It would be incompatible with the design of this pamphlet, a

Transcribed from the 1839 W. Tylee edition by David Price, email

ccx074@pglaf.org

[Picture: Pamphlet cover]

NEW ERA IN MEDICAL SCIENCE.

* * * * *

CONSUMPTION CURABLE:

OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

TREATMENT OF PULMONARY DISEASES;

CHARACTERIZED BY

ASTHMA,

AND

OTHER DISORDERS OF THE CHEST,

PRECEDED BY, OR ATTENDED WITH

VIOLENT COUGH AND WHEEZING,

OR

EXTREME DIFFICULTY OF BREATHING;

AND THE

METHOD OF EFFECTUALLY ERADICATING EVERY SYMPTOM OF

THOSE COMPLAINTS,

AND

PULMONARY CONSUMPTION,

BY MEANS WHICH

NATURE HAS PROVIDED,

HITHERTO EMPLOYED ONLY BY THE AUTHOR.

* * * * *

_Patronized by the Nobility and Medical Men of the highest distinction_.

* * * * *

TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY W. TYLEE, BOLT-COURT, FLEET-STREET.

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR (H. CONGREVE, SHEPHERD’S BUSH)

BY HANNAY AND DIETRICHSEN, 63, OXFORD-STREET, LONDON;

AND MAY BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1839.

* * * * *

OBSERVATIONS

ON

PULMONARY DISEASES;

DEFINING THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS, AND DIRECTING TO THE MODE OF TREATMENT,

AND MEANS OF CURE OF

INFLUENZA COLDS AND COUGHS, HOOPING COUGH, ASTHMA, AND PULMONARY

CONSUMPTION, &c.

IT is a matter of notoriety how slightly regarded or little known are the

medicinal properties concentrated in the plants which adorn the vegetable

kingdom. Such negligence of the means of healing, by the remedies which

are sent by the immediate hand of Providence, and rendered most abundant

and common, and the substitution of others of a more doubtful, and often

highly injurious, character, evinces a love of change, not simply to

promote a greater benefit, but to render the art of healing more

complicated and obscure.

It is probable that many disorders, for the relief of which medicines are

sought for from the remotest parts of the globe, which act with harshness

and violence, would be averted, were the same attention paid to the

investigation of the properties, and the best mode of extracting the

qualities, incorporated in the leaves, seeds, roots, and juices, together

with the balsams, which in some cases exude from them, to be found in the

soil of Nature’s platform on which we traverse.

There was a time, and not very remote, in the annals of the past, when

disorders of the Chest and Lungs, so alarmingly prevalent in the present

day, were scarcely known; when Consumptions were seldom heard of; when

obstructions of the viscera were hardly ever seen, and when chronic

diseases were but rarely witnessed. The reason is obvious: the simples

which adorn the pages of our ancient authors on medical science, are no

longer resorted to for relief by the student or practitioner, however

valuable their properties have heretofore been manifested; and other

compounds, emanating from the laboratory, have been preferred, and thus

the _simplicity_ of the science has been gradually lost in its

complications.

The design of the present treatise is to attempt the restoration of the

good old ancient mode of cure, now obsolete; particularly as regards

pulmonary complaints, which, in this our variable climate, are unhappily

so abundant and fatal. All the information, needful to exhibit to the

sufferer the dangers frequently arising from the neglect of what is

called a common cold; and of the means whereby its course may be nipped

in the very bud, and its more direful effects removed in its latent

stages, and other matter of general importance is advanced; which, while

it becomes a friendly beacon to warn him of danger, will at once point to

a safe and salutary, and not less certain than salutary remedy.

All diseases of a pulmonary character should be treated by remedies

possessing a combination of emollient, pectoral, and mildly expectorant

qualities, capable of inciding and discharging the offending matter,

which impedes the free action of the lungs, and highly aggravates the

complaint. A remedy has for many years been employed in these cases,

embodying the before-mentioned properties, which, when mixed in honey, is

so pleasant that children take it with avidity. It is composed of the

essences of herbs and asiatic gums, containing the purest balsamic and

healing virtues. The sacrifices of human life, which annually transpire

from pulmonary complaints, call loudly for a reform of medical practice.

If the means of averting this calamity, or ameliorating the afflictions

of the numerous class of sufferers, with which this country abounds, can

be devised, it is, doubtless, the paramount duty of the individual who

possesses them, to diffuse abroad the intelligence of his discovery, as

extensively as possible, and more especially so when the ordinary means

fail (as obviously they do) to yield the desired relief. These

considerations have appeared weighty; and stimulated by the hope, that

this remedy will become the means, in the hand of Providence, of saving

many thousands from a premature grave, the author is induced strenuously

to recommend its use to the patient tortured with the worst symptoms of

asthma, cough, difficulty of breathing, and pulmonary consumption, of

which this pamphlet treats, in every characteristic form of the disease.

