Jfrom ttje collection of tlje 
 3Reij. Mt. Jfranfe pafeer 
 
 #n loan 
 
 *. I 
 
 I 
 
 ■m 
 
 
The Rev. Mr. JOHN WES LEY ’s 
 P R I M ITIVE PHYSIC. 
 
 [PRICE ONE SHILLING AND SIX-PENCE.l 
 
X- 
 
 
 'ir r oiM 
 
A N 
 
 EXAMINATION 
 
 O F 
 
 The Rev. Mr. JOHN WESLEY’s 
 PRIMITIVE PHTSIC: 
 
 SHEWING 
 
 That a great Number ofthePrefcrlptions therein contained, are 
 founded on Ignorance of the Medical Art, and of the 
 Power and Operation of Medicines ; and that it is a Pub- 
 lication calculated to do eflential Injury to the Health of 
 thofe Perfons who may place Confidence in it. 
 
 INTERSPERSED WITH 
 
 MEDICAL REMARKS 
 
 AND 
 
 PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 By W, H A W E S, Apothecary. 
 
 Medico diligenti, priufquatn conetur cegro adhibere medicinam, non 
 folum morbus ejus, cui mederi volet ^ fed etiasn confuetudo vale nth, 
 et nattira corporis cognofcenda ejl. 
 
 Cicero de Oratore, lib. ii. cap. 4^. 
 
 .LONDON: 
 
 Printed for the Author; and fold by J. D o d s l e y, Pall- 
 Mall ; T. Cad ELL, Strand; B. Johnson, St. Paul’s 
 Church-yard; and W. Fox, Holborn. 
 
 MDCCLXXVI. 
 
' -1 
 :»-3 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 T H E writer of the following 
 pages was induced to commu- 
 nicate them to the world, from a de- 
 fire to prevent the public from being 
 longer impofed on, by an injudicious 
 collection of pretended remedies for 
 almofh every diforder that can affeCt 
 the human frame, and which has been 
 publifhed by Mr. John Wefley, under 
 the title of Primitive Vhyfic, This 
 writer, or rather compiler, has la- 
 boured to give mankind the moil un- 
 favourable ideas of the praClitioners in 
 phyiic and pharmacy. phyftcians 
 
 he reprefents as engaged in a combi- 
 nation to render their art as myile- 
 
 a rious 
 
[ ] 
 
 riQus _as.. pofTible, in order _ to make 
 tliemfelves the more neceflaiy, and 
 to increafe the gains of their profef- 
 fipn. While apothecaries^ he inhnuates, 
 make little fcruple of adminiftering 
 drugs not contained in the prefcrip- 
 tion of the phyfician, becaufe they 
 are more cheap, or fuch as are ftale 
 and perifhed, to the ruin of tnany con- 
 Jlitutions^ and to the lofs of many va^ . 
 hiable lives. And from this accomit 
 it fhould feem, that phyficians and 
 apothecaries * not unfrequently com- 
 bine together, for no other purpofe 
 than to* plunder the patient, and to 
 encreaft or prolong his mifery and 
 his difeafe. “ Experience fhews, fays 
 “ he, that one thing will cure moll 
 diforders, at leaft as. \yg\1 as twenty 
 ‘^-put together. Then why do you 
 add the other nineteen ? Only to 
 “ fwell the apothecary’s bill : nay pof- 
 fibly to prolong the diftemper, that 
 '■ “ the 
 
[ Hi ] 
 
 the doctor and he may divide 'the’ 
 ‘‘ fpoil 
 
 This reprefentation of the gentle- 
 men of the faculty may poffibly not 
 be thought very candid, nor very 
 equitable ^ and if Mr. Wefley’s cha- 
 racter and conduct, as a divine, a po- 
 litician, and a practitioner in phyfic, 
 were to be examined with the fame 
 degree of candour that he hath exer- 
 cifed towards others, he would cer- 
 tainly not appear in the moft advan- 
 tageous light. At leaft it would 
 be manifell, that he was far enough 
 from perfeSlion^ though that is a doc- 
 trine for which he is well known to 
 be a very zealous advocate. Buty 
 perhaps, thofe who are not thorough- 
 initiated in Mr. Wefley’s peculiar te- 
 nets, may not have a proper idea of 
 what thofe qualities are which are ne- 
 ceflfary to conftiiute a perfeCt man. 
 
 ^ Pref. to Frimitive Fhyfic, p. xiv. and alfo p. xxvii. 
 
 a 2 It 
 
[ iv ] 
 
 It Is certain, that if Mr. Wefley be 
 of this charadler, a regard to truth is 
 not neceflary to it : of which the 
 Rev. Mr. Evans of Briflol can afford 
 ample teftimony 
 
 But however uncandid, unfair, or 
 unjuft, Mr. Wefley’s reprefentation 
 of the gentlemen of the faculty may 
 be, it feemed neceffary to promote the 
 fale of his Trimitive Phj^c. And in 
 this his views appear to have been 
 anfwered ; fixteen editions at leaft hav- 
 ing been printed of this compilation ; 
 
 t Vide the fecond edition of Mr. Evan’s letter to 
 Mr. John Wefley, in which he has been convifted of 
 premeditated falfehood, upon the cleareft and moll 
 unexceptionable evidence. Mr. Wefley’s attempt 
 towards a defence upon this fubjeft in the news-pa- 
 pers, ferves, if pofible^ to render him flill more con- 
 temptible. 
 
 The writer of this meddles not with political dif- 
 putes, but takes the liberty to obferve, that fome re- 
 gard to truth was thought neceifary, in old fafhioned 
 fyftems, to conftitute the charafter of an honefl: man 
 of whatever party he might be. 
 
 and 
 
[ V ] 
 
 and that this large fale has not arlfen 
 from the merit of the performance, 
 will, I am confident, be acknowledged 
 by every man fkilled in the treatment 
 of difeafes. 
 
 The pra£lice of phyfic, according 
 to Mr. Wefley’s ideas, is a very eafy 
 art. For, he informs us, “ neither 
 “ the knowledge of ajlrology^ ajironomy, 
 “ natural philofophy, nor even anatomy 
 ‘‘ itfelf, is abfolutely necelTary to the 
 “ quick and e^eSlual cure of moji difeafes 
 “ incident to human bodies : nor yet 
 “ any chymical, or exotic, or com- 
 “ pounded medicine, but a fingle plant 
 “ or fruit duly applied. So that every 
 “ man of common (unlefs in fome 
 “ rare cafes) may prefcribe either to 
 “ himfelf or his neighbour ; and may 
 be very fecure from doing harm, even 
 “ where he can do no good But 
 
 * Pref. to Primitive Phype^ p. xi, 
 
 the 
 
[ Vi ] 
 
 the facility of curing difeafes was not, 
 it feems, fufficiently underftood, till 
 the appearance of Mr. Wefley’s Pri- 
 mitive Phyfic. And when this per- 
 formance was announced to the world, 
 every man who purchafed it, had a 
 phyfician always in his houfe, and 
 ‘‘ one that attends without fee or re- 
 ward.” > 
 
 Mr. Wefley’s performance would, 
 indeed, have been a very valuable ac- 
 quihtion to the public, if it could 
 really have qualified every man of 
 common fenfe “ to prefcribe to his 
 ‘‘ family as well as himfelf.” But the 
 truth is, that thofe who rely on Mr.' 
 Wefley’s pamphlet, will often be led 
 to trifle with the moft dangerous dif- 
 eafes, and while they are forming vain 
 expedlations of obtaining relief from 
 his infignificant prefcriptions, may be 
 led to negledl timely application for 
 
 real 
 
[ vli ] 
 
 feal and efFedlual alliftance, and there- 
 by fuffer irreparable mifchief. 
 
 Mr. AVefley’s pretended remedies 
 are of various kinds ; great numbers 
 have no mark of diftindlion ; but he 
 has belides thefe tried remedies, in- 
 fallible remedies, and a third-- fort, 
 Avhich he prefers to all the reft (being 
 probably more than infallible)- and 
 which are marked with an aferift^ 
 But if the public are led to form a 
 juft eftimate of the merit of Mr. Wef- 
 ley’s Primitive Phyfic, they will place 
 little confidence in any remedies which 
 have no better authority than his re- 
 commendation, whether they are 
 marked iried^ itfaUible^ or diftinguifh- 
 ed by an aferijk. 
 
 It was not the intention of the 
 writer of this piece, to fit down mere- 
 ly with a view to oppofe Mr. Wefley, 
 or to cavil at his publication. But he 
 
 wiflied 
 
[ viii ] 
 
 wiilied to be of fervice to his fellow 
 creatures. He has, therefore, inter- 
 fperfed occafional remarks on feveral 
 of the difeafes for which Mr. Welley 
 has attempted to prefcribe : and if 
 any of his obfervations fhould prove 
 beneficial to mankind, it will afford 
 him great pleafure, as his highefl am- 
 bition is to be ufeful in his profef- 
 fion. 
 
 A N 
 
A N 
 
 EXAMINATION, ^c. 
 
 'HE recipes contained in Mr. Wefley’s Primi- 
 
 i the Phyfic^ are one thoufand and twelve ; they 
 are therefore too numerous to be particularly ani- 
 madverted on : but, from the remarks which will 
 here be made on many of them, it will, it is pre- 
 fumed, be fufficiently apparent, that no perfon can, 
 with any degree of fafety, rely on a compilation fo 
 extremely injudicious ; the pretended remedies con- 
 tained therein, being often of no ufe, and thofe 
 which might be of utility, generally unattende-d with 
 fuch direftions, or regard to times and circumftan- 
 ces, as would be neceflary to render them effica- 
 cious ; and indeed, often calculated only to produce 
 the mod dangerous and fatal effeds. 
 
 Thofe recipes, contained in Mr. Wefley’s book, 
 on which I fliall make remarks, will be taken in the 
 order in which they lie in his pamphlet, and referred 
 to by the numbers or figures which he has affixed 
 to them. When I give his recipes, or make quota- 
 tions from him, which I lhall frequently do, his 
 words will be diftinguilhed by the Italic charadler. 
 And as my reafons for this publication have already 
 been given in the preface, I lhall, without further 
 introduftion or apology, proceed to an examination 
 of that profundity of medical Ikill and knowledge, 
 which are contained in this incomparable fyftem of 
 Prirnithe Phjfic. 
 
 B 
 
 Abortion 
 
[ JO ] 
 
 Abortion to prevent. 
 
 No. I. Ufe a decodton of lignum gulacum ; boiling 
 an ounce in a quart of water. 
 
 Of all the remedies to prevent abortion, this is 
 one of the molt improper ; for if it were to produce 
 any elFefl, it would be the very reverfe : as this 
 wood contains a ftimulating effential oil, it would be 
 dilpofed to increafe the adion of the heart and ar- 
 terial fyftem ; fo that this medicine, in all probabili- 
 ty, will make the woman more liable to abort. 
 
 In a fanguine habit, Id blood. 
 
 Mr. Wefley does not here give the leafl informa- 
 tion, by which the female might know whether bleed- 
 ing would be a proper remedy ; nor does he con-, 
 fider, that not one in a hundred of his readers know 
 the meaning of the wmrd fanguine. Indeed, he feems 
 refolved, at his firfl fetting out, to give the public a 
 fatisfadory evidence of his total want of medical 
 knowledge. Another man would have faid, if there 
 is a full, ftrong pulfe, then bleeding in fmall quan- 
 tities, and at Hated intervals, according to the. 
 flrength and other circumftances of the patient, will 
 diminilh the quantity of blood in the veffels, and^ 
 thus leifen the force of the circulation in the. uterus,, 
 and fo prevent abortion. 
 
 For an Ague. 
 
 No. 3. Go into the cold bath juft before the cold ft. 
 
 There are many cafes and circumftances in which 
 the cold bath would be abfolutely improper, as well 
 as dangerous ; and thofe are by no means cleared up 
 in another part of Mr. W.’s pamphlet, where he 
 gives fome general dircdions to thofe who are to 
 ufe it. 
 
 No, 
 
 I 
 
[ II ] 
 
 No. T r. Make fix iniddling pi, Is of cobwebs. Take 
 me a little before the cold fij ; t%vo a little before the next 
 ft ; (fuppofe the next day ) the other three^ if need be^ 
 a little before the third ft. — This feldom fails. 
 
 Here Mr. W. appears to have excelled himfelf; 
 he orders his cobwebs to be made into pills, but he 
 does not reflecl that there mud be fome vifeid fub- 
 llance added, to form a dry, light matter into pills ; 
 fo that it is to be prefumed Mr. W. is at the trouble 
 of making the cobwebs into pills himfelf. But as 
 the mind has a wonderful effeft on the body, and in 
 no difeafe more than the prelent, I would recom- 
 mend to Mr. W. to have his patient, a little before 
 the CO d fit,, carried into a room where this wonder- 
 working remedy hangs in cluflers from the del- 
 ing ; here the imagination would have its full force, 
 and aftonifliing cures perhaps be performed. 
 
 No. 12. Two tea fpoonfuls of fal prunella, an hour 
 before the ft. 
 
 Mr. W. pays no attention whatever to the dofe of 
 a very powerful neutral fait ; fome tea fpoons may 
 contain one, others, two fcruples ; furely, more pre- 
 cifion was necelfary ; but, perhaps, like the verdi- 
 gris, this may be an error of the prefs, which has 
 gone through fix, or peradventure fixteen editions. 
 
 No. 17. Eat a lemon, rind and all. 
 
 This prefeription, which appears at firft fight very 
 fimple, is exceedingly compounded, as in this re- 
 medy is contained acefeent, mucilaginous, bitter, 
 and watery juices. Further, no attention whatever 
 is paid to the fize of the lemon which is to be eat ; 
 fome weigh four ounces, others only half an ounce, 
 or fix drams ; and yet Mr. W. advifes a lemon, rind 
 and all, to be taken for the cure of an ague. 
 
 No. 19. In the hot ft, take 10, 12, or 15 drops 
 of laudanum. 
 
 B 2 
 
 This 
 
[ 3 
 
 This is a very dangerous remedy, and, I believe, 
 never advifed before, in the hot fit of an intermit- 
 tent fever; as, in all probabily, it would heat the 
 fyftem much more, endanger delirium, and convert 
 the prefent difeafe into a continued fever, which 
 every good praftitioner is anxious to avoid. 
 
 No. 21. Boil a handful of rib wort in whey, drink 
 this warm an hour before the ft comes, and lie down 
 and fweat, 
 
 Mr. W. has a prodigious command over the con- 
 ftitution ; it obeys his nod, and is fubfervient to 
 his wili ; producing fweat, and the removal of dif- 
 cafes, appear to be the eafieft things in the world 
 with him. 
 
 No. 22, A tea fpoonful of fait of tartar, in fpring 
 water. ‘This alfo cures double tertians, Iriple quartans, 
 long lafing fevers, and moft difeafes arifing from ob-r 
 frublions, specially if fena be premifed twice or thrice. 
 
 There cannot be put together an affemblage of great*- 
 cr abfurdities ; as this medicine can have no other ten- 
 dency than to caufe the afflifted to trifle with acute dif- 
 cafes. In faO:, in this onefeftion is included the greatefl: 
 part of the difeafes incident to the human body, as 
 the celebrated Boerhave fays, that moft difeafes a- 
 rife from obftruftion, Mr. W.’s aflfertion, therefore, 
 that this alkaline fait will cure fo great a variety of 
 diforders, muft certainly be a matter of very ferious 
 confequence, as fo great a number of complaints 
 come under his defeription, in which fait of tartar 
 could produce no good effedt ; and thus the greateft 
 injury muft often be received by thofe deluded 
 perfons, who are prevented, by their ill-placed con- 
 fidence in this recipe of Mr. Wefley’s from having 
 recourfe to fuch medicines as would effedtually re- 
 Ueve them, 
 
 N(? 
 
[ 13 ] 
 
 No. 23. Before, yea, in the midjl of the fit, take 
 twenty drops of fpirit of fulphnr, in a pint of cold 
 water. 
 
 Before, yea, even in the midft of the fit, Mr. W. 
 is of opinion, that, twenty drops of fpirit of fulphur, 
 ihould be taken in a pint of cold water. This can be 
 of no ufe whatever ; yea, it may be fometimes in- 
 jurious. But as no mark is affixed to this preferip- 
 tion ; neither an afterifk, nor the mark of infallibility ; 
 Mr. W. may poffibly be willing that this recipe ffiould. 
 not be numbered among thofe of the higheft excel- 
 lence. 
 
 No. 25. Apply to each wrifi a plaifler of treacle and 
 foot. — Tried. 
 
 As the word tried is affixed to this footy applica- 
 tion, it may be prefumed that Mr. W. or his chim- 
 ney -fweeper, have experienced its efficacy. 
 
 A Double Tertian. 
 
 No. 27. Take, before the fit, f after a purge or two ) 
 three ounces of cichory water, half a drachm of fait of 
 wormwood, and fifteen drops of fpirit of fulphur. 
 
 A very inelegant and unpleafant faline draught. 
 
 No. 28. To perfedl the cure, on the fourth day after 
 you mifs the fit, take two drachms of fena, half a drachm 
 of fait of tartar, infufed all night in four ounces of ci- 
 chory water. 
 
 If Mr. W. has any view in this prefeription, he in* 
 tends it as a purging remedy ; but repeated experience 
 has Ihewn purgatives to be very injurious after all 
 kinds of agues, and the molt probable method to 
 produce a relapfe, 
 
 A Quar- 
 
[ 14 J 
 
 A Quartan Ague. 
 
 No. 29. Apply to the future of the head, when the ft 
 is coming, wall July flowers, beating together the leaves 
 and flowers with a Utile fait. 
 
 It mtift be a fubject of lamentation, that this won- 
 derful remedy can only be procured at a certain fea- 
 fon of the year ; but it may be fome abatement of 
 cur grief to recollect, that the lofs of this pretty 
 flower may be fupplied by the tulip, pink, &c. and in- 
 deed any of them, applied to the nofl;rils,wili be pro- 
 ductive of effefts on the fyflem, equally aftonifliing. 
 
 No. 35. For a tertian or quartan, vomit an hour 
 after the cold ft begins. 
 
