Domestic Medicine:
OR, A
TREATISE
ON THE
PREVENTION AND CURE
OF
DISEASES
BY
REGIMEN AND SIMPLE MEDICINES.
WITH
An APPENDIX, containing a DISPENSATORY for the Use of Private
Practitioners.
BY WILLIAM BUCHAN, M. D.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh.
THE TWELFTH EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed for A. STRAHAN; T. CADELL in the Strand; and J. BALFOUR, and W.
CREECH, at Edinburgh.
M DCC XCI.
Omnes homines artem medicam nôsse oportet.——Sapientiæ cognitionem
medicinæ sororem ac contubernalem esse puto.
HIPPOCRATES.
Primoque medendi scientia, sapientiæ pars habebatur.——Rationalem
quidem puto medicinam esse debere.
CELSUS.
Quemadmodum sanitas omnium rerum pretium excedit, omnisque felicitas
fundamentum est, ita scientia vitæ ac sanitatis tuendæ omnium
nobilissima, omnibusque hominibus commendatissima esse debet.
HOFFMAN.
TO
Sir JOSEPH BANKS, Bart.
PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.
SIR,
The DOMESTIC MEDICINE having been honoured, on its first appearance,
with the patronage of your learned and worthy Predecessor, the late Sir
JOHN PRINGLE, I beg leave, in a more improved state, to dedicate it to
you, as a small, but sincere, testimony of that veneration and esteem
with which I have long beheld the Man who, born to ease and affluence,
had resolution to encounter the dangers of unknown seas and distant
climes, in pursuit of useful Science; and whose constant object has been
to render that Science subservient to the happiness and civilization of
Society,
I have the honour to be, with great respect,
SIR,
Your most obedient servant,
London,
Nov. 10, 1783.
W. BUCHAN.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Twenty years have now elapsed since the first Edition of this Book made
its appearance. During this period, the Author, having been in constant
practice, has taken occasion to improve several articles, which were
with less accuracy inserted in the more early impressions. For this he
has been censured by some, but the more candid and discerning must
approve his conduct. It would be unpardonable in an Author to suffer an
error in a book, on which health and life may depend, to stand
uncorrected; nor would it be much less so to perceive an omission, and
leave it unsupplied. His improvements, however, are not the result of
mercenary views. The same principle which prompted the Author to write
the Book, will ever induce him to improve it to the utmost of his power.
The Author has indeed to regret, that the limits of one volume preclude
many interesting observations, and likewise deprive him of the pleasure
of inserting a number of very useful remarks made by his learned and
ingenious friend Doctor DUPLANIL, of Paris, who has done him the honour
of publishing an elegant translation of this Work, in five volumes
octavo, accompanied with an excellent commentary.
The improvements of the later editions are chiefly inserted in the form
of notes. These are intended either to illustrate the text, or to put
people on their guard in dangerous situations, and prevent fatal
mistakes in the practice of medicine, which it is to be regretted are
but too common.
Some attention has likewise been paid to the language. Where that was
either inaccurate or obscure, as far as was practicable, it has been
corrected. Indeed, the Author has all along endeavoured to observe such
simplicity and perspicuity in his style as might enable the reader
clearly to understand it: a circumstance of the utmost importance in a
performance of this nature.
Although the DOMESTIC MEDICINE was never intended to supercede the use
of a physician, but to supply his place in situations where medical
assistance could not easily be obtained; yet the Author is sorry to
observe, that the jealousies and fears of the Faculty have prompted many
of them to treat this Work in a manner altogether unbecoming the
professors of a liberal science: notwithstanding their injurious
treatment, he is determined to persist in his plan, being fully
convinced of its utility; nor shall interest or prejudice ever deter him
from exerting his best endeavours _to render the Medical Art more
extensively beneficial to_ MANKIND.
But this illiberal treatment of the Faculty is not the only thing of
which the Author has cause to complain. By some of them his Book has
been served up mangled and mutilated, and its title, type, size, &c. so
closely imitated, that purchasers are misled, and frequently buy these
spurious productions instead of the real one. That a needy Author,
incapable himself of producing an original work, should prey upon
another, and that a mercenary Bookseller should vend such productions,
knowing them to be stolen, are things not at all to be wondered at: but
that all this can be done with impunity, shews that the laws of this
country respecting literary property, are still in a very imperfect
state, and stand much in need of amendment.