The antidote referred to (see page 16) is a medicinal agent, which, from

its efficacy in Asthmatic affections, as well as in the respiratory

function in Pulmonary Consumption, has extended its just pretensions to

universal notice. The embarrassed breathing, approaching to an anxious

sense of suffocation, incidentally presenting in Pulmonary complaints, is

relieved by its salutary influence. As its pervading and soothing power

has been found to ameliorate and obviate the obstruction or impeded

breath, in asthmatic and other disordered states of respiration, it has

become a most valuable accession to the stock of remedies entitled to

confident adoption.

This preparation, being a saturated infusion of plants and gums, &c.,

unknown to the medical profession, cannot be ascertained by any chemical

analysis or examination. As the Proprietor has not developed the

particulars relative to this discovery to any member of the profession,

he is prepared to anticipate from the illiberal amongst their number a

degree of censure; but he appeals from the tyranny of custom to the

dictates of common equity and reason. If, in the course of medical

research, any discovery is incidentally made, which offers to society the

most important benefits, humanity appears to demand that it should be

unreservedly communicated to the faculty, for the welfare of mankind:

but, having devoted a considerable property and time in the conducting a

series of experiments, totally unconnected with the customary routine of

medical practice, in the completion of the discovery, the Author

conceives that he is warranted to expect some remuneration by its sale,

as a compensation for his labours. An invention is as much the property

of its proprietor, as the estate he purchases or inherits. Society has a

right to enjoy the advantage of his toil and skill—but, surely his

labours have an equal claim on their patronage in return. The Public are

sufficiently enlightened in the subject of medicine to be aware that the

opposition which secret preparations have experienced from this quarter

(though there are many exceptions to be made) arises entirely from

interested motives, and they will decide accordingly.

OF HOARSENESS, ARISING FROM COLD.

HOARSENESS is not only a very distressing and painful complaint, but

often extremely obstinate, and very difficult to cure by the customary

means. A sense of roughness in the throat, with frequent attempts to

clear it, is generally the first and most early symptom of the disease.

It is attended with, or succeeded by irritation of the larynx, exciting a

hard and dry cough, hoarseness of voice, with a sense of tightness across

the chest, and sometimes with soreness and pain upon breathing deeply, or

coughing. Lassitude, aching of the limbs, cold chills, and shiverings,

are now apparent, with but little expectoration of the opaque matter that

irritates the part; which, from neglect of the means of totally removing

it, assumes other characters, and rapidly passes into inflammation of the

lungs.

The larynx, or top of the windpipe, is the seat of this complaint; and to

great tenderness or soreness of the surrounding part, with a thickened

state of its natural moisture, may be ascribed the cause producing it.

This is always perceptible to those who are hoarse, who, in endeavouring

to speak out to render their voice audible, feel that part of the throat

extremely painful and tender; and if, at any time, they expectorate, or

discharge a portion of phlegm, it is very firm, thick, and tenacious, and

often tinged with blood—but they are enabled to speak more freely

afterwards, until a re-accumulation of the matter, which occasions the

disease, ensues. The BALSAM is a natural and truly excellent remedy in

such cases, for it possesses great power in softening and dissolving the

tough phlegm; and it is, moreover, an excellent pectoral and balsamic, on

which account, nothing can be more suited for curing the complaint, which

fact repeated experience has confirmed.

The subjects of this disorder are always worse in the morning. The acrid

humours which occasion it, collect, accumulate, and spread themselves

over the affected parts during the night, undisturbed; and on rising from

bed in the morning, the oppression induced is severely felt. On this

account, also, those who are subjected to these oppressions from thick,

glutinous phlegm, feel more uneasiness at this time, than perhaps any

other part of the day.—The remedy should, therefore, never be omitted at

night in such cases, and ought to be again repeated early in the morning.

Those who suffer from hoarseness, should refrain, as much as possible,

from any attempt at loud talking, because those efforts invariably

increase the malady. Although night and morning are the periods when the

use of the Balsam is indicated, in such cases, it will do good taken at

any time of the day, in small doses, as the occasion requires. If,

therefore, the patient labouring under this harassing complaint have

occasion to speak much, he should always guard against the consequences,

by previously taking a dose, to sheathe the lungs, and the subjoining

parts affected. He will then be enabled to articulate with greater ease

and comfort to himself, more intelligibly to his auditory, and prevent

that violent straining which inevitably aggravates and increases the

disorder.

When any person afflicted with hoarseness is going into company where his

conversational powers will be unavoidably called into action, it will be

advisable to take a dose of the Balsam, incorporated with honey; and

again renew it, should not the first relieve him—which relief he would in

vain endeavour to obtain by violent efforts—such efforts, without the use

of this remedy, would only add to the existing evil.

Speaking with ease and clearness, is agreeable to every one; but to some

it is of the utmost importance. The clergyman, who officiates in his

duties as a minister in the pulpit; the advocate, who pleads the cause of

his client at the bar; the actor, who caters on the stage, for the

amusement of the spectators; and those vocalists, who contribute to the

delight of the assembly or the concert, are often distressed in the

highest degree by hoarseness, which it is of consequence should be

obviated by the use of a counteracting remedy. In these cases, this

medicine will certainly afford permanent relief.