 When Mr. W. by an extraordinaiy^ fatality, hits 
 upon a good remedy, he generally takes care to pre- 
 vent its being of real fervice to the patient, by di- 
 recting it to be adminiftered injudicioufly and impro- 
 perly. At the attack of acute difeafes, the matters 
 contained in the ftomach, inftead of going through 
 the. digeflive procefs, become often putrid, acid, 
 &c. which increafes the fymptoms of the difeafe. 
 Practitioners, therefore, at the onfet of fevers, and 
 other difeafes, have found it ufeful to clear the ftomach 
 of offending lubftances, by an emetic ; and if any other 
 good effect is expected from the vomiting, it is gene- 
 rally advifed a little before the attack, as it has fome- 
 times prevented the fit coming on ; but Mr. W. in 
 contradiction to common experience, and com- 
 mon fenfe, advifes his vomit to be given an hour after 
 the cold ft begins. Further, as the Primitive Phyfic is 
 intended chiefly for the unlearned, and as there are 
 many kinds of fubftanc-es which occafion vomiting, 
 would it not have been prudent in Mr. W. to have 
 mentioned which deferved the preference, and what 
 would be the fuitable dofe, and the fluid proper to 
 w'ork off the vomit ? 
 
 No. 
 
[ ^5 ] 
 
 No. 36. Drink every morning a gill of white wine, 
 wherein half a ficed orange is boiled. 
 
 In this generous prefeription there is no direction 
 whether the perfon .Ihould drink a gill of wine for a 
 week, a month, or a year; but it may not be improper 
 to obferve, that if a weakly and delicate woman drinks 
 four ounces of wine every morning for any length of 
 time, that, when it is left olf,her fpirits will flag for want 
 of the flimulus, and thus an excellent woman be un- 
 happily converted into a dram or wine drinker. 
 
 No. 39. Take ten grains, of powdered fafron before 
 the ft, in a glafs of white wine. 
 
 Recent experience has convinced me, that falFron 
 may be exhibited in much larger dofes then Mr. W. 
 preferibes, without producing any medicinal efl'ecis. 
 
 St. Anthony’s Fire. 
 
 No. 41. Take a glafs of tar water warm in bed, every 
 hour, waf.ing the part with the fame. 
 
 The difeafe for which Mr. W. is here pretending to 
 preferibe a remedy, is the erifipetalous inflammation, 
 or St. Anthony’s Are ; andfurcly then, a hot lliinu- 
 lating fubltance, which would encreafe the burning 
 heat, and all the f)'^mptoms of this troublefome and 
 painful difeafe, is not very proper to be applied. Mr. 
 W. has however thought proper to recommend it, 
 but Dr. Lewis, who is a good phyfleian, as well as a 
 judicious writer, fays, “ That all the turpentines arc 
 “ hot and ftimulating, they are given where "mflam- 
 “ matory fymptoms do not forbid their ufe ; and that 
 TAR differs from the turpentines, or native refi- 
 nous juices of the trees, in confequcnce of having 
 “ received a difagreeable empyreumatic imprefllon 
 from the fire.” 
 
 No. 42. Drink juf fo much fea-zoater as does not vo- 
 mit or purge, every morning for feven days : this is 
 
 the 
 
[ ^6 ] 
 
 the proper meafure in zuhatever cafe. It feldom 
 
 At No. 41, the patient was to drink tar-water, a 
 very heating medicine ; immediately after, in the fame 
 di\{tz{c,Jea-zvaier is preferibed, which in confequence 
 of the neutral and earthy falts diflblved in it, is a very 
 cooling remedy. Mr. W. whofe medical talents are 
 not of the ordinary kind, undertakes to cure the 
 very fame difeafe both by hot and cold reme- 
 dies. 
 
 No. 45. Take two or three gentle purges. — No fever 
 bears repeated purges better than this, ejpecially when 
 it effects the body. 
 
 As this is an inflammation peculiar to weak and 
 irritable habits, thofe labouring under this difeafe are 
 not well able to bear evacuation ; and indeed there 
 are few diforders where it is more neceflary to keep 
 up the flirength of the patient than the prefent. 
 
 Apoplexy. 
 
 No. 49. To prevent, vfe the cold bath, and drink 
 only water. 
 
 As the apoplexy is a difeafe which carries off great 
 numbers, Ihould not any perfon who intended to give 
 medical advice, have been more explicit ? Mr. W. 
 fays, in his note, that 2x1 apoplexy is a total lojs of all fenfe 
 and voluntary motion, commonly attended with a jlrong 
 pulfc, hard breathing and fnorting. It is evident, from 
 this definition of the difeafe, the fanguineous apoplexy 
 is intended. Now I will venture to affirm, that im- 
 merging fuddenly in the cold bath, will be one of the 
 moft likely means of reproducing this dangerous and 
 often fatal difeafe. Here is no attention paid to age,^ 
 fex, conftitution, or other circumftances, though they 
 are abfolutely neceffary to be attended to, in a com- 
 plaint of fo ferious a nature. 
 
 No. 58. 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 No. 50. In ihe Jit put a handful of fait into a pint of 
 cold water, and if pojfible pour it down the throat of the 
 patient. 
 
 Mr. Wefley here fays, that if poffible in the fit of 
 apoplexy, a pint of fait and water fliould be poured 
 down the throat of the patient ; and then he will im- 
 mediately come to himfelf. But if he had not been to- 
 tally ignorant of the difeafe, or if he had underftood 
 his own definition of it, (See No. 49.) he would have 
 known that it was totally impolfible to force down 
 any quantity of fluid during the fit. He fays himfelf, 
 that the difeafe is attended with a lofs of all fenfe and 
 voluntary motion. Now, is not the adtion of deglu- 
 tition a voluntary motion, and can it be rellored any 
 other way, than by removing the difeafe ? 
 
 No. 51. Fill the mouth with fait. 
 
 Mr.W. here recommends filling the mouth with fait ; 
 but the mofl: likely confequence of this would be, kil- 
 ling the patient, by the lloppage of all refpiration. 
 
 No. 52. Blow powder of white hellebore up the nofe. 
 
 One of the mofl; ftimulating errhines in the whole 
 materia 7 )iedica, is here ordered to be blown up the 
 noftrils, in the fanguineous apoplexy ; than which, 
 nothing can be more improper or dangerous. 
 
 Fix a cupping glafs, without fcarifying, to the nape 
 of the neck, and another to each fhoulder^ 
 
 One of Mr. Wefley’s fliining qualities, is the 
 adroitnefs with which he renders a good remedy in- 
 efficacious, whenever he happens to blunder upon 
 one. Here, the cupping glafles recommended 
 are very proper ; but the directing them to be ap- 
 plied without fcarifying, is in the highefl degree ab- 
 furd. By the fcarification, the blood veffels would 
 have been unloaded of their contents, and the pref- 
 fure upon the brain taken off ; and therefore, what 
 the Author of the Primitive Phyfic advifes to be avoid- 
 
 C ed, 
 
( ) 
 
 ed, "would be the moft probable method of rehoring 
 the patient. 
 
 No. If the Jit he foon after a meal, do not bleed, 
 
 hut vomit. 
 
 Thefe direftions are effentially wrong, and if pur” 
 fued, might be fatal to many perfons who would be 
 recovered. 
 
 No. 54. Rub the head, feet, and hands frongly, and 
 let twcjirong men carry the patient upright, backward 
 and forward about the room. 
 
 This advice is vague and infignificant, as it is fuf- 
 fering people to trifle in a dileafe which requires the 
 moft expeditious methods of relief. 
 
 No. 55. A Jeton in the neck, with a low diet, has 
 often prevented a relapfe. 
 
 This advice for preventing a relapfe, is very pror 
 per ; but the patient mufl firft be brought out of the 
 apopleftic fit, which he never can be, by any of Mr, 
 W’s prefcriptions, 
 
 But fend for a good phyfician immediately. 
 
 Thefe words of Mr. W. are contained in the lat- 
 ter part of the fifty-fecond fedlion ; after prefcribingfe- 
 veral of the moflabfurd and prepoflcrous remedies that 
 could eafily enter the mind of man, he advifes a good 
 phyfician to be lent for. The writer hopes that this 
 is the only part of Mr. W’s advice, to which any regard 
 will be paid, in fo dangerous a difeafe ; where the 
 omiflion of the application of the proper and judi- 
 cious remedies, only for a few minutes, may be the 
 caufe of the death of the patient. 
 
 The Afthma. 
 
 No. 57. Take a pint of cold water every night, as 
 you lie down in bed. 
 
 No. 58. 
 
[ 19 ] 
 
 No. 58. A pint of cold water every morning, wajh- 
 ing the head therein immediately after, and ifing the 
 cold bath once a fortnight. 
 
 No. 60. Half a pint of tar water twice a day. 
 
 No. 61. D rink fea water every morning. 
 
 No. 62. Live a fortnight on boiled carrots. — It fel- 
 dom fails. 
 
 tliefe pretended remedies for afthmatic dlf- 
 orders, are fo inadequate to the purpofe, and ma- 
 nifeftly fo inefficacious, that they only du mifchief, by 
 preventing thofe who confide in them from applying 
 for fuch advice as might afford them real relief. 
 
 No. 65. For prefent relief, vomit with a quart or 
 more of warm water. The more you drink of it, the. 
 better. 
 
 In fits of the afthma, the lungs are often greatly 
 loaded and diftended with blood ; fo that vomiting, 
 by whatever means excited, may be produflive of 
 much mifchief. Mr. W. in his Primitive Phyfc, 
 gives no rules refpefling times or circumftances ; but 
 remedies are to be ufed indifcriminately, at all times, 
 and in all circumftances. Here, however, I muff 
 take the liberty of obferving, that I have found, from 
 repeated experience in the various methods of reftoring 
 health, that much depends on remedies being exhibited 
 at the proper period of a difeafe ; and therefore they 
 lofe much of their efficacy, when exhibited by a perfon 
 who is inattentive to a proper diftindtion of thefe 
 particulars, which, though feemingly trifling, are 
 really of the utmofl; importance. 
 
 A dry, or convulfive Aflhma* 
 
 No. 66 . Juice of radijhes relieves much. 
 
 No. 67. A cup of Jirong coffee. 
 
 C 3- 
 
 No. 6g. 
 
C ] 
 
 No. 69. A tea made with hyjfop, or ground-ivy, or 
 daify Jlowers and Uquorice. 
 
 No. 70. A pint of new milk, morning and evening. 
 ~—This has cured an inveterate afthma. 
 
 No. 71. Ufe the cold bath thrice a week. 
 
 No. 72. Beat fine fiaffron fimall, and take eight or 
 ten grains every night. 
 
 A very dangerous difeafe, rendered more fo, by 
 fe-veral trifling and infignificant preferiptions. 
 
 No. 73. Dry and powder a toad, make it into pills, 
 and take one every hour, till the convulfions ceafe. 
 
 Of all Mr. W.’s remedies for the convulfive afth- 
 ma, powder of toad is the mod curious ; but it is 
 fuited to the credulity of the frequenters of the 
 Foundery. 
 
 No. 74. Take from three to five grains of ipeca- 
 cuanha every morning ; or from five to ten grains eve- 
 ry other evening. Do this, if need be, for a month or 
 fix weeks. Five grains ifually vomit. In a violent fit, 
 take a fcruple injlantly. 
 
 It is always advifeable, before the exhibition of 
 vomits, to examine the pulfe and the ftate of the con- 
 ftitution in general; for, if the blood-velfels fhould be 
 loaded, the adtion of vomiting may perhaps endanger 
 a rupture, and inflantly prove fatal. 
 
 Bleeding at the Nofe, (to prevent). 
 
 No. 77. Drink vAoey largely every morning., and eat 
 much of raifins. 
 
 No. 78. To cure it, apply to the neck, behind, and on 
 each fide, a cloth dipped in cold water. 
 
 No. 79. Wajh the temples, nofe, and neck with vi- 
 negar. 
 
 No. 80. Snuff up vinegar and water. 
 
 No. §1. 
 
[ ] 
 
 No. 8 1. Chcio nettle root ^ fpiitbig out the juke. 
 
 No. 82. Vid up the nojirils powdered betony^ with a 
 I tile fait. 
 
 No. 83. Hold a red hoi poker wider the nofe. 
 
 No. 84. Steep a rag in Jharp 'vinegar, burn it, and 
 blow it up the nofe xvith a quill. 
 
 No. 85. In a violent cafe, go into a pond or river. 
 
 The red - hot poker prefcription ( No. 83. ) 
 is undoubtedly new ; and I am confident no 
 one will difpute the honour of its invention 
 with Mr. Welley. I lhall, however, beg leave 
 to recommend this caution in the ufe of it, that 
 no one fhould attempt the application, who has not 
 a very fteady hand, lefi the patient Ihould bear the 
 marks of his elfedual cure, in a manner that might 
 induce a wicked world to think, the cafe had been 
 fuch as required the adhibition of Leake’s pills, ra- 
 ther than Wefley’s poker ; nor could an accident of 
 this kind eafily be remedied ; as, I believe, Mr. Fa- 
 ience, the only gentleman, who, in this age, pro- 
 felfes the Taliacotian art, now no longer carries on 
 his nofe-making and nofe-mending manufadlory. 
 
 But, to be ferious ; an hsemorrhagc from the nofe, 
 is, in general, a very falutary effort of nature, to 
 empty the loaded veflels of the head; fo that fuch dif- 
 charges of blood Ihould by no means be haftily fup- 
 prelfed, as very large quantities may be thus llowly eva- 
 cuated, without inducing much weaknels in the fyf- 
 tem ; fo that this accidental hemorrhage tends greatly 
 to relieve, and often to cure ftubborn diforders of the 
 head, eyes, &c. whereas, if imprudently checked by 
 aftringents, internally or externally applied, fuch 
 ftoppage of the flux of the blood, may often be 
 produdive of inflammation of the neighbouring 
 parts, and fometimes even apoplexy and palfy may 
 be the confequence of fuch injudicious prefcriptions 
 as are given in the Primitive Phyfc, 
 
 Spitting 
 
[ ] 
 
 Spitting of Blood. 
 
 No. 93. Take, half a pint of Jiewed prunes, for tivo 
 cr three nights. 
 
 No. 94. A glafs of decoction of onions. 
 
 No. 95. Tu!o fpoonftils of juice of nettles every 
 werning^ and a large cup of dccoBion of nettles every 
 night. 
 
 No. 96. Take frequently a fpoonful of the juice of 
 nettles and plantane. 
 
 No. 97. Three fpoonfuls of fage juice in a little honey. 
 
 No. 98. Half a tea fpoonful of Barhadoes tar on fugar 
 at night. 
 
 Inftead of making a comment on each of thefe 
 remedies, which the writer is thoroughly convinced 
 can be of little or no ufe in a fpitting of blood ; he 
 will content himfelf with obferving, that it requires 
 more medical ficill than Mr. W. leems polTelfed of, 
 to difeover whether the difeharge of blood ilfues 
 from the mouth, the lungs, or the ftomach ; and 
 then it is neceffary to be fo far acquainted with the 
 circulation as to be capable of judging whether the 
 difeharge is arterial or venous blood ; and further, 
 to underhand fo much of the hiftory of difeafes, as 
 to know the caufe of the haemorrhage, that is, whe- 
 ther the bleeding arifes from an increafed aflion of 
 the arteries, from a relaxation, or from a rupture of 
 the veii'els. 
 
 Vomiting Blood. 
 
 No. 99. Take Huo fpoorfuh of nettle juice. 
 
 No. 100. One fpoonful of the juice of quinces. 
 
 No. 101. A quarter of a pint of decoction of nettles 
 .and plantane, two or three times a day. 
 
 Haemorr- 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 Hjemorrhages, from whatever part they arifc, are 
 difpofed to continue till they prove fatal, or, which is 
 much more common, they naturally ceafe ; for when 
 the velfels are fufficiently emptied of their contents, 
 they are of courfe difpofed to contra£f, and no more 
 blood is thrown out. And the reader may be alTured, 
 that one or other of thefe terminations muff be the 
 event, if any reliance is placed on Mr. W.’s interna! 
 or external remedies, for the greater part of them 
 do not bid fair to be of any advantage in the different 
 bleedings advifed for. 
 
 The obfervations I have made on the various he- 
 morrhages which Mr. W. treats of, fliould be well 
 confidered in the treatment of them ; for if aftrin- 
 gents and repellents are indifcreetly and injudicioufiy 
 prefcribed, they may do irreparable mifchief, in cafes 
 where a mere difcharge of blood would have proved 
 falutary. 
 
 Bliffers. 
 
 No. 104. On the feet, occafioned by vjalking, are 
 cured by drawing a 7 ieedlefull of worjied through them, 
 clip it of at both ends, arid leave it till the fkin peels 
 
 off- 
 
 In this cafe it would be better, that no wound 
 fliould be made, as the watery fluids extravafatcd 
 from the ffimulus of walking, will generally be ab- 
 forbed during a night’s reft, and the bliftered part 
 reilored to its natural ftate. 
 
 Boils. 
 
 No. 105, to 108. Are fever al external applications 
 to promote fuppuration, ’Tis proper to purge alfo. 
 
 If the habit of body fhould be in a good ftate when 
 thefe external inflammations arife, the fuppuration 
 will be. good, and the boils heal readily ; but on 
 
 the 
 
[ ^4 ] 
 
 the other hand, if the conftitution is fccrbutic, or the 
 juices altered from their natural flate, neither the 
 above external remedies, nor purgatives, will com- 
 pleat the cure. 
 
 Hard Breafts. 
 
 No. 109. Apply turnips roajied till foft, then mafhed, 
 find 7 nixed. %uitb oil of rofes. Change this twice a day^ 
 keeping the breajl very warm with Jiannel. 
 
 If it be only a fmall indolent tumor, it would b& 
 better that nothing be done, as even the warmth of 
 the above poultice, and the repeated application of 
 flannel, have, by their ftimulus, fometimes converted 
 fuch hardnelfes into cancers, a fpecies of difeafes, of 
 all others the moil to be dreaded ; whereas, by omit- 
 ting the ufe of external means, fuch indurations have 
 remained in an indolent fate during the whole life of 
 the perfon. 
 
 A Cancer in the Breafl. 
 
 No. 129. Of thirteen years Jlanding, was cured by 
 frequently applying red poppy water, plantane a 7 id rofi 
 water, 7 nixt voith honey of rofes. Afterwards tloe wa- 
 ters ufed alone perfeded the cure. 
 
 Of this extraordinary cure we have no evidence 
 but Mr. Welley’s ipfe dixit. 
 
 No. 130. Ufe the cold bath daily, f this has cured 
 many.) dhis cured Mrs. Bates of Leicejierjhire, of 
 a caiicer in her breajl, a confumption, a fciatica, and 
 rheumatifm, which fe had near twenty years. She 
 bathed daily for a month, and drank only water. 
 