LONDON,
Dec. 10, 1789.
PREFACE.
When I first signified my intention of publishing the following sheets,
I was told by my friends it would draw on me the resentment of the whole
Faculty. As I never could entertain such an unfavourable idea, I was
resolved to make the experiment, which indeed came out pretty much as
might have been expected. Many whose learning and liberality of
sentiments do honour to medicine received the book in a manner which at
once shewed their indulgence, and the falsity of the opinion _that every
physician wishes to conceal his art_; while the more selfish and
narrow-minded, generally the most numerous in every profession, have not
failed to persecute both the book and its author.
The reception, however, which this work has met with from the Public
merits my most grateful acknowledgments. As the best way of expressing
these, I have endeavoured to render it more generally useful, by
enlarging the _prophylaxis_, or that part which treats of preventing
diseases; and by adding many articles which had been entirely omitted in
the former impressions. It is needless to enumerate these additions; I
shall only say, that I hope they will be found real improvements.
The observations relative to Nursing and the Management of Children,
were chiefly suggested by an extensive practice among infants, in a
large branch of the Foundling Hospital, where I had an opportunity not
only of treating the diseases incident to childhood, but likewise of
trying different plans of nursing, and observing their effects. Whenever
I had it in my power to place the children under the care of proper
nurses, to instruct these nurses in their duty, and to be satisfied that
they performed it, very few of them died; but when, from distance of
place, and other unavoidable circumstances, the children were left to
the sole care of mercenary nurses, without any person to instruct or
superintend them, scarce any of them lived.
This was so apparent, as with me to amount to a proof of the following
melancholy fact: _That almost one half of the human species perish in
infancy, by improper management or neglect_. This reflection has made me
often wish to be the happy instrument of alleviating the miseries of
those suffering innocents, or of rescuing them from an untimely grave.
No one, who has not had an opportunity of observing them, can imagine
what absurd and ridiculous practices still prevail in the nursing and
management of infants, and what numbers of lives are by that means lost
to society. As these practices are chiefly owing to ignorance, it is to
be hoped, that when nurses are better informed, their conduct will be
more proper.
The application of medicine to the various occupations of life has been
in general the result of observation. An extensive practice for several
years, in one of the largest manufacturing towns in England, afforded me
sufficient opportunities of observing the injuries which those useful
people sustain from their particular employments, and likewise of trying
various methods of obviating such injuries. The success which attended
these trials was sufficient to encourage this attempt, which I hope will
be of use to those who are under the necessity of earning their bread by
such employments as are unfavourable to health.
I do not mean to intimidate men, far less to insinuate that even those
arts, the practice of which is attended with some degree of danger,
should not be carried on; but to guard the less cautious and unwary
against those dangers which they have it in their power to avoid, and
which they often, through mere ignorance, incur. As every occupation in
life disposes those who follow it to some particular diseases more than
to others, it is certainly of importance to know these, in order that
people may be upon their guard against them. It is always better to be
warned of the approach of an enemy, than to be surprised by him,
especially where there is a possibility of avoiding the danger.
The observations concerning Diet, Air, Exercise, &c. are of a more
general nature, and have not escaped the attention of physicians in any
age. They are subjects of too great importance, however, to be passed
over in an attempt of this kind, and can never be sufficiently
recommended. The man who pays a proper attention to these, will seldom
need the physician; and he who does not, will seldom enjoy health, let
him employ as many physicians as he pleases.
Though we have endeavoured to point out the causes of diseases, and to
put people upon their guard against them, yet it must be acknowledged
that they are often of such a nature as to admit of being removed only
by the diligence and activity of the public magistrate. We are sorry,
indeed, to observe, that the power of the magistrate is seldom exerted
in this country for the preservation of health. The importance of a
proper medical police is either not understood, or little regarded. Many
things highly injurious to the public health are daily practiced with
impunity, while others, absolutely necessary for its preservation, are
entirely neglected.
Some of the public means of preserving health are mentioned in the
general prophylaxis, as the inspection of provisions, widening the
streets of great towns, keeping them clean, supplying the inhabitants
with wholesome water, &c.; but they are passed over in a very cursory
manner. A proper attention to these would have swelled this volume to
too large a size; I have therefore reserved them for the subject of a
future publication.
