Health and disease, their laws : with plain, practical prescriptions for the people

Front matter

22101888230 t

Med

THE ROYAL SOCIETY

Preface

A geeat change has come over modern minds; and those which will not obey the command to advance, are now left behind in the great struggle of life. Trade, the basis of the wealth of this great country, was the first in the race. Our fathers bought and sold and bargained in small shops, and, patiently plodding on, abhorred all show and ostentation. At the present day, on the other hand, the commonest vocation of life cannot be carried on without a certain parade. The meanest merchandise must be sold in palaces, with their attendant plate-glass, florid decorations, mirrors, chandeliers, carpeted and gilded chambers, and draperied walls and windows. Wholesale houses are now-of-days huge monopolies; and where once a return of 50,000Z. and 60,000Z. was deemed a first-rate order of things, the half million or million are scarcely wondered at now. Manufacturers are hence compelled to meet great demands ; for large quantities, small profits, and quick returns, make the millionnaire. To do this, the mechanical and chemical sciences are called into requisition to assist, and well have they responded ; for in answering that call, they themselves have become developed. The whole community now ride in the fast-going steam-carriages of monopolist com-

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panies, whose capitals are reckoned by hundreds of millions ; and, not content with this, science has devised a plan whereby even our thoughts are conveyed through Europe, and will ere long be carried all over the world, as speedily as the lightning’s flash. In fact, manufactures, trade, and commerce, foremost in the race, carry religion, science, laws, order, and civilisation, to all the families of man.

What a vast field is here for reflection ! This great movement seems to draw everything after it. The ecclesiastical and legal professions sympathise with, and are affected by it; and even if they move not of their own accord, a momentum is imparted to them from without, which they cannot, and dare not resist. All species of property must hence be made more current to meet the wants of the ever changing owners and holders thereof. Even landed property will henceforth he made as negotiable as a transfer in the funds or a bank-note. The laws to enable every man to get his own are now in course of being simply rendered, and an improved criminal jurisprudence will lead ere long to yet easier transitions. What the public demands, the legislature must concede ; else it stands in the way and becomes obstructive.

While men’s minds have thus been excited to every action of reform, — strange to say, the dull routine of medicine is the only branch of science that lags behind. It is a cumbrous load, resembling only itself, and is a mere heavy lumber, dragged along by its own slow-moving forces, apparently uninfluenced by the changes of the times. The public leaves it to itself, its usages, and its laws. They know nothing of its intricacies. It has no place in their minds, when they need it not, — and so they care not for it ; though still they show great impatience of its yoke, when obliged to invoke its assistance, and submit with the utmost dissatisfaction to the rules it enjoins. They will not stop to hear prosy tales, as once they did, from former pro-

PREFACE.

V fessors, in the days of gold-lieaded canes, buckles, and bagwigs ; and who can blame them ? They have no time for the luxury of being ill ; and hence it is, that he who promises the quickest cure is the article sought after. “ Can’t stop,” is the reply ; “ better kill me at once than keep me out of the warehouse.” The warehouse ! Every one has his warehouse ; for every man’s occupation or profession, whatever it be, is his warehouse ; and so every branch of society feels impatience at disease.

Thus is it, that every method which the human mind can devise for a quick remedy is brought forth to treat this hurrying, bustling, living mass. Hence has arisen a host of pretenders ; the nostrum-monger opens shop against the legitimate trader in physic, the hydropathist opposes both, and the homoeopathist all. A shilling is tossed down for a box of pills — no matter by whom or of what made — and they are swallowed in the railway-train in the course of business. A bath and a rubbing- down are taken at a hydropathic establishment, simultaneously with orders for goods ; and men swallow globules for imaginary ailments, instead of going to the doctor to have the matter scientifically treated. Hence the doctor and his profession are quoted in the market at a discount. Why ? Because he has not kept pace with the rest of the world — has not gone ahead or out of the beaten track, as all the rest have done, but sticks to his old saws, his old prejudices, and quotes as a respectable authority old Hippocrates, who lived three centuries and more before the Christian era; — before anatomy was properly studied, — before the wonders of modern chemistry had been developed, — before the circulation of the blood was discovered ; — in short, before half a hundred things had been thought of, without which medicine could not now be practised at all. The practice of medicine, then, wants modernising, — wants to be thrown open and ventilated, — wants to have some