OF CATARRH, COLD, INFLUENZA, AND COUGH; AND HOOPING COUGH, TO WHICH

CHILDREN ARE ESPECIALLY LIABLE.

Although Catarrhs, or Colds, are the most common of all disorders, there

are few which are less understood, or have called forth a greater

diversity of opinion. Persons of a phlegmatic temperament, delicate

constitution, and relaxed habit of body—and those with long necks and

narrow chests, or who indulge in warm apartments and beds—who rise late,

and take but little exercise in the open air—are most liable to the

complaint.

In the spring and autumnal seasons, or in wet and changeable weather, its

attacks are most general and severe. The coldness and moisture of the

atmosphere, or in other states of the air, not perceptible to the senses,

but which impede and check the insensible perspiration of the skin, or

cutaneous surface, are the chief and prevailing exciting causes. When it

arises from epidemic or infectious sources, as it sometimes does, the

disorder is attended with symptoms of a febrile character, and is usually

very severe in its effects; and in this case, it not only extends to the

digestive mucus, producing great debility, but along the air passages,

exciting cough, difficulty of breathing, and a host of melancholy

feelings, to which the asthmatic are the constant subjects.

The uncertainty of our climate renders its inhabitants extremely liable

to Colds; and one of the common effects arising from them is a Cough. A

Cough is too frequently slighted, because it is common; but if the danger

attendant on this apparently unimportant affection, were known, and the

remedy applied in time, much mischief would be prevented. In young

persons especially, Coughs are often the forerunners of Consumption; and

in those who are far advanced in life, though not in the same degree

liable to this dangerous consequence, the complaint will become habitual

and confirmed, and of course most troublesome and distressing.

Colds are often brought on by taking hot liquors previous to going out of

a warm room into the air in a cold evening; but generally they arise from

an exposure of the body to the atmosphere, when it is heated above its

usual temperature; or from a sudden transition from heat to cold. The

natural perspiration is, in a great measure, retarded by the obstruction

of the cutaneous pores; and the abundant humours, which should have

passed off through the skin, lodge in the internal surface of the throat

and lungs, where, by their quantity and acrimony, they create a constant

tickling and wheezing, with a peculiar painful and distressing sensation;

and the lungs, by endeavouring to dislodge the accumulated matter, become

subject to a state of inflammation, with a harassing Cough, as the

natural result.

In this case, those means must be used which will attenuate and subdue

this acrimonious humour, lessen its quantity, and carry it off by the

urinary passages; and this cannot be effected with advantage, but by

ingredients of a balsamic quality, which, while they act with efficacy,

will also mollify and sheathe the parts, and preserve them from the

results which a chemical action of the corrosive matter would otherwise

produce. Such then is the Balsam, herein recommended, which, for these

purposes, can never be sufficiently extolled; and, in most cases, it acts

as a preventative, as well as cure.

We would respectfully advise that on the first appearance of the Cough,

recourse be immediately had to the remedy, of which one or two doses will

generally cure. There are but few who do not suffer a Cough to be

neglected, until it has gained a firm hold, and affects the whole frame,

by febrile and other symptoms. If such be the case, no time must be lost

in commencing with the remedy, and persevering in its use—as in these

cases, it is a decided specific.

In Chronic Coughs, arising from a loaded state of the air vessels of the

lungs with mucus, it proves pre-eminently beneficial, by increasing the

power of the patient to expectorate the irritating matter; at the same

time allaying irritability in the membrane lining the wind-pipe, &c.

A recent Cold may be cured by an extra full dose of the Balsam, taken at

night. As in all Colds and Coughs, fever is an attendant symptom, the

patient should refrain as much as possible from the use of meat, and

especially strong spirituous liquors; and take gentle exercise in the

open air, when the weather will admit; of course avoiding all draughts,

which would renew and increase the Cold.

Disorders, which have been slowly induced, and established a firm hold in

the constitution, will, of course, require a little time to pass off,

even with the utmost care. No person, however, need suffer a Cough to

fix upon him, if he will have timely recourse to this medicine; but if

either by neglect or ignorance of the remedy, or other remedies, it has

become habitual and confirmed, the use of this specific for a short

period, twice or thrice a day, with an occasional dose of some gentle

opening medicine, will complete the cure. This course must not be

omitted by young persons especially, because, if the Cough in its early

stages is neglected, Consumption will inevitably be produced. Had it no

other excellent qualities to recommend its fame, it is, in this respect,

entitled to a high estimate, as we shall hereafter demonstrate. How

often do we notice medical men at a pause, not knowing what to do with

obstinate and rebellious Coughs, which are proof against all their

medicines; whereas there is no case of this kind in which the Balsam does

not effect permanent advantage. Certainly, the sooner it is taken, the

more speedily will the benefit be manifested; but there is no period when

(with due regard to temperance and exercise, and perseverance with the

remedy) it will not effect a permanent and radical cure.

