Domestic Medicine | Project Gutenberg

3. Many advantages would arise to society, as well as to individuals, from mothers suckling their own children. It would prevent the temptation which poor women are laid under of abandoning their children to suckle those of the rich for the sake of gain: by which means society loses many of its most useful members, and mothers become in some sense the murderers of their own offspring. I am sure I speak within the truth when I say, that not one in twenty of those children live, who are thus abandoned by their mothers. For this reason no mother should be allowed to suckle another’s child, till her own is either dead, or fit to be weaned. A regulation of this kind would save many lives among the poorer sort, and could do no hurt to the rich, as most women who make good nurses are able to suckle two children in succession upon the same milk.

4. Tacitus, the celebrated Roman historian, complains greatly of the degeneracy of the Roman ladies in his time, with regard to the care of their offspring. He says that, in former times, the greatest women in Rome used to account it their chief glory to keep the house and attend their children; but that now the young infant was committed to the sole care of some poor Grecian wench, or other menial servant.—We are afraid, wherever luxury and effeminacy prevail, there will be too much ground for this complaint.

5. The common opinion, that the diseases of infants are hard to discover and difficult to cure, has deterred many physicians from paying that attention to them which they deserve. I can, however, from experience declare, that this opinion is without foundation; and that the diseases of infants are neither so difficult to discover, nor so ill to cure, as those of adults.

7. The Lacedemonians condemned their king Archidamus for having married a weak, puny woman; because, said they, instead of propagating a race of heroes, you will fill the throne with a progeny of changelings.

8. The Jews, by their laws, were, in certain cases, forbid to have any manner of commerce with the diseased; and indeed to this all wise legislators ought to have a special regard. In some countries, diseased persons have actually been forbid to marry. This is an evil of a complicated kind, a natural deformity, and political mischief; and therefore requires a public consideration.

9. A friend of mine, who was several years on the coast of Africa, tells me, that the natives neither put any clothes upon their children, nor apply to their bodies bandages of any kind, but lay them on a pallet, and suffer them to tumble about at pleasure; yet they are all strait, and seldom have any disease.

10. This is by no means inveighing against a thing that does not happen. In many parts of Britain at this day, a roller, eight or ten feet in length, is applied tightly round the child’s body as soon as it is born.

11. Stays made of bend-leather are worn by all the women of lower station in many parts of England.

I am sorry to understand, that there are still mothers mad enough to lace their daughters very tight in order to improve their shape. As reasoning would be totally lost upon such people, I shall beg leave just to ask them, Why there are ten deformed women for one man? and likewise to recommend to their perusal a short moral precept, which forbids us to deform the human body.

12. Children are always sickly in the fruit season, which may be thus accounted for: Two-thirds of the fruit which comes to market in this country is really unripe; and children not being in a condition to judge for themselves, eat whatever they can lay their hands upon, which often proves little better than a poison to their tender bowels. Servants, and others who have the care of children, should be strictly forbid to give them any fruit without the knowledge of their parents.

13. The nurse ought to be careful to keep the child in a proper position; as deformity is often the consequence of inattention to this circumstance. Its situation ought also to be frequently changed. I have known a child’s legs bent all on one side, by the nurse carrying it constantly on one arm.

14. If it were made the interest of the poor to keep their children alive, we should lose very few of them. A small premium given annually to each poor family, for every child they have alive at the year’s end, would save more infant lives than if the whole revenue of the crown were expended on hospitals for this purpose. This would make the poor esteem fertility a blessing; whereas many of them think it the greatest curse that can befal them; and in place of wishing their children to live, so far does poverty get the better of natural affection, that they are often very happy when they die.

15. It is undoubtedly the duty of parents to instruct their children, at least till they are of an age proper to take some care of themselves. This would tend much to confirm the ties of parental tenderness and filial affection, of the want of which there are at present so many deplorable instances. Though few fathers have time to instruct their children, yet most mothers have; and surely they cannot be better employed.

16. I am happy to find that the masters of academies now begin to put in practice this advice. Each of them ought to keep a drill serjeant for teaching the boys the military exercise. This, besides contributing to their health and vigour of body, would have many other happy effects.

17. I have been told that in China, where the police is the best in the world, all the children are employed in the easier part of gardening and husbandry; as weeding, gathering stones off the land, and such like.