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fresh light thrown on it ; because, it is at present behind the age, positively obstructive, and must be moved on. The public mind, it cannot be denied, has long viewed it with distrust, and on everything connected with medicine, is much divided in opinion. As I perfectly agree with the general sentiment on this topic, I need not, in this age of progress, offer any apology whatever for here submitting to the public my own ideas. Of one thing I am well assured, that their publication cannot make matters worse, or cause them to retrograde ; nor is it impossible that they may make them better. A little originality and a few germs of fresh thought on the varied subjects treated, may lead other members of the profession to think, — may lead the great public itself to judge and reason more seriously, more rationally, and perhaps, also, somewhat more scientifically. Yet, who in his senses would write scientifically for the million ? It is quite bad enough to do so for the few — those of the profession— who will not heed it or move on themselves, nor allow any one else to do so in their place.

I have endeavoured, therefore, in the following pages, to convey useful and philosophical information in plain, common-sense language, and, as far as possible, to avoid all technicalities ; — in short, to convey some knowledge of the wonders of their own bodies, and that which concerns them most, to those who cannot be presumed able to dive deep into medical science. All persons and all families practise a little self-medication or surgery during their lives ; and as there is really so much error in what they do, I have thought that, with a little instruction, they may act right as easily as wrong. They will here, then, have to see some of their old prejudices knocked down ; — nevertheless, while giving them new rules, I have, at the same time, endeavoured to explain their philosophy. I feel justified, therefore, in recommending this work ; — First, to those who stop at home, though surrounded by physicians, as they will here get

PEEFACE.

Vll good advice on many points, and still Lave the benefit of proper medication from their own professional friend. Secondly , — it will be useful to those who live where there are few doctors, and those few hard to be got at, or to others who live where there are none ; — as, for instance, to the clergy, who — like the late Reverend Sydney Smith — are often called upon to administer “ a gentle jog” to their poorer parishioners. Thirdly , — I address, myself to those, who have the command of ships carrying no surgeons among their living cargo, and also to emigrants and colonists, who will, in the emergencies and accidents of human life in a rude state of civilisation, find much good advice as to what they can do satisfactorily, both for their own benefit and that of their families and friends. Lastly , — my work may perchance not be without its uses to the profession itself, as forming an integral portion of the great Public ; and they may, perhaps, find here a few new ideas, which they bad not been taught at their Alma-mater, or learnt elsewhere in their study of medical literature. As one of their own body, and strongly opposed to every species of quackery or illegitimate practice, I can only say, — and I feel assured, too, many sensible practitioners will agree with me, — that they, as well as myself, have found the practice of medicine, at times, fail them. I have been driven, then, like themselves, to my own resources and observations, from the results of which I have endeavoured to do my best for the patient.

What I have advanced as new and original matter, has been elicited from much patient observation, and may be made available to the scientific. Indeed, I feel satisfied, that if the practice of medicine were freed from much of its absurd, dull routine and red-tapeism, and from the constant torturing of what are miscalled “ medical facts,” into every possible and impossible effect of some morbid derangement in the system — they know not what, — and if, instead of that, a few simple

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PREFACE.

causes were broadly generalised upon, far more service would be rendered to the profession itself, to science, and to tbe public at large, than by tbe present uncertain and unphilosopbical mode of procedure. The latter would soon place confidence, where alone it should be placed; and this step would, more than any other, confound all the illegitimate and irregular practitioners of medicine.

I have written, I trust, clearly and with precision, so as not to be misunderstood. As respects my observations and doctrines, I have asserted them boldly and undoubtingly, nor shall I flinch hereafter from proving them, if necessary. In conclusion, I earnestly recommend all who honour this work with their perusal, to study a little of themselves, and the laws which uphold their health or gradually produce disease ; for in these matters all are alike interested.

BENJAMIN KIDGrE.

21, Bruton-street,

Bond-street, 1858.

Introduction

A German adage declares, that, “All good things are three.” A division into three classes simplifies arrangement; and, whenever this can be done, any subdivision following that rule is a further proof of its propriety.

If we take gender, as exemplified throughout Nature, we find three divisions, — masculine, — feminine, — neuter ; — the last having a very extended range.