HOOPING COUGH.

The immediate cause of Hooping Cough is a viscid and glutinous matter or

phlegm lodged upon the bronchiæ, trachea, and fauces, which adheres so

firmly as to be expectorated or discharged with the greatest possible

difficulty.

This Cough is known by the peculiar _hoop_ which is descriptive of the

disease. Children are most commonly the subjects of this complaint, and

especially those who are teething; but it sometimes attacks those

advanced in life. It comes on with a slight difficulty of breathing,

thirst, rapid pulse, hoarseness, Cough, and all the symptoms of common

Cold. This disorder, if not nipped in the bud, gradually increases; and

about the second or third week, assumes its peculiar characteristic

symptoms. The expiratory motions, peculiar to coughing, are made with

more rapidity and violence than usual; and after several of these

convulsive efforts, a sudden and full inspiration succeeds, and from the

air rushing with unusual violence through the _glottis_, the Hooping

Cough is occasioned.

In this peculiar calamitous and highly dangerous Cough, the object to be

attained is a free expectoration, to dissolve and remove the phlegm, and

to abate the fever. Emetics, which are often unwisely ordered, agitate

the system, and aggravate the symptoms; blisters only irritate, without

accomplishing the desired intention; and, in fact, the patient is too

frequently abandoned to the chances of change of air, and strength of

constitution, to sustain the shock. It will be a source of consolation

to every anxious mother, that this valuable compound which operates so

beneficially in Coughs, is also equally excellent in Hooping Cough;

indeed, its balsamic, pectoral, expectorant, and emollient properties,

render it peculiarly adapted to eradicate the worst stages of the

complaint, for the reasons before advanced. It may be given in the

quantity of a tea-spoonful, three or four times a day, in honey, or on

lump sugar, as the urgency of the case demands. The contents of a 2s.

9d. bottle, seldom or ever fail to develope its specific qualities in

such cases.

This disorder sometimes terminates in apoplexy and suffocation. In some,

it lays the foundation for asthma and pulmonary complaints. It will,

therefore, be manifest, that a remedy, which will remove the offending

cause, should never be omitted.

OF THE TOUGH PHLEGM, WHICH USUALLY PRECEDES AN ATTACK OF ASTHMA.

Many individuals, especially those far advanced in life, are much

subjected to a collection of tough phlegm, which adheres to the bronchial

tube, or inner surface of the windpipe, in the morning, and renders their

breathing most difficult and painful; occasioning hoarseness, and

producing violent fits of coughing, until the matter is discharged. This

affection is not, strictly speaking, a disease; and although it is most

troublesome and disagreeable, as well as painful to its subject, and to

others, there are but few persons who consult the physician for its

removal.

This complaint should not, however, be neglected, for, by inattention to

its early symptoms, it will be much increased, and often terminate in

Asthma; and some have fallen a sacrifice to its consequences, by the

rupture of a blood vessel, occasioned by violent straining. If it were

asked of medical men, what medicine would cure this infirmity, and be a

safe preventative to its return, the question would be with difficulty

answered. No remedy could afford effectual relief, otherwise compounded

than the Balsam before alluded to. The patient should have recourse to

it on retiring to rest at night, and early in the morning, or on rising

from bed; one or two tea-spoonsful in a little honey, or on lump sugar,

will constitute the regular dose. Relief will be experienced from it the

first day, and progressively increase, until the recovery is complete.

It will, nevertheless, be advisable to take minute supplies occasionally,

for a short period afterwards, to prevent a tendency to relapse: and if

at any subsequent period, after the removal of the cold, the complaint

again appear, the same course must be again adopted, and duly persevered

in, until it is totally removed.

OF ASTHMA, OR DIFFICULTY OF BREATHING.

There are two distinct kinds of Asthma—one of which is denominated

nervous or convulsive—the latter is not the disorder so prevalent in this

country as the former. The true Asthma is a laborious breathing,

wheezing, sense of suffocation, attended by anxiety, cough, and mucus

expectoration. It is very frequent; and no disease is more distressing

to the patient.

Asthma is a disease which usually attacks elderly people; and those who

are subject to it, have frequent returns—for all the methods in common

use are calculated only to promote relief in the present fit, not to

produce a lasting cure. If the medical adviser be called in in the

extremity of a fit, he bleeds his patient freely; and that practice is

become too general, because it often affords immediate relief in the

paroxysms, but the fits again return, and often with greater violence

than before; and frequent renewals of this practice soon undermine and

destroy the constitution.

The phenomena of Asthma arises from increased excitement of the branches

of the eighth pair of nerves, distributed over the larynx, and the

internal membrane of the wind-pipe, and bronchiæ, brought on by a certain

condition of the atmosphere, probably with respect to electric matter:

for, opposite states of the air, with regard to its temperature, density,

or humidity, do not disorder asthmatic subjects, so much as easterly or

north-easterly winds. In consequence of the excitement of the nerves of

the larynx, &c., the respiratory muscles, particularly those which

perform the functions of expiration, become affected by spasms, whereby

the free admission of the irritating air into the lungs is promoted.

