Observations on the efficacy of white mustard seed, taken whole / [John Turnor].

  • Turnor, John
Date:
[1826]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the efficacy of white mustard seed, taken whole / [John Turnor]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    c OBSERVATIONS ON THE EFFICACY OF WHITE MUSTARD SEED, TAKEN WHOLE. The Eighth impression, enlarged and improved. IN the month of June, 1822, I made trial of the White Mustard Seed merely as an aperient; when the generally improved state of my feelings which soon followed, inclining me to give it credit for other medicinal properties of at least equal value, I gave it to some of the sick poor in the neighbourhood, and with a success which excited my astonishment. From that time to the present I have been in the habit of recommending it very generally, and the opinion which I have always entertained is now fully confirmed, that the public are not aware of its very extraordinary powers, nor of the very great variety of cases to which it is applicable, and that in order to its adoption as a remedy for disease, its virtues require only to be known. The White Mustard Seed is an almost certain remedy for all complaints connected with disordered functions of the stomach, liver and bowels, and as such lias been eminently successful in the following (among other) cases, viz. In tendency of blood to the head, head-ache, weakness of the eves and voice, and hoarseness ; .ill asthma, shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, and other distressing affections of the chest; in indigestion, oppression after eating, heartburn, sickness, wind and spasms, cramp and other uneasy affections of the stomach ; in debility, uneasiness, pain and sense of tenderness and soreness in the interior,and particularly at the pit of the stomach, and in pain in the sides & lower part of the body; in scanty and redundant flow of bile, in obstructions that may lead to scirrhous liver, torpor & other morbid affections of that organ ; in deficient perspiration, gravel, scanty & unhealthy state of the urine, and other disorders of the skin& kidneys; in relaxed & irritable bowels, flatulence, & occasional & habitual costive- ness; in severe colds, rheumatism, lumbago, spasms and cramp in the body and limbs, partial and general dropsy, palsy, coldness and numbness of the limbs and feet, loss of appetite, failure of sleep, weakness ot nerves, depression of spirits, and general debility of the system.-In ague, gout, rheumatic fever, epilepsy, scrofula, scurvy, erysipelas or St. Anthony s fire, in the dreadfully painful affection called tic douloureux, and in recovery from the small pox, typhus and scarlet fevers, and other severe disorders connected with a depraved state of the interior, it has been taken with very considerable advantage. For the long round worms and the small white ones also it is incomparably the best remedy hitherto discovered ; inasmuch as both in children and grown up persons, it not only destroys those reptiles, but if persevered in long enough to restore the tone of the stomach and bowels, will prevent their recurrence in future.-——The following case furnishes a striking proof of the extraordinary reme¬ dial power of the Mustard Seed. A very respectable Surgeon and Apothecary, whom I have long known, a person of regular and rather abstemious habits, who during a period of 30 years had sustained the fatigue ot an extensive country practice with scarcely a day’s illness, at the age of 52 was suddenly attacked with a severe pain in the left side and lower part of the body. Supposing the pain to arise from constipated bowels, be had recourse to calomel, rhubarb, castor oil, and several other active aperients, but without obtaining relief. He then took an emetic, was bled largely in the arm, used a hot hath, was blistered in the part affected, and end and_0 _ , , „ . flatulence succeeded, with the appearance of general decay. Having consulted several professional men, and taken a great varieiy __gradually improved, digestion was restored, the bowels resumed their functions, ana at airrerent limes ne was relieved by the discharge of several small portions of gravel. Encouraged by these advantages he continued the use of the Seed with increased confidence. In November 1823, he discharged with ease a large rugged oblong portion of gravel, and to use his own expression, his health had then and for some time before attained a state of wonderful improvement. The Mustard Seed is as valuable for the prevention as for the cure of disease. Of its power as a preventive the following case is a remarkable illustration. A friend of mine had for five or six years previous to the year 1823, been regularly attacked with bay or summer asthma, in the months of June or July, in each of those years. The attacks were always violent, and for the most part accompanied with some danger. And such was the impression made on his constitution by the disease, and the remedies resorted to, (of which bleeding and blistering were the chief) that each illness led to a long confinement to the house, extending to a period of nearly three months. In the early part of that year, he resolved to make trial of the Seed, in order to prevent, if possible, a recurrence of the asthma; and in the month of March he began the use of it, and has thenceforward taken it regularly once every day (a dessert spoonful about an hour after dinner) to the present time. During this long period he has not only wholly escaped the disease, but his health has never been interrupted by illness of any kind, and has been progress¬ ively improving, and he is now enjoying a greater degree of strength and activity and much better spirits than lie recollects to have had before._The most formidable bodily evils to which we are exposed, are well known to originate in colds, to which from the extreme variableness of our climate we are peculiarly liable. As a means of preventing this fruitful source of disease, the Mustard Seed has in many instances been remarkably successful. Ever since June 1822 Vo the present time, (a period of nearly four years) I have regularly taken it once every day ; and during all this time 1 have never been troubled with the slightest cold, and have enjoyed an uninterrupted flow of health. A near relation of mine too, whose life for many years had been frequently exposed to imminent danger from inflammatory affections of the chest, brought on by cold, of which he was remarkably suscep¬ tible, has happily experienced a similar advantage from it. If persons of consumptive and delicate habits, or otherwise constitu¬ tionally susceptible of cold, would avail themselves of this hint; and if all persons indiscriminately on the first attack of disease unaccompanied by any decidedly inflammatory symptoms, would have recourse to the Mustard Seed for a few weeks, the extent to which human suffering might be thus prevented, would, it may reasonably be presumed, exceed all calculation. After what has been said, it is almost superfluous to observe that the Mustard Seed is peculiarly adapted to the case of those whose habits, situations, and conditions in life render them more particularly liable to disordered functions of the stomach, liver/ and bowels, with the endless variety of distressing maladies flowing from that cause. Ot this class are principally the- studious and sedentary, persons whose constitutions have suffered from long residence in hot climates, mariners and sailors while at sea, manufacturers and mechanics of every description, miners and such as work under ground, the indolent and intemperate, the poor who suffer from hard labour and scanty means of support, and persons advanced in years. To children also of the age of 12 months and upwards, the Mustard Seed is highly beneficial as a remedy for worms, amt as a means of obviating the extreme debility of the stomach and bowels so frequently. attaching to their tender years. W hen taken by them, it occasionally throws out a considerable eruption on the skin, a result which has never failed to promote their general health. It is likewise particu¬ larly applicable to the disorders peculiar to the female sex, and is of great service after confinement, and especially after severe lyings in ; and where the mother is a nurse, it is also through her of singular benefit to the child, effectually correcting all irregu- ]ilFjiies of the stomach and bowels, and thus causing il to thrive in a wonderful manner.