In the treatment of diseases, I have been peculiarly attentive to
regimen. The generality of people lay too much stress upon Medicine, and
trust too little to their own endeavours. It is always in the power of
the patient, or of those about him, to do as much towards his recovery
as can be effected by the physician. By not attending to this, the
designs of Medicine are often frustrated; and the patient, by pursuing a
wrong plan of regimen, not only defeats the Doctor’s endeavours, but
renders them dangerous. I have often known patients killed by an error
in regimen, when they were using very proper medicines. It will be said,
the physician always orders the regimen when he prescribes a medicine. I
wish it were so, both for the honour of the Faculty and the safety of
their patients: but physicians, as well as other people, are too little
attentive to this matter.
Though many reckon it doubtful whether physic is more beneficial or
hurtful to mankind, yet all allow the necessity and importance of a
proper regimen in diseases. Indeed the very appetites of the sick prove
its propriety. No man in his senses ever imagined that a person in a
fever, for example, could eat, drink, or conduct himself in the same
manner as one in perfect health. This part of medicine, therefore, is
evidently founded in Nature, and is every way consistent with reason and
common sense. Had men been more attentive to it, and less solicitous in
hunting after secret remedies, Medicine had never become an object of
ridicule.
This seems to have been the first idea of Medicine. The ancient
physicians acted chiefly in the capacity of nurses. They went very
little beyond aliment in their prescriptions; and even this they
generally administered themselves, attending the sick for that purpose
through the whole course of the disease; which gave them an opportunity
not only of marking the changes of diseases with great accuracy, but
likewise of observing the effects of their different applications, and
adapting them to the symptoms.
The learned Dr. Arbuthnot asserts, that by a proper attention to those
things which are almost within the reach of every body, more good and
less mischief will be done in acute diseases, than by medicines
improperly and unseasonably administered; and that great cures may be
effected in chronical distempers, by a proper regimen of the diet only.
So entirely do the Doctor’s sentiments and mine agree, that I would
advise every person, ignorant of physic, to confine his practice solely
to diet, and the other parts of regimen; by which means he may often do
much good, and can seldom do any hurt.
This seems also to have been the opinion of the ingenious Dr. Huxham,
who observes, that we often seek from Art what all-bountiful Nature most
readily, and as effectually, offers us, had we diligence and sagacity
enough to observe and make use of them; that the _dietetic_ part of
Medicine is not so much studied as it ought to be; and that, though less
pompous, yet it is the most natural method of curing diseases.
To render the book more generally useful, however, as well as more
acceptable to the intelligent part of mankind, I have in most diseases,
besides regimen, recommended some of the most simple and approved forms
of medicine, and added such cautions and directions as seemed necessary
for their safe administration, it would no doubt have been more
acceptable to many, had it abounded with pompous prescriptions, and
promised great cures in consequence of their use; but this was not my
plan: I think the administration of medicines always doubtful, and often
dangerous, and would much rather teach men how to avoid the necessity of
using them, than how they should be used.
Several medicines, and those of considerable efficacy, may be
administered with great freedom and safety. Physicians generally trifle
a long time with medicines before they learn their proper use. Many
peasants at present know better how to use some of the most important
articles in the _materia medica_, than physicians did a century ago; and
doubtless the same observation will hold with regard to others some time
hence. Wherever I was convinced that medicine might be used with safety,
or where the cure depended chiefly upon it, I have taken care to
recommend it; but where it was either highly dangerous, or not very
necessary, it is omitted.
I have not troubled the reader with an useless parade of quotations from
different authors, but have in general adopted their observations where
my own were either defective, or totally wanting. Those to whom I am
most obliged are, Ramazini, Arbuthnot, and Tissot; the last of which, in
his _Avis au Peuple_, comes the nearest to my views of any author which
I have seen. Had the Doctor’s plan been as complete as the execution is
masterly, we should have had no occasion for any new treatise of this
kind soon; but by confining himself to the acute diseases, he has in my
opinion omitted the most useful part of his subject. People in acute
diseases may sometimes be their own physicians; but in the chronic, the
cure must ever depend chiefly upon the patient’s own endeavours. The
Doctor has also passed over the _Prophylaxis_, or preventive part of
Medicine, very slightly, though it is certainly of the greatest
importance in such a work. He had no doubt his reasons for so doing, and
I am so far from finding fault with him, that I think his performance
does great honour both to his head and to his heart.