This is manifest by the excessive paroxysms, very similar to that which

ensues on an attack of Asthma, which immediately follows an artificial

irritation, the membrane of the larynx. The suffocating sensation

produced by a morsel of food lodging in the membrane in the act of

swallowing (usually attributed by unprofessional persons to “the food

going the wrong way,”) is of this nature. The muscles concerned in

expiration immediately contract, to prevent the admission of an obnoxious

article into the wind-pipe; and this state of muscles will continue many

minutes: and, in asthmatics, whose nerves of the parts are morbidly

irritable, it has continued many hours.

It would be incompatible with the design of this pamphlet, and perhaps

superfluous to enter minutely into a description of what Asthma

is—especially as no disease shows itself more distinctly. The

individual, occasionally attacked by wheezing, difficulty of breathing,

and tightness of the chest, need not be assured that he is asthmatical;

but it will be a source of consolation to inform him, that his case is

really curable, by this valuable medicine, as experience in the worst

cases has amply confirmed. As the use of the Balsam is persevered in,

the paroxysms abate, the attendant cough becomes freer, and is

accompanied by gentle expectoration; and, in proportion to the increase

of the cough and expectoration, the distressing symptoms decrease—a more

free passage of air being now admitted to and from the lungs.

Some individuals are continually asthmatic, and others are subject to it

only occasionally, when it comes on in fits: this remedy will be found

intrinsically valuable to such, because it will loosen the tough phlegm,

which oppresses the lungs and produces shortness of breath, and cause its

removal by expectoration.

Those who have a confirmed Asthma, should form the Balsam into a syrup,

by mixing with it about an equal quantity of fine honey, (having

previously dissolved it by heat, and removed the wax and impurities which

arise to its surface,) and, when thus incorporated, taking a dessert

spoonful, or two tea-spoonsful, night and morning; and, in some cases,

once or twice throughout the day. The paroxysms will speedily terminate,

after short perseverance in the use of these means; and, by bringing on a

free expectoration, every asthmatic sensation will speedily disappear.

When taken in the day-time, it effectually keeps off the evening

exacerbation or paroxysm. In cases of winter or irritable cough, arising

from an increased excitement of the bronchial nerves, and a certain state

of the atmosphere, it is also a most valuable remedy. The Elixir more

speedily and permanently allays morbid irritation, or increased

excitement of the nerves of the larynx, wind-pipe, and lungs, than any

other known remedy.

The only difference between a winter Cough and Asthma is, that the seat

of the former is in the membrane lining the bronchial tube, while the

latter is in the membrane of the larynx, and upper part of the wind-pipe.

For those who have an Asthma, the attacks of which are periodical, and

the fits regular, this Balsam will be highly useful. The fits of this

species of the disease come on about every ten days; they are more

violent, and last longer in summer than in winter; and the symptoms are

highly aggravated by intemperance and irregularity. These fits are

certainly rendered much more tolerable, and are slighter when

expectoration comes on. The Balsam should therefore be regularly taken

in such doses as to produce this: and the approach of the fits should be

carefully watched, that the remedy may be taken in sufficient doses prior

to the commencement. If the patient feel a tightness about the pit of

the stomach shortly after dinner, it is a certain indication that an

attack will shortly ensue; in which case, one or two tea spoonsful of the

Balsam should be immediately taken, mixed in a similar quantity of honey,

or, in absence of honey, lump sugar: he should remain quite still, in an

erect posture; and in about half an hour afterwards renew the dose. When

the stomach is swelled, and the patient is flatulent, it is an infallible

sign that the fit is gaining strength, and a tightness of the chest and

lungs will follow. About once in two hours half a spoonful, or more, of

the Balsam must be taken for three times more; when the patient should be

put to bed, and lie with his head high. The fit often comes on with

violence about two o’clock in the morning: the invalid retires to rest

fatigued, and inclined to sleep; and, after exhibiting sensations of

uneasy restlessness, he falls asleep, and is harassed by uneasy and

embarrassed dreams; startings in his sleep, and other nervous symptoms

often attend, and indicate the tendency to a fit: he awakes in restless

anxiety, and is obliged to toss about, and change his posture, or sit up

in bed, in expectation of relief; but, owing to the increase of the

spasms, his breathing becomes increasingly impeded, and he pants for

breath with unspeakable anxiety. He should then get up, and drink freely

of the infusion recommended in Consumption (page 10); and take a dose of

the Balsam incorporated with honey, which will promote the expectoration,

and generally carry off the fit. The heat of the bed, and the posture of

lying, both increase the complaint.

