, left Mr. Sewell in charge
of all my affairs there, and in January, 1814, returned to
Portsmouth, which  place I made the  principal  depot of
my medicines;   having  previous to  my returning from
the Eastward, made arrangements with my agents to  sup-
ply them,  and all others  who had purchased the rights,
with such  medicine as they might want, by their apply-
ing to me for them.  I had laid in a large stock, the
value of which I estimated  to be  about one thousand
dollars.   I went to Boston and Salem to procure some
articles  that could not be obtained elseAvhere,  in order
to complete my stock; Avhen absent, the great fire took
place at Portsmouth, and all my  stock of medicine  was
consumed.  This was a  very serious loss to  me,  not only
in a pecuniary point of  view,  but it disarranged all my
plans, and put it out of my power to supply those who I
kneAV depended  upon me for all such  articles  as were
most important in the practice.   The  season was so far
advanced  that it was impossible to obtain a  new recruit
of most of the  articles; and I was obliged to collect a
part of what had been sent to different  places, in  order
to be able to supply, in  the  best  manner I could, such
demands for medicine, as I should be  called on  for.   In
doing this, I was put to  great trouble and expense,  and 
Of Samuel Thomson.             133
 in order to make myself whole, Avas under the necessity
 of raising  the price of the medicine fifty per cent.; this
 caused much grumbling and complaint from the members
 of the societies in different places, and Avas taken advan-
 tage  of by my enemies to injure me all they could.
   I sent in  the estimate of my loss, by the  committee,
 Avho  had the charge  of  the money contributed  by the
 people in different parts, for the relief of the sufferers by
 the fire, and afterwards called on them, with an expecta-
 tion of receiving my share; but they said my loss Avas of
 such a nature that they could not give me  any thing,  as
 I should be able to collect another supply the next sea-
 son, and I never received a cent from them.  In addition
 to my loss by the fire, and other difficulties I had to en-
 counter, and while I was at Portsmouth using all my ex-
 ertions to replenish  my  stock  of medicine,  and assist
 those  who Avere suffering from disease and needed the
 benefit of my practice, I received information  from Port-
 land,  that the doctors had obtained one of my books of
 direction, which was published expressly for the informa-
 tion of those  who purchased the right of using  my sys-
 tem of practice,  and had some knowledge of it by ver-
 bal and  other instruction, had  printed an edition of it,
 and advertised them  for sale at 37 1-2 cents  a copy.
 They stated in their advertisements,  that "this invalua-
 ble work, which had heretofore  been selling  for  twenty
 dollars, may now be  had for thirty-seven and  a half
 cents;" and  sent  them to all places where" my societies
 had been formed, and my practice had been introduced,
 for the purpose of putting me down,  and preventing the
 use of my medicine; but after all this  pitiful  attempt  to
 do me the great injury Avhich they so fondly anticipated,
 they gained nothing by it, except it was the contempt  of
 all the honest part of society, who were knowing to the
 circumstances.  To  put a stop to these practices, and
 prevent the public from being imposed upon,  I  caused
 a notice to be published in the Portsmouth and Portland
 papers, cautioning the people against buying these books,
or making use of  the  medicine, and trespassing  on my
patent, under the penalty of the law  in such cases pro-
vided; and also  offered a reward of fifty dollars  to any
one who would  give information  %f any doctor, who
              12 
134           Narrative of the Life, Sec
should trespass  on my patent,  and ten dollars for any
one  who should be  found  guilty of  selling the books.
This put a stop to  the sale of the books, and  prevented
them from doing  me any injury by this trick;  for those
concerned in this disgraceful manoeuvre, were compelled
to acknoAvledge  that my agents could  sell more books at
twenty dollars, than they could  at thirty-seven and a half
cents.
   I  continued in Portsmouth,  after the loss I  met with
from the  fire, informing the people  in that  place and
vicinity,  until I collected another assortment  of medi-
cine, during which time fifty  members were  added to
the society there.   I appointed Mr. John  Locke as  my
agent in Portsmouth, and the soeiety accepted of him as
such, to take the management of the practice,  and sup-
ply them  with medicine; I agreed to alloAV him twenty-
five  per  cent, on  the sale of rights, and  in  eighteen
months  he added  about forty members to  the society.
He conducted himself  Avith the greatest propriety in  the
performance of all the duties assigned him, and in this,
as well as in all  other concerns, which I had  with him,
has  given  me the highest satisfaction.  I mention this
tribute of praise  to his fidelity, the more readily, as he is
one of the very few whom I have put  confidence in, that
I  have found  honest enough to do justice to me and  the
people,   it has  generally been the  case,  with those  I
have appointed as  agents, that as soon as they have been
sufficiently instructed to attend  to the practice with suc-
cess, and give satisfaction to the people,  that  they have
made it a matter of speculation;  and have,  by all  the
means that they could devise, attempted to  get the lead
of the practice into their own hands, and deprive me of
the credit and profits of my own discovery;  and when  I
have found out their  designs,  and  put a stop to their
career, by depriving them of their  agency, they have
uniformly turned  against me  and done  every thing in
their power to injure me and destroy  the  credit of the
medicine. *  This kind of conduct has been a very seri-
ous evil, and has caused  me much trouble and expense,
besides destroying the confidence of the  people in  the

   * A further notice  will be  taken of this agent in another place. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             135
  beneficial effects of the medicine and practice, and keep-
  ing back the information necessary for its being properly
  understood by them.  This, however, has not been the
  case with all that I have entrusted with the care of my
  business as agents, for some of them have been uniform-
  ly honest and faithful, both to me and to those  to whom
  they have given the information.
     While Mr.  Locke  was  acting as my agent  at Ports-
  mouth, he gave offence, by his faithful and upright con-
  duct, to some members of the  society, who Avanted to
  reap all the  advantages and profits without any labor or
  expense.  They made complaint to me  of his conduct,
  and Avished him turned out;  but on asking them for their
  charges against him, they said he speculated on the medi-
  cine, and sold it one third higher  than I did.   I told
  them that I  had  been obliged to  raise the price,  in con-
  sequence of my loss by the fire, and that he was. not to
  blame  for it.  They,  however, persisted in their com-
  plaints, and after finding that they could not make me
  turn against him,  they  turned against me.   After mak-
  ing  further  inquiries into the subject, I  satisfied myself
  of their reasons for wishing Mr. Locke turned out of the
  agency.  A man by the  name of Holman,  whom I had
  four years previous cured of a consumption, as has been
  before related, and to whom I had given the information,
'  and  authorized to  form a society at Hopkinton,  where
  he had practised three  years Avithout making me any
  returns, had returned to Portsmouth, and practised with
  Mr. Locke,  as an assistant.  This man formed a plan to
  have Mr. Locke turned out, in order to get his place
  himself, and had managed so as to gain over to his side
  a number of the society, who joined Avith him  in effect-
  ing this object.   They made use of all kinds of intrigue
  to get  the control of the practice out of my hands, by
  offering to buy the right for the county,  and many other
  ways;  but I understood their designs,  and  refused all
  their offers.
    At the next annual meeting of the society, Holman
  was  chosen  their agent without my consent,  and I re-
  fused to authorize him  to give information;  for  he had
  deceived me before, by saying,  on his return to Ports-
  mouth,  that he  could not  form  a society at Hopkinton, 
136           Narrative  of the Life, Sfc
 which I had  found  out  to be  false; and many  other
 things in his  conduct had caused me to  be  much dis-
 satisfied with  all he did, that I declined having anything
 further to do with him. • He persisted hi practising, and
 in  eighteen months,  by  his  treacherous  conduct, run
 doAvn the credit of the medicine and practice, and broke
 up the society, after it had, the eighteen months previ-
 ous, got  under good way by  Mr. Locke's agency, and
 Avas in a very  prosperous condition.   1 had good reason
 to believe that Holman Avas employed by my enemies to
 break  me up in this place, and destroy the credit of the
 medicine;  for Avhen I Avas absent, I ascertained that he
 gave salt-petre  and other poisons,  under  the pretence
 that by giving it the  night before it Avould prepare the
 stomach  for my medicine to be  taken in  the morning.
 This Avas like preparing over  night to build a fire in the
 morning, by filling the lire-place Avith snow and ice.   Af-
 ter preparing the  stomach in this  way, the medicine
 would  have no  beneficial effects; and  he Avould  then
 place the  patient over a  steam,  Avhich caused them to
 faint.  In this way he proved to the members of the so-
 ciety that my  mode of practice was bad, and  thus  used
 his influence  to  destroy  the  credit of my medicine in
 their minds, and make thern believe that  I had deceived
 them.  His practice  turned out  very unsuccessful, and
 he  lost many  of his patients.  He had lost more in six
 months, than I had lost in six years, Avhich I imputed en-
 tirely to his bad conduct.
  After my return, finding how things Avere  situated in
 regard to the practice, that all the credit  I had  gained
 by  seven  years labor,  had been destroyed in eighteen
months, led me to make a particular inquiry into the
cause.   On visiting his patients I found some of the pills
made of salt-petre, and also some opium  pills, Avhich he
had  been in the  habit of administering  secretly to his
patients under the  name of my medicine; and after col-
lecting an  assortment  of his poison, I called a meeting
of the  society, and proved to them  that he  had made
use of these  poisons  under the  pretence of giving my
medicine; and also that he had confessed to have given
tobacco,  when called  on to administer my medicine3; all
of which satisfied the  society so Avell of the baseness  of 
Of Samuel Thomson.             137
the conduct of their agent, that they immediately passed
a vote,  dismissing him from his agency.   A committee
was appointed to investigate the whole of his  conduct,
and pubV.sh a statement of the same, in order to do away
the false impression that had  been made on the public
mind, and  convince them  that  the bad success of this
man's practice, had been owing to his own wicked con-
duct and not to any fault in the medicine.   I was never
able, however, to get this committee to meet and attend
to the duty assigned them by the society,  although they
confessed themselves satisfied of the truth of my charges
against Holman, and of the injury I had sustained by his
conduct; and after waiting six months, and finding that
they were  more willing that I should suffer,  than that
the blame should fall where it justly belonged, I  left them
to their more fashionable practice,  and withdrew all  my
medicine from the place.
  In the spring of the year of 1814, I wrote to Mr.
Mowe, my  agent at Eastport, to leave that place, in con-
sequence of the war becoming troublesome, and  come
to Portsmouth.   He  came up in  May.  I took  him Avith
me and Avent to Surry,  where we continued through  the
summer, and he assisted me  in carrying on my farm, and
collecting  an assortment of medicine.   In August,  we
Avent to Onion River, Avhere my father resided,  to  make
a visit, and collect some articles of medicine, that could
not be obtained in Surry.  After my return, Mr. Mowe
went to Portsmouth, and I  remained at home  till after
the  harvesting was over, then  went to Portsmouth,  to
collect medicine, and attended to some practice.   Some
time in December, I returned home, and found an  ex-
press had been there for me to go to Guildford, sent by
Mr. Davis, whom I had attended the  year  before at
Portsmouth.  I went with all speed, and found his wife
sick with a consumption.  I attended her a few days, to
give them  information, and sold him the right  of  using
the medicine; and  also sold some rights to others.   I
then returned to  Portsmouth, and sent  Mr.  Mowe  to
Guildford to practise, and give information to those who
had purchased the rights, where  he remained till spring.
  During the time Mr. Mowe was  at Guildford, he was
very successful in his practice, and made  some remark-
              12* 
138
Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 able cures.  Great opposition was made to his practice,
 by the doctors, and all the false representations made
 about  it that they could invent, to prejudice  the minds
 of the people against the medicine and stop its being in-
 troduced among them.   After this, another plan was got
 up to injure me; societies were formed in  the manner I
 had  formed mine, and  members were admitted  for two
 dollars.  The only information given them  was to furnish
 each member with one of the pamphlets, containing my
 directions, which  had been  stolen from  a Avoman  and
 published at Portland, without my knowledge.   In this
 manner, my system of practice, in the hands  and under
 the superintendence of those who were endeavoring to
 destroy me, became popular in Guilford and  the towns
 adjacent;  and  had become so important,  that a general
 invitation  was given throughout  the  neighboring towns
 for the people to come  and join  them in  the great im-
 provement of restoring  the health  of mankind.  Thus
 did these  professional gentlemen tamper with my rights
 and the credulity of the people, for  the pitiful  purpose
 of injuring me,  by pretending to sell all my information
 for two dollars, for Avhich I asked twenty; and  in their
 hands  called it honorable, scientific  knowledge.  After
 these trespasses had become open and general, and the
 people had been invited  to join in it,  my agent at Guild-
 ford, wrote me a letter, giving information of the trans-
 action,  and I.went there to see to it.  On my arrival, I
 conversed with those who had purchased  their rights of
me or my agent; they informed me of the facts as above
related, and said that they had been solicited to join the
society that  had been formed;  and they wished  my ad-
 vice, whether they should attend a general meeting which
was to  be  held  in about a fortnight.  I told  them that
they had  better attend;  they then  asked me  if they
should be  asked for information,  Avhat they should  do
 about giving it;  I told them that I thought people joined
societies to  get  information,  and not to give it.   I em-
ployed an  attorney to  proceed against those  who tres-
passed, and have them  punished according  to laAv, in
such cases provided, and returned to Portsmouth.  And
here the matter rested, as I heard of  no further trespass
in that quarter. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             139
   In the month of February, 1815, I had an application
 to go to Philadelphia and introduce my  societies and sys-
 tem of practice in that city.  Thinking it not  proper  to
 go alone, I made an agreement with Mr. John  Locke, to
 go with me; and after we got every thing  prepared, he
 started on the seventh in the morning to go in  the stage,
 and I chose to go by Avater, and sailed the same day in
 a vessel for New YTork.   We had a  long and tedious
 passage, suffering very much from the  cold.  We had a
 gale  of Avind Avhich  blew us off into the Gulf Stream,
 and we were tAvo hundred miles south of our port; on
 getting into a  warmer  latitude  the  Aveather became
 warmer, when we  were enabled to get clear of the ice,
 with  which the vessel was much burdened, and could
 set some sail; and we arrived at New York after a very
 rough passage of seventeen days.
  During  the passage, one of the crew had frozen  his
 hands and feet very badly, and when we had got  Avhere
 the weather became Avarmer, he was in the most extreme
 pain.  He said that it seemed as though the  bones  of
 his hands  and feet Avere  coming in pieces;  his suffering
 was so great that the tears would run from his  eyes, and
 the sweat  down his  cheeks with the pain.  I was re-
 quested by the captain and crew to do something to re-
 lieve  him.  I agreed to do the best I could for him, in
 the cold and comfortless situation Ave Avere in.  There
 wa3 no place to keep afire under decks, and the weather
 was so rough  that we could  seldom keep any  in the
 camboose on deck.  I Avas obliged to administer the medi-
 cine according to my judgment  in the best manner I
 could.   In the first place I procured handkerchiefs  and
 cloths  enough to Avrap his hands ,and feet up in several
 thicknesses, then Avet them well with  cold Avater,  and
 wrapped his  hands  and feet as  Avell as  I could, wetting
 them  with  cold water, and put him in his birth, covered
 well with  blankets, and gave him the Avarmest  medicine
 to take I  had Avith me, and repeated it to keep the in-
 ward  heat  sufficient to cause  a free circulation in the
 limbs;  and if his hands  and feet greAV painful,  poured
 cold water on the cloths; and continued this course of
treatment,  of keeping the  imvard heat above  the out-
ward, by raising the one  and letting doAvn the other, till 
140           Narrative of the Life, Sec
 I got the fountain above the stream;  and in about tAvo
 hours, freed him from all pain, to the surprise and aston-
 ishment  of all the hands on board.  When I  come  to
 take off the cloths, the blood had settled under the nails
 and under the skin, which came off without any blister
 being  raised,  and  before Ave arrived at New York, he
 was able to attend his watch.
   It was  said by the captain and creAV that this Avas the
 most remarkable cure they had ever  known; and that
 if he had  been attended in the common form, he would
 have lost his toes if not his feet, besides suffering  much
 pain and  a long confinement.  It  will  be  necessary  to
 remark, that the greatness of this cure consisted  in its
 simplicity; any  person could have performed the same,
 who had come to  years of discretion, by adopting the
 same plan,  and many times be the means of saving the
 amputation of limbs.   There is no  mystery in it, the
 whole  plan consists in keeping the determining power
 to the surface,  from the fountain  of the body, which  is
 the stomach; from  which all the limbs receive their sup-
 port and Avarmth, and when you cannot raise the fountain
 sufficient to give nature its proper course, you must  lower
 the stream, or outAvard heat, by keeping the  heat  doAvn
 on  the limbs, and raising the inward heat, Avhen  there
 can  no  mortification ever return from  the limbs to the
 body, any more than a log can float against a stream.
  In the case above  stated, before I began  to  do any
 thing for  the  man, I duly considered  his situation;  he
 had  been almost chilled  to death  by the  extreme cold
 weather, so that his limbs had very little Avarmth from
 the body, not enough to bring them to their feeling; until
 the Avarm Aveather raised a fever on the limbs faster than
 in the body, and in  proportion as the heat in the extremi-
 ties is  raised above that in the body, by applying hot
 poultices or other similar applications, so much will the
 whole system be disordered, and the parts that have been
 injured will be  extremely painful, and by a continued
 application of such means, the fever or outward heat will
 increase by the current being turned imvard, till  mortifi-
cation takes place,  when the limbs have to be taken  off
to save life; and in most cases the body has become so
much disordered, that they die after all.  This  may  I 
Of Samuel Thomson.             141
 am confident, be avoided by understanding my plan of
 treatment and  pursuing  it with zeal, particularly  in all
 cases of burns or freezing.
   On my arrival at New York, I found Mr. Locke, Avho
 had come in the stage, and had been Avaiting for me ten
 days.  The next  morning we started in the stage for
 Philadelphia, Avhere Ave  arrived that evening, and Avent
 to a boarding  house and put up for the night.  In the
 morning we  went in search  of Elder Plumer,  Avith
 whom  I had engaged the fall before, to go to Philadel-
 phia;  we  found him in the course of the forenoon, and
 he expressed much joy at our arrival.   He  preached a
 lecture  that evening, and appointed a meeting  at the
 same place the next evening for me; at which 1  attend-
 ed and gave a lecture;  there was a large collection of
 people attended this meeting, and I gave a full and ex-
 plicit explanation  of the  principles upon which my  sys-
 tem  is founded.   There were  two  medical  students
 present, and VA'hile I was endeavouring to give a A'iew of
the formation of the animal creation out of the four ele-
ments;  that heat Avas life, and cold death; and that the
blood was necessary to life, as being the nourishment of
the flesh, and inasmuch  as it Avas taken away, so much
Avas  life and health diminished, one of them  interrupted
me and said, that  cold was a promotion of life, and  that
bleeding was beneficial to preserve life also.   I answer-
 ed him by stating,  that admitting his doctrine to be true,
 an animal that  had the blood taken from it and Avas fro-
 zen,  Avould be the liveliest creature in the Avorld.   This
 unexpected retort caused a laugh, and the two medical
gentlemen left the room.   I then Avent on and concluded
the explanations I wished to make, which gave general
satisfaction to  the people  present; and sixteen  signed
the  articles of agreement  that  night, to  obtain  the
knowledge  of  the  medicine  and  practice,  to whom  I
engaged to give information by lectures.  We remained
there about a week, in which time about twenty bought
the right.
  When Ave had completed our business at Philadelphia,
we Avent on to Washington, where we remained several
days, and had  a view of the ruins of the public  build-
ings,' which  had  been distroyed by the British, when 
142           Narrative of the Life, Sec
 they  took possession of that city, about six months pre-
 vious to our being there.  While at the capitol, I had an
 intervieAv with General Varnuin,  and some conversation
 passed between us cencerning the pipsisAvay, which had
 been  found useful in a case of cancer for which I  at-
 tended  his wife Avhen  practising  at Pelham, in the year
 1807.   He said that it having been found so useful in  all
 cancerous  cases, he thought it ought to be published in
 the newspapers or almanac, for the benefit of those who
 were  afflicted with this dangerous disease, and express-
 ed  a  wish that I would do it.  I told him that I  thought
 it  would be better for him to publish it than for me, and
 he  consented; and the next year he published it in  the
 almanac, Avhich  was the cause of much speculation in
 this article, and of which I shall  give some account in
 another part of this work.
  After staying in Washington a few days,  we went to
 Alexandria where  we remained about a week, in which
 time I collected some Cyprus bark, which is known there
 by  the name of poplar, and what we call poplar, is  by
 them  called  quaking-asp,  on account of the constant
 shaking of its leaves.   While at this place I fell in com-
 pany with Capt. Davis, of Portsmouth, and agreed to take
 passage Avith him  and  return  to  that  place.  Arrange-
ments were made for Mr.  Locke to return by land; and I
 directed him to stop at Washington and get a oopy of my
 patent,  then  to go on to Philadelphia and remain there
 as long as it should be necessary to give information  to
those  who purchased the rights, or any that should wish
to  purchase them in that city, and after paying  proper
 attention to  them,  to  return  to Portsmouth.  I then
went  on board the vessel and Ave set sail;  and, after a
long passage, arrived safe at Portsmouth about the same
time that Mr. Locke got there.
  During  this summer,  I  visited Eastport,  Portland,
Charlestown, South Reading and  other places  where  so-
cieties had been formed, or rights sold to individuals,  to
give information to the people; and in all places where
I went, found the book  of directions, which  had been
clandestinely obtained and published by the doctors and
others, to injure me by stopping the sale of rights, sell-
ing at 371-2 cents.  I was under the necessity  of putting 
                Of Samuel  Thomson.             143

an advertisement in  the  papers, cautioning the people
against this imposition, which put a stop to their sale;
but great pains were taken by my enemies to  circulate
them among the people; and this is the Avay that some
of my  articles of medicine  came to  be made  use of
through the country in colds, such as cayenne, ginger,
8tc.  In  1815  I published another edition  of  my book
of directions,  and  secured the copy right; but this  was
reprinted at Taunton, and I  advertised it as before,  and
stopped its  progress.
  In the fall of the year 1815, I went  to Cape Cod to
procure some marshrosemary, and collected a  quantity,
carried it to Portsmouth  and prepared  it for use.  This
is the last  time I have  collected any of this article,  and
as it becomes scarce,  think I shall make no more  use
of it.   It is too cold  and  binding, Avithout using a large
share of bayberry bark and cayenne Avith it, to keep the
saliva free. I have found other  articles as  substitutes,
which answer  a better purpose, such as hemlock bark,
which I  have  of late made use of and found very good,
white lily roots, witch-hazle and raspberry leaves,  and
sumach  berries; the last article  is  very  good alone,
steeped and sweetened, and is as pleasant as Avine;  it is
good for children  in cases of canker, especially in long
cases of sickness when other articles become disagreea-
ble to them.
  In the spring of the year 1816, I went again to Cape
Cod for  medicine, and found that the  spotted fever, or
what was called the cold plague, prevailed there, and the
people  were much alarmed, as they could get no  help
from the doctors  I told them I had  come  after medi-
cine Avhere they were  dying for want  of the knoAvledge
how to use it.  They  Avere desirous  for me to try my
practice  and satisfy  them of its  utility.  A young  man
in the next house to where I was, being attacked with the
fever the day  before,  went  to see him, and the family
expressed a Avish to have me try my medicine.  I put a
blanket round him and put him by the fire; took a tea
spoonful  of composition, and added more No. 2 and as
much sugar, put it in a tea cup, and poured to it a  wine
o-lass of  hot Avater, Avhen cool enough  to take, added a
tea spoonful of the rheumatic drops; he took  it and in 
144           Narrative of the Life, fyc
 fifteen minutes Avas in a free perspiration;  he was then
 put in bed and a  hot  stone Avrapped in Avet cloths put
 to his feet to raise a steam.   1 then left him in the care
 of his  friends, with some medicine to be  given during
 the night; they kept the perspiration free all night, and
 in the  morning heat had gained the victory, the canker
 was destroyed, and he was comfortable  and soon got
 well.
   I attended three other persons in one house, who had
 been sick a  longer time, and  had taken other medicine,
 so that it was more difficult to cure them.  1 steeped No.
 3, and poured off half a tea cupfui and sAveetened it, and
 added half a tea spoonful of No.  2,  when  cool enough
 to take, put  in one tea  spoonful of No.  1, and gave it to
 each of the patients, repeating it once in fifteen minutes,
 till they had  taken it three times, whether they puked or
 not in that time, kept a hot stone Avrapped in wet cloths
 at  their feet to keep up  a steam; while they were under
 the operation of the puking and sweating, gave them as
 much cider or water to drink as they required;  when
 they had done vomiting, gave milk porridge freely.  As
 soon as they  had done  sweating,  and their strength  had
 returned,  got them up and steamed them as  long as they
 could bear it; then rubbed them over with spirits, water
 or vinegar, changed their clothes, and they went to bed,
 or sat  up as their  strength would  permit.    I will  here
 remark for the information of the reader, that when the
 patient is  so bad as not to be able to get up,  they must be
 steamed in bed as hot as they  can bear it, then set them
 up on end, rub them as before mentioned, and change their
 clothes and bed clothes.   This last direction is important
 to be attended to,  for if their own clothes  are changed
 without changing the bed clothes, they will absorb a part
 of the  filth that has been discharged through the pores,
 and add to what remains of the disorder.  This precau-
tion is all  important in every case of disease, and should
be paid particular attention to, in order to guard against
taking  back any part of what has been thrown off by
the operation of the medicine.  The nurse or those Avho
 attend  upon the sick, are also in danger from the  same
cause,  and should be particularly careful to guard against
taking  the disorder by breathing in the  foul vapor from 
Of Samuel Thomson.             145
the bed clothes, and standing over the patient when un-
der the operation of the medicine, the principal effect of
which is to throw off by perspiration and other evacua-
tions, the  putrefaction  that disease has engendered in
the body.   To guard against this, take some hot bitters,
and  keep a piece of ginger root in the mouth,  occasion-
ally swallowing some of it, when most exposed;  also take
a  tea spoonful of Nos. 2 and 3, steeped in hot water,
Avhen going to bed; one ounce of prevention in this way,
is  worth a pound of cure when sick.
   After relieving these four cases,  I Avas sent for to at-
tend a woman, who had been sick for a long time;  I
declined attending  any  more unless they Avould buy the
right.  This displeased her so much, because I was not
willing to practise and cure all of them for nothing, that
she abused me  for my declining to attend her.  Two
men bought the rights, arid they asked me how much  I
would take for the right of the whole town.   I offered
it  to them  for the price of tAventy  rights; but  they said
that the sickness had so much  abated that the alarm was
nearly over, and  declined my offer.  This disease first
appeared in Easthamthe fore part of February, in which
month twenty-seven died, in March, fourteen, and five in
April, making in  the whole, forty-six in  three months in
this small  place.   I left some  medicine  with those Avho
had purchased the rights, and returned to Boston.
   Within a week after my return from Cape Cod, I re-
ceived a letter from Eastham, to come there as soon as
possible.   I took  a stock of medicine, and Avent on there
as  quick as I could; and on my  arrival,  found  that the
fever had again made its appearance among the people,
with double fatality.  I  soon found  enough  ready to
purchase the twenty rights, for which I had offered to sell
the right of the  whole town.  I attended  on many of
those who had the disease, in company with the two men
who  had purchased the right of me Avhen there before,
and instructed  thein Iioav to carry the patients through a
course of the medicine; and they attended and gave in-
formation to others; Avhen they could meet together, I
gave information by lectures;  those who got the  infor-
mation attended wherever they were wanted.  I pursued
my usual mode of treatment, by administering the medi- 
146           Narrative of the Life, S$c
 cine to promote a free perspiration, and when necessary,
 steamed and gave injections, cleansed the stomach, and
 cleared off the canker; the success in curing this alarm-
 ing disease was very great.   I  staid about  two weeks,
 during which  time there were  attended with my medi-
 cine,  thirty-four cases, of whom only one died, the rest
 got well.   At the same time, of  those Avho were attend-
 ed by the regular doctors, eleven  out of twelve died, mak-
 ing in the whole upwards of fifty deaths in a short time in
 this place, which was about one twelfth part of the in-
 habitants  that were at home.  The truth of the above
statements is authenticated by  the  certificates of  the
 Selectmen of the town, and other respectable inhabitants,
 which will be inserted in  another part of the Avork.
  During my stay this time, I attended  the  husband of
 the woman who had abused me Avhen here before, at the
 house of his sister; she came there Avhile I  was attend-
 ing upon  her  husbaad,  and treated me and him  in a
 most  abusive manner, saying that she Avould die sooner
 than  take any of my medicine,  or have  any thing to do
 with  me.   After  she had vented  her spite  to her own
 satisfaction, she went home,  was taken sick on the way,
 and was  one of the last who died  with the fever at  this
 time.  The people  generally, treated me with kindness
 and respect, and took  great interest in my cause;  and
 the success of my  system of practice, in relieving them
 from  this  alarming disease, gave universal satisfaction.
   I formed thos-e Avho purchased the rights, into a socie-
 ty; and they chose a committee,  Avhom  I authorized as
 agents to  sell rights and medicine;  but this  caused a
 jealousy among the rest of the members, who said I gave
 privileges to some more than to  others.
   I  have formed  four societies,  and given them certain
 privileges, by allowing  them part of the profits on the
 sale of rights and  medicine; but  as soon as there  was
 any funds, it has always  created uneasiness among the
 members.  Some of the  ignorant and selfish, would  call
 for their dividends,  as though it Avas bank stock, instead
 of feeling grateful for the advantages they enjoy by hav-
 ing their  diseases cured, and their minds relieved  from
 the alarming consequences of a disease, with a trifling 
Of Samuel Thomson.
147
expense.  I have since altered my plan, and noAV  have
but one society.   Every one  Avho purchases a right  for
himself and family, becomes a member of the Friendly
Botanic Society, and is entitled to all the privileges of a
free intercourse with each  other, and to converse with
any one who has bought a right, for instruction and  as-
sistance in  sickness,  as each one is bound to  give  his
assistance, by advice or otherwise, when called on by a
member.  In this way much  more good can be done,
and there  will be  much more good-will towards each
other, than Avhere there is any money depending.
   1 had noAV been in practice, constantly attending upon
those  laboring  under disease, Avhenever called on,  for
about thirty years; had suffered much both  in body and
mind, from the persecutions I had met with, and my  un-
wearied exertions  to relieve  the sick; and to establish
my system of practice upon a permanent basis, that the,
people might become satisfied of its superiority over that
which is  practised by those styled regular  physicians;
putting it  in their power to become their own physicians,
by enabling every one to relieve themselves and friends,
from  all disease incident to our country, by making  use
of those vegetable medicines, the produce  of  our own
country, which are perfectly safe  and easily obtained;
and which,- if properly understood, are fully sufficient in
all cases of disease, Avhere  there  can be any chance of
cure,  Avithout any  danger of the  pernicious, and often
fatal  consequences attending the administering  those
poisons that the  fashionable  doctors are in the habit of
giving to their  patients.
   After having discovered a system, and by much labor
and constant perseverance  reduced it to practice, in  a
manner that had  given  general satisfaction to all who
had become  acquainted with it, and having  secured  the
same by patent, in order that  I might reap  some benefit
from  my discovery, to support me  in my old age, having
by a  long series of attendance on the sick,  both as phy-
sician and nurse, become almost worn out, I came to the
determination to appoint some suitable person, who Avould
do justice to me  and the cause, as a general agent, to
take  the  lead  in practice,  and give the necessary infor-
mation to those  who should  purchase the rights, which 
148           Narrative of the Life, Sec
would enable me to retire from practice and  receive a
share of the profits as a reward for my long sufferings.
After considerable  inquiry,  I became acquainted with
Elias Smith,  who was recommended  as a man in whom
I could confide,  and who was every way qualified as
a suitable  person to engage in the undertaking.   I
found him  in Boston, and in very poor circumstances;
having been  for  many years a public  preacher, but in
consequence of his often changing his religious princi-
ples and engaging in different  projects in Avhich he had
been unsuccessful, he was noAV  without a society or any
visible means of supporting himself  and family.   He
readily engaged with me, and promised to do every thing
in his power, to promote my  interest and extend the use-
fulness of my system of practice.
   I sold him a family right in December, 1816, and Avas
in his family during the winter, for the  purpose of in-
structing him in the practice,  to qualify him  to  attend
npon the sick, and give information to others.  I put the
utmost  confidence  in his honor, and  spared no pains in
communicating to him, without any reserve Avhatever, all
the knoAvledge I had gained by my experience,  both by
practice and verbal  instruction;  under the expectation,
that Avhen he became  sufficiently acquainted with the
system  and practice, I should be reAvarded for my trou-
ble, by  his faithfully performing his duty towards me,
according to his promise.  1 shall make no remark upon
my being disappointed in all my expectations  in  regard
to Mr.  Smith's  conduct,  and the  treatment  I received
from him after he had gained a knoAvledge of the prac-
tice from me, to enable  him to set up for himself; but
shall proceed to give a short account  of what  took place
during my connection with him.
   The  first case I attended Avith him Avas in his own
family.   His son had the itch very badly, so that he was
nearly one half of him one raAv sore   They had tried
the usual remedies Avithout  any benefit.   I showed him
the use of No. 3, to Avash with, to stop the smart of the
sores; then took some rheumatic drops and added  about
one fourth part  of spirits of turpentine and washed him
with it; this is very painful  when applied where the skin
is off; to prevent which mix with it  some of the wash 
Of Samuel Thomson.             149
 made of No. 3; at the same time of applying the above,
 give some of the composition, especially when going to
 bed; and occasionally give  about fifteen  of the drops,
 shaken together, on loaf sugar.   By pursuing this treat-
 ment one week this boy was entirely cured.
   The  next case, which Avas the first we attended to-
 gether out of his house, was a young woman, Avho  had
 the  ague in her face.   I  showed him the  whole pro-
 cess of curing  this complaint;  Avhich was done by put-
 ting a small quantity of No. 2 in a cloth, and placing  it
 between her cheek and teeth;  at the same time giving
 her  some of Nos. 2 and 3 to take, and in two hours  she
 Avas cured.
   I  Avas constantly with him in practice from February
 till June;  during Avhich time  we attended  many  bad
 cases Avith great success.  A Mrs. Grover came  to his
 house  to be attended,  who  had the dropsy.  She  had
 been given over by her doctor as incurable,  and Avas so
 much swelled as to be blind,  and her body and limbs in
 proportion.  Mr. Smith  undertook her case under my
 direction, and carried her through a course of the medi-
 cine every day for nine days,  and then occasionally once
 or tAvice a week till she  was  cured.   She  was thus at-
 tended  und?r my  inspection for three weeks, and in
 four Avas entirely cured;  for Avhich she gave  Mr. Smith
 about forty dollars.   In  this case I did a  great part of
 the labor and he  got the  pay.   About the  third time
 of carrying her through a course of the medicine, I was
 absent;  her  symptoms  appeared  unfavorable,  and he
 got frightened; a nurse woman,  to  whom I had given
 information, and Avho had more experience than he had,
 came to his assistance, and by using injections relieved
 her,  and  prevented mortification.  The  circumstance
 of this  woman  proving that she was forward of him in
 information, seemed to fix in Mr. Smith's mind  a dis-
 like to her ever after, as his subsequent treatment of her
will shoAV; the particulars of which will be  hereafter re-
lated.
  Another  case was of a man who came to  his house,
who  was in a declining way, and had taken a great quan-
tity of physic before he came, which would not operate.
 On taking my medicine, as soon as he began to be warm,
             13* 
150           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
so as to cause motion in his bowels, the physic he  had
before taken operated, and run him down with a relax;
then the dysentery set in, and he suffered  much  with
pain, and had discharges of blood.  I gave Mr. Smith
directions to use injections, to clear his bowels of canker,
and  prevent mortification; but he neglected it until 1
had  told him three days in succession.  He  then got
alarmed  and sent  for me;  but before I arrived he  had
given an injection, which had  relieved the patient.   He
remained and Avas attended about three Aveeks,  and Avent
home in  a comfortable  state of health.'  This man paid
Mr.  Smith about thirty dollars.
v  About the same time, a man by the name of Jennings
applied to Mr. Smith, Avho had lost the use of one of his
arms by  the rheumatism.   He  had been attended by the
doctor for nine months, and had been given over by  him
as incurable.  His arm was perished, and he was in poor
circumstances, having paid all he had to the doctor; he
wanted relief,  but said he could pay nothing for it unless
he was cured, so that he could earn something by his
labor.   Mr. Smith asked  me if I Avas willing to assist to
cure him on these terms, to which I agreed.  We  car-
ried  him through a course of the medicine and steaming
twice or three times a Aveek for four Aveeks, when a cure
was  effected.  The  last  time  he  was carried through
was  on  election day, and he expressed a wish to go on
the  common in  the  afternoon, to which I gave encour-
agement.  The  medicine was done about ten  o'clock;
he was  then  steamed and washed all  over with pepper-
sauce.   He complained bitterly of the  heat and  threw
himself  on the bed;  I took a spoonful of good cayenne,
and  put  in two spoonfuls  of pepper-sauce, and gave  it to
him  to take.   This raised the inward heat so much above
the outward, that in  two minutes he Avas quite  comforta-
ble ; and in the afternoon he went on the common.   Hi3
arm was restored, and  he Avas well from that time; he
afterwards, as I have heen informed,  paid Mr.  Smith
forty dollars for  the  cure.
  A Mrs.  Burleigh  came to his house  about this time,
who had the  rheumatism very badly, so that her joints
were grown out of  place;  and I assisted  in  attending
her.   She had never taken much medicine, which made 
Of Samuel Thomson.             151
it  the  easier to cure her, as Ave had nothing to do but
remoA-e the disease, without having to clear the system
of poisonous drugs, as is the case in most of those who
apply  for relief in complaints of long standing.   She
was carried  through the  medicine several  times and
steamed;  the  last time I  attended her, and  gave the
medicine three times as usual, which raised a lively per-
spiration and a fresh color, showing an equal  and  natu-
ral circulation; but did  not sicken or cause her to vomit,
as is the case most generally.  I mention this to  show
that the emetic qualities of the medicine will not operate
where there  is no disease.   She was then steamed and
washed, and  went out of doors,  being  entirely cured of
her complaint.
   Some time the last of April, or first of May, a Avoman
that was a relation of the nurse,  who assisted Mr. Smith,
and of whom I have before spoken, hired a room of him
and moved into his house, and the nurse lived Avith her.
She had  more experience than he had; I had  put the
utmost confidence in her, and she had in many instances
proved  her  superiority  in a  knoAvledge of the  practice
over him.  A singular circumstance took place, the par-
ticulars of which I shall relate, and leave the reader to
make his OAvn inferences.  Some time in May,  while I
boarded Avith  Mr  Smith, I lost  my pocket-book, which
contained upwards of thirty dollars  in bank bills, and
notes  to the   amount of about five hundred dollars.  I
made  strict search for it, and advertised it in the papers,
but have  never gained  any information of it or the con-
tents to this day.   It was in my coat pocket, and I could
think  of no Avay in Avhich I had been exposed,  or could
lose it, except in his house.  I lost it between Friday
night and Monday morning, during which time 1 attend-
ed a woman in his chamber,  and several times had my
coat off, which appeared to me  to be the only time that
it  could  be  taken, or  that I could lose it.   The  only
persons present in the  room, were Mr. Smith and his
wife,  and the nurse; I had no suspicions of any person
at the time.   About ten  days after, being alone with Mr.
Smith, he asked me if I  ever  mistrusted the nurse being
dishonest.  I told him no, for if I had I should not  have
introduced her as a nurse.  He then said that there had 
152           Narrative of the Life, Sec

