Domestic Medicine; or, the Family Physician, by Dr. William Buchan

Published: 2nd Edition, London; Balfour, Auld and Smellie, 1785

Note: The first home medical book. Fifty-five chapters of causes, symptoms,
regimen, medicine, surgery. Includes chapter left out of 1769 1st Edition.
Table of Contents is at the end of this introduction page 

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                             DOMESTIC MEDICINE
                                    OR
                           THE FAMILY PHYSICIAN


                                  LONDON
                        BALFOUR, AULD AND SMELLIE
                                   1785




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, 1785
W. BUCHAN.




FOREWORD.

SIXTEEN 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 Du PLANIL, 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 in 
this metropolis.

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 endeavoreded 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, Nov. 10, 1785.



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 entirety 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 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 very different.

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 the injuries which those useful people sustain 
from their particular employments, and likewise of trying many and 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 count 
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 practised 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 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 medicines are 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.

INDEED this seems to have been the first idea of Medicine. The antient 
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 
unreasonably 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 to 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 that 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 exceded 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 task, 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 we 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 elegant and sensible writer - Observations on the 
Duties and Offices of a Physician - 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 lgnorance, 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 intrust so valuable a treasure as health.

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 confider 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.

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. And 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 favourite 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 
unbiased 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 
enquiry 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.

IT may also be alledged, 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 
very 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 betwixt 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 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 some time 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.

INDEED, 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 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 got 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.

INDEED, 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 or 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 a 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 sneer 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 sick-bed: 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 medicaI author has said, 
That by diet alone all the intentions of Medicine may be answered. 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 mnds 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:

FOREWORD.
PREFACE.
INTRODUCTION.

PART I - OF THE GENERAL CAUSES OF DISEASES.

CHAPTER I. [1]
OF CHILDREN.
Of Diseased Parents.
Of the Clothing of Children.
Of the Food of Children.
Of the Exercise of Children.
The bad effects of unwholesome Air upon Children.
Of Nurses.

CHAPTER II. [2]
OF THE LABORIOUS, THE SEDENTARY, AND THE STUDIOUS.

CHAPTER III. [3]
OF ALIMENT

CHAPTER IV. [4]
OF AIR.

CHAPTER V. [5]
OF EXERCISE.

CHAPTER VI. [6]
OF SLEEP AND CLOTHING.

CHAPTER VII. [7]
OF INTEMPERANCE.

CHAPTER VIII. [8]
OF CLEANLINESS.

CHAPTER IX. [9]
OF INFECTION.

CHAPTER X. [10]
OF THE PASSIONS.
Of Anger.
Of Fear.
Of Grief.
Of Love.
Of Religious Melancholy.

CHAPTER XI. [11]
OF THE COMMON EVACUATIONS.
Of the Evacuation by Stool.
Of Urine.
Of the Perspiration.
Changes in the Atmosphere.
Wet Clothes.
Wet Feet.
Night Air.
Damp Beds.
Damp Houses.
Sudden Transitions from Heat to Cold.


PART II - OF DISEASES.

CHAPTER XII. [12]
OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND CURE OF DISEASES.

CHAPTER XIII. [13]
OF FEVERS IN GENERAL.

CHAPTER XIV. [14]
OF INTERMITTING FEVERS, OR AGUES.

CHAPTER XV. [15]
OF AN ACUTE CONTINUAL FEVER.

CHAPTER XVI. [16]
OF THE PLEURISY.
Of the BASTARD PLEURISY.
Of the PARAPHRENITIS.

CHAPTER XVII. [17]
OF A PERIPNEUMONY, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS.

CHAPTER XVIII. [18]
OF CONSUMPTIONS.

CHAPTER XIX. [19]
OF THE SLOW OR NERVOUS FEVER.

CHAP. XX. [20]
OF THE MALIGNANT, PUTRID OR SPOTTED FEVER.

CHAPTER XXI. [21]
OF THE MILIARY FEVER.