The comparison of anything in Nature seems to compel a three-fold division ; and on arriving at man — the highest point in the scale of animal life, we compare everything regarding him by this simple rule, without perhaps being aware of its all-pervading influence. Again, man has made similar rules for himself without seeming to copy any natural ones ; indeed, owing to his study of the sciences he acquires a greater distinctiveness, so that in human language grammarians follow Nature in the masculine, feminine, and neuter genders, as well as in the siDgular and plural numbers, or in the combination of both to form a third, — as in many cases and in most languages the same words express either. In arithmetic we have the Rule of Three. In the sciences, again, the chemist cannot work out his wonderful discoveries without observing this apparently all-pervading rule ; — for he has his acid, alkaline,

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INTRODUCTION.

and neutral agents, — known also under the title of re-agents. This three-fold arrangement, then, having such universal predominance,— it is scarcely to be wondered, that it should have so largely pervaded theology, poetry, philosophy, oratory, and science in general. Whatever, in short, may have induced men to associate this rule with most of their acquirements, it certainly tends to the working out of their best problems ; nor can I think it accidental. As Nature, therefore, has herself pointed it out, adopted it in so many instances, I may haply escape censure for having made use of it myself.

In framing an hypothesis for health as a starting-point, with the view of establishing certain definite laws for a departure therefrom, I have used this general three-fold division, as respects disease, its treatment, medicaments, and diet, — as well also as in its diagnosis, and the distinctive secretions of the body.

In making rules easy for the memory to retain, then, I may lay down the following, as at least unobjectionable. As respects the substances of the body, in the first place, they admit of three distinct divisions into —

1. The hard substances, as bones, cartilage, &c. ; —

2. The soft substances, as muscles, the viscera, &c. ; —

3. Th q fluids, — as the blood, and other secretions, &c. ; — and these might be again subdivided. It will be sufficient, however, for our present purpose, to subdivide the fluids ; for in these we find three unmistakeably distinct characters : —

A. Those secretions that are formed quickly and as speedily

excreted, being detrimental if retained, — and which are acid ; —

B. Those which are secreted — to be used again in the system,

such as the salivary, which are alkaline, — with the single exception of the gastric juice of the stomach, which is acid.

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XI

C. The neutral secretions and fluids of the body, including those of the serous and albuminous kind, those used for lubrication, &c.

The laws of the diagnosis of disease admit likewise of a threefold division, — into —

1. The exciting cause, —

2. The proximate cause, —

3. The latent cause ; —

all of which may be proved and verified by means of —

a. The tongue, —

b. The pulse, —

c. The history and general symptoms of the case.

The characters of disease, in like manner, have three divisions ; —

1. Acid,

2. Alkaline,

3. Neutral, —

their subdivisions, again, being —

a. Organic, which are incurable,

b. Functional „ curable,

c. Nervous „ remediable.

First, — the Acid Diseases (known medically as an acid diathesis) are of three degrees, ranging from simple indigestion to the highest amount of action short of inflammation, which is the next stage ; —

1. The excess of acid above the predominance requisite for

health, and which produces an infinitude of minor ailments.

2. A greater excess of acid than the preceding, — producing

still higher actions in the system, as gout, rheumatism, &c.

3. A still greater excess or superabundance of acid, above

the two preceding, with a total or general overloading

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of the system in all its organs, producing congestive actions, and the highest functional disturbances short of fevers, inflammations, and organic-lesions.

Secondly, — the Alkaline Diseases (treated here as the alkaline diathesis in contradistinction to the acid), include fevers of three distinct characters ; —

a. The arterial ; —

b. The venous ; —

c. The capillary.

These, again, are subdivided into distinct and indistinct inflammations, attended with distinct or indistinct febrile action ; and these also are arranged in three classes ; —

a. Inflammations of mucous membranes ; —

|8. „ serous membranes, and fasciae, or

sheathings and divisions of muscles.

y. „ muscular and other structures, in-

cluding substances of organs themselves.

Thirdly, — the Neutral Diseases (or diathesis), include all the nervous disorders, or mixed classes of disease ; —

i. Inflammations of single organs, not running into direct

fevers, where alkaline actions prevail in some parts, acid in others.

ii. Febrile actions excited by irritating causes, — as wounds,

strictures, stoppages, &c., in the presence of an acid diathesis.

iii. All nervous diseases and disorders, in which the acid

and alkaline diathesis alternately prevail.

The laws and divisions of medicine, or all those elements used as curative and neutralising agents in disease, again, resolve themselves into three distinct classes ; — the acid, — the alkaline, — the neutral ; — which are further divisible into —

INTRODUCTION.