18. It is amazing how children escape suffocation, considering the manner in which they are often rolled up in flannels, &c. I lately attended an infant, whom I found muffled up over head and ears in many folds of flannel, though it was in the middle of June. I begged for a little free air to the poor babe; but though this indulgence was granted during my stay, I found it always on my return in the same situation. Death, as might be expected, soon freed the infant from all its miseries; but it was not in my power to free the minds of its parents from those prejudices which proved fatal to their child.

I was very lately called to see an infant which was said to be expiring in convulsion fits. I desired the mother to strip the child, and wrap it in a loose covering. It had no more convulsion fits.

19. I have often known people so imposed upon, as to give an infant to a nurse to be suckled who had not one drop of milk in her breast.

20. If a mother on visiting her child at nurse find it always asleep, I would advise her to remove it immediately; otherwise it will soon sleep its last.

22. When persons heated with labour have drank cold liquor, they ought to continue at work for some time after.

23. It is indeed to be regretted, that soldiers suffer not less from indolence and intemperance in time of peace, than from hardships in time of war. If men are idle they will be vicious. It would therefore be of great importance, could a scheme be formed for rendering the military, in times of peace, both more healthy and more useful. These desirable objects might, in our opinion, be obtained, by employing them for some hours every day, and advancing their pay accordingly. By this means, idleness, the mother of vice, might be prevented, the price of labour lowered, public works, as harbours, canals, turnpike roads, &c. might be made without hurting manufactures; and soldiers might be enabled to marry, and bring up children. A scheme of this kind might easily be conducted, so as not to depress the martial spirit, provided the men were only to work four or five hours every day, and always to work without doors: no soldier should be suffered to work too long, or to follow any sedentary employment. Sedentary employments render men weak and effeminate, quite unfit for the hardships of war: whereas working for a few hours every day without doors would inure them to the weather, brace their nerves, and increase their strength and courage.

24. Our countryman, the celebrated Captain Cook, has shewn how far, by proper care and attention, the diseases formerly so fatal to seamen may be prevented. In a voyage of three years and eighteen days, during which he was exposed to every climate, from the 52° north to the 71° of south latitude, of one hundred and eighteen men composing the ship’s company, he lost only one, who died of a phthisis pulmonalis. The principal means he used were, to preserve a strict attention to cleanliness, to procure abundance of vegetables and fresh provisions, especially good water, and to allow his people sufficient time for rest.

25. The appellation of sedentary has generally been given only to the studious; we can see no reason, however, for restricting it to them alone. Many artificers may, with as much propriety, be denominated sedentary as the studious, with this particular disadvantage, that they are often obliged to sit in very awkward postures, which the studious need not do, unless they please.

26. A person of observation in that line of life told me, that most taylors die of consumptions; which he attributed chiefly to the unfavourable postures in which they sit, and the unwholesomeness of those places where their business is carried on. If more attention was not paid to profit than to the preservation of human lives, this evil might be easily remedied; but while masters only mind their own interest, nothing will be done for the safety of their servants.

27. The poor, indeed, are generally the first who suffer by unsound provisions; but the lives of the labouring poor are of great importance to the state: besides, diseases occasioned by unwholesome food often prove infectious, by which means they reach people in every station. It is therefore the interest of all to take care that no spoilt provisions of any kind be exposed to sale.

28. In most eastern countries it was customary to bury the dead at some distance from any town. As this practice obtained among the Jews, the Greeks, and also the Romans, it is strange that the western parts of Europe should not have followed their example in a custom so truly laudable.

29. One cannot pass through a large church or cathedral, even in summer, without feeling quite chilly.

30. We have daily accounts of persons who lose their lives by going down into deep wells and other places where the air stagnates; all these accidents might be prevented by only letting down a lighted candle before them, and stopping when they perceive it go out; yet this precaution, simple as it is, is seldom used.

31. A year seldom passes that we do not hear of some hospital physician or surgeon having lost his life by an hospital fever caught from his patients. For this they have themselves alone to blame. Their patients are either in an improper situation, or they are too careless with regard to their own conduct.