Several other foreign physicians of eminence have written on nearly the
same plan with Tissot, as the Baron Van Swieten, physician to their
Imperial Majesties, M. Rosen, first physician of the kingdom of Sweden,
&c.; but these gentlemen’s productions have never come to my hand. I
cannot help wishing, however, that some of our distinguished countrymen
would follow their example. There still remains much to be done on this
subject, and it does not appear to me how any man could better employ
his time or talents, than in eradicating hurtful prejudices, and
diffusing useful knowledge among the people.
I know some of the Faculty disapprove of every attempt of this nature,
imagining that it must totally destroy their influence. But this notion
appears to me to be as absurd as it is illiberal. People in distress
will always apply for relief to men of superior abilities, when they
have it in their power; and they will do this with far greater
confidence and readiness when they believe that Medicine is a rational
science, than when they take it to be only a matter of mere conjecture.
Though I have endeavoured to render this Treatise plain and useful, yet
I found it impossible to avoid some terms of art; but those are in
general either explained, or are such as most people understand. In
short, I have endeavoured to conform my style to the capacities of
mankind in general; and, if my Readers do not flatter either themselves
or me, with some degree of success. On a medical subject, this is not so
easy a matter as some may imagine. To make a shew of learning is easier
than to write plain sense, especially in a science which has been kept
at such a distance from common observation. It would however be no
difficult matter to prove, that every thing valuable in the practical
part of Medicine is within the reach of common abilities.
It would be ungenerous not to express my warmest acknowledgments to
those Gentlemen who have endeavoured to extend the usefulness of this
Performance, by translating it into the language of their respective
countries. Most of them have not only given elegant translations of the
Book, but have also enriched it with many useful observations; by which
it is rendered more complete, and better adapted to the climate and the
constitutions of their countrymen. To the learned Dr. Duplanil of Paris,
physician to the Count d’Artois, I lie under particular obligations; as
this Gentleman has not only considerably enlarged my Treatise, but, by
his very ingenious and useful notes, has rendered it so popular on the
Continent, as to occasion its being translated into all the languages of
modern Europe.
I have only to add, that the book has not more exceeded my expectations
in its success, than in the effects it has produced. Some of the most
pernicious practices, with regard to the treatment of the sick, have
already given place to a more rational conduct; and many of the most
hurtful prejudices, which seemed to be quite insurmountable, have in a
great measure yielded to better information. Of this a stronger instance
cannot be given than the inoculation of the small-pox. Few mothers, some
years ago, would submit to have their children inoculated even by the
hand of a Physician; yet nothing is more certain, than that of late many
of them have performed this operation with their own hands; and as their
success has been equal to that of the most dignified inoculators, there
is little reason to doubt that the practice will become general.
Whenever this shall be the case, more lives will be saved by inoculation
alone, than are at present by all the endeavours of the Faculty.
INTRODUCTION.
The improvements in Medicine, since the revival of learning, have by no
means kept pace with those of the other arts. The reason is obvious.
Medicine has been studied by few, except those who intended to live by
it as a trade. Such, either from a mistaken zeal for the honour of
Medicine, or to raise their own importance, have endeavoured to disguise
and conceal the art. Medical authors have generally written in a foreign
language; and those who were unequal to this talk, have even valued
themselves upon couching, at least, their prescriptions, in terms and
characters unintelligible to the rest of mankind.
The contentions of the clergy, which happened soon after the restoration
of learning, engaged the attention of mankind, and paved the way for
that freedom of thought and inquiry, which has since prevailed in most
parts of Europe with regard to religious matters. Every man took a side
in those bloody disputes; and every gentleman, that he might distinguish
himself on one side or other, was instructed in Divinity. This taught
people to think and reason for themselves in matters of religion, and at
last totally destroyed that complete and absolute dominion which the
clergy had obtained over the minds of men.
