The house surgeon and physician : designed to assist heads of families, travellers, and sea-faring people in discerning, distinguishing, and curing diseases : with concise directions for the preparation and use of a numerous collection of the best American remedies, together with many of the most approved, from the shop of the apothecary : all in plain English

Front matter

I y.

4>

V

Preface To The First Edition

Every mortal is liable to be thrown into suffering by accident, or by disease ; and no situation or circumstance of life exempts any one from " the common lot."

Physicians and Surgeons cannot be present in every place ; nor can they alone do every thing, which should be done for those to whom they are called. The sick and wounded must depend much on nurses and attendants ; and almost every individual thing which is done for the sick, is influenced by the notions or prejudices of the attendants. How important, then, that the means of information relating to the healing art, be extended to every one who may suffer, or who can watch. There are cases, also, where medical aid cannot be obtained ; and shall the sufferer lie without relief ?

In the following work, I have attempted, in the plainest language, to inform the reader what he should do, when he is a witness to pain and sickness, and no one present better informed than himself.

In the pursuit of this object, I have made a free use of any and every author, whose work I could obtain, without marking any quotations. This I should not have done, but as it became necessary to alter the dress of that which was designed for the learned, to make it intelligible to the unlearned.

How far I have succeeded in divesting my work of technics, or whether I have not in many instances run into vulgarity, I cannot myself determine ; but this I can say, I have in every case sacrificed every thing to the desire of being fully understood. We, who are taught our profession in a language of made-up hard words, get so familiarized to the use of them, that we scarcely know when

VI PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

we ornament our style, or embellish our conversation, with the ribbands of Greece and rags of Rome.

It is not necessary for me, here, to say much of my plan, or the execution of it ; a little time will suffice to make the reader acquainted with it; and that without a glossary. Every body knows there can be enough taken out of a library to make a great book ; but I have taken the greatest pains to keep mine a small one.

In the Surgical part, I have endeavoured to describe what every man may do, (and they may do much;) in many cases, immediate and effectual assistance may be afforded, where people are now idle spectators ; and frequently departing life may be staid, till a surgeon arrives to make all safe.

In the part which treats of Diseases, I have been the fullest on those which are of minor consequence, and manageable ; in the more terrible forms of disease, I have particularly pointed out urgent and alarming symptoms, that medical aid may be called in time.

The part which contains Recipes for Apothecaries' Medicines, will be found convenient.

What is said of American Remedies, I think may be relied on. The collection is sufficiently numerous to answer every purpose of medicine in common hands, and they should always be preferred, when and where they can be obtained. Where the common names are not certainly known, recourse should be had to a botanist, who, of all people in the world, is most ready to communicate.

Should a very learned critic cast his eye on these pages, he will here learn, that this book was written for the unlearned; and he will also learn, that a handkerchief tied loosely round a man's leg, above a wounded and bleeding artery, and a stick twisted into it, will as effectually save life as a surgeon's turniquet — and many other such things. He will therefore please spare this little work, for the sake of him whose house is far removed from the surgeon, and who has no money to pay the physician.

Preface To The Second Edition

The primary object and design of the author is sufficiently declared and explained in the preface to the first edition ; yet, it should be further stated, that other considerations were not without their influence in the origin and progress of the work.

Every man owes to his country, his endeavours to rid the community as much as possible from the ills and disagreeables which breed in, or hover over society ; the least among which, are not the empiric and gossip. Besides, there is a blind credulity (not indeed confined to the unlettered,) which could not exist but in minds totally devoid of information on subjects relating to the healing art.

Else, why do .we see the able physician, whose qualifications are unquestionable, and whose integrity was never doubted, set aside for the self-puffed, ofnceless, ignorant quack ; and why, the plain suggestions of nature, and the plainer dictates of common sense, thrown away, for the mutilated relics of incantations and witchcraft.

It was easy to foresee who would scout the idea, that a practical work on medicine and surgery in familiar English, could be useful. Indeed, the supercilious mouthings of little men, dubbed Doctors, only because they can try tricks, and talk hocus pocus, was anticipated.

. Have not the pains and sicknesses incident to our nature, travelled in company with our mother-tongue, down the generations of our fathers even to us ? can any one in his sober senses suppose for a moment that the language of a nation is not a mirror of its troubles ? If our vernacular tongue is filled with signs of suffering, and types of disease, it is rich in the names of remedies ; and that man is a heathen who would hide them under an affectation of foreign gibberish.

Let it not be supposed that it is here meant to lower the physician vm PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

in the estimation of the people, or to depreciate learning ; far otherwise ; it is intended, to enable the people to appreciate their physician according to his true worth, and to look at the sun of science through a better medium than smoked glass.

Neither the arts nor the learned professions should be denied the aid of 'technology ; yet the artist and professor should remember that the English language is sufficient to all the common purposes of intercourse ; and that the man of learning, who cannot communicate with the world, in the world's vernacular tongue, has no claim on the public ; he may indeed be a very industrious man in his closet, but a very useless one in society. The perfection of art is to do without apparatus, and here the great man and the useful man, meet on common well known ground, and here true learning and common sense embrace without reserve.