32. It is not necessity, but fashion, which makes the use of carriages so common. There are many people who have not exercise enough to keep their humours wholesome, who yet dare not venture to make a visit to their next neighbours, but in a coach or sedan, lest they should be looked down upon. Strange, that men should be such fools as to be laughed out of the use of their limbs, or to throw away their health, in order to gratify a piece of vanity, or to comply with a ridiculous fashion!

34. Sedentary occupations ought chiefly to be followed by women. They bear confinement much better than men, and are fitter for every kind of business which does not require much strength. It is ridiculous enough to see a lusty fellow making pins, needles, or watch-wheels, while many of the laborious parts of husbandry are carried on by the other sex. The fact is, we want men for laborious employments, while one half of the other sex are rendered useless for want of occupations suited to their strength, &c. Were girls bred to mechanical employments, we should not see such numbers of them prostitute themselves for bread, nor find such a want of men for the important purposes of navigation, agriculture, &c. An eminent silk manufacturer told me, that he found women answer better for that business, than men; and that he had lately taken a great many girls apprentices as silk-weavers. I hope his example will be followed by many others.

35. Golff is a diversion very common in North Britain. It is well calculated for exercising the body, and may always be taken in such moderation, as neither to overheat nor fatigue. It has greatly the preference over cricket, tennis, or any of those games which cannot be played without violence.

36. Men of every occupation, and in every situation of life, have lived to a good old age; nay some have enjoyed this blessing whose plan of living was by no means regular: but it consists with observation, that all very old men have been early risers. This is the only circumstance attending longevity, to which I never knew an exception.

37. That colds kill more than plagues, is an old observation; and, with regard to this country, it holds strictly true. Every person of discernment, however, will perceive, that most of the colds which prove so destructive to the inhabitants of Britain are owing to their imprudence in changing clothes. A few warm days in March or April induce them to throw off their winter garments, without considering that our most penetrating colds generally happen in the spring.

38. This madness seems to have pervaded the minds of mothers in every age and country. Terence, in his Comedy of the Eunuch, ridicules the Roman matrons for attempting to mend the shape of their daughters.

39. We often see persons, who are rendered quite lame by the nails of their toes having grown into the flesh, and frequently hear of mortifications proceeding from this cause. All these, and many other inconveniences attending the feet, must be imputed solely to the use of short and strait shoes.

40. The celebrated Boerhaave used to say, that no body suffered by cold save fools and beggars; the latter not being able to procure clothes, and the former not having sense to wear them. Be this as it may, I can with the strictest truth declare, that in many cases where the powers of medicine had been tried in vain, I have cured the patient by recommending thick shoes, a flannel waistcoat and drawers, a pair of under stockings, or a flannel petticoat, to be worn during the cold season at least.

43. We may form some notion of the immense quantity of ardent spirits consumed in Great Britain from this circumstance, that in the city of Edinburgh and its environs, besides the great quantity of foreign spirits duly entered, and the still greater quantity which is supposed to be smuggled, it is computed that above two thousand private stills are constantly employed in preparing a poisonous liquor called Molasses. The common people have got so universally into the habit of drinking this base spirit, that when a porter or labourer is seen reeling along the streets, they say, he has got molassed.

44. It is amazing that our improvements in arts, learning, and politeness, have not put the barbarous custom of drinking to excess out of fashion. It is indeed less common in South Britain than it was formerly; but it still prevails very much in the North, where this relic of barbarity is mistaken for hospitality. There no man is supposed to entertain his guests well, who does not make them drunk. Forcing people to drink, is certainly the greatest piece of rudeness that any man can be guilty of. Manliness, complaisance, or mere good-nature, may induce a man to take his glass, if urged to it, at a time when he might as well take poison. The custom of drinking to excess has long been out of fashion in France; and, as it begins to lose ground among the politer part of the English, we hope it will soon be banished from every part of this island.

45. Mr. Pot, in his surgical observations, mentions a disease which he calls the chimney-sweeper’s cancer, as it is almost peculiar to that unhappy set of people. This he attributes to neglect of cleanliness, and with great justice. I am convinced, that if that part of the body which is the seat of this cruel disease was kept clean by frequent walking, it would never happen. The climbing boys, as they are called, are certainly the most miserable wretches on the face of the earth; yet, for cleaning chimnies, no such persons are necessary.