been a number of thefts committed since she had been in
the house, both from him and other  people,  and named
the articles and circumstances.   He further said, that
the girl Avho lived Avith him  had said that  she thought
the nurse was as  likely to take my pocket-book as to
take the things  she had undoubtedly stolen.  The cir-
cumstances Avhich he related, and the interest he seemed
t© take in my loss,  convinced me beyond  a doubt that
this woman had taken my property.   During  this con-
versation  with him, he said that if she did not move out
of the  house he  Avould.  The consequence  was that the
family  moved out of his house, and I dismissed the nurse
from having any more to do with  my practice.  Since
Mr. Smith has taken to himself the  lead in my system
of practice, he has acknowledged that he  has become
conA'inced beyond a doubt that this woman Avas not guil-
ty of taking the things Avhich she had been  accused  of;
without  assigning  any  reason, as I  have been able to
learn,  for his having altered his opinion.
   During  the time the  above circumstances happened,
his son  Ira came  home, after being absent about  four
years;  but Avas not treated with that affection a child ex-
pects to receive in a father's  house, he was sent off to
seek lodgings where he  could.  About tAvelve o'clock he
returned, not being able to obtain  lodgings, and  called
up a young man Avho boarded with Mr. Smith, made a
bitter complaint, on account of the treatment he received
from his  father, which  he attributed to be owing to the
influence of his mother-in-laAv;  he took a-phial and drank
from  it, and soon after fell on the  floor.   The  young
man being alarmed, awaked his father and informed him
of the circumstance; before he got  to his  son he  Avas
senseless,  and stiff in every joint.   I Avas in bed in  the
house,  and Mr. Smith came immediately to me, and re-
quested my assistance,  said  that he  expected Ira had
killed himself.   He shoAved me the phial and asked what
had been in it;  I told him it had  contained laudanum.
I got up as soon as possible,  and on going down,  met
Mr. Smith and the young man bringing Ira up stairs.  1
directed them to lay him on the hearth, and took a bottle
from my pocket, which  contained a strong preparation
of Nos. 1, 2, and 6; took his head  between my knees, 
Of Samuel TJiomson.             153
his jaAVS being set, and put my finger between his cheek
and teeth, and poured in some of the medicine from the
bottle; as soon  as it reached the glands of his  throat,
his jaws became loosened, and he swallowed some of it;
in five 'minutes  he vomited; in ten he spoke;  in  one
hour  he  was clear of the effects of the opium, and the
next day Avas well.  After this the affection of the father
seemed in some measure to return; he  clothed  him,
took  him  to  Taunton, and introduced him into practice
as an assistant.   He did very well till his mother-in-law
arrived there, when a difficulty took place between them,
and he went  off.   His father advertised him, forbidding
all persons from trusting him on his account.  He  was
absent four years, when he returned again  to his father's
house, and was received in the same cold and unfeeling
manner as before, was not allowed to stay  in the  house,
but was obliged to seek an asylum among strangers.   He
staid  in town several days,  became dejected, in  conse-
quence, as he said, of the treatment he had met  with at
his  father's  house, went  over to Charlestown,  took  a
quantity  of laudanum, and  was  found near the  monu-
ment  senseless; was  carried to  the  alms-house, Avhere
he died.
  The morning after he  died, his  father  came  to  see
the corpse,  and, as I was  informed  by a person  who
heard it, said that if he had been present  one hour be-
fore  he died  he could have saved his life; for, said he,
" I  once administered medicine to him and saved his
life when he had taken a similar  dose," and, putting his
hand  on  his  pocket, said, "I always carry medicine in
my  pocket for  that purpose."  He  neither took  him
home, nor put in the paper the cause of his death.  The
notice in  the paper Avas,  "Died suddenly, in Charles-
town, Ira Smith, son of Elias Smith, Boston."
  After Ira  went away the last time, I frequently heard
Mrs.  Smith say that if she could only hear that Ira  was
dead, she should be satisfied.  The season before he re-
turned,  an account of his death  appeared  in the Palla-
dium  of Boston, stating  that Ira Smith died in  Upper
Canada.   How  this account originated is yet unknown,
as Ira said he  had never been there.  HoAvever, his
father seemed to make great lamentation at this unfor- 
154
Narrative of the Life, Sec
tunate news, and mentioned it in one of his sermons iir
Clark Street.  In the spring following I saAv Ira in New
York,  and informed Mr. Smith's family that I had seen
him, but he did not proclaim it in the meeting as he did
the neAvs  of his death.   Neither did he exclaim, in the
words  of an ancient father of a prodigal, "My son who
Avas dead, is alive, and Avho  was lost, is found."
  In June following Ira came to me, instead of going to
his  father's house.   I  found him lodging  two * nights,
and then got hiin into business in Col.  House's  printing
office,  Avhere he  worked some days before he Avent to his
father's house.   When calling there to see his brothers
and sisters, he said something took place  between him
and  his  step-mother, Avhich so disgusted  him  that  he
threatened before the workmen in the office  to  destroy
his  own  life.  They  laughed at his pretensions,  but  he
insisted on doing the deed, which he did in a few days
after, and thus ended  this disgraceful tragedy.
  I continued Avith  Mr. Smith, as has been before  men-
tioned, giving him instruction, till the .first of June, when
I appointed  him  agent,  with authority to sell family
rights  and medicine.  An agreement was draAvn up and
signed by both  parties, in Avhich it was  stipulated, that
I was to furnish  him with  medicine, and allow him tAven-
ty-five per cent,  for selling;  and he was to have  fifty per
cent,  for all the  rights he  sold; Avhich was ten  dollars  for
each right, for giving the  necessary information  to  those
who purchased,  and  collecting the pay.  His principal
dependence at  this time was upon me and the practice,
for  his support.  He paid  me one half of what he re-
ceived for family rights as  he sold them.  The first of
July,  I contemplated going home to get my hay; but
Mrs.  Smith expecting  to be confined soon,  was very
urgent that I should  stay till after she Avas sick, which
detained  me three  Aveeks.   I staid accordingly, and  at-
tended  her through her sickness, for  which  they gave
me great credit  and praise at the time.  I  then went
home to attend to my farm and get my hay; after which
I returned to Boston, and in the fall went to Cape Cod,
to attend to some business  there, and on my return to
Boston, I  found Mr. Smith's youngest  child sick with
the quinsy, or r*attles; he  had done  all he  could, and 
Of Samuel Thomson.             155
given it over to die.  The women had taken charge of
the child, after he had given it up, and had given it some
physic.  When I saw the child I gave some encourage-
ment of a cure, and they Avere very desirous for me to do
something for it.  I told them they had done very Avrong
in giving physic, for it was strictly against my orders to
ever give any physic, in cases where there was canker.
They observed that there  was no appearance of canker.
I told them  it would never appear when they gave physic,
for'it Avould remain inside, till mortification decided the
contest.
  I began with the child by giving No. 2, which caused
violent struggles  and aroused it from the stupid state in
which  it  had  lain,  until the moisture  appeared in the
mouth; then gave some No. 3,  steeped, and Nos.  1 and
2, to start the  canker, and cause it to vomit.  This soon
gave relief.  The women  who were present, accused me
of the  greatest cruelty,  because I brought the  child out
of its stupid  state,  and restored its sense of feeling, by
which  means the life of the child was saved.  The next
morning its mouth  was as Avhite as paper with canker;
they were then all satisfied that I knew the child's situa-
tion  best,  and  that I had saved its life.   I considered
the child so much relieved, that the father and mother
would  be  able to  restore  it to perfect health, left it in
their care  and went out  of town.   I returned the next
day  about  noon, and found that they had again given it
up to die;  its throat Avas so filled with canker that it had
not swallowed any  thing  for four hours.   I Avas in  sus-
pense  Avhether to do any thing for the child or not; but
told  the father and mother I thought if it  Avas mine, I
would  not  give it  up  yet;  they  wished me to try.  I
took some  small quills from a Aving, and stripped  them,
except about three  quarters of an inch at the point,  tied
several of them together,  which made a swab,  dipped it
in canker  tea, and began by washing  the  mouth; then
rinsing  it with cold water; then washed with the tea
again,  putting the swab doAvn lower in the throat  which
caused it to  gag,  and while the throat was open, put it
down below trie swallow, and took off scales of canker,
then rinsed again with cold water.   Soon  as  it could
swallow,  gave  some tea of No. 2, a tea spoonful  at a 
 156           Nari'ative of the Life, Sec

 time, and it soon began to struggle for breath,  and ap-
 peared to be in great distress, similar  to a droAvned per-
 son coming to life.   In its struggling for breath discharg-
 ed considerable phlegm from its nose and  mouth; 1 then
 gave  some  more of the emetic with canker  tea, which
 operated favorably; in two  hours it was able to nurse,
 and it soon got Avell, to the  great joy of the father and
 mother, who said that the life of the  child was saved by
 my perseverance.
   Soon after this child got well, which was in the fall of
 the year 1817,  Mr. Smith moved to Taunton.  Previous
 to his removal, a man  from  that place by the name of
 Eddy, applied  to  him to be cured of a bad  humor,
 caused by taking mercury.   I assisted  in attending upon
 him part  of the time.   Mr. Smith began  with him, and
 on the  turn of the disorder,  the man and he got fright-
 ened  and sent for me.  He had been kept as hot as he
 could bear, with the medicine, for six  hours,  which in-
 creased the heat of the body sufficient to  overpower the
 cold,  the  heat turned inward and drove the cold on the
 outside; this produces such a sudden change in the whole
 system, that a person unacquainted with the practice
 Avould suppose they Aveie dying;  but there is  no danger
 to be apprehended, if proper measures are taken and
 persevered in by keeping up the inward heat.   In such
 cases  steaming is almost indispensable;  for which reason
 I have been obliged to steam the patient  in most cases
 where the complaint has been of long standing, especial-
 ly when -uch  mercury has been taken, as nothing will
 make  it  active but hea:..  This man soon  got well and
returned home.
  I furnished Mr. Smith Avith a stock of medicine,  and
in the Avinter paid him a visit, found him in full practice,
 and Mr. Eddy assisting him.   I carried Avith me  a quan-
tity of medicine, reneAved his stock,  and stored  the  re-
 mainder Avith him.   He had sold several rights, and was
very successful in his practice, which  caused great alarm
 among the doctors; they circulated all kinds of false
 and ridiculous reports  about his practice, to break  him
 up; but not succeeding, they raised a mob,  and twice
 broke open Mr. Smith's house, in his absence, and fright-
ened his family. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             157
   In the spring of this year, Mr. Smith moved to Scituate,
 to  preach there  and attend to practice; and  the medi-
 cine  left with him, I consigned to Mr. Eddy,  by his re-
 commendation.   The amount of the medicine was about
 one hundred dollars, and 1 sent him a note for twenty
 dollars, Avhich he collected, and afterwards went off, and
 I  lost the whole  amount.  During this season I Avent  to
 Plymouth to visit  some there who had  bought  family
 rights,  and returned by the Avay  of Scituate, in order to
 visit Mr.  Smith, look over his books, and have some set-
 tlement  with him.   I had let him have medicine as he
 wanted it, trusting him to give me credit for what he
 sold or used.  I think he had given me credit, so that
 the balance due  me at this time, for what he had, Avas
 four hundred dollars.  He was unable to pay me any
 thing, and I returned to Boston.
   Mr. Smith aftenvards removed his family to Boston,
 and in the fall of the year 1818, he said that he was not
 able to pay me  any money, but he would let me have
 such  things as he could spare.  I was disposed to be as
 favorable towards  him as I  could, and  took what he
 chose to offer at his own price.  He let me have two old
 watches at one  hundred dollars; and an old mare at
 eighty,  which was  for medicine at cash prices.  I gave
 him all the chance of selling  rights and  medicine, in
 hopes that he Avould be able to do better by me.  I often
 had  requested  him to deliver lectures on my system of
 practice,  as this had been a favorite object  with me in
 appointing him agent;  but never could prevail  with  him
 to do any thing  in that way.  Another  important ar-
 rangement I had made  with him was, that he was to
 assist me in preparing for the press, a Avork to contain  a
 narrative  of my life, and a complete description of my
 whole system.  I had written it in the best manner  I
 could, and depended on him to copy it off and prepare it
 in a correct  manner to be printed; but he  put me off
 from time to time,  and was never ready to attend to it.
All this time I never had any suspicion of his  having a
design to  wrong me, by usurping the whole lead of the
business, and turning every thing  to his own advantage.
  I continued to  keep medicine at his house, which he
had free access to,  and took it when he pleased, giving
             14 
158           Narrative of the Life, Sfc
me credit for it according to his  honesty.  There  was
two  or three  thousand  dollars worth at a time, in the
house.  He charged me three dollars per week for board,
for all the time  I  was at his house, after he returned
from the country; and he had given me credit for only
eighty dollars for medicine the year past.   On a settle-
ment  Avith  him at this  time, 1819, he oAved me about
four  hundred dollars;  I  asked him for  a due bill  for the
balance, but he refused to give one; and said that  Mr.
Eddy  had  received two hundred  dollars  worth of the
medicine, for  which he had received  nothing,  and he
ought  not to pay for it.   I agreed to lose one half of it,
and allowed one  hundred dollars,  the same as if I  had
received cash of him.   I took a memorandum from his
book of what was  due me, which was all I had for securi-
ty.   In the  fall of the year  1820,  I had another settle-
ment  Avith Mr. Smith, and he owed me about four  hun-
dred dollars, having received no money of him the year
past.   He told me  that all the property he had was a
horse and chaise, and  that if I did not have it,  some-
body  else would.  I took the horse and chaise at three
hundred dollars,  and  the  hundred dollars  I  agreed to
alloAV on Mr. Eddy's account, made us, according to his
accounts, about square,  as to the medicine he had given
me credit for.  He made  out a statement  of fifty-seven
family  rights that he  had sold  at  twenty  dollars each,
twenty-three of which he  had never paid me  any thing
for;  his plea for not paying me for them Avas, that he had
not received his pay of those Avho had bought them.   His
agreement  Avith me was,  that he should account to me
for ten dollars, for  each right sold, and he Avas to  have
ten dollars each for  collecting the money and giving the
necessary information to the  purchasers.
   In  the  winter  of 1819, I went to Philadelphia,  and
previous to my going made arrangements with Mr. Smith
to publish a  new edition of my book of directions; we
revised the former  edition, and made such additions as
we thought would be necessary to give a complete and
full  description of  my  system, and the manner of pre-
 paring and using the medicine;  and I directed him to
 secure the copy-right according to law.  I left the whole
 care with him, to arrange the matter, and have it print- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             159
ed.  On my return to Boston in March, he had got it
done;  but  in  a  manner very  unsatisfactory to me,  for
he had left out twelve pages  of the most useful  part  of
the remarks and directions, and  it was otherwise very
incorrectly  and  badly printed.  I asked him the reason
of this, and he said a part of the copy had got mislaid,
and  the printer had not done  his work Avell.   I  had no
idea at the time, that he had  any design in  having this
pamphlet  printed in the manner it Avas; but his  subse-
quent  conduct Avould justify the belief that he had  pre-
vious to this, formed a plan to usurp the Avhole  of my
system  of practice, and turn every thing to his own  ad-
vantage; for he  has since attempted  to satisfy the pub-
lic, that my system  was no  system; and has brought
forward this very book, which was  printed  under his
own inspection,  and arranged by him, as a part of his
proof,  thar I Avas  incapable of managing my own dis-
coveries,  and of communicating the necessary informa-
tion  in an  intelligible  manner to make my system  of
practice useful to those Avho purchased the rights.   It is
a  well  known" fact, that  some  of the  most  essential
parts of the directions were to be verbal;  and I had al-
loAved  him ten dollars each, to give the proper instruc-
tions to all those to whom he sold the  rights.
  Another circumstance that I have recently found out,
goes to show a dishonesty in design,  to say  the least of
it.  He deposited the title page of the above mentioned
pamphlet, and obtained a certificate  from the clerk,  in
the name of Elias Smith, as proprietor, and  caused it to
be printed in the name of Samuel Thomson,  as  author
and  proprietor.   What his intentions  Avere in thus pub-
lishing a false certificate, I shall not attempt to explain;
but leave the reader to judge for himself.  If I had been
taken away, he possibly might have  come forward and
claimed under it a right to all my discoveries, and event-
ually to substitute himself in my place as sole proprietor.
From that time he neglected the sale of rights, and turn-
ed his attention mostly to practice and preparing his own
medicine.  During the summer of 1820, he  employed
Mr.  Darling to assist him in practice,  and  prepare medi-
cine, and while Avith him he prepared  thirty-eight bottles
of the  rheumatic drops, Avhich by agreement he was  to 
160
Narrative of the Life, Sfc
 have of me; he also directed him to take the materials
 from my stock, which  was in  the house,  and  prepare
 twenty-five pounds  of composition, and this was kept a
 secret from me.   The reason he gave  Mr.  Darling for
 not  having medicine of me  according to his agreement,
 was, that he owed me so much now that he was afraid
 he should never be able to pay  me.  I thought his  tak-
 ing the preparing of as well as the selling of my medicine
 to himself, was a very singular Avay to pay an old debt.
   In May, 1820, Mr. Smith collected together those  in
 Boston who had bought rights of me or my agents,  and
 formed them into a society, under a neAV name; he Avrote
 a constitution, Avhich they signed;  and the members  paid
 one  dollar entrance, and Avere to pay twelve  and a half
 cents per month assessment, for which he promised them
 important instructions and cheap medicine.   He was ap-
 pointed president and treasurer, and after he** had obtain-
 ed their money, the meetings were discontinued, and the
 society was broken up in the course of nine months.   In
 this  he appears to have taken the lead of all those  who
 had  purchased the right of me, and make them tributary
 to himself.
   In November, I returned from the country and found
 that  he had advertised, without my knowledge or con-
 sent, in the Herald, a periodical Avork published by  him
 at that time, "proposals for publishing  by subscription,
 a book to contain the whole of the system and  practice
 discovered by Samuel Thomson, and secured to him by
 patent.  The price to subscribers to be five dollars.  By
 Elias Smith."  This mostly stopped the sale  of rights,
 for no one would purchase a right of me or my  agents at
 twenty dollars,  when they had  the promise of them at
five.   I Avent to him to know Avhat he meant by his con-
duct, in  issuing these proposals; he plead  innocence,
and said he had no impreper design in doing it.
  I Avas now under the necessity of doing  something in
order to  counteract what  had been done by Mr. Smith,
 in publishing the above proposals; and came to the  de-
termination to issue new proposals for publishing a nar-
 rative of  my life as far as related to my practice, with  a
 complete  description of my system of practice in curing
 disease, and the manner of preparing and using  the med- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             161
mine  secured to me by patent; the price to subscribers
to be  ten dollars, including the right to each of using the
same  for himself and family.  Mr. Smith undertook to
write  the proposals and get them printed;  after they were
struck off, I found he had said in them, by Samuel Thom-
son and Elias  Smith; all subscribers to be returned to
the latter.  I asked him what he meant by putting his name
with mine;  he  said in order to get more subscribers.  I
said no  more about it at that time, and let them be dis-
tributed.
   When I settled with him the last time,  I asked him
what he would  charge me to prepare rny manuscript for
the press;  he  said he thought Ave Avere to write it to-
gether; I asked him Avhat made him  think so;  he said
because his name was on the proposals with mine;  I ad-
mitted this;  but told  him the reasons he had assigned
for putting  his name to it without my consent or knowl-
edge.  He then  intimated that he thought he was to be
a partner with me;  I asked  him what I ever had of him
to entitle him to an equal  right to all my discoveries.
To this  he  made no reply;  but said he would write it,
and Ave  would  agree upon  a price afterwards.   I  told
him no;  I must know his price first.   He said he could
not tell within  fifty dollars.   I then told him we would
say no more about it.  This conversation, together  with
his conduct in regard to the  proposals, convinced me be-
yond  all doubt, that his  design was to destroy me,  and
take the whole business to  himself.   I felt unwilling to
trust him any longer, and took all my  books and manu-
scripts from his house.   His subsequent conduct towards
me has fully justified all my  suspicions, and left no room
for a doubt,  that  his  intentions were to take every ad-
vantage of me in his power,  and  usurp my Avhole system
of practice.
  My system of practice and the credit of my medicine,
Avas never in a more prosperous  condition,  than when I
began  with Mr.  Smith, to instruct him in a knoAvledge of
all my discoveries and experience in curing disease;  and
appointed him  agent.  The people, wherever it became
knoAvn,- were every day becoming convinced of its utili-
ty, and the medicine was in great demand;  family rights
sold readily, and every thing seemed to promise complete
              14* 
162
Narrative of the Life, S)c.
success in diffusing a general knowledge of the practice
among all classes of the people; but under his manage-
ment, the whole of my plans  had been  counteracted,
and my anticipations in a great  measure had been frus-
trated.  By his conduct towards me, in his attempt to
take the lead of the practice out of my hands, and de-
stroy  my credit with the public, he  has not only  been a
serious loss to me in a pecuniary point of view, but the
people at large are deprived of  the  blessings that might
be derived by a correct knowledge of  my discoveries;
and by which they might have it in  their power to relieve
themselves from sickness and pain with a trifling expense,
and generations yet unborn be greatly benefitted thereby.
  I tried to get a settlement Avith Mr Smith, for the med-
icine he had prepared and sold, and also for the rights he
had not accounted to me for, with the affairs that remain-
ed unadjusted between us; but could not get him to do
any thing  about  it; and finding there Avas no chance  of
obtaining an honorable settlement  with  him,  about the
first of February, 1821, I  took  all my medicine from his
house, and discontinued all connection  or concern  with
him.  I was then, after Avaiting about four years for him
to assist me in  Avriting, which was one of my greatest
objects  in  appointing  him agent,  obliged to publish a
pamphlet, in which I gave some of the  principles upon
which my system was founded,  with explanations and di-
rections for my  practice,  and  also to notify the  public
that I had appointed other agents,  and  caution all  per-
sons against trespassing on my  patent.
  He continued to practise  and prepare medicine,  bid-
ding me defiance.   I  made  several attempts to get an
honorable settlement Avith him, without success.  I em-
ployed three persons to go to him  and offer to settle all
our difficulties by leaving them to a reference;  but he re-
fused to do any thing,  continued to trespass,  and  made
use of  every means to destroy my  character by abusive
and false reports concerning my conduct, both in regard
to my practice and  private character.   Finding that I
could get no redress  from him, I  put an advertisement
in the papers, giving  notice that I had deprived him of
all  authority  as  my agent;  and cautioning the  public
against receiving any medicine or information from him 
Of Samuel Thomson.             163
 under any  authority of mine.   He  redoubled his dili-
 gence in trespassing, and prepared the medicine and ad-
 vertised it  for sale under  different names from Avhat I
 had called it.  I found there was no other way for me to
 do,  but to appeal to the laws of  my country for justice,
 and brought an aetion against him for a trespass on my
 patent, to be tried at the Circuit  Court, at the October
 term,  1821.  The  action was continued to May term,
 when  it Avas called up, and the Judge decided that  the
 specifications in my patent were  improperly made out,
 not  being  sufficiently  explicit to found  my action  upon.
 In  consequence of Avhich I had to become  non-suited,
 and stop all further proceedings against him, till I could
 make  out  new  specifications and obtain a new patent
 from the government.
  Mr. Smith has lately [1822] published a book in which
 he  has given my system of practice  Avith directions for
 preparing and  using the vegetable medicine secured  to
 me by patent, and my plan of treatment in  curing disease
 as far as he knew it.   In the whole of this work there is
 not  one principle laid down or one idea suggested, ex-
 cept  what is taken  from other authors, but Avhat he has
 obtained from my written or verbal instructions;  and still
 he has the effrontery to publish it to the world as his OAvn
 discovery, Avithout giving me any credit whatever, except
 he has condescended to say that " Samuel Thomson has
 made  some imperfect  discoveries of  disease and medi-
 cine, but has not  reduced any thing to  a  regular sys-
 tem."   This assertion will appear so perfectly ridiculous
 to all  those who have  any knowledge of my  practice,
 that I shall forbear making any comment upon it.  It  is
 true that he has made  alterations in the names  of  some
 of the preparations of medicine,  but the  articles used,
 and the manner of using them, are the  same as mine.   It
 is also a well knoAvn fact, that he had no  knoAvledge  of
 medicine, or of curing disease, until I instructed  him;
 and if what  he says be true, the effect has been very re-
 markable, in as much as his magnetical attraction has
 drawn all the skill from me to himself, by which he has
taken  upon  himself the  title of Physician, and left me
nothing but  the appellation of Mr. Thomson, the imper-
fect projector. 
164           Narrative  of the Life, eye
   I have been more particular in describing Mr. Smith's
 conduct, because it has been  an important crisis in the
 grand plan for  which I have  spent a great part of my
 life, and suffered much, to bring about;  that  of estab-
 lishing a system of medical practice, whereby the people
 of this highly favored  country may have  a knowledge
 of the means by which they can at all times relieve them-
 selves from the  diseases  incident to our country,  by  a
 perfectly safe and simple treatment,  and thereby relieve
 themselves from a heavy expense, as \A*ell as the  often
 dangerous  consequences  arising  from  the employing
 those Avho make use of poisonous drugs and other means,
 by which they cause more disease than they cure; and
 in which I  consider the public as well as myself have  a
 deep  interest.  I have  endeavored  to  make  a correct
 and faithful statement of his conduct, and the treatment
 I have received  from him; every  particular  of which
 can be substantiated by indisputable testimony if neces-
 sary.   I now appeal to the public, and more particularly
 to all who have  been  benefitted by my  discoveries, for
 their  aid and countenance, in supporting my just rights
 against all  encroachments, and securing to me my claims
 to whatever of merit or distinction I am honorably and
justly entitled.  While I  assure them  that I am not to
 be  discouraged or  diverted from my grand object by
 opposition, or the dishonesty  of those who  deal deceit-
 fully Avith me; but shall persevere in all honorable and
 fair measures to accomplish what my life has principally
 been spent in fulfilling. 
ADDITIONS
   To the Second  Edition—Nov.  1825.

