SECT. I.

THE diſeaſe we, in England, call the Scurvy, and to which we are almoſt all ſubject, is often miſunderſtood where it does not appear externally; and miſ⯑managed where it does: many things being in common uſe as remedies, which pro⯑voke, and increaſe the diſorder. To diſ⯑cloſe it where it does not appear; and ſhew [4]a remedy which will cure it in all caſes, is the purpoſe of the preſent pamphlet.

Reader! be not haſty to ſuppoſe it in⯑tereſted; I ſhall cut off that cenſure in a moment. The remedy is WATER-DOCK; but it will cure as well in the PLAIN ROOT, as ESSENCE.

Where the Scurvy ſhews itſelf upon the ſkin, there can be no miſtake; but where it is latent, there may be a thouſand: for there is carce any diſeaſe it will not imitate. It is not a year ſince this medicine cured a married, honeſt, miſerable gentleman, of pains in his legs, which he ſuppoſed venereal. More than himſelf had been deceived; he had eſtranged himſelf from his lady's bed, and been harraſſed a long time with diſguſtful methods, when this ſimple remedy cured him without return.

The ſtomach is often weak; and bitters are taken in vain: the ſpirits are low, and recourſe is had to cordials, which inflame the diſeaſe; the mind is diſturbed, not enlivened by them, at the time; and that ſhort unplea⯑ſant [5]tumult is followed by the moſt ſad dejection.

Can we wonder when the diſeaſe is miſ⯑taken, the medicines don't relieve it? The effect is very different in either caſe, when this ſimple remedy is taken: the ſtomach is at eaſe as ſoon as it is ſwallowed; the ſpirits, though not elated, become at once compoſed; and we enjoy that ſatisfaction, which they only can value who have known the want of it; the ſupreme pleaſure of tranquility. We rejoice in the preſent ceſſa⯑tion of the complaint; and from that firſt effect of the medicine, have a right to form the moſt agreeable preſage of cure.

In caſes where theſe and other complaints from a latent Scurvy are extream in degree, and of long continuance, ſometimes a ſlight eruption appears upon taking the Dock: but let not this alarm the patient; he may ſe⯑curely rejoice in it. It declares to a convic⯑tion, the true nature of his complaint; and is always ſlight, and never continues more than a few days. The ſame medicine which drove the humour to the ſkin, expells it thence [6]by the pores, in a gentle perſpiration; the eruption itſelf being in reality no more than a tumultuary and over haſty effort of nature, to throw it off that way: more being driven to the ſkin than can find its paſſage thence, till the farther effect of the medicine opens it a more free courſe.

Where the diſorder ſhews itſelf on the ſkin, and the eruption is the whole diſeaſe, the difficulty is much leſs: the effects of Dock are obvious; and every day ſhews the advance made toward the cure.

This is obtained perfectly in a longer or ſhorter time, as the diſorder is of more or leſs ſtrength and continuance. When a few heats appear upon the face, and there is no more complaint, theſe loſe their redneſs, and itch⯑ing, every day as the medicine is continued; and by degrees vaniſh entirely. Ten days or a fortnight uſually compleat this cure.

If there be more of the offending humour in the blood, theſe heats will be longer in diſ⯑appearing: and in worſe caſes, without due care, they will be liable to return. The [7]medicine is therefore to be continued longer: and if at any time, after the cure, the leaſt heat is felt in the ſkin near the place where the eruptions were, recourſe muſt be had to it again. But even in the worſt of theſe inſtan⯑ces, it is no very long continuance of the Dock that is required for the cure; and as to this re⯑courſe to it upon returns, a few days always are ſufficient.

There is alſo another great encouragement to ſo much perſeverance as is wanted. In thoſe conſiderable degrees of the diſorder which re⯑quire time in their cure, the external ap⯑pearance is not the whole of the complaint; the removal of the before named ſymptoms, pain, ſickneſs and deſpondency, always in theſe caſes keeps pace with the removal of the heats upon the ſkin; and does not let the patient tire upon the medicine.