 We fiiould be glad to be informed, in what part 
 of Leicefterlhire Mrs. Bates lives ; it is a county of fome 
 extent, and if thelady really cxifs any where, it would 
 have been proper to have given a more particular di- 
 reftion. We are induced to fay this,becaufe the rela- 
 tion 
 
[ ^5 1 
 
 tlon is too improbable to be credited by any perfons 
 of common underftanding. 
 
 No. 132. Rub the whole breajl morning and even- 
 ing with Jpirits of hartjhorn. 
 
 Mr. W. appears to have no idea of the difference 
 between fuch a tumour in the bread, as is called by the 
 furgeons a fcirrhous, and the exulceration termed a 
 cancer. As I have obferved before (and I cannot help 
 repeating it) it is not at all uncommon for women to 
 have little fwellings arife on their bread from va- 
 rious caufes, which, if let alone, hardly ever termi- 
 nate ill either to the general health, or to the part 
 affected. But if pretenders to medical knowledge 
 or defigning quacks, advife hartfhorn, or other di- 
 mulants, to be rubbed upon the part, with a 'I'iew to 
 difcufs fuch tumors, a greater fecretion of watery 
 fluids is brought to the bread from the ufe of fuch 
 dimuli ; and thus what was at fird a very flight 
 complaint, has been often converted into an in- 
 curable cancer. The writer declares with the 
 greated concern, that he has more than once feen in 
 confequence of mal-praftice, fuch an unhappy ter- 
 mination take place ; and he mod earnedly advifes 
 thofe who have any complaints of the bread, to 
 confult thofe who are poffeffed of fkill and humanity 
 in the profeffion. 
 
 No. 135. Take horfe fpurs, and dry them by the 
 fre till they will beat to powder, fft and infufe two 
 drachms in two quarts of ale ; drink half a pint 
 every fix hours ; new milk warm. — It has cured many. 
 Tried. 
 
 No. 136. Apply goofe dung and celandine beat well 
 together, and fpread on a fne rag. It will both cleanfe 
 and heal the fore. 
 
 Mr. W. advifes horfe fpurs as an internal medicine, 
 and goofe dung as an outward application ; together 
 with many other remedies for the cure of cancers, 
 
 D equally 
 
[ ^6 ] 
 
 equally unaccountable. It is a melancholy truth, 
 that ignorant men have always curatives in abundance 
 for incurable complaints : as for the medical virtues 
 of the many preferiptions advifed by Mr. W. for can- 
 cers, there can be little more objeftion to them, than 
 to his powder of toad in the convulhve aflhma., 
 
 A Cancer in the Mouth. 
 
 No. 141 to 150, Mr. W. has preferibed feveral 
 external applications for the cure of cancers affedling 
 the mouth ; and altho’ one has the mark of infalli- 
 bility affixed to it, and another the word tried ; not7 
 •withftanding all his boaibed remedies, it will be 
 highly prudent in fo ferious a complaint to apply to a 
 good furgeon, who, it may reafonably be prefumed, 
 will make ufe of thofe applications which his expe- 
 rience and judgment inform him are the mofl likely 
 to prove fuccefsful. 
 
 I ffiall conclude my obfervations on cancers with 
 one general remark ; which is, that interefted and 
 defigning men have called every ulcer of difficult 
 cure^ which attacks the bread or mouth, a cancer ; 
 and unfortunately the perfon fo afflicted is unable to 
 diftinguiffi the one from the other. But it may fafely 
 be affirmed, that no real cancer was ever cured, 
 it being a difeafe dependant on the laws of fermen- 
 tation, and for that reafon cannot be eradicated out 
 of the conffitLition ; as one particle of cancerous 
 matter remaining, is fufficient to renew all the ag- 
 gravated fymptoms of this horrid diftemper. It is 
 well known that experienced and able furgeens daily 
 cure the woiffl ulcers ; and it is equally well known, 
 that the humane and worthy part of that profeffion 
 lament the many impoftors who are every day 
 darting up, to deceive the public with their pretended 
 noftrums, and which too often, by their corrofive 
 applications, increafe the mifery and haflen the death 
 of the unhappy fufferer. 
 
 Children. 
 

 C 27 I 
 
 Children. 
 
 No. 157. To prenjent the rickets and weaknefs, dip 
 them in cold water every morning till they are eight or 
 nine months old ; afterwards their hands and feet. 
 
 The cold bath may not be improper for childrenj 
 naturally of a good conftitution, though thefe feldom 
 require its ufe ; for in the cafes where this remedy 
 is advifed, it is generally in confequence of fome 
 difeafes, vv^hich have weakened and relaxed their ten- 
 der frame, and therefore Mr. W. ought to have been 
 a little more explicit ; however, I fhall here take the 
 liberty of giving a few hints relative to the ufe of 
 the cold-bath, in fuch cafes, which if attended to, 
 may be beneficial. 
 
 I ft. As the ftomach and bowels of young children 
 are very apt to be difordered, it undoubtedly would 
 be improper to ufe this remedy, when the child is af- 
 fected with complaints of the firft paffages, as vo- 
 miting, purging, 8 ic. 
 
 2dly. If any eruption Ihould arife on the Ikin, the 
 cold-bath might prove a repellent, and therefore 
 would have a tendency to be highly injurious ; as 
 fometimes by fuddenly ftriking in only a few pim- 
 ples, an internal imflammation or fever has been 
 brought on, the confequences of which have proved 
 fatal. 
 
 3dly. If any fever fhould arife, whether from 
 teething or any other caufe, it would be extremely 
 dangerous to ufe the cold-bath. 
 
 i^ter a child is eight or nine months old, Mr. 
 reftrains the ufe of the cold-bath to the hands and 
 feet only. If the child thrives from its being dipped 
 in water, there can be no folid objedion advanced 
 to its being applied to the body univerfally after 
 that age. 
 
 Da 
 
f ] 
 
 No roller Jhould ever be put round their bodies, nor 
 any fays tifed. Injlead of them, when they are put 
 into foort petticoats, put a waijicoat under their 
 frocks. 
 
 The eafy method of drefling young children, is 
 extremely well calculated for the promotion of 
 health, and mud be advantageous to the conftitu- 
 tion ; but the public are indebted to the ingenious 
 Dr. C A DOG AN, for this improvement in the eafy 
 drefling of children : it is however not Mr. Wef- 
 Jey’s method to acknowledge from whence he bor- 
 rows his- information, or whofe words he makes ufc 
 of. Whether juflice be any part of his theological 
 fyflem or not, he has long been eminent for paying 
 no attention to literary juflice. 
 
 ’Tis bejl to wean a child when /even months old. 
 
 It certainly would not be befl. It would be much 
 better to let the child have the bread two or three 
 months longer; as no food can be fubflituted at that 
 age fo proper or fo nourifhing. The coagulable 
 matter does not then abound too much, nor has the 
 milk any pernicious properties, as I am convinced 
 from experiment. 
 
 Let them go barefooted and bare-headed, till they are 
 three or four years old at leaft. 
 
 In many cafes the going bare-headed at fo early an 
 age v/ould be very improper, as there are not a few 
 children who have not a fufEcient quantity of of- 
 feous matter to prevent external injuries. 
 
 No child foould touch ajiy fpirituous or fermented li- 
 quor, nor animal food, before two years old. Their 
 drink fiould be water ; tea they fhould never tafe 
 till ten or twelve years old; milk, inilk-porridge and 
 water-gruel are the proper breakfaf for children. 
 
 Thefe direftions are undoubtedly very proper, 
 and it would have been well if all Mr. Wehey’s pre- 
 
 feriptions 
 
[ 29 ] 
 
 fcrlptions had been equally innocent and unexcepti- 
 onable. 
 
 Mr. W. has given fundry dire’ftions refpefting 
 young children and their difeafes ; but I mull do 
 him the jultice to obferve, that he has never once re- 
 commended Godfrey’s cordial. And, indeed, this is 
 a very pernicious opiate, however frequently it may 
 be adminillered by ignorant nurfes. They give it to 
 children for their own eafe, without conlidering or 
 underllanding its tendency. It has unquellionably 
 been productive of much mifehief ; it tends to ruin 
 the conftitutions of children, and the confequences’ 
 of taking it have been much more frequently fatal 
 than is generally apprehended. It is the earnell wilh 
 of the writer, that this hint may be duly attended to 
 by parents and thofe who have the care of young 
 children. The Hate of our national population is at 
 too low an ebb, for the lives of children to be facri- 
 ficed to the ignorance of old women, or to the in- 
 dolence of nurfes. 
 
 Chin Cough, or Hooping Coughs 
 
 No. 158. life the cold bath daily, 
 
 I do not know upon what principle the cold bath 
 can be advifed in this complaint. From the violent 
 and long fits of coughing there is often much danger 
 of fuffocation, and fometimes the agitation during 
 the fits is fo violent as to rupture one or more of 
 the blood-veffels of the lungs ; fo that in every point 
 of view this remedy, by loading the internal vcffels 
 more with blood, is likely to be highly injurious. 
 
 In defperate cafes change of air alone has cured. 
 
 Mr. W. after preferibing feveral infignificant re- 
 medies, fays, change of air alone has cured.” In 
 this direction he is perfectly right, but I would im- 
 prove upon his advice, and earnefrly recommend the 
 
 change 
 
C 3<3 ] 
 
 change of air at the very beginning of this very trou-s 
 blefome difeafe, as experience has convinced me that 
 more real good may be done by this than by any 
 other means. 
 
 I will hei'e take the opportunity of making a few 
 obfervations on the hooping cough, which may, per-* 
 haps, be not unworthy of attention. 
 
 I ft. I am clearly convinced, that this diforder arifes 
 from infedlious matter, and, like other difeafes, pro- 
 duced from a fimilar caufe, it has its beginning, pro- 
 grefs, and decline ; fo that when it is paft its acme, if 
 an old woman happens to come in at the declenfion 
 of this complaint, and advifes any thing ever fo ab* 
 furd, the cure is attributed to that ; and indeed the 
 fame reafoning holds good with regard to many of 
 Mr. W.’s infallibles or tried remedies. 
 
 2dly. Medicine can do very little with regard to 
 this difeafe, and yet it requires the attention of a 
 good pradtitioner ; for, if the violence of the cough 
 produces any injlammation of the breaft^ an occafional 
 or even repeated bleeding will be undoubtedly pro- 
 per ; or if cofive, gentle laxatives will be highly ne- 
 ceflary ; or, if the phlegm Jhoidd become too vifeid, 
 and thrown up with difficulty, expedtorating medicines 
 fhould be adminiftered. 
 
 gdly. AJfes Milk, perfevered in for fix or eight 
 weeks, has done eflential fervice in this difeafe, as by 
 its ballamic qualities, and the light nourifliment it af- 
 fords, the juices are rendered mild and bland, which 
 may often prevent the inflammatory ftate of the dif- 
 eafe, or if it has come on, prevent its arifing to any 
 confiderable degree ; and thus exulceration of the 
 lungs, or heftic fever, be kept off; fo that the pa- 
 tient may get through this troublefome and tedious 
 complaint without the danger commonly attending it. 
 
 Cholera 
 
[ 31 ] 
 
 Cholera Morbus. 
 
 No. 1 66. Drink two or three quarts cj cold watery 
 ij Jlrong ; of warm water ^ if weak. 
 
 No. 167. Drink a draught of vinegar and water. 
 
 No. 168. Boil a chicken an hour in two gallons of 
 water, and drink of this till the vomiting ceafes. 
 
 Tliefe are infignificant remedies, preferibed by Mr. 
 W. in a very ferious difeafe ; but it may be pre- 
 fumed that the pain, uneafinefs, &c. will generally 
 oblige thofe who are attacked with this complaint, to 
 have recourfe to proper advice ; which, indeed, is 
 abfolutely neceffary ; for if this violent alfcftion of 
 the ftomach and bowels is not removed within forty- 
 eight hours, it brings on fuch a univerfal debility of 
 the whole fyftem, as generally proves fatal, 
 
 No. 169. Take fix grains of laudanum. 
 
 As Mr. W. ufes the word grains, he mull un- 
 doubtedly mean folid opium. Now, opium is one of 
 thofe Herculean medicines, which he fo pathetically dif- 
 fuades his readers from the ufe of, in his preface ; 
 and yet he here preferibes a dofe of this powerful 
 narcotic, which would, in all probability, caufe nine- 
 ty-nine perfons out of a hundred to feep for ever. 
 In diforders in common, the Faculty feldom admiHer 
 above one grain, and fcarcely ever exceed two grains. 
 It is true, that Mr. Bromfield and Mr, Pott 
 have lately given this drug in larger dofes, in ex- 
 traordinary chirurgical cafes with great fuccefs ; but 
 I believe thefe gentlemen have never yet ventured to 
 dire£l, at the firfl or fecond exhibition of this medi- 
 cine, fix grains for a dofe ; but a remedy that would 
 be fafe and ufeful in the hands of thefe fkilful and 
 eminent practitioners, becomes a dangerous weapon 
 in the hands or tlic ignorant and unllcilful. 
 
 The 
 
c 3^ : 
 
 The Colic, (in the Fit.) 
 
 No. i8o. Drink a pint oj cold water, — Tried. 
 
 No. 1 8 1. A quart of warm water. — Tried. 
 
 No. 182. As largely as pojfible of warm tar-water. 
 
 No. 183. Or a pint of water in which a red hot 
 flint is quenched. 
 
 This inimitable profeflbr of phyhc, prefcribes hot 
 and cold remedies in the fame breath. A pint of cold 
 water, he fays, is a tried remedy for the colic ; but 
 if you are not fatisfied with that, a quart of warm 
 water is another tried remedy for the fame dif- 
 order, and will do full as well. And if you Ihould 
 not relifli either of thefe curious prefcriptions, he 
 advifes you to drink as largely as pojfible of warm 
 tar water ; or that you may have another choice, 
 a pint of water in which a red hot fiint is quenched. 
 Two of thefe watery remedies are tried, and two, it 
 feems, are untried ; but I am of opinion they are 
 equally infallible ; though if any one deferves the 
 preference, it is the tar water. 
 
 No. 186. Take thirty drops of fpirits of turpentine 
 in a glafs of water. 
 
 If the perfon affefted with the colic, is of a ftrong, 
 or an inflammatory habit ; or if there be any ob- 
 ftruftion in the bowels, this remedy mull prove ex- 
 ceedingly injurious. 
 
 No. 187. Or from two fcruples to half a dram of 
 yelloxu peel of orange, powdered, in a glafs of water. 
 
 As half a dram is 30 grains, and two fcruples 
 40 grains, would it not have been a little more 
 methodical, to have ordered the dofe of orange peel 
 to be taken, from half a dram to two. fcruples ? 
 
 No, 188, 
 
[ 33 ] 
 
 No. 1 88. Beat together into a cake, one part of 
 Jloned raifins of the fun, and three parts of juniper 
 berries ; eat more or lefs, according to the pain. 
 
 Is the patient to eat an ounce, or a pound ? 
 
 No. 189. Take from 30 to 60 drops of oil of ani- 
 feed, on a lump of fugar. 
 
 As this ciTential oil, like all others, poffeffes a conh- 
 derable degree of flimulus, it ought to be taken 
 with much caution, of which Mr. W. appears to have 
 no conception ; but with a v/ant of precifion which 
 feems natural to him, he advifes 30 or 60 drops of 
 oil of anifeed indifcriminately. 
 
 Bilious Colic. 
 
 No. 194. Give a fpoonful of fweet oil every hour. 
 This has cured one judged at the point of death. 
 
 If the experiment has been made only upou 
 one perfon “ at the point of death,” I hope, in fo 
 violent a difeafe, that other aids will be called in to 
 prevent the patient being brought into fo much dan- 
 ger. In general, a good praftitioner finds this dif- 
 eafe yields very readily ; fo that fuch imminent dan- 
 ger may be eafily avoided. 
 
 No. 197. Airs. Watts, by ufing the cold bath tw0‘ 
 and-twenty times in a month, was entirely cured of an 
 hyferic colic, fts, and convufive motions, continual 
 fweatings and vomiting, wandering pains in her limbs 
 and head, with total lojs of appetite. 
 
 This recovery of Mrs. Watts is, unqueflion- 
 ably, a very furprifin-g one . and would deferve little 
 credit, were it not for the very fatisfaftory manner 
 in which it is authenticated. Mrs. Watts, by the 
 ufe of the cold bath, was entirely cured, Mr. Wef- 
 ley informs us, not only of an hyferic colic, continual 
 fweatings and vomiting, wandering pains in her limbs 
 
 E and 
 
[ 34 ] 
 
 and head, and alfo of a total lofs of appetite into the 
 bargain. All this is fufficiently marvellous ; but per- 
 haps an inquifitive reader might be tempted to en- 
 quire who Mrs. Watts is, and where flie dwells, 
 whether in England, Scotland, Ireland, or America ; 
 but thefe trifling circumftances, the fagacious Mr. W. 
 chufes to bury in profound filence. 
 
 No. 198. In the ft, drink half a pint of water, 
 with a little wheat four. 
 
 No. 199. Warm, lemonade. 
 
 No. 200. A glafs full of vinegar. 
 
 An hyfteric colic is the general confequence of a 
 weak flate of the ftomach and bowels, in which aci- 
 dity is moftly predominant ; and therefore the glafs of 
 vinegar or lemonade muft, in every point of view, 
 be highly injurious. 
 
 A Nervous Colic. 
 
 No. 204. Ufe the cold bath daily, for a month: 
 
 In this difeafe, Mr. W. advifes the cold bath indif- 
 criminately to be ufed for a month ; but there are ma- 
 ny, circumflances, with regard to the nervous colic, 
 which may render this remedy extremely improper ; 
 not to mention the length of time during which it 
 would be neceffary to perfevere in the ufe of it. 
 
 No. 205. Take quickfilver and aqua fulphur at a dai- 
 ly, for a month. 
 
 Upon whac principle quickfilver and aqua fulphu- 
 rata (which, is a diluted vitriolic acid) is to cure the 
 nervous colic, is very difficult to afeertain ; to me, 
 thefe remedies do , not feenijto promife any good ef- 
 fpfts ; but, on the contrary, in a. weak flate of the 
 bowels, would rather exafperate the difeafe. 
 
