Opinions and new discoveries in agriculture, medicine, &c. &c. &c. / by Charles Whitlaw.

  • Whitlaw, Charles.
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Opinions and new discoveries in agriculture, medicine, &c. &c. &c. / by Charles Whitlaw. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    it as his firm conviction that the Linnaean Materia Meclica was the best foundation for medical science to build upon, and that I had brought that science to such perfection, far beyond the comprehension of man- kind, by the invention of the Medicated Vapour Bath, and the valuable herbs prepared to act on the different organs of the body, as well as the various medications which I made use of for the cure of diseases submitted to my care ; the bath being so constructed that it could throw off the caloric, by a great heat from the water, which is the most noxious substance held in suspension and solution by the water, and when it passes off by the safety valve for half an hour, the steam or gas of the water passes into the medication, and through the metal plate into the tent in which the patient is sitting ; when the room is heated to the temperature of 72 degrees, the steam or gas is invisible, so that you may read a newspaper without its being wetted ; the vapour being loaded with bland oils, it re-animates the whole frame, relieves, and lubricates the vital organs when parched by the fever. The noxious properties thrown on the corium, or third skin, which ramifies over the whole body, are so loaded with the acid, acrid substances, by the fever exerting the whole of the vital organs to a preternatural action ; the second skin, or mucous coat, becomes so loaded with bile, that the patient appears as yellow as an orange; the epidermis, first skin or retina, is so blocked up with scarf-skin which will not give way, which causes the fever to rage to a fearful extent: the physicians then administer powerful doses of mercury, antimony, and other deadly poisons, in order to produce a crisis or strong perspiration, the fever still goes on from seven to fourteen or twenty-one days, which they call critical periods ; if nature does not overcome the noxious substances that have been poured into the patient’s stomach, it is sure to be overthrown, and is so frequently the case, that Old Time had resigned his scythe and darts to the doctors, as they manage things better than him. How dif- ferent is Mr. Whitlaw’s system ; with bland oils, sudorific medicines, medication and the bath, he can produce a crisis in half an hour, in all incipient cases of fever, and even when it has reached an alarming height it is always subdued in from twenty-four to forty-eight hours ; up to this time he had not lost one case of fever in thirty-five years. Mr. Dickinson also pronounced my medical treatment to sur- pass any that was ever practised by mankind, as I have totally ex- cluded the use of mercury, antimony, and all mineral substances,as being wholly inimical to nature; also the narcotic, acrid, and corro- sive vegetable poisons, as the smallest quantity taken as medicine, destroys health, and a large quantity brings on premature disease and death ; he also stated that I had been enabled by the discovery of the Vapour Bath and treatment, to dispense with blood letting in any case whatever, considering that any quantity of blood is so much of the vital principle of life, which is stated in Mr. Whitlaw’s writings. I have carefully read his observations and defence of the aphorisms and medical principles of Linnaeus, he having had numerous opportuni-