The study of Law has likewise, in most civilized nations, been justly
deemed a necessary part of the education of a gentleman. Every gentleman
ought certainly to know at least the laws of his own country: and, if he
were also acquainted with those of others, it might be more than barely
an ornament to him.
The different branches of Philosophy have also of late been very
universally studied by all who pretended to a liberal education. The
advantages of this are manifest. It frees the mind from prejudice and
superstition; fits it for the investigation of truth; induces habits of
reasoning and judging properly; opens an inexhaustible source of
entertainment; paves the way to the improvement of arts and agriculture;
and qualifies men for acting with propriety in the most important
stations of life.
Natural History is likewise become an object of general attention; and
it well deserves to be so. It leads to discoveries of the greatest
importance. Indeed agriculture, the most useful of all arts, is only a
branch of Natural History, and can never arrive at a high degree of
improvement where the study of that science is neglected.
Medicine however has not, as far as I know, in any country, been
reckoned a necessary part of the education of a gentleman. But surely no
sufficient reason can be assigned for this omission. No science lays
open a more extensive field of useful knowledge, or affords more ample
entertainment to an inquisitive mind. Anatomy, Botany, Chymistry, and
the _Materia Medica_, are all branches of Natural History, and are
fraught with such amusement and utility, that the man who entirely
neglects them has but a sorry claim either to taste or learning. If a
gentleman has a turn for observation, says an excellent and sensible
writer[1], surely the natural history of his own species is a more
interesting subject, and presents a more ample field for the exertion of
genius, than the natural history of spiders and cockle-shells.
We do not mean that every man should become a physician. This would be
an attempt as ridiculous as it is impossible. All we plead for is, that
men of sense and learning should be so far acquainted with the general
principles of Medicine, as to be in a condition to derive from it some
of those advantages with which it is fraught; and at the same time to
guard themselves against the destructive influences of Ignorance,
Superstition, and Quackery.
As matters stand at present, it is easier to cheat a man out of his life
than of a shilling, and almost impossible either to detect or punish the
offender. Notwithstanding this, people still shut their eyes, and take
every thing upon trust that is administered by any Pretender to
Medicine, without daring to ask him a reason for any part of his
conduct. Implicit faith, every where else the object of ridicule, is
still sacred here. Many of the faculty are no doubt worthy of all the
confidence that can be reposed in them; but as this can never be the
character of every individual in any profession, it would certainly be
for the safety, as well as the honour, of mankind, to have some check
upon the conduct of those to whom they entrust so valuable a treasure as
health.
The veil of mystery, which still hangs over medicine, renders it not
only a conjectural, but even a suspicious art. This has been long ago
removed from the other sciences, which induces many to believe that
Medicine is a mere trick, and that it will not bear a fair and candid
examination. Medicine, however, needs only to be better known, in order
to secure the general esteem of mankind. Its precepts are such as every
wise man would chuse to observe, and it forbids nothing but what is
incompatible with true happiness.
Disguising Medicine not only retards its improvement as a science, but
exposes the profession to ridicule, and is injurious to the true
interests of society. An art founded on observation never can arrive at
any high degree of improvement, while it is confined to a few who make a
trade of it. The united observations of all the ingenious and sensible
part of mankind, would do more in a few years towards the improvement of
Medicine, than those of the Faculty alone in a great many. Any man can
tell when a medicine gives him ease as well as a physician; and if he
only knows the name and dose of the medicine, and the name of the
disease, it is sufficient to perpetuate the fact. Yet the man who adds
one single fact to the stock of medical observations, does more real
service to the art, than he who writes a volume in support of some
favourable hypothesis.
Very few of the valuable discoveries in Medicine have been made by
physicians. They have in general either been the effect of chance or of
necessity, and have been usually opposed by the Faculty, till every one
else was convinced of their importance. An implicit faith in the
opinions of teachers, an attachment to systems and established forms,
and the dread of reflections, will always operate upon those who follow
Medicine as a trade. Few improvements are to be expected from a man who
might ruin his character and family by even the smallest deviation from
an established rule.