 In a note, Mr. W. fays this colic is frequently 
 " termed the dry belly-ach.” I believe thefe two dif-. 
 
 orders 
 
[ 35 J 
 
 orders of the bowels, can only be called the fame 
 difeafes, by thofe perfons, who, like Mr. W. are ig- 
 norant of the nature of the fymptoms which confti- 
 tute the two complaints ; as it is generally underftood 
 by good praflitioners, that the hyfteric and nervous 
 colic are one and the fame difeafe ; and not to be 
 confounded with the colica pictonum, or dry belly- 
 ach. 
 
 Colic from the Fumes of Lead, White Lead, 
 Verdigris, &c. 
 
 No. 206. In the Jit., drink frejh melted lutter.^ and 
 then vomit with warm water. 
 
 No. 208. To prevent or cure ; breakfaji daily on fat 
 broth, and life oil of fveet almonds frequently and 
 largely. 
 
 This is the diforder that is generally termed the dry 
 belly-ach, and very properly fo ; but it is hardly ne- 
 ceifary to make any remarks on this colic, as the 
 exceffive pain, and other fymptoms attending it, will 
 generally oblige the afflifted to apply for affiftance ; 
 which will be ading with much more prudence, than 
 placing any dependance on Mr. W.’s very futile pre- 
 fcriptions. 
 
 In all the various colics, Mr. W. has not advifed 
 one purging or laxative remedy ; (indeed, in the bi- 
 lious colic, he has prefcribed a fpoonful of oil) but 
 happily, people in general, in thefe diforders of the 
 ftomach and bowels, take of themfelves, or are advifed 
 to take, tincture of rhubarb, Dalfey’s elixir, or fome 
 other remedy of a fimilar kind ; which, by unloading 
 the firft paifages of indigeftible and other offending 
 fubftances, will often, ina veryfhort time, rerriove fuch 
 colic complaints ; but when the bowels have been 
 emptied, and the pain or other fymptoms continue, 
 or fhould return, then the warm and ftomachic me- 
 E 2 dicines 
 
[ 36 ] 
 
 dicines may generally be adminiftered with fafety, 
 and will moftly carry off the complaint. 
 
 It may alfo be obferved that colics attack the 
 ftrong as well as the weak ; and in thole cafes 
 where there is a fixed pain in one part of the belly, 
 the pulfe hard and frequent, with other inflamma- 
 tory fymptoms, it will be highly neceffary to ufe the 
 lancet as foon as polffble; becaufe an inflammation 
 is then forming in a fmall part of the bowels, which, 
 if not timely removed, may in twenty-four or forty- 
 eight hours, terminate in a mortification of the 
 part affedled ; and if fpirituous remedies fhould be 
 imprudently ufed to remove this pain, having a natu- 
 ral tendency to increafe the fymptoms of the dif- 
 eafe, they may fometimes kill in a very few hours. 
 Many lives have been undoubtedly loft in this man- 
 ner, and therefore it may often be highly dangerous 
 for perfons in colic diforders to have recourfe to 
 Mr. W’s remedies of fpirits of turpentine, oil of 
 anifeed ; or to double diftilled waters, peppermint, or 
 any other kind of fpirituous cordial, Avhich many 
 good women in the country, whofe medical fffill may 
 be fuppofed equal to that of Mr. Wefley, are too apt 
 to recommend in fuch cafes. 
 
 A Confumption. 
 
 No. 21 1. A beginning confumption was cured by 
 drinking decadion of guiacum, morning and evening, 
 for fj teen days, ( without fweating) with a light diet. 
 
 In every view in which this medicine can be con- 
 fidered, it appears abfolutely improper, as the guia- 
 cum owes its medical virtues to a ftimulating effential 
 oil, which would moft probably heat the fyitem, and 
 thus the remedy preferibed might convert a beginning 
 confumption into a confirmed hedic. Mr. W. alfo, with 
 his ujual {inaccuracy, only advifes a decoftion of the 
 guiacum wood, but he does not give his readers any 
 
 infor- 
 
[ 37 ] 
 
 information refpecllng the quantity of guiacum to be 
 ufed, or what the proportion ihould be between that 
 and the watery fluid, nor whether the confumptive 
 patient is to take it in half pints or in gallons. 
 
 No. 212. Cold, bathing has cured many deep con- 
 fivmptions. Tried. 
 
 Cold bathing, Mr. W. informs us, is a tried re- 
 medy for confumptions, and “ has cured many deep 
 confumptions.” As, according to him, this is almolt: 
 a fpecific in this difeafe which is fo peculiar to this 
 country, and which phyficians generally find fo 
 extremely difficult of cure ; it would have been well 
 if Mr. W. had been a little more particular on this 
 head, and informied his readers whether the cold bath 
 cured incipient confumptions only, or in what flage 
 of the difeafe, it effected the extraordinary recovery 
 he fpeaks of. In fo fatal a difeafe it certainly would 
 have been worth while, if he really had poffeffed that 
 regard for the lives of his fellow creatures which he 
 affefts, to have informed us what thofe kinds of con- 
 fumptions were, in which the cold bath proved fo fur- 
 prifing a fpecific. 
 
 Cold bathing is certainly a very eafy remedy for 
 the cure of a confumption ; but Mr. W. who deals 
 much in wonderful recoveries, has another remedy 
 for this dangerous difeafe ftill more eafy than the 
 former. He acquaints us (at No. 213) that in three 
 months time, a perfon in a deep conjwmption was per- 
 feflly reftored by drinking nothing but water, and 
 eating nothing but water-gruel, without fait or fugar / 
 This was truly marvellous, and we ffiouid have been 
 glad to have been informed where the man lives, 
 what his name is, or to have had the fiory in fome 
 degree authenticated. But perhaps Mr. W’s alfer- 
 tion is fufficient, it may be fo in the neighbourhood 
 of Moorfields ; but we believe his veracity is not fuf- 
 ficiently efablijhed at Briftol for his ipfe dixit to pafs 
 there for unqueflionable truth. 
 
 No. 
 
[ 38 ] 
 
 No. 221. Every morning cut up a little turf ojjrejli 
 earth ; and lying down, breath into the hole for a quar- 
 ter of an hour. — I have known a deep confumption 
 cured thus. 
 
 Here is another of Mr. W.’s remedies for a con- 
 fumption, v/hich needs only be mentioned to excite 
 the readers rlnbility. It is a recipe indeed truly 
 worthy the acute genius of the author of Primitive 
 Phyfic. 
 
 No. 227. Take in for a quarter of an hour, morn- 
 ing and evening, the fleam of white rofin and bees wax, 
 boiling on a hot firefhovel. — This has cured one "who 
 was in the third ftage of a confumption. 
 
 There is no end to the difeoveries of Mr. W. In 
 the cure of confumptions : the above is as extraordi- 
 nary a remedy as the recovery is allonifhing ; for 
 when a perfon is unhappily arrived at the third flage 
 of a confumption, the lungs are generally fo deeply 
 ulcerated, that the moft able praftitioners ceafe to 
 have any hopes, for the difeafe is fo far advanced as 
 to be pail; the power of medicine. But Mr. W. 
 can even perform cures then, and that by rofin and 
 becs-wax boiling on a hot frefhovel. It is however to 
 be regretted, that we are not informed of the name 
 of the perfon thus furprifingly cured, and of the 
 place of his abode. But Mr. W.’s prudence, or art, 
 or elfrontery, is fuperior to that of common quacks. 
 They generally pretend at leaft to give fome informa- 
 tion where the perfons they have recovere4 are to be 
 found ; but Mr. W. is above every thing of this 
 kind. He fays, that by his recipes great cures have 
 been performed ; and to enquire of whom, and how 
 the facts arc afeertained, is an impertinence. But 
 he (liould remember, that all the people of England 
 are not votaries to implicit faith, however ftrongly 
 it may attuate the patient hearers at the Foundery. 
 
 To 
 
[ 39 ] 
 
 To ^renglhen the body, take Jalt-pdre hay- a drachm, 
 fait of Jieel fifteen grains, in a quarter of a pint of wa- 
 ter. Add two ounces of the bef brandy, and fweeten it- 
 with loaf figar ; drink two fpoonfuls of this about eleven 
 in the morning, and at fve in the afternoon, wafhing it 
 down with a difh of fage tea. This mixture may be 
 repeated twice or thrice. 
 
 This ftrengthening prefeription Is an unqueftion- 
 able proof that Mr. W. is totally ignorant of double 
 tleHive attradions, in other words, that by .dilfolving 
 a neutral and metalline fait in water, two new com- 
 pounds are formed ; fo that the weak patient pref- 
 cribed for, is neither taking falt-petre nor fait of fteel, 
 as a ftrengthening remedy ; but new combinations 
 are produced by the folution, v/hich are totally dif- 
 ferent in their medical effedls on the human body, as 
 well as in their chemical properties. 
 
 This inftance, among many others, may ferve to 
 fhew how unfafe it is for mankind to follow impli- 
 citly the preferiptions of Ignorant pretenders, and 
 thofe who, like Mr. W. are deftitute of chemical or 
 medical knowledge. 
 
 In the loth page of his preface, he complains 
 heavily of the phyficians for introducing “ into 
 “ practice abundance of compound medicines, con- 
 “ filling of fo many ingredients, that it was fcarce 
 “ poflible for common people to know which it was 
 “ that performed the cure and alfo “ chymicals, 
 “ fuch as they neither had fkill, nor fortune, nor 
 “ time to prepare. Yea, and dangerous ones, fuch 
 ‘‘as they could not ufe, without hazarding life, but 
 “ by the advice of a phyftcian.” And here this 
 very fcrupulous and affediedly cautious gentleman 
 recommends a neutral fait, the elements of which 
 are fixed vegetable alkali, and the nitrous acid, and 
 alfo a metalline combination, whofe elements are iron 
 and the vitriolic acid ; two chemical compound me- 
 dicines, the nature and effeds of which it is manifeft 
 
 he 
 
[ 40 ] 
 
 he is totally Ignorant of. The writer thinks he 
 may with the ftrictefi: juitice apply Mr. W.’s own 
 words to himfclf *, with a fmall variation ; “ How 
 “ many inconveniencies” may have been occafioned 
 by fuch ignorant prefcribers ! “ How many conlHtu- 
 “ tions” may have been ruined 1 “ How many va- 
 “ Juable lives loft.” 
 
 I fhall conclude the whole of what has been faid 
 relative to confumptions, with advifing thofe who 
 have an obftinate cough, which occafions a great deal 
 of vifcid phlegm to be thrown up, and is attended with 
 a fudden emaciation, and other incipient fymptoms 
 of a hedtic ; to apply immediately for proper aflift- 
 ance. Perfons in this ftate are generally able to 
 walk about, fo that they do not confider the dan- 
 ger of their prefent fituation ; but the wri- 
 ter affures them thefe are the marks of a beginn- 
 ing confumption, therefore immediate recourfe 
 friould be had to thofe of fkill in the profeffion. 
 And this is attainable even by the poor, as phyficians 
 are always ready to do every kind office to the in- 
 digent ; and in the metropolis particularly, which is 
 fo honourably diftinguiflied by the number of its 
 charitable inftitutions, the pooreft perfon need not be 
 at a lofs to procure proper advice. By attending 
 to the difeafe at firft, hundreds might every year be 
 reftored to health, who, if the diforder be once 
 fixed, would be carried oft' by confumptions. I 
 do moft earneftly intreat perfons of all ranks to 
 have early advice in fuch affedlions of the breaft, 
 and by no means to negledf the cough, &c. which 
 may be readily cured at firft ; but when continued • 
 fome time, may become an incurable difeafe. The au- 
 thor is thoroughly convinced, from experience, that 
 if proper precautions were ufed at the beginning of 
 confumptions, not one in a hundred would die of a 
 
 * See Preface, page xxvil. 
 
 dif- 
 
[ 4< :i 
 
 difeafe, which, through negled and inattention, caf« 
 ries off vaft numbers every year. 
 
 Convulfions. 
 
 No. 232. life the cold bath. 
 
 No. 233. Take a tea-fpoonful of ‘valerian root every 
 evening. 
 
 No. 234. Half a drachm of mi/leto, poiudered, every 
 fix hours. 
 
 Convulfions in Children. 
 
 No. 235. Scrape piony roots frejh digged ; apply 
 •what you have f craped to the foies of the feet. It helps 
 immediately. Tried. 
 
 Convullions in the Bowels of Children. 
 
 No. 236. Give a child a quarter old, a fpoonful of 
 the juice of pellitory of the •wall, two or three times a 
 day. It goes through at once, but purges no more. 
 
 As convuhions are not a difeafe, but generally the 
 confequences of other diforders ; as they arlfe in all 
 habits of body, the weak, the ftrong, and the ple- 
 thoric, being fubjeft to them; it was neceffarythat 
 Mr. W. Ihould have attended a little to thefe circum- 
 ftances : but as convulfions are a very frightful and 
 alarming appearance, there are very few who will 
 attend to his preferiptions, at leafl they will not, if 
 they are under the influence of prudence. 
 
 A Cough. 
 
 No. 350. Every cough is a dry cough at fir/l. As 
 long as it continues fo, it may be cured by chewing imme- 
 diately after you cough, the quantity of a pepper corn of 
 
 F Peruvian 
 
t ] 
 
 Peruvian bark. S ipailow your fpittl-e as long as H is tiU 
 ier, and then fpit out the ’wood : if you -cough again, do 
 this again. It •very feldom fails to cure any dry cough. 
 I earnejlly define every orte 'veho has any regard for his 
 health to try this ’within 24 hours, after he frjl perceives 
 a cough. 
 
 The bark- is -oneofthofe Herculean remedies, aga’mfl 
 the ufe of which Mr. 'W. diffuades his readers, and 
 which he fays are too ftrongfor eommon men to grapple 
 xvrth. He fays alfo, that they are edged tools ; but 
 that the phyficians have not yet taught them tovxnmd at. 
 a difance : and he adds, that honcf men are under no 
 necejfity of touching them-, or coming xoithin their 
 'reach. ' And yet he recommends this formidable re- 
 niedy to every -perfon affected with a cough. Is there 
 any confiftency in this ? But he has long been diftin- 
 guiflied for his variablenefs and inconhftency. But 
 how.ever'contradiiftdry and abfurd his r.eoijpes are, it 
 is one confolation, that like the four Herculean me- 
 "dieines, honeji men are under m necefjity of touching 
 them, or coming ’within their reach. '* 
 
 From 251 to 272, Mr. Wefley preferibes many 
 remedies for coughs, but they are unworthy of at- 
 tention ; however, I fhall here take the liberty to ob- 
 ferve, that a cough is only the fymptom of an afthma, 
 catarrh, peripneumony, pleurifies., &c. and a good 
 practitioner \vill confidcr what the difeafes arc, which 
 occafion the cough, and vdil preicribe accordingly. 
 
 To caufe an eafy Delivery. 
 
 No. 296. Feci, face, and fry a large white onion, 
 in Hvo or three fpoonfuh of the befi oil, till it is tender, 
 bo'll this ’■with half a glafs of ’'water ; Jtrain it, and drink 
 it in the morning faji'mg, for two or three weeks btfore 
 the time of child birth. 
 
 ^ Wefiey's Frcface, p. 24. ' 
 
 Our 
 
t 43. 
 
 . Our fagacious author here prefcribes a'Jlked onlon^^ 
 Jirji fried^ and afterwards boiled^ to caufe an eafy de- 
 liyery. It may be hoped that all the practitioners in 
 midwifery, male and female, in this kingdom, will 
 pay due regard to this ingenious preibription. 
 
 A Diabetes. 
 
 No. 2.97. Drink wine boiled with ginger^ as much 
 and as often as your Jirength will bear. 
 
 Here is a very flrangc remedy prefcribed for the 
 diabetes-, and no regard whatever paid to the quan- 
 tity of wine to be ufed, or thedofes of ginger to be 
 taken ; furely, in prefcribing wine and ginger as a 
 medicine, the dofe, and times of exhibition, were 
 circumftances worthy of fome little attention. 
 
 No. 299. Infufe half an ounce of ca 7 itharides in a 
 pound of elixir of vitriol. Give from 15- to 30 drop's y 
 or even 40 drops, in Briftol water, twice or thrice a day. 
 
 As in this difeafe, the nutritious and balfamic parts 
 of the blood are carried of by the kidneys, fo that 
 great weaknefs, emaciation, and heblic fever wail 
 come on, if the diforder is not very foon removed 
 it is to be hoped that every perfon affected with the 
 diabetes, will have recourfe to proper advice, on its 
 hrft approaches. 
 
 Mr. W.’s prefcription of eantharides in^his difeafe,. 
 is equally abfurd and dangerous A and the writer 
 hopes no perfon wall be fo credulous or incautious as 
 to make ufe of it. , 
 
 The Dropfj. ' 
 
 No. 30c to 323.. Mr. Wefley gives 23 prefcrip- 
 tions for the cure of dropfies, and fays fuch extraor- 
 dinary things of feme of them, that it were to be 
 wifned the fads- had been better authenticated. 
 
 F % The 
 
C 44 ] 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Granger, in his Ingenious biogra-r 
 cal work, fays of the Primitive Phyjic, that “ this 
 book, by the help of the title, hath had a good run 
 among the Methodifts, whofe faith, co-operating 
 with nature, frequently made them whole, when Mr, 
 W, had the credit of the cure.’* 
 
 Drowned. 
 
 Mr. Wefley recommends, from Dr. Tiflbt, that 
 the trunk of the body of a drowned perfon, fhould 
 be rubbed all over with fait. It is not neceffary to 
 make any remarks on this ; but I lhall here take the 
 liberty to obferve, that as the fociety lately eftablilh- 
 ed in London, for the recovery of perfons apparent- 
 ly drowned, &c. (an inftitution which my worthy and 
 ingenious friend. Dr. Cogan, and myfelf, affifted 
 by many refpedtable gentlemen, have been happily 
 inftrumental in introducing into this kingdom) have 
 given their methods of treatment to the public, and 
 which, in the fpace of eighteen months, have been the 
 happy means of restoring forty-one persons 
 TO LIFE j it may reafonably be hoped, that thefe 
 methods, the efficacy of which has been demon- 
 flrated by unqueftionable fafts, will be duly at- 
 in all cafes of this nature. Thofe who wifli for 
 further information on this fubjeO:, may meet with 
 it in the Plan and Reports of the Society, 
 printed in the prefent year. 
 