As aperients, judiciously combined with bitters, tonics, stimulants, or

antispasmodics, with a view of promoting the abdominal secretions,

without depressing the vital energies, and of deriving from the lungs any

accumulation of morbid matter which cannot be expectorated; such a

combination _with_ Camphor, as contained in “Dr. Flemming’s Quinine and

Camphor Pills” (prepared by the Author in boxes at 4_s._ 6_d._ each,

containing a Treatise on Indigestion, Diet, and Regimen, &c.) is

peculiarly serviceable in this disorder, TAKEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE

BALSAM, in sufficient doses to remove the accumulation of bile in the

biliary organs, and of the _sordes_ retained in the mucus surface of the

bowels; and it should be observed that purgatives are always better borne

when combined with Camphor, and are then most proper in all stages of the

disease. When expectoration is rendered difficult, and the cough

suffocating, from the tenacity and consistency of the matter, as is not

unfrequently the case, the Balsam, in conjunction with the “Camphor

Pills” alluded to, will be found an invaluable remedy. The virtues of

Camphor in this disease have been singularly overlooked by the writers on

this subject, _as an adjunct_ to other balsamics, pectorals, and

expectorants; but administered in this form, it is doubtless the most

valuable remedy we possess in this, as well as in several other diseases,

and particularly of those consequent on debility or disorder in the

digestive organs, which require a tonic, and a stimulating remedy. When

the bowels require evacuation, strong purgatives must on no account be

resorted to: because such measures tend very considerably to check and

diminish expectoration; but gentle aperients of a cooling nature should

not be neglected, when a tendency to constipation points out the need of

a remedy to relieve the system, and nothing can be better adapted for

that purpose than the foregoing combination.

By recourse to these means, the lengthened fits of Asthma will be

prevented; and if the disease be established in the constitution, a due

perseverance with the remedy will effectually eradicate every symptom.

With regard to the course of life of the asthmatic—great care should be

observed to choose a proper air; experience will soon point out what air

is best, and no certain rule can be definitely given. Where the patient

breathes most easy he ought to reside. He should lie with his head high,

and not be too much encumbered with bedclothes; must avoid a stooping or

a leaning posture; when he writes, use a high desk; and read sitting

upright; and should always accustom himself to moderate and gentle

exercise. These cautions are important, for, by their observance, with a

moderate diet, early rising, and light supper—an increase of the disorder

will be prevented; and the use of the Balsam will subdue what is already

established in the constitution.

The patients _beverage_ should also receive particular attention.

Barley-water and lemonade, but especially the infusion before referred

to, may be freely taken. Change of air will generally prove beneficial;

and flannel worn next the skin be of service. Constipation of the bowels

must be avoided; and whenever that disposition is manifest, immediate

recourse should be had to such an aperient remedy as above described.

OF PULMONARY CONSUMPTION.

Pulmonary Consumption is accompanied with general emaciation, debility,

pain in the side or chest, difficulty of breathing on taking the

slightest exercise, and a Cough, which usually proves most troublesome

towards morning. In its advanced stage, a viscid expectoration, with

hectic fever and diarrhœa, ensues. The predisposing causes of this

complaint are too numerous herein to detail, but the disease generally

commences by a cold, taken in the winter season, which brings on at first

a common cough, that from neglect settles on the lungs. The lungs become

gradually and increasingly obstructed, inflamed, and ulcerated; a slow

fever attends the latter stages of the disorder, when the case imports

the existence of considerable danger. Those of a delicate structure and

weakly habits, between the ages of 16 and 25, are most liable to this

disease.

It has appeared from the calculations of an eminent Physician, that the

annual mortality from diseased lungs throughout Great Britain, amounts to

one hundred and forty thousand, and that from this class of disorders

more than one third expire from Pulmonary Consumption. When we consider

the size and peculiar construction of the lungs, their perpetual motion,

the chemical process going on in them, and their exposure to the action

of contaminated air, or sudden changes in its temperature, it can be no

matter of surprise that Pulmonary Complaints are so frequent; and the

lungs, not possessing the same natural powers of removing diseased

structure, or of mutation as other parts of the body, we may account for

their fatal termination from the want of application of proper

auxiliaries, as counteractives. Various and contradictory are the

opinions of medical men, as to the hectic fever, which is symptomatic of

the disorder, being a primary disease, and some absurd notions have been

advanced in support of their statements. The recapitulation of these

opinions will not, however, interest the afflicted, or casual reader.

One proof of the discrepance of their statements on the origin of this

disease, must, however, be advanced: Dr. Young considers that, “the want

of proper nourishment is the most frequent cause of Consumption.” If so,

it may be inquired, how does it happen that the disease most frequently

occurs in the families of the opulent? Dr. Lambe, a man of equal

experience, fearlessly asserts, “that an excessive use of animal food is

among the most prominent and prevalent procuring causes of the disease,”

and consequently recommends a vegetable diet. Surely, it may be

observed, these contradictory opinions are not likely to increase the

confidence of the public in the healing art.

