Dr. Wistar's family medical guide : a treatise on consumption of the lungs, describing the extraordinary virtues of the balsam of wild cherry.

Date:
[1851?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Wistar's family medical guide : a treatise on consumption of the lungs, describing the extraordinary virtues of the balsam of wild cherry. 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.)

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    f.TiVii- * p -4JgM>^.-~'—^tnHnrnmVtlftf i iTf' * nrfi]tl i VlmKiilcifr»*»jft Vl ntTlMattg' 1 i and use no means to prevent this state of things ? Who has not heard that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure ? Everybody admits that consump tion may be prevented. Let it then be done. But when it is curable, upon such authority as we have adduced, shall nothing be done to cure it t Can any one be content to sail quietly along down this fatal stream ; to be wafted down these lethean wfcters, (making no effort for life,) till he is swallowed up in the dead sea— the awful end of this ever-flattering, ever-enchanting* ever-cheating river ? The Lord has created medicines out of the earth, and shall men refuse to use them ? This is the question. The great Author of nature provides the remedy; but he cannot compel men to use it, without making them machines, without destroying their free agency. This he will not do. He provides the remedy, and sets it before them. This, it would seem, is quite enough for him to do. Yea, he does more ; he brings it near us. It grows with our food — it is at our door. We have seen it and handled it. We need visit no foreign climes—circulate through no unknown woods — navigate no unexplored seas. No; our own beautiful wild cherry holds out upon its every bough the life- giving cordial—the only balm of Gilead — the great remedy for consump- tion. What a vast amount of suffering might be saved the human family if they would but avail themselves in season of the remedies which nature has pro- vided for her children, and which science has reduced to such a form as to be within the reach of all. Far be it from us to tamper with those who are suffer- ing with this painful disease. In offering you a remedy, we do not ask you to rely upon the representation of those who might be actuated by selfish and pecuniary motives; but we give the deliberate testimony of some of the most respectable physicians and clergymen, and proofs still nearer home, from those whose light had nearly gone out, but who now live to bless the day when hope returned with healing on its wings, and proclaimed to them that Wis- tar's Balsam of Wild Cherry was offered for their relief. This preparation has established for itself a reputation that cannot be assailed. The opinion of its value by some of the best medical men of the day is a sure guarantee that its success does not depend upon any system of advertising ox puffing, but upon its own virtues. Nature, in every part of her works, has left indisputable proof of adaptation and design. In hot climates, where noxious vapors poison the blood, and vitiate the fluids of the human system, so as to produce malignant fevers, frightful sores, &c, &c., we find many vegetables which, as purifiers of the blood, are famed throughout the world. Again, in cold and variable climates, we find the wild cherry and pine equally well adapted to the cure of all diseases of the lungs and liver, which are so fearfully prevalent in our latitude. From a combination of chemical extracts procured from these trees, Dr. Wistar's Balsam of Wild Cherry is chiefly formed. The effects of the Balsam are such as require only the ordinary restrictions in diet, and during its use the patient is enabled to take the most nourishing food, selecting such as is most easy of digestion, or that which is found to agree with him best, avoiding all kinds of watery vegetables, or indigestible food, such as cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, unripe fruits, lobsters, crabs, fresh bread or cakes, pastry, spirituous liquors, &c. The body should be kept warmly clad, and moderate exercise taken in the open air.