 On Fevers, 
 
 It is with regret that the writer trefpaffes on the 
 patience of his readers, by troubling them with Mr. 
 W’s abfurd divifion of fevers, and his very incon- 
 fiftent remedies for a difeafe that carries off three 
 parts of the human fpecies ; but it is neceffary, in or- 
 der to give them the more thorough convidtion, that 
 
 the 
 
[ 45 ] 
 
 the Primitive Phyftc is a publication calculated to lead 
 thofe who rely upon it, to trifle with their lives, in 
 the mofl; dangerous and alarming difeafes. 
 
 No. 402. Toafted bread and water can do no hurt 
 in a fever ; and it may, therefore, very lafely be 
 given, either in a dry heat, or a moiji heat, to adopt 
 the curious language of our profound praftitioner. 
 
 It is not eafy to meet with any quack, even the 
 mofl aflfuming, who profefles to cure difeafes with 
 more facility than Mr. W. If his directions are fol- 
 lowed, diforders, of the mofl; dangerous kind, dif- 
 appear, as at the touch of the magician’s wand. He 
 cures a burning fever in an hour. What were Hip- 
 pocrates or Galen, compared to John Wefley ! Stamp 
 (fays he, 408) a handful of leaves of -woodbine ; put 
 fair -water into it, and ife it cold, as a tlyfer. It 
 COMMONLY cures in an hour. A more expeditious 
 remedy need fcarcely be wiflied for ; much is it to be 
 regretted, that its efficacy is not fomewhat better au- 
 thenticated! But it is to be feared, that Mr. W’s 
 faith in this remedy is only founded, as implicit faith 
 generally is, upon ignorance. He feems to have no 
 idea, that the burning heat in a fever, will frequently 
 abate on a fudden, and go off in an hour, and yet re- 
 turn again in a few hours, with equal violence ; and 
 what he fuppofes to have been a cure, could be 
 only a temporary abatement; and even this is 
 very unlikely to be procured in a burning fever, by 
 a cold clyfter. 
 
 Mr. W. may perhaps imagine, that when what he 
 recommends as remedies are not manifeftly perni- 
 cious, if he does no good, at leaft he does no harm. 
 But this in many cafes will be a mofl egregious miftake, 
 and of this the prefent prefcription is an inftance. He 
 recommends (No. 41 2) thin water-gruel, or boiled -milk 
 and water, in a heBic fever. As fimple drinks, thefe 
 can do no harm : but thofe who are led by their con- . 
 fidence in Mr. W’s opinion, to rely upon thefe as 
 
 probable 
 
l' 45 ] 
 
 probable remedies for the cure of a hedllc fever, may 
 iuftain an irreparable injury. By expelling relief 
 from thofe things which cannot cure them, they are 
 prevented from having recourfe to thofe remedies 
 which, if they had been taken in time, would have 
 been efficacious. An hectic fever is a difeafe that re- 
 quires judicious and attentive pradtice, and which 
 feldom has a fatal tendency, if the fick perfon is not 
 led by fuch dablers in phyfic as Mr. W. to trifle too 
 long with a diforder which, after a certain length of 
 time, becomes incurable. 
 
 Of all the difeafes to which human beings are fub- 
 jedt, tliere is none which carries off fo many as fe- 
 vers. But Mr. W. is poffefl'ed of a remedy for them 
 all, which is equally eafy and infallible. Plunging in 
 cold water, he fays, (No. 413) is ^Jafe and a Jure re- 
 medy in any fever : and he even recommends this in a 
 high fever, attended with a delirium and a vigilia, 
 which are the moft dangerous fymptoms with which 
 a fever can poffibly be attended. It would be a happy 
 circumftance if this remedy were as certain and as 
 fafe as Mr. W. reprefents it ; but in this cafe his 
 mere affertion is furely not fufficient, unlefs among 
 the moft credulous of his followers ; and, unfortu- 
 nately, he has not fupported what he has advanced 
 by any fadls, or by any kind of evidence. 
 
 The next difeafe for the cure of which Mr. W.- 
 attempts to preferibe, is an ague,, which he calls an 
 intermitting fever, each fit of which is preceded by: 
 a cold Jloivering, and goes off in a fweat : for this he 
 preferibes forty remedies. It might have been 
 prefumed’ that thefe would have been fufficient ; at 
 leaft by a man who has faid, “ Experience fhews 
 ‘‘ that one thing will cure moft diforders, at leaft as 
 “ well as. twenty put together. Then why do you 
 “ add the other nineteen.” But though Mr. W. 
 is offended that many remedies fhould be preferibed 
 by other people, he himfelf does not think forty fuf-. 
 
 ficient. 
 
I 47 H 
 
 ficlent. And therefore in the 8oth page of his book 
 he gives Jive more remedies for an intermitting fever, 
 which are fo different from thofe he prefcribed for an 
 ■ague, that he feems not to have known that they 
 •were the fame difeafe, though he had faid they were 
 in the firft page of his pamphlet. But Mr. W. is 
 too ftrongly charafterifed by inconfiftency, for any 
 thing of this kind to excite our aftonilhment. 
 
 A Nervous Fever. 
 
 No. 423. Drink every night a tea-fpoonful of cream 
 of tartar^ boiled in half a pint of milk. 
 
 This prefcription is nothing more than whey, and 
 is the only one fet down for the cure of this fever ; 
 and it is mere trifling with the patient in a difeafe 
 which is occafloned by a great debility of the vital 
 powers ; fo that a crem of tartar drink cannot poflibly 
 be of the lead fervice, but will generally be highly 
 injurious. 
 
 A Rafli Fever. 
 
 No. 424. Drink every hour a fpoonful of juice of 
 ground-ivy. It cures in 24 hours. Uje the decodlion 
 vohen you have not the juice. 
 
 In a ralh fever, as it is termed by Mr. W. and 
 other ignorant people, he recommends that the pa- 
 tient fliould drink ground-ivy juice or decodion. 
 This prefcription is equally bold and unfupported ; 
 it is entirely inapplicable to the difeafe, and none 
 but the weak and credulous will expert any relief 
 from it. 
 
 A flow Fever. 
 
 No. 425. XJfe the cold bath for two or three weeks, 
 daily. 
 
 A nervous and flow fevei-, is generally allow'ed by 
 praditioners to be one and the fame difeafe; but we 
 mud not exped the author of the Primitive' Fhyfc to 
 
 entertain 
 
C 48 ] 
 
 entertain the fame ideas as the gentlemen of the Fa- 
 culty ; for, in the nervous fever, his remedy is cream 
 of tartar and milk : in the flow fever, no internal re- 
 medy whatever is advifed, but he recommends, dai- 
 ly, the ufe cf the cold bath, for two or three weeks. 
 It is too true, that the nervous, or flow fever, is apt 
 to continue feveral weeks, and the fymptoms often 
 become fo irregular, that it requires the utmoft at- 
 tention to prefcribe fo as to give the remedies their 
 greatefl efficacy; but Mr. W. with his ufual indif- 
 ference, indifcriminately orders cream of tartar and 
 the cold bath, without paying the leafl: regard to 
 the different circumffances of this diforder, of which 
 there are hardly two cafes alike. 
 
 As the author did not fit down, merely with a 
 view to expofe the errors and abfurdities of Mr. W.’s 
 performance, but alfo with a defign to offer his read- 
 ers fuch obfervations as fhould occur to him, which 
 might be of a beneficial tendency, he will here take 
 the liberty of making a few general remarks, rela- 
 tive to Mr. W.’s method of clafling fevers, and the 
 mode of treatment recommended by him, in fo vio- 
 lent and dangerous a difeafe. 
 
 Mr. Wefley claffes fevers under the following 
 heads : a fe-ver, a burning fever ^ an acute fever ^ a 
 continual fever ^ a beflic fever, an intermitting fever, 
 a fever with pains in the limbs, a nervous fever, a rajh 
 fever, and laftly, a flow fever. 
 
 Upon which it may be obferved, that Mr. W. has 
 read or underffood little of this fubjeft, to confider 
 a burning fever, an acute fever, a continual fever, 
 and a fever with pains in the limbs, as different kinds 
 of fevers. My experience and obfervation have con- 
 vinced me, that what are here fuppofed to be four 
 different kinds of fevers, are one and the fame dif- 
 eafe. As for inftance, with refpedt to what is called 
 a burning fever ; is there not more or lefs heat, in 
 general, in fevers ? And is it not abfurd, that, be- 
 
 caufe 
 
[ 49 ] 
 
 caufe the fever fliould be high at one time, and the 
 heat then increafed, that therefore it fliould be fpo- 
 ken of as a peculiar difeafe ? 
 
 2dly, As to what is called an acute fever ; as all 
 fevers are univerfally allowed to be acute difeafes, 
 there can be no ufe or meaning in this difcriminating 
 term. 
 
 3dly, As to the phrafe coJitinual fever ; are not all 
 fevers continual, except intermittents ? And what 
 then is the meaning of this diflinftion ? 
 
 4thly, As to what is termed a fever with pains in 
 the limbs ; in the very fame fever, are not the differ- 
 ent parts of the body, varioufly affefted with the dif- 
 eafe ; fometimes pain in the head, fometimes pain in 
 the limbs ? If, then, we mull have a new name for 
 every accidental fymptom that arifes, we might have, 
 as many clafles of fevers, as there are days in the 
 year. 
 
 As to the rafj fever ^ Mr. W. does not inform us 
 whether he means a miliary, a fpotted, or a petechi- 
 al fever, but advifes the patient to drink iht juices of 
 ground-ivy, a medicine of no real virtue ; fo that it is 
 diredling the fick to trifle in a difeafe of a very dan- 
 gerous nature, and which requires the fkill of a fuga- 
 cious practitioner. 
 
 It fliould alfo be obferved, that Mr. W. has not, 
 in the variety of fevers he has enumerated, given the 
 fymptoms of any one of them ; fo that the fick, or 
 their friends, are left to guefs at what kind it is, with 
 which they are attacked ; and when fuch a vague 
 method of proceeding is to be adopted, is it not ten 
 to one that they miflake the fever, and thus endanger 
 the life of the patient ? 
 
 Thofe who are called to the afliftance of perfons 
 afflicted with fevers, ought to attend carefully to the 
 fymptoms and progrefs of the difeafe. It is a rule 
 with me, in cafes of this nature, to vifit my patients 
 
 G twice 
 
[ 5 ®' ] 
 
 twice a day ; and I often find, that within the cont- 
 pafs of a few hours, there is fo great a change in the' 
 difeafe, that the plan I had formed in the morning, is 
 abfolutely improper in the evening. Now, how is it 
 polTible, that juftice can be done to the afflifted, in a 
 diftemper which carries off fuch great numbers of the- 
 human fpecies, without a knowledge of the caufes, 
 progrefs, and termination of difeafes. It is this^ and 
 ibis only, that can lead to a rational and confcientious 
 mode of treatment ; and whoever prefctibes in acute 
 difeafes., when deftitute of this knowledge, whether 
 Mr. W. or any other Quack, will be in great danger 
 of violating the eighth commandment. Tho’ the 
 mofl: judicious praftitioner cannot always cure fe- 
 vers, yet it is a fortunate circumftance for the patient, 
 vvhen he is fo happy as to be attended by a careful 
 obferver of nature, and of the operation of his re- 
 medies. 
 
 When perfons are taken ill with fevers,, apothe- 
 caries are generally fent for before a phyfician, and 
 therefore they ought to be well acquainted with the 
 duties of their profeffion. And when the apothe- 
 cary is fent for in fuch a cafe, if he be poflefled of 
 fkill and integrity (as many, it is prefunied are, 
 notwithftanding Mr. W’s infinuationsj he will not 
 only confider the fymptons of the difeafe, but the 
 Hate of the conftitution, and thereby be led to a 
 proper mode of treatment. 
 
 Among all ^Mr. Wefley’s remedies for fevers, 
 bleeding is never once advifed to lower the aftion of 
 the velfels, which is exceedingly neceffary when the 
 pulfe is hard, full, or firong, and there are other fymp- 
 toms of inflammation in the habit ; nor does he once 
 advife an emitic or a purgative at the beginning of fe- 
 vers, altho’ there may be fymptoms indicating their 
 their ufe in the ftrongeft manner, and caufed by ob- 
 noxious matters in the firft paffages j the removal 
 
C 5t 3 
 
 of which, early in the difeafe, will often caufe the 
 fever to terminate in two or three days, when it 
 would otherwife have run on for as many weeks. 
 
 It is of great importance that all difeafes, and 
 thofe of the acute kind in particular, fhould be taken 
 care of in the beginning. A difeafe may be almoft 
 incurable after it has continued for fome days, which 
 might have been eafily cured at the firft attack. 
 When a fever, or any internal inflammation is ne- 
 glected for a day or two, orfuch improper and futile 
 remedies ufed as are advifed by Mr. W, or fimilar 
 pretenders to phyfic, the former will frequently run 
 on for many days, and the latter terminate in fuppu- 
 ration of the part, and probably both in their confe- 
 quences prove fatal. 
 
 Mr. Wefley, like many others who have not paid 
 a due attention to the hiftory and progrefs of difeafes, 
 often preferibes only for fymptoms. Thus, he has his 
 cold bath for delirium and vigilia^ his lambs-lungs alfo 
 for delirium, hartfhorn drops for a fever with pain in 
 the Ihnbs, <^c. And this . leads rne to remark, that 
 I have been thoroughly convinced from feven- 
 teen years experience, that preferibing to par- 
 ticular fymptotns, is a moll dangerous mode of 
 practice. There areTome who will preferibe for the 
 head-ach, others. for pains in the limbs, &c. not re- 
 flecting that thefe are only fymptoms of the difeafe 
 called a fever ; but becaufe they are fymptoms which 
 give pain and uneafinefs to the fick, they are particu- 
 larly noticed by them. But it fhould be remembered, 
 that thofe fymptoms which give no pain, are the nioft 
 dangerous part of the difeafe ; fuch as the appearance 
 of the eye, which fhews the ftate of the brain j ‘Ctxzpulfe 
 which Ihews the ftate of the vafcular fyftem ; and the 
 tongue, and urine which fliews the ftate of the blood 
 and the fecretions. And when the fever goes ofl^ 
 thefe, as a part of the difeafe, wail naturally go off 
 alfo: but. remedies which are preferibed merely 
 for the removal of painful fymptoms, are by no 
 
 means 
 
[ 5 ^ ] 
 
 means the way to effed a radical cure of the dlfeafe 
 termed a fever. 
 
 In the 24th page of his preface. Mr. Wefley inti- 
 mates, that the art has been difcovered of preparing 
 quickfilver in fuch a manner, “ as to make it the 
 “ moft deadly of all poifons,” and he cautions his 
 readers againft it with great vehemence ; but, 
 notwithftanding this, Mr. W. advifes (No. 426) for 
 .the cure of a fiflula, a folution of corrofive fubli- 
 mate in fpring-water ; and he fays alfo, under this 
 head, that the fame medicine will, in forty days, cure 
 any cancer., ox any running fore, or king’s evil, broken 
 or unbroken. His averfion to mercurials has not 
 prevented him from here recommending one of the 
 moft aftive mercurial preparations, and one which 
 requires the greateft fliill to adminifter properly in 
 difeafes, and alfo the greateft care with refpeft to 
 circumftances. And indeed no perfon can, with any 
 prudence or fafety, take this aftive medicine under 
 no better direftions than thofe given by Mr. W. 
 
 Flegm. 
 
 No. 430. To prevent or cure, take a fpoonful of 
 warm water the frf thing in the morning. 
 
 Flegm. I confefs, that I was for fome time at a 
 lofs to know what the learned author meant by this 
 word, which I do not remember ever to have met 
 with before, and had fearched many diftionaries 
 without finding any fuch term. Neither did the in-' 
 genious prefeription to prevent or cm c flegm afford 
 me any elucidation on this intricate fubjed ; for I 
 imagine a fpoonful of warm water to be as much a 
 panacea, or univerfal remedy, as it is a fpecific in 
 any particular diforder. At laft I c 6 r\]cdimcd. phlegm 
 might be meant, and that Mr. “W. had pillaged fome 
 old manufeript of his grand-mothers for a recipe to 
 
 pre- 
 
C S3 ] 
 
 prevent or cure Jlegm ; and that we might be certain 
 of its authenticity, he had faithfully copied the old 
 lady’s orthography. 
 
 A Flux. 
 
 No. 433. Ufe the cold bath daily, and drink a 
 draught of water from the fpring. 
 
 The cold bath is recommended for the cure of a 
 flux, which mull be exceedingly improper, as by 
 fuddenly contradling the fuperficies of the body, a 
 load of fluids will be determined to the interior parts, 
 fo that the quick and great difhenfion of the interior 
 veflels will have a tendency rather to increafe the flux 
 than to cure it. 
 
 A Bloody Flux. 
 
 No. 445. Drink cold water as largely as pojfihle, 
 till the fux fops. 
 
 Mr. W. advifes a perfon affefted with the bloody 
 flux to “ drink cold water but what is more ex- 
 traordinary than the remedy, he recommends that 
 nothing clfe fliould be taken “ till the flux flops,’* 
 Here a very ineffedtual remedy is prefcribed for a 
 very dangerous difeafe, and if the patient is to take 
 nothing elfe, he is configned over to certain death, 
 unlefs the flux flops of itfelf ; for no rCafonable man 
 can be of opinion that it will ever be ftopt merely 
 by drinking cold water. 
 
 No. 447. Take a large apple, and at the top pick 
 out all the core, and fll up the place with a piece of ho- 
 ney-comh ( the honey being ftrained out ) ; roof the ap- 
 ple in embers, and eat it, and this will fop the fux 
 immediately. 
 
 It were to be wifhed, that there was fome evidence 
 of the efficacy of this extraordinary remedy for the 
 bloody flux ; for till this is produced, thofe v/ho 
 
 exped 
 
C 54 3 
 
 c?cpcft a cure from it mufl be pofleffed of more cre- 
 dulity than underftanding. 
 
 Mr. W. fays, that powdered root of gladwin is juji 
 as good as rhubarb in moft cafes. But the fuperior 
 efficacy of rhubarb has been fo well afeertained, that 
 this affertion would not have been made by any man, 
 who was acquainted with the medical principles of 
 thefe medicines. 
 
 No. 454. A perjon was cured in one day by feeding 
 on rice-milk, and fitting a quarter of an hour in a 
 fiallow stub, having in it warm water three inches 
 dicp. 
 
 This rice-milk, ffiallow tub, and warm water pre- 
 feription, is a very important one ; but the good 
 women who attend on this occafion mull take efpe- 
 cial care, that the water is exadlly three inches deep, 
 and that the tub is as fhallow as the prefeription. 
 