   Since the first edition of my narrative was published,
 some circumstances have occurred, which I think Avorth
 relating; and shall, therefore, continue to give the reader
 an account of all those things  relating to my system of
 practice,  and  the success it has met  with, up  to  the
 present time.
   After having failed in my attempt to obtain justice, by
 prosecuting Elias Smith for trespass, as has been before
 related, I found it necessary to adopt some  new plan of
 procedure,  in  order to meet  the universal  opposition I
 have in all cases met  with from not only  the medical
 faculty, but from all those who belong to what are called
 the learned professions.  Judge Story decided  that  the
 action could  not be sustained, because the specifications
 in my patent Avere not  so explicit  as to determine Avhat
 my claim Avas.   He said it contained a number of  re-
 cipes, which, no doubt, were very valuable; but I  did
 not say what part of it I claimed as my own invention.
 How  far this opinion Avas governed by a preconcerted
 plan  to  prevent me from maintaining my claim as the
 original inventor of a  system of practice, and proving its
 utility in a court of justice,  it would  not be proper  for
 me to say;  but I  have an undoubted right to  my own
 opinion on the subject;  besides I had it from very high
 authority at the time, that this was the fact,  and that I
 should  always find all my efforts to support my claim,
 frustrated in  the same manner.  When I obtained my
 patent,  I had good legal advice in making out the speci-
 fications, besides,  it Avas examined and approved by the
Attorney General of the United States;  and it was said >
 at the time of the trial, by several gentlemen learned  in
 the law, to be good; and that the very nature and mean- 
166           Narrative of the Life, Sjc
ing of the patent Avas, that the compounding  and using
the articles specified in manner therein set  forth,  Avas
what I claimed as my invention.
  There was,  however, no other way for me to do, but
to obtain  another patent; and  immediately  after  the
above decision, I set about getting one that Avould meet
the objections that had been made to the first.  In mak-
ing new specifications,  I had the assistance  of  several
gentlemen of the law, and others,  and every precaution
was taken to have them according  to law;  but whether
my  second patent will be more successful than the first,
time must  determine.   It  embraces the six  numbers,
composition  or vegetable  powders, nerve powder,  and
the  application of steam  to raise perspiration;  and to put
my  claim beyond doubt, I added at the end as follows,
viz: "The  preparing and compounding the foregoing
vegetable medicine, in manner as herein described,  and
the  administering them  to cure disease,  as herein men-
tioned, together with the use of steam to produce  perspi-
ration, I claim as my own invention."  My second patent
is dated January 28,  1823.
  In obtaining a patent, it Avas  my principal  object to
get  the protection of the government agaAist the machi-
nations  of my enemies,  more than to take advantage of
a monopoly;  for in selling family rights, I convey to the
purchaser the information  gained  by thirty years prac-
tice, and for which  I am  paid  a  sum of money as an
equivalent.   This I should have a right to do, if there
were no patent in the case.  Those a?1io  purchase the
right have all the advantages of my experience, and also
the  right to the use of the medicine, secured to me by
patent,  and to the obtaining and preparing it for  them-
selves, without any emolument to me whatever.   And in
all  the  numerous cases  where I have sold rights, there
have been very few instances Avhere any objections have
been made to paying for them, Avhere notes had been
given, and these Avere by those Avho had been persuaded
by men opposed to me  and my practice, and Avho  had
interested views in doing me all the injury they could;
but where  suits have been commenced to recover on
notes  given for rights, it has been decided that the  de-
mand is good in law, and the plea set up of no value re- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             167
ceiveu, is not valid;  because the information given, and
the advantages  received, is a valuable  consideration,
without any  reference to the patent right.  In all  cases
where a person possesses valuable information  from his
own experience or ingenuity, there can be no reason why
he should not have a right to sell it to another as well as
any other property,  and that all contracts  made in such
cases should not be binding, provided there is no fraud
or deception used.
  When a  suitable opportunity offers, I shall avail my-
self of my patent rights, for the purpose of stopping the
people being  imposed  upon, by those who  pretend to
practise  by  my  system, having no authority from me,
and have not a correct knowledge of the subject;  but
are tampering with all kinds of medicine to the  injury
of their patients, and the great detriment  of the credit of
my system  of practice;  for when they  happen to be
successful, they arrogate  to themselves great credit for
the cure; but when the patients die, it is all laid  to the
door of my  system.  The doctors are ready enough to
avail themselves of these  cases, and to publish exagger-
ated accounts of them,  to  prejudice the minds  of the
people against me.   Whenever I again make an attempt
to vindicate my rights,  by appealing to the laAVS of my
country,  I am determined, if possible, to take such meas-
ures as shall give me a fair chance to obtain justice.   All
I ask is,  to have a fair opportunity to prove my medicine
to be  neAV and useful, which is all the law requires to
make the patent valid.   In doing this, I shall spare no
expense  to have the most  able counsel in  the country en-
gaged, and  shall not stop  at any decision against me, till
carried to the  highest judicial tribunal in  the country.
   It is a matter of much gratulation to me,  and a balm
for all my sufferings,  that my system of  practice  is  fast
gaining  ground in  all parts of the country.  The peo-
ple, wherever  it is  introduced, take a lively interest in
the cause,  and  family rights sell  rapidly; and all who
purchase, give  much credit to the superior and benefi-
cial  effects of  the  medicine above  all others.   The
prejudices of those who, have  been opposed to it seem
to be fast  wearing  away before the light of reason  and
common sense.  A. number of gentlemen,  eminent for 
168           Narrative of the Life, Sfc
 their scientific researches and usefulness in society, have
 become advocates for the cause;  and although they may
 not be perfectly converted so as  to  give  up all  their
 former opinions, yet they allow that the system is inge-
 nious and philosophical, and that  the practice is new and
 safe.
   In introducing my new mode of  practice  to the  peo-
 ple of this country, I have never sought the  patronage
 or  assistance of the great; and the success  it has  met
 with has been altogether owing to its own merit.  There
 has been no management  or arts used to deceive or to
 flatter the vanity of any one; but in all cases I have en-
 deavored to  convince  by demonstrating  the  truth, by
 the most plain and  simple method of  practice, to effect
 the object aimed at, and to cure disease  by such  means
 as I thought  would cause the least trouble and expense.
 This, probably, has been one of the greatest causes of
 the opposition  I  have  met Avith  from the  people;  for
 they have been so long in the habit of being  gulled by
 designing men, and the ostentatious  show of pompous
 declarations  and high sounding  words,  backed  by the
 recommendations of those they have flattered and deceiv-
 ed, that nothing brought forward in a plain and  simple
 dress seems worthy of notice.  If I had  adopted a more
 deceptive plan, to suit the follies of the  times, I might
 have  been more successful; but I  am satisfied I  should
 have been less useful.
  There is one thing  Avhich I think cannot be  matter
 of doubt, that  I have  been the  cause of aAvakening a
 spirit of inquiry among the people of this country,  into
 the medical practice and the fashionable manner of treat-
 ment  in curing disease, from which great benefits  will
 be  derived to the community.  Many new contrivances
 and plans have been  introduced by different men, to
 produce  perspiration by steam and other methods, by
the use of vegetables, Avhich unquestionably have taken
their origin from my practice.  When I began to make
use of steam, a great deal  of noise was  made  about it
throughout the country,  and I was called the steaming
 and sweating  doctor, by way of ridicule.  It was even
 stated by the doctors, that I steamed and SAveat my pa-
tients to death.   This no doubt led some ingenious men 
Of Samuel Thomson.             169
to investigate the subject by experiments, and on  dis-
covering that it was  useful in restoring health to the
afflicted, particularly  in scrofulous complaints,  different
contrivances have been introduced to apply steam to the
sick.  Jennings's vapor bath was highly recommended
and considerably used a few years ago ; but it has been
found not to be safe in cases where there is a high state
of inflammation, without the use of my medicine to  first
produce  an equilibrium in the system.  A man by the
name of Whitlaw, has lately introduced Avhat he calls his
medicated vapor bath, which has made considerable stir
among the  medical faculty.
  It seems that this  Mr.  Whitlaw,  from Avhat  I  can
learn of him from his publications, about  1816,  went
from  this country to England, and there introduced a
new* system of practice, and became celebrated in  cur-
ing all kinds of scrofulous complaints and diseases of the
glands,  by  means of his method of applying steam  and
the use of decoctions  from American vegetables.   How
he got  his  knoAvledge, or what first induced him to fix
upon this plan, I know not;  but it seems, as jfar as I can
understand him, that he has adopted my system of prac-
tice as far  as he has been able to get a knowledge of it.
He says something about gaining his knowledge from
an Indian in this country; but this is too stale to require
any  notice.  One of the great  principles  upon  which
my system is founded, is, that all disease originates in
obstructions in the glands, and if not removed  becomes
scrofulous; and the only  remedy is to remove the ob-
structions by raising perspiration by steam and hot med-
icine.  In  all my practice, for nearly forty years, there
has been nothing that  I have succeeded more completely
in,  than the cure of scrofulous complaints, such as  salt-
rheum,  St. Anthony's  fire,  scalt head,  cancers, king's
evil, rheumatism and consumption.
  It appears that the above gentleman  has met  with
great success in England, and that he has had the  sup-
port and patronage of many  of fhe first men in the king-
dom,  who  have liberally contributed to the support of
an asylum  for the cure  of the poor, and that  his  suc-
cess has given universal satisfaction.  And it  also ap-
pears that  he has met Avith abuse from the  medical  fac- 
170
Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 ulty, both there and in this country.  This  was to have
 been expected, and is the best evidence of its utility.  I
 feel  no enmity toAvards those Avho are benefiting by my
 discoveries, and it gives me much pleasure to think that I
 have been  instrumental in introducing a  new system  of
 medical practice,  by which I  feel confident  so much
 benefit  aviII be derived by relieving in a  great measure,
 the sum of human  misery.  But I think those gentlemen
 who have gained  any  knowledge from my practice, for
 which I have suffered so much for introducing, ought,  in
justice,  to allow me some credit for the discovery.
  It  has been my misfortune to meet Avith not only op-
 position in my practice, but to suffer many wrongs  from
 some with  whom I have had dealings, and this in many
 cases were those Avho have attempted to  injure me were
 among those that I considered under obligations  to  me.
 1 have  related a  number of cases in the course of my
 narrative;  but the disposition  in  many, still  seems  to
 continue.   In selling family rights, I have  ahvays  been
 as liberal to purchasers as they could wish,  particularly
 where I was  convinced their circumstances made it  in-
 convenient for them to pay the money down;  and have
 been in the habit of taking notes payable  at a convenient
 time.  This has occasioned  me  considerable  loss; but
 in most cases the purchasers have shown  a disposition to
 pay  if in their poAver, have treated me with a proper re-
 spect, and have been grateful for the favor; with these
 I have been satisfied, and no one has had reason to com-
 plain of my want of generosity towards them.  There
 have been some,  however, who have taken a  different
 course, and have  not only refused to comply with their
 contract, but have notwithstanding they have continued
 to use the medicine, turned against me and have tried to
 do me  all the harm in their poAver.   Such conduct has
 caused me some considerable vexation and trouble.
   At the time I failed in my attempt against Elias Smith,
 in  consequence of the decision against the correctness
 of the  specifications of my patent, as has been  before
 related, I  had a number of notes for rights sold, among
 them were two against a person, who  had previously
 expressed  great zeal in my cause, for a right for him-
 self, and one for his friend.   During the  pending  of the 
Of Samuel Thomson.             171
trial,  he took sides with Smith;  and after the decision,
came to the conclusion, or, as  I suppose, was told by
Smith, that the notes could not be collected by law, and
refused to pay them.  I did not wish to put him to cost,
and  therefore let the business  rest, in hopes he  Avould
think better of it and pay me according to contract; but
after  waiting  until the notes were nearly outlawed, and
he  still refusing  to pay, I put one of them in suit, and
the action was tried before the Boston  Police  Court.
The defence  set up was, that the contract Avas void,  in
consequence of the failure of the patent; and also that
there was no value received.
  The trial was before Mr. Justice Orne, and A\ras man-
aged by Mr.  Morse, for the plaintiff, and Mr.  Merrill, for
the defendant.  On this trial, as on all others in which
I have been engaged, there seemed to be the same fixed
prejudice against me and my system of  practice.  The
defendant's lawyer  opened the  defence with all the  old
slang  about quackery, alluding  to the report of my trial
for  murder,  and that he was going to make  out  one  of
the greatest cases of deception  and fraud  ever known;
but when  he came to  hear the evidence in  support  of
my claim, and  the great credit given to  my medicine
and practice, by  many respectable witnesses, he  altered
his  tone very much, and I hope became  convinced  of
his  erroneous impressions;  and  seemed to abandon this
part of the defence, placing his dependence on the ques-
tion of law, as to the failure of the patent.   This question
the Judge seemed not  willing to decide  alone, and the
case  was continued for argument before the  full court,
on this point.
  The case was argued before the three Judges, who all
agreed  in  the  opinion, that the decision of the  Circuit
Court  did  not  affect the patent right; but Avas a mere
suspension,  in consequence of an  informality  in the
specifications, which did not debar me from  recovering
according to the  contract.   After this decision, another
hearing was  had, and  another  attempt  made to prove
that  the defendant had not been furnished by me Avith
the  necessary information to enable him to practise Avith
safety;  but in this he failed  altogether; for it Avas  prov-
ed that he had the privilege of being a member  of the 
172           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
Friendly Botanic Society, and had also all the advantages
that others had, and that if he did not improve it, it was
his own fault.   It was also proved that he had been  in
the constant practice of using the medicine in his family,
and prepared and  offered it for sale to  others.  In the
course of the examination, Elias Smith Avas brought for-
ward by the defendant,  to prove, as I  presume, that I
was not capable of giving information on my own system
of practice; but  his testimony was so contradictory,  to
say the least of it, that it did more harm than good to the
defendant's cause.  There was also a doctor of the  regu-
lar order introduced  in the defence; but  he seemed  to
know nothing about the practice or the case before the
court, and of course his evidence amounted to very  little,
as his opinion upon a subject that he knew nothing about,.
was not of much value, and was very properly objected
to by the plaintiff's counsel.
   In the course of the trial, a great number of gentle-
men of undoubted veracity, were brought forward  to
prove the utility of my system of practice,  who gave the
most perfect testimony in its favor.  Several stated, that
they Avere  so Avell convinced of its superiority  over all
others, and they were so well satisfied with the benefits
they had derived from its  use, that  no sum of money
whatever would induce them to be deprived  of a knoAvl-
edge of it.  Among the witnesses,  an eminent physician
of Boston,  who has on all occasions been very friendly,
and  shown a warm interest in support of my system  of
practice, voluntarily came forward and gave a very fair
and  candid statement in favor of its utility, the value  of
my discoveries,  and the important additions  I had  made
to the Materia Medica.
  The Judge took several days to make up his judgment,
and  finally  decided in my favor, giving me  the full
amount of my  claim; thus  settling the principle,  that
obligations given for family rights were  good an   law.
This was the first time I have ever had a  chance to prove
the utility  of my medicine  and system  of practice, be-
fore  a  court of laAv; having always before been  pre-
vented by some management of the court.
  A knowledge  of the vegetable medicine  that I  have
brought into  use in curing  the diseases  incident to this 
Of Samuel Thomson.              173
country, and  what the faculty call, my "novel mode  of
practice," is fast gaining ground in all parts of the United
States;  but in no part of it of late, has it been more com-
pletely  successful,  than in the  State of New York, not-
withstanding  the  virulent opposition the doctors in that
State have made to its progress.  They have succeeded
in getting a law passed by their Legislature, to put a stop
to quackery,  as  they call all practice,  except by  those
who get a diploma from some medical society established
by law;  depriving all others of the right of collecting their
demands for medical practice;  and they have also gone
one step further than any other State, by making it penal
for any one Avho is not of the regular order, to sell  medi-
cine to  the sick;  imposing a fine of twenty-five dollars
on  all  who offend; thus taking aAvay  from those  who
are so unfortunate as to be sick, all the right of deter-
mining  for themselves, who they  shall employ  to cure
them, or what medicine they shall make  use of.   The
Medical  Society of Pennsylvania, made an  attempt to get
a similar law passed in that State; but the good  sense
of Gov.  Shultz, put a stop to it, for Avhich be is  entitled
to great  praise.   After they  had managed to  get it
through  the Legislature, he refused to sign it, and  re-
turned the bill with his  reasons; the principal of which
was, that he considered it  altogether unconstitutional;
and it is to be hoped that the enlightened statesman and
scholar,  now  Governor of New York,* will use his  in-
fluence to stop the interested and monopolizing  schemes
of the medical faculty  in that important and enterpris-
ing State.
  The remarkable extension of the practice in the  State
of New York,  Avas in a great measure owing to accident;
and  proves Avhat  I have found  to be  the case in many
other places, that where it has met Avith the greatest op-
position from the  faculty, the spread of a knoAvledge  of
its utility,  has been the most rapid  and permanent.  In
the year 1821, my son, Cyrus Thomson, who had settled
in Ohio,  was passing through the State of New York, on
a visit to his  friends;  while in Manlius, he stopped  to
see a man whom I had authorized to practise, and while

                                                •*■
  *The late Governor Clinton.
              15* 
174
Narrative of the Life, Sec
there,  was requested by him to go and see tAvo  patients
he had been requested to attend;  both of them had been
given  over by the doctors, as incurable.  One of them
was found to be past help, very little Avas done for her,
and  she  soon after died.  The other Avas cured  by  the
use  of the medicine.  The  death of the above  person
was  taken advantage of by the doctors, who circulated a
report  that she was murdered by the  medicine  that had
been given her.  This produced a  strong  excitement
among the people,  who knew nothing about the  facts;
a warrant Avas obtained, through  the influence  of  the
doctors,  and my son and the other  man  were  arrest-
ed.  My  son  was  throAvn into  prison,  and the  other
was  put  under bonds of a thousand  dol/ars, to  appear
at the  next court.  The first, however,  after laying  in
jail three days, was enabled to give bonds, also, for  his
appearance.
  Being  thus  prevented from pursuing his journey,  he
set himself down in the town Avhere the above  occur-
rence took place, and Avent into practice.  The persecu-
tions of the faculty gave him friends, as it led the people
to inquire into their conduct,  and being satisfied of their
motives,  did  all they  could to protect him and  increase
his practice.   His success has been greater than in any
other  part of the country, the practice having  spread
over a country  of more than tAvo  hundred miles in  ex-
tent; and his  success in curing disease has been very
great,  having lost but six patients out of about fifteen
hundred.  This has caused the faculty to follow up their
persecutions,  in order to drive him out of the country;
but  he is too  firmly established in the good opinion  of
the  people, for  them  to effect their  object.   I have
another  son established in the practice at Albany, who
has  been very  successful in introducing the knowledge
of it  there;  and a number  of gentlemen  of  the first
respectability,  are taking a strong interest in promoting
its success.
   A writer has lately come forward  and published a
series  of numbers in the Boston Patriot, under the title
of "Eclectic," who  appears well  qualified, and seems
disposed to do me  and my system of practice  justice,
by  raying before the people a correct view of my case! 
Of Samuel Thomson.              175
  I shall now bring this narrative of those events and
circumstances that have taken place in my life, in which
the public are interested, to a close;  having stated every
particular that I thought  worthy of being  recorded, in
as concise and plain a manner as I  was capable;  and
am not  without a  hope that  my endeavors to  promote
the public good, will be  duly appreciated.   Some  cer-
tificates and statements of cases that have been attended
under my system of practice, from those Avho have been
my agents,  or Avho have purchased  family rights, and
have had long experience in the effects produced by a
use of my medicine, are subjoined.*  They furnish much
useful information  on the subject, and will convey a more
correct  view of the success which has attended  the ad-
ministering  my medicine, and following  the  mode  of
treatment recommended by my  system of practice, than
could be given in any  other  manner.   Reference has
been made to some of them in the course of the forego-
ing narrative, and their publication in the Avork  seemed
necessary, to convey a correct knowledge of many state-
ments therein given, to  show the safety and success with
which  various diseases have been cured by others, who
have  had no other knowledge of medicine than the in-
structions received from me; and will, I trust, be suffi-
cient to satisfy every reasonable person hoAv easy it would
be for every one to become  possessed of the means  of
curing  themselves of disease,  Avithout being under the
necessity of calling the aid of a physician.

                  Our Family  Doctor.

   Few  families, particularly in cities and villages, think
they can do without a family  doctor.  But of what use
is a family,  other than his own, to a doctor, unless ahere
be sickness?   Hence it is for the interest of the  doctor,
if the family are not sick, to make them so.   The family
doctor has too often an  opportunity of doing this with im-
punity,  without  detection, and without even  exciting
suspicion.   Even  contagion is often spread abroad which
might have been  cured by an  old, or even a young avo-
man at home.
                                                ■0
   * These certificates are now very much  condensed. 
176           Narrative of the Life, Sfc.
   "Behold, how great a matter, a little fire  kindleth!"
James iii. 5.   P'or example.   A child is taken with the
belly-ache.  The  family  doctor is sent  for, who pro-
nounces its disorder to be worms;  gives calomel  and
jalap to destroy them, which reduces the child very much.
The next visit, bleeds it, to lay the fever, then givis it a
fever powder, composed of nitre,  opium  and camphor,
once in  two  hours.   The patient now  lays in a stupid,
senseless posture, with crimson spots on the cheeks, -de-
noting  putrefaction.   The doctor  is  again sent for in
haste,  who now  pronounces it to be  the  putrid fever.
The bleeding is repeated,  and the fever powders contin-
ued.  The nerves become convulsed,  and  the doctor is
again sent for, who pronounces the disorder  to  be  the
putrid nervous fever, and that it has become contagious;
the child dies; the  family, worn out with fatigue, and
being much alarmed, begin to become sick, and by the
time the  corpse of the child is interred, are all down with
the disorder.   The doctor noAV has  much employ;  the
neighbors are called in to Avatch, the putrefaction runs
high; the neighbors, one after another, take the disorder,
and return home sick; the doctor is called, business gains
rapidly in consequence of the same treatment, until  the
fever has gone through the Avhole village.   All thank the
doctor for his incessant attention and  kindness;  and he
boasts of wonderful success, having  lost  but fifty out  of
one hundred and fifty!  His bill is paid with the greatest
satisfaction.   By this time the doctor can build his house
without sitting down  " to count the cost."  [Pause ]
  What  is the cause of all this village  sickness?  Re-
member the text.   "Behold, how gnat a matter, a little
fire kindleth."  A child Avas taken with the belly-ache;
and had no doctor been known, the mother, with one gill
of pepper and milk, could  have cured the child, and sav-
ed all this slaughter of the scourge of a family doctor.
  Is not  this the cause of  the  spread of so many conta-
gious disorders, which prevail unaccounted for?  If  so,
learn wisdom  by the evils which others endure; study
the nature of disease,  and how to remove it, and never
trust your own life,  nor that of a child, in the hands of
what is called a family physician. 
ADDITIONS
 To the Third  Edition—August,  1831.

   Iv the year  1825, " The Friendly Botanical  Society
 in Boston," being destitute of a practitioner, wished me
 to appoint an agent, Avhom I thought competent, to take
 the lead in practice, and sell my medicine.  I recom-
 mended Mr.  John Locke, of Portsmouth, as has been
 before related, in whom I had put the utmost confidence.
 He  Was sent for by the committee, and moved  here in
 the summer  of that same year.   I gave him twenty dol-
 lars,  and  others of the committee,  and members, gave
 him  something handsome,  for his  encouragement.  I
 agreed to furnish him with all the medicine, either used
 or sold by him,  at stipulated prices, to  give advice when
 needed, to  furnish him Avith books for the  sale of family
 rights,  and to give him ten dollars for every right sold;
 and for the medicine, I was to wait one year  before  de-
 manding payment.   At the end of the year, my principal
 agent, Col. House, and the three committee, looked over
 Mr.  Locke's  account,  in  my absence, and reported to
 me that, in their opinion,  Mr. Locke  had not made  as
 much as he ought, and proposed for me to give  him the
 privilege of making  the  medicine used in his practice.
 I indulged them in this proposal,  and  granted their re-
 quest for one year.  But,  availing himself of this inch
 of indulgence, he took the liberty to prepare and sell for
 his own profit to all that  should  call  on him  for medi-
cine.  • At the end of this year, in my absence, my prin-
 cipal  agent, as  committee, gave him  liberty to proceed
in  the manner he had done.   I continued to give advice
as  usual through this year, frequently calling on the com-
mittee to revoke the liberty they had given Mr.  Locke,
to  prepare and sell my medicine for his own profit, with-
out rendering me any account.  In these two  years, by 
178           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
 my assistance, and that of my agent and committee, Mr.
 Locke seemed to be well established in the business, and
 boasted of his great success, not having  lost a patient in
 two years.  But at the same time he seemed to lose sight
 that I had been any benefit  to him, and  rather paid his
 whole attention to the committee.
   In all this time, I had  never thought or mistrusted that
 there  Avas a  plot laid  against  me, either  by him, my
 agent, or the committee, or  with all combined, nor until
 about the end of the second  year, which  now  seems but
 too obvious.   Having recently returned  from  the West,
 I was at  Mr.  Locke's  house,  and  showed  him a news-
 paper which contained an account of the masonic out-
 rage at Batavia.  After reading it, he flew into a great
 passion, and accosted me as  though I had made the story.
 I tried to argue the  case with  him;  but in vain.   He
 called me by as  many hard names as he could well think
 of,  and occasionally, the  words "lie," and "fool," were
 in the compound.   I did not  think that 1 had merited
 such treatment,  having rendered him my  service and ad-
 vice gratuitously, for two years.   He seemed to be so in-
 dependent, that, he said that he wanted nothing of me, nor
 cared  any thing for me.   I retorted that  I wanted  noth-
 ing of him except an honorable  settlement.  This set-
 tlement never came to a close until the fall  of the year
 1830,  and then  only in  part.  He  rendered an account
 of upwards of forty rights which he had sold, and for
 Avhich he settled by my deducting about  one quarter of
 my  share; but as for the  medicine which  he  has prepar-
 ed and sold for his own benefit,  he refuses  to give me
 any account thereof.  So much  for this inch of indul-
gence.  Such  conduct appears to me to be rather  hard,
especially after all I and the  society had done for him, to
enable him to assist me in my old age.   But instead of
this, with the assistance of the committee, and my prin-
cipal agent, they have taken the lead of the business out
of my hands as far as they were  able to do it.
  I  have tried repeatedly to get a settlement  with Col.
House, my principal agent, but cannot effect  it.  He has
paid me nothing for the large  number of rights sold in
about ten years,  nor will he render any account. I know
not  how many  books he has sold, as he took  them when- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             179
ever he wanted, in my absence.  When I called on him
last to settle, he said he had lost his account of credit.
Here is the result of ten years agency!   Besides which,
I lent him and his partner, ten years  ago,  two hundred
dollars, one of which he has paid in printing, the other
he refuses to pay.  I might mention many other circum-
stances  Avhich would go  to  show  a decided hostility
against me, and a determination to raise Mr. Locke, if
possible,  at my expense;  but I forbear, for they have
neither built him up, nor put me down.   I have paid no
attention  to all this opposition; but have kept on in a
straight  forward  course,  attending to the preparing of
good  medicine and  supplying all  those  who wished
for it.
  I have thought much on the opposition and abuse I
have met  Avith here, from those whom  I considered my
best friends,  and what I could have done to merit it in
their estimation.  I will  not  undertake to say how far
masonry has  been concerned in these transactions;  but
certain I am that it commenced with Mr. Locke,  on my
innocently shoAving  him a newspaper  Avhich contained
an account of a masonic outrage.   I thought no more
harm  in this than as though I had showed him a paper
which contained an account of the murder of Mr. White.
Did Mr.  Locke  resent this,  because he was a mason?
And why did my agent  and  committee from  this time
possess such sympathy for him, and conspire  against me,
insomuch that when an Infirmary was talked of, they
would not subscribe a cent, unless Mr.  Locke could be
at the head of it?  I think  that my agent  and  two of
the committee are  masons,  and  that  Mr. Locke is a
mason; if so, four out of five  against me were masons,
and whether masonry  has had any effect on the mind
and conduct of these gentlemen, I shall leave the read-
er and the public to draw their OAvn  conclusions.  It is
to be hoped  that the good people  who belonged to the
society, which the president and committee have suffer-
ed to be broken up by not calling  the  annual meeting,
for the choice of officers agreeably to  the constitution;
the good people who took no part in the above transac-
tions, and  who  have had no part  in the destruction of
the society, will make every effort for  its resuscitation, 
180           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
hoping that it will die no more; but that it v/ill live to be
useful to the  sick and infirm, and be an ornament to gen-
erations yet unborn.
   It is expected that arrangements  will be made for  the
delivery of Botanic lectures, when the society will revive
and put on strength until the learned, as well as the  un-
learned, shall join to revolutionize the medical world.
   I  shall  not go into any further  particular  details of
agents, but only take a general view in the western parts
of the United States.
   Since my last edition  was printed in Boston, I have
been  six times in  and through  the State of Ohio.  In  '
the year 1825, I appointed Charles Miles,  as agent in
Ohio, and furnished him with  seventy-two books  for
family rights.  On  his Avay home he  purchased a number
of counterfeit books, of David Rogers, of Geneva, I  un-
derstood about one  hundred,  more or less.  He went
doAvn into the central part of the State, and in the course
of eighteen  months  sold about  ten  thousand dollars
worth of rights, and imposed on the inhabitants at a
great rate.   Some he sold for seventy-five dollars,  some
twenty-five, others  twelve, and he would leave but one
book  for four rights.  When he came round again, he
would borrow my book and leave the other, and  sell  my
book  again to another set of four or five;  and  so con-
tinued until he had sold all mine, and nearly all the oth-
ers.   In the fall of 1826, Horton Howard caused a letter
to be sent to me, giving an account of Miles's conduct,
and requesting me to come on to see about it.  I arrived
in January, 1827, and, following after Miles, I found his
conduct to be as had been stated.   I published handbills,
and otherwise showing that he had no authority from me
to do as he had done.  I  revoked his agency, and paci-
fied the rage  of the people as well as I could, by restor-
ing the  family right to those to whom he had! so impro-
perly sold it, and besides  this, I lost a great part of what
he owed me.
  In January of the same year, I made Horton Howard
agent for  the Western country,  with authority to print
my book, and in three  and a half years, he had  printed
about six thousand copies, and sold  about four thousand
rights, with the assistance of his sub-agents, amounting 
Of Samuel Thomson.             181
in all to about eighty thousand dollars.  I tried at several
different times to come to an honorable  settlement  with
him, until August, 1830, at  which time he utterly refus-
ed  to  give  me  an  account  from beginning.  I  then
had but one alternative, either to bring an action against
him in  the court of chancery, or else take Avhat  he Avas
willing to give.   I chose the latter,  by which  I sacri-
ficed about seven-eighths of what should have been com-
ing to  me.   1 took  his notes for four thousand  dollars,
in  two annual  payments,  two thousand dollars  each
year.  I revoked his agency in tAvo days  aftenvards,
August 9, 1830,  and appointed four other agents in his
stead, and took about two thousand copies of books, and
left them with my other agents.
  The   practice  has spread rapidly in the southern and
western States, Avhich has so mucii  alarmed the doctors,
that they have succeeded in getting laws passed, in al-
most all the States, to prevent the spread of my practice.
This has caused me  a great deal of troubI-3 and expense,
and  has been of no great benefit to them.   It has been
like  whipping fire among the leaves, which  only  tends
to spread it  the faster.   The law is most severe in South
Carolina, Avhere a suit was attended two years ago.   The
fine is  five hundred dollars for each offence, besides im-
prisonment.   This violent outrage  roused the patriotic
spirit of the people, insomuch that the doctor who brought
the complaint dared not come before the court to support
it  and requested of the court leave of absence, Avhich
was granted him.  The defence Avas made on  the ground
of the  patent, and by proving the utility of the medi-
cine: and the case Avas decided in favor of the  defend-
ant.  If persecutions must  take place,  let  persecutors
go the  whole extent of their power,  as  in the  present
case,  and  the rights of the  people  will be  defended.
Had' I not obtained a patent, the people could not have
defended their rights; but must have bowed down to the
power  of the doctors, they having the laAV on their side,
as to a dagon.
  But the dernier resort of the doctors will be to get my
practice into their own hands, and under their own man-
agement, if possible.  Finding that I  should succeed •**
my Botanic  practice,  certain individuals of  them have
              16 
 182          Narrative of the Life, Sec

 set up what they call a reformed college, in New York,
 where they have adopted  my practice as  far  as  they
 could obtain a  knoAvledge of it  from those who  had
 bought the right of me, and Avould forfeit their word  and
 honor to  give them instruction.  And finding that  the
 Botanic practice gained very fast at the West, they have
 established a branch of their reformed college in Worth-
 ington,  Ohio.   I saw Dr. Steel, last winter, who is  the
 President  of that Institution, I Avas introduced  to  him
 by  Mr.  Sealy,  a member of the Senate, and  Dr. Steel
 was introduced  to me as President  of said college.  I
 asked him if he was President  of that reform which  was
 stolen from Thomson, in New York.   This seemed to
 strike him dumb on the subject.  At the same place,  a
 feAV evenings after, I was introduced to one of the prac-
titioners under this reform, who studied and was educat-
 ed  at the  college in New York, and was one of the in-
structed at Worthington.  I asked him if he ever  saw
 any of my books in  the college in NeAv York. •  He  said
 he  had  accidentally seen  one there.  I replied)  then
you  accidentally confess that my books were studied in
that college.  I  then asked him whether they used the
 lobelia.  He said they did.   I  then nam^d the cayenne,
 rheumatic drops, bayberry and nerve powders.   He con-
 fessed they used them all in manner and form as I  had
 laid down  in my  books.  I am, therefore, satisfied that if
 my medicine were taken from them, their Institution
 would not be worth one cent.   But, to have bought  the
 right, would have been too mean  for such dignitaries;
 but, to steal it from a quack, was, perhaps,  in their  esti-
 mation, much more honorable ! ! !   Every honest  man
 Avho hears  any  of the doctors speak  of those  colleges
 with approbation, ought to upbraid them with these facts.
   In 1827, while instructing H. Howard, of whom men-
 tion has been made above, I was introduced to Governor
 Trimble,  and gave him a right.  He had a consumptive
 wife, whom the doctors could not help.  I gave him  a
 sample  of medicine, and what instruction I could.  He
 went home, and finding her worse, and no person un-
 derstanding the medicine within fifty miles, he took the
 book and carried her through a course, and repeated if
 and she  soon  got well.  His wife and nurse cured two 
Of Samuel Thomson.             183
other  women with the s"ame sample of medicine I gave
him.   The enemies of the practice, said that they should
advertise him as a steam doctor.   He said they need not
take that trouble, for he Avould do it himself.
  The practice has gained  a  respectable standing in
nearly all the States in the Union, and also in Canada.
A man by the name of Henry S. Lawson, has published
my Guide to Health, in Buffalo, and sold them in Canada;
and thus made  a great speculation from my discoveries.
  In  1829,  Mr. Samuel Robinson, delivered  before the
members of the Friendly Botanical Society, in Cincin-
nati,  Ohio,  a  series of fifteen  lectures on "Medical
Botany," denominated the Thomsonian system  of prac-
tice.  He is entitled to much credit for this service done
to the system.  Those lectures were delivered without
my knowledge, being at the time a thousand miles  from
that  place.  Horton  Howard obtained them, while  act-
ing as my agent, paid for them  out of my money, secur-
ed the copy right in his own name, and printed an edition
of thftn, Avhich he sold for his  OAvn benefit.   This  book
gave  a great spread to the sale of rights.  I  have  since
secured the copy right in Boston, and printed an odition
of two  thousand copies, which are selling from fifty  to
sixty-two and a half cents a copy.  They contain much
information,  relative to the practice of medicine,  as
taught in medical colleges, and  found in medical authors;
not to be found elsewhere in  so small and so cheap a
Avork.
  During the agency of Horton HoAvard, to wit, in July,
 1829, while I was at Columbus, he  returned  from the
South,  and was so unwell that he Avrote to his wife  at
Tiffin,'  about  eighty-four miles,  that if she ever wished
to,  see  him alive, to come Avithout delay.   I  attended
him the next  day through a thorough course  of  medi-
cine, and relieved him, insomuch that I  have not  heard
of his being sick since.  His wife arrived in about four
days, when, finding him about  house, and well, she took
him around the neck and burst into tears.  I retorted in
her behalf,  saying,  "you are not half so bad as I hoped
you would be."   This  tended to dry her tears, and it
passed off  with  a laugh.   The  next day we all calcu-
lated to go north, towards the  lake. The  day before 
184           Narrative of the Life, Sec
  we Avere to start, about twelve o'clock, he had Avord that
  his son-in-laAv, Samuel Forrow, was at the point of death,
  and requested that  sqme  of the family would  ccme  as
  soon  as possible.  Mr. HoAvard and wife  concluded  to
  go, and insisted on my going with them.   I  with  much
  reluctance consented.   We started at three o'clock, on
  Friday, with two horses and a wagon, and arrived  there
  on  Saturday, about sun-set,  a  distance of eighty-six
  miles.   Mr. Horton  drove all the way, night and day,
  notwithstanding  he Avas calculating to die about five or
  six days before.   We found Mr.  forrow very sick; but
 one of  the patent doctors Avas there.  I gave  him but
 little that night,  merely a pinch of cayenne, as snuff, as
 he had  the catarrh, and was much stuffed on  the lungs.
 In the morning,  Sunday, I carried him through a course
 of medicine,  Avhich roused the opium, that  remained in
 his  system, into action, as though it had been  but just
 taken.   He  tumbled and thrashed about in  his frenzy
 for about four hours, when he  became composed.   He
 was then steamed, when the medicine operated,  which,
 together with  the heat, roused the physic  into  action,
 which run him hard with a relax.  I tried to restore the
 digestive powers, but could not on account of his not
 being clear.   I Avas obliged to carry him through a second
 course in  thirty-six hours,  instead of going forty-eight,
 as I  had  calculated.   We began with him at dark.  But
 as soon  as the medicine took hold of the opium, it re-
 newed its operation, which continued eight hours.  His
 relatives stood on their feet, about ten in number, ex-
 pecting  to see him die before morning.  I lay down on
 the floor until the flounce began to abate.  During six
 hours there was  not one second that he was still.  He
 continually called for water, and drank about ten  quarts
 in the  course of the night.  About three o'clock in the
morning,  he  began to be a little stiller, resting two or
three seconds at a time.   He began to inquire who those
black people Avere, which he fancied  were there,  and
what they  were  there for, and many other  similar ex-
pressions, which shoAved that his senses were returning
but were not yet regular.  I then told Mr. Howard  and
the lamily, that they  had better  go to bed, and I would
attend  him, with one of his sisters, the remainder of the 
Of Samuel Thomson.              185
night.  The medicine then began to operate, after the
opium had all distilled off.  He vomited powerfully about
eight times, when he appeared to be clear of disorder.
I filled him well  with milk-porridge,  and was in  readi-
ness  to  steam him  Avhen the family  arose.  He was
steamed, ate breakfast, and rode out in the course  of the
day.   I  prepared a  syrup for his relax,  of the  black
cherry root bark, made  into a strong tea, as strong as
the same quantity of bark pounded Avould make; I then
added peach or cherry stone meats pounded, then  added
one pound of loaf sugar, and one  pint of brandy,  which
made two  junk bottles of syrup,  to drink on the  Aray.
On Wednesday, about ten o'clock, Mr. Howard and wife,
Mr. Forrow and wife, and myself, started for Columbus,
and staid at Wanesville that night, about fourteen miles.
He stood  the  ride well, as air and  exercise, Avhen the
disorder is removed,  are  as necessary for patients as their
food.  He  Avas  persuaded to  stay  on  Thursday.  On
Friday, we travelled  to Charlestown, about thirty  miles,
and arrived at Columbus on  Sunday about  noon.  In
the afternoon, Gov.  Trimble  paid  him a visit, taking
great interest in his  welfare.  Mr. ForroAV was a noted
man in the State, being a surveyor and superintendent
of the Dayton  Canal.   The  governor seemed highly
pleased at  the unexpected recovery  of the man, and the
more particularly when I told  himMhat it was just one
week that day since I administered to him on a suppos-
ed dying  bed, and  that  he  had  since  been conveyed
eighty-six  miles in a  wagon, and was able to walk about,
and Avas clear of disease.  He staid  at Columbus but
two days,  when he Avent on Avith  Mr.  HoAvard to Tiffin,
about as much further, and arrived safe  in four days, his
health still gaining.   I staid there Avith him about four
days,  and  then started across the  woods to New Haven.
He paid me  twenty-five dollars;  but I would not  have
taken the  risk again for five hundred. In fact it Avas
risking my own life to save his.
  Thus I have given a feAv prominent  items,  though but
a small proportion of my experience, sufferings, perplex-
ities  and  difficulties, since the second edition of this
work was published.  But much of that which operated
to my disadvantage,  as an individual, served to extend
              16* 
186           Narrative of the Life,  Sec
 the  knowledge and practice of the system.   This gives
 me  consolation in the midst of all my trials;  and con-
 sidering the Botanical practice as being now well estab-
 lished, I think it  is time  for me to retire from the field
 of contest and war with either learned ignorance or legal
 opposition.
   I  have collected about three hundred  weight of the
 golden seal the year past, and a large quantity of cay-
 enne from the island of Madagascar;  nearly three tons.
 I have  sent to the southern  States nearly twenty bar-
 rels, floured,  Avhich is a great help in the agues of that
 country
  And here it  is proper to remark, that great impositions
 are practised on what is called the American cayenne.
The  doctors have declared it to be poison, and destruc-
tive to health,  and I think they have  made  it as bad  as
they have represented it to be.  It appears  to be mixed
with  some red  paint or mineral.  When burnt, it leaves
about two-thirds  ofHhe  quantity, of the blackest sub-
stance.   When taken inwardly, it produces violent vom-
iting, and  ought  to  be shunned  as a mad dog.   There
is  but  little or none sold  at the groceries for ordinary
purposes but of this kind.  The only safe Avay to detect
the poison, is to try it by burning.  If it be  pure, there
will be a proportion of ashes as of other vegetables, and
of a  light color;  if it be bad,  the ashes will not only be
black,  but  there  will  be double, and  perhaps  triple or
quadruple the quantity there should be for the quantity
burnt.
A brief summary  of the   Certificates  and  Statements
     which  accompanied the two foiiner  editions.

