Three weeks before his petition was read in the House, Mercer became
ill. On October 26, 1748, he noted in his journal, "Very ill obliged to
keep my bed." This was almost his first sickness after years of
apparently robust health. Such indispositions as he occasionally
suffered had occurred, like this one, at Williamsburg, where
conviviality and rich food caused many another colonial worthy to
founder. In this case, anxiety over the outcome of his petition may have
brought on or aggravated his ailment. In any event, he stayed throughout
the court session at the home of Dr. Kenneth McKenzie, who treated him.
On November 3 he noted that he was "On Recovery," and two days later
"went out to take the air." The following appears in his account with
Dr. McKenzie:
October 1748: By Medicines & Attendance myself & Ice £7.19.11
By Lodging &c 7 weeks 6. 6. 7
From William Parks, on another occasion, he bought "Rattlesnake root,"
which was promoted in 18th-century Virginia as a specific against the
gout, smallpox, and "Pleuritick and Peripneumonic Fevers."[112] Twice he
bought "British oyl," a favorite popular nostrum sold in tall, square
bottles, and on another occasion "2 bottles of Daffy's Elixir."[113] In
1749 he settled his account with George Gilmer, apothecary of
Williamsburg, for such things as oil of cinnamon, Holloways' Citrate,
"Aqua Linnaean," rhubarb, sago, "Sal. Volat.," spirits of lavender, and
gum fragac. The final item in the account was for April 22, 1750, for "a
Vomit." The induced vomit, usually by a tartar emetic, was an accepted
cure for overindulgence and a host of supposed ailments. That inveterate
valetudinarian and amateur physician, William Byrd, was in the habit of
"giving" vomits to his sick slaves.[114]
In November and December 1749 Mercer sustained his first long illness,
during which he was attended by "Doctor Amson." "Taken sick" at home on
November 13, he evidently did not begin to recover until December 11.
Whatever improvement he may have made must have received a setback on
the last day of the year, when he recorded in his journal: "Took about
60 grains of Opium & 60 grains of Euphorbium by mistake instead of a
dose of rhubarb."