If men of letters, says the author of the performance quoted above, were
to claim their right of inquiry into a matter that so nearly concerns
them, the good effects on Medicine would soon appear. Such men would
have no separate interest from that of the art. They would detect and
expose assuming Ignorance under the mask of Gravity and Importance, and
would be the judges and patrons of modest merit. Not having their
understandings perverted in their youth by false theories, unawed by
authority, and unbiassed by interest, they would canvass with freedom
the most universally received principles in Medicine, and expose the
uncertainty of many of those doctrines, of which a physician dares not
so much as seem to doubt.
No argument, continues he, can be brought against laying open Medicine,
which does not apply with equal, if not greater force, to religion; yet
experience has shewn, that since the laity have asserted their right of
inquiry into these subjects, Theology, considered as a science, has been
improved, the interests of real religion have been promoted, and the
clergy have become a more learned, a more useful, and a more respectable
body of men, than they ever were in the days of their greatest power and
splendour.
Had other medical writers been as honest as this gentleman, the art had
been upon a very different footing at this day. Most of them extol the
merit of those men who brought Philosophy out of the schools, and
subjected it to the rules of common sense. But they never consider that
Medicine, at present, is in nearly the same situation as Philosophy was
at that time, and that it might be as much improved by being treated in
the same manner. Indeed, no science can either be rendered rational or
useful, without being submitted to the common sense and reason of
mankind. These alone stamp a value upon science; and what will not bear
the test of these ought to be rejected.
I know it will be said, that diffusing medical knowledge among the
people might induce them to tamper with Medicine, and to trust to their
own skill instead of calling a physician. The reverse of this however is
true. Persons who have most knowledge in these matters, are commonly
most ready both to ask and to follow advice, when it is necessary. The
ignorant are always most apt to tamper with Medicine, and have the least
confidence in physicians. Instances of this are daily to be met with
among the ignorant peasants, who, while they absolutely refuse to take a
medicine which has been prescribed by a physician, will swallow with
greediness any thing that is recommended to them by their credulous
neighbours. Where men will act even without knowledge, it is certainly
more rational to afford them all the light we can, than to leave them
entirely in the dark.
It may also be alleged, that laying Medicine more open to mankind would
lessen their faith in it. This would indeed be the case with regard to
some; but it would have a quite contrary effect upon others. I know many
people who have the utmost dread and horror of every thing prescribed by
a physician, but who will nevertheless very readily take a medicine
which they know, and whose qualities they are in some measure acquainted
with. Hence it is evident, that the dread arises from the doctor, not
from the drug. Nothing ever can or will inspire mankind with an absolute
confidence in physicians, but an open, frank, and undisguised behaviour.
While the least shadow of mystery remains in the conduct of the Faculty,
doubts, jealousies, and suspicions, will arise in the minds of men.
No doubt cases will sometimes occur, where a prudent physician may find
it expedient to disguise a medicine. The whims and humours of men must
be regarded by those who mean to do them service; but this can never
affect the general argument in favour of candour and openness. A man
might as well allege, because there are knaves and fools in the world,
that he ought to take every one he meets for such, and to treat him
accordingly. A sensible physician will always know where disguise is
necessary; but it ought never to appear on the face of his general
conduct.
The appearance of mystery in the conduct of physicians not only renders
their art suspicious, but lays the foundations of Quackery, which is the
disgrace of Medicine. No two characters can be more different than that
of the honest physician and the quack; yet they have generally been very
much confounded. The line between them is not sufficiently apparent; at
least it is too fine for the general eye. Few persons are able to
distinguish sufficiently between the conduct of that man who administers
a secret medicine, and him who writes a prescription in mystical
characters and an unknown tongue. Thus the conduct of the honest
physician, which needs no disguise, gives a sanction to that of the
villain, whose sole consequence depends upon secrecy.
No laws will ever be able to prevent quackery, while people believe that
the quack is as honest a man, and as well qualified, as the physician. A
very small degree of medical knowledge, however, would be sufficient to
break this spell; and nothing else can effectually undeceive them. It is
the ignorance and credulity of the multitude, with regard to medicine,
which renders them such an easy prey to every one who has the hardiness
to attack them on this quarter. Nor can the evil be remedied by any
other means but by making them wiser.
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 him 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
down his throat.