Xlll a. Medicines to be administered internally ; —

b. Medicaments to be applied externally ; —

c. Miscellaneous remedial agents, — such as climatorial

changes, mental influences, and mechanical appliances.

The laws op diet and hygiene, once more, may be classed under three distinct divisions ; —

1. The ingesta , that produce in the system, through their

ultimate reduction by digestion, a great amount of acidity, — as, for instance, all boiled and salted meats, as well as direct acid diets ; —

2. Those, which in their last actions of digestion produce

less acidity than the former, or are in their actions on the system, when first taken, of a decidedly alkaline character, as roasted and broiled meats, &c.

3. The neutral elements of diet, which seem to have no

influence in either way.

In conclusion, — the object of medicine has always been threefold;—

First, — to neutralise all elements known to be in excess in the system, and thereby creating disease in the body, and ready to be acted on by any exciting causes ; — to remove all obstructions, free the actions of organs when functionally disturbed, or when over-worked, to advise their rest, and, after a given time, to make them act harmoniously together, — so that by relieving Nature, before she herself exerts her own powers to do so, actual specific disease may be averted, which is always attended with danger.

Secondly, — its object is, to add such actual elements to the system that is disturbed by their deficiency, or such elementary matter, as will of itself cause their generation, and so sustain the balance of power and vitality.

Thirdly, — it is intimately concerned with the proper regulation of hygiene, as respects both the administration of diet

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and the influence of climatorial changes on the system, whether bodily or mental.

All these matters are in the following pages very simply explained, and with a view to the better and clearer elimination of a code of rules for the guidance of those who have no time to pursue deeper studies, though able and willing to follow me in the perusal of the ensuing chapters. Such persons will trace design in all that relates to the practical application of means to an end, — not warring against, but acting in accordance with truth, and verifying the practice of medicine, wherever it is correct and has been found beneficial ; and they will see, also, that I have supported and strengthened it by a well-based philosophy, without which there can be no true science, — a philosophy that brings thought, induction, and reason, to confirm its every allegation or purpose. In a word, I have taken a broad, general view of the whole system ; and, this being the case, it is not impossible that good may come out of the whole.

Contents

PAGE

iii

Introduction ix

Chapter I. Health And Disease : Their Laws

Hypothesis as to the cause of Health, which is governed by certain fixed laws of a chemico-vital character — Acid, Alkaline and Neutral secretions ; importance of the first to maintain health — Chemistry and laws of digestion considered, with reference to the doctrine of self-dependence— The laws of circulation explained — The Bitter Principle, and its healthful tendency in preventing thirst and fever — Use of the Spleen to supply the system with the hitter principle through the bile — The four gases, and their chemico-vital functions — Predominance of Acid (to a certain amount) asserted to be the chemico-vital cause of health — Individual peculiarities of system ; how they affect health and disease — Gradation of disease considered, and its chemical conditions — Importance of Glossology, as a means of discovering disease — Disease , Nature's effort to cure and restore the balance of health ; this doctrine illustrated — Acids and Alkalis; their use and abuse in medicine — Establishment of an Alkaline, as well as an Acid Diathesis — Common notions about bile and biliousness combated— Mischievous use of Mercurials and Purgatives — Congestion distinct from Inflammation ; treatment of each — Deficiency of Acid and acidulating food a cause of Scurvy, Cholera, &c. — Power of the Stomach to furnish excess of Acid for curative purposes — Details on Treatment — Synoptical classification of diseases and their treatment under three heads 1

Chapter II. The Practical Application Of Diet And Medicine

General considerations — The pleasures of the senses — Moderation in diet recommended — Follies of dieticians — The System to be repaired according to its waste — True philosophy of dieting — Details on the characteristics of the leading elementary articles of food, and their application— Acid and alkaline foods distinguished ; examples of effects — Boiled meat puddings and baked pies, when good, or the reverse —

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PAGE

Medicines generally considered — Alkaline, acid, and neutral remedies, with their application — Classification of Neutral salts — Tinctures and Extracts — The Alkaloids and their use by Homoeopathists ; wine, beer, and spirits ; their adulterations and medical uses — The drunkard’s thirst explained — Excessive use of effervescing beverages condemned — The philosophy of using medicines, whether acid, alkaline, or neutral— Empiricism in their use condemned — Details as to the use of each in specified cases, both congestive and inflammatory — Opium and its alkaloids ; with their uses, as indicated by the tongue — Gargles and tinctures; their use and abuse — Neutral diseases and their treatment — Mercurials condemned ; their fearful effects on the system — Concluding remarks .......... 35