In theſe more confirmed caſes, the firſt effect of Dock is always throwing out more eruptions: but the patient may here alſo reſt aſſured that theſe will be of no continu⯑ance. What nature fixes on the ſkin are, more or leſs, obſtinate; but theſe which are the [8]plain effect of the medicine, like thoſe which appear for the firſt time on taking it for an internal Scurvy, never remain more than a few days; and often but for few hours.

The plain and certain way, in which the medicine acts, is this; always conſiſtently, and always alike: its firſt effort is by inſenſible perſpiration: it opens the obſtructed pores, gives paſſage to the offending humour which is there; and throws more thither, of what was in the blood, to go off the ſame way.

If there be more of it than can be ſo diſchar⯑ged; or perhaps what is there be in its nature too groſs to paſs that way; there is then, in a few hours, a more than ordinary diſcharge of urine; and inſtantly on this the whole frame and conſtitution are relieved. The patient feels by the new eaſe and unaccuſtomed chearful⯑neſs he enjoys, that he has had more of the Scurvy than was to be ſeen upon his ſkin: and ſets a proper value on the means of his relief.

Theſe are the effects of Water-Dock: not ſightly brought together, or haſtily ſet down; but what have been collected from a great [9]number of inſtances, all agreeing in the ſe⯑veral particulars, and confirming one ano⯑ther.

I can therefore, without heſitation, boldly and certainly pronounce this medicine a re⯑medy for the Scurvy; in every ſtate, condi⯑tion, and degree of that diſeaſe: and this with the moſt perfect innocence; for it can⯑not repell.

Whatever could drive in the Scurvy would convert the mildeſt, into the worſt kind of that diſeaſe. There need no argu⯑ments to prove that a ſcorbutic eruption ſtruck in, would be at leaſt as bad as the ſame diſeaſe naturally latent. This happens often from outward applications; of which let every one take care; and there are inward methods that may do it. I could name ſome miſerable inſtances which have come within my notice afterwards: but without terrifying thoſe who may have thrown themſelves into the way of ſuch miſchief, it is enough to ſay that their condition is the ſame with theirs who have a ſcorbutic humour in the blood, which never has yet appeared; and that [10]this medicine is in either caſe, equally a re⯑medy.

The effects I have ſeen from Water-Dock ſupport this aſſertion. The perſons afflicted with the complaint, who have taken the Eſſence under my immediate direction in the ſpace of the laſt ſeven or eight years amount to a very great number; and every one of them has received a perfect cure. The words are very abſolute; and may ſeem ſtrange to perſons acquainted with the diſeaſe, and not with this remedy; but they relate to plain facts, which have come within my own knowledge; and therefore I have a right to ſpeak them with the greateſt certainty and freedom: if it be otherwiſe, thoſe concern⯑ed muſt know it; and I hope for the ſake of the public they will contradict me.

I can with equal truth declare, that I never ſaw, or heard of the leaſt hurt, or inconvenience to any perſon, in any of theſe caſes, from tak⯑ing the Eſſence of Water-Dock; though ſo many and ſo various. Such perfect ſafety joined with a leſs degree of power might in⯑title a medicine to great regard: and that [11]perfect incapacity of doing hurt, is ſo ſtrictly and exactly true of this, that it has preſerved the ſame character, though taken where the Scurvy was complicated with many other diſeaſes.

I have been the more expreſs in theſe plain aſſertions, becauſe it is not long ſince I was told of one inſtance in which it was ſaid to have diſagreed: I applied to the phyſician who attended, and who is one of the very firſt, in rank and eminence^*; and he anſwer'd me in the plaineſt and moſt abſolute manner; that he was at a loſs to know how ſuch a re⯑port could take its riſe; and adds, ‘"Every ſuggeſtion of that kind, ſo far as mention has been made of it in my company, has ever been contradicted, as a circumſtance wholly unknown to me."’ He will pardon my tranſcribing ſo much of his letter, as the aſcertaining of this plain fact may be of importance to many perſons.

Indeed, by all I have ſeen in a vaſt variety of inſtances, and all I have heard from many [12]perſons in different places, who have taken this medicine for a long time, and in great quantities, it perfectly anſwers the old Greek character, given of it, when the powers of herbs were better known than now: ‘"That few medicines are more effectual, none more innocent."’