46. In ancient Rome the greatest men did not think cleanliness an object unworthy of their attention. Pliny says, the Cloacæ, or common sewers for the conveyance of filth and nastiness from the city, were the greatest of all the public works; and bestows higher encomiums upon Tarquinius, Agrippa, and others who made and improved them, than on those who achieved the greatest conquests.

How truly great does the emperor Trajan appear, when giving directions to Pliny his proconsul, concerning the making of a common sewer for the health and convenience of a conquered city?

47. Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad; and thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon: and it shall be when thou shalt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back, and cover that which cometh from thee, &c.

Deuter, chap. xxii. ver. 12, 13.

48. As it is impossible to be thoroughly clean without a sufficient quantity of water, we would earnestly recommend it to the magistrates of great towns to be particularly attentive to this article. Most great towns in Britain are so situated as to be easily supplied with water; and those persons who will not make a proper use of it, after it is brought to their hand, certainly deserve to be severely punished. The streets of great towns, where water can be had, ought to be washed every day. This is the only effectual method for keeping them thoroughly clean; and, upon trial, we are persuaded it will be found the cheapest.

Some of the most dreadful diseases incident to human nature might, in my opinion, be entirely eradicated by cleanliness.

49. Were the tenth part of the care taken to prevent the importation of diseases, that there is to prevent smuggling, it would be attended with many happy consequences. This might easily be done by appointing a physician at every considerable sea-port, to inspect the ship’s company, passengers, &c. before they came ashore, and, if any fever or other infectious disorder prevailed, to order the ship to perform a short quarantine, and to send the sick to some hospital or proper place to be cured. He might likewise order all the clothes, bedding, &c. which had been used by the sick during the voyage, to be either destroyed, or thoroughly cleansed by fumigation, &c. before any of it were sent ashore. A scheme of this kind, if properly conducted, would prevent many fevers, and other infectious diseases, from being brought by sailors into sea-port towns, and by this means diffused all over the country.

50. There is reason to believe that infection is often conveyed from one place to another by the carelessness of the faculty themselves. Many physicians affect a familiar way of sitting upon the patient’s bedside, and holding his arm for a considerable time. If the patient has the small-pox, or any other infectious disease, there is no doubt but the doctor’s hands, clothes, &c. will carry away some of the infection; and, if he goes directly to visit another patient without washing his hands, changing his clothes, or being exposed to the open air, which is not seldom the case, is it any wonder that he should carry the disease along with him? Physicians not only endanger others, but also themselves, by this practice. And indeed they sometimes suffer for their want of care.

51. The ancients would not suffer even the temples of their gods, where the sick resorted, to be built within the walls of a city.

52. The conduct of parents with regard to the disposal of their children in marriage is often very blamable. An advantageous match is the constant aim of parents; while their children often suffer a real martyrdom betwixt their inclinations and duty. The first thing which parents ought to consult in disposing their children in marriage, is certainly their inclinations. Were due regard always paid to these, there would be fewer unhappy couples, and parents would not have so often cause to repent the severity of their conduct, after a ruined constitution, a lost character, or a distracted mind, has shewn them their mistake.

53. It has long been an observation among physicians, that the appearances of the urine are very uncertain, and very little to be depended on. No one will be surprised at this who considers how many ways it may be affected, and consequently have its appearance altered. The passions, the state of the atmosphere, the quantity and quality of the food, the exercise, the clothing, the state of the other evacuations, and numberless other causes, are sufficient to induce a change either in the quantity or appearance of the urine. Any one who attends to this, will be astonished at the impudence of those daring quacks, who pretend to find out diseases, and prescribe to patients from the bare inspection of their urine. These impostors, however, are very common all over Britain, and by the amazing credulity of the populace, many of them amass considerable fortunes. Of all the medical prejudices which prevail in this country, that in favour of urine doctors is the strongest. The common people have still an unlimited faith in their skill, although it has been demonstrated that no one of them is able to distinguish the urine of a horse, or any other animal, from that of a man.

54. I never knew a more remarkable instance of the uncertainty of the weather in this country, than happened while I was writing these notes. This morning, August 14, 1783, the thermometer in the shade was down at fifty-three degrees, and a very few days ago it stood above eighty. No one who reflects on such great and sudden changes in the atmosphere, will be surprised to find colds, coughs, rheums, with other affections of the breast and bowels, so common in this country.