It has been said, and is generally believed, that Consumptions are

incurable. This fact cannot be established. Moreover, the doctrine

involves the most fearful consequences; for cases, which in themselves

are hopeful, are rendered hopeless from the neglect of proper means, from

the groundless apprehensions that no medicines can succeed, and death

inevitably ensues. The patient afflicted with cough, expectoration,

shortness of breath, and other pectoral symptoms, is calmly consigned to

the slow ravages of hectic fever and Consumption. After a few weeks or

months of suffering, he dies: this is regarded only as a matter of

course. An inspection takes place—the lungs are found studded with

tubercles, and an ulcer of more or less extent in some part of them. The

pathologist immediately asks, in significant triumph, what possible good

could medicines have done in such a case? by what mode of treatment could

an organ so diseased have been restored? But another case occurs, the

invalid complains precisely of the same symptoms: he has cough,

expectoration, wheezing in the chest, and difficulty in breathing—he

gradually falls away in flesh, and the hectic fever increases.

Palliatives are resorted to, as in the former case, not to cure, which is

considered impossible, but simply to alleviate his suffering—he also

dies. On inspection, the lungs are found generally sound; no tubercles

are discovered; but there is found to be an ulcerated spot of more or

less extent in the bronchial membrane. We are forthwith informed, that

an ulcerated or thickened condition of the bronchial membrane, with

purulent secretion, is a fatal disorder, even although the lungs are

otherwise perfectly sound: that in fact, in this case, as there was no

difference in the symptoms from the former, and none in the result, so

there could have been none made in the method of treatment—that remedies

were alike unavailing in both.

Without under-estimating the importance of morbid anatomy, we must

observe, that when it is carried to the unwarrantable length of

introducing such paralysing and disheartening scepticism into medical

science, it is productive of extensive and serious practical evils that

counterbalance the benefits which would otherwise result from it.

Hundreds, nay, thousands of cases of death are day by day occurring,

exactly as above described. Indeed, it is a well-established fact, that

in this country alone, the annual number of deaths by pulmonary

consumption greatly exceeds 50,000.

When it is considered, further, that in every individual case of the

above solemn catalogue of deaths in disease, medical skill has been

resorted to, and found unavailing; the practitioner is reluctantly

constrained to pronounce every similar case as equally hopeless, and

beyond the power of remedies to cure. This is manifestly a fallacious

mode of reasoning, leading to an erroneous conclusion.

Before we concede to the morbid anatomist, that an ulcerated or diseased

lung is necessarily incurable, we demand, by what direct method can that

assertion be proved, that tubercles, once existing in the lungs, cannot

possibly be absorbed during life, and the healthy texture again restored?

This point cannot be incontrovertibly demonstrated: who then can limit

the powers of the living texture in self-restoration? The conclusion,

that ulceration of the lungs is incapable of restoration, is founded only

upon indirect induction, and amounts, in fact, to nothing but conjecture.

There is but one way of disproving the inference that Pulmonary

Consumption is incurable, and that is by an appeal to facts. If it can

be established that in cases, where, from the attendant symptoms the same

reasons have existed for inferring disorders of the lungs to exist, as in

the case of those who die; yet that these invalids have, under a

judicious mode of treatment, gradually lost these serious symptoms, and

have at length recovered—an argument is made out, not only in favour of

the possibility of cure in this disease, but positively that it is

curable in most of its stages, by adopting those remedies which assist

nature in throwing off the diseased matter, healing the injured surface

by the application of balsamics and restoratives, possessing the power of

new creating, in the lieu of diseased surface, living and healthy

structure—so long, we again repeat, as a solitary case of cure has been

effected (and there are many) under the most unpromising circumstances,

philosophy and humanity alike oppose the practice of abandoning to its

fate any case in which there is at least a hope of cure.

Those who allege that Pulmonary Consumption is incurable, from the

results obtained by inspections after dissolution, can substantiate no

claim to depreciate the efficacy of remedial agents, until they supply us

with unequivocal symptoms, whereby we may determine between cases which

are and which are not curable. It is mere trifling to assert that all

medical means in the cure of the diseased were unavailing, and that the

disorder was incurable. This is sufficiently apparent to need that

information. But, what we require is, a certain criterion during the

life of the patient, to form our judgment between the curable cases, and

those which are pronounced incurable; which we must possess before we can

admit the necessity of despair in a solitary case. No morbid anatomist

has hitherto supplied us with that indispensable information: and the

most we can extort from them on the subject is, that in the event of the

death of the subject who exhibited certain symptoms of consumption, the

disease was necessarily incurable: and the cause assigned is—ulceration

in the lungs! But, in the case of recovery of a patient who has

experienced similar symptoms, we are informed that there could have been

no affection of the vital organs: but, no proof is offered by way of

demonstration.

The cases which do terminate fatally are, doubtless, very numerous; and,

therefore, the natural conviction deduced from that circumstance is, that

wherever diseased lungs make their appearance, all hope of recovery is

extinct, and the patient has no alternative but to prepare himself for

his exit. Yet, none can deny that recoveries have been effected under

the most fearful circumstances, even when solid masses of tubercle have

been ejected, or spat up, by which the character of the disease has been

most decisive. By reckoning some diseases incurable, and others as past

the period of cure, physicians only enact a law of negligence to exempt

their own ignorance from discredit and infamy in the eyes of posterity.