 To prevent (or ffqp a beginning) Gangrene. 
 
 No. 455. Foment continually with vinegar, in which 
 drofs of iron (either f parks or clinker sj has been boiled* 
 
 As a gangrene is an incipient mortification, which 
 if it once fpreads to a vital part, generally deftroys, 
 every ihoneft and humane pradtitioner tis always 
 alarmed at the ftate of his patient ; and if he be in 
 indigent circumftanccs advifes immediate recourfe to 
 hofpit-al affiftance ; if otherwife, calls. in a good 
 furgeon and phyfician, to (lop, if poffible, a difeafe 
 fo dreadful in its confequences. Mr. W. however, 
 contents himfelf with ordering an infignificant ex- 
 ternal application. But the writer of this moft ear- 
 neftly recommends, if there be any fufpicion of a 
 gangrene attacking any part, that the bed affiftance 
 may be immediately applied for, as the delay of half 
 an hour mav prove the death of the perfon., 
 
 Mr. W. 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 Mr. W. prefcribes no internal medicines for tlie- 
 removal of fo fericus a difeafe as a gangrene, but in- 
 deed we muft not wonder that he does not order the 
 bark, as in his preface, page 24, he fays that it is 
 one of the Herculean remedies, far too ftrong for 
 common men to grapple with. How many fatal effe^s 
 have thefe (he includes, antimony, opium, Jietl: and 
 quickfilver J produced even in the hands af no ordinary 
 phyfcian. 
 
 But to enable my readers to judge properly on this 
 fubjeft, I fhall take the liberty of making a fliort ex- 
 tralf from that ingenious and fkiJful furgeon, Mr. 
 Pott. He fays, the powers and virtues of the bark 
 “ are known to almolt every praftitioner in phyfick 
 ‘‘ and furgery^ Among the many cafes in which its 
 merit is particularly and juftly celebrated, are the 
 “ diftempers called gangrene and mortifcation:; its 
 “ general power of {topping the one and refiding 
 “ the other, have made no inconliderable addition 
 to the fucCefs of the chirurgic art.” Obfervations 
 en the mortif cations of the toes- and feet, page 793. ' 
 
 The Gout in the Foot or Hand. 
 
 No. 460. Apply a raw lean beef-feak-. Change it . 
 once in twelve hours till cured-. 
 
 Inltead of making any remarks of my own upon 
 this curious remedy, I {hall only here take the liberty 
 of tranfcribing what hath been faid in relation to 
 it by the Rev. Mr. Toplady. “ In Mr. Wefley’s 
 “ book of receipts, entitled Primitive Phyfc^ he ad- 
 “ vifes perfons v/ho have the gout in their feet or 
 hands, to apply raw lean beef fteaks to the part 
 ■“ aifected, frelh and frefli every twelve hours. Some- 
 “ body recommended this dangerous repellent to 
 Dr. T. in the year 1764 or early in 1765. He 
 “ tried the experiment ; the gout w'as, in confequence, 
 driven up to his ftomach and head, and he died 
 
(4 
 
 C 5^ ] 
 
 a few days after at Bath, where I happened to 
 “ fpend a confiderable part of thofe years ; and 
 where at the very time of the Dean’s death, I 
 “ became acquainted with the particulars of that 
 “ cataftrophe. 
 
 “ I am far from meaning to infmuate, becaufe I 
 “ do not know, that the perfon who perfuaded Dr. 
 “ T. to this fatal recourfe derived the recipe imme- 
 “ diately from Mr. Wefley’s medical compilation. 
 “ All I aver is, that the recipe itfelf is to be found 
 “ there, which demonftrates the unfkilful temerity, 
 “ wherewith the compiler fets himfelf up as a phy- 
 “ fician of the body. Should his quack pamphlet 
 come to another edition, ’tis to be hoped that the 
 “ hetf Jieak remedy will, after fo authentic and fo 
 “ melancholy a probatum eft, be expunged from 
 “ the liil of fpecifics for the gout. — ’Tis, I acknow- 
 “ ledge, an effedual cure. Cut off a man’s head, and 
 “ he’ll no more be annoyed by the tooth-ach ; 
 “ Alas, for the ingenium velox, and for the aiidacia 
 perdita, with w’hich a rafli empiric, like Juvenal’s 
 Graculus efuriens, lays claim to univerfal fcience ! 
 
 Grammaticus, Rhetor, Geometres, Pidor, 
 Aliptes." 
 
 “ Augur, Schanohates, Medicus, Magus” om^ 
 nia novi.t * 
 
 Mr. Topladyalfo obferves, with reference to Mr. 
 Wefley, “ Aliquis in omnibus, nullus in fingulis. The 
 “ man who concerns himfelf in every thing, bids 
 “ fair not to make a figure in any thing. Mr. John 
 “ Wefley is, precifely this, Aliquis in omnibus. For 
 is there a fmgle fubjeft, in which he has not en- 
 “ deavoured to fhine ? — He is alfo, as precifely, a 
 “ Nullus in fingulis. For has he fhone in any one 
 “ fubject which he ever attempted to handle 
 
 * Preface to the Scheme of Chriftian and Philofophical Ne- 
 ceflitj, p. 9. 
 
 I Scheme, p. 9. 
 
 No. 
 
C 57 3 
 
 No. 478 to 501, Mr. W. gives a variety of ex-^ 
 ternal and internal remedies for different kinds of 
 the head-ach. Upon which I fliall only obferve, that 
 as pains attacking any part of the head muft take 
 their rife from fome caufe, fo it is impoflible that any 
 perfon can prefcribe judicioufly, without confidering 
 whether it be a febrile, an inflammatory, or a rheu- 
 matic pain in the head ; or an affeftion of the brain 
 or nervous fyflem; or whether the head-ach a- 
 rifes from a diforder of the llomach or bowels. 
 Thefe circumftances fhould be duly confidered, be- 
 fore any one can, with the leafl degree of proprietyj 
 attempt to prefcribe remedies for the various difor- 
 ^lers of the head. 
 
 Heart-Burning. 
 
 No. 502 to 509, Mr. W. has prefcribed a num^ 
 bcr of trifling recipes for the heart-burn. This 
 complaint generally takes its rife from a weak and 
 relaxed flate of the digeflive organs, and therefore 
 it would have been better if Mr. W. ffuppofmg him 
 to have had any knowledge of the fubjeft) had pre- 
 fcribed Tonics, which by ftrengthening the ftomach, 
 bid the fairefl for removing this troublefome com- 
 plaint. 
 
 Hoarfenefs* 
 
 No. 515, Rub the foies of the feet before the fre^ 
 xuith garlick and lard^ well beaten together, over nighth 
 The hoarfenefs will begone the next day i. 
 
 This is a very extraordinary prefcription, but as 
 fuch a very extraordinary charadler is given of its 
 certainty of fuccefs j it is to be hoped that every per* 
 fon affefted with a hoarfenefs, will rub the foies of 
 his feet, “ with garlick and lard” as by fo doing, a 
 diforder of the throat “ will be gone the next 
 
 day.” 
 
 Mr. W. has given fuch a farrago of abfurd re* 
 medies for the various difeafes for which he pretends 
 
C 58 3 
 
 to prefcrlbe, as are enough to exhauft the patience 
 of any ordinary reader ; but my duty to the public 
 obliges me to proceed, notwithftanding the irkfome- 
 nefs of the talk. To thofe afflicied with pains in 
 the joints, he advifes, (No. 539) that they fliould 
 drink a dcco 6 tion of herb-rohert, and apply it as a 
 poultice. Now, pains in the joints may arife from 
 caufes very different, and yet the pain which is only 
 a fymptom of the other difeafes, is to be cured by a 
 fingle herb. But in order to render herb-robert 
 the more certainly efficacious, it is to be applied both 
 internally and externally. The egregious quackery 
 of all this is too manifefl to need any further re- 
 marks. 
 
 The Itch. 
 
 No. 540 to 549. If there be any diforder which 
 Mr. Welley underilands, it appears to be the Itch ; 
 whether this be the refult of his own feelings or ex- 
 perience, or of any other caufe, I pretend not 
 to determine ; but his remedies for this cutaneous 
 difeafe are more judicious than alinoft any other in 
 his book. 
 
 The Kin^’s-Evil. 
 
 From 550 to 558. Here are eight remedies for 
 this inveterate diforder ; but they all appear fuper.. 
 fluous ; for at No. 42,6 he has recommended a mer- 
 curial preparation, whicli he fays will cure the King’s- 
 Evil in farty days. This is a very expeditious reme- 
 dy for fo ftubborn a difeafe, fo tliatif any dependance 
 were to be placed on what Mr. W. firft recommend- 
 ed, there w'otild be little occafion to have recourfe to 
 any odier prefcription. 
 
 ihe 
 
C 59 ]■ 
 
 The Legs inflamed. 
 
 No. 560. Apply fuller s-earth Jpreai on brown 
 paper. It feldom fails. 
 
 No. 561. Or bruiftd turnips. 
 
 No. 562. Or boiled turnips mixed with mutton fat. 
 
 No. 563. Or rub them with warm juice of Plantane. 
 
 Thefe are external applications for inflamed legs’, 
 but perfons fo afflifted, lliould take care how they 
 repel fuch appearances as external inflammation ; for 
 in acute difeafes it is often a very happy termination 
 or crifis of a very long and dangerous fever, &c. and 
 in chronic diforders it will be at all times advifeable 
 to mend the habit of body, before an attempt be 
 made to remove this inflammatory fymptom. 
 
 Legs fore, and running. 
 
 No. 564. Wajk them in brandy, and apply elder 
 leaves, changing them twice a day^'^his will dry 
 up all the fores, thaugh the legs were like honey-combs. 
 Iried. 
 
 No. 565. Poultice them with rotten apples. Tried. 
 
 If it were to be admitted that thefe tried remedies 
 had all the efficacy in them that Mr. W. attributes- 
 to them, yet they Ihould not be ufed but with great 
 caution. For it is an eftabliffied law in the human 
 body, that when any difcharge, from whatever caufe, 
 has continued any length of time, it then becomes 
 habitual to the confutation ; and therefore any aftrin- 
 gent or repellent, which will caufe a fudden check of 
 the humors, will often be attended with the word: 
 confequences to the general health ; fo that it is 
 hardly ever fafe to dry wpfuddenly a confiderable flux 
 of humours determined to any part, unlefs the habit 
 
 H 2 be 
 
[ 6o ] 
 
 be mended by an alterative courfe, or an artificial 
 out-let be made by an iffue or feton, to unload the 
 cpnftitutipn, upon the drying up or cure of fuch run- 
 ning fores. 
 
 The Lethargy. 
 
 From 575 to 578. Mr. Wefley gives feveralpre- 
 fcriptions for the cure of the lethargy, and among the 
 reft he orders white hellebore to be Jniift up the nofe. 
 This may prove a very dangerous remedy, as the 
 lethargy is generally owing to an over-fulnefs of the 
 blood-velfels, and particularly thofe of the head : 
 now, any errhine, and efpecially one fo powerful 
 as hellebore, might, by its fudden and violent fti- 
 mulus, caufe an inftant rupture of the veffels of the 
 brain, and an apoplexy be the unhappy confequence. 
 The lethargy is a complaint owing to an internal 
 caufe, and ought to be very ferioufly attended to, 
 as it is often the forerunner of difeafes of the mofb 
 dangerous nature, fuch as apoplexy, palfy, &c. 
 
 No. 584 to 600. As Mr. W, is a univerfal prac- 
 titioner, he prefcribes for lunacy^ r^gh^g tnadnefs^ 
 and the bite of a tnad dog^ as well as for other dif- 
 eafes j but unlefs the friends and relations of the 
 unhappy perfons fo afflifted, are as mad as the 
 patients, they will apply for proper advice and af- 
 fiftance, inftead of relying on the modes of cure re- 
 conimended by the author of Primitive Phyfic, 
 
 The Meades. 
 
 No. 601. Drink only thin waier^gruel^ or milk and 
 water, the more the better ; or toaji and water. 
 
 No. 6©2. Jf the cough be very troublefome, take fre- 
 quently a fpoonful of barley-water, fweetened with oil of 
 fweet almonds, newly drawn, mint with fyrup of tnai- 
 denhair* 
 
 The 
 
[ 6i ] 
 
 The prefcriptions are only fuitable drinks, with a 
 little oil and fyrup to palliate the cough ; but Mr. W. 
 does not inform his readers that this infectious difeafc 
 is always attended with confiderable inflammation of 
 the breaft, and that the lancet is frequently to be 
 ufed to remove the inflammatory afteCtion of the 
 lungs, as well as to prevent the future bad confe- 
 quences of the meafles. Nor does our author recom^ 
 mend any kind of phyfic to be given at the going off 
 of the difeafe; though clearing the conflitution of 
 the remaining morbillous matter, is a circumftance 
 of the utmofl importance with regard to the general 
 health. This difeafe, if it be attended to by a judi- 
 cious practitioner, never turns out ill, either during 
 its continuance or afterwards : but if proper pre- 
 cautions are not ufed during the inflammatory ftate 
 of the difeafe, it generally fettles upon the lungs ; 
 and thus, through negleCl and inattention, vaft 
 numbers of children are carried off by the meafles 
 every year. No perfon ought then to flight the 
 cough or other remaining fymptoms of this diforder, 
 although the patient fhould have been freed from the 
 difeafe for a confiderable time ; as thefe are the warn- 
 ings of the impending danger. 
 
 From 604 to 612, are a great variety of remedies 
 advifed for menfes obJiruBed, but no attention is paid 
 to the age or the conflitution ; fo that it is to be 
 hoped, that the fair fex will pay little attention in 
 this cafe to the recipes contained in the Frimitroe 
 Fhyfic, as it is not to be fuppofed that Mr. W.’s fe* 
 male auditory have confulted him much in this com- 
 plaint. And if it be injudicioufly prefcribed for, it 
 may lay the foundation for a future ill ftate of health, 
 and for diforders which never can be removed. 
 
 Mr. W. has alfo from 612 to 620 fundry prefcrip- 
 tions for menfes nimii. I confefs myfelf fomewhat at 
 a lofs to know what were the reafons for ufing the 
 word nimii. The word menfes is, I believe, ge- 
 nerally 
 
[ 62 ] 
 
 nerally undcrflood ; but how the good women in the 
 country are to comprehend the other word, I know 
 not. They may indeed apply to the parfon of the 
 parifli ; but fhould their delicacy prevent this, or the 
 parfon not happen to be in the w^ay, they may flow 
 on for the next month, before the female patient 
 may know what thefe excellent recipes are good for. 
 However the complaint referred to, ought not to be 
 trifled with, but a due regard ought to be paid to 
 age, conflitution and other circumftances, to pre- 
 vent the bad confequences refulting from the dif- 
 order. 
 
 Old Age. 
 
 No. 629. Take tar-water morning and evening. 
 Tried. 
 
 No. 630. Or, decoUion of nettles; either oj thefe 
 will probably renew the frengthjor foyne years. 
 
 No. 630. Or, be eledlrifed daily. 
 
 Mr. Wefley, who is a mofl; incomparable prac- 
 titioner, has remedies for a difeafe, of all others the 
 moll inveterate, viz. old age. Tar-water is a tried 
 remedy ; or if that tried prefeription flrould be found 
 not fufficiently efficacious, decodion of nettles ; and 
 “ either of thefe,” he fays, “ will probably renew 
 the ftrength for fome years.” Or if the patient ftill 
 feels old age an in conquerable diforder, he recom- 
 mends being eltdrified daily. This hint is worthy 
 the attention of the ingenious Dr. Priestly; as when 
 the arcana of electricity are compleatly laid open, an 
 electrical fliock judicioufly adminiftered, and re- 
 peated with fufficient frequency, might peradventure 
 extend a man’s life to a thoufand years ; or if it 
 were only fve hundred, it might be as advanta- 
 geous to the publicas Dr. Priestly’s difeoveries re- 
 lpe£ting fixed air ; though thefe have juftly intitled 
 
t 63 ] 
 
 this gentleman to that applaufe which he hath unl- 
 verfally received in the philofophic world. 
 
 No. 652 to 664. Thefe are external applications 
 for the cure of the piles ; but they deferve little re- 
 gard. This is one of thofe diforders, which though 
 very painful, generally tend to do great good to the 
 conftitution ; for when a perfon is of a fanguineous 
 or melancholic temperament, or his veffels aft 
 very ftrongly, this is the mod happy determination 
 chat nature can take ; and although the piles may re- 
 turn feveral times, and no evacuation of blood be 
 occafioned, yet the ftimulus is tending that way ; 
 and if the pain and uneafmefs Ihould be removed by 
 repellents or aftringents, it will often be at the hazard 
 of the life of the patient. I have been a melancholy 
 eye-witnefs of the truth of this alfertion, in two or 
 three cafes in my o^vn praftice, where perfons, from 
 the uneafmefs they fuffered, have (contrary to my ad- 
 vice) raflily applied fome aftringent, which has fud- 
 denly removed the piles, and made a very flight and 
 falutary complaint terminate in an apoplexy. 
 
 The Pleurlfy. 
 
 No. 675. Apply to the fide miiom roafed in embers 
 mixed with cream. 
 
 No. 676. Take half a dram of foot. 
 
 No. 677. Take out the core of an apple, fill it with 
 white frankincenfe : fop it clofe with the piece you cut 
 cut, arid raaft it in cfhes. Mfh and eat it. 
 
 No. 678. A glafs of tar -water, warm^ every half 
 hour. - 
 
 , No. 679. JdecoUion of nettle i ; and apply the boiled 
 'herb hot ai a poultice. 1 never knew it fail. 
 
