An historical essay on medicated inhalation : and letters on consumption, asthma, bronchitis, sore throat, loss of voice, nasal catarrh, weak lungs, etc. etc. / by N.B. Wolfe.

  • Wolfe, N. B. (Napoleon Bonaparte)
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An historical essay on medicated inhalation : and letters on consumption, asthma, bronchitis, sore throat, loss of voice, nasal catarrh, weak lungs, etc. etc. / by N.B. Wolfe. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    5/70
    AN OUTLINE HISTORY OP MEDICATED INHALATION, For Treating Diseases of the Lungs and Throat. We believe in the faith which is engendered, as well as in the power which is gained, by knowledge ; and we have long enter- tained the opinion that the public justly appreciate every effort made to impart to them information in matters of vital importance to their health, their mental and physical perfection. When thus informed, they do not fail to recognize the advantage of trusting themselves for direction and management to those only who are duly qualified to undertake so great a responsibility. No better safe-guard against the approach of the empiric can be instituted than by freely communicating information to the public upon all subjects thus unfairly represented. The charlatan succeeds because he is bold in his assumptions, dogmatic in his assertions ; and the public, being uninformed of the subject of his pretentions, are unable to discover the fallacy and extent of his imposture. The eminence which the employment of Medicated Inhalation has re- cently attained in the estimation of the public, has afforded many facilities for this class of impostors, who practice their deceptions upon the sick and uninformed. If I can guard the public against the imposition of such, I will not only have done them a service, but also will have rescued the fair fame of Medicated Inhalation from unmerited reproach. Inhaling medicated air, for treating disease of the respiratory organs, is not claimed to be a discovery of modern date, as the reader will soon learn ; but to modern times belongs the honor of systematizing the practice, and arranging its pharmacy. The idea of reducing medicines to vapors has a record in medical science extending back as far as the age in which Hippocrates lived. It is alleged that this great teacher recommended the burn- ing of various herbs and the heating of various -minerals, the