  The system  and practice of Dr. Samuel Thomson
havir- been so long before the public, and the  numer-
ous  certificates given  in the two  first editions  of his
Narrative being so well known and  understood, it  is
thought not  expedient to give them here in full; but only
the substance of them abridged, and in lieu thereof,  to
add some new and more recent cases. 
                 Of Samuel Tliomson.             187

  Of the  cases  already published, it is proper to  men-
tion  that  of the Dysentery,  in  Jericho,  Vermont, in
October, 1807, Avhere but two out of twenty-two, lived,
that were  under the care of the regular physicians.   Dr.
Thomson  Avas sent for,  130 miles;  he arrived in five
days; in three days, thirty Avere committed to his  care,
and in eigl.' days, by the use of his medicine, the  town
was  cleared of the disease, Avith the loss  of two  only,
who  were past cure before he saw them.  Testified by
John Porter.  A case of Salt  Rheum, of  thirty years
.standing,  cured in Portsmouth, May, 1813.  Certified
by Elizabeth Marshall.  The case of Spotted Fever,
in Eastham, county of Barnstable, Mass. where upwards
of forty  had died by the 1st of May,  and but  few  lived
who  had the fever.  Dr.  Thomson was called on for as-
sistance;  sold the right of using his  medicine to several
individuals, who,  in  one month,  relieved  upwards of
thirty who were  seized with this violent  disease,  with
the loss of but one.  At  the same time and place,  those
who were attended by the regular physicians, eleven out
of twelve  died.   Testified by Philander Shaw,  Min-
ister of Easiham; Obed Kkoavles, one of the Selectmen;
Samuel Freeman, Do.;  Harding Knoavles, Justice of
the Peace, and Joseph Mayo, Jlgent for the Society, and
Post Master.  A c;~se of Rheumatism, of long standing,
and  many others, more  than twelve of a consumption,
one of mortification, one  of a dropsy, one of numb-palsy,
and  others  of divers diseases,   testified by Alexander
Rice, Kittery, Njv. 20,  1821.
   Five  cases of consumption, supposed to be desperate,
were relieved in the course of three Aveeks, and all of
them restored to health.   A case of the dropsy,  consid-
ered  hopeless, was  cured in one week.   Testified by
John Burgin, Jerry Burgin, and Solomon  Rice,  East-
port,  July 20, 1821.   The character and  respectability
of the above  witnesses  are confirmed by J. R. ('iiad-
?ourne,  Justice of Peace.  The case of Seth J^cson,
Pcrtland,  Avhose case was truly a desperate one, arid his
recovery  exceeded all expectation.  Also,  the case of
Mrs  Sally Keating, of the same place, Avho, after being
doctored  a whole year by the first physician in Portland,
had  been given over as incurable.   She was recovered 
188           Narrative of the Life, Sjc
 to an excellent state of health.  Testified by S. Seavell,
 Scarborough, Jan. 1, 1822.  Several other similar cases
 are testified by S. Sewell, not necessary to be here .par-
 ticularized.   A number of cases,  several of which, the
 patients were given over as incurable by the regular phy-
 sicians, were all relieved and cured by Dr. Thomson, as
 testified by Jabez True, Elder of the Baptist Church in
 Salisbury, Dec. 5,  1821.
  The case  of Elder Bolles was a very extraordinary
 one.  He was supposed to be in the  very last stage of
 a consumption,  and was cured.   John  Lemmon was
 also cured of a consumption; Isaac Perkins's wife was
 cured of a dropsy of a desperate  nature; all  of which
 cures are testified by William Raymond, Avho says, "all
 these  cures I was well knowing to, having been done at
 that time;" which statement is  also confirmed by Rev.
 E.  Williams, not only as it regards Elder Bolles,  but
 also as  it regards Ezra Lovett,  on account of whose
 death, Dr. Thomson was indicted for murder,  and tried
 for  his life,  about a year  afterwards; but he Avas hon-
 orably acquitted, without  having an  occasion, or even
 an opportunity of making his defence.  Mr. Lovett was
 first relieved, then experienced a relapse of his disorder
 in consequence of taking cold, by Avalking out some dis-
tance  on a very cold day, in the month of December.
 Dr. Thomson Avas sent for;  but on seeing him, he im-
 mediately  expressed doubts  of  his  being able  to help
 him.  He gave him medicine which had no effect; and
two respectable physicians were sent for, and came, un-
der Avhose care he was twelve hours before he died.  Yet
such  was the malice and prejudice ©f the doctors,  that
 they seized  upon  this case, and tried to make it out
 murder, in order to destroy both Dr. Thomson and  his
 practice.
  Next follows a long statement of the diseases and man-
 ner of treatment, by Dr. Thomson's system and direc-
tions,  and the benefit received under  the administration
 of his medicine;  by Stephen  Neal,  Esq.,  of Eliot,
Maine.  A similar statement by John Raitt, of the same
 place, Eliot, Nov. 28,  1821.
  The case  of Mary Eaton,  which was a dropsy,  had
 been pronounced hopeless by a consultation of four doc- 
Of Samuel Thomson.             189
 tors.  She continued, however,  under the care of Dr.
 Sheppard, until he said  her complaint  was beyond the
 reach of medicine, and that she could not continue over
 three weeks.  At this time, May, 1808, she says, " I went
 to see Dr. Thomson, and in three Aveeks I Avas reduced
 about fifteen inches in bigness.   I returned home and have
 gained until this day;  and am now enjoying a better state
 of health than I had before enjoyed for sixteen  years."
 (Signed) Mary Eaton, Exeter', Nov. 20, 1821.
   An extraordinary case  of Asthma,  of Mrs.  Hannah
 Coleman, who had applied to  six physicians without re-
 ceiving any beneficial effect,  by using Dr. Thomson's
 medicine, she Avas enabled to  lay in bed and rest com-
 fortably for twelve years,  as  testified by her  husband,
 Ephraim Coleman, Neivington, Dec 3, 1821.
   A young man in Roxbury, who from some cause  un-
 known, had taken  ratsbane with the intention of destroy-
 ing himself, was so relieved that the next morning he was
 quite comfortable.   Dr. P. who had been called, said there
 was no more chance for him to live than there would  be
 if his head were cut off.  After he was relieved,  Dr.  P.
 called to see him and expressed great astonishment that
 he was alive, saying that there was  not one case in  a
 thousand that a man could live under similar circumstances.
 Testified by Elijah Simons, avIio administered the medi-
 cine that gave relief, and who says,  " I attended him three
 or four days, and  he is now so far recovered as to Avalk
 about the room."  Roxbury, Feb. 23,  1821.

                Additional  Testimony.

  Although  there  is no real occasion to add any more"
testimony, by way of certificates, yet as my case is more
recent,  and  my name may have some  weight, I feel it a
duty I  owe to the public, as well as to Dr. Thomson, to
state it, which T do as editor of the present edition of Dr.
Thomson's works,  1831.
  I have for many  years been  opposed to,  and  latterly
very much prejudiced against,  every thing which savor-
ed of quackery, which prejudices were greatly strength-
ened by having once been egregiously imposed upon by
a quack doctor, (I  forbear giving his name for his rela- 
190           Narrative of the Lfe, Sec.
 tions'  sake,  though he is noAV  not  living,)  of whom  I
 bought the  skill, as he said, of curing cancers;  but
 Avhich proved to be nothing but a gross imposition on the
 public; hence,  after trying the experiment  on several,
 without effect, though  it Avould effectually  remove tu-
 mors not cancerous, I declined the practice  altogether,
 lost my trouble,  together with what I had paid ibr the
 skill, besides experiencing the  mortification of  having
 been thus duped by a man  void of principle  and moral
 honesty.
   It was  under  these  feelings,  that  the Thomsonian
 system was first  recommended for my daughter who had
 what had  been first calied a white swelling, then a fever
 sore, but lastly,  by Dr. Thomson, a mercury sore,  on her
 arm, in the elbow  joint,  for nearly  four years.   The
 best encouragement she could get from the regular phy-
 sicians  was,  either to have  it amputated  to save life, or
 (which avus the advice of Dr. Warren) to lay by entire-
 ly, and not to use it.  She thought  she should be in a
 manner useless  herself, without  her arm; for it was her
 right arm, and  if she was not to use  it, she  might  lose
 it almost as well  as not.   Under  these impressions, she
 was induced  to try the Thomsonian system,  under the
 direction of Mrs. Holman.   It Avas soon found to have a
 salutary effect.  In a very few weeks  it was better than
 it had been before for more  than  three years.  A great
 part of the time,  her arm had been so stiff that she could
 not raise her  hand to her head.   It is  now entirely well,
 and her general health much improved;  better than it
 has been  for a number  of years; for  she  has been  sick
 every few  years  with fevers, or with what was called the
 liver complaint,  ever since  she had the typhus fever in
 1812, when she  was  but  a child.  The  favorable re-
 sult the medicine had  on her, softened  the  prejudices
 very much, which I had, till then,  entertained against
 it;  though they were not entirely removed, nor was she
 entirely well,  when I was  attacked  Avith the  fever  and
 ague, Avluch  I considered  but a presage to the return of
the fever I had last fall,  which I  caught in travelling on
the Erie Canal,  and from which I did but just recover.
After the second attack with the ague, I was taken down
 with the bilious  fever, and  was  more violently seized 
Of Samuel Thomson.              191
than I Avas last fall; and had I received the same treat-
ment which I did then, I have no idea that I could have
recovered, as my fever at that time run twelve days  be-
fore it formed a crisis;  and then it was three weeks after
that, before  I was able to be about.  But  under  the
Thomsonian system, the crisis was formed in just about
forty hours from the time I commenced taking the medi-
cine;  at Avhich time I lay, as I have been informed, for
I could not measure the time, seven or eight hours in an
entirely unconscious state; after which I fell into a SAveet
sleep, and awoke in the morning free from all  fever,  and
have had none since.
  After  about ten days,  however, the chills returned;
but without any fever, which I had regularly every other
day for four or five weeks.  To wear out these, I pursu-
ed the regular course of medicine,  every feAV  days,  not
omitting  injections, as often as I felt any occasion for
them,  till the chills left me entirely, and I  am now happy
to say that I am not aware that I have any disease about
me, or that  I ever enjoyed better health.   All, therefore,
that my life is now worth to me,  and all  that  I am now
enjoying, or shall hereafter enjoy, I must impute, in the
first instance, to the Thomsonian system, together Avith
the skill  and  faithfulness with which it  was applied;
which, it is but justice to say,  in  the  most critical  mo-
ment, the medicine that  apparently saved my life,  was
applied by Mrs. Holman; for although Dr. Thomson had
been sent for in the night, yet  before he arrived the dan-
ger was in a manner over.
   Whether the  relapse I took was in consequence of
taking cold, or in consequence of the mercury and other
poisons Avhich I had formerly taken, and from which my
system was not entirely cleansed, I shall  not  undertake
to say;   the doctor says, the latter; I have only stated
the facts as I felt and experienced them; and should  it
be the means of giving others  confidence to try the sys-
tem in the most difficult cases, it will answer the  object
I have in view in thus making them more publicly known.
It is true, the pain of the disease, or of the operation of
the medicine, or of both, was at first most excruciating;
but this did not discourage me from trying it again, when
I took a  relapse;  and the operation became  more  and 
192            Narrative of the Life, Sjc
more mild, as the disease went  off,  till it was attended
with but very little inconvenience.
                            ABNER KNEELAND.



                     NOTICE.

  I hereby appoint Abner Kneeland, editor  of  the
Boston  Investigator,  Agent, generally,  but not exclu-
sively, throughout the United States, to receive and an-
swer my letters, to sell the  Rights to my Botanical Sys-
tem of  Practice in Medicine, and my Books containing
a Narrative of my Life and  System of Practice,  and to
attend to all matters and things expressed or implied in
the  above  agency, especially  during my absence,  the
same  as 1 should or could do if present, and the agencies
of E. G. House and John Locke, are hereby revoked.
                            SAMUEL  THOMSON.
                 TO THE  PUBLIC.

  The Subscriber having been appointed Agent for Dr. Sam-
uel Thomson, as above stated, all letters intended for the Doc-
tor, may he addressed either to  him or to the Subscriber, as all
the Doctor's letters come into the box of the Investigator, and
of course into the hands of the Subscriber, who will keep Fam-
ily Rights, with the Uooks containing the System of Practice,
constantly for sale at the Investigator Office; and who will
appoint  sub-agents, with the advice and consent of the Doc-
tor, when, and wherever they shall he thought necessary, and
will also keep the Medicine for sale at the same prices, and an
low as it can be bought of the  Patentee, and the patronage in
this line, which the public are disposed to give, will be grate-
fully received by the  public's obedient servant,
                              ABNER  KNEELAND. 
sir^ip^^siiaxr^
  TO THE THIRD EDITION OF THE NARRATIVE.

Containing  some new  remarks, which  may be pleasing, if not
  profitable, to the reader ; and add  to the  bigness of the book,
  if not to the stock of knowledge.
                 Cultivation of Bees.
  As honey adds to the quality of medicine,  as well as
enriches our food, I think a short treatise on this subject
may add one particle to the stock of useful knowledge.
  About twenty years of my life, from the age of from
thirty to fifty years, I attended to  the keeping of bees.
I had a good farm, and used to calculate that the  profits
of a swarm of bees was as much as that of a cow.
  After about fifteen years, I found that there was some
lack on  my part to enable them to be as industrious as
was their  nature and disposition;  as it  is  obvious to
every person  who has  paid any attention to the subject,
as well as  to my own observation,  that'during the heat of
the summer,  and at a  time  when the  Avhite clover  is
mostly  in  bloom, from which more  honey is obtained
than all the other flowers of the field, that a great  part
of the bees are on the outside of the hive,  and are idle.
I then  took the matter into consideration, to ascertain
the cause  why so industrious an insect as the  bee should
be idle in  the best part of the season for making honey;
and I found the  fault  to be  in the owner,  not  in the
bees.  I had made their hive much too small, being only
large enough  for a quart of bees,  Avhen I had put in a
swarm  of nearly half a bushel; so  that their hive  Avas
nearly one third full  of bees,  and  thereby prevented
them from having room to work.  The space which  was
small at first, was soon filled Avith honey,  and the bees
that had no room were crowded on the outside, to give
room for the rest.   Hence the cause of all this idleness. ■
              17 
194           Narrative of the Life, Sec
   In the fall of the year, the owner of bees will try the
 weight of his hives, and if in any one he thinks there i»
 not honey enough to winter the bees, he will take them
 up,  and  thus save  from  five to ten pounds of honey;
 when at the same time, if the oAvner had made the hive
 large enough, so that all would have had room to  work,
 they would have matte from fifty to a hundred pounds of
 honey; would  have had enough to  live on through the
 winter, or,  if taken up, would have been a valuable prize
 to the OAvner.  This mode of raising bees is too  much
like  the labor of mankind.  A feAv industrious ones la-
bor,  and many lazy  or idle ones help eat up all the pro-
fits;  and if any starve, or are taken  up, the industrious
ones suffer  as much as any;  with  mankind,  generally
more.  But to remedy this evil with bees, is much easier
than to remedy it with mankind.
  A feAv of  the last years of  my keeping bees, I  made
some improvement, in order to aid and assist this profita-
ble insect in the  making  of honey.  I did it in the fol-
lowing manner.   Instead  of making my  hives to  hold
from a bushel to a  bushel and a half, I made the first
to hold three bushels,  and put in a SAvarm from one
of my small hives, and made my observations.  I noticed
in the summer, that there were no idle bees.   In the fall,
I  found it  heavy,  but not  full.   They wintered well.
The next season, they worked Avell; but did not swarm.
This hive did so well, I put a swarm into a four bushel
 hive this season.  They worked well until fall,  at which
 time I  found the other large hive,  which  had  the  work-
 of tAvo seasons, full. I had previously learned that one
 good hog of eighteen months old, was worth more than
 three shoats at six months old.  I concluded to try the
 same rule  Avith the bees.   I took up the  old hive, and
 took out  160 pounds weight of the  handsomest comb I
 ever saw.   I followed the  same plan Avith the other large
 hive, and at eighteen months old, I  found that full also.
 I then took it up, and took out two hundred weight of
 honey, equal to the other.  In  this way I was satisfied
 that by putting a swarm into a large  hive every year, and
 have one to take  up, was as mnch better than to  make
 small hives, as to have one good hog instead of two or
 three shoats. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             195
  I did not try the experiment long  enough to know to
what extent this mode of cultivating bees might be car-
ried.  But I am satisfied that if  1  had kept either of
those swarms over, after they were full, that I should not
only have had a swarm- from that hive, but that they
would  have filled one of equal size the first season.
Then by increasing the size of the hive to that  of the
SAvarm,  and keeping  but a few swarms,  they may be all
equally good.  But be careful not to overstock; for bees
may be starved in this way as Avell as other stock.
  1 will  here  relate  an anecdote, which may be  of use
to some.  At the time of my taking up my first large
hive, we asked some  neighbors  in, to eat honey.   I
gave away about one hundred weight of honey, Avith bis-
cuit and butter answerable.  Before the season came
round, I bought a few pounds in presence of one of the
men who partook most liberally of the bounty.  He  ask-
ed, " Have you got rid of all your honey?"  I replied,
"Yes."  " Why," said he, "you should not have been
such a fool as to have given it all away."   Here  I made
a notch in my memory.  The next fall I  t#ok up my bees,
and carried honey enough to Walpole,  to fetch ten dol-
lars.  This I thought better than to be tAvitted for giving
it away.  HoAvever,  ki the course of the fall, I  was in
company with the same man; he asked, "Haveyou taken
"up your bees?"  " Yes," was the answer.  Fie rejoined,
" And did you ask in the neighbors to eat honey ?"   My
answer was, " No; I carried it to Walpole and sold it."
He replied, " Why, they say you are a hog for not ask-
ing them."  I replied, " You have learned me a  lesson,
which I had not thought of;  when I gave my honey all
away, I was a fool;   and  Avhen I kept  it, I was  a hog;
therefore, unless I am a hog at least half of the time,  I
cannot  live."   The  conclusion  is  this.  When a man
begins the Avorld, if he means to escape censure, he must
observe a proper medium  between being a hog and  a
fool, in the estimation of his neighbors, but if he has any
thino- which to them will be as sweet as honey, he must
not keep all, nor give all away.
  Question.   Why is  an  industrious man in old  age,
like a hive Avell 'filled with honey,  in  the  fall  of  the
year? 
196           Narrative of the Life, Sec.

  Answer.   Because all the drone bees who have  been
idle  all  summer,  in time  of harvest,  wish to eat as
much  honey in winter as  those Avho laid it up.  The
old man, Avhen he comes  to be past labor,  sees his
children  and grand-children  hover  round him, to  suck
the honey the old man has earned; and they are  very
apt to  inquire of each other how much the old  man is
worth; begin to try the  weight of his  iron chest, or where-
ever he  keeps his money, as the owner  does his bee
hives, and say, in a low voice, " Don't you think he has
about done  gaining?   I fear  he will begin to spend on
the interest, if not  on the capital.  Now would  be a good
time to take him up, if it could be done and not  expose
ourselves."  But the  lesson  of Mr. White, in  Salem,
who  was taken up for the same purpose, will he a hard
lesson to all such, during the  present generation at least.
What then is best  to be done?  I know of no better way
than to let  old  people  live  as long as they can, and  let
them be as comfortable as they can,  while they live;  for
notwithstanding the natural disposition of men, general-
ly, is nearly the same, the .risk in taking up old men pre-
maturely, like  taking up bees for the sake of their honey,
is much greater than the risk  that they will live, natural-
ly, to spend all their earnings.
  Every thing is in motion; all our  hopes  are in  pros-
pect, moving omvard, nothing backward.   The  inquiry
is, " How mach will father leave for us?" not "what shall
we do for our parents?"  Hence it  is wisdom, if a man
has it, to keep enough in his OAvn  hands,  for his own
wants,  and not to rely too much on the goodness of any
one, even his own children.
      When to set Fruit  Trees, and lose no growth.
  About the middle of October, trees have generally
done growing for that season; yet  they are still  green
and full of leaves.  Taken up at this time, Avhich is the
most proper time, they will become well rooted before
spring.  It Avill be necessary to cut  round and  take  up
as much dirt as you conveniently can, and set  the root
well down in the ground, and pack it close, so  that the 
Of Samuel Thomson.             197
wind will not shake them.  A stake may be useful until
they become well rooted.  If the weather is dry, they
should  be  watered often',  for a  few days.   As soon  as
they will stand all day, without wilting, they are out of
danger.  They will get so rooted  before spring,  as  to
lose no growth; but will groAV just as well as though they
had not been moved.  They are  the  most  sure,  if set
when small.
      Bad Consequences of Stoves in Tight Rooms.
   I visited a  friend in Vermont, Avhose  daughter was
 unAvell;  her bed was near a large stove in the  kitchen,
 where the work  of the  house  was done.  While the
 doors were frequently opened, during the day, there ap-
 peared no bad effects from the dry air; but at evening,
 when the house was shut, the young woman grew much
 distressed, and about ten o'clock, she had a violent con-
 vulsion fit, and continued at intervals through the night.
 I was satisfied that the stove was the cause, or the dry
 air from it;  but I could  not  convince the family  that
 such  Avas the  fact.   I tried to have her removed  out of
 the room,  and I succeeded in  the  course of the day.
 Her senses were gone, and her recollection did  not re-
 turn for some days.   The cause I attribute to the water
 being dried out  of  the air, and her glands  grew dry by
 inhaling  the dry gas.  In a healthy state  we throw  off
 moisture Avith the breath, and inhale as much more from
 the atmosphere.  This keeps the lungs refreshed with
 moisture.  When they grow dry, it causes fits.
   I will here name  another case, for further illustration
 or proof of this supposition.  Mr. John M.  Williams, of
 Baltimore, had a child taken sick about three o'clock in
 the morning.   They got up, made a fire in the stove in
 the kitchen, and  after administering to the  child,  put it
 in the cradle near the stove.  They then  proceeded to
 prepare their  breakfast, and when it was ready,  I came
into the room, in which I could scarcely get my breath,
it was so warm.   All set round the table.  The child in
the cradle began to  groan at every breath, and after con-
tinuing so for a short space, went into a convulsion fit.
              17* 
198           Narrative of the Life, Sfc
The family Avere much alarmed.  I told them the fit was
caused by the stove.   I  opened  the  door,  the  child
was carried to it, the cry was, what shall we t/o?  I told
them to give it some of the 3d preparation.  They tried
to give it;  but they spilled it in the bosom, as the jaAvsof
the  child Avere set.   I told them to give me a spoon.  I
put my finger between the cheek and teeth, and  poured
in the liquid, and crowded it back to the throat,  which
let the jaws loose,  and the child swallowed enough to
make it vomit.  The fit was off, and I ordered it into my
chamber, Avhere  was a fire.  It had no more fits.  I fol-
lowed it with medicine, and carried  it through that fore-
noon.  The senses of the child did not  return till noon.
The next day it was well.  So efficacious was the course
pursued.  One of the neighbors said  that he was glad
the case  happened;  not on account of the child,  but for
the benefit of all present; for if I had  not been  there,
they would not have known the cause of the fit.  Had the
child remained in the room, the probability is, it Avould
not have lived till noon.  And the cause being unknoAvn,
no  remedy would have been known for others in a simi-
lar predicament.
  There  are similar cases from burning charcoal in  a
tight room, in which case, it sometimes happens that no
sensible  effect is experienced, till the senses of the per-
son affected  is gone.   Others  coming into the  room,
persons have  been  often found  dead or senseless.  As
this is most generally the effect,  it makes these cases the
more alarming;  and people ought  to be  more  careful
against such exposures.  Men who Avork in furnaces in
cold weather, and who often drink too much ardent spir-
its, and then craAvl away under the roof, to find  a warm
place, have often suffered the  same consequences by
stupor or death.
  Not many years ago, I Avas informed that in the hos-
pital, the doctors had kept the rooms for the sick, to  a
certain warmth, by stoves, regulated by the thermome-
ter, so that one sick person should have the same heat as
another.  This would not ansAver for all, even in a state
of health.  This  plan, as I understand,  did not succeed.
The patients died very fast, insomuch that the disorder
was  called the plague.  They might  have truly said, 
Of Samuel Thomson.             199
perhaps,  the  plague of the doctors!   I understand  that
they have pulled  down all their stoves,  and substituted
fire places, from Avhich time the plague, of the  stoves if
you please,  "* was stayed."  And should the plague of
the poisons, and the  bleeding, be stayed also, the people
would have a greater cause for rejoicing than the Rus-
sians had at the defeat of Bonaparte, at the burning of
Moscovv.   And should the fatal practice of bleeding and
poison  cease, and the people die  Avith old age,  the only
cause of death, casualties excepted, naturally incident to
man, then would death have a greater respite than it has
had since the time the great butcher, Sydenham, first in-
troduced  the murderous  practice of  bleeding  into the
world.  A certain writer  says, "During the course of
one hundred years, more died by  the lancet alone, than
all Avho perished by Avar in  the same period."   Another
writer says, " The lancet has slain more than the sword,
and mercury, more than  powder and ball."
 Value of Guards and Sentinels hi- War or Peace, and the
        danger of their Signals being neglected.
  Guards and sentinels have been the principals of safety
ever since  human beings learned the art of war; and it
is to this art of safety we  are  probably indebted for our
independence.  By this means was the treachery of Ar-
nold detected, and  the  plots of our enemies defeated.
And even in time of peace,  Avhen the enemy is either
conquered or driven out, forts and breast works are still
necessary, that they may be in readiness in time of Avar.
  One of the greatest sentinels  Avho has  been set to
guard the welfare of tlws nation, was Thomas Jefferson,
who erected a permanent fort  in the constitution, against
the clergy  and the church and state party,  Avho,  were
they not sufficiently guarded, Avould bring the people of
this country,  as they have done in other countries, under
religious bondage.   Another  sentinel has recently dis-
tinguished  himself, in defending the fort  of Jefferson
against the church and state party, armed with their Sun-
day mail petitions.  This sentinel is Col. R. M. Johnson,
armed with the constitution of equal rights. 
200           Narrative of the Life, Sec
   Many useful lessons may be learned  from  the  Scrip-
 tures;  not  excepting the  Apocrypha;  where  we  find
 some, to say the least, which are as useful as any other
 parts.  For this purpose I would  refer the reader to the
 13th  chapter of Judith.
   In  this chapter  may be  found the result of silencing
 the guard, and sentinels, whereby through the deceit and
 influence of one Avoman, the destruction of a Avhole army,
 of about 160,000 soldiers, was effected.   No  other pos-
 sible  means  could have  subdued  them.  See the ac-
 count.
   I have referred to this chapter,  to show what  incalcu-
 lable  mischief may arise from such neglect; with a view
 at the same time to awaken the people from their  drow-
 siness,  and to arouse them to double their  diligence in
 placing their guards and sentinels,  or else  stand  them-
 selves, to guard their rights and liberties, Avhich are in as
 much danger of being destroyed  ultimately, if not so
 speedily, as the great army under Holifernes, was,  but
 a short time previous to their destruction.  And yet the
 people seem to rest as safely as did  the army to which I
 have  just alluded.
   There is a power and influence as much to be guard-
 ed against now, as there Avas then, and the  vigilance of
 all our guards will  not be more than sufficient to protect
 the people.  Let them watch the secret workings of our
 enemies;  especially those Avho  appear as friends to our
 faces, and see what they are about in the dark.  Re-
 member the light  sayings  and  dark  doings  of Judith.
 While the army thought they were in safety, sudden de-
 struction came upon them.
  Look!  See the  rapid strides of the  clergy!!  Behold
 all their secret working among the Avomen and children
 of our land!!!   And the men have no sentinels to guard
 themselves.   I  think we never had more need to be on
 our guard than at the present time.  As  with the priest,
 so with the  doctor;  the  people are crammed with  the
 poison doctrines of the one, and the poison drugs of the
other   without  giving them any chance to examine and
taste  for themselves.  The priest  crams  them with his
own ignorance and superstition;  and the effects are de-
lirium and suicide.  The  doctor  crams  them with hia 
Of Samuel Thomson.             201
poison;  and the effects are pains, lingering sickness, and
death.   When dead, the doctor  often takes the whole,
or nearly the Avhole,  of the little property remaining;
and the  widow and orphans become subjects of the  poor-
house, or go out as servants.  The question  is, who is
to be blamed?   All, all are to be blamed.  The priest,
the doctor,  and  the lawyer, for deceiving the people;
and the people,  for being deceived by thein.   But what
must niw be the  remedy?   Where it is not too late,  the
remedy  must be the same as it should have been in the
first place.   But see.
   Let us inquire, in the first place, what are the  senti-
nels, both external and internal, which nature has placed
to guard the body from injury?   And how are these sen-
tinels displayed?   We  will suppose  the  danger is first
perceived by a certain sound,  or some trifling  noise.
This, of course, is first perceived by the ear, which says,
"Eyes, look!"  The  call is instantly  obeyed;  and if
there appears to be danger,  and flight is thought  to be
the best mode of escape, the whole  body is su.nrn med,
and says, "Legs, carry me off as fast as you can."  These
order; are obeyed as regularly as though a  general gave
the command.  The senses of seeing, hearing, tasting
and  smelling, are the sentinels; which, with  the nerves
and  muscles, constitute the whole army, c.ither for de-
fence or retreat; and  they are subject to the command
of each  other.
   The sentinels  of the internal structure, or those which
are to judge of what is  to be swallowed,  begin  with the
eye;  and if it be pleasant to the  eye, it passes  to the
nose, the next sentinel; if the  pass be right, that is, if
the flavor be agreeable, it goes to the taste;  where, if
nothing disagreeable  is perceived, it is carried from the
tongue to the sAvallow.  Here are two roads, the one to
convey  the food to the stomach, the  other to  convey the
air to the lungs; the business of the sentinel  here, is,
to prevent either from taking the wrong road; for should
either,  and  especially the food, take the wrong road, it
is throAvn  back with a great explosion.  When the food
is received  into the stomach, it undergoes  a general in-
spection.  If any thing treasonous, that is, uncongenial
to health, is found in  it, an uneasiness is almost the  im- 
202           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
  mediate consequence, perhaps pain and sickness, and it
  is often sent back without consulting any of the guards
  or  sentinels;  for  it  is general orders.  And if the gen-
  eral gives orders for any to pass or re-pass, without being
  hailed by  the  sentinels,  such orders must  be obeyed.
- And if the general loses his head, and thereby his whole
  army  is defeated, it is no fault of the guards  and senti-
  nels, as in the  case of Judith and Holilernes.
    Nature  has placed all the guards and sentinels in  the
  body,  which are necessary for its safety and protection,
  and the mind is so constituted, that it is capable of judg-
  ing of all the signals which these sentinels give; but  the
' devil,  which  is  only  another name  for imposture  and
  fraud, that is,  learned ignorance, falsehood and art,  are
  always at  variance  with simple  and natural  principles;
  the same as honesty and dishonesty are opposed to each
  other.  Now,  of what use is such  reasoning to the peo-
  ple?   None, until they can be brought back to a  simple
  state of na ure.  Here the devil, or false learning, under
  the  name of doctor, with his elegant cloak and powder-
  ed  head, comes in and upsets the whole system of plain
  simple truth, and introduces his learned falsehood.  Tells
  the  people  that those sentinqls which nature has set in
  the  body are all false; learning is the  only true  guide;
  and urges  them to throw by all their natural  ideas,  and
  hear  to learning, popular  customs and fashions;  and
  then they will  be respected by the  popular classes;  that
  is,  by the  doctor, minister  and lawyer, and  the great
  dons  around whom  those learned  professions  fawn, and
  whom they  like to flatter.  Pay us, and Ave will attend to
  your most  important  concerns.  Attend to your labor
  in building  our houses, and making our  rich clothing and
  furniture;  cultivate  the soil; raise the fatted  calf,  the
  poultry, and the flour, to feed us;  and we will pray  for
  your  souls, doctor your bodies, and  make  your wills.
  You must not attempt to do any of these things for your-
  selves,  for you have not sufficient learning.
   Now, look,  felloAV laborers, and see to whaf a  condi-
  tion these three learned crafts have brought  you  at  the
  present day.  The learned doctor has knocked down all
  your  natural sentinels, and has passed the poison down
  your throats as though it Avas as innocent as  breast-milk 
Of Samuel Thomson.             203
is for the infant, until you are dying off like  swarms  of
rats, and Avith the same poison.  Then, in addition  to
the poison, he draws out your blood, to cure, as does the
butcher the blood of the beast, to kill; and Avhich often
produces the same effect.  This is what you have gain-
ed  by suffering the doctors to knock  down all your na-
tural sentinels, and  to substitute  learned  fools  whose
senses  are below the grade of the beast.   When the
beast tries his food, by the sentinels of the eye and nose,
he  is never deceived.  Nature always tells the  truth.
And when wild  beasts go according  to the  dictates  of
nature, they are more successful in raising their offspring
than are mankind in  raising theirs  by art.   For the
beasts  will neither eat poison themselves, nor force it
down the throats  of their offspring.  But mankind, by
the prejudice of false learning, will both eat poison them-
selves, and force  it  doAvn the throats of their children,
till they by this means execute death upon them in their
own arms.  This is done by giving Avine  poisoned with
antimony,  or  the tartrite of antimony,  called  tartar-
emetic.   So much is mankind reduced below the  grade
of the  beast  by the force of education.  Were  parents
to take a lesson from a child tAvo years old, and abide by
it, it would be of greater use to the  rising  generation
than all  that  ever came from the college by  the three
crafts I  have  named.   It will  be remembered  that a
"child of two  years old is  troubled and makes a mourn-
ful  complaint  at  the  sight of blood, from the  slightest
wound, even if he feels no smart from it; or when taken
by a doctor from another.   His senses tell him that there
is something  wrong in it,  and applies to those whom he
thinks his friends, to remedy the evil.  The child is not
only afraid of the blood, but also of the  doctor who
takes it.   Should parents  from this lesson, learn to keep
the doctor away, and to keep the blood in the  body,
where it belongs, for the preservation of life and health,
for the space of one hundred years, then visit the  grave-
yard, and  examine the monuments of the dead, and see
if three-fourths of the inhabitants died under thirty years
of age; this, I think, would strike conviction to the de-
luded world. 
204           Narrative of the Life,' Sec