I claim no merit as a diſcoverer of its virtues. They were known in the earlieſt days of literature; and have been handed down to us, through a ſucceſſion of ages, by the beſt writers. All the praiſe that can belong to me is, that at a time when chy⯑miſtry has over-run natural phyſic, I have reſtored its uſe.

SECT. II.

THERE are many kinds of Dock, but one ſpecies alone poſſeſſes this great virtue: it is therefore fit it ſhould be diſtinctly known; and this is eaſy; for it ex⯑ceeds the reſt in ſtature as much as virtue. It grows only in wet places; not uſually in [13]water, but always near it. The leaves are half a yard long, and of a fine pleaſant green; the ſtalk is ſix foot high, robuſt, erect, and crimſon; on its top grow ſpikes of greeniſh flowers, and aſter theſe large ſeeds of a rediſh brown.

Theſe are a few plain characters, but there need no more; if the plant be examined by them, it cannot be miſtaken.

The time of the great Water-Dock's flower⯑ing is in June, July, and Auguſt: it is at that ſeaſon the eaſieſt known, but it has then little virtue: the root is the only part of uſe; and this muſt be taken up at an earlier period.

The courſe of nature in the Plant is this: the ſeeds which fall in autumn, produce young ſhoots with a few ſmall leaves only; and thoſe ſoon after wither: in ſpring more leaves riſe from thoſe young roots, and they ſtand the ſummer; and if the weather be mild, the winter alſo. All this time the root is in⯑creaſing in ſize and virtue. The ſtalk is not to riſe till the May following; and it is when nature is preparing for that great effort, but [14]has not yet begun it, that the root has its full virtue.

Therefore in the middle of April the roots ſhould be dug up; taking only thoſe of a year and half's growth, and which have not yet flowered. They are at that time a foot long, and more than an inch in diameter; of a ruddy brown on the outſide, and when cut of a deep orange colour. It is beſt to know the plant; but even if the roots be bought, they may be truſted when they have theſe cha⯑racters.

Beware of what are ſold by ſome in the markets: they are knobby, and ſpungy; rediſh not yellow within; and are the roots, not of the great Water-Dock, but of the common ſharp-pointed Dock; a plant excellent for ointments; but internally not to be ſpoken of, in compariſon with the true great Water-Dock, for virtue. There is too much cauſe for guarding againſt theſe roots; for they come ſometimes ſupported by what might be called authority. Some years ſince I gave a great quantity of Water-Dock-root to a coun⯑try practitioner, and was told afterwards that [15]what I ſent was not the right; for that the root of Water-Dock was BULBOUS. I ſuppoſe the irregular ſpungy maſſes of the ſharp-pointed Dock-root, had paſſed for bulbs; and he who made the ignorant remark, had ſeen no other.

When the true kind is found, and the roots of a due age are taken up, in April, they are to be wiped with a clean coarſe cloth, and ſplit. The inner bark alone contains the virtue of the plant; as I have found by manifold ex⯑perience. Therefore the hard woody part in the middle of the root is to be taken out, as uſeleſs; and the bark being again rubbed well with the cloth, the outer rind which is thin and tender will come off, and only the uſeful inner bark remain. This is to be dried in an airy room where the ſun does not ſhine; and afterwards to be powdered.

In this is the whole virtue of the plant: and it is a cure for the Scurvy, even more cer⯑tain than the bark is for an ague. The doſe of the powder is one dram, and this is to be taken twice a day till the complaint is wholly removed. The ESSENCE which I direct to [16]be made has the ſame virtue. This I have contriv'd for the convenience of thoſe who cannot get the root; or cannot depend upon it: and if it have any advantages be⯑ſide theſe, it is in being more convenient, eaſier to take, and performing the cure in leſs time. It is made from this inner bark, by a method which I have never concealed from phyſicians, and which I ſhould add here, but that it would be of no uſe either to private families, or to the preparers of medicines; re⯑quiring a bark bed, ſuch as we have in ſtoves, and other implements not uſed in the com⯑mon operations; ſo that it is altogether im⯑puſſible they ſhould make it. In a few words, it is nothing more than this bark of the root, prepared before drying by a vapour⯑ous penetration, as ginſeng in China, and ſalep in Turky; and afterwards, diſſolved by that gentle but continued heat, in a ſpirit, of a middle degree of ſtrength, between what is called rectified, and proof.

