S. A. D. Tissot

“ Nevertheless we see the same inestimable Treasures, intrusted to gross and stupid Men, born without Talents; brought up without Education or Culture; who frequently can scarcely read; who are as profoundly ignorant of every Subject that has any Relation to Physic, as the Savages of Asia; who awake only to drink away; who often exercise their horrid Trade merely to find themselves in strong Liquor, and execute it chiefly when they are drunk: who, in short, became Physicians, only from their Incapacity to arrive at any Trade or Attainment! ”

“ The Physician who enjoins a strict Regimen; who insists upon some Restraints and Self-denials; who intimates the Necessity of Time and Patience for the Accomplishment of the Cure, and who expects a thorough Regularity through the Course of it, disgusts a Patient who has been accustomed to indulge his own Tast and Humour; the Quack, who never hesitates at complying with it, charms him. The Idea of a long and somewhat distant Cure, to be obtained at the End of an unpleasant and unrelaxing Regimen, supposes a very perilous Disease ”

“ When real and good Physicians cannot effect as much Good, as ignorant ones and Impostors can do Mischief, some real Advantage must accrue to the State, and to the whole Species, from employing none of either. I affirm it, after much Reflection, and from thorough Conviction, that Anarchy in Medicine is the most dangerous Anarchy. For this Profession, when loosed from every Restraint, and subjected to no Regulations, no Laws, is the more cruel Scourge and Affliction, from the incessant Exercise of it ”

“ An unhappy Prejudice has established a contrary, and a really dangerous, Practice. The People about the Patient dread the very Thought of his rising out of Bed; they let him continue there in nasty Linen loaden with putrid Steams and Humours; which contribute, not only to keep up the Distemper, but even to heighten it into some Degree of Malignity. ”

“ A Vein of unaffected Probity, of manly Sense, and of great Philanthropy, concur to sustain the Work: And whenever the Prejudices of the Ignorant require a forcible Eradication; or the crude Temerity and Impudence of Knaves and Impostors cry out for their own Extermination, a happy Mixture of strong Argument, just Ridicule, and honest Severity, give a poignant and pleasant Seasoning to the Work, which renders it occasionally entertaining, as it is continually instructive. ”

“ Persons of Education must find a Pleasure, I conceive, in making People understand, on these Occasions, which are so frequent, that the Air being more indispensably necessary to us, if possible, than Water is to a Fish, our Health must immediately suffer, whenever that ceases to be pure; in assuring them also, that nothing corrupts it sooner than those Vapours, which continually steam from the Bodies of many Persons inclosed within a little Chamber, from which the Air is excluded. ”

“ A Thrust of a Rapier into the Breast has saved a Man's Life by seasonably opening an Imposthume in it, which might otherwise have killed him: and yet internal penetrating Wounds, with a small Sword, are not the less mortal for one such extraordinary Consequence. Nor is it even surprizing that these Mountebanks, which is equally applicable to Conjurers, who kill thousands of People, whom Nature alone, or assisted by a Physician, would have saved, should now and then cure a Patient, who had been treated before by the ablest Physicians. ”

“ The most observing Persons constantly remark, that whenever a feverish Patient sups, what is commonly called some good Broth, the Fever gathers Strength and the Patient Weakness. The giving such a Soup or Broth, though of the freshest soundest Meat, to a Man who has a high Fever, or putrid Humours in his Stomach, is to do him exactly the same service, as if you had given him, two or three Hours later, stale putrid Soup. ”

“ I know that many Persons, very capable in other Respects, daily make use of them in these Distempers: such however cannot fail of disusing them, as soon as they shall have observed their Effects, abstracted from the Virtues of the other Medicines to which they add them, and which mitigate the Danger of them. I saw a Patient, whom a foreign Surgeon, who lived at Orbe, attempted to cure of a Hectic with melted Bacon, which aggravated the Disease. This Advice seemed, and certainly was, absurd; nevertheless the Balsamics ordered in such Cases are probably not more digestible than fat Bacon. ”

“ When the Disease is left to itself, or injudiciously treated; or when it proves more powerful than the Remedies against it, which is by no Means seldom the Case, the Aggravations of it become longer, more frequent and irregular. There is scarcely an Interval of Ease. The Patient's Belly is swell'd out like a Foot-ball; a Delirium or Raving comes on; he proves insensible of his own Evacuations, which come away involuntarily; he rejects Assistance, and keeps muttering continually, with a quick, small, irregular Pulse. ”

“ In Fact, the whole Evil results from the Blood being forced up with too much Force, and in too great a Quantity, to the Brain; which being thence in a State of Compression, prevents every Movement and every Influence of the Nerves. In Order, therefore, to re-establish these Movements, the Brain must be unloaded, by diminishing the Force of the Blood. But strong Liquors, Wines, Spirits, volatile Salts, all Agitation and Frictions augment it, and by that very Means increase the Load, the Embarrassment of the Brain, and thus heighten the Disease itself. ”