Men in the different states of society, have very different views of the
same object. Some time ago it was the practice of this country for every
person to say his prayers in Latin, whether he knew any thing of that
language or not. This conduct, though sacred in the eyes of our
ancestors, appears ridiculous enough to us; and doubtless some parts of
ours will seem as strange to posterity. Among these we may reckon the
present mode of medical prescription, which, we venture to affirm, will
sometime hence appear to have been completely ridiculous, and a very
high burlesque upon the common sense of mankind.
But this practice is not only ridiculous, it is likewise dangerous.
However capable physicians may be of writing Latin, I am certain
apothecaries are not always in a condition to read it, and that
dangerous mistakes, in consequence of this, often happen. But suppose
the apothecary ever so able to read the physician’s prescription, he is
generally otherwise employed, and the business of making up
prescriptions is left entirely to the apprentice. By this means the
greatest man in the kingdom, even when he employs a first-rate
physician, in reality trusts his life in the hands of an idle boy, who
has not only the chance of being very ignorant, but likewise giddy and
careless. Mistakes will sometimes happen in spite of the greatest care;
but, where human lives are concerned, all possible methods ought
certainly to be taken to prevent them. For this reason, the
prescriptions of physicians, instead of being couched in mystical
characters and a foreign language, ought, in my humble opinion, to be
conceived in the most plain and obvious terms imaginable.
Diffusing medical knowledge among the people would not only tend to
improve the art, and to banish quackery, but likewise to render Medicine
more universally useful, by extending its benefits to society. However
long Medicine may have been known as a science, we will venture to say,
that many of its most important purposes to society have either been
overlooked, or very little attended to. The cure of diseases is
doubtless a matter of great importance; but the preservation of health
is of still greater. This is the concern of every man, and surely what
relates to it ought to be rendered as plain and obvious to all as
possible. It is not to be supposed, that men can be sufficiently upon
their guard against diseases, who are totally ignorant of their causes.
Neither can the legislature, in whose power it is to do much more for
preserving the public health than can ever be done by the Faculty, exert
that power with propriety, and to the greatest advantage, without some
degree of medical knowledge.
Men of every occupation and condition in life might avail themselves of
a degree of medical knowledge; as it would teach them to avoid the
dangers peculiar to their respective stations; which is always easier
than to remove their effects. Medical knowledge, instead of being a
check upon the enjoyments of life, only teaches men how to make the most
of them. It has indeed been said, _that to live medically is to live
miserably_: but it might with equal propriety be said, that to live
rationally is to live miserably. If physicians obtrude their own
ridiculous whims upon mankind, or lay down rules inconsistent with
reason or common sense, no doubt they will be despised. But this is not
the fault of Medicine. It proposes no rules that I know, but such as are
perfectly consistent with the true enjoyment of life, and every way
conducive to the real happiness of mankind.
We are sorry indeed to observe, that Medicine has hitherto hardly been
considered as a popular science, but as a branch of knowledge solely
confined to a particular set of men, while all the rest have been taught
not only to neglect, but even to dread and despise it. It will however
appear, upon a more strict examination, that no science better deserves
their attention, or is more capable of being rendered generally useful.
People are told, that if they dip the least into medical knowledge, it
will render them fanciful, and make them believe they have every disease
of which they read. This I am satisfied will seldom be the case with
sensible people; and, suppose it were, they must soon be undeceived. A
short time will shew them their error, and a little more reading will
infallibly correct it. A single instance will shew the absurdity of this
notion. A sensible lady, rather than read a medical performance, which
would instruct her in the management of her children, must leave them
entirely to the care and conduct of the most ignorant, credulous, and
superstitious part of the human species.
No part of Medicine is of more general importance than that which
relates to the nursing and management of children. Yet few parents pay a
proper attention to it. They leave the sole care of their tender
offspring, at the very time when care and attention are most necessary,
to hirelings, who are either too careless to do their duty, or too
ignorant to know it. We will venture to affirm, that more human lives
are lost by the carelessness and inattention of parents and nurses, than
are saved by the Faculty; and that the joint and well-conducted
endeavours, both of private persons and the public, for the preservation
of infant lives, would be of more advantage to society, than the whole
art of Medicine, upon its present footing.
The benefits of Medicine, as a trade, will ever be confined to those who
are able to pay for them; and of course, the far greater part of mankind
will be every where deprived of them. Physicians, like other people,
must live by their employment, and the poor must either want advice
altogether, or take up with that which is worse than none. There are not
however any where wanting well-disposed people, of better sense, who are
willing to supply the defect of medical advice to the poor, did not
their fear of doing ill often suppress their inclination to do good.