Chapter III. The Tongue The Best Index To Disease

The tongue the truest counsellor in the discovery of disease — The author’s gradual recognition of this truth — Structure of the tongue described — Papillae, their nature and functions — Anatomy of the tongue — Its appearances in health and during the diseases of different organs — Allocation of the different sections of the tongue to the organs of the body — Progress of disease, as indicated by the tongue — Fouling and cleaning ; progress and causes of each — Divisions of the tongue detailed — Cracked and chapped appearance of the tongue in heart-disease — Influence of disease in modifying the shape and size of the tongue — General observations on the importance of Glossology", as an aid for ascertaining the seat of disease 68

Chapter IV. Comparative Amount Of Disease As Compared With Health

AND THE COMPARATIVE DISEASES OF THE SEXES.

Peal disease as treated by the legitimate practitioner and by quacks — Imaginary disease and amateur physicking — Red-tapeism of the profession leads to quackery — Disease the exception, health the rule of the community — Estimated amount of disease, and of those who treat it — Calculated sources of disease — Men more careful in their habits than women — The stomach the primary organic source of health and disease — Comparative diseases of the sexes ; tabular statement — Stomach and kidney diseases more frequent in man than woman — Injury done by aperients, especially to women — Dr. Paris’s opinion on purgatives and mercurials — Woman’s pernicious fondness for domestic physicking — Description of the intestines and their functions — Hypochondria and hysterics, with their causes — Woman’s neglect of her physical health, and its consequences — Want of exercise, its evil results — Organic and functional diseases — Rheumatism and gout, man’s complaint ; rheumatic gout, that of woman — Kidney diseases in man; their causes— Disease of the heart in man and woman — Diseases of the brain and large intestines— Lung diseases — Bilious ailments so called, chiefly chymous — General conclusions . . . . . . • . .84

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CHAPTER Y.

INFANTS, CHILDREN, AND THEIR DISEASES.

PAGE

All infants are born in health — Gradual action of nascent animals compared to the germination of plants — Embryo life — New membranes; their discovery and uses — Laws of infant life and nutrition — Condition at. birth, and growth of infants — Dentition and its attendant ailments — White-gum — Danger of overfeeding infants — Infant fevers — Measles and scarlet fever — Contagion and infection fallacies — General treatment and dieting of children — Precocity in children — Rickets and worms ; infantile diseases — Law of gradation from the standard of health in infants— Approach towards puberty — Shedding of milk-teeth and management— Special ailments of girlhood — Nature to be left to her own work — General directions for the management of infants — Importance of attention to first symptoms — Remarks on bathing ; the blanket-bath recommended — Use of Glossology as a diagnostic in infant complaints — Thrush and its treatment — Alkaline medicines almost exclusively requisite for infant diseases — Mercurials condemned ; emetics recommended— Mode of treating skin-eruptions — Bringing up children by hand ............ 101

CHAPTER YI.

ON FEVERS: THEIR CLASSES AND THEIR TREATMENT.

Fever generally considered — Fevers from wounds, and those dependent on predisposition — State of the blood and secretions in fevers — Distinction between arterial and venous fevers — Eruptive fevers and their threefold classification — 1. Scarlet and petechial ; 2. Fevers with pustules ;

3. Measles — General laws of fevers — Attention to general conditions of the body — State of tongue as an index to treatment — Acid and alkaline states — Diet of fevers — Management of the bowels — Scarlet fever — Small-pox, petechial fevers, and quinsy — Measles ; its wide distinction from scarlet fever — Summary of treatment in various classes of fevers — Congestive and inflammatory actions distinguished — Confused and erroneous notions of the profession on fevers — Empiricism versus a philosophic system — Value of glossological indications in fevers — Fevers of children chiefly congestive; their general treatment — Congestive or venous fevers considered as a class — Intermittent and remittent fevers congestive — General directions — Inflammations, local fevers — Erysipelas and its treatment — Inflammations of the mucous and serous membranes distinguished — The vise of calomel condemned — Fevers of the poor ......... 131

CHAPTER VII.

CHOLERA, DIARRHOEA, AND DYSENTERY.