This eſſence ſits better upon the ſtomach than a large doſe of a powder; is ſpeedier in its effects; and, if I have been able to in⯑creaſe or exalt the virtues of the root by prepara⯑tion [17]it has all that advantage. In the courſe of theſe obſervations I have been obliged to ſpeak more of the eſſence than of the root, becauſe moſt of the cures I have named were performed with it: not from any diffidence of mine in the effect of the root itſelf; but from the difficulty I have found to prevail with the patient to ſwallow ſo large a quantity as is needful of the powder; or at beſt to con⯑tinue it a due time.

As to the degree of virtue in the eſſence, a tea ſpoonful is equal to the doſe here mentioned of the powder.

What I have endeavoured is, in a few plain words, ſupported by facts in the courſe of a number of years; and of all which I believe there are living witneſſes; to ſhew that there is no degree or kind of that diſeaſe we call the Scurvy, but may be cured with cer⯑tainty by this ſimple medicine; and that the uſe of it is free even from the poſſibility of harm. There requires no ſkill in phyſic, to know that nothing can do hurt in the Scurvy unleſs it can repell; and that is a quality not [18]only not exiſting in the Dock; but perfectly contradictory to its nature.

SECT. III.

NO particular regimen, or courſe of life, is required on account of this medi⯑cine, nor any preparation of the body for it: nay, theſe things are not only needleſs, but I have found them hurtful. Bleeding tends to draw in that humour which it is our buſi⯑neſs to keep out, ſo long as any of it remains in the conſtitution; and purges have ſome⯑times brought on diſorders in the bowels, which nothing could relieve. I am afraid many lives have been loſt this way, when the true cauſe was never once ſuſpected.

For theſe reaſons I have always begun the cure with this medicine, without any thing of what is called preparation; and inſtead of directing a ſtrict manner of life, I have, in all common caſes, deſired the patient to live in his uſual way. Thoſe are fallacious cures which depend upon a reduced diet; and I [19]have always found, that when the perſon ſo relieved returned to his former method of living, the diſeaſe returned alſo; and often with more violence.

There are, however, certain general rules, which people of ſcorbutic habits ought al⯑ways to obſerve. Theſe do not relate ſo much to diet, as to other particular circum⯑ſtances and accidents of life; and theſe I ſhall endeavour to lay down for the ſervice of the patient: not from what has been written by others; for what with the con⯑fuſion of names and miſconſtruction of ſymp⯑toms, I think no diſeaſe has been treated ſo imperfectly; but from the condition of thoſe who have been under my care, and the par⯑ticular things which I have found moſt to re⯑lieve or hurt them.

A good air is of great uſe in the cure of ever diſeaſe, but of none more than this. People who live in low and marſhy grounds, always require more time in the cure of the ſame degree of Scurvy, than ſuch as breathe a dryer and purer air.

Thoſe who live in ſalt marſhes are very ſubject to the diſeaſe, and yet more difficult of cure. It is not meant that people cannot be cured who are fixed by their way of life and circumſtances in theſe places; but they muſt expect their relief to be more tedious: let thoſe to whom it is indifferent where they live, if they have any cauſe even to ſuſpect the Scurvy, remove from them.

Air that is fouled by the breath and per⯑ſpiration of many perſons kept cloſe toge⯑ther, is yet much more hurtful: it is for this reaſon I ſuppoſe that few are cured of the Scurvy in an hoſpital; indeed if it were poſſi⯑ble more care ought to be taken of the air in theſe charities; for beſides rendering this diſeaſe untractable, they often bring on hec⯑tics and conſumptions, in thoſe who elſe would not have fallen into them.

It is in theſe bad airs, and almoſt in theſe on⯑ly, that I have found the extreme degrees of the Scurvy, in the inhabitants of ſalt marſhes, of⯑fenſive breath and decaying teeth are common ſymptoms; and in hoſpitals the eruptions, [21]which would naturally have been followed only by a dry ſcurf or ſcale, have fixed into moiſt and permanent ſores.