Such people are often deterred from the most noble and praise-worthy
actions, by the foolish alarms sounded in their ears by a set of men
who, to raise their own importance, magnify the difficulties of doing
good, find fault with what is truly commendable, and fleer at every
attempt to relieve the sick which is not conducted by the precise rules
of Medicine. These gentlemen must however excuse me for saying, that I
have often known such well-disposed persons do much good; and that their
practice, which is generally the result of good sense and observation,
assisted by a little medical reading, is frequently more rational than
that of the ignorant retainer to physic, who despises both reason and
observation, _that he may go wrong by rule_; and who, while he is dosing
his patient with medicines, often neglects other things of far greater
importance.
Many things are necessary for the sick besides medicine. Nor is the
person who takes care to procure those for them, of less importance than
a physician. The poor oftener perish in diseases for want of proper
nursing than of medicine. They are frequently in want of even the
necessaries of life, and still more so of what is proper for a sickbed.
No one can imagine, who has not been a witness of these situations, how
much good a well-disposed person may do, by only taking care to have
such wants supplied. There certainly cannot be a more necessary, a more
noble, or a more godlike action, than to administer to the wants of our
fellow-creatures in distress. While virtue or religion are known among
mankind, this conduct will be approved; and while Heaven is just, it
must be rewarded!
Persons who do not chuse to administer medicine to the sick, may
nevertheless direct their regimen. An eminent medical author has said,
That by diet alone all the intentions of Medicine may be answered[2]. No
doubt a great many of them may; but there are other things beside diet,
which ought by no means to be neglected. Many hurtful and destructive
prejudices, with regard to the treatment of the sick, still prevail
among the people, which persons of better sense and learning alone can
eradicate. To guard the poor against the influence of these prejudices,
and to instil into their minds some just ideas of the importance of
proper food, fresh air, cleanliness, and other pieces of regimen
necessary in diseases, would be a work of great merit, and productive of
many happy consequences. A proper regimen, in most diseases, is at least
equal to medicine, and in many of them it is greatly superior.
To assist the well-meant endeavours of the humane and benevolent in
relieving distress; to eradicate dangerous and hurtful prejudices; to
guard the ignorant and credulous against the frauds and impositions of
quacks and impostors; and to shew men what is in their own power, both
with regard to the prevention and cure of diseases, are certainly
objects worthy of the physician’s attention. These were the leading
views in composing and publishing the following sheets. They were
suggested by an attention to the conduct of mankind, with regard to
Medicine, in the course of a pretty long practice in different parts of
this island, during which the author has often had occasion to wish that
his patients, or those about them, had been possessed of some such plain
directory for regulating their conduct. How far he has succeeded in his
endeavours to supply this deficiency, must be left for others to
determine; but if they be found to contribute in any measure towards
alleviating the calamities of mankind, he will think his labour very
well bestowed.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
Of the general Causes of Diseases.
CHAP. I.
Of Children Page 1
— Diseased Parents 7
— Clothing of Children 9
— Food of ditto 15
— Exercise of ditto 21
— Bad Effects of unwholesome Air upon ditto 30
— Nurses 33
CHAP. II.
Of the Laborious, &c. 37
— the Sedentary 47
— the Studious 54
CHAP. III.
Of Aliment 62
CHAP. IV.
Of Air 75
CHAP. V.
Of Exercise 81
CHAP. VI.
Of Sleep 87
— Clothing 89
CHAP. VII.
Of Intemperance 94
CHAP. VIII.
Of Cleanliness 100
CHAP. IX.
Of Infection 106
CHAP. X.
Of the Passions 111
— Anger 112
— Fear ib.
— Grief 116
— Love 119
— Religious Melancholy 120
CHAP. XI.
Of the Common Evacuations 121
— Stool ib.
— Urine 123
— Perspiration 125
— being affected by Changes in the Atmosphere 126
— Wet Clothes 127
— Wet Feet ib.
— Night Air 128
— Damp Beds ib.
— Damp Houses 130
— Sudden Transitions from Heat to Cold 131