CHAPTER XXII. [22]
OF THE REMITTING FEVER.

CHAPTER XXIII. [23]
OF THE THE SMALL-POX.
OF INOCULATION.

CHAPTER XXIV. [24]
OF THE MEASLES.
OF THE SCARLET FEVER.
OF THE BILIOUS FEVER.

CHAPTER XXV. [25]
OF THE ERYSIPELAS, OR ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE.

CHAPTER XXVI. [26]
OF THE PHRENITIS OR INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN.

CHAPTER XXVII. [27]
OF THE OPTHALMIA, OR, INFLAMMATION OF THE EYES.

CHAPTER XXVIII. [28]
OF THE QUINSEY, OR INFLAMMATION OF THE THROAT.
OF THE MALIGNANT QUINSEY, OR PUTRID, ULCEROUS SORE THROAT.

CHAPTER XXIX. [29]
OF COLDS AND COUGHS.
OF A COMMON COUGH
OF THE HOOPING COUGH, OR CHIN-COUGH.

CHAPTER XXX. [30]
INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH, AND OTHER VISCERA.
INFLAMMATION OF THE INTESTINES.
OF THE COLIC.
INFLAMMATION OF THE KIDNEYS.
INFLAMMATION OF THE BLADDER.
INFLAMMATION OF THE LIVER.

CHAPTER XXXI. [31]
OF THE CHOLERA MORBUS, AND OTHER EXCESSIVE DISCHARGES FROM
THE STOMACH AND BOWELS.
OF A DIARRHOEA, OR LOOSENESS.
OF VOMITING.

CHAPTER XXXII. [32]
OF THE DIABETES, AND OTHER DISORDERS OF THE KIDNEYS. AND BLADDER.
OF A SUPPRESSION OF URINE.
OF THE GRAVEL AND STONE.

CHAPTER XXXIII. [33]
OF INVOLUNTARY DISCHARGES OF BLOOD.
BLEEDING AT THE NOSE.
OF THE BLEEDING AND BLIND PILES.
SPITTING OF BLOOD.
VOMITING OF BLOOD.
OF BLOODY URINE.
OF THE DYSENTERY, OR BLOODY FLUX.
OF THE COELIAC PASSION

CHAPTER XXXIV. [34]
OF THE HEAD-ACH.
OF THE TOOTH-ACH.
OF THE EAR-ACH.
PAIN OF THE STOMACH, &c.

CHAPTER XXXV. [35]
OF WORMS.

CHAPTER XXXVI. [36]
OF THE JAUNDICE.

CHAPTER XXXVII. [37]
OF THE DROPSY.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. [38]
OF THE GOUT.
OF THE RHEUMATISM.

CHAPTER XXXIX. [39]
OF THE SCURVY.
OF THE SCCROPHULA, OR KING'S EVIL.
OF THE ITCH.

CHAPTER XL. [40]
OF THE ASTHMA.

CHAPTER XLI. [41]
OF THE APOPLEXY.

CHAPTER XLII. [42]
OF COSTIVENESS, AND OTHER AFFECTIONS OF THE STOMACH AND BOWELS.
WANT OF APPETITE.
OF THE HEART-BURN.

CHAPTER XLIII. [43]
OF NERVOUS DISEASES.
OF MELANCHOLY.
OF THE PALSY.
OF THE EPILEPSY, OR FALLING SICKNESS.
OF THE HICCUP.
CRAMP OF THE STOMACH.
OF THE NIGHT-MARE.
OF SWOONINGS.
OF FLATULENCIES, OR WIND.
OF LOW SPIRITS.
OF HYSTERIC AFFECTIONS.
OF HYPOCHONDRIAC AFFECTIONS.

CHAPTER XLIV. [44]
DISORDERS OF THE SENSES.
OF THE EYE.
OF THE EAR.
OF THE TASTE AND SMELL.
OF THE TOUCH

CHAPTER XLV. [45]
OF A SCIRRHUS AND CANCER.

