Morisoniana, or, Family adviser of the British College of Health : being a collection of the works of Mr. Morison, the hygeist ... Forming a complete manual for individuals and families, for every thing that regards preserving them in health and curing their diseases ... With an appendix, containing a short treatise on ... small pox.

  • Morison, James, 1770-1840.
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Morisoniana, or, Family adviser of the British College of Health : being a collection of the works of Mr. Morison, the hygeist ... Forming a complete manual for individuals and families, for every thing that regards preserving them in health and curing their diseases ... With an appendix, containing a short treatise on ... small pox. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    73/712 (page 43)
    from indigestion, or chronic acrimonious humours in the stomach? Nature knows best what will relieve her. Vomiting of any kind should be always followed by the vegetable universal medicines, and they, when the stomach requires it, produce all the vomiting that is necessary, if taken in large doses, twelve or fifteen pills. Purging. Purging is the grand panacea for the human body; purging means cleansing and evacuating—the name at least is according to its qualities: if they had been properly understood, the human race would have been saved a world of woes. Evacua- ting without previous cleansing, is labour lost, as in the case with calomel and salts, which skim over superficially and .mechanically, making you render only the slops they have obliged you to drink, but do not cleanse. Cleansing without evacuating would be useless—nay, even hurtful; as it assembles iu one focus all the burning acrimonious humours. The hemorr- hoids, or piles, of which so many people complain, is only owing to the insufficient doses of medicine given them by their advisers, which have not the force to expel all the acrimonious humours, and leave them there: yet, many people, owing to vulgar prejudice and the want of experience, hold purging in such abhorrence, that they would prefer, at any time, losing one or two pounds of their blood, rather than 'take a purgative. Has not the medical profession to reproach itself with being the cause of these prejudices, of these errors ? They have sur- rounded and barricaded it with hard-sounding words of their own coining—such as superpurgations, violent catharsis, dras- tics, &c, as if it were to prevent its approach by mortals; thus creating a barrier or bugbear between them and nature's only remedy. It would be easy, however, to demonstrate to them that they are in error, and egregiously mistaken. If the blood be such a superfluous fluid, that a man can lose two or three pounds and be the better for it,—then, on the same reasoning, he might lose to the last drop, and be still the better for it; but we know very well that such is not the case, and that death very soon puts an end to the trial. But, say the blood- letters, we don't intend to take all, only just enough, according to our ideas, to keep things in a just equilibrium. A very difficult task indeed! and this equilibrium generally ends in entailing chronic disorders, and our being bed-ridden the rest of our lives. But no matter; the patient has not died under his hand, and has just strength enough left to remove to another scene. Now we will suppose, that this patient, instead of being bled, had been purged, not once or twice, but repeatedly, with the vegetable universal medicine, till he felt no more pain