The guardian goddess of health, or, The whole art of preventing and curing diseases : and of enjoying peace and hapiness of body and of mind to the longest possible period of human existence : with precepts for the preservation and exaltation of personal beauty and loveliness : to which is added, an account of the composition, preparation, and properties of the three great medicines prepared and dispensed at the Temple of Health, Adelphi, and at the Temple of Hymen, Pall-Mall, London.

  • Graham, James, 1745-1794.
Date:
1785
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The guardian goddess of health, or, The whole art of preventing and curing diseases : and of enjoying peace and hapiness of body and of mind to the longest possible period of human existence : with precepts for the preservation and exaltation of personal beauty and loveliness : to which is added, an account of the composition, preparation, and properties of the three great medicines prepared and dispensed at the Temple of Health, Adelphi, and at the Temple of Hymen, Pall-Mall, London. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    r ’7 ) .... body, ns I have above (hewn, that original unity,—balance'—har- mony or equilibrium which nature delights in, and continually ftriVCS to maintain in all her works—efpecially in the human body and mind, as being the moft perfect and important of all that (he has created, or placed on this terraqueous globe! Thefe, therefore, conjunCtly, may jiiftly be efteemed the true and genuine universal MEDictNE'f—the boafted and long wifhed forPri~ ma Materia!—Aurumputabile! or elixir vita! of the philofpphers, che- mifts, and phyficians of every age fince medicine became a fcience.— In thefe three medicines, by the wonderful influence of fhe mighty— primary--fimple agents upon each other, and upon the Ample lub- ftances above mentioned, which for fo many ages have been found fo friendly to man-—is produced and fixed,---a vivifying---homogene principle which counteracts difeafe, infureS health, and the prolonga- tion of our mortal exiilence; In the balmy bed of thefe three medi- cines, all elementary and inteftine flrife ceafes. Here, the aCtive-- the irrefiftible powers of air, earth, fire and water blend their feem- ingly jarring principles, and are at peace. Here will the fwiftnefs of thought, they meet in one common centre. They kifs each other as it were,—cordially embrace, and are at reft in this paradifiacal this balmy bed. For be it known (and however paradoxical it may appear, it is neverthelefs a certain—fublime, and philofophical truth) that the quickeft motion, is the moll petfeeft reft* When a boy whips his top into the brilkeft tiiotion--it turns about with fuch exceeding fwiftnefs that it appears perfectly motionlefs---and he fays it is afleep. Would not any thing that could pafs from this to the Eaft Indies and back again in the thoufandth part of a moment—be at perfed reft?-—could a thought-—or any thing that could glance or be (hot from your eye in London to the fartheft verge—to the moll diftant point of the globe and back again in the millionth part of the time Of a twinkle in your eye,---could it be faid to move at all? Surely not.-- When the caufe of difeafe therefore is expelled by thefe, great medicines they instantly compofe all ftrife. I never fwallow any wine, fpirits, or malt liquor, ftrong or weak, mixt nor unmixt, and yet I undergo daily with pleafnre, Cheerfulnefs and good health, more fatigue of body and of mind, than perhaps any other man in London ; —If, after the bufinefs of the day, or when I am forced to be up all night when fentforin great emergencies---I find myfelf faint and exhaufted,---l immediately draw the vapour of the eleClri- Cal aether with great force into my noftrils—or pour a few tea- .fpoonfuls of it into a bnfon of warm water and breathe over it;— and ordering a few new laid eggs to be beat as it were into a thin oil, and then mixed with forne fugar and very cold water, I drink if off, and eating a bit of bifeuit, rich ripe fruits, or dry bread two days old, I find myfelf, in a few minutes, perfcClly frelh and r#-