“ What further increases our Horror at this enormous Propensity to heat, dry up, and cram the sick is, that it is totally opposite to what Nature herself indicates in such Circumstances. The burning Heat of which they complain; the Dryness of the Lips, Tongue and Throat; the flaming high Colour of their Urine; the great Longing they have for cooling things; the Pleasure and sensible Benefit they enjoy from fresh Air, are so many Signs, or rather Proofs, which cry out with a loud Voice, that we ought to attemperate and cool them moderately, by all means. ”

“ It will be self evident, I apprehend, to every excellent Physician, that a radical Knowledge of the Principles, and much Experience in the Exercise, of their Profession, were necessary to accommodate such a Work to the Comprehension of those, for whom it was more particularly calculated. Such Gentlemen must observe, that the certain Axiom of Nature's curing Diseases, which is equally true in our Day, as it was in that of Hippocrates, so habitually animates this Treatise, as not to require the least particular Reference. ”

“ But the humblest Peasantry of both Nations are agreed in such a Number of their absurd unhealthy Prejudices, in the Treatment of Diseases, that it really seemed necessary to offer our own the Cautions and Counsels of this principal Physician, in a very respectable Protestant Republick, in Order to prevent their Continuance. Nor is it unreasonable to presume, that under such a Form of Government, if honestly administered upon its justest Principles, the People may be rather more tenderly regarded, than under the Pomp and Rage of Despotism, or the Oppression of some Aristocracies. ”

“ I must also affirm, that this fatal Prejudice, of keeping up the Patients' Strength by Food, is still too much propagated, even among those very Persons, whose Talents and whose Education might be expected to exempt them from any such gross Error. It were happy for Mankind, and the Duration of their Lives would generally be more extended, if they could be thoroughly persuaded of this medical, and so very demonstrable, Truth;—That the only things which can strengthen sick Persons are those, which are able to weaken their Disease ”

“ A more active Charity, a more durable Patience, a more domestic Life; a Sagacity, which I have greatly admired in many Ladies both in Town and Country, that disposes them to observe, with great Exactness; and to unravel, as it were, the secret Causes of the Symptoms, with a Facility that would do Honour to very good Practioners, and with a Talent adapted to engage the Confidence of the Patient:—All these, I say, are so many characteristical Marks of their Vocation in this important and amicable Duty ”

“ If there be any one Disease, which requires a more attentive, delicate, and exquisite Kind of Treatment, it is this very Disease. Some Species of it are wholly incurable: and such as may be susceptible of a Cure, require the utmost Care and Consideration of the most enlightned and most experienced Physicians: while those who pretend to cure all epileptic Patients, with one invariable Medicine, are either Ignorants, or Impostors, and sometimes both in one. ”

“ The Disorder is sometimes so very mild and slight, that Eruption appears with scarcely any Suspicion of the Child's having the least Ailment, and the Event is as favourable as the Invasion. The Pustules appear, grow large, suppurate and attain their Maturity, without confining the Patient to his Bed, or lessening either his Sleep, or Appetite.
It is very common to see Children in the Country (and they are seldom more than Children who have it so very gently) run about in the open Air, through the whole Course of this Disease, and feeding just as they do in Health. ”

“ The People entertain a common Notion, which is, that the first Time of bleeding certainly saves the Life of the Patient; but to convince them of the Falsity of this silly Notion, they need only open their Eyes, and see the very contrary Fact to this occur but too unhappily every Day; many People dying soon after their first Bleeding. Were their Opinion right, it would be impossible that any Person should die of the first Disease that seized him, which yet daily happens. ”

“ An intelligent Person, who shall often touch and attend to his own Pulse, and frequently to other Peoples, will be able to judge, with sufficient Exactness, of the Degree of a Fever in a sick Person. If the Strokes are but one third above their Number in a healthy State, the Fever is not very violent: which it is, as often as it amounts to half as many more as in Health. It is very highly dangerous, and may be generally pronounced mortal, when there are two Strokes in the Time of one. We must not however judge of the Pulse, solely by its Quickness, but by its Strength or Weakness ”

“ Nothing seems impossible, when Persons in Authority are zealously inclined to prevent every such Evil; and it is time they should be properly informed of one so essentially hurtful to Society.
The Prescriptions I have given consist of the most simple Remedies, and I have adjoined the Manner of preparing them so fully, that I hope no Person can be at any Loss in that Respect. At the same time, that no one may imagine they are the less useful and efficacious for their Simplicity, I declare, they are the same I order in the City for the most opulent Patients. ”