In corroboration of what has been here said, it remains to be added—It has been boldly declared from a professor's chair, and by one who yields to none in surgery, " that the operator who, if the urgency of the case required, could not find a tolerable substitute for his instruments in any common well-furnished New-England house, was never made for a surgeon."

Of the subscribers to the first edition, those who were prepared by nature, or education, to be benefitted by the reading of any English book, were pleased with their purchase ; on the other hand, those who were ignorant of the common written English phraseology, and all those who consider cant as the key of science, were of course dissappointed.

As was expected, frightful symptoms of discomfiture appeared among all the penny -wise venders and dispensers of drugs, which reminds one of the shrieking and scampering of the witches, when an honest guest said grace at their table.

The liberal members of the profession, who despise mystery, with all mean acts and actions, bave bestowed full approbation on the work, and generously proffered their assistance to mend and bring it to perfection.

After all, it is but an essay, and the writer claims indulgence, chiefly because none who were qualified to finish such a work, have as yet undertaken so necessary a public service.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. ix

Ours is a noble profession when followed in the spirit of it, yet most thanklessly requited, because the body is measured by its little members. Yet, who has not seen the sick-worn countenance brighten at the sight of a good physician ? 5 Tis nothing to " set the table all on a roar" when health is there, and all are full of glee and merriment ; but to carry smiles, and ease, and hope, and joy to the sad group who anxiously watch over the restless bed of wasting fever,— is a most gracious errand. Such men there are, and would to heaven their community so occupied the ground, that like as in a noble forest, there could grow no under shrubs or brambles.

It is enough, that politicians hold " that all mankind insist on being cheated and ridden," and that themselves may as well ride as any body. But softly, lest the patriot point to the Mantuan apothecary, and say,

" An if a man did need a poison now,

Here lives a caitiff wretch would sell it him."

Introduction

The following treatise was written by a gentleman of education and science, and, in the opinion of the public and his brethren, of high standing in the medical profession ; nor is any extraneous circumstance necessary to shew that he was well acquainted with the subjects on which he wrote. The careful perusal of the book, indeed, will bring with it a conviction that it was not only written with discretion and care, but also that it cost the author much laborious investigation ; and especially is this true with respect to the latter part, which involves more botanical knowledge, with regard to species, and a higher degree of information, concerning the properties and virtues of indigenous plants, than was common to the medical faculty, at that, or even at the present time. It is evident, too, (for every page shows it,) that he was constantly aware to whose use this medical and surgical treatise was to be dedicated, for he continually guards the uneducated in medicine not to venture too far in the use of powerful remedies, of whatever kind.— He takes care, also, not fo fall into popular errors, for the purpose of gaining popularity for his book ; on the contrary, as a medical man ought always to do, he often contradicts the common prejudices of the people, and of pretenders, even at the hazard of his own paramount knowledge, in the opinions of many people generally esteemed judicious. Thus at page 120, he directs that in case of insensibility from concussion, the patient should have a cordial, but not be bled. Here a very common, and no doubt often a fatal error is contravened ; for bleeding, during the debility from concussion of the brain, has undoubtedly often destroyed the patient ; and yet friends will sometimes insist upon it, and perhaps even offer to take upon themselves the responsibility. We do not profess to know the virtues of all the plants in the

XI 1 INTRODUCTION.

numerous catalogue which Dr. Hand has here introduced, but judging from the known properties of a considerable portion of them, it is but a fair inference to conclude that he has been equally mindful of his responsibility with respect to the whole, and that he has recommended nothing on the contingencies of mere common report.

The botanical names of many of the plants have been changed since the book was written, and, indeed, so frequent are these changes, either in consequence of new discoveries, or professed improvements in this science, that a new nomenclature to whole genera is sometimes affixed within the year. In the present instance, however, these changes are of no consequence to the common reader, since the names by which the plants are generally known, often with a good list of synonyms, are retained, and these have remained unchanged.

With respect to the Recipes, the author has certainly been judicious in the application of his remedies, and always careful, when a powerful medicine is recommended, to throw in a caution in regard to overdosing.

Finally, the book, without prejudice, can be viewed in no other light than as a safe, judicious, and discriminating treatise on family remedies, and as such, may, in many instances, be the means of doing much good to the community, and especially in such families as reside at a distance from a skilful practitioner.

J. L. COMSTOCK.

Hartford, January, 1847.

CONTENTS,

Page]

Accidents, Casualties, &c. .116 Ague .... 50 A neurism, or Enlarged Artery 1 30 Animation suspended . 116 Apoplexy . . . 148 Apothecaries' Forms of Medicines . . . 172 Artery enlarged . . 130 Asthma . . . 140

B

Bandage . ' . 30

Bandage, application of 30

Basilicon . . . 178

Bite of Mad Animals . 33

Bite of the Rattlesnake 33

Bite of the Red Adder . 33

Bite of the Viper . . 32

Bladder, Inflammation of 72

Bleeding from the Lungs 162

Bleeding from the Nose 162 Bleeding from the Stomach 163

Blind Boils ... 106

Blood-letting . . 163

Blood, stopping of . 27

Bowels, Inflammation of 71

Brain, Inflammation of 70

Breaking up of Fevers . 55

Broken Bones . •. 41

Burns and Scalds . 121

C

Cancer . . . 127

Carbuncle .