   I return to my text.  The sentinels of life and preser-
vation, as before mentioned, in the brute animals, never
deceive them.   There  is none found dead by  poison,
either accidental  or  done on  purpose.   Their sentinels
have  been true  to them.   Not so among  the  dupes of
learned ignorance, where  they allow their  sentinels to
be knocked doAvn by the doctor, and poison to be cram-
med  down their throats; for unless the general govcrn-4
ment  of the  stomach should  so  condemn his prescrip-
tions  as to throw the poison back in spite of him, th- *»
patient must suffer;  his sufferings may be long, but gen-
erally fatal; and his body will be carried out by the sex-
ton, in a coffin, as was the head of  Holiferncs, in the
bag, by Judith.   Neither is this the greatest evil, caused
by thes'e artificial monsters in human shape.  Hoav often
do we see our children sacrificed by being  born artifi-
cially, instead of naturally? aided by the pincers of the
assassin, instead of the skillful hand of the midAvife.  All
their  art, is  to force nature,  instead of assisting her.
These are some of the effects of learning  which  termi-
nate in death.   But there are others never to be forgot-
ten.  Cripples and  invalids,  dragging  out a  miserable
life, reduced almost  to a state of  starvation,  for those
who survive their unnatural practice.  Besides a tribute
of twenty  dollars for destroying the comfort  of a wife
and the life of a child !  Yet the eyes of the people are
blinded by the sound of the word learning,  and learned
doctor;  and doubly blinded by the priest, or the  parson,
who Avill clear the doctor from all blame, by saying, "the
Lord  gave, and the Lord," not the doctor,  "hath taken
aAvay, and blessed," not cursed, "be the  name of the
Lord."   Had the priest declared, as often as it was really
the case, that in all probability the poison, bleeding and
blistering,  had killed the patient, the doctor-craft  would
have been dead more than  a thousand years ago.
   Were  it possible for mankind to be brought back to
his proper grade, that of other animals, and at  the same
time to exercise all their natural faculties, and have their
sentinels which have been knocked down by the doctor
restored, so  as to be as good as those of the beasts, so
that the  sentinel of  the eye  and nose  would  regulate
their  food  and medicine, and prevent any poison being 
Of Samuel Thomson.             206
taken either  by themselves or their children,  for four
generations, the people, I think, Avould improve in stature
and vigor,  and become "mighty men of renown;" such
as we read of in olden times, before the poison doctors
had destroyed the natural senses of our race; or at least,
so perverted  them that they cease to be subservient to
their  natural  use.   But,  on the contrary, should the
hood-winking  system be continued,  and the people con-
tinue  to degenerate, in every sense of the  word,  so far
as their health and bodily faculties are concerned, for
four  generations to come, as they have for two genera-
tions pa3t, they will become more like a race of monkeys
than like human beings.
  From this  source of poisons may be  traced  those
hereditary a:id family con3iim prions we hear so often men-
tioned,  if traced back, it will be found that the  family
consumption  began with the family doctor;  and so  it
will continus  as long as you employ one.   A treatise on
the family doctor may be found on page 175, of this work.
The  family consumption was  made with those families
to whom the  doctor gave the fever when  he  spread  it
through the village.  Those who did not  die,  Avere left
worse than dead.  The poison left in the system caused
them  to linger out a miserable life in pain and torment;
and the doctor gets clear by stating that they have all died
with the family consumption.   If you wish to keep clear
of a family consumption, keep  clear of a family doctor.
  The priest is equally guilty of knocking doAvn the
sentinels of the mind  and  understanding, as the doctor
is of knocking down the external and internal  sentinels
of the body.   Death, in many instances is the  effect of
both.  Bleeding and poison on  the one hand, and insan-
ity  and suicide on the other.   Both of them  cause  a
grievous tax  on the people; and the lawyer sweeps the
board in collecting their bills and his fees.
  Thus I have shown in part, the evils  arising from giv-
ing up the  guards and sentinels of the laboring class of
the community, and substituting the three crafts to watch
over  them, and to "eat them that  are  fed, and clothe
themselves Avith their avooI; but they feed not the flock."
They call themselves "shepherds;" buttheyare  ''wolves
in sheep's  clothing."
              18 
206           Narrative of the Life, £$c
Why meat will not putrefy in verv hot, or  very
                   cold climates.
  Meat will not putrefy in Arabia, nor in South America,
nor at the North or South Poles.  Where the climate is
so hot as almost to roast meat, it will not putrefy,  as in
Africa or South  America.   Where  the sand  will  roast
an egg  in  fifteen minutes, there the carcases dry  up,
and do not rot.   So, on the North or  South Poles, where
every thing is frozen, there is no putrefaction.   But half
way  between freezing and  roasting, there is  putrefac-
tion.  Much  beef is dried on the sand in Brazils,  with-
out any salt, and used at sea as fresh beef.  The  cause
why  meat will not putrefy in either very hot, or very cold
climates, as I apprehend, is, the water evaporates in the
one case, and congeals to ice in the  other, so  suddenly,
that  the  meat has no chance to decompose, as in either
case it becomes hard.
  The myrrh from Africa, is better than from  Turkey
or Russia,  as the climate is steadily hot,  and  the myrrh
is of a more spicy smell,  and is much  more poAverful
against all  mortifications and putrid sores than that  from
the  Straits; and  is of a much higher  price.   There
being no trade  up the rivers, to the interior part of the
country, all that is to be had,  is brought by the Arabs
to Mora or Madagascar.  The cayenne from  Madagas-
car  is better than that from the West  Indies,  as  it is
more steady in  its operation, and better  against putre-
faction;  and is  not fluctuating from a calm to  a  hurri-
cane, as is that from the West Indies.  The latter, often
so frightens the people who take it,  especially in a cold
state of the body, that they never dare to take  any  more.
It is seldom the  case with that from Africa.
   Beware of the American, Avhich is manufactured, and
colored.   It is poisoned, as I have remarked elsewhere.
Proposals  for a  revolution  in  the  practice  of
                     medicine.
  People have paid doctors for being sick,  for about four
thousand years.  Let them noAV turn about, and pay  for
their  health, which is much more reasonable.  Let  the 
Of Samuel Thomson.             207
doctor enter  into contract with the head of a  family, to
keep  the  family  in health, for a certain sum, for  each
member of the family, for one year; conditioned that for
each day's sickness in the family, by any member thereof,
the doctor shall forfeit twenty-five cents, to be deducted
from the sum agreed upon.   Hence all the account there
is to be kept, is, the number of days of sickness there is
in the family, in order to know Avhat amount there is to
be deducted from the sum agreed upon.  And to prevent
any  imposition on  the  doctor, by the family,  any one
saying, "lam sick," to save twenty-five cents; the doctor
must be called, and they must go through a regular course
of medicine, or else not have any allowance made for their
sickness.  But if they comply, the doctor must not only
attend them  for nothing, finding his OAvn medicine,  but
also pay  them twenty-five cents for every day they  are
sick;  to be  deducted at the end  of the year, from  his
salary.  Were this  plan generally adopted, it Avould save
nine-tenths of all the sickness of our country.
                    Numbpalsy.
  In looking over my Narrative and Guide to Health, I
find that this disease has been overlooked, and not treat-
ed upon.  I carried the view in my mind, that I had re-
corded the case of my daughter, which happened about
twenty years ago; and the omission was  not discovered
till it was too late to insert it in its proper place.  I shall,
therefore, give it a place here.
  While I was at Portsmouth, I do not recollect now ex-
actly the year, I received a letter from home, that my
daughter, then about twenty years of age, Avas sick and
her life despaired  of.  I obtained and took Avith me  a
bottle of the best  pepper-sauce.   When I arrived,  she
appeared to  be dying, and had so appeared, as they said,
for some days.  Her eyes were set;  and she breathed
like one in  the last struggles of life.  I Avas advised to
do nothing  for her.   1 thought it would do no harm to
try the pepper-vinegar.  I  therefore poured a spoonful
of it  in her mouth, as it. was open.  In about two min-
utes  she opened and moved her eyes.   I then  gave  her
another spoonful, which was swalloAved.   In about the 
208           Narrative of the Life, Sec
 space often minutes, she spoke, and said she had had a
 shock of the numbpalsy.   This Avas  the  first  idea  Ave
 had  of  the  kind.  After  awaking  like a  perscn  from
 sleep, or nearly dead, she gave a history of its begin-
 ning and  progress to the then present time,  the said
 the shock  struck  one half of the body and  limbs,  and
 half of the  tongue, insensible of feeling;  like that caus-
 ed by a knock of the elboAv.  All one side Avas  full of a
 prickling sensation, attended at first with heavy and  se-
 vere pain;  the pain relaxed, however, as the side dead-
 ened, and entirely  ceased Avith the feelings;  and all that
 side remained dead, as to sensation,  till the pepper-sauce
 Avas given.   This brought back the pain and prickling
 as at the commencement,  until all  paits  had become
 equalized.   I think I carried her through several courses
 of medicine in usual form, until the system became clear
 of obstruction,  and the digestive powers restored.  She
 soon recovered,  with no other disadvantage  than that of
 the side Avhich  received the shock  continuing as taker
 and  more subject to cold than the ether.   She  has had
-two or three of those shocks since.   Eut by having  the
 medicine in the  family, and  by the  assistance of  the
 neighbors Avho have the right,  she has been  ahvays soon
 relieved, so as not to be confined but a few days.  I saw
 her  last fall.  She has noAV no  trouble  frcm the  com-
 plaint, except that above  mentioned.   She has a fr.mily
 of six  children, and has done the .greatest part  towards
 their support by practising abroad, under my system, and
 by my finding her with medicines and rights to sell.  She
 has relieved many of the same complaint.
   I have given a history of«,this case, only on account
 of the name.  Had the same case appeared  without any
 name,  the  treatment  under the head of  fits,  drowned
 persons, and all suspended animation Avould  have  an-
 swered.  The third preparation is the first resort; then
 a full course of medicine, rigorously pursued, in propor-
 tion to  the deadliness or violence of  the  disease,  until
 life becomes equalized through the body.  The whole
 of the directions above given, is simply this:  A thorough
 course of medicine, administered with the be?t  articles;
 emetic  seed, cayenne,  drops, nerve powder,  and bay-
 berry, or No. 3, 
0/ Samuel Tliomson.             209
            Fe\ter must iiaa-e its course.

   How consoling must these words be from the health-
restoring physician, to his suffering patient, who Avishes
to know how long he  must undergo  those  torturing  ad-
ministrations of poisonous physic, salivation, loss of teeth,
together with bleeding and blistering!   The doctor tells
him  that he does not  know;  perhaps nine days;  some
fevers run longer than  others;  and  it must  have its
course!  I have known a rich man's fever run a hundred
days, when a poor man's fever would turn in  ten  days.
The inflammatory fever,  or hot fever,  will soon come to
its height,  unless checked Avith small doses of calomel,
opium, nitre, &x. Avhich tend to prolong it.   With  these
applications, the fever may be continued longer or short-
er, as the money of the patient holds out.
   Sometimes, before one fever turns, another will set in,
until they have the whole list, thirty-seven and upAvards.
But  the patient will  be  likely to die before he has had
half of the above number of fevers.  By  this you may
see that the  doctor does not pretend to know  any  thing
how long you will be sick, or whether you will live or
die. .  Who, I would ask,  has not  heard part, if not  all,
of the above  statements, mad© by the doctor  to his  pa-
tients, and yet not feel insulted at all?
   Suppose you went to a landlord to doctor  your hunger,
and  the landlord should  tell you that your  hunger  must
run from nine to a hundred days, would you not be dis-
posed to cuff his ears for the insult?   But is  it not as
much of an insult for the doctor to toll you that  your
fever must have  its run,  as for the landlord to tell you
that  your hunger must have its run?  It Avould be  so
considered, if the people  only knew that a  fever can  be
relieved as certainly, and  almost ijs speedily, as hunger.
In either case, it would  be, as it is Avith the doctor, a
plain  confession that they have no remedy.  Then  why
should the doctor continue his visits for a fee, any more
than the landlord when he has no  food?  One is as much
entitled to pick the pockets of his employers as the other.
Hoav lon^ must custom and superstition become a law to
ignorance and credulity?
5            18* 
210           Narrative of the Life, Sec
            A Remarkable  Vision.
                   INTRODUCTION.
  The folloAving  Vision was  seen and  published  in a
hand-bill form, in March, 1817, in consequence  of the
coldness of the summer previous,  Avhich caused great
mortality, especially among Avomen in child-bed delivery,
in a toAvn adjoining this city.   Thirteen women died, as
I understood, in this condition, in  about  six weeks; for
I heard of none out of this number that survived.  This
mortality caused me great distress of mind, knowing the
cause of their deaths, and having no means to give the
alarm to  the people,  as all the presses at that  time Avere
shut against  me.   I,  however, could  not remain  silent.
I found a man Avho had a few old types, and 1 interceded
with him to print  in hand-bill form, two thousand copies
of the  following Dream or Vision; a  great many copies
of Avhich were distributed in said  town.  The distribu-
tion took place before the break of day, lest the  people
should find out the writer, and, owing to their prejudices,
it should fail of having the desired effect.  This  strata-
gem operated like a charm, being dreamed into the mind,
and no other possible  means in my poAver cculd have ef-
fected so desirable an object;  because,  in the morning,
the  people were seen, like the manna  eaters,  gathering
each one for himself, Avhere they Avere mostly  scattered,
being at the doctors, ministers,.lawyers, merchants, li-
braries, and reading-rooms.   This Avonderlul production
was seized  upon as eagerly as Avas the manna  of  former
times, and was read and then carried to their neighbors,
and to their great surprise,  like as the first born being
slain, they found the same there.  This unexpected mes-
sage, being thus rained down among them, caused n:nch
inquiry among the huf«bands and friends  of the victims,
Avho anxiously desired a manifestation  of the  cause.
When finding to their satisfaction  that it was  the medi-
cine,  in  combination with the cold, Avhich  caused  this
mortality, then the destroying angel  put up his  deadly
Aveapons,  (mercury, arsenic,  antimony,  opium and  ni-
t-e) and sheathed the sword of destruction, (lancet, knife
and forceps,) and the  fatality from that time ceased.
And there  was great joy among the inhabitants  of the 
                Of Samuel  Tiwmson.            211

earth, at the success of the Dream, which Avas headed
as follows:

A remarkable Vision, seen in the Nineteenth Century, and
  published for the benefit of all ivho believe it a reality.
  While in silent repose upon  my bed, my mind Avas
greatly agitated by a voice, Avhich. in my dream, I heard
saying,  "Poor wretched inhabitants of a  free country!
Boasting of Religion, Medical knowledge and Avisdom!"
And 1 thought myself awake, and said, what is the cause
of their  Avretchedness?   As I spake, turning  my eyes,  I
saw by my  bed-side, a man clothed in  a long Avhite gar-
ment.   I thought I said to him, who are you?   He re-
plied, " I am Deception.'"  I then said, why do you give
yourself this  odious name?  He replied, " White de-
notes Purity,  Innocence, and a Promoter of Health.
  I then asked him what he Avas in reality;  his reply was,
"I am Death under the name of Life; or Evil,  under
the name of Good."  I then asked him to appear to me
Avithout  any cover or disguise; this he did, by throwing
off his Avhite  robe;  all was blackness  and darkness.   I
then asked  him what he represented; he said " Death!
and many of my victims you have known, and others you
have lately  heard of, and will continue to hear of them,
until this mineral practice is changed.  Many have I de-
stroyed  Avith my deadly Aveapons, some within a few days
or hours."
  After hearing all this, I asked him if he Avas a reality
or not.  He  replied, " I am only the representative of
many."   This led me to inquire Avhat he represented;
to Avhich he replied,  " I shall call no names," and then
shoAved  me  two pill  bags, and said, "These, and \vhat
is inscribed on them,  will teach you Avhy I am Death
under the name of Life, and why I kill under the name
of preserving life."  I then asked him Avhat he meant
by that  inscription; he replied, "I mean those  deadly
weapons contained in the bags; the names of which are,
according to the best of my recollection, Arsenic, Mercu-
ry, Qiinlne, Opium, Nitre, Lancet, and Knife."
  He then  added, "These instruments of death are used
under the pretence of curing diseases,  or promoting life;
and  the men who use them,  you knoAV  have been the 
212           Narrative of the Life, fyc.
 cause of the death of those who were so suddenly taken
 from their friends and all they held dear on earth."
   Having heard all this, I asked  why he  revealed this
 secret to me and not to another?   He replied, " because
 I know you are able to  write the  particulars which are
 related to you."   He added, "do  not fail to publish Avhat
 I have related;  not  only in this  town, but in every di-
 rection; for this business of killing,  under the name of
 healing, has gone far, and is going farther;  for  many
 have great Avrath, because they think their time is short.
 Everything  which has  been done here,  and in  other
 places, adapted to relieve the sick with the medicine  of
 our  country, Avhich nature has so bountifully furnished,
 all these things have been despised,  and those who kill
 others, cry, Poison! Poison! Kill! Kill!
  I asked him  Avhy they cried out in this manner,  Avhen
 so feAv died Avho used the medicine of our oAvn country,
 and  Avhen so many fell under their deadly weapons? He
 replied,  "you  remember Avhat  I first stated;  they will
 talk of pity,  if one is likely to be  cured, that they may
 kill  him themselves.   It is not  strange for the eagle to
 cry death to birds, when the dove is among them, though
 he Avould gladly devour the dove  Avith the- other birds,
 Avere it in his power."
  In my dream, I  thought the one Avho spake to me, said,
 " I. enjoin it on you to direct the people  of the country,
 to keep in their libraries and reading rooms, three books*
 in use among those Avho use deadly Aveapons, viz.: The
 New American Dispensatory, The Medical Dictionary,
 and The Medical Pocketbook."
  "Lest you or any other may  not happen to find  Avhat
 is  said in the  Dispensatory, concerning  these  deadly
 weapons, I noAV repeat a few Avoids written there."  He
 then handed me the following, page 285.  Of Nitre, it  is
 said,  This powerful salt, when inadvertantly taken in too
 large quantities, is one of the most fatal poisons.  Page
 288, Oxid of arsenic is one of the most sudden and violent
poisons ive are acquainted with.  The lancet we know the
 use  of, and  also  mercury,  which is called  medicine,
 though poisonous.

  *  The first book shows how to prepare  medicine; the second
 explains the dead languages; the third directs how much  medi-
cine or poison to  give. 
Of Samuel Thomson.             213
   As these are so, hoAv can people expect to be profitted
 by such articles  as are acknowledged the most  deadly
 poison, though used as medicine, in the most  difficult
 cases?   After quoting these things from the Dispensato-
 ry,  and making  the  above remarks, I thought that he
 said, " Do not tail to put  them in mind of this important
 question;  Wluit  will  become of your souls another dayl
( You must die as Avell as  other men, and how  can you
 answer for the lives of those poor people who have died
 in consequence of taking  poison from your hands, under
 the name of healing  medicine; while you have despised
 the medicines which  might have relieved them;  and es-
 pecially wlren you did it for filthy lucre?"  When he had
 said .these words, he  vanished, and I awoke, and behold
 it was a dream.
   Fearing I might forget these things, I arose immedi-
 ately, and Avrote down  the vision according to my recol-
 lection; and, as  soon as possible,  found the books men-
 tioned, and to my great astonishment, found  every word
 in the Dispensatory,  which had been related  to me.
   The  Dream, and  what 1 found in the Dispensatory,
 caused some serious  reflections in my mind.   I said thus
 to myself; If arsenic, mercury, and nitre, are in their na-
 ture poison,  can they in the hands of a physician, be
 medicine?   If, Avhen taken by accident,  these  things
 kill, Avill they cure when given designedly?  Does not
 mercury go  to the same part of a man when taken by
 accident, as when given by the doctor?  Surely it does;
 of course  it will  be poison, and be injurious whenever it
 is taken.
   These  things  are  communicated to the  public, that
 they may judge of them according to the evidence given
 of their being true or not. 
214           Narrative of the Life, Sec
    To rouse the attention of the  public  to the  alarm of
  Avhat is  called the Cholera,  and for other  purposes of
  general  utility, I issued one thousand copies of the  fol-
  lowing
                  CIRCULAH.

  UNITED  STATES  BOTANIC  CONVENTION.

    At the request of a great number of the Agents of Dr.
  Samuel  Thomson, and others friendly to the Thomson-
  ian System  of Practice in Medicine;  by the recommen-
  dation of the general Agents in Ohio,  and the  approba-
  tion of Dr.  Thomson  himself, a  United States Botanic
  Convention ay ill be held at Columbus, Ohio, on the third
  MONDAY  of December next, and the  succeeding days
  until the business of the Convention shall be accomplish-
  ed;  at which time  and place all the Friendly Botanic
'  Societies throughout the United States,  are requested to
  send, at their  own expense,  a delegate or delegates to
  represent them in said Convention.  And where it is not
  convenient to send delegates, or,  on account of distance,
  it  Avould  be  too expensive, they are requested to send by
  letter, post paid, directed to Messrs. Pike, Platt & Co.
  Columbus,  Ohio,  all such information as to the success
.'of the practice, in Avhat cases, and whether in any which
  were supposed curable it has failed; what improvements,
  if any, have been supposed to be made,  and the test of
  such improvements; the various certificates which may
  have been published,  printed copies sent as above;  and
  generally all such  knowledge as will be  useful to be
  brought before  said Convention;  the whole object being
  to establish  the System on a firm  and permanent  basis;
  to raise it above suspicion; to convince the Avorld by its
  salutary  efficacy of its  practical utility;  to  carry its
  knoAvledge,  if  possible, into every family;  and to cause
  the  whole  community to understand  that they  no more
  need Avhat is called learning and skill, Avhich too often is
  little less nor more than learned quackery, to teach them
  how to restore their body to health when sick, than they
  do to preserve its strength by proper food when in health.
  To this end, the doings of this Convention will  be made 
Of Samuel Thomson.             215
public, and all concerned may rest assured that no pains
will be spared to give them all the information that forty
years experience,  yea, a long life spent in the service,
can possibly  furnish.   It is expected that Dr. Samuel
Thomson will attend in person.

  SCF'The above named Convention Avas formed agree-
ably to the notice given, and has been annually attend-
ed ever since; and practitioners in all parts of the Union
have sprung up,  Avho have quieted the alarm not only of
Cholera, but also in relation to every other disease.   The
following was added to the Circular:

  N.B.....Cholera.....Has not this  disease, under vari-
ous names,  appeared in all parts and in all ages of the
world?  Such as diarrhoea, flux, dysentery, camp dis-
temper, cholera morbus, cold plague, spotted fever, and
now simply the cholera?  These all produce death  either
in themselves or by the antidote usually applied; though
the disease may put on a milder or more malignant type.
Is not every tree Avhich produces apples,  an apple tree?
Some are later than others, but all ripen in their proper
season. But  the  fruit may  be shaken off, either by a
tempest or by a giant,  at any time from blossom to fully
ripe.   [Pause.]  Is not a gill of braridy and two hundred
drops or laudanum a giant sufficient to shake all the fruit
from  the tree of life ?  [Five  cholera deaths in Eliot
Street in one day!]   No simple remedies appear in the
columns of the "public prints!!!  And why?   Not because
there have been no cases cured; for they are numerous,
which can be attested by many witnesses.   But the peo-
ple are blind  to their own safety, and must abide the con-
sequences.  It is a fact, that the friends and  survivors
of those  who died with the cholera, from Eliot  Street,
have been to Thompson's Infirmary to ask protection for
their lives.   If any doubt it, let them go to the  Infirmary
and inquire.   An author quoted by  Dr. Robinson, Lec-
ture viii. p. 101, says, "The  practice  of Medicine is,
perhaps, the only instance in which a man can profit  by
his own  blunders  and mistakes.  The very medicines
which aggravate and  protract the malady," (one gill of
brandy and two hundrd drops of laudanum!!!) " bind a
laurel on the Professor's brow; when, at last, the sick 
216           Narrative of the Life, Sec.
  is saved by the living poAvers of nature struggling.against
  death and the physician."  The friends ot the present
  practice in the cases of cholera,  say,  it was  expected
  that  the  patients  Avould  nearly all die at first.   What
  would be said of a landlord who, having  undertaken to
  cure  your hunger,  should^say that he  expected that
  nearly all his boarders would starve to death at first?
  Would not all the people  leave him, and  even consider
  him an impostor?   Who,  let it be asked, would like to
  be taken forcibly out of his own  house and placed  under
  the care of such a landlord—doctor, if you please ?  Eas-
  tiles  are Bastiles, and Inquisitions are  Inquisitions,  un-
  der whatever pretence people are thrust  into them.  And
  if a class of men shall  be permitted to  stamp  the  mark
**  (not of the Apocalyptical beast, but) of the Cholera,  up-
  on Avhom they please, and have  them removed to their
  house of dissection,  wherein does it differ from the Bas-
  tile in France, the Inquisition in Spain,  or the resurrec-
  tion of the old witchcraft in America?
   Had the Board of Health of this and other cities pre-
  vented any poison of the Doctor, or tainted meat of  the
  Butcher,  from being taken into the stomach,  by any of
  the inhabitants, under the penalty of five dollars, to those
  who should administer  the one, or deal out  the  other,
  and as strictly have  adhered to this law, as they have to
  the sauce law of our market, would so many peoplo have
  died Avith the remedy for the cholera?
   Could the doctor and priest have frightened  the peo-
  ple so much at the name of the cholera had they known
  that the names of medicine and  disease were altered
  every ten years, the better to impose on the credulity of
  the inhabitants,  Avhereby  so many names for the  same
  disorder appear ?
   Had the people  knoAvn that camphor  in a bag around
  a child's  neck, to prevent cholera, would produce  fits
  and death, if eaten, would the doctors have made so great
  a speculation in this article, when the remedy itself was
  disorder?  -[Shall Ave strain at the gate and swalloAV  the
  saw-mill?]  Why  should  the  sauce-man  be  fined five
 dollars for bringing  sauce into the market in its natural
  state?   Can bringing turnips with tops, peas in  the pod,
 or corn in the husk,  cause the vegetables so to  make 
Of Samuel Thomson.             217
war with themselves, in coming to market, as to make
one part support life, and the other produce cholera and
death ?
  Has not the name—cholera, been made use of both in
this and other countries, for a speculation,  thereby  to
enable the priest and the doctor to monopolize the influ-
ence  of power over the people,   and  by the prayers  of
the one  and poison of the other, to keep the people  in
aAve?   If so, it is to be hoped that the eyes of the public
may be  soon opened to these glaring facts,  that our fel-
low citizens may no longer die Avith fright at imaginary
evils,  much less with the remedy for the cholera; for peo-
ple are beginning  to be "disgusted  with  all learned
quackery," such  as drawing out the  natural  blood,
"which is the life," and  filling  the veins with "saline
fluid," or artificial blood,  in Avhich is seen the  effect  of
learned  ignorance, which is death.  Is  there any pro-
fessor of any art or science  Avho cannot do something of
what he professes except a learned doctor?!!
      THE PRACTICE OF PHYSIC

                  AND  THE

PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE.
  The tAvo practices of Phvsic and Meoicine, as above
noticed, I shall treat under two distinct heads, and treat
them in the order I have stated, paying my first respects to

       THE PRACTICE OP  PHYSIC.

  This is what is scientifically called the depletive (or
reductive) system.   To  elucidate this practice, I  will
eall the attention of the reader to the first stages of sick-
ness;  whatever name  the  sickness  may be  called, or
whether the  patient  be male or female, the same deple-
             19 
218
Practice of Physic.
live practice is introduced; such as bleeding,  blistering
and purging with powerful physic,  such as calomel and
jalap.  Then  conies the laudanum to check the  opera-
tion and stupify the patient, and  all this is to ease  the
distress caused by the physic.  Then the doctor contin-
ues Avith  small doses of calomel, opium, nitre  and cam-
phor, until  the patient is fixed out with whit is  called the
run of a fever.  To these depletive instruments of death,
the patient  is compelled to submit; all his natural senti-
nels [senses] being knocked down  by the doctor's death-
maul [depletion] ;  and the patient's friends, who ought
to be protectors, become completely stunned,  and made
nearly as senseless as the patieut,  by the name of learn-
ing,  and " the  learned doctor;" thus mankind  are cheat-
ed out of their reason, and their senses are often reduc-
ed below those of a brute.
  Instead of driving the doctor out  of the house and
throwing his poison physic after him,  the friends, in their
delirium, will assist the doctor in administering those in-
struments of death, till the patient, the nurse,  and  per-
haps the  whole family, have fallen  victims, one after an-
other; the  grave becomes the receptacle of the bodies;
and  the  doctor comes into the possession of the whole
estate  as his  exclusive and  legal  right; for,  it must be
observed, our  laws are such, that the expense  of the last
sickness  and  funeral charges must  be paid first, to the
exclusion of all other debts.
  In all SAveeping sicknesses, such as the cholera for in-
stance, when the  people are allowed  and  recommended
to keep the instruments of death in their  pockets, such
as one gill of  brandy,  two hundred  drops of  laudanum
and sixty grains of calomeV how long will it take for all
such dupes to be  dead,  and these legal  speculators in
physic to be in possession of all or at least the greater
portion of their wealth?  What difference does it make
what the plague or pestilence is called,  when  the cause
is physic, and the meaning is money ?—the doctors want
money and must  have it.   Remember the cry of the
cholera.   This, in my opinion,  Avas a scheme of the doc-
tors to dupe the people,  and to give the physic dealers
power over them,  grounded on  the authority of the city.
  These doctors, &c. are styled a board of health,  (not 
Practice of Physic.              219
 of death,)  notwithstanding their cholera patients all or
 nearly all died; yes, died Avith cholera (alias physic.)
   For farther proof that the object, in a great measure,
 was wrong, recollect the  fifty thousand dollars granted
 by the city  to the board of health (so called), to cleanse
 the city,  provide hospitals, and give the cholera a decent
 reception.
   Another  scheme to collect money from the people by
 these  dealers in physic, was to make thern believe that
 the cholera could be prevented, but not cured.   By this
 means they contrived to empty all their old drugs from
 the apothecary shops into the pockets of  the  people,
 whereby they filled  their own with the precious  metals,
 gleaning  a  little  from every one weak  enough  to be
 a dupe to   their horrid  speculations.   In  this  Avay
 the game is played;  the  bl'ind lead the  blind,  and all
 fall into the ditch together, till  the grave is  full and
 running over, as at New Orleans, and as probably would
 have  been the case in this city had not  the cholera gun
 been discovered,  and the  ammunition Avith which it was
 charged,  (viz:  lancet, mercury, opium,  nitre,  camphor,
 Misters, saline fluid, &c.) together with Dr. W.'s pre-
 scription  as a preventive [of life]  until a physic dealer
 could  be  obtained;  so that if the preventive did not an-
 swer the purpose [of death] the doctor Avould.
   Now, reader, just take a general survey of the calam-
 ities of the  Avorld.  The condition of a great portion of
 mankind is truly deplorable, and has been ever since the
 healing art Avas lost, and the plants and herbs of the field
 and forest ceased to be used as medicine;  and since poi-
 son minerals of the rankest dye were substituted in their
 stead  by  Paracelsus,  Avho in consequence Avas called a
 hater of mankind.  Dr. Robinson says, " Paracelsus gave
 the tartrite of antimony, because it burnt up the stomach
 and lungs like hell fire."  If this  expression be true, I
 think it sufficient to  prove  the truth  of his being a hater
 of mankind.  In addition to this physic dealer and hater
 of mankind, comes Sydenham, Avho introduced bleeding
 to cure disease.  These two plagues being joined in
 matrimony,  against  the life  and health of mankind, I
think,  have  caused the greatest plagues that ever infest-
ed the  earth.  The writer says that after Sydenham in- 
220
Practice of Physic.
trodaced bleeding into the practice  of physic, in the
space of one hundred years, "more died with the lancet
alone, than all that perished by Avar in that time."  Stop,
reader,  and reflect  for a moment;  and say to thyself,
can  any being be so destitute of common sense, except
a learned fool, as to believe that the same  practice  that
will  kill a well hog Avould cure  a sick  man;  or that  that
practice which will cure a sick  man,  Avould kill a  Avell
rat?  For example;  Avhen  the doctor  comes to cure a
sick  man,  he  bleeds him.  When a  butcher  comes to
kill a well hog, he bleeds him.   When a farmer wishes
to kill a avcII rat, he poisons  him.   When the doctor
comes to cure  a sick man, he poisons  him.   Could  any
one  believe that a learned  doctor ever possessed a hu-
man  body, when he sees him take the same method to
cure a sick man, that  the  butcher takes -to kill a  well
hog; and also  when he takes the same.method to cure a
sick  man, that the farmer takes to kill his Avell rats?  And
what adds  further to'our astonishment, is, to see those
human butchers climb on law legs to take the little  pro-
perty from the orphan children for butchering  their pa-
rent! Can any one AA'onder at their seeing their need of
laAV legs, Avhen their mal-practice is seen in all its naked
deformity?   Sad dilemma!   Has their boasted scientific
knoAvledge  of four thousand years come to such a rotten
and  crumbling condition as to need the prop of the law
to support  it  in its  last  dying moments?  Farewell
physic!
  Thus, by Avhat I have written, the reader Avill have
some faint conception of my vieAvs of the practice of phy-
sic;  that it is the beginning of sickness and a train of
accumulated evils,  ending in poverty, misery and un-
timely death.   In consequence  of the  foregoing practice
of physic,  Avell might  Ave exclaim as  did the wise man,
"Thou fool, why shouldest thou die before thy time ?"  Be-
cause,  like the foolish  Galatians, they were bewitched
by, and ran after, the name learning,  and  a learned  doc-
tor,  and have  suffered all their  natural sentinels to be
knocked doAvn, and the poison to be sAvalloAved, Avithout
being allowed to examine or taste for  themselves,  until
they are swept off like rats; and that,  too, before the
meridian of life, by the physic  of the doctor,  and the 
Practice of Physic.              221
malice of those who kill them with poison according to
law;  and at the same time, it is evident that the doctors
believe the botanic practice to be the best in the world,
as the folloAving particulars will show.
   1.  They do not allow that any patients ought to die,
under the botanic practice.  This is proof that they be-
lieve  it far preferable to their mineral practice.
   2.  When the dealers in physic can get no relief from
their  own poison practice,  they will flee for refuge to the
botanic practice.
   These two Avitnesses are sufficient  to establish the
fact,  viz: that they do believe the botanic practice to be
far preferable to their own.  The extraordinary cures by
the botanic practice they cannot deny.
   I have every reason  to believe,  that  three  persons
have  been poisoned by design, viz: Mr. Hill,  of Surry,
who died instantly while going through a course of the
Thomsonian  medicine; the  blood discharged from his
mouth, nose and  ears;  he turned as black as morocco,
and swelled out of all natural form; and was so mortified
that the  skin Avas slipping  off before  he was  buried.
The friends are satisfied that there was abominable ini-
quity  in this case to destroy the botanic practice.   The
second case was  that of Mrs. Wheelock, of Swansey,
who was evidently poisoned to  death eleven  days after
Dr. Wright left her.  The third case was that of my oavu
daughter, at Washington, N. H., a few days after her
confinement.  She was taken to all appearance like Dr.
Frost's account of Mrs. Wheeloek.   He says, " She ap-
peared to be strongly under the influence of a deadly
narcotic  poison, and fast sinking into the arms of death."
In this condition Avas my daughter about the first  day of
February,  1835.  She Avas not expected  to have lived
the day out.   She Avas senseless and her  eyes set, and
appeared in  the last struggles of life.  She just survived
the aimed fatal bloAV, and a shocking salivation followed.
She lost the use of her limbs; her teeth turned black and
crumbled out.   She Avas  cured by a strict attention to
several courses of my medicine..