Even in the worſt caſes of the marſh Scurvy, I have ſeen this medicine cure; and it is particular that nature, the God of na⯑ture, who does nothing in vain, has fixed the plant in thoſe grounds moſt abundantly; that the ſoil, together with the miſchief, might bring forth the remedy.

A ſedentary life is another great cauſe of miſchief from the Scurvy. Exerciſe not only carries off a great deal of this troubleſome humour, ſo univerſal in our conſtitution, but drives out a great deal more; and where the taint is in the blood, the next good to diſ⯑charging it, is keeping it upon the ſurface. It diſguſts and teazes there; but it deſtroys within.

A red face or cruſted arms or legs, or fiery pimples on the back or breaſt, are the moſt uſual troubles that attend the Scurvy, with a life of exerciſe; but theſe eruptions being out, the patient enjoys health and ſpirits, nay, the [22]more out, the more; and add to this, the cure is much the eaſier.

On the other hand, the ſame degree of the ſcorbutic miſchief in the conſtitution of a lazy or over attentive man; a voluptuary, or a ſcho⯑lar, who, doating on his cloſet, or his eaſy chair, gives nature no aſſiſtance in diſcharging, or but attempting to diſcharge it; preys in⯑wardly, and brings on a long and miſerable train of ſymptoms; often miſcalled by the names of other diſeaſes, but its legitimate offspring.

That the unhappy patient of this charac⯑ter may know his caſe, and avoid at leaſt the miſery of miſtaken applications, I ſhall lay down a detail of them.

His nights are paſſed either with perplex⯑ing dreams or tire ſome watchfulneſs; in the morning he feels a dryneſs of the throat, diffi⯑culty of breathing, and a confuſed numbneſs in the head; till a great deal of tea, or ſome other weak warm liquor, diſſolve the concre⯑tions of the night, and bring on a ſlight, un⯑certain, ſhort relief.

Soon after this, as the weather, diet of the preceding day, or ſome other accidental cauſe determines, come one or other of the following ſymptoms; and ſometimes ſeveral of them together; a pain under the breaſt, a ſul⯑len head-ach, drowſineſs, a ſwelled ſtomach, and now and then a dread of ſuffocation; de⯑jection of ſpirits, with a miſerable want of ſtrength and vigour; palpitation of the heart, with flutterings, and tremblings of the limbs, not permanent, but returning on the moſt ſlight occaſions.

Theſe are a kind of tranſitory ſymptoms, which from time to time take the place of one another; but there are ſome alſo which are continual. Theſe are weakneſſes of the ſtomach and a want of appetite, hiccups and ſour belchings, wandering pains, and ſometimes a peculiar cough, on which the common medicines take little effect.

At times a pricking pain is felt in many parts of the fleſh and an itching of the ears and gums, a heat and dryneſs in the hands [24]and feet, and fluſhings in the face with a kind of burning.

Theſe laſt are efforts nature makes in cer⯑tain favourable circumſtances to throw out the humour, or at leaſt to tell the patient the true nature of his illneſs: they ſhould be at⯑tended to with care, and ſeized with eager ear⯑neſtneſs, and the cure attempted immediate⯑ly by medicine; for this will take tenfold effect when nature thus aſſiſts.

Let no one ſlight her notices; they are always true, and often critical. I have ſeen cures performed under ſuch circumſtances in ſo little time, and with ſo perfect a ſuc⯑ceſs, as has exceeded all expectation: and on the contrary it muſt not be concealed, that I have ſeen upon the neglect of theſe friendly in⯑timations, this latent Scurvy change into ſome diſeaſe of a much more terrible nature. In young people epileptic fits are ſometimes the conſequence; in thoſe advanced in years a ſettled comatoſe ſtupidity; and often inflam⯑mations of the viſcera, which medicines try to aſſuage in vain. When the efforts of na⯑ture are ſeconded by this medicine, the cure is [25]always particularly eaſy; nay, the miſchiefs brought on by neglect, are alſo remedied by it.