55. If a person suspects that his bed is damp, the simple precaution of taking off the sheets and lying in the blankets, with all, or most of his clothes on, will prevent all the danger. I have practised this for many years, and never have been hurt by damp beds, though no constitution, without care, is proof against their baneful influence.

56. People imagine if a good fire is made in a room after it has been washed, that there is no danger from sitting in it; but they must give me leave to say that this increases the danger. The evaporation excited by the fire generates cold, and renders the damp more active.

57. The tap-rooms in London and other great towns, where such numbers of people spend their evenings, are highly pernicious. The breath of a number of people crowded into a low apartment, with the addition of fires, candles, the smoke of tobacco, and the fumes of hot liquor, &c. must not only render it hurtful to continue in such places, but dangerous to go out of them into a cold and chilly atmosphere.

58. Dr. Lind says, that twenty or twenty-five drops of laudanum put into a cup of the patient’s drink, and given about half an hour after the commencement of the hot fit, promotes the sweat, shortens the fit, relieves the head, and tends greatly to remove the disease.

59. It has lately been observed, that the red bark is more powerful than that which has for some time been in common use. Its superior efficacy seems to arise from its being of a more perfect growth than the quill bark, and consequently more fully impregnated with the medical properties of the plant.

60. In intermitting fevers of an obstinate nature, I have found it necessary to throw in the bark much faster. Indeed the benefits arising from this medicine depend chiefly upon a large quantity of it being administered in a short time. Several ounces of bark given in a few days will do more than as many pounds taken in the course of some weeks. When this medicine is intended either to stop a mortification, or cure an obstinate ague, it ought to be thrown in as fast as the stomach can possibly bear it. Inattention to this circumstance has hurt the reputation of one of the best medicines of which we are in possession.

61. There is reason to believe, that sundry of our own plants or barks, which are very bitter and astringent, would succeed in the cure of intermittent fevers, especially when assisted by aromatics. But as the Peruvian bark has been long approved in the cure of this disease, and is now to be obtained at a very reasonable rate, it is of less importance to search after new medicines. We cannot however omit taking notice, that the Peruvian bark is very often adulterated, and that it requires considerable skill to distinguish between the genuine and the false. This ought to make people very cautious of whom they purchase it.

62. In obstinate agues, when the patient is old, the habit phlegmatic, the season rainy, the situation damp, or the like, it will be necessary to mix with two ounces of the bark, half an ounce of Virginian snake-root, and a quarter of an ounce of ginger, or some other warm aromatic; but when the symptoms are of an inflammatory nature, half an ounce of salt of wormwood or salt of tartar may be added to the above quantity of bark.

63. Arsenic has of late been recommended as an infallible remedy in the ague; but I would advise that it should be used only under the eye of a physician.

64. See Appendix, Saline mixture.

65. See Appendix, Pectoral decoction.

66. See Appendix, Pectoral infusion.

67. See Appendix, Volatile liniment.

68. See Appendix, Arabic emulsion.

69. See Appendix, Oily emulsion.

70. See Appendix, Solution of gum ammoniac.

71. See Appendix, Decoction of seneka-root.

72. Two things chiefly operate to prevent the benefits which would arise from sailing. The one is, that physicians seldom order it till the disease is too far advanced; and the other is, that they seldom order a voyage of a sufficient length. A patient may receive no benefit by crossing the channel, who, should he cross the Atlantic, might be completely cured. Indeed we have reason to believe, that a voyage of this kind, if taken in due time, would seldom fail to cure a consumption.

73. Though I do not remember to have seen one instance of a genuine consumption of the lungs cured by medicine, yet I have known a West India voyage work wonders in that dreadful disorder.

75. I have often known persons of a consumptive habit, where the symptoms were not violent, reap great benefit from the use of oysters. They generally ate them raw, and drank the juice along with them.

76. See Appendix, Vulnerary decoction.

77. See Appendix, Chalybeate wine.

78. See Appendix, Mustard-whey.

79. See Appendix, Vomiting Julep.

80. See Appendix, White Decoction.

81. When the patient is low, ten grains of Virginian snake-root, and the same quantity of contrayerva-root, with five grains of Russian castor, all in fine powder, may be made into a bolus with a little of the cordial confection or syrup of saffron. One of these may be taken every four or five hours.