General observations — Various imputed causes of cholera, and its nature — Cholera and sweating-sickness compared — Various forms of cho-

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PAGE

lera ; dry cholera rare — Principles of treatment to be based on correct Glossology — Congestive and inflammatory cholera distinguished ; their respective remedies — Appearances of the tongue an unerring guide to each — Simplicity in prescribing medicines recommended — The great object to stop retching and purging — After-purging condemned, and why — Sloppy diet reprobated, except in inflammation of the mucous membrane — Diet after congestive cholera — Secretion of the salivary glands to be encouraged — Frontal headache an indication for laxatives— Diarrhoea; its origin, progress, and effects — Sympathetic actions of mucous membranes — Emetics recommended — Calomel condemned— Spasmodic cholera — Collapse ; its seat being the Solar-plexus — Galvanism valuable as a last resource — Dysentery allied to cholera — Distinction between congestive and inflammatory dysentery — Indications in each; their symptoms, progress, and treatment — Medicaments in dysentery, and the philosophy of their application — The free use of nitrous acid recommended — General remarks .... 164

CHAPTER Vm.

ON POISONS: DIRECT AND INDIRECT.

Part I

Varieties of poisoning, and sources thereof, both external and internal — Division of poisons into acid, alkaline, and neutral, by Toxicologists ; remarks thereon — Want of philosophy in the treatment of poison cases, and its results — Actions of the various poisons detailed, with the treatment recommended for each — I. The Mineral Acids. Sulphuric acid and its antidotes — Antimony and tartar-emetic — Arsenic — Verdigris and other salts of copper — Acetate and other salts of lead, with remarks on painters’ colic — Mercury and its various preparations, especially calomel ', with reasons for condemning its use as a medicinal agent — Oxalic acid, and its distinction from Epsom-salts — Prussic acid, and its allied preparations, with a notice of Langdale’s pure oil of bitter almonds — Nitrate of silver, or lunar-caustic — Sulphate of zinc — Phosphorus and phosphoric acid — Nitre and its salts — Baryta — Lime — Tin and other metals, with their salts — Muriate of amriionia — Effects of swallowing solid substances, as fruit-stones, buttons, coins, &c. — Jugglers and their imitators — Treatment in such cases — II. Alkaline Poisons. Potass, soda, ammonia, and their treatment — III. Vegetable Poisons, and alkaloids therefrom — Narcotic vegetable poisons, as aconite, belladonna, hemlock, henbane, nux- vomica, tobacco, &c., with their action, effects, and treatment — Strictures on smoking, showing the evil effects of excess, physical, moral, and social — Poisonous mushrooms, fungi, &c.

— Poisonous fish, meats, &c., with their antidotes — Poisoning by the flour of diseased grain — Various conditions of human progress indicated by the consumption of the several cereals, wheat, rye, barley, maize,

&c. &c. — Poisoning by fermented and distilled liquors — The sot and the drunkard described — Degenerating and fatal consequences of intemperance ........... 193

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CHAPTER IX.

ON POISONS: DIRECT AND INDIRECT.

Part II. PAGE

Direct poisoning from tlie stings or bites of insects — Serpents and snakes — Hydrophobia — Punctures from poisoned darts, &c. — Effects on the absorbents — Treatment — Small-pox and its antidotes — Vaccination — Poisons generated in the blood and bodily secretions, producing the different varieties of fevers — Predisposition to fevers — Progress of fevers explained — Analogy between the effects of fevers or self-generated poisons and external poisons — Contagion and infection distinguished — • Malarious diseases on predisposed persons — Symptoms and treatment — Applications of cold in fevers — Importance of a correct Glossology — Skin-Eruptions— Two distinct ends attained thereby — Action of the blood-poison in producing measles, small-pox, chicken-pox, &c. ; with treatment — Scarlet fever — Eruptions on the head and scalp ; their treatment — Pimply eruptions and rosy rashes — Nettle-rash — Shingles — Effect of mental anxieties in causing eruptions — Different forms of so-called itch, with treatment — Blebs and vesicular eruptions — Coppery eruptions from intemperance — Tetterv eruptions round the lips — Scurvy and its causes — General remarks on the treatment of skin-diseases — Simplicity in prescribing recommended — Mercurials and aperients condemned — Gout and rheumatism — Scalp headache and periosteal rheumatism — Chalk-formations — Diseases of the bones —