One very particular caſe of this kind came ſome time ago within my knowledge. A per⯑ſon of the middle time of life, a gentleman and a ſcholar, accuſtomed to the common ſymptoms of a latent Scurvy, felt all at once, one morning as he was writing, a fluſhing in his face, a tingling in his back, his arms, and legs, and burning heat in his feet; in⯑ſomuch that he could not ſit; but riſing in great uneaſineſs, rambled an hour or more about the apartment. In this time all the ſymptoms went off, except the burning in his feet, which laſted till theevening. The event was very ſingular. He then felt himſelf un⯑uſually hungry, and complained of a gnawing at his ſtomach, which was too impatient for the ſupper of the family, and forced him to call for any thing that was in readineſs. He eat vaſtly more than he had ever done at once; nay, as himſelf ſays, more than he ever eat at three times in his life, and yet in the courſe of the night, he grew hungry again.

From this time a ravenous appetite poſſeſſed him for ſeveral years: he who had uſed to eat leſs than moſt people, devoured as much as three or four; and even this without ſa⯑tiety. The name of a canine appetite is bet⯑ter known than the cure: his country apo⯑thecary, a very able man, gave every thing that is uſual without effect; at length to blunt, if it were poſſible, the keenneſs of this everlaſting craving, he took every day half an hour before dinner and ſupper, a draught compoſed of two ounces and a half of oil of almonds, with ſome marſhmallow ſyrup. This cured him of the gravel, to which he had long been ſubject; but as to the com⯑plaint for which he took it, that remained as it was. This particular medicine for ſo uncommon a diſeaſe, I have mentioned the more expeſsly, becauſe though not ſucceſs⯑ful in the preſent caſe, the apothecary had ſeen it in another perform a cure, under the hands of a phyſician of great character^*.

On his applying to me, I adviſed the Wa⯑ter-Dock; the origin of the complaint ap⯑pearing [27]plainly to be a ſcorbutic humour, which nature not being able to throw out, had fixed upon the ſtomach.

As the long burning of the feet ſhewed the great effort for perſpiration to have been made there, I directed him to wear woollen under⯑ſtockings, and to line his ſhoes with flannel. The event juſtified my opinion: a ſlight red⯑neſs appeared upon his cheeks ſoon after taking the Dock, and the voraciouſneſs of appetite ceaſed. The redneſs of the cheeks laſted about a fortnight; and he is now well. The medicine in this caſe, having taken away the exceſs of hunger, though in all others I have ſeen it has increaſed the appetite.

There is another thing which it grieves me to accuſe, and yet it muſt be named, nay and ſtrict caution muſt be given againſt it, as injurious in the Scurvy: this is ſtudy. The pleaſure of reading is not the thing meant here; but that fixed attention of mind which accompanies the reſearches into ſcience. The mathematics are of the number of theſe ſtudies, and that extent of mind, by which men have ſometimes endeavoured to compre⯑hend [28]within one view the whole of viſible created beings, and by arranging them in their true place, to underſtand as it were the purpoſes of God.

Theſe are ſtudies under which the mind, fixed to one point, converſing in itſelf, and buſied with its own ideas, forgets the body: and in theſe caſes the body always languiſhes; and often in the end periſhes entirely. Theſe men ſeem to act every day the laſt ſcene of Archimedes, and bid death ſtay, as he bad the ſoldier, till they have finiſhed the demon⯑ſtration.

Perſons of this kind deſerve our admoni⯑tions moſt of all men; and they want them moſt: nor do they ever need them more than when they have a ſcorbutic taint in the blood: for under this courſe of life it is always latent. I have been willing to think that it was not the effect of ſtudy, but the want of exerciſe attendant on this kind of life, that gave ſo much occaſion to diſorders; but inſtances have come before me proving it otherwiſe; and I think one of the moſt obſti⯑nate caſes that ever I have known was of a [29]geometrician, whom I directed to uſe exerciſe as much as could be needful, but in vain.

I dare not rank myſelf among ſuch men as theſe; but ſince no experience is ſo certain as that one feels within ones own body, I ſhall venture to add, in confirmation of this, that notwithſtanding all the exerciſe I have been able to take, and of every other good regula⯑tion that I know, about two months ſince, while