The following powder may be used with the same intention: Take wild Valerian-root in powder one scruple, saffron and castor each four grains. Mix these by rubbing them together in a mortar, and give one in a cup of wine-whey, three or four times a-day.

82. The bark may likewise be very properly administered, along with other cordials, in the following manner: Take an ounce of Peruvian bark, orange-peel half an ounce, Virginian snake-root two drachms, saffron one drachm. Let all of them be powdered, and infused in an English pint of the best brandy for three or four days. Afterwards the liquor may be strained, and two tea-spoonfuls of it given three or four times a-day in a glass of small wine or negus.

83. Deafness is not always a favourable symptom in this disease. Perhaps it is only so when occasioned by abscesses formed within the ears.

84. The late Sir John Pringle expressed a concern lest these cautions should prevent people from attending their friends or relations when afflicted with putrid fevers. I told him I meant only to discourage unnecessary attendance, and mentioned a number of instances where putrid fevers had proved fatal to persons, who were rather hurtful than beneficial to the sick. This sagacious physician agreed with me, in thinking that a good doctor and a careful nurse were the only necessary attendants; and that all others not only endangered themselves, but generally, by their solicitude and ill-directed care, hurt the sick.

85. Take two ounces of the shavings of hartshorn, and the same quantity of sarsaparilla, boil them in two English quarts of water. To the strained decoction add a little white sugar, and let the patient take it for his ordinary drink.

86. In the commercium literarium for the year 1735, we have the history of an epidemical miliary fever, which raged at Strasburgh in the months of November, December, and January; from which we learn the necessity of a temperate regimen in this malady, and likewise that physicians are not always the first who discover the proper treatment of diseases. “This fever made terrible havock even among men of robust constitutions, and all medicine proved in vain. They were seized in an instant with shivering, yawning, stretching, and pains in the back, succeeded by a most intense heat; at the same time there was a great loss of strength and appetite. On the seventh or ninth day the miliary eruptions appeared, or spots like flea-bites, with great anxiety, a delirium, restlessness, and tossing in bed. Bleeding was fatal. While matters were in this unhappy situation, a midwife, of her own accord, gave to a patient, in the height of the disease, a clyster of rain-water and butter without salt, and for his ordinary drink a quart of spring water, half a pint of generous wine, the juice of a lemon, and six ounces of the whitest sugar, gently boiled till a scum arose, and this with great success; for the belly was soon loosened, the grievous symptoms vanished, and the patient was restored to his senses, and snatched from the jaws of death.” This practice was imitated by others with the like happy effects.

87. The ingenious Dr. Lind, of Edinburgh, in his inaugural dissertation concerning the putrid remitting fever of Bengal, has the following observation: “Indusia, lodices, ac stragula, sæpius sunt mutanda, ac aëri exponenda; fœces sordesque quam primum removendæ; oportet etiam ut loca quibus ægri decumbunt sint salubria, et aceto conspersa; denique ut ægris cura quanta maxima prospiciatur. Compertum ego habeo, medicum hæc fedulo observantem, quique ea exequi potest, multo magis ægris profuturum, quam medicum peritiorem hisce commodis destitutum.”

“The patient’s shirt, bed-clothes, and bedding, ought frequently to be changed, and exposed to the air, and all his excrements immediately removed; the bed-chamber should be well ventilated, and frequently sprinkled with vinegar; in short, every attention should be paid to the patient. I can affirm, that a physician who puts these in practice will much oftener succeed than one who is even more skilful, but has not opportunity of using these means.”

88. Convulsion-fits are no doubt very alarming, but their effects are often salutary. They seem to be one of the means made use of by Nature for breaking the force of a fever. I have always observed the fever abated, and sometimes quite removed, after one or more convulsion-fits. This readily accounts for convulsions being a favourable symptom in the fever which precedes the eruption of the small-pox, as every thing that mitigates this fever lessens the eruption.

89. I have known a nurse, who had the small-pox before, so infected by lying constantly a-bed with a child in a bad kind of small-pox, that she had not only a great number of pustules which broke out all over her body, but afterwards a malignant fever, which terminated in a number of imposthumes or boils, and from which she narrowly escaped with her life. We mention this to put others upon their guard against the danger of this virulent infection.