CHAPTER XLVI. [46]
OF POISONS.
OF THE BITES OF POISONOUS ANIMALS.

CHAPTER XLVII. [47]
OF THE VENEREAL DISEASE.
OF THE VIRULENT GONORRHOEA.
OF GLEETS.
OF THE SWELLED TESTICLE.
OF CHANCRES.
OF A CONFIRMED LUES.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

CHAPTER XLVIII. [48]
DISEASES OF WOMEN.
OF THE MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE.
OF PREGNANCY.
OF CHILDBIRTH
OF BARRENNESS.

CHAPTER XLIX. [49]
DISEASES OF CHILDREN.
OF THE MECONIUM.
THE APHTHAE OR THRUSH.
OF ACIDITIES.
GALLING AND EXCORIATION.
STOPPAGE OF THE NOSE.
OF VOMITING.
OF A LOOSENESS.
OF ERUPTIONS.
OF THE CROUP.
OF TEETHING.
OF THE RICKETS.
OF CONVULSIONS.
OF WATER IN THE HEAD.

CHAPTER L. [50]
OF SURGERY.
OF BLEEDING.
OF INFLAMMATIONS AND ABSCESSES.
OF WOUNDS.
OF BURNS.
OF BRUISES.
OF ULCERS.

CHAPTER LI. [51]
OF DISLOCATIONS.
DISLOCATION OF THE JAW.
DISLOCATION OF THE NECK.
DISLOCATION OF THE RIBS.
DISLOCATION OF THE SHOULDER.
DISLOCATION OF THE ELBOW.
DISLOCATION OF THE THIGH.

CHAPTER LII. [52]
OF BROKEN BONES, &c.
OF STRAINS.
OF RUPTURES.

CHAPTER LIII. [53]
OF CASUALTIES.
OF SUBSTANCES STOPT BETWEEN THE MOUTH AND STOMACH.
OF DROWNED PERSONS.
OF NOXIOUS VAPOURS.
EFFECTS OF EXTREME COLD.
EFFECTS OF EXTREME HEAT.

CHAPTER LIV. [54]
OF FAINTING FITS, AND OTHER CASES WHICH REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE.
OF INTOXICATION.
OF SUFFOCATION AND STRANGLING.
OF PERSONS WHO EXPIRE IN CONVULSION FITS.

CHAPTER LV. [55]
CAUTIONS CONCERNING COLD BATHING, AND DRINKING THE MINERAL WATERS.
OF DRINKING THE MINERAL WATERS.



APPENDIX & GLOSSARY.

CONTAINING
A List of Simples and of such Medicinal Preparations as ought to be kept 
in Readiness for private Practice.

The Method of preparing and compounding such Medicines as are recommended 
in the former Part of the Book, with the Addition of several others of a 
similar Nature.

Remarks on the Doses, Uses, and Manner of applying the different 
Preparations.

INTRODUCTION.

A LIST of SIMPLES, and of such MEDIClNAL PREPARATIONS, as ought to be kept 
in readiness for private Practice.

MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS.
BALSAMS.
BOLUSES.
CATAPLASMS AND SINAPISMS.
CLYSTERS.
COLLYRIA, or EYE-WATERS
CONFECTIONS.
CONSERVES AND PRESERVES.
DECOCTIONS.
DRAUGHTS.
ELECTUARIES.
EMULSIONS.
EXTRACTS.
FOMENTATIONS.
GARGLES.
INFUSIONS.
JULEPS.
MIXTURES.
OINTMENTS, LINIMENTS, and CERATES.
PILLS.
PLASTERS.
POWDERS.
SYRUPS.
TINCTURES, ELIXIRS, &c.
VINEGARS.
WATERS BY INFUSION. &c.
SIMPLE DISTILLED WATERS.
SPIRITUOUS DISTILLED WATERS.
WHEYS.
WINES.

GLOSSARY