Cathartic Pills

Cathartic Powders

Chancre

Chicken Pox

Chilblains .

Choke damps

Choking

Cholera

Clap .

Clysters

Colds .

Colic .

Consumption

Cordials

Corns

Costiveness

Coughs, Asthma, &c.

Cough, Hooping,

Cow pox

Croup

97,

Diarrhoea Diet, Sick, .

Diseases, Introduction to Diseases of the Eyes Diseases of Infants,

Diarrhoea

155 170 47 124 94 97 Red Gum, 96 Sore Ears 97 Thrush 96 Vomiting 98 Dislocations, Broken Bones, &c 26

XIV

CONTEXTS.

Dislocation of the Jaw .

Dislocation of the Neck Dislocation of the Ribs Dislocation of the Shoulder

37 3.7

38 39

Dislocation of the Elbow Dislocation of the Wrist and

Fingers . . 40

Dislocation of the Hip . 49

Dislocation of the Knees, Ankles and Toes . . 41 Dispensatory . . 171 Diaphoretic Pills, (sweating) 186 Diuretic Pills . . 186 Doses of Medicines . 172 Dressing of a Broken Leg 44 Drinks for the Sick . 170 Dropsy , . . 157 Dropsy of the Chest , 157 Dropsy of the Head . 157 Dropsy of the Knee Joint 129 Dysentery . . . 147

E Ear, Inflammation of 72

Ears, sore, . . . 97

Elixir Paragoric, (Asthmatic) 1 8 1 Elixir Pro. (Proprietatis) 179 Elixir Salutis, (of Health) ISO Emetics . . . 169 Epilepsy, (Falling Sickness) 150 Erysipelas . . . 76

Essence of Spruce . 192

Expectorant Pills, (raising

from the lungs) , 186

Extracts . . . 190 Eyes, diseases of . . 124

Eyes, wounds of ,29

Eye -water . . . 125

F Face-ache, . , . 110 Face pimples . . 131 Falling-sickness . . 150 Falls . . . . 120 Family Dispensatory 171

Female Complaints . 90

Fevers ' 49

Fever, Simple Inflammatory

Fever, Intermittent

Fever, Remittent,

Fever, " Inward,"

Fever, Nervous .

Fevers, breaking up of,

Fever, Typhus

Fever, Yellow

Fever, Spotted

Fever, Scarlet ■

Fever, Hectic

Fever-sore

Frost • .

Fungus

G Ganglion Gleet Glysters Gout , Gravel

H

46 102 170

75 103

111 130 137 141 34 94

94 68

Head-ache Head, scald Hectic Fever Hooping-cough Hydrophobia Hvsteric Affections

I Infants, Diseases of

:: inflations Inflammations, Phlegmonous, 68 tmations, Erysipelas 68 Inflammation of the Brain, 70 Inflammation of the Stomach 70 Inflammation of the Bowels 71 Inflammation of the Liver, 71 Inflammation of the Kidney 72 Inflammation of the Bladder 72 Inflammation of the Ear 72

Influenza . . . 140 Infusions . . .189 Insanity . . . 159 Intermittent Fever . 50

Introduction to Diseases 47

"Inward Fever," . 52

Itch ....

. 160! Pain in the Side .

J

Pain in the Stomach

Jaundice

Palsy ....

K

Paragoric

Kidney, Inflammation of

Peripneumony

King's Evil

Piles .

Knee-Joint .

Pills ....

L

Pills, Hull's Colic,

Laudanum

Pills, tonic and cathartic

Lightning

Pimpled Face

Liniments

Plasters

Liniment, Volatile

Plaster, Sticking or Adhesive 178

Liniment of Oil and Lime

Plaster, Common .

Liniment, Camphorated Oil

Pleurisy

Liniment, Opodeldoc

Poisons

Liver, Inflammation of

Poisons, Aerial

US

Lock-jaw

Poisons, Animal .

Lung Fever

Poisons, Mineral

M

Poisons, Vegetable

Marasmus

Powders,

176, 184

Measles

Powders, Cathartic

Measures . - .

Iers 3 Picra

Medicine, Introduction to,

Powder of the Gums

Mineral Poisons .

Powders, Sweating

Mortification

Powders, Dover's

Mumps

Powders, Diuretic

N

Proud-flesh .

Nervous Affections

Pus .

Nervous Fever

Q

Nervous Face-ache

Quinsy . . .

Nettle-rash .

Quinsy, Malignant,

Nightmare .

R

Nose-bleed .

Rattles

Recipes, or Apotheca ries'

Ointments - .

Forms of Medicines

Ointment, Simple

Red-Gum

Ointment of White Hellebore

Remittent Fever .

Ointment, Tar

Rheumatism

Ointment, Sulphur

Rickets

Opiates

Ringworms,

Opiate Pills

Rupture

Opodeldoc .

S

P

Sal Ammoniac

Painful Affections

Salves and Ointments

Painful Face

Scalds

Painful Head

Scald-head .

XVI