   iCJ* [For Practice of Medicine, and also the "Con-
tcx.usio.\" to the Narrative, see the " Guide to Health."]
              19* 
                       INDEX

To the Narrative or  Samuel  Thomson.
                                                      Pace.
ACORNS, Red Oak, use       ....      36
Airuc and Fever TJieory  and Cure,  -      -      -       -   59
Allegory,......210
BLEEDING, a view of  it as injurious,                      31
Bleeding of the lungs, practice,     -    ■  -      -       -47
Bleeding of t!ie nose, cure, piactice,                         74
Bleeding of the stomach, the patient had  been bled 42 times
    in two years—Theory of cure—Important observations
    on blood, circulation and bleeding,     -      -      -   91
Bruised and mashed foot, cured in five weeks, a very bad case, 11.1
Bleeding in Yellow Fever, observations on,  -      -       -  125
Butternut bark, use of, an important case in Diarrhoea,      129
Botanic Society, advantages ot membership,      -       -  147
Botanic Practice, the reason of opposition to,   -      -     108
——---------, A number of gentlemen, eminent for their
    scientific researches, have become advocates in the cause, 168
------------, its extent in New  York State,     -       -  174
.------------, its spread in the Southern and Western States, 181
------------, the Faculty meanly  attempted to ruirr it,
    and to establish it themselves,      -      -     -     181
------------, the extent of it through the Union and Canada, 183
Bees, information,       -                               193
Bath, Jennings's, views of,  -                            169
Bleeding, why  injurious in preventing perspiration,    -      31
Bilious Fever, success of the Botanic  Practice,     •       -   46
COMFREY and Turpentine Plaster,  use important    -      20
Out, practice in,     -      -     .       .      .       -   20
Child-birth, Dr. Thomson's wife's situation,    -      -      25
Canker of the eye, first  use of steam-bath in,      -          29
Croup, Dr. Thomson's first practice, cured by Rattlesnake oil, 30
Colds, first stages, use of May-weed,        -      -       -   31
Golds, practice in,       -----      32
Children, duty of parents to instruct them in medical practice, 32
Ctiolic, cured, Mrs. Redding,    ....      36
Cholic, cured, Mrs. Welherby,     -       -      -       -   37
Capsicum, No. 2 and No. 3, use explained,       -      -      44
Oancer relieved, after fashionable practice had been unsuc-
     cessful,      -       .     .       .      .      _      47
Checkerberry and Hemlock, use in Drorsy,        -       .   48
Convulsion Fits, cured,   -     .       .      .      -      51
Oireular, United States Botanic Convention,       -       -  2M 
Index to the Narrative.
223
Cancer  cured in three  weeks, after having been  tortured
    with cnustics,        •      -       -      .      ^52
Cutof the hind, a bad  case, cured  in 10 days, after being
    nearly ruined by Dr. French,       ...      61
Convulsions, bad, cured, theory and practice, important,  -   62
Consumption cured,     ....      g5 71  72
Consumption, cure, important, from  the previous use of
    Sugar of Lead,      -      -       -     .      -86
Consumption  in the last stage cured, after the doctors had
    left the patient as incurable,         -     -      -   88,89
Consumption  and stricture of the lungs—important case in
    consequence of internal  heat not holding more than 6
    hours,    ----...90
Cancer cured,    -      -      -       -     .      -      91
Consumption,  five desperate  cases, nil relieved  in three
    weeks, June 1811, and all alive 1831,  -      -      -  113
Cancer, use of Pipsisway, in the case of Gen. Varnum's lady, 142
Cypress is called  Poplar, and Poplar is called Quaking Asp
    in Washington, D. C.                                 142
Contagion,  to prevent, from disease  of patient, by those in
    attendance upon the sick,  -                          145
Colleae, Reformed, of the pirates of medical practice in N.
    York, and also Worthinglon, Ohio,        :       -      182
Cayenne, important test of its purity and goodness, -     -  186
Certificates and statements of disease cured,   -       -      187
Convulsions and  fits  from being confined in a tight room
    with  a stove,        .....      197
Charcoal, burning in a tight room,  why pernicious,       -  198
•Clergy and Doctors, the injury the community at large receives
    from  their conduct and practice,    -      -      -     200
Cayenne, taken internally to remove external pain,       -  150
Consumption and hereditary disease traced to their source,
    the Family Doctor,   .....     205
Cayenne, important  views of and observations on,  -     -  206
DISEASE of the eyes, first use of the steam  bath,    -      29
Decline, cured,      -     -      -      -             -   39
Decline, relieved after the fashionable practice had  been un-
    successful,    ......      47
Dysentery cured,    -      -      -      -       -     -   52
Drowned  persons, observations on    •  -      -      -      58
Dysentery, twenty-oight cases cured,      -       -     -   63
Dysentery, theory and practice,  -                          64
Dysentery, preventive from taking, important,     -     -   64
Dropsy cured,     -                                        72
Dropsy, themyof,    -     -      -      -       -     -   73
Dysentery, 15 out of 18 cases cured,                        83
Dropsy,cured,       -            ....   90
Dropsy, cured in one week,     -       -      -      -     115
Drop<y and a  stale of Pregnancy cured and delivered in five
    days, and all well,     -      -      -      -          128
Drink proper to  take during the operation of medicine, see
    Spoiled Fever,      -      - •  *   -      -             I44 
224      '         Index to the Narrative.
 Diarrhoea, important case, use of Butternut bark       -       129
 Disease, to prevent infection from patient, practice,   .       145
 Dropsy,a case considered incurable, was so much swollen as
     to be blind, and body and limbs in proportion,    .       149
 Doloreux Tic, cure,         .....   149
 Dysentery, injections of the greatest importance,       .       150
 Disease, Farrow's case, important from the practice,        .   184
 Diseases cured, certificates and statements,     .       .       187
 Doctors, the injury tbe community at large receives from their
     conduct and  practice,              .       .       .       200
 Dropsy, cured in  a week after mercurial treatment  had failed,
     which nearlv proved fatal,    ....      48
 EMPIRICS, wh'atand who,   .              .      .      .9
 Eye9, disease o'", first use of steam bath, core, practice,  .      29
 FASHIONABLE Doctors, their course of study, &c.      .     6
 Faculty, the candor of some,       ....        8
 Fever, case of a woman's situation from poisonous medicine,  21
 Family Doctor, the imposition of,        ...      26
 Fever, Puerperal, cure, practice,      .      .      .       .33
 Fashionable practice, the folly of,        ...      37
 Fever and decline cured after a course of m«rcury had failed,   39
 Fashionable Doctors, just views of,       ...      41
 Fever, observations on, important,    .      .      .      .45
 Fever, a friend and not an enemy,           ■■   .      .      45
 Fever. Bilious, at Alstead, success of Botanic practice,     .   46
 Fever, Puerperal, cured after fashionable practice had been un-
    successful,        .      .      „       .      .       .47
 Fever, bilious, cure, practice,    .      .                     49
 Fever, two cms. e,  cured in twenty-four hours,        .       .   49
 Fits, convulsion, cured,    .....      51
 Fever, Yellow, theory of,     .      .      .      .       .56
 Fever, Yellow, interview with Dr Miller and the Mayor of New
    York  on the subject of this disease,     .      .       .56
 Fever, Yellow, cure, practiee,
 Food, putrid, just views of,
 Fever, turn of, explained  .
 Fever, Yellow, cure and practice,cured in 24 hours
fever, observations on    .
 Food, salt and fresh,   ...
 Fever and nffue, theory and cure   .
 Fits, convulsion, cured, theory and practice  .
 *ever, can be turned in from 12 to4b houra
 rever, bilious,cure, practice   .       .       .       .       .79
 Fever, spotted, symptoms, cold and senseles, practice and cure
    in twenty-four hours, important, two cases     .       .   92
 *ever  typhus, cure, practice      .      .             .      87
 Jjoot, bruised and  mashed, practice, cured in five weeks,    .  113
 'ever, Yellow, bleeding in, just views of and observation     125
57
58
57
57
58
58
69
02
66
'ever
    ?r, spotted, cure and practice, important,        .       .  128
frozen hands and feK, a very bad case  .              .139
frozen limbs, theory nnd practice, very important   .       .140
**ver, spotted, practice, important       .       .       .      143 
Index to the Narrative.
225
 Fever, spotted, practice of importance, drink, &c.     .      .  144
 Fevei*, spotted, practic^of 34 cases in two weeks        .      146
 Fever, spotted, injections of great importance,       .      .  146
 Family doctor and his practice    ....      175
 Faculty, their attempt to ruin the Botanic practice, &c.     .   181
 Fits, convulsion, in consequence of stoves in tight rooms      197
 Food, why it will not putrify in very hot or cold climates   .  206
 Fever must have, its course, &c. reason  assigned         .      209
 GOLD THREAD or Yellow  root, use in practice   .      .  36
 Gout, cure, practice        .....      82
 Gout completely relieved in twenty-four hours      .      ;  82
 HEMLOCK and checkerberry, use  in Dropsy      .      .  48
 Head, scald, or Tinea capitis, cured in three weeks     .      77
 Heit, inward and outward^ &.c.       .       .      .      .84
 Heat, internal, important case    .      .             .      90
 Hands and feet frozen, a very  bad  case, practice     .      .   139
 Heat, inward and outward inversion thereof, important        156
 Head, scald,    .       .       .      .       .      .      .169
 Hereditary diseases traced to their source, the family doctor    205
 INFECTION from patient, to prevent, practice     .      .  145
 Injecu >ns of great importance in fevers   .      .             146
 Itch, cure, practice     ...      .      - .      .      .   143
 Injection.-! of unreal importance in practice       •       •      149
 Injection, of the  greatest importance in Dysentery   .      .  150
 JENNINGS S  Bath, views of    ....      169
 LOBELIA, first discovered by Dr. Thomson        .      .   16
 Lobelia, effects on boys    .....      16
 Lobelia,  a certain counter poison  ....      16
 Lobolia,  description, its value and use       .      .      .16
 Lobelia, Thomson's  experience,     :         .         .      1?
 Lobelii, Dr Thomson's first idea of its medical virtues   .      27
 Lobelia, second use with success     .       .      .      .36
 Lobelia,  operation explained, also Nos. 2 and 3 explained      44
 Lungs, bleeding  of, cure and practice        .      .      .47
 Love powder, a good story       ....      53
 Langs, suffusion, cured in 14 hours  .       .      .      .60
 Lun^s, consumption, &c. .      .      .      .    •   .      96
 Lungs, stricture of, important case    .       .       .      .90
 Law respecting the practice of medicine        .             104
 Lameness, unable to walk for nine months, cured    .      .   130
 Limbs, frozen, theory and practice very important       .      140
 Lobolia, the operation of, important in rheumat sm    .      .  151
 Laudanum, taken to destroy life, cured in one hour     .     152
 Lectures on Botanic medicine  and practice.. Robinson's,     .  183
 Lobel'a, 3d preparation, practice with important observations  208
 MEDICAL FACULTY, &c  .             .       .      .5
 Medical,  regular faculty, their bad success in practice    .       6
 Medicine, enough grows in our country       .       .          •
 Measles and the  effect thereof    .       .           .   .      24
 Midwifery, Dr Thomson's inducement to attend to the practice  25
 Mayweed, use and practice in the first stages of colds    .      31
Medical practice, the duty of parents to instruct their chillren  32 
226               Index to the Narrative.
 Medical advice, first application to Dr Thomson
 Medical practice, important and just observations on
 Measles,  cured   ....
 Measles,  the nature of, discovered
 Mashed foot cured in five weeks
 Medicine, a course of, proper drink during the operat'on
 Mercurial disease, opinion when steaming is indispensable
 Medical practitioners  in Pennsylvania and New York, &c
 Myrrh, important views of and observations on
 Medical practice, proposals for a revolution of
 Marshrosemary, use
 Medicine, Dr iiarlon's acknowledgment
 NETTLE RASH, theory, practice, cure, important
 Nose, bleeding of, practice, cure
 Nose, ulcer on, a bad case and cured in three months
 Numbpalsy, important case, practice, cure
 Nitre taken in  quantity, practice to overcome, &c.
 OPIUM, taken to destroy life, practice and cure
 Opium, difficult to remove, see Farrow's case  .
 PHYSICIANS and their practice
 Poisonous Drugs, caution  to the public
 Poison, counter,  a certain cure
 Parturition, the unfortunate practice  of the doctors
 Practice, old, injudicious
 Puerperal Fever,  practice, cure
 Pox, small, practice, cure
 Puerperal Fever, relieved after fashionable practice
 Putrid food, just views of
 Pepper, observations on
 Physic, none to be given in the Botanic practice
 Perspiration      ....
 Patent of Botanic practice
 Pregnancy and  dropsy, cured and delivered in five d
 Poison,effects on the  system
 Pipsisway, a case of cancer cured, Gen. Varnum's lady
 Prevent infection from patient, important
 Poplar and cypress, names in different places
 Pain, external, removed and practice  important
 Philosophy why meat will not putrify, &c.
 Palsy, important case, practice and cure  .
 Practice of medicine, a revolution proposed
 Parents, the duty of, to instruct their children in me
 Practice of Physic and Medicine
 QUACKS and  empirics, who are and what
 Quack, who is
Quinsy, important, practice, cured in  two hours
RASH, cure, practice
Rattlesnake oil, use   .
 Rash, cured
Remarkable case  of a woman cured, who was bedridden 10
Rheumatism cured        .         .         65,73,150,
Rickels cured    ,                                     '
&c
ys
yrs.
151, 
Index to the Narrative.
227
Rheumatism, arm useless, cured in four weeks
SLEEP1NESSVan extraordinary case
Steam bath, first use of for canker of the eyes
Steaming, important directions on the subject
Small pox cured  .
Steaming, improvement in
Steaming, observations on .
Sumacli, observations on       .        .
Sprain, 6 months standing, cured in ten days
St. Anthony's fire, theory, practice, cure, iinpo
Syphillis, one case of 1 and another of 5 years standing cured  73
Syphillis, cure and practice         .        .      **        74
Scald head cured in three weeks         .         .        .77
Syphillis,'important case in consequence of mercury.   .       77
Stomach, bleeding of, case, observations on        .        .91
Steaming, important, observations on          .        ,      144
Steaming, when indispensable in mercurial disease .        . 156
Sumach berries, important,         .        .              143
Scrofula, practice, cure and success of Thomson    .        . 169
St. Anthony's fire, practice, cure,    .        .        .      169
Scald head cure      .        .        .         .        g 169
Stoves, bad consequences of in tight rooms    .        .      197
Steam, never, in a tight room  .... 197
Stoves in Hospital, effects therefrom  .        .        .      198
THOMSONS Theory, &c.    .        .         .        .8
Thomson's success in his practice    ...        9
Thomson's system of practice  .         .         .        .10
Thomson's system, advantages thereof        .        .       H
Thomson, life and account of  .        .         .        .13
Thomson's birth, parentage and state  of country at the time    14
Thomson's childhood and stale of medical practice at the time  16
Thomson's first instructions from Mrs. Benton         .       15
Thomson's hardships in early life        .         .        .17
Thomson sick, effect  on his mind    .        .        .18
Thomson called Doctor at 8 years of age  .         .        .18
Thomson, bis father, religious views          .        .       19
Thomson's removal to Vermont          .        .        .19
Thomson's hardships, injury from cut, injudicious treatment    20
Thomson's sufferings arid amputation  recommended        .   21
Thomson's arrival in  New Hampshire, situation at 21 years    22
Thomson's first attempt to doctor himself         .  .      .24
Thomson's marriage,      .        .       .        .24
Thomson's inducement to attend to the practice of midwifery   25
Thomson's wife's situation in child birth       .        .       25
Thomson's experience in  the use and value of plants        ,   27
Thomson's situation at 25 and his lesson in law         .       28
Thomson's daughter ill with rash       .        .        .28
Thomson's fiM  use of the Steam bath        .        .       29
Thomson's first  practice in croup         .        .        .30
Thomson, first application to for medical advice         .       33
Thomson discovered the  nature of measles         ,        .   36
Thomson's reasons for practising medicine    .        .       40
	150
.	. 21
	29
•	• 30
	36
	• 46
	49
.	■ 63
	65
rtant	. 70
 
228               Index to the Narrative.
 Thomson, the malice of fashionable doctors towards           42
 Thomson's theory explained and established   .         .      43
 Thomson's practice in disease and fevers           .           45
 Thomson lost not one patient in 4 or 5 years practice          55
 Thomson's theory explained   .        .         .        .81
 Thomson, indicted for murder       .         .         .95
 Thomson's sufferings in jail    .         ._         .        .95
 Thomson's honorable acquittal   '   . ~       .              105
 Thomson is treated with great ingratitude                 ■  120
 Thomson's Patent, &c.     ....     122
 Thomson and Dr  Thornton  .  .         .         .        .  123
 Thomson's interview with  Drs Rush and  Barton              124
 Thomson, conduct of the Faculty towards him     .        •  131
 Thomson's enemies, base means to injure his practice    .     138
 Thomson's cypress and poplar, different names    .        •  142
 Thomson 6 drudgery in establishing his practice        .     147
 Thomson's patronage to Elias Smith,   .     .     .    .     .  157
 Thomson's system of practice, extension of     .        .     167
 Thomson's success, owing to his own merit         .        •  168
 Thomson's losses, ingratitude of those he  had benefitted       170
 Thomson's system of practice, its utility proved    .        .172
 Thomson, Dr Cyrus, his success in practice  .              174
 Thomson's difficulties with  his agents     .         .        .  177
 Thomson's interview with  Gov. Trimble of Ohio      .     182
Thomson's success in forty years practice        .        •  169
Turpentine and comfrey plaster, use in wounds and strains    20
Tic Doloreux, practice and cure in two hours      .        .  149
Tight rooms and stoves, bad consequences of,         .     197
Tetter, practice, cure          .        .        .         .169
ULCER, seven  years' standing, cured in  5 months    .     62
Ulcer on the nose, cured in 3 months, important    .        .  129
WOUND, bad,  of the hand, cured in ten days         .      60
Whitlaw's, practice in Europe, observations on    .        .169
Waterhouse, Dr. Professor  of Materia Mtdica, Cambridge,     172
VISION, an allegory       ,   .        .                 . 210
Yellow root or Gold Thread, nse    .        .       .36 
NEW
       GUIDE TO  HEALTH;

                       OR

BOTANIC TAMILIT PHYSICIAN.

                   CONTAINING

     A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF PRACTICE,

        ON A  PLAN ENTIRELY  NEW :

WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE VEGETABLES MADE
 USE OF, AND DIRECTIONS FOR PREPARING AND
    ADMINISTERING THEM, TO CURE DISEASE.
               TO AVHICH IS ADDED,


                       OF

   SEVERAL  CASES  OF DISEASE,
     ATTENDED BY THE AUTHOR, WITH THE
       MODE OF TREATMENT AND  CURE.
BY SAMUEL THOMSON.
                BOSTON:
Printed for the Author, and sold by his General Agent, at
        the Office of the Boston Investigator.
              J. Q. Adams, Printer.
                    1835. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year
  1835, by Samuel Thomson, in the Clerk's Office of
  the District Court of Massachusetts. 
TO THE  PUBLIC.
   The  preparing the following  work for the press  has
 been a task of much difficulty and labor; 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 theory, 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 candor; 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, n-.ay,
. by  examining  it, be able to detect  any  improper de-
  viations  therefrom;  and they are assured that any prac-
  tice which  is not conformable to the directions  oiven,
  and does  not  agree  with  the-  principles  herein  laid
  down, is  unauthorized  by me.

   [N.B.....In all places where "thirty  years practice"  is
 mentioned or alluded to, it means at the lime  the work was
  first published, in 1822.}
              & (3-1313 IB &I 13 £?*£>«

  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 understanding
of the obtaining, preparing and using all such vegetables
as are made use of in  said system,  to all those who pur-
chase the right; and the purchasers,  rn consideration of
the above information, and also what is contained in this
book, agree in the  spirit of  mutual interest and honor,
not to reveal any part of said information, to any person,
except those who purchase the right,  to the injury of the
proprietor, under the penalty of forfeiting their word and
honor,  and  all right to the  use  of the medicine.   And
every person who purchases the right, is to be consider-
ed a member of the Friendly Botanic Society,  and enti-
tled to  a free intercourse with the members lor informa-
tion 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 thein.  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-
edo'e 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 v 
I
 6              New Guide to Health;

 the sick  man  cannot  correct it, and thus is exposed fo
 receive an instrument  of death, instead of that which
 would restore him to health had he known gocd 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 (fleet 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
 absolute confidence in  physicians,   but  by their being
 open, frank, and undisguised in  their behavior."
   "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 med-
 icine, is deadly poison;  and were people to know what
 is offered  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 labored  hard  for
 many years to convince them  of the evils  that  attend
 such a mode of procedure with the sick;  and have turn-
 ed 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 uni-
 versally 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 Fa-.rMy 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 favor.
 But, those who thus condemn,  have taken no pains to
 throw off prejudice,  and examine the  subject with can-
 dor and impartiality.  Such as have, are thoroughly sat-
 isfied of their utility  and  superior excellence.
  From those who measure a man's understanding and
 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
 discoverv I have made, of inestimable value to ma ikind,
 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, I 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
 contained 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 depository from  which the whole bo-
 dy 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, (hat the fire  may burn free,
 and the whole  room be warm as before.
  The body, after being cleared of  whatever  cloo-g 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
Btomach and bowels  are  clogged, all that is needed, is
the most suitable medicine to remove the obstructio-.is 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 winch
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, 1  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 relieve
themselves  and families,  would be  but small;  and the
medicine  they  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 w ilful 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 honorably 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,  I 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
JVetp Guide to  Health;
   It has been acknowledged, even by those who are un-
 friendly to me and my piactice, that my medicine  may
 be good  in some particular cases, but not in all.   But
 this is an error.  lor 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  to operate  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 vigor.  If a direct administration can he made
to  produce this effect, and it can, it is evidently imma-
terial what is the name, or color 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 frarrv;, 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 man  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
science,  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 a3 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, a/id 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 i3
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
Neui 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, cholics,
and dysentery, may be relieved thereby, in twenty-four
or forty-eight hours, at most.
                 REMARKS OX 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
  the 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, injustice, 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 confined
  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 acontinu-
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
society will dart their malice at him, and torture him
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 now take notice of the  yellow fever.  The cause
of this fatal  disease is similar to 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 color  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 skin.  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,
the 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 lever, than
 what  it 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-
 dancy,  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, arid 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 
16
Neio Guide  to Health;
 when killed?  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 oft'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 cold 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 1 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
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  endeavor 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
Neiv 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 one being
 raised,  or the  other  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, death ensues.
  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  Ave 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 have  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.           19

necessary for the maintenance of health;  to take away
part of the blood, therefore, is taking away just so much
of the life,  and is as contrary to nature, as it would  be
to cut away part of the 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 dis-
order, 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 reconciled
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
blister made by  flies.  I have witnessed many instances
where 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  strangury,  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              Neiv 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 stimulus of the acrid salts of the canlharides, which
pass into the blood, must unavoidably increase, both  the
stimulus,  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 putrefac-
tion, which is also confirmed by the putrid alkaline acri-
mony which they produce in the urine, with the heat and
strangury,  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, hecomes 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 lain silent in consequence of
the cold.
  Dr. Jennings has contrived a plan to apply heat to the
body by a dry vapor,  caused  by burning  spirit, which
he calls a vapor 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 charcoal, 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 on-
ly be used in bed, where the vapor 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 vapor 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
at 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 put one of them into
a pan or kettle of hot water, with  the stone about half
immersed; the patient must be undressed  and a blanket
put around  him so  as to  shield his whole body from the
air, 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 be dressed, 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, oc-
 casionally 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,  maybe 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 neces-
sary, 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 use of steaming is good  in preventing sickness,
as well as curing  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  inward
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.
  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 the 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
 cannot 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 vapor 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.          2b
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  able 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  other, to
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 deficient, 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  below; and  this  must be  repeated until the diges-
tive powers are restored, sufficient to hold  the heat  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
Neto 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 labor  upon  ihe 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 consequenc es 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 I 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 labored 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  them
 into the system, but very 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 them 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
very 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
almost every disease.
   "Oxifd 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; for if they be mixed  and
swallowed with the saliva, effects will take place  similar 
28             New  Guide to Health;
 to those which follow its  introduction into tbe 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 vio-
 lently contorted; convulsive vomiting;  insatiable  thirst,
 from the parched and rough state of the tongue and throat"
 hiccough,  palpitation  of the heart and  a deadly oppres-
 sion of the whole breast, succeed next;  the matter eject-
 ed by the mouth, as well as the stools, exhibit a  black,
 foetid, and putrid appearance;  at length  with  the mor-
 tification of the bowels, the pain subsides, and death ter-
 minates  the  sufferings of  the  patient."    "When the
 quantity is so very small as not to prove  fatal, tremors,
 paralysis, and lingering hectics succeed."
  Notwithstanding  this terrible description of the 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. Duncan, 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.  Fowjer,  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 long 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
fatal  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, conspicuous 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 dan-
 gerous 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 ingredient
 in most of those nostrums sold throughout  the country,
 under the names of drops,  powders, washes, balsams,
 &.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  antimonial  metal is a
 medicine of the greatest power of any known substance;
 a quantity too minute to be sensible in the most delicate
 balance, is capable of producing violent effects, if taken
 dissolved, or in a soluble state."   " Sulphureted antimo-
 ny was employed by the ancients in Collyria,  against in-
 flammation of the  eyes, and for staining the eyebrows
 black.  Its internal use does not seem to have been es-
 tablished till  the end of the fifteenth century; and even
 at that time it was  by many looked upon'as poisonous."
 "All the metallic preparations are uncertain, as it en-
 tirely depends on the state of the stomach, whether they
 have no action at all, or operate with dangerous violence."
 "The principal general medicinal application of antimo-
 ny has been  for the use of febrile affections."  " In the
 latter stage of fever, where debility p-revails, its use is
 inadmissible."  Of the propriety  of using this metal as
 medicine, I shall leave  it to the reader to judge for him-
 self.
  ('Ndre.  Salt-Petre.  " This salt, consisting  of nitric
 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* 
30
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  and  abates heat;  though in malignant
 cases in which the pulse is low, and the patient's strength
 exhausted,  it produces contrary effects."  " This pow-
 erful salt, when inadvertently taken in too large  quanti-
 ties, is one of the most fatal poisons."   " For some in-
 teresting  observations relative to the deleterious  proper-
 ties 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
 produced  by it, than to increase the power of that enemy
 of heat,  and to lessen its necessary influence.
   11 Opium,  when taken into the stomach  to sych 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 irresistibly induced.
In  still  larger  doses, it acts in  the same manner as  the
narcotic poisons, giving   rise to vertigo, headache, tre-
mors,  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 apoplexy."   "In  intermit-
 tents it is  said to have been used with gtjod 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
eruption are frequent and considerable, opium is liberal-
ly 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,  and affords no relief to the patient, being  nothing
more  than a suspension  of his  senses;  and 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 and 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-  .
edoe,  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 been
at all times  my endeavor 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,  1 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
bowrels 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,
at Lewistown; 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, deformed
in his features,  when I last saw the patient, incapable 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 poi-.
 soned 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 1 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 cor>-
 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 lias always been
 my aim, to ascertain and avoid the use of every thing
 except  such articles 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 
34
New Guide to Health;
 practice by my system;  and from the description they
 have given of the treatment, I 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
 very 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 to the. Thomsonian system of practice.   This is un-
just, 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 fact 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 w ho 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 snail 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 b«en,  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 labored, and yet more labored than advanced, the
labor  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
our 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 my 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 for my
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
false  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
honor.  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 un-
intelligible 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-
eeit  unworthy of  admission  among  the useful arts and
liberal pursuits of man." 
                 DESCRIPTION

                     or THE

Vegetable Medicine, used in my System of Practice.
  In  describing those vegetables which I 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 de-
scribed, 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 forty years;  but  to
undertake to describe them all would be useless and un-
profitable  to  my readers, and could lead to no good re-
sult.   The plan that I have adopted in describing such
articles  as I have thought necessary to mention, and giv-
ing directions how to prepare and administer them, is  to
class them under the numbers which form my system  of
practice; 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 un-
der which it is classed.  The three first are used  to re-
move 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
             4 
38
Netv Guide  to Health;
articles of which they are composed are given as far as
was deemed necessary.   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 cases 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^US.
  In giving a description of this valuable herb,  I shall
be more particular, because it is the most important arti-
cle  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 more than fifty years ago, and
never had any information  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
favor  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 be 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 erro-
neous opinion of this herb, which they had no knowledge
of,  they  undertook  to represent it  as a deadly poison;
and  in order to  destroy my practice, they  raised a hue-
and-cry about my killing my patients by administering 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 fact is pretty well  known, that there is no death
in ft; but, on the  contrary, that  there  is  no  vegetable
that the earth produces, more harmless in  its effects on
the human system, and none more powerful in removing
disease and promoting health.
  There is no mention made of this herb, by any author,
that I have been able to find, previous to my discovering
it, excepting by Linasus,  who has  given a correct de-
scription  of it under the name of Lobelia Inflata; but
there is nothing  said of its medical properties,  it is there-
fore 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 that I used the Emetic
Herb in my practice, they declared it to be  a deadly poi-
son; 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 medi-
cine,  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 caus-
ing 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 gained  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.  1 his,
 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, the 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 Rev.
 Dr. M.  Cutler, concerning  this herb, is, in  general, cor-
 rect, particularly  as it regards its being a specific for the
 asthma; though  he  labored 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 any 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
forty  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
lain 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 fo 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 un-
der the  names of Lobelia  Inflata,  Lobelia Enietica,
Emetic Weed, and  Indian Tobacco;  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 have 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 poisonous
root which grows in the Southern States, called Lobelia,
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 In-
dian 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 Pharmaco-
poeia, there are directions given for preparing the tinc-
ture 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 believe the same thing; but
this is founded  altogether upon conjecture, for they can-
not produce a single instance of its having been employ-
ed 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 of it has been obtained from my
practice.   It would be folly for me to undertake to say
but that it may have been used by the natives of this coun-
try;  but  one thing I am certain of, that I never had any
knowledge of their using  it, nor ever received any infor-
mation 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
pressed flat, in order to bear the weight of snow which
lays 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 the
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 botanists, 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
is 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  collet  any.  I  mention this to
show the uncertainty of its growth, and to put the peo-
ple on their guard to be eareful 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
should not have been able to have obtained it.   I have 
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
scarce, 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 ©ne very important particu-
lar, from all others that I have a knowledge of, that the
same  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 it, 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 day  time, 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 offthe 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 in >st common preparation, and may be given
in many  diierent  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.
God 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 bsen 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-spoou-
full 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.  6, adding a tea-spoonful of
Umbil;  to be  kept close  stopped  in a  bottle for use; 
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,  bite 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  dose  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.
I 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 I 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, th;rst.   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  favorable, being a certain indication of Ihe 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 censequence 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 do3e
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 laboring 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 eight hours, and then awake, like one  from 
48
New Guide to Health;
sleep after a good night's 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 lrom  that time.   1 have been more  particular  in
describing these effects of the medicine, as they are very
alarming to those unacquainted with them, in order to
show that there is no danger to be apprehended, as it is
certain evidence of a favorable 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 acts as an
emetic,  and  throws off the stomach every thing  lhat
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.
No. 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 culinary purposes,  and comes  to  us
prepared for use by being ground to powder, and a pro- 
             oj*, 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 its  pure  state.
It is said to be a native  of South America,  and is culti-
vated 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 I ever  used.
There are several species that are described under the
name of Capsicum;  all of which are about the same, as
to their  stimulating qualities.  The pods only are  used;
they are long and pointed, are of a green color 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 vine-
gar is put to them, which  is sold under the name of Pep-
per-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 near-
ly 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 that  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 medicine, till
I introduced it, by making use of it in my practice. Men-
tion is made of Cayenne in the Edinburgh Dispensatory,
as chiefly employed for culinary purposes, 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 stomach;  while at the same
time it has nothing of the narcotic effects of ardent spirits.
             5 
50
New Guide to Health;
It is said to have been used with success in curing some
cases of disease, that had resisted all other remedies."
All this I  am satisfied is true, for  if given as a med-
icine, it always will be found useful; but all the knowl-
edge  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 administeiing it,
or in what disease, as is the case with all other articles
that are introduced into general practice.  In Thacher's
Dispensatory,  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 ease  with
most other  articles used by me.  After I  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 Umbil, on a mountain,
in Walpole, N.  H.   I went into a house at the foot of
the  mountain,  to  inquire for  some  rattlesnake  oil;
while'in the house, I saw a large string of red peppers
hanging in the  room, which put me in rnind of what I
had been a long time in search of, to retain the internal
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-hazle leaves, and found that it would 
            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,
1 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 palateable.  I became
acquainted with a French gentleman who  had a brother
in Uemarara;  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, 
52
New Guide to Health;
 that it would not  bring  the first cost,  which  put a
 stop 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 na-
 ture, being powerful only  in raising and  maintaining
 that heat  on which life depends.   It is extremely pun-
 gent, and when taken,  sets the mouth as it were on fire;
this lasts, however, but a few minutes, and I consider
it essentially a benefit, for its effects on the glands caus-
es 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 sh-vold 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.          53
some are subject to, especially in the spring of the year.
Pepper-sauce is good for the same purpose.  Atea-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 eure 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 cultivat-
ed in gardens, and are principally made use of for pick-
ling;  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  color; 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  other
articles to  increase the  quantity, and is not so strong.
The best  way is to get the roots, and gring 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; aud 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 I have found
to be best in removing the thrush from the throat, stomach
and bowels,  caused by colds, 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 is
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.  The
bark of the roots is what is used for medicine, and should
be collected in the spring, before it puts forth its leaves,
or in  the fall,  after done growing, as then the sap is in
the roots;  this  should be attended to in gathering  all
kinds of medicinal roots; but those  things that the tops
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;  taken as snuff,  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
it bears, opening only to the sun,  and closing  again at 
56
New Guide to Health;
night.   It grows in fresh water ponds, and is common in
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 Bayberry 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  ross
from the outside,  and preserve only the inner rind;  dry
it  carefully,  and  pound  or grind it to a powder.  This
article, with some further remarks upon it, has been re-
tained in -all former editions of this work;. but it has been
found  by long practice that it is of too drying a nature,
operating too much as an astringent.   I  have,  therefore,
wholly laid  it aside, and  would not  recommend it to be
used as medicine, when any of the other articles recom-
mended for the same  purpose can be  obtained.  This,
with Bayberry bark and the  Lily root,  I formerly used
in 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 ifi*
to a tea, are very good for gravel and other obstructions
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 was better,
have mostly laid  it aside.  It is so binding in its  na-
ture, that it is not safe to  use it without  a large propor-
tion of the Bayberry bark. 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.          57
        sumach—the Bark,  Leceves 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 color, of
a pleasant sour taste; and are used by the country peo-
ple to die with.   The leaves and young sprouts are made
use of in tanning morocco  leather.  For  medicine, 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 maybe used altogether, or either sepa-
rate.  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 strangury, as it promotes urine
and relieves difficulties in the kidneys,  by removing ob-
structions 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, equal parts,  for No.
3, or coffee, and it has always answered a good purpose.
But the Bayberry is sufficient of itself;  but if the Bay-
berry  cannot be had, the other articles may be used, ei-
ther simple or compounded.
              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, 
58
New Guide  to Health;
and may  be freely used  to  advantage.   It  is the best
thing for  bleeding at the  stomach, of any article J 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 Eastport, I had no article w,ith 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
complaints of children, it is  the best  thing that I have
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 I 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  sore
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  arti-
cles, or alone, to good effect.

          squaw-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  boars 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  remain 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 I 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.—Bitters,  to correct  the Bile,  and  restore Di-
                       gestion.
              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
laro-er;  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 snake's 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 into 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 freely 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
produce 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 wanderino-
milk-weed, grows only on upland; there is another kind
which grows near rivers and on islands, where high  wa-
ter flows over it; this differs some from the other in appear-
ance; 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 bow-
els to move in a natural manner.   A strong decoction of
this root,  made by steeping it in hot water, if drank free-
ly, will operate as a cathartic, and sometimes as an emet-
ic; arid 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 all the articles described under this number, to restore
the digestive powers.  See Directions, &.c. page 82.
  The purposes for which the articles described under
this  head are used, is to regulate the stomach,  so  that
the 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
keep up that  heat upon which life depends.
No. 5.—Syrvp for the Dysentery, to strengthen the Stom-
       ach and Bowels, and restore weak patients.
  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 al-
ways to good advantage.   Made into a cordial with oth-
er articles, in the manner as will be hereafter  directed,
forms one of the best remedies I know of, to recover the
natural tone of the stomach after long sickness; and to
restore weak patients, particularly in dysentery.  A tea
made of the leaves  of the peach-tree "is very good for
bowel complaints in children and young people, and will
remove cholic.
                   CHERRY-STONES.
  The meats of the wild  cherry stones  are very good,
and may be used instead of the peach-meats, when they 
            or, Botanic  Family Physician.          63

cannot be  had.   Get these stones as clean as possible,
when well dried,  pound them in a mortar, and separate
the meats from the stones, which is done with little trou-
ble; 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 powers, 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, <kc. page 82.
No. 6.—Rheumatic Drops, to remove pain, prevent mor-
          tification, and promote a natural heat.
  The  principal articles used in  th"i3 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  medieinal  uses.   There is  no-
thing sold by them that  possesses more useful and  medi-
cinal  properties th\n this article;   though  the  Doctors
seem to have .but little  knowledge of its  virtues.   All
those whom I have heard express an opinion  upon  it,
consider it of very little  value.  When I obtained  my
patent,  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 article to pre-
     vent  niortification.   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 rne  some to take;  by using it there was a favora-
     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  them.  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.  1 found out by
i    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,  particularly in such as
     were subject to hysterical affection.  This was the origin
     of my rheumatic drops,  a preparation 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 color, somewhat transparent, 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 OF  TURPENTINE.