 No. dflo. Boiled fennel, or 'camomile- feiotrs. - ■ - 
 
 Soot 
 
[ 64 ] 
 
 Soot and tar-water are the only internal remedies 
 advifed by Mr. W. for the cure of the pleurify, ex- 
 cept his frankincenjed apple ; he has indeed feveral 
 prefcriptions as external applications to the fide. In 
 almoft every fe£tion the author of the Primitive Phy- 
 fic proves to a demonftration his ignorance of the 
 animal oeconomy, and even of the firll principles of 
 medical knowledge ; but in no one more than the 
 prefent ; as he undoubtedly means that his recipes 
 ihould be employed for the cure of the inflammatory 
 pleurify. Mr. W. appears to have hardly any idea 
 of any thing in medicine, but removing pain, not 
 confldering that the pain in the fide, in this cafe, is one 
 of the fymptoms of an inflammation of the pleura j 
 and if the lancet is not freely ufed the firll two or 
 three days of the difeafe, it will terminate in an in- 
 ternal abfcefs, which formation of matter in the 
 breaft will moll commonly kill the patient. Mr. W. 
 in a note defines a pleurify to be a fever attended with 
 d violent pain in the fide, and a pulfe remakarbly hard* 
 But is it not extraordinary that he fliould give fuch a 
 definition of the difeafe, and not order bleeding, 
 which is a certain method of removing the hard 
 pulfe, as well as the other fymptoms of inflamma- 
 tion ? But inllead of advifing evacuation in an in- 
 flammatory difeafe, the author of the Primitive 
 Phyiic prefcribes foot, tar-water, znd frankincerfe* 
 
 To one poifoned. 
 
 No. 683. Give one or two drachms of dijlilted ver- 
 digris, it vomits in an infant . 
 
 Mr. Wefley direfts, that to one poifoned, fhould 
 be given one or Two drachms of difilled verdigris* 
 This dellrudive prefcription was juflly animadverted' 
 upon by a fenfible writer, Avho figned himfelf Anti- 
 dote, in the Gazetteer of Dec. 1775, and it wasi 
 
 this 
 
this gentleman’s obfervations which firft led me to 
 perul'e Mr. W.’s Primitive Phyfic ; and which ac- 
 cordingly gave rife to thefe remarks upon that pub- 
 lication. In the letter referred to, Antidote fays, 
 ‘‘ Every one w^ho has the leaft acquaintance with the 
 “ powers of medicine, will, I believe, be equally 
 “ ftartled with m)delf at reading fuch a prefcription. 
 “ I could fcarce believe my eye-fight for fome time, 
 “ nor can at prefent by any means account for the 
 “ ignorance and prefumption of a man who deals 
 “ out as an antidote, one of the moll a(^ve poifons 
 “ in nature, in fuch an enormous dofe, and this 
 “ in fuch an undetermined quantity, as if the exaft 
 “ dofe were immaterial.” And Antidote further 
 obferves, addrelfing himfelf to Mr. W. “ it is very 
 “ probable that your dofe of two drams would ef- 
 “ feflly poifon 20 or 30 people, or operate very fen- 
 “ fibly on every man, woman, and child, in one of 
 your largeft congregations.” 
 
 Two drams of verdigris are indeed fufficient to 
 poifon forty or fifty people, and that fuch a direftion 
 Ihould have been given in a book intended for ge- 
 neral ufe, and which has paffed through many edi- 
 tions, is a moft alarming confideration, and ought 
 to have given Mr. W. the greateft concern. But in 
 anfwer to this charge he publifhed the following let- 
 ter in the Gazetteer of January i, lyyd* 
 
 To the PRINTER of the GAZETTEER. 
 
 Dec. 28, 1775. 
 
 “ Between twenty and thirty editions of the Pn- 
 mitive Phyfic, or, A Rational and eafy Method of 
 curing mofi: Difeafes, have been publilhed either 
 in England or Ireland. In one or more of thefe 
 “ editions ftand thefe words. “ Give one or two 
 drachms of verdigris.” I thank the gentleman 
 I who 
 
C 65 ] 
 
 who takes notice of this, though he might have 
 “ done it in a more obliging manner. 
 
 ‘‘ Could he poflibly have been ignorant fhad he 
 “ not been willingly fo) that this is a mere blunder 
 of the printer ? that I wrote grains not drachms ? 
 “ However, it is highly proper to advertife the 
 public of this ; and I beg every one that has the 
 “ book, would take the trouble of altering that 
 “ word with his pen. 
 
 “ Tour’s, &c. 
 
 “ J. W E S L E Y.” 
 
 Mr. W. above fays, that this dangerous error 
 {lands in one or more of the twenty or thirty editions of 
 the 'Primitive Phyfic.) which have been publi/hed either 
 in England or Ireland. But this appears to be a moll 
 artful evalion ; for this error is in the fifths the eighth, 
 and the fixteenth editions ; and there is the greateft 
 reafon to believe, that it has pafled through every 
 edition ; for though Mr. W. has been publicly called 
 upon to point out the edition in which there was not 
 this error, he has not been able to point out any 
 one. He has indeed, with a jefuitifm truly charac- 
 teriflic of himfelf, infmuated, though not alferted, 
 in a letter inferted by him in the Gazetteer of Jan. 
 31, that this moft dangerous and fatal blunder was 
 referred to in the errata : but this infinuation ap- 
 pears to be totally without ground, for J could never 
 meet with fuch a corredlion in any edition, and if it 
 had ever been difcovered before, it muft have been 
 the moft culpable and fhamelefs negligence, to have 
 fuffered fo fatal a prefcription to ftand in the laft edi- 
 tion. 
 
 In Mr. Wefley’s firft letter, as given above, he 
 afks, “ Could he (^Antidote') poflibly have been igno- 
 “ rant, (had he not been willingly fo) that this is a 
 ^ mere blunder of the printer ? That I wrote 
 
 grains. 
 
[ 6 ? ] 
 
 grains, not drams This is, perhaps, the firft 
 time that ever any author had the modefly to cenfurd 
 his opponent, for not taking it for granted that he 
 wrote right, when he was convidted of having writ- 
 ten wrong. But as Fly-Flap, another writer in the 
 Gazetteer, juftly obferves, “ The weak attempt to 
 “ throw the blame upon the Printer, is as uncandid. 
 “ as it appears improbable:’* For, “ the wwds, 
 “ drams and grains^ are fo unlike, that it is almolt 
 “ impoffible to miftake the one for the other.” 
 
 It might have been expefted, that Mr. Wefley, 
 when he had difcovered fo dangerours a prefcripton 
 in his book, (a prefcripton which might be of fuch 
 fatal tendency) would have been exceedingly alarm- 
 ed ; and even, if he had been really deftitute of the 
 feelings of humanity, that he would, however, have 
 pretended fome concern, left the blunder fhould 
 have been produdlive of fome mifchief. But fo fac 
 from exprefling grief, he appears to rejoice in the 
 hope, that the fale of his pamphlet would be en- 
 creafed by the attacks upon him, on this occafion. 
 
 In his letter in the Gazetteer, Jan. 3 1 , he fays, “ In 
 “ one refpedl, I am much obliged to the Gentlemen, 
 “ (or Gentleman) who fpends fo much time upon the 
 “ Prmitive Phyjic ; and would humbly intreat them 
 “ to fay fomething about it, (no matter what) in half 
 “ a dozen more of your papers. If nothing was 
 “ faid about it, moft people might be ignorant that 
 “ there was any fuch traft in the world. But their 
 “ mentioning it, makes more enquire concerning 
 “ it, and fo difperfes it more and more’’ — Aftonifli- 
 ing effrontery and infenfibility ! 
 
 If Mr. Wefley had confidered the lives of his 
 fellow-creatures, as an objedt of much concern, the 
 leaft he could have done, it might reafohably be pre- 
 fumed, would have been to have cancelled the leaf 
 wherein this dangerous blunder was, and to have 
 caufed another to have been printed, and inferted in 
 
 I 2 the 
 
C 68 ] 
 
 the unfold books. But he has done nothing like 
 this ; he has only advertifed the error in one paper ; 
 at leaft I have feen it in no more. Since he has 
 been attacked on this fubjedt, I have caufed one to 
 be bought in Paternofter-Row, which had in it 
 this dangerous prefeription, not even altered with 
 the pen. I have, indeed, fince fent for one to the 
 Foandery, wherein the blunder was flightly corredted 
 with the pen : but was this all that ought to have 
 been done by Mr. W. as a man of humanity, or 
 can bis negligence, in this refpedl, be judged confif- 
 tant with any due regard to the lives of his fellow- 
 creatures ? Indeed, it is fomewhat extraordinary, that 
 when the unexpedled fuccefs of the 'Primitive Phyjic^ 
 had caufed Mr. Wefley, as he fays, carefully to revife 
 the whole, and to publijh it again, with alterations, fo 
 enormous a blunder fhould have palfed through all 
 the editions ; for this appears to have been in fadl the 
 cafe. But the truth probably was, that Mr. W.’s ig- 
 norance firft occafioned this dangerous preferipton, 
 and the fame ignorance continuing, prevented it from 
 being corredled in any of the editions. This how- 
 ever, fhews how little Mr. W.’s judgment is to be de- 
 pended on; and the little concern he exprefles for lead- 
 ing his readers into an error, which to fome may have 
 proved fo fatal, is a ftrong evidence of his infenfibility. 
 And when w'e confider the very extenfive fale of his 
 book, the credulity of his followers, and the ex- 
 treme ignorance which is manifefted in many of his 
 preferiptions, may we not fay nearly in his own 
 words, Hoiv many inconvcniencies muft this have oc- 
 cahoned 1 How many conjiitutions may hereby have 
 been ruined! How many valuable lives have been 
 loji!^ 
 
 The Quinfey. 
 
 No. 697. Apply a large white bread toaf, half an 
 inch thick, dipt in brandy to the crown of the head, till 
 it dries. 
 
 * W^fiey’s Preface, p. xxvil. 
 
 I am 
 
C 69 ] 
 
 I am fatisfied from experience, that exciting ait 
 inflammation upon the fkin, near the part affedted, 
 has done much good ; and even this prefcripton of 
 toaji and brandy, might, perhaps, have been ufefully 
 employed as a poultice to the outfide of the throat ; 
 but if applied to the crown of the head, though it be 
 repeated till doomfday, it cannot be of the fmalleft 
 advantage. 
 
 A Quinfey of the Breaft. 
 
 702. Take eight or ten drops of laudanum lying down 
 in bed* 
 
 The learned and ingenious Dr. Heberden, in the 
 fecond volume of the Medical Tranfadtions, among 
 many other very valuable obfervations, treats of a 
 new diforder of the breaft, which he calls Angina 
 Fedoris. I fhall here take the liberty to quote fome 
 of the Dr.’s judicious remarks upon this fubjedl, and 
 the rather as the work, from which they are ex- 
 tradled, is known to but few readers, except the 
 faculty. 
 
 Page 59. “ Thofe who are afflidted with it, are 
 “ feized, while they are walking, and more particu- 
 “ larly when they walk foon after eating, with a pain- 
 
 ful, and moft difagreeable fenfation in the breaft, 
 “ which feems as if it would take their life away, if 
 “ it were to continue or increafe : the moment they 
 “ ftand ftill, all this uneafmefs vaniflies. In aU o- 
 “ ther refpedls, the patients are at the beginning of 
 “ this diforder, perfedlly well, and in particular, have 
 “ no ftiortnefs of breath, from which it is totally 
 “ different.” 
 
 “ When a fit of this fort comes on by walking, 
 “ its duration is very fhort, as it goes off almoft im- 
 “ mediately upon flopping. If it come on in the 
 “ night, it will laft an hour or two j and I have met 
 
 “ with 
 
[ 'O ] 
 
 with one, in whom it once continued for feveral 
 “ days, during all which time the patient feemed to 
 “ be in imminent danger of death. 
 
 “ The pulfe is, at lead; fometimes, not difturbed 
 “ by this pain, and confequently the heart is not 
 “ affedted by it ; which I have had an opportunity 
 “ of knowing by feeling the pulfe during the pa- 
 “ roxyfm.” 
 
 Page 66. “ Bleeding, vomits, and other eva- 
 
 “ cuations, have not appeared to me to do any 
 good. Wine or cordials taken at going to bed, 
 will prevent or weaken the night fits ; but nothing 
 “ does this fo eftedually as opiates. Ten, fifteen, 
 “ or twenty drops of tindlura thebaica taken at 
 “ lying down, will enable thofe to keep their beds 
 “ till morning, who had been forced to rife, and 
 “ fit up two or three hours every night, for many 
 “ months. Such a quantity, or a greater, might 
 “ fafely be continued as long as it is required: and 
 “ this relief afforded by opium may be added to the 
 “ arguments, which prove thefe fits to be of a con- 
 “ vulfive kind.” 
 
 Mr. Welley, in many parts of his Primitive Phyfic, 
 proves himfelf an adept in plagiarifm ; and many 
 authors, there is no doubt, from whom he has 
 borrowed, would do him no credit, had he mentioned 
 their names ; but to have afted like a man of can- 
 dour, he fhould have informed the public, that 
 the difcovery of this new diforder, as well as the mode 
 of treatment, was made by Dr. Heberden, to whom 
 the honour of it ought certainly to have been attri- 
 buted. I think I cannot conclude this fubjedl better 
 than by giving the Dr.’s own words relating to this 
 difeafe. — 
 
 Page 67, “ Time and attention will undoubtedly 
 difcover m.ore helps againfl this teizing and 
 “ dangerous ailment j but it is not to be expeded, 
 
 “ that 
 
[ 7^ ] 
 
 that much can have been done towards eflablifli- 
 “ ing the method of cure for a diftemper hitherto fo 
 “ unnoticed, that it has not yet, as far as I know, 
 “ found a place, or a name in the hillory of dif- 
 “ eafes.” 
 
 The Rheumatifm. 
 
 No. 703 to 715. Here are twelve remedies pre- 
 fcribed for the cure of this diforder ; but moll of them 
 are fo extremely infignificant that they deferve no 
 attention, and the only one that feems likely to have 
 any adlion would in all probability prove highly in- 
 jurious. 
 
 The rheumatifm has been commonly divided into 
 two difeafes, viz. the rheumatic fever and the chro- 
 nic rheumatifm. The acute rheumatifm, or rheu- 
 metic fever, as it is commonly called, generally at- 
 tacks young men, and thofe who are naturally of a 
 good conftitution. It is generally attended at the 
 beginning, with a hard, ftrong, full pulfe, and other 
 fymptoms of general inflammation in the habit ; at 
 the firll attack of this difeafe, copious and re- 
 peated blepding can be the only ufeful remedy, which 
 if negledled for two or three days, or guiacum (in 
 fubftance, or the volatile tinfture) or Mr. W.’s re- 
 cipe, No. 708, Steep [even cloves of gar lick in half a 
 pint of white wine, drink it lying down ; the heart, and 
 arterial fyfhem would be flimulated to fo great a de- 
 gree, as to transfer the difeafe to the brain, or fome 
 other vital part, which often in a few hours proves fatal. 
 And the writer, whh the greatell concern, declares, 
 that he is throughly convinced, many lives have been 
 loll by the common mode of prefcribing guiacum, 
 and other heating remedies, at the beginning of rheu- 
 matic complaints. 
 
 No. 733 to 741. Are a variety of llrange re- 
 medies advifed for the cure of the fciatica. One of 
 thofe curious prefcriptoms is, a mud made of powder-^ 
 ed pitcoal, and warm water. But this mud will not 
 only cure the fciatica, but Mr. W. informs us, that it 
 
 alfo 
 
C 7* ] 
 
 alfo cures palfies, weaknefs, weaknefs of the limbs, 
 mojl diforders of the legs, and fweUings and fijfnefs of 
 joints. And alfo that it cured a fivelUng of the elboia 
 joint, though acmnpanied with a fifiula, arifing from 
 a caries of the bone. How much is it to be regretted, 
 that this mud is not better known, as it is fo admirable 
 a cure for fo many incurable difeafes 1 Incredulous 
 people, indeed, doubt the reality of thefe cures ; but 
 we have Mr. W’s authority in their favour, and this 
 
 will furely fatisfy all except thofe obllinate 
 
 people who require proof and evidence inftead of 
 alfertion. 
 
 A Sore Mouth. 
 
 No. 777. Apply the white of an egg beat up with 
 loaf fugar. 
 
 No. 778. Gargle with the juice of cinquefoil. 
 
 No. 779. Beat together a pound of treacle, three 
 yolks of eggs, an ounce of bole armoniac, and a nutmeg 
 cf allwm a quarter of an hour. Apply this to the fore 
 part, or to an aching tooth. Tried. 
 
 Mr. Wefley has here recommended feveral topical 
 applications, but he did not confider, or probably 
 was ignorant, that fores in the mouth, &c. frequently 
 arife from internal caufes, and unlefs the conllitu- 
 tion is made better, fuch fores will feldom heal ; or, 
 if they fhould, the difeafe will frequently fix upon 
 fome more internal part, and be much more dan- 
 gerous than the original complaint. 
 
 The Strangury. 
 
 No. 840. life the cold bath. 
 
 The utility of the cold bath in the llrangury is by 
 no means apparent, it being a diforder of the urina- 
 ry palfages, which may arife from a great variety of 
 caufes, that bathing feems very little adapted to cure. 
 
 A Sur- 
 
C 73 ] 
 
 A Surfeit. 
 
 No. 846. Tale about a nutmeg of the green topi of 
 ivormwood. 
 
 A furfeit is a diforder which arifes from various 
 caufes, and requires the attention of an able prafti- 
 tioner ; but from whatever caufe it may proceed, it 
 is not very likely to be removed by the tops of green 
 wormwood. 
 
 To ftop profufe Sweating. 
 
 No. 847. Drink largely of cold water. 
 
 Drinking largely of cold water has by fome perfons 
 been recommended, and particularly in fevers, to oc- 
 cafion fweating, and may fometimes have been advan- 
 tageous ; but Mr. W. it is apprehended, is the firft 
 who ever advifed this remedy to fop profufe fweating. 
 But as he is a very uncommon pradioner, he maybe 
 confidered as having the better right to prefcribe un- 
 common modes of treatment. 
 
 Swelled Legs. 
 
 No. 851. Bathe them every morning in cold water, 
 and take an eafy purge twice a week. 
 
 No. 852. Take wormwood, fouthernwood, and rue; 
 fiamp them together, and fry them in honey till they grow 
 dry : Then apply them as hot as you can bear. 
 
 Mr. Wefley does not confider that fwelled legs are 
 only one of the fymptoms of fome other difeafe, as 
 the tumour may be a fymptom of inflammation, fe- 
 ver, rheumatifm, &c. Now in all thefe diforders thp 
 above prefcriptions may prove extremely injurious, 
 and even in fome cafes deftruftive to the patient. 
 
 A Swelled Throat. 
 
 853. Gargle with deco^ion of ne tiles . 
 
 K No. 
 
C 74 3 
 
 No. 854. Or of primrofe leaves. 
 