It is deplorable that physicians, who have shocked the constitutions of

their patients with opium and mercury, never have discovered the mode of

effecting a cure. They admit that the fatal issue of this disease they

may retard, but cannot avert; and as to their remedies, they have no

established mode of treatment; and with respect to their opinions on the

origin of the disease, means of arresting it, or palliatives, but few of

their number agree; and in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, they

are compelled to abandon the patient to his fate.

It is well known, that those who move in the higher circle of life are

frequently the subjects of this obstinate and fatal disorder. Each

family has its medical attendant actively engaged when any serious

symptom of this disease appears. Patient after patient sinks into an

untimely grave, under their united efforts; and the disease is generally

pronounced by them of a fatal character. If then, in such extremities,

remedial means are discovered which will not only mitigate, but in almost

every instance cure the complaint under which the subject labours, such

means are entitled to the highest commendation.

As this disorder, like several others, does and will sometimes terminate

fatally, in spite of our every effort and means to control it, it is wise

to adopt precautionary measures to prevent its approach. The delicate,

and those who are susceptible of colds, should avoid exposures to

draughts as much as possible, and the change from heated apartments to

cold atmospheric air. On the first appearance of cough, they should have

immediate recourse to the Balsam before recommended, to deterge the lungs

from the obstructing matter—which matter impedes a free respiration,

irritates and occasions cough, and ultimately produces the disease. When

the disease has further advanced, the Balsam may be regularly taken in

the dose of a tea-spoonful, three or four times in the day, mixed with

honey (dissolved by heat, and separated from the wax to which it is often

combined). The patient must avoid all indigestible meat, and take

nutritious broths, jellies, &c., and refrain from spirituous liquors, as

he would from a poison. He ought to take gentle and moderate exercise in

the early part of the day, when the weather will permit. Whenever a

disposition to constipation arises, it should be obviated by the

occasional use of mild laxatives, and a salutary relaxation must on no

account be checked.

In addition to the Balsam, and what will be preferable to jellies, is a

beverage made of an infusion of marshmallow root, which may be freely

taken throughout the day for common drink, (made warm when drank;) but no

means, however excellent as auxiliaries, will supersede the necessity for

the regular use of the Balsam, which imparts to the lungs a healing

quality, after it has deterged them from the mucus which clogs their

cells and air-pipes.

It was the opinion of the learned HIPPOCRATES, the Father of Physic, that

in lingering diseases, a slender and insufficient diet was a dangerous

course to pursue; and that a more generous treatment was uniformly

necessary in such cases. The strength of the patient should never be

reduced, but on the contrary, whatever will yield nourishment to the

debilitated system (always avoiding overloading the stomach) may be

taken, with a course of the medicinal remedial means herein referred to.

Those patients, particularly, who inherit an hereditary predisposition to

this complaint, in whom there is a great tendency to debility, should

observe an invigorating mode of living; always giving a decided

preference to those articles of diet, which they have uniformly found

best to agree with their stomach; {10} and that the organs of digestion

may not be impaired by the performance of double duty, due attention

should always be paid to the proper mastication of the requisite supplies

of food, that its dissolvent principle—the saliva, may be incorporated

with it, during that important act.

That diet, which most imparts vital power to the blood, and through it to

the entire system, must always be preferred in pulmonary cases. By

invigorating, we do not mean stimulating food—the object being to

strengthen and build up; not to stimulate, and occasion an ultimate

reaction, with debility—but permanently to create power. A vegetable

diet yields nourishing properties to some, but, in a majority of

instances, it is inadequate for the purposes of producing the required

nutrition: on the contrary, animal diet partaken with a due regard to the

circumstances of the case, always adapting the quantity and quality to

the power of digestion, and peculiarities of constitution, so as to

prevent fever and disorder, increases the power of the digestive

functions, enriches the vital fluid—the blood, and gives tone and vigour

to the system.

Frequent changes of air and scene will be found extremely beneficial,

both in a physical and mental point of view. The sea air is, of all

others, the purest—and on that account, better calculated generally, for

the purposes of breathing, in weakly persons. In all air there is more

or less of that principle which is essential to life; but the air which

passes over an extensive tract of water is not only refrigerated or

cooled, but purified; and consequently, the bad effects of the sultry

heats of the summer season are counteracted. A temporary sojournment at

the sea-side, for the purpose of inhaling the saline particles, with

which the sea breezes are impregnated, with occasional excursions on the

ocean, or short voyages by sea, will be attended with much advantage, as

a means for stimulating the lungs to deeper and more frequent

inspiration, and tending to enlarge the cavity of the chest, a matter of

great importance. These means will be found highly serviceable, and an

excellent auxiliary to the use of the Balsam herein recommended, as

possessing a true tonic power, which will brace and invigorate the

surface of the body, and exert a beneficial influence on the viscera,

especially those connected with the digestive functions. It must,

however, be observed, that there are some consumptive patients, with whom

sea air never agrees—when country air, especially in the rural

agricultural districts, must be substituted.