       This article is too  well known to need any description,
     being used  by painters.  The only way in which I use
     it, is in such preparations as are  intended for external
     application,  in which I have found it useful.   A propor-
     tion of it should be added to the rheumatic drops,  when
     used for- the  itch or other bad  humors.   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
 some 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 called
          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  color  of
 the blossoms,  which are red, red and white, and white.
 The red has but two leaves,  which grow out  of i.he
 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 color 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- 
66              Ntiv 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, carelully 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, and  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 dose of either the other numbers, when given,
  and ]1ut into the  injections; and where there is nervous
  symptoms,  it should never be dispensed  with.  See Di-
  rections, <kc, 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 as
  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.  The
 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 perspiration, 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 giren for drink, and will cause
the medicine to have a pleasant  operation.

                   Sl'MMERSAVORY.

  This  herb grows in gardens,  and is made use of to
season meats in cooking; it is of a very pleasant flavor,
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.
                      IIOARHOUND.

    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, is
  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 strangury, 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,  aud externally applied will relieve sprains,
bruises, and swellings, and  remove calluses, corns, ike.
and restore  shrunk sinews.

                    BITTER-SWEET.

  This herb has  long been esteemed as a medicine of
considerable value for many complaints.   It grows com-
mon 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 it its name.   It is said  to be a
good  medicine  for  internal injuries, and to remove ob-
structions, which  I have no doubt  is correct; but  the
only way I make  use of it  is  for  external  application;
the bark of  the  root, with chamomile and wormwood,
makes an ointment of great value, which is an excellent
thing for a bruise, sprain, callus, 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.   rIhe
 leaves  are  good applied to the feet in case of fever 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 nak-
 ed stalk, on  the top of which is  a singular stem or pistil,
 enclosed in a sheath,  resembling a flower,  which is fol-
 lowed  by a  bunch of reddish berries.  This 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  found it a very useful article,
and it forms part  of my composition  for coughs.  The
root should be dried and reduced to a powder,  and may
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-
plaints,  and  many other disorders common to females.
It promotes the passage of urine,  and removes obstruc-
tions in  those parts.   It should be taken in  tea alone, or
may be  added with chamomile, and  used to advantage
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
have 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
this country, and is too well  known to need describing. 
72
Neio\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 many different
 ways.   There are several  species of the elm that grow
 common in this country; and there are two kinds of the
 slippery elm,  the  bark of one is rather hard and tough,
 and die other is very brittle;  the latter is the  best for
 medicinal uses.   The bark should be peeled, the outside
 ross shaved off,  dried, and ground or pounded to 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 excel-
 lent 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  freely 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, <kc. it is the  best
 thing I have 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 peo- 
             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 ad-
vantage 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 na-
ture,  and is made  much use of in tea, for measles and
other eruptions, to  keep the disorder out,  for which it is
considered very good;  this is owing to its  warming qual-
ities,  which keeps the determining powers to the surface,
which effect may be produced by almost any strong stim-
ulant; 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 cases of disease;  it has
a tendency to promote  perspiration, and  is good  to re-
move pain in the stomach and bowels,  and  expel  wind.
The roots reduced  to powder may be 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 stom-
ach.  It is frequently used for rheumatism, both internal-
ly and externally; but Nos. 2 and 6, are much better for
that purpose. 
14              New^Guide to Health;
                    HORSERADISH.

  The root of this plant is mostly used for culinary pur-
poses,  and it has some 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 re-
move  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 tinc-
tured  in spirit,  produces  an effect something  like  the
tincture of myrrh; and is good taken inwardly as a re-
storative,  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 ca-
thartic ; it is more harsh than the other  kind of poplar,
but may be used to  advantage in many cases of dis-
ease.
                     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 is a meat  con-
taining much oil, and very good to eat.  The bark of
this tree  is used by the country people to  color with.
The bark taken from the body of the tree  or roots,  and
boiled down till thick, may be made into pills,  and ope-
rates  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
used 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, Bottmic Flamily 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 shetl 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 skin as black as that of an African.   This
is  much quicker and safer, than if  done with flies,  and
will not cause strangury.  The bark of the butternut  is
the principal ingredient in Dr.  Hawkes's rheumatic and
cancer pills,  and also of Chamberlain's bilious cordial,
which have 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 suc-
cess 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 prepared 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 scalloped edge;  bears several brown seeds,
resembling allspice.  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  humors, 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 humors.   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
to 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 sweet, spicy taste
and smell, resembling fennel or  annise.   There  is an oil
obtained from this herb, good for medicine; and also pre-
pared in essence, is good for pain in the head, to be tak-
en, 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,
hog's lard or  fresh butter, is almost a sovereign  remedy
for the itch,  or external  poison, and  all  bad humor
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 prepared
 in syrup,  and by boiling it down, maybe made into"oint-
 ment,  as  has  been  described for 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, to-
 gether 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.   Tbe bai'k 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 pow-
 der, and steeped in hot water, then put into wine or spir-
 it,  and it  makes a very good hot bitter.  Take half a
 glass two or three times a day;  it is good for fever and
 ague,  for  which it is much used; and  for lethargy, or
 sleepiness,  and for cold feet and hands,  and  other com-
 plaints  caused by cold.

                   BITTER THISTLE.

  This herb is a species of the thistle, and is cultivated
in gardens.  It is of one year's 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
Neiv Guide to Health;
tity of leaves.  The leaf is some larger than the Canada
thistle, with prickles  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 maybe steeped in hot water, and d ank
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 safe-
ly 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.

   Thrs 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, wliich  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 tea or  syrup,  and answer two
important purposes; the rough removes the canker, and
the bitter is a corrector  of the bile, "By addino No. 2,
the compound contains the three great  principles, of tho
healing art, viz.  hot, rough and bitter. 
DIRECT IOIVS
     FOR PREPARING AND USING

VEGETABLE  ]HEDI€IfVE.
               No.  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; arid 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 numbers
when taken;  to. cleanse the stomach,  overpower the cold,
and promote  a free perspiration.
  2. A tincture made M'rom  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 tbe lungs.  For a d:ase, 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  nervous affection add half a tea-spoonful of nerve
powder.   For the external effects of poison, take the
above  d  >se,  and bathe the parts affected with the tinc-
ture,  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 d >g, fits, drowned persons, and  all cases of suspend-
ed  animation, where the vital spark is nearly  extinct.
For a  doso, give a tea-spoonful, and  repeat it till relief
is 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 and white pond Lily root,
 equal parts  of each,  pounded and well mixed together;
 steep one ounce of the powder in a pint of boiling water,
 and give for a dose, a common wine glass full,  sweet-
 ened.
   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 qr sepa-
rately.
   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, Bjtanic  Family Physician.          81

take, add a.tea-spoonful of No.  1, and half that quanti-
ty of narve powder.   Let this dose be 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 w.ill generally  be  sufficient,  and
sometimes onco or twice will  answer the purpose; but
in bad chronic cases  it may be neeessary 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 mean3.
   During  the operation give milk porridge,  or gruel well
 seasoned,  with a little cayenne in it;  and after it is 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.
   As  soon as the disorder is removed,  use the  bitters,
 No. 4, to  correct the  bile and restore the  digesture;
 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 digestive
 powers. 
82
New Guide to Health;
   The  foregoing directions are calculated for the more
 violent  attacks ol 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 oft* 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.   P'or 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 fall
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 takino- 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  days,  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
bathino- 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 old sores;
as it  will  allay the inflammation,  bring down swelling,
ease  pain,  and 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  1 have
ever found.
  For  bathing,  in  rheumatism, itch, or other humors,
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 Umbil, and the
preparation  has been sufficiently described,  lor 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
hot water sweetened;  or the same quantity should  be
put into a dose of either of the other medicines, and also
into the injections, in all nervous cases.

        composition;  or, vegetable powder.

  Take two pounds of the bayberry-root bark, one pound
of ginger, two ounces of Cayenne, two ounces of cloves,
all pounded fine, sifted through a fine sieve, and well mix-
ed together.  For a dose, take a tea-spoonful of this pow-
der, with an equal quantity of sugar, and put to it half a
teacupful of boiling water; to be taken  as soon as suffi-
ciently  cool, the patient  being in bed,  or  by the fire,
covCred 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  lor 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
Hoarhound, 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 to-
gether.  When taken, to be mixed with molasses.   Take
half a  tea-spoonful of the powder on going to bed; keep
warm, and continue to take it till relief is obtained, par-
ticularly 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 neces-
sary.
                   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 juice; then simmer it over 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, twelve  ounces of Bal-
sam-fir;  melt and simmer then}  together;  then strain it
off into a basin, and keep it for 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
New Guide to Health;
              STRENGTHENING PLASTER.

  Take Burdock leaves and Mullen leaves, bruise them
and  put  them in a kettle, with a  sufficient quantity of
water, and  boil them  well;  then  strain off tbe liquor,
press or squeeze the leaves, and boil it down till about
half 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 Ammoniac, one  ounce, Pearlash, two
ounces, and pound each by itself, mix them well together,
and keep it close stopped in a bottle for use.  By damp-
ing it with spirit or essence, will increase the strength.
This applied to the nose, is good for faintness, and to re-
move 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, callus,  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 poultice 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.          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 great-
est importance to the sick;  it will frequently give  relief
when all other applications fail.   It is supposed that the
use of them is of great antiquity; whether this be true or
not,  the  using them to relieve the sick,  was certainly  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 admin-
istering 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 (Ygestion.
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  maybe  removed; but if in the
bowels,  the same  compound must be  administered by
injection.   Whatever is good  to cure disease,  when
taken into  the stomach, is likewise good 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 do, 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              Neio 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-cvupful 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. 6; when cool 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 head 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 are
 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 tlip Emetic  Herb,
           2  on ores of Cayenne,
           J  lb. Bivberry root bark, in powder,
           J  lb. of *Po|,hr Bark,
           1  lb. of Ginger.
           1  pint 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, and have his  ex-
travagant bill to pay.
\ 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.          89
                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.
   2.   It must be 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.
   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 promote pers-
 piration.
  6.  The food taken  into the stomach,  and  being  well
 dio-ested, nourishes the system, and keeps up that  heat
 orTwhich life depends; but by constantly taking  food in-
 to the stomach, which  is sometimes not suitable for nour-
 ishment, it becomes foul,  so that the food is not  well di-
 gested; 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# 
90             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 pow-
ers, not forgetting to keep up the inward heat, by giving
occasionally, No. 2.
  9.  Keep always in mind,  that an ounce of prevention
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 the
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 a free use of the tea  of No. 3, with No.
2, and give  the sa'me by injection, in  the first of the dis-
ease, and afterwards give the syrup.   No. 5, to strength-
en  the  stomach and bowels,  and restore the digestive
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 dose 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 travai ,
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.
  16. 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
dry, 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
convulsions, or fever, a regular course of the  medicine
must without fail be attended to.
   17. When a scald is over tbe 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 water as often as the smart of the
burn returns.
   18. If  the  skin  is off, or in case of an old  burn, 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 then 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 healed.
 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  person, 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.   1  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 high,
 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.

  * Keep always in  mind to give  the  patient  fresh air when
 steaming-,  and while  {roinnr through  a course of medicine, by
 making a quick fire of shav n»s. or very light wood, and opening
 a window at the same time; as litis will inunedialely chnnjre the
 foul a r in  the ro mi; by driving it out. and supplying- iis place by
 the fre/ib air  from the surrounding  atmosphere.  This  m<>do is
 essential in all disorders both in hot weather and in cold.  Sleiinvncr
 is not essential in hit weather, except when going through a c  urse
 of medicine;  after which, a shower bath is good in the" morning,
as it lets down the outward  heat, which givts 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.
  24. 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.
  26. Beware  of bleeding  and blisters,  as they can
never do  any  good,  and may be  productive of  much
harm; they are contrary  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 good; 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
load  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.
  23. 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  hot
weather, as  it  will  tend to let down the inward  heat so
suddenly, as 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
 into 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 cooked.
 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 tone 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 and 6,  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, espe-
cially 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,  eat 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 cayenne,
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 he 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
evef 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 under the needle sufficient to let out the matter;
then apply poultice or salve.  If painful, wrap it in cloths
of several thicknesses,  wet with cold water,  and  repeat
this as  often as it  becomes hot or painful.   Take  the
composition or warm medicine, to keep up an inward heat.
  If the sore has been several days corning, and appears
nearly ripe, apply a piece  of unslacked  lime to the part
affected, wrap it up and wet the cloth  with cold water,
till the lime is slacked; and repeat this till the skin looks
of a purple color: then open it as before  directed.  This
method  is  more  safe and 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 are 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,  carry them through a regular course of med-
icine, as though they had a lever, or any other acute dis-
order; 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 witli  any of the articles composing  No.
3, and keep it wet with this tea or water till the sore dis-
charges, then wash with soapsuds;  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 per-
spiration from going through the surface, and the water
collects under the grain ot the skin,  which is called blis-
tering;  the  water applied in the cloth  on the  outside,
opens the pores,  and lets the water  out by perspiration,
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 ot the
kettle caught by the log,  tipped it forward, and  poured
the cider boiling  hot, into a large bed of live embers,
which  covered his 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  eases 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 pain 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 ivas 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
feet and one  hand were very badly scalded.   I happened
to be present, and immediately tore up cloth sufficient
to do up  each 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
taking  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?
                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  friends, if
 you wish to avoid all this trouble, attend to what belongs
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 inflammation is high,  add a
little of No. 2,  with the  ginger, keeping the poultice 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 consequerfces arising from blistering.    Not long
since I knew a case  where 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 near its vitals,  about
 a week; I was then called to visit the child  and  found
 it 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 mariner, 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, and that
 the child's death was caused as much by the blister as it
 would  have  been by  a scald.  The child died before
 morning.  I had declined doing any thing for it, as  I
 was  satisfied that I could do  it no good; and  if I had
 made the attempt, 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 begah to draw,  their senses were gone,
and  did  not  return till  they died  raving,  or stupified.
More than half the cases where the head was shaved  and
blistered,  that have come within my. knowledge, have
died.   I 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 stranguries caused by blisters on the
sides and  limbs, and those who applied them  did not
know the eause, 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  1-2 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
slept.  His nerves were much affected,  and had spasms
and 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
nio-ht,  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 colors 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 putrofaction.  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 mueh;  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 twenty 
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 blistefed with cankery humor,
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 sore
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-four hours.   In this time, if kept well wet
and warm, it will discharge ripe matter, and the inflam-
mation and canker will afbate.  When next dressed, wash
first with soap suds as before, then  with the tea;  if the
soreness is gone,  you may apply the  healing salve, with
the wet cloths,  if going to bed, to keep out the air; put
occasionally a hot stone  wrapped in wet  cloths,  to the
feet to keep up a steam, and wetting the sore if painful
with cold water.  Take medicine to  keep up the inward
heat; such as composition or hot bitters, and when these
do not answer the purpose, go  through a course  of the
medicine, and repeat as occasion may require.  This
method, if persevered in, I seldom knew to fail of success. 
102
New Guide to Health ;
  I was called to  attend a case of this kind, not long
since, where the inflammation and pain was very great,
and fast spreading  under  the grain of the skin; there
had been applied an elm and ginger poultice, made witft
tea of No. 3.  I opened and  only added a pinch of No.
2, and laid on the poultice 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 abat-
ed, the  sore discharged ripe matter, and  by two dress-
ings more 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 a high fever.   I car-
ried  him through a course  of the medicine, but with little
advantage.  The swelling  and dark color progressed
till  he was about the color of a blackberry pie.  These
appearances  led me to suspect that the  madness of the
rat was caused by eating  ratsbane, 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. 1  and 2, and gave the same inward
with No. 3, carried him through another  course of med-
icine, 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 kefep 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 I 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, and 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 ivound in the  Eye cured.

  While I was at Eastportx 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 the whole  time.   This was faithfully attend-
ed to;  and on opening the wound after the above time,
the 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, and amend-
ed  his  health,  that he was well in about a week, to the
astonishment of all who saw him. 
104
New Guide to Health;
                    Cancer 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  virulence.  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 callus, arising from some leak, caus-
ed by the natural course being stopped.  If it suppurates,
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 callus as fast as they  discharge it, it  be-
comes a hard dead lump  of flesh,  and not having circula-
tion enough to support it, it begins to rot; here the canker
shows 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, deatn 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 and distress the patient.
   In order to give a more correct idea of the dangerous
effect of making use of arsenic in cancers, I shalfmake
a  short extract from Thacher'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 has  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
tumor 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 dissolve 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 tumor is small, the  can-
cer balsam will  be found sufficient, by repeating the plas-
ter for  two  or three weeks,  to take out the dead flesh,
and  remove the canker;  after this is done,  apply a gin-
ger and elm poultice, wet with a tea of No. 3.  If the
system  appears to be generally affected with tiie cancer
humor,  carry them through a common  course of medi-
cine,  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 plaster
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 bal-
sam;  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 large
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  {hey
lived;  but nature  was too far exhausted to complete a
cure.   I have had under my care many other cases of
cancers on  the breast and  other parts of the body,
which I had no difficulty in curing in the manner before
stated.
  I shall conclude this subject by a few general remarks,
viz:  Guard   thoroughly against canker  and coldncos.
Attend to the canker by a' course of medicine, and re-
peat it.  Use the ginger poultice if the inflammation is
great, putting some No. 2, raw in the sore, then apply
the poultice, keeping it wet with cold water,  not  forget-
ting the composition aqd No. 2.  inside, at the same time.
Let all poisonous drugs, burning plasters,  and caustics
alone.  Attend  faithfully to the directions here  given;
honor your  own judgment; keep your money; and  bid
defiance to doctors.
                 Piles;  how cured.
  I was called to attend an elderly man 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, and
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
worse to cure than the other.   I 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
little 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  and 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
so as to make it sweat as much as possible, in order to
dissolve the hard scabs.  After laying all night, the srnell
will  be offensive;  wash  the  head in soap suds; when
clean, wash 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,  Sec.  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 the
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 and  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 medicine, which will
 remove the complaint and restore her to health  in a short
 time.  I have cured many who were very bad, by pur-
 suing the  above plan, and never met with difficulty.  I
 attended a woman in Portsmouth, who had both breasts
 badly swelled.   She was sitting 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.   Tbe 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 regular
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 stomach 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 will 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
v 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" fatal, 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
  r             10 
110
New Guide  to Health;
painful; a doctor was sent for from Portsmouth, who ap-
plied 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 Face.

  This is caused by cold in the glands of the mouth,
which keeps back the saliva till it causes swelling  and
soreness;  the  canker becomes prevalent at  the  same
time,  which causes severe pain in the face and throat.
The sooner a  cu*.e  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
be bathed  at the same time with  No.  6.   If the  case
 is of long standing, so that the system  is affected, and
 this does not remove the complaint, give a dose of No.  1.
 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 settins 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 can be borne,  and pour on the warm
water,  placing a pan underneath to catch it, for a short"
time, when the muscles will become relaxed, so that the
bones may be put in their place with little trouble.
  I was once called 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.  I
ordered some water to be made hot immediately, stripped
her arm, and as soon as the water was hot, put  a towel
in a large tin pan and poured the hot water on it  till well
wet;  as soon 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 could  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
steady it; and then placed my fingers against the end of
the bone  on the under side, and my thumb against that
on  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 firm 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 manner, 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 by 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 been 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 doinplaint  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

not 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 producino- 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
cases 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 contin-
uing to keep the determining  power to the surface,  na-
ture will  take its regular course, and the disease will go
off without injuring the constitution.  If the bowels ap-
pear to be disordered, give an injection; and be careful
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 color, 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.
             10* 
114
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 innoculation, in which case
 it is not so violent anrT'dangerons  as  when taken in  the
 natural way.  The distressing and often fatal consequences
 that have happened in cases of the small pox,  are 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 them cold.
 This  is contrary to  common sense, as it weakens  the
 friend and strengthens the enemy; and tbe 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, &.c, are from the same
cause, and must be treated in a similar manner.
                       Cough.
  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  vour  cough, I should
have hopes of a cure;  but  this is as unreasonable as it
would be to stop the pumps of a ship, which would cause 
            or, Botanic Family  Physician.         115

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.  If a coujrli is caused  by a  sudden cold, it  may
be removed by taking the  composition powder on gt)ing
to bed, with a hot stone wrapped in wet cloths put to the
feet, to produce a perspiration, and at the same time tak-
ing 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  must be carried  through a regular course of the
medicine,  repeating the same as occasion may require,
till a cure is effected, at the same time  giving the cough
powder, especially  on iJ*oing 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
enemy in case of sickness;  but this is a mistake, for it is
a friend, and  should be treated as such.   It is the main
spring to life,  and  the regulator of health, as without it
the food could not  be digested.  When people have what
is  called the jaundice,  it is the  prevailing opinion  that
they have too much bile, and it is said they are bilious;
this is a mistaken  notion,  for there is no such thing as
being too much gall, it would be more correct to say there
was not enough° The difficulty is caused by the stomach
being  cold and foul, so that the food is not properly di-
gested; and the bile not being appropriated to its natural
use,  is'diffused through the pores of the skin,  which be-
comes of a yellow color.  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 thaf 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 tbe internal heat,  and 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 times 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
there 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,  &c, and
give medicine to destroy the worms; by so doino-,  they
frequently  destroy their patients.   There was never a
greater  absurdity than their practice, and the universal
opinion  about worms causing disease.  The fact is,  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 everything is laid to them; but this is owing
to disease 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 stom-
ach by getting rid of the cold phlegm, and restoring the
digestive 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 into  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 of  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
!iet 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 second died,
and the parents consented to have it opened; but after
searching the stomach and bowels, to their  surprise, no
worms could be found.  The third soon after died.  The
fact 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 to
the worms, and the  doctor escapes censure.
  I have  had  a great  deal of experience  in  what  are
called  worm complaints;  and 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 tbe effect, and  neglected  the cause, when
I dismissed him, and undertook the cure myself.   I first-
ly gave the warmest medicine I then knew of to clear
off the cold phlegm; and gave  bitter medicine,  such as
poplar bark, wormwood, tansy,  and physic  made of the
twigs of butternut, to cleanse the stomach  and  to  cor-
rect the bile.   By pursuing this plan, the  child soon  got
well, and was  no  more troubled  with worms.   A child
in the neighborhood 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
this subject; but enough has been stated to  put those 
or, Botanic 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 oth-
ers 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 be danger of mor-
tification,  make  use of No. 6, both in the medicine giv-
en, and in the injections.
  The tape-worm is from the same cause as 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 trou-
bled with them,  and used  to be faint, and have no appe-
tite;  I cured myself  by  taking  the  butternut physic,
which brought away several yards at a time;  and by tak-
ing the bitter medicine, to correct the bile, was never
troubled with it  again.
   I have often heard about people having a greedy-worm;
but this is a mistaken  notion, for there was never  any
such thing.   The 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 unnatural appetite.  Remove the cause  by warming
the stomach and  correcting the digestive  powers,  and
there will be no farther difficulty.  In the year 1805, 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 neighbors 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 daughter, that the worm rose into
her throat,  and choked her so bad that she had fits.  I
took the girl home with me,  and gave her a dose of hot 
120             New  Guide to Healfk;
  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.  1 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 have 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 stag-
es, 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 de-
stroyed, 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 
122
New Guide to Health;
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
correet  the  bile, and a little nerve powder to quiet the
nerves, and they will soon be restored to perfect health.
                Strangury, or Gravel.

  This  disorder is often caused by hard labor, 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
great relief from  using the 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-
spiration, 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 perspiration, when the water will pass off in a
natural  way;  then  make use of such medicine  as will
remove  canker  and restore the digestive powers,  when
the food being  digested will keep up  the  natural heat
of the body and continue the perspiration.  The  other
kind  is caused  by cold and obstruction; but instead of
the water collecting and  remaining in the body and
limbs, a leak 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 and took away
seventeen pounds of water; then swathed her up close,
and gave medicine to keep a perspiration; she did  not
fill again, and was completely cured.  The other was  a
man, he had been tapped twice.   I carried him 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,  in my narrative,
which were cured;  and enough has been said to give an
idea of the cause, and manner of treatment.
                   Bilious  Chotic
  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 in- 
 124             .V<jw> 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 med-
 icine, and bathing  his side with the rheumatic drops.  It
 took three 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-
gury, and he  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 and pop-
lar bark is good, and 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
been said on this subject; yet its importance will justify
some  further directions.  It  is  caused by cold,  which
gets the ascendancy 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 pas-
sage.   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, if occasion
should require, every day till relief is obtained.  During
the  operation,  give the chicken broth,  and  after the dis-
ease  is checked,  give  occasionally a little brandy and
loaf sugar burned  together,  and a strong tea of poplar
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, sweet-
ened.   Steaming is very important in this complaint, and
injections must often be administered.
                     Rheumatism.
  This complaint is caused by cold  obstructing the na-»
tural  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 af-
fected, with the same,  will remove the complaint.  When
the case is bad, carry them through a course of the med-
icine, and bathe with  the drops, repeating it as occasion
may require,  till cured.   At the same lime, give a tea of
poplar bark or hemlock boughs; and many other articles
which have  been  described as good for this  complaint,
may*also be made use of to advantage,
               II * 
126
New Guide to Health;
  The gout is from the same cause, and  the stomach
being greatly disordered, and very sour, which produces
a burning sensation.  I have cured several cases by the
common course of  medicine, and giving the bitters to
restore the digestive powers.


                     Sore Lips.
  They are common in very hot or cold weather, when
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 again 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 suffi-
cient to keep out the air;  when  this  comes off,  repeat
the same process again, until the soreness is gone,  then
wash again with the tea, and  wipe them dry, and apply
warm tallow till a cure 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 tbe eyes 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
of 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 stomach
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 difficulty  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 soft;  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
not 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 in 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 it;  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 can-
not be cured by any other means,  is altogether  an error;
for I have cured a number of case^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-
ture, 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.  I
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—[in 1822.]
  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  of the
symptoms, the same as when taken in 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
in the venereal except hard bunches in the  groins, called
buboes.  These I am satisfied are caused by mercury,
for I never knew any to have them except they had taken
mercury.  By syringing with mercury and sugar of lead.
it dries the 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 tumors, which re-
main a long time and have to be brought to a head to let
off the putrid matter.  Bunches of a similar kind often
come 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, anything
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 is more difficult to remove, and must be treat-
ed 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,
to 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 endeavor to make known to the public
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 suffer 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 bear, for  they are
often  deprived of their wives and children, by  such ig-
norant and" unnatural practice as is very common in all
parts of the country.
  Forty 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 in 
or, Botanic Family Physician.          131
those  days of a woman  dying in child-bed, and it 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  thfrig
thought of as calling the assistance of a doctor; a mid-
wife was all that was thought necessary, and the instances
were  very rare that they were not successful,  for they
used  no art, but afforded  such  assistance as nature re-
quired; gave herb tea to keep them in  a perspiration,
and to quiet the nerves.   Their  price  wa6 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 their
natural powers; they should be carried through a course
of the medicine several times, particularly a little before
delivery,  and keep them  in  a  perspiration during  and
after delivery, 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 her so much opium, as
v 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 stupi-
  fy, 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 practice 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,
  who 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 pre-
  sent to view all that will be further necessary on this sub-
 ject.   These will be added by way of supplement. 
s^iPiPiL^saiuii^
       TO THE THIRD EDITION.



                INTRODUCTION.

  " The Hebrew women  are lively, and are delivered ere the
midwives come in unto thein."  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 of women  altered, which makes
the mode of having  children so much more  difficult and
mysterious now than it  was then ? 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 doU
               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, 8tc.
 insomuch that life becomes an intolerable burden without
 remedy.   Can any one believe there was ever an instance
 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 de-
 pendence ?  History gives us an account of their squaws'
 having a papoose 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 stated in the body of this
 work—and what is here to follow, be not satisfactory,
 neither would people be persuaded though one should
 arise  from the dead.
           Further Remarks on Midwifery.

  As I  am often called upon for verbal information  on
this  important subject, I shall endeavor 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 relieved 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; we 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 an-
other doctor, and let her alone  till the other doctor came,
in which time  nature had done much in advancing her
labor. The doctors  were astonished at her strength, in
thus holding out; and I now firmly believe that with the
use  of the medicine which had been given her, and
which ought to  have been continued,  nature would have
completed her delivery.   The  second doctor did but lit-
tle 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 instruments  of death, and de-
livered her by force;  using strength  enough to have
drawn an hundred weight!  Thus the child was,  as I
should call it, murdered; the head crushed, and the doc-
tor put it in a tub of cold water twice; an application,
one would have supposed, sufficient to kill it, had it been
well!!
  The woman flooded, like the running of water,  so as
to be heard by all in the room.  The doctor called for 
136
New Guide to Health;
cold water to put on as soon as possible.  I told the doc-
tor that he need  not trouble himself any further about
the woman,  I  would take care of her.  I gave her a
spoonful  of fine bayberry, cayenne and 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,  I 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 endeavors 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.   I 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 of 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 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.          137

also  frequently given in this case;  but it ought to be
particularly guarded  against, in all cases.
  Another instance happened in the country, where the
doctor was with a young woman in travail, who had fits.
The doctor 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 on to
perform ?  Consider of these  things, my friends,  and gov-
ern yourselves accordingly.
  Now let me exhibit the other side of the picture.   I
was called upon to attend a young woman in child-bed,
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 deliver-
ed 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 labored 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 carried  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 regular, her animation and  vigor
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 learned ignorance.  The second
day she showed symptoms of a child-bed fever and brok-
en breasts.  I carried  her  through another course  of
medicine and  steam.  The fifth day she took  breakfast
                12* 
q
 138            New Guide to Health;

 and dinner below with the family,  and carried her child
 up stairs.  The eighth clay 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 progenitor
 and entailed upon her offspring. A lady of good "sense,
 and without the least coloring of imagination, said it  was
 easier to have five children under the operation and in-
 fluence  of this new practice, than one by the other man-
 agement and medicine.  And she had had experience in
both cases, and has been supported in the evidence by
 every one who has followed her example."
  This extract speaks volumes in favor 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
 every 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,  stir-
 red them well together, and set it down.   While settling,
 I took a large tea-spoonful of  brown emetic, and having
 poured off the tea into another cup, stirred in the pow-
 der, and handed it to the woman, who swallowed it, ap-
 parently with all possible faith  that it would help her.  I
 called for assistance, to regulate the bed and other things,
 which were in disorder about the room, as soon as possi-
 ble.   Every attention was paid, the medicine roused the
 efforts of nature, so that the woman was in readiness be-
 fore we were.  This called all to her assistance;  the de-
 sired object was obtained in less than  fifteen minutes af-
 ter taking this friend  of nature; a fine  son was born
 alive, and the woman comfortable and able with steady-
 ing, 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 heartily partook of the
joy and thankfulnessof 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            New  Guide to Health;
  One of my agents, Joseph  Mitchell, 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
says 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 ribs.   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 foregoino- 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 umbilical 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  expand the
lungs,  which was effected in abort 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
growth 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 ciuse'of the death of this
child?   Recollect the first part of this statement.   The
water  had been  discharged  three days.   All that time
the child  had been starving,  the same as the fruit loses
its support wlipn the vine is cut.  But by raieing  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 th©
latter,  it gave the  child one more meal, which roused it
into  action,  and  which  was to last till the next  means
nature has provided, can be obtained.  Before the child
is born, it is supported by this stem from the mother in-
ternally; after birth,  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  breast.