 As fwelling in the throat is generally only a fymptom 
 of an inflainination, or fome other affedlion attacking 
 the throat, what Mr. W. has recommended can be 
 produftive of no good to the patient. But the au- 
 thor of Primitive Phyfic has given many proofs of 
 the mifchief that may accrue to the lick, from thofe 
 who prefcribe remedies for difeafes, with the iiature of 
 which they are unacquainted. Thus in p. 1 1 5 of his 
 work he has prefcribed for the quinfey; p. 127 for 
 a fore throat ; and now he has a feparate fedion for 
 a fwelled throat ; though thefe are only lymptOms of 
 one and the fame difeafe. 
 
 To faften the Teeth, 
 
 To clean the Teeth, 
 
 To prevent the Tooth-ach, 
 
 To cure the Tooth-ach. 
 
 Mr. W. has prefcribed only twenty-two remedies 
 for the teeth j fome of which are to f often the teethe 
 fome to clean the teeth, others to prevent the tooth-ach ; 
 and feveral very unaccountable remedies to cure the 
 tooth-ach. 
 
 The writer cannot help embracing this opportu- 
 nity, for the benefit of his readers, of giving an ex- 
 trad from the ingenious Mr. Rusp ini’s (furgeon-den- 
 lift, Pall Mall) little treatise, juft publifhed, 
 which affords the ftrongeft proofs of his fkill in his 
 profeffion, as wxll as of his humanity and generofity 
 to the public. 
 
 Mr. Ruspini, among many other very fenfible ob- 
 fervations, interfperfed through his pamphlet, fays, 
 that, “ Perfons of all ages fhould clean their teeth 
 “ conftantly with proper dentrifices every night and 
 
 “ morn- 
 
“ morning, and never omit to wafli their mouths 
 ‘ well with water after eating ; ■ othcrwife particles of 
 ‘ meat, fweetmeate, and fruits, or many other 
 ‘ parts of our food, by remaining between or 
 ‘ about the teeth, will lay a foundation for - future 
 ‘ mifchief. By following this advice, the teeth of 
 ‘ people in general, but efpecially of children, will 
 ' be preferved from decay.’* 
 
 “ If the teeth happen to be decayed of piinfiil* 
 ‘ it has been the general cuflom to fend for the 
 ‘ next tooth-drawer, who commonly has not any 
 ‘ idea of cure, but by extirpating a tooth ; a pradtice 
 ^ replete with ignorance and barbarity, often fol- 
 ‘ lowed by dangerous and fometimes fatal confer 
 ‘ quences, and therefore never fhould be perform- 
 ‘ ed except in thofe cafes where no other remedy 
 ‘ promifes any probability of fuccefs. As there are 
 a great variety of caufes produdlive of pain in the 
 ‘ teeth and gums, fo there are various means by 
 ‘ which eafe may be procured ; but thefe, like all 
 ‘ other difeafes to which the human frame is more 
 ‘ or lefs liabkj require the knowledge of fkilful 
 ' pradlitioners for their cure. 
 
 “ Ladies of tender conftitutions, during preg- 
 ‘ nancy, are often dfflicled with pain in. one or more 
 ‘ teeth; others afilidfed in a fimila’r manner by 
 ‘ colds ; others by nervous attacks. It would be 
 ‘ as abfurd to loofs a tooth in hopes of eafe, that 
 ‘ fhould be painful from any of thefe, or many 
 ‘ other caufes, as for a gouty man to part with a 
 ‘ painful toe, and fuppofe that his diforder would 
 ^ be cut off with it. Experience fhews, that the 
 ‘ caufes and feats of pain are frequently in diftant 
 ‘ places : numbers of perfons have been deprived 
 ‘ of their teeth without receiving relief from their 
 ‘ pain, and fuffer a fevere operation without a pof- 
 ‘ fibility of benefit.” 
 
 K 2- Ex- 
 
C 76 ] 
 
 Extreme Thlrft. 
 
 No. 890. Drink fpring water in which a little fal 
 prunella is diffolved. 
 
 As thlrft is a fymptom which is generally atten* 
 dant on fevers, inflammations, rheumatifm, dropfy, 
 See. it is only to be removed by the remedies proper 
 for the cure of thofe diforders ; but as this is a very 
 troublefome and difagreeable fenfation, the patient 
 may be rendered much eafier by fucking the nitre^ 
 lozenges, tamarinds, lemon and fugar, 8 cc. but drink- 
 ing gallons of water, or other fluids, will not re- 
 move this fymptom when the fever is high, or any 
 other acute difeafe is violent. 
 
 Torpor (or numbnefs) of the Limbs. 
 
 No. 887. Ufe the cold bath with rubbing and fweat^ 
 ing. 
 
 As torpor or numbnefs is generally a fymptom of 
 an incipient paralytic afteclion, I am firmly of opi- 
 nion, that the cold bath is exceedingly improper in 
 this cafe, and may prove highly injurious. Indeed, 
 it might be imagined, that Mr. W. himfelf was ap- 
 prehenfive of its bad tendency ; for immediately after 
 recommending the cold bath, he advifes rubbing and 
 fweating. Now as it is generally allowed, that in- 
 ternal itimulants are necefiary as well as external ap- 
 plications to the numbed part, certainly then the 
 cold bath as a remedy can be produdive of no good 
 effedt. 
 
 The Tympany, or windy Dropfy. 
 
 No. 899. Ufe the cold bath with purges intermixed. 
 
 No. 90c. Mix the juice of leeks and of elder. Take 
 txvo or three fpoonfuls of this morning and evening. 
 Tried. 
 
 As 
 
C 77 ] 
 
 As the tympany is a difeafe refulting from a weak 
 and relaxed ftate of the ftomach and bowels, and 
 which occafions great quantities- of air to be gene- 
 rated from the food, See. and colledled in the firft 
 palTages, fo as to diftend them to a very confiderablc 
 degree, there is not the leaft reafon to fuppofe that 
 the cold bath or purgatives can be proper ; but indeed 
 it is fo difagreeable and troublefome a difeafe, that it 
 will generally oblige the afflifted to apply for proper 
 advice, and therefore there isthe lefs danger of mif- 
 chievous confequences refulting from Mr. Wefley's 
 di regions. 
 
 No. 923. Drmk tar -water morning and evening. 
 
 No. 924. A decodion of pimpernel. 
 
 No. 925. Take decodlion of agrimony thrice a day. 
 
 No. 926. Or, decohlion, powder, or fyrup of horfe- 
 
 Sail. 
 
 An inward Ulcer. 
 
 As Internal ulcers are the confequences of inflam- 
 mation of fome vifeus, membrane, or mufcular part, 
 which from negleft or improper treatment at the 
 beginning of the diforder, frequently terminates in 
 fuppuration, and requires the greateft; medical (kill 
 to prevent its being fatal to the patient ; as the ulcer 
 when once formed, from a variety of internal caufes, 
 is very apt to fpread, and the matter is thereby ab- 
 forbed into the circulating niafs, fo as to ftimulate 
 the heart and arterial fyflem, bring on an hedtic 
 fever, and prove fatal ; it is therefore extremely ab- 
 furd that Mr. W. fliould order fuch infighificant re- 
 medies to remove a difeafe, that is apt to be attended 
 with fuch melancholy confequences. 
 
 To flop Vomiting. 
 
 No. 943. Apply a large onion flit to the pit of the 
 domach. Tried. 
 
 That 
 
C 75 ] 
 
 That a flit onion applied externally fliould be a good 
 and a tried remedy for an internal difeafe, is fome- 
 what extraordinary : but extraordinary remed,ies can 
 excite no furprize, to any man who is well read in 
 Mr. W.’s Primitive Phyftc^ and who gives any de- 
 gree of credit to the marvellous affertions which are 
 contained therein. 
 
 No. 945. Infufe an mmee of qukkfther in a larg^ 
 glafs full f ’water for twenty-four hours, ’Then drink 
 the ’water : L 
 
 This is given as an infallible prefeription ; for the 
 unerring letter 1 is affixed to it ; but as the writer is 
 no friend to implicit faith, he is apt to entertain fome 
 doubts of . its efficacy. When a perfon is afflided 
 with a vomiting, according to Mr. W.'s rule, he 
 muft wait. 24 hours before he can apply his remedy ; 
 and when it is procured, it is not very probable that 
 any good effeds can be produced frpm it, as not the 
 ten thoufandth part of a grain wifi be diflblved in 
 the menftruum, (the water) and will prove as infipid 
 and inefficacious as the water would have done, be- 
 fore the digeftion of the quickfilver and water had 
 taken place. 
 
 Mr. Wefley preferibes many remedies to flop vo- 
 miting ; but he never once recommends the mints;, 
 tamomile^ or carduus, though infufions of thefe fto- 
 machic and bitter vegetables, are often very fervice- 
 able in many complaints of the fVomach, fuch as 
 ficknefs, retchings, and vomiting. Indeed, Mr. Wef- 
 ley, in his wonderful performance, feems difpofed 
 to fall out with the good old women, as well as, with 
 the apothecaries ; for the remedies that the former 
 have and do often preferibe with fuccefs, he has 
 taken no notice of : but he has , in fundry dieafes 
 recommended things much more abfurd and inju- 
 rious than wffiat are advifed by them. 
 
 As 
 
L 79 1 
 
 As we are on the fubjeft of vomiting, the reader 
 wUl perhaps excufe me, if I make a little digreffion, 
 relative to what has appeared to me to be a frequent 
 caufe of a propenhty to vomiting. I have often 
 obferved upon enquiry, when fent for to patients af- 
 fefted with complaints of the ftomach or bowels, that 
 they had over-night, or the preceding day, drank 
 •punch ; and from the effeds, and the fmell of the 
 matters thrown up, had every reafon to think, that 
 inftead of lemon juice, the acid ufed was the vitriolic 
 fpirit ; and, indeed, it is hardly poffible for any one 
 to know in fuch a farrago as punch, what kind of 
 ingredients it confifls of. 
 
 I am firmly convinced, that there is hardly any thing 
 tends fo much to weaken and relax the ftomach, and 
 bring on various ill confequences, fuch as indigefti- 
 on, lofs of appetite, &c. as bad punch. And there- 
 fore I earneftly zdiviic the, punch drinkers to have their 
 fruit, fpirits, &c. brought to them feparately, and 
 to become punch makers ; by which means they will 
 know what the compound confifts of, and that it is 
 not a compofition of bad fpirits, vitriol, &c. Indeed, 
 I would recommend, that preferved lejnon juice, ftiould 
 never be ufed, as it is always running into new fer- 
 mentations, and though not fo bad as vitriol, yet is 
 by no means fo wholefome as the juice when fqueezed 
 immediately from the fruit itfelf. As vomiting and 
 other difagreeable fymptoms affefling the ftomach, 
 may eventually injure the whole fyftem ; becaufe the 
 ftomach can never be long difordered, without mif- 
 chief arifing to the animal ceconomy in general ; 
 therefore thefe hints may not be unworthy of at- 
 tention, and if they are productive of any utility, 
 there will be the lefs reafon to apologife for the di- 
 greflion. 
 
 Bloody 
 
C So ] 
 
 Bloody Urine. 
 
 No. 946. Take a quarter of a pint of fheeps milk 
 twice a day. 
 
 Urine by Drops, with heat and pain. 
 
 No. 949. Drink nothing but lemonade. Tried. 
 
 No. 950. Beat up the pulp offve or fix roamed ap- 
 ples, with near a quart of water ; take it lying down. 
 It commonly cures before morning. 
 
 Involuntary Urine. 
 
 No. 952. Take a teafpoonful of powdered agrimony 
 morning and evening. 
 
 No. 953. A quarter of a pint of alum pojfet drink 
 every night. 
 
 Sharp Urine. 
 
 No. 955. Take two fpoonfuls of frefh juice of ground 
 ivy. 
 
 Suppreffion of Urine. 
 
 No. 957. Drink largely of warm lemonade. Tried. 
 
 No. 958. Or a fcruple of nitre every two hours. 
 
 No. 960. A fpoonfid of juice of radijhes. 
 
 No. 962. Or of bruifed mufardfeed. 
 
 Mr. Wefley prefcribes feveral remedies for bloody 
 ttriney urine by drops, involuntary urine, Jloarp urine, 
 and fupprefftor. of urine; but tliefe retenfions and 
 fupprelfions of the urine, &c. may be owing to 
 fome fault in the urinary palfages, fuch as gravel 
 lodging in fome of thefe parts, the flone, the dropfy, 
 the venereal difcafe, or even to inflammation or 
 fpafmodic affeflion of the kidneys, ureters, &:c. fo 
 that the numerous prefcriptions advifed by Mr. W. 
 
 cannot 
 
[ 8i ] 
 
 cannot poflibly be taken to advantage without know- 
 ing from what caufe it proceeds. 
 
 The Whites. 
 
 No. 977. Live chaftly. Feed fparingly. Ufe exer- 
 cife conjlardly. Sleep moderately, but never lying on 
 you'"' hack. 
 
 No. 978. Take eight grains cf jalap every eight days. 
 This ufuall cures in Jive weeks. 
 
 No. 981. Make Venice turpentine, Jlomy and Jine 
 Jugar, equal quantities, into Jmall pills. Take three or 
 Jour of thefe morning and evening. 
 
 No. 983. After a purging take about pftcen grains 
 of ceriifc of antimony in white whine ^ twice or thrice 
 a day. 
 
 Here are many recipes preferibed for the fuor-al~ 
 bus. This is a very troublefome difeafe, and as it 
 may be owing to a variety of caufes extremely diffi- 
 cult of cure ; but Mr. W. has advifed feveral reme- 
 dies, and not a few, which he feems to think infalli- 
 ble, for thofe diftempers which the faculty find the 
 moil ftubborn, and the moll difficult to remove. 
 And indeed, if it was as eafy for Mr. W. to perform 
 cures as it is to write recipes, he would be univerfally 
 allowed to be fuperior to a Huxham, a Mead, or a 
 Boerhave. 
 
 As the complaints mentioned from T003 to 1012 
 are the objeft of furgery, and treat of various kinds 
 of wounds, for which it is impoflible to lay down any 
 general mode of treatment ; as the dreffing mull be 
 varied according to the (fate of the wound, aud other 
 attendant circumftances, it cannot reafonably be ex- 
 pected that Mr. W.’s recipes would be of any ufe, and 
 it muit therefore beneedlefs to comment on them. 
 
 L 
 
 Mr. 
 
t 82 ] 
 
 Mr. Wefley concludes his Primiiive Pbyfic v/hh 
 the wonderful cures performed by cold-hatb.ng^ waj]?- 
 VI g tbe head^ water-drinkings eledrifyings and la lily 
 fajiing-fpittles which, outwardly applied, he informs 
 us, fometimes cures blhidnefs and dcafnefs, befides va- 
 rious other diforders ; and, taken inwardly, it relieves 
 or cures cancers, tbe gout, tbe ki 7 ig’s evil, tbe leprofy, 
 tbe palfy, tbe rheiimatifm, tbe Jione, &c. &c. He 
 feems indeed to have been rather profufe of his re- 
 medies, which is hardly confonant to his own fenti- 
 ments. For in his preface he fays, “ Experience 
 *•' fliews that one thing will cure moil: diforders, at 
 “ lead: as well as twenty put together. Then why 
 “ do you add the other nineteen ?’* Indeed, it feemed 
 hardly neceifary that Mr. W. fhould publifh a book 
 containing 1012 recipes, when, according to his ac- 
 count, the above Jive remedies will cure almoit every 
 acute and chronic difeafe incident to the human body. 
 Mr. W. fays, p. 154, that cold bathing ewes young 
 children of convuljions, cougbs, cutaneous inflammations 
 of tbe ears, navel and mouth, vomiting, G’c, <&c. But 
 I am clearly of opinion, that if the cold bath be- 
 ufed in thefe various difeafes of young children, agree- 
 able to Mr. W’s recommendation, the lives of many 
 children will be facrificed in confequence. In many 
 of the complaints for which it is preferibed, it is to- 
 tally improper ; and in others that are mentioned it 
 can do no good. And even where it is proper, it 
 requires a little more attention than Mr. W. pays to 
 the fubjedl: ; and indeed even common nurfes appear 
 to underhand this matter better than he does. For 
 they are feldom or never fo abfurd as to dip a child 
 that is afflidfed with coughs, cutaneous or other in- 
 flammations, vomiting, &c. But to enter into a 
 particular examination of every abfurdity advanced 
 by Mr. Wefley, would be equally tedious to me and 
 my readers. What has been advanced, it is pre- 
 fumed, mavbe fufficientto fliew the futility of many 
 < ' of 
 
[ 83 ] 
 
 of his prefer iptlons, the pernicious tendency of others, 
 and his total incapacity to produce any medical trea- 
 tife calculated to be of the lead fervice to mankind. 
 
 A book that has palfed through fo many editions 
 as the Primitive Phyfic, mud have been attended to 
 by great numbers j and as the recipes in it are often 
 fo injudicious, abfurd, and and fo drongly cha- 
 rafterized by ignorance of the human body, and of 
 the power and operation of medicines, they may 
 have been produflive of great mifehief. Thefe cond- 
 derations will, I hope, be confidered as a fufEcient 
 apology for this publication. I have no perfonal ani- 
 mofity againd Mr. Wefley, to whom I am totally 
 unknown ; nor have I been induced to engage in 
 this performance, by any confideration, refpedling the 
 part Mr. W. has taken in the political world. Every 
 thing of this kind is foreign to the defign of this 
 examination of the Primitive Phyfic. . But I have 
 ever wilhed to underdand the principles of the 
 medical art, to be ufeful in my profeffion, and fer- 
 viceable to my fellow-creatures ; and if this little 
 piece be found by the candid and judicious to 
 l3e of that tendency, I Ihall not regret the pains 
 I have taken. I am confeious of the uprightnefs 
 of my intentions, and therefore hope to meet 
 with indulgence from the public. 
 
 F 
 
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S'-. ‘ 
 
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 •’ .AJi 
 
 
PiihUJiied ly the fame A XJ 1 H O A. 
 
 A N 
 
 account 
 
 OF THE late 
 
 Dr. goldsmith’s ILLNESS, 
 
 So far as Relates to the 
 
 EXHIBITION 
 
 O F 
 
 Dr. J A M E S’s POWDERS, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 Remarks on the Use and Abuse of Powerful- 
 Medicines in the Beginning of FEVERS, 
 anU other ACUTE DISEASES. 
 
 f 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION, 
 
 WITH 
 
 CORRECTIONS and an APPENDIX^- 
 
’ . 
 
 '•V-.' . 
 
 
 \ 
 
 ^'■1