“ In the next Place, I dare assure myself of the Concurrence of Gentlemen of Quality and Opulence, in their different Parishes and Estates, whose Advice is highly regarded by their Inferiors; who are so powerfully adapted to discourage a wrong, and to promote a right Practice, of which they will easily discern all the Advantages. The many Instances I have seen of their entering, with great Facility, into all the Plan and Conduct of a Cure; their Readiness and even Earnestness to comfort the Sick in their Villages ”

“ I must further add here, that Infancy is not the only Stage of Life, in which cold Bathing is advantagious. I have advised it with remarkable Success to Persons of every Age, even to that of seventy: and there are two Kinds of Diseases, more frequent indeed in Cities than in the Country, in which cold Baths succeed very greatly; that is, in Debility, or Weakness of the Nerves; and when Perspiration is disordered, when Persons are fearful of every Breath of Air, liable to Defluxions or Colds, feeble and languishing, the cold Bath re-establishes Perspiration; restores Strength to the Nerves ”

“ Since the natural Feelings of Humanity generally dispose us, but especially the more tender and compassionate Sex, to advise Remedies to the poor Sick; such a Knowledge of their real Disease, as would prevent their Patrons, Neighbours and Assistants from advising a wrong Regimen, or an improper or ill-timed Medicine, is truly essential to relieving them: and such we seriously think the present Work is capable of imparting, to all commonly sensible and considerate Perusers of it. ”

“ Great Wounds are generally attended with a considerable Loss of Blood, which has already exhausted the wounded Person; and the Fever is often a Consequence of this copious Loss of Blood. Now if under such a Circumstance, Bleeding should be ordered and performed, the Patient's Strength is totally sunk; the Humours stagnate and corrupt; a Gangrene supervenes, and he dies miserably, at the End of two or three Days, of a Series of repeated Bleedings, but not of the Wound. ”

“ If we consider that Wood, Stone and Metals, when long exposed to the Sun, become very hot, and that even in temperate Climates, to such a Degree, that they can scarcely be touched without some Sensation of burning, we may easily conceive the Risk a Person undergoes, in having his Head exposed to the same Degree of Heat. The Blood-Vessels grow dry, the Blood itself becomes condensed or thickened, and a real Inflammation is formed, which has proved mortal in a very little Time. It was this Distemper, a Stroke of the Sun, which killed Manasses the Husband of Judith. ”

“ The Fever is not only heightened every Evening; but the smallest Quantity of Food, the gentlest Motion, a little Coughing, the lightest Agitation of the Mind, a little more than usual Heat in the Chamber, Soup either a little too strong, or a little too salt, increase the Quickness of his Pulse the Moment they occur, or are given. ”

“ Would they be thoroughly persuaded, not solely by my Advice, but by that of their Mothers, their Relations, their Friends, and by their own Experience, of what great Importance it is to be very attentive to themselves, at those critical Times, I think there is not one Woman, who from the first, to the very last Appearance of them, would not conduct herself with the most scrupulous Regularity. ”

“ Nevertheless, the Use, the Habit of taking Medicines, is certainly no indifferent Matter: it is ridiculous, dangerous, and even criminal to omit them, when they are necessary, but not less so to take them when they are not wanted. A good Medicine taken seasonably, when there is some Disorder, some Disarrangement in the Body, which would in a short time occasion a Distemper, has often prevented it. ”

“ Nothing should be left untried, when the Preservation of human Life is the Object. In those Cases, when an obstructing Body can neither be disengaged from the Throat, the Passage to the Stomach, nor be suffered to remain there without speedily killing the Patient, it has been proposed to make an Incision into this Passage, the Oesophagus, through which such a Body is to be extracted; and to employ the like Means, when a Substance which had slipt even into the Stomach itself, was of a Nature to excite such Symptoms, as must speedily destroy the Patient. ”

“ When the Contagion or Poison, which generates this Disease, has been admitted into the Blood, it requires a certain Term to produce its usual Effects: at which Time the Blood being tainted by the Venom it has received, and by that which such Venom has formed or assimilated from it, Nature makes an Effort to free herself of it, and to expell it by the Skin, precisely at the Time when every Thing is predisposed for that Purpose. This Effort pretty generally succeeds, being very often rather too rapid and violent, and very seldom too weak. ”

“ A Cold constantly produces some Disorder or Defect in the Functions of some Part or Parts of the Body, and thus becomes the Cause of a Disease. It is indeed a real Disorder itself, and which, when in a violent Degree, makes a very perceivable Assault upon our whole Machine. Colds, with their Defluxions, considerably weaken the Breast, and sooner or later considerably impair the Health. Persons subject to frequent Colds are never robust or strong; they often sink into languid Disorders; and a frequent Aptitude to take Cold is a Proof, that their Perspiration may be easily checked and restrained ”

“ One common good Purpose certainly springs from the generous Source, and replenishes the many Canals into which it is derived; all the Variety and little Deviations of which may be considered as more expansive Distributions of its Benefits. ”