         Now the attention of the mother,
         May be employed to have another;
         And so go on with all  the rest,
         Your house be filled with children bless'd.
              Case of a False Conception.

  About two  years ago, I was  called on by one of my
agents at Eastport, Me. who appeared to be much alarm-
ed, and requested me to go with him to  visit a woman
with whom he had been all night, and could give her no
relief.   She had flowed  so much,  that she  lay fainted
away more than half the  time,  and then, the rest  part 
142            JVeti* Guide to Health;
of the time,  she was puking.  I asked him if she was
in a pregnant state.   He thought  not.  I  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?  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 heretofore di-
rected.   She  took it.   I  then  steeped one pint of coffee,
and had time to give her about one glass, with a requi-
site portion of the same articles as before, when the
syringe arrived.  I then prepared about a gill of this
liquid, and added the same  proportion ot  th*  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
knife, 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 six 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 were 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 woman 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
artem, 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  tears
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 this.  After the
string  is separated from the child, be careful not to lose 
I
 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.  I would prefer having it  remain
 till it discharges  itself, according to nature, as it certain-
 ly will in time, than to betaken 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 mistak-
 en.   The  next one she  was attended by my direction,
 and  carried through, I 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 ^earned ignorant
pretenders, who know nothing about following the um-
bilical cord for their guide, proceed inward, where they
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  Phijsician.          145
  Thus, kind reader, I have given you the most  impor-
tant  particulars  I  now think of, and as to  any  further
directions, I can do no better than to refer  you to the
General Directions, ag 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 ig-
norance,  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 arriv-
ing at a correct judgment.   Necessity and experience are
the only sources of my knowledge, from which  I draw
all my lessons.
  Among the  most desparate cases, is the flowing of fe-
males; pregnant or not, the treatment is the  same.  If
it happens  before delivery,  give a portion of composition
                13 
146
New Guide to Health;
 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  Jiquid 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 vigor.   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 antidote
 where it is.
  These few remarks, together with the foregoing cases,
 will be sufficient information  on this subject.  In con-
 clusion,  I would ask, 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 per-
il, 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. Small-Pox.
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 potj
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 mercury, in the
same way, and to the same extent, the buboes and shank-
ers would often make their appearance in the same man-
ner without the supposed disease, as with.  They  doctor
the name instead of the disorder.  The patient,  there-
fore,  as  often  loses his life by the mercury,  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;
       Supplement to Small Pox.....Seepage 113.
   Since  my last edition was published, the Small Pox
has been thoroughly attended to, and  the  general rule,
as there laid down, found to answer every purpose,  and
produce the desired effect.   To bring out the Small Pox,
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 Small Pox, and who had had the Kine Pox pre-
vious.  The appearance of the pustules were more like
poison or measles than  those of the Small  Pox.  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
opinion that more people die in consequence of having
the Kine Pox, than would die, let the Small Pox have its
natural run.  Because the nature of the Small Pox, 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 Kine Pox. The infection partakes of every
disorder of the persons from whom it  was taken; itch,
venereal, cancer humors, or worse than all the rest, mer-
curial  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 Small Pox.   I knew  a man in
Portsmouth, N.  H.,  who was inoculated with the Kine
Pox.  the infection  taken from a man who had a cancer
humor.  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 Kine Pox.  He died in
the most distressed condition.


  ICPA11 people who have been attended by Patent
Doctors, are cautioned  against putting themselves under
regular doctors,  as the  coses have generally proved fatal
to the patient, and the blame palmed on the Patent Doc-
tor; some after two weeks in their care. 
or, Botanic Family Physician.         149
 Why do old people die more in a warm and rainy vnnter
               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 weight 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-
bor  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 weight of the air comes to an equilibrium of weight 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 weight 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 power, here, either gave or took away
life? Was there anv power in the case abstract from the
cause here o-iven ? Or what soul or spirit went out at death,
except heat* which is the  cause of 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 state, 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.
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, sex, or other condition,
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 I extinguished their heat, and there-
by killed or destroyed them?"   Is not this question fully
answered?   Do we not see that the  lives of human be-
ings are daily sacrificed, at all ages, from birth to death?
Who, I would ask, is authorized to say, in such a case,
that any mysterious Providence is concerned in the death
of our friends,  when they are destroyed in  this manner?
  In every thing that breathes,  the breathing is from the
same cause.   Without heat, there 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 vapor
from 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 of the lamp.  If it be
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 eold
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 otV ?   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 to be our own guards and sentinels, but employ arti-
ficial 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
is 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 over-
takes them.
  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 substitut-
ed the poisonous minerals which have multiplied the forms
of disease/  and thereby added to our bills of mortality.
They have  taken midwifery from the tender hands of
women, and substituted the torturing instruments of steel,
whereby not only children, but even  women have been
sacrificed.   In relation to such practice, Robinson says,
Lee. viii. p. 103, " It is, in truth, like running the gaunt-
let  among  armed  Indians, or red hot plough-shares,  to
escape from the poisons of medical practice." 
152            New Guide to Health;
          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 a tea of No. 3, may be used-simple, with or  without
sugar.  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 to 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.

  iCT2* The public are cautioned  against employing  any
one who shall pretend to use his own improvements with
my System of Practice, as I 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, clime, 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 as bold,
      To  clear the stomach of the cold;
      Next steep the coffee, number three,
      And keep as warm as you can be. 
    or, Botanic Family Physician.          153

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 used,
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. 
154             New Guide to Health;
     THE   PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE.
   This practice is  on the reverse principle  from the
 practice of Physic,*  being agreeable to nature, restoring
 the very principles  which  physic destroys;  for it opens
 obstructions, promotes perspiration, and restores diges-
 tion.   These great objects are obtained by the most sim-
 ple medicines,  all of which grow in the fields of nature.
 The three first numbers remove disease of  all forms or
 symptoms by which it may appear;  fevers of every color,
 as well as plagues caused by the physic of  the doctor,
 under every name, all, all are removed by three articles
 brought to a unit  in practice;  viz. Lobelia,  or as  Dr.
 Waterhouse  calls it, Thomsonia emetica, Cayenne  and
 Bayberry bark; |  all made fine, and to be administered
 in a course of  medicine, aided by  steam.  (Too simple *
 to be believed.)  Then prove it by the three  witnesses
 I have named.   The rule is proved to be a true one, by
 the remedy being effectual.  Thres numbers  remove dis-
 ease, as I said  before; and three numbers are restora-
 tives;  viz. bitters in  three forms, under  three  numbers,
 4, 5 and 6; these  are correctors of the  gall, in vulgar
 English, or  bills  [bile]  in modest Latin.   [N. B. The
 most important remark, and most essential to  be borne in
 mind by the practitioner, at all times, day or night, sum-
 mer or winter,  is the difference between correcting  and
 substituting!!!]
  If you correct the bile, the natural physic  of the body
 is restored;  if you substitute calomel and gallop [jalap]
 for gall, you will soon  gallop your patient out of the
 world,  as all the learned doctors have  done, since the
 days of Paracelsus,  when he introduced  poison minerals
 as substitutes for gall,  which has caused all the plagues
 of the  world, as is shown in the treatise  on the  practice
 of physic;  the  practice of physic  being substituted for
 the practice of medicine; or physic for gall.
  Better late than never.  A  natural miracle  wrought.
A case of consumption, of one year's standing, cured by
 one course of  medicine.  See Wm. Raymond's certifi-
  "  See Narrative, page 217.
  t This is essential  to  be used in all disease ; because the first
effect, of disease is canker, and this is the remedy for it: or it is
good as  a preventive of canker. 
or, Botanic Family Physician.         155
cate, of Beverly, page 188, inserted in full in the first edi-
tion, and referred to in this.   Another and greater mira-
cle.  A hundred days fever,  and fevers  of all  colors,
turned in from 24 to 48 hours, by the foregoing simple
rule, correcting instead of substituting.  Why does this
simple correcting  cure consumption, fevers,  choleras,
and all other diseases?  Answer: Because the gall is a
friend to nature, and  an enemy to all  human disease,
whatever name the  doctor may give it.   Why is it so?
The gall is the regulator and physic of the body, which,
when kept well regulated, is so fortified  that no cold can
take place to cause disease.   For the  food is the fuel,
and the gall is the fire to consume the food; which con-
sumption of food will keep up that internal  heat on which
life depends.  But by daily taking food into the stomach,
like fuel in the fire-place, it may and often does like the
chimney, become foul, and each one wants his physician
with his  appropriate remedies.   The chimney sweeper
with his brush and scraper for the one, and the Thomson-
ian practitioner with his three numbers and steam for the
other; and when each  one has don© his  duty, as a skil-
ful physician can and will do,  the fire-place will  receive
and consume the fuel, consequently the  whole room  be
warmed as before: so, in the body,  when the Thomson-
ian has done his duty in clearing the stomach, promoting
perspiration, and has restored  the digestive powers, then
will the stomach receive its natural required food, and
the gall  will  digest it,  whereby the heat, life, flesh,
strength and vigor, are constantly kept up as his reward.
Here, reader, is the simple difference, plain to your un-
derstanding, between  substituting  and correcting the
bile.  The  gall is the  regulator  of the body,  and the
medicine is the key, to regulate this regulator;  and if
rightly regulated, your  human  machine  will run until
worn out by old age, the only cause of death, casualties
excepted.   By this rule, the cause of all disorder is be-
fore you; when the  stomach grows foul  and  the  food is
not craved, and of course not received, the gall has noth-
ing to perform, any more than the fire has when there is
no fuel, of course the  room grows cold; so in the body,
when persons receive no food, the  heat,  and of course
the life,  runs down for want of the support  from food; 
156            New Guide to Health;
 this is the beginning of disease,  and in the same ratio
 the end of life.  This is consumption, or consuming for
 the want of support.   If one Thomsonian course will an-
 swer all purposes for correcting the gall,  and restoring
 the digestion, so that the appetite will crave  food  suffi-
 ciently, and the gall will digest it, then will  one course
 of medicine  cure consumption, as this is the only cause
 of consumption in nature, and the only certain cure for it.
  Here you see the cause of the success of Thomson's
 fools, (as they are called);  if they keep in his track they
 will come out right in the end; for I have made the cal-
 culation of the cause of disease and the remedy, and if
 the directions are followed,  they will answer the purpose
 I intended, whether my fool knows the cause or not; for
 skilful medicine is  better, administered by my fool, than
 poison administered by the hand  of a learned doctor.
  By these treatises on physic and medicine, the reader
 will see the cause why I do not order nor give any phy-
 sic, and why  all who follow my directions are successful
 and yet cannot account for it; and also will be able to
 account for the bad success of those who pretend to im-
prove on my system,  by giving physic, as was exempli-
fied by the improvement of *H. Howard,  at  Columbus,
Ohio; the consequence was, six out of eight of his own
family, including himself, died with cholera mortification.
            A  SHORT  TREATISE
ON  THE LAWS   OF  LIFE  AND  MOTION.
   Clearly to understand the laws of life and motion, the
radical principles of animalization is of infinite moment.
Without some adequate views and conceptions of these,
the nature of disease  cannot be correctly understood]
neither  can we have knowledge to prescribe a rational'
safe, sure and certain remedy for the removal of disease
when found in the human system.
   Through many long  and  tedious seasons, these sub-
jects had revolved in my mind, before I could form what
I considered a correct  opinion.   I witnessed many dis-
tresses in the family of man;  my heart was pierced with
many sorrows, until my mind was established in those 
             or, Botanic Family Physician.         157

simple truths that  have laid the foundation of my prac-
tice that has been so successful in subsequent years.
  Persecution raged against me—all the presses in the
country were closed against me—Priests,  doctors, law-
yers and legislators were combined  against me—Ex post
facto laws were put  in operation—prosecutions commenc-
ed—false witnesses arose—bigotry, prejudice and super-
stition, like Salem witchcraft, waved their magic wand,
but all  in  vain—truth has prevailed.  The darkness  of
the ancient philosophers is passing away, and those sim-
ple truths,  which are the genuine Philosophy of life, and
the fruits of the labors of my life,  begin to prosper be-
yond  my former expectations.
  As I have never been a man of extensive reading, and
make no pretensions to school learning and book knowl-
edge, if medical or  philosophical writers have taught the
same  doctrines  before  me, it is what I am not  apprised
of.   It is for the truth of the doctrine, and not  for any
claims of reputation as an original  writer, that  I would
more  strenuously contend.
  When Napoleon  stood in arms and was  acknowledged
Emperor of France, the nations were frightened—when
a prisoner,  the kings of the earth  trembled  for fear  of
him—they  dared not to suffer him to go at  large  on main
land,  but assigned him a more safe retreat in the solitudes
of St. Helena.
  The writer is aware  that the success of his system has
carried equal terrors into the ranks of medical opposition.
Their malice  and persecution that brought him to the
dungeon and  chains, were the fruits of envy and fear.
I have  driven the  College  faculty to fly to law -legs  to
stand  upon, because the strong tide of public opinion,
confirmed by testimony, set  so heavily against them, that
they had no other way to rise over the steam doctors and
keep them  down.
  The difficulty appears to  have  been that  the steam
faculty were, in many  instances, so inclined to  receive
instruction, that they became natural philosophers in faith
and practice.  Following nature, they were  successful
practitioners—they couJd relieve distress and remove dis-
ease,  when by the  regular  college doctors, hundreds
were' hurried to their long home.
              14 
158
New Guide to Health;
   The subject of life and motion is of great importance,
 and should be first impressed on the mind  of all  who
 intend to study the healing art.  Unless  this is first un-
 derstood, the whole business of practice will be at least
 uncertain.   The principles of life in human or other an-
 imal bodies is the same; all constitutions are alike, be-
 ing formed from the same materials, and all partaking of
 the four  elements, earth, water,  air and fire or heat.
   The component  parts of all animal bodies are earth
 and  water.   These are the solids;  fire and air are the
 fluids.   Death and  life are cold and heat.  These form
 my text—a  text never yet preached  from by man,  and
yet a sermon was never preached without it.  After ful-
ly understanding both the text  and the sermon, any ques-
tion on the cause of life and motion can be fully answer-
ed;  why a ship goes  through  the  sea;  a steamboat
through  the river;  an eagle  through the air; or a car-
riage through the street.  The cause of all "these is con-
tained  in the  principle of my text.   But,  what can the
text  be?  It  must be breathing,  says one.  But  can
breathing be the cause of life and motion ?   No.  Breath-
ing is an effect, not the cause.   But heat, the cause  of
breathing, is the cause of life  and motion.  This  there-
fore is my text.   The cause of life and motion.
   First  try the effect of heat,  what is called  caloric,  or
 fire, on water.  Suppose you put a skillet on the fire full
 of water;  after putting it on  a  few minutes, put your
 hand in it;  the warm water will  be  on the top,  and the
 cold water will be at the bottom.  The cause of this is,
 as fast as the water grows warm,  it rises, and the heavier
 water  settles  at the  bottom;  and as it heats, it  grows
 lighter, until it all becomes lively and active, called boil-
 ing, and thus will all fly away  by steam or sweat.   This
 is the effect of fire on water.
   We next try the effect of fire on air.  Suppose a house
 budt in an open field;  the air fills all parts equally alike,
 the  same as the surrounding atmosphere.   There is no
 breathing.   But close the doors  and windows, and build
 a good fire, and as fast as the  air grows light, the house
 begins to breathe; every door and window is on the hum.
 The cause  of this is, the fire lightens the air in the room,
 and the air outside of the house being  colder, and  of 
            or, Botanic Family Physician.         159

course  heavier, presses in at every crack  to form an
equilibrium of weight; and as long as the fire continues
to burn, the  house will continue to breathe; but as fast
as the fire decays, the noise of breathing ceases; and
should the air be all taken out of the  house at once, the
weight  outside would crush the house to pieces like  a
broken egg-shell.  Thus it will be seen that fire, or what-
ever produces heat, lightens air and water, causing them
to expand, and hence causes breathing which always ac-
companies life and motion.
   Thus the  cause of breathing will be  perceived:  If
there were no heat in the house,  the house would not
breathe; and also, if there were no heat in the body, the
body would not breathe.  All animal bodies  breathe  as
long as they live;  and when they die, it is said, they die
for the want of breath.  If you can find,  or understand,
what made them breathe while alive; it is very easy to
find  what made them leave off breathing.  They had
heat while alive;  but no heat, or not sufficient heat to
continue the breathing, when dead.   Here, therefore, is
the cause.  When the heat lightens the air in the lungs,
the  external  air being  heavier pressed out the light air
and  filled the lungs with fresh and heavy air; and the
lungs will continue to contract and expand as long as the
fire or heat continues; and when the  heat goes out, the
weight of the air comes to a slack or  balance, inside and
outside, and all motion ceases.  This is a state of death.
   Thus I have shown the cause of breathing, and the
cause of leaving off breathing, which is called  dying,
viz., the heat,  which is kept up by the digestion or de-
composition of food,  iightens the  air in the  lungs, and
causes it to expand,  and the  cold air comes in  to supply
its place.  Man has both the cause and the effect in him-
self.
   All animal bodies move by the power of steam or heat;
the heat causing the lungs to expand, and the steam goes
off with the breath, in part, and partly by the pores of
the body in perspiration; and this  steam  engine  carries
its own pump, the pump of the heart, which pumps the
blood through the arteries  and returns it back through
the  veins winch warms the whole body and limbs,  and
will  continue as long as the fire and water  continue * 
160            New Guide to Health;
 perform their respective offices in the body, with a good
 Engineer to govern and take care of the ingenious and
 delicate machine.
   The fuel is next to be considered which continues the
 fire or life of all animal bodies.  The food taken into the
 stomach is as fuel in the fire-place of the house or in the
 boiler of the steam-engine of life.   The drink, or water
 taken, supplies  the boiler whereby the steam is raised,
 which carries the pump of the heart.   The  same heat
 lightens the air in the lujigs whereby the breath goes on
 regularly; the light air is thrown out and  the heavy air
 pressed in, the same as in the house.   In the body there
 is but one avenue; so that the inhaling  and exhaling of
 the air are through one and  the same channel, half one
 way,  and half the  other.   This is  called  the breathing
 of the engine within, which  engine  will  continue to go,
 or move,  as long  as it is managed according to its na-
 ture and principle,  or until it is worn out with old age,
 the only death incident to the machine or  life of animal
 bodies;  all others are  untimely deaths, as hinted at by
 the wise man.  " Thou fool, why shouldest thou die be-
 fore thy time?"
  The wicked do not live  out half their days.  And the
 ignorant suffer the same consequence by doctors,  or by
 those who pretend to be engineers to keep  your  steam-
 engine of life in order.   Instead  of  applying  proper
 fuel to continue the fire of life, they tap the boiler, draw
 out the hot water or blood, and throw in snow and  ice,
 or mercury, arsenic, antimony, nitre, &.c.   Down  goes
your  boat in the prime of life,  destruction  and  death
caused by learned fools, who know  not the cause of life
 and motion any more than as though they never possess-
ed a human  body.  Here the fool has led  the fool  into
the ditch until it  is full and running  over.
  Who  cannot see, by the foregoing principle of life, as
here laid  down, that mankind are killed as untimely as
the beasts, and nearly as many of them,  even before the
noon of life?  This is caused by the force  of  education,
which has made them more ignorant than the beasts; for
the beasts were never known to kill off each other in so
ignorant and ridiculous a manner.   Look; then choose
 a£ool-masters among the beasts, and learn wisdom,  and 
             or, Botanic Family Physician.

prolong your lives; and not sacrifice each other as you.
do the beasts, and as many of them, for no purpose un-
less it be to get rid of them, as you would mad dogs, and
then throw them in heaps to rot in like manner.   Wheth-
er this sacrifice of human life  is done through ignorance
or design, it is the same with regard to its victims; the
loss of life is the same.  Is there no way to remedy such
evils?   Look, weep,  and tremble!!!
  I return to the cause of life  and motion.  Besides ani-
mal life, there is the life of vegetables, which, to a cer-
tain extent is under control of the same principles as that
of animal life.   Without earth, water,  fire, and air,  no
vegetation can  exist.  In the winter season  there is a
state of death in proportion to the loss of heat, or a sus-
pension of life.   In the spring, a new birth is given, not
only to vegetation, but to insects.  Reptiles  of the dust
also rise from a state  of silence  or suspended animation,
to a state of life and  vigor.  Heat in this case is not on-
ly an agent of life, but it is  in  fact life itself.   So, in the
reverse case,-  cold is not only a proximation to death,
but it is death itself.   Heat will  not act alone, but in ac-
cordance  with the other elements, v/ithout which there is
no  life,  neither  animal  nor vegetable.   Neither  could
there be  any action  in the other elements  without  it.
For instance, let the  element of fire be taken out of the
other elements, and  they would  all be silent; all life
would  be  swallowed up in death; the earth and sea would
be frozen to one solid mass of substance, as one solid rock;
the air would be as silent as the other two elements—a
total state of death.   Pause,  doctors!   Look back  on
your cold patients!   While looking on the cold corpse
of the elements, when the God of nature has withdrawn
his  attributes of heat, light  and life; then conclude, and
say to  thyself,  "Have I cultivated the heat of my pa-
tients to  prolong their lives, or have I  drawn out their
blood,  as  does the butcher the blood of the beast to kill,
which  has produced  the  same  effect?"  Look at your
cholera patients who  have been bled and  the requisite
dose of brandy, opium and mercury given;  their extrem-
ities and  breath nearly cold; and then answer the ques-
tion to your  own conscience  and to your God.  The
question is, what ha3  killed or destroyed them?!!
              14* 
New Guide to Health;
 Study of Anatomy,  or the Skeleton in its Natural Dress.

   This view of the  skeleton has been almost totally ne-
 glected.  The study of a live anatomy has scarcely en-
 tered  the  mind of the  anatomist; but the dead one has
 been thoroughly examined,  and also how to make them.
 But the study of the live anatomy,  and how to keep it
 alive, is yet a dark subject to the learned; but to the il-
 literate, it  is plain and simple.   The constitutions of all
 mankind are essentially alike; they have similar solids
 and fluids, viz. bones, cartilages, tendons, nerves, veins,
 arteries, flesh, blood and other juices; bodies and parts
 or members; and all are sustained in as similar a manner
 as their formation, from the earth and the other elements,
 the common mother of us all.  Man is composed of the
 elements, and by the same elements he is supported.  A
 state of  perfect health  arises from a due proportion of
 these elements;  and when this  is by  any  means  de-
 stroyed,  the  body is more or less disordered, and there
 is always in the first instance an actual diminution of the
 element of fire, heat, or life; and it is produced by its
 opposite, cold or death.   Heat may be denominated life
 itself, the best  physician of  the body;  and whoever has
 not studied the living anatomy  is not qualified to be a
 physician of value, or to kindle up the  decaying spark
 of heat or  life; but  such  a one will  be  like  those  of
the present day, fc forgers of lies and  physicians of no
value."
  When I  studied the live anatomy of my own body, I
observed when I was mowing, or making hay,  and  the
 sun  came the  nearest being directly over my head, I
found I had the most heat, most life, most sensation,  and
most ambition.  Here was my college; here was my book
open; here was tho god of nature, my President and In-
structor; here  I graduated; here I  got  my  diploma.
Here I come before the world to prove the facts and in-
struct others in the true principles of anatomy of human
life, and how to restore the decaying spark of life in suf-
fering humanity.  The book is open,  the lesson plain to
common sense,  of what is life, and what is death.  There
is no mistake with those who have studied this anatomy
as laid down in this  book of nature.  Taught by this 
or,  Botanic Family Physician.         163
President,  and having received a diploma from his un-
erring hand, I speak with confidence, believing that there
can  be  no mistake in the rules as taught in this  school
of Anatomy.   Here are the principles of life,  and even
life itself.
  The next  lesson is to know the symptoms  when this
principle begins to decay or move onward towards  death.
The patient complains, " I have got a bad cold."   Here
death begins, and  will continue until the patient  is all
cold, unless  checked by heat or fever,  nature's friend.
Strange to  tell!  Can fever, or heat, be a friend to life ?!!
Surely.   Remember when I was at college, making hay,
and  studying  anatomy in its most  lively form with the
meridian sun over my head, when  I had the most life,
sensatiort and ambition.   Was not this condition  life it-
self?  If so, restore the patient who has got cold, or lost
his heat, which is the same thing, as soon as possible, to
the same condition as he was when  the sun was over his
head;  open the obstructions caused by cold;  promote
perspiration;  take off canker;, and restore digestion, so
that  the  food may keep up that heat on which life de-
pends, and let all the people say, Amen.  Glory to the
God of Nature, President of this college.
     Heat, the Moving Principle of Life and Motion.

  The rays of light reflect back heat, and steam,  which
rises to a certain height where the atmosphere settles,
or the reflection of the sun meets it, and  condenses the
steam taken from the earth,  which makes clouds or fog;
and the hotter the day the higher will this reflection rise,
and the more sudden will be the shower, and the heavier
will be the wind.  The greater the  space lightened  by
heat, the greater will be the drift of the cold and damp
wind until the space is equalized.  By this effect of heat
lightening air and water all the motion of the elements is
caused; without  heat there  would be  no motion,  as be-
fore stated;  all space  must be filled  either with  air or
water to form an equilibrium.   When heat lightens any
space of air, the adjoining air will move in to make the
space equal.   This causes the blowing of the wind; and 
 164            New Guide  to Health;

the more sudden the space is made, the more  rapid  will
be  the  blowing of the wind.   In some  places  it is so
great it is called a hurricane, especially in the West In-
dies.   Where the heat is great, the wind drives in pro-
portion, until  the space  is filled.  So  on,  by the same
rule, from the smallest breeze to the greatest  blow,  the
noise is in proportion to the weight and swiftness of the
current.  The  greatest drift or current of air,  and  the
greatest report,  is that of lightning.  The space is made
so sudden by the fluid passing with such speed,  and  the
air is so suddenly expanded,  that the adjoining  air  fills
the space, it only makes one sudden crack, and the space
is filled.  The same  with the  report of a cannon, the air
is broken by the drift of the fire through the air, and the
adjoining air filling the space, makes the report.
                 € A17 TI O IV.

  ICJ2* Those who haye family rights are hereby caution-
ed against being imposed upon by spurious or adulterat-
ed articles, under the name of Thomsonian Medicine, as
Wine Bitters, Cholera Symp,  Cholera Preventive, eye Sec,
which, although  they may have some  value,  yet, still,
they are  rather an imposition on the  public than  other-
wise.  One ounce of Spice Bitters, 12 1-2 cents, contains
all the real value there is in a bottle  of wine bitters; and
hot water, sweetened, is better to take them in than wine,
and at the same time it is not likely to  lead to intemper-
ance under the idea of taking medicine.  So also, No. 6,
or hot drops, in baybrrry'tea, sweetened, is a better Cho-
lera Preventive than the same articles in  rum and molasses,
and may  be had at less than one half the price.
  N.B.  Cough Powder, as mentioned on page 85, which
was intended to have been expunged, is not necessary in
any case.  All the powders are cough  powders,  as they
are loosening, particularly the Composition, and the more
the whole practice is simplified the better. 
  The following address to the public was appended to the <: Sup-
 plement to the Narrative" in the former edition of  this  work ;
 but to make room for the Treatise on the " Practice of Physic,"
 published in the present edition, it was thought proper to trans-
 pose it.                        •


               TO  THE  PUBLIC.

   Friends  of Humanity!  You  have  seen by the fore-
 going Narrative, the labors, the trials, the persecutions,
 as well as the anxieties and vexations, which the  author
 has experienced in bringing his System of Medical Prac-
 tice to  the state  of perfection to which  it has arrived;
 and also in laying it fairly before the public;  trials that
 would have  broken down many hearts,  and worn out,
 long before this, many constitutions.
   You  have seen the  system growing into practice,  in
 spite  of all opposition; not  only against the inveterate
 hate of the doctors,  but also against  legal enactments;
 and that it is  calculated to  put to silence, and even  to
 the blush, every species of opposition  with all those who
 shall give it a fair trial.  You have also seen those, after
 having  tested the  virtues of  the  system,  and  proved its
 value, who have been not only ready to rob Dr. Thomson
 of his hard earned reputation,  and fair meed of praise,
 but also to build themselves up at his expense.  All this
you  have seen, and  much more.   And it now remains
to be seen, whether either you, or the public, will any
longer patronize,  any longer uphold,  any longer  coun-
tenance, either directly or indirectly, such iniquity, such
ingratitude, such  shame-faced  hypocrisy!  How much
better a person must feel, to  act in an  open and honora-
ble way!   And were you sure that  you could  purchase
the same thing, or nearly the same thing, of those who
have no right to sell it,  and  might even use it with im-
punity,  would you, for the sake of a few  dollars, obtain
it clandestinely, and thus rob  the  patentee of his just
rights?   It may be thought,  perhaps, that Dr. Thomson 
166                  Conclusion.
 has already become rich by his patent, and therefore can
 well afford to sustain these losses.  Were this the fact,
 it is no good  reason why he should be robbed.   But you
 must consider the immense expense he has been at, and
 is still liable  to bear, to  defend his  system  of practice
 against legal enactments, and unfounded complaints; to-
 gether with  the  losses he has sustained by  unfaithful
 agents.   This is a constant drawback upon his income.
 The defence of his legal prosecutions, and those of his
 agents, in far distant and remote states, as well as in
 almost every  state in the Union, as in South Carolina,
 not long since; his answers to various slanders by hand-
 bills, the  only way, at one time, that he could obtain any
 thing from the press in his favor, even for pay; and his
 various travels from the Eastern to the Western States,
 and  from the North to the South; all, all these, and much
 more,  are constant out-goes upon what should, and did
 the public duly appreciate the value of his system, other-
 wise would be his fair and honest gains.  But he has one
 consolation.   His system will live to bless mankind, and
 his name will  live, with it, yea, be  hailed with gratitude,
 when Dr. Thomson shall  be no  more.  Cold comfort
 this; when the subject or object of their gratitude shall
 be in his grave!   Yet even this is better  than  nothing;
 and  to know now, or to be firmly persuaded that such
 will be the fact, must afford some present peace,  yea, a
 heart-folt  satisfaction.   But I hope that it is not too late
 to do the subject of this Narrative justice, even in some
 measure,  at least, now while he lives;  to make the eve
 of his  life as comfortable  and happy  as  human nature,
 in a  person of his  years, is susceptible of being;  and I
 can assure him and the public, that whatever I can do to
 bring about an event so just, and at the same time so
 desirable, shall be faithfully and cheerfully performed;
 for all that my life is now  worth,  either to myself, my
family, or the  public, I consider that both I and they are
wholly indebted to the Thomsonian System of practice.
And  it is with  much' pleasure that I here once more have
the opportunity  of acknowledging the  gratitude,  and
pledging the faithfulness of his and the public's humble
servant,                 ABNER KNEEL AND,
           General Agent for Dr. Samuel Thomson. 
INDEX
To the New  Guide  to Health,
Ague in  the Face,
American Valerian(
Archangel,
Balm ot*  Gilead,
Balsam of Fir,
Barberry,
Bayberry,
Black Pepper,
Bitter Herb,
Bitter Root,
Bittersweet,
Birch Bark,
Bitter Thistle,
Bitters,
Bleeding,
Bile, (see No. 4.)
Bilious Cholic,
Burdock,
Butternut,
Burns,
Bones, how set,
Camphor,
Cayenne,
Cancers,
Cancer Plaster,
Canker Sores,
Chamomile,
Cherry Stones,
Clivers,
Composition Powders,
Cough,
Chicken  Broth,
Consumption,
Counter-Poison, (see No
Course of Medicine,
Corns,
Description of Disease,
Directions for preparing
    Vegetable Medicine,
Drowned Persons,
Dropsy,
Dysentery,
Page.
   110
   66
   76
   74
   73
   61
   55
   54
   60
   61
   70
   72
   78
   82
   108

   123
   70
   75
   97
   110
   65
49,80
   103
   85
   103
   69
   63
   71
   84
   114
   94
   120
.1.)
22,80
   127
   95

   79
   92
   122
   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
Headache,	126
Hemlock Bark,	56
Hoarhound,	68
Horseradish,	74
Injections,	87
Introduction,	5
Internal Heat, (see No.	2.*"
Itch,	77, 84
Jaundicp,	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
 
168           Index to the Guide to Health.
                        Page.
 Nervine,  (see Nerve Powder.)
 Nettle Spring,            121
 Nerve Ointment,           86
 Ne. 1.  Emetic  Herb, de-
     scription of,            38
 Prepaiation of do.           79
 No. 2.  Cayenne, descrip-
     tion of,                49
 Preparation of do.           80
 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-
     ticles tor that  purpose,  69
 Preparation of do.           82
 No. 5.  Syrup for  the Dys-
     entery,  description of
     the Articles used,       63
 Preparation of do.           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,-&c.        112
 Poplar Bark,                60
 Prickly Ash,                77
 Poultice,                   86
 Piles,                     106
 Remarks on Fevers,        12
 Relax,                    124
 Red Peppers,               53
 Red Raspberry,             69
 Rheumatism,               J 26
 Rheumatic Drops,          64
 Rheumatic Weed,           76
 Ruptures,                 109
Salve,                     85
Scalds,                    96
Scalt Heads,               107
Small Pox,               113
Sore Lips,                 126
Sore Eyes,                126
Sore Breasts,          ,     107
	Page.
Skunk Cabbage,	70
Slippery Elm Bark,	72
Snake Root,	73
Steaming,	20
Sumach,	57
Squaw Weed,	59
Spirits of Turpentine,	65
Spearmint,	67
Summersavory,	08
Syrup,	b2
 Strengthening Plaster,      86
 Stock of Medicine,         88
 St. Anthony's Fire,        121
 Strangury,                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,                    134
 Extraordinarv case of,     137
 Do. in Saratoga Co. N. Y.  139
 Do. in Golurnbus, Ohio,    140
 False Conception, case of  141
 Outlines of Travail,       145
 Supplement to the Venereal, 147
 Supplement to Small Pox,  148
 Why do people die, &c.    149
 How  Doctors shorten, &c.  149
 Seamen's  Directions,       152
 Practice of Medicine,       154
 Treatise on Life and Motion 156
 Study of Anatomy, &c.    162
Heat  the  Moving  Princi-
    ple, &c.               163
Caution,                   164
 Wine Bitters, &c.         164
Conclusion,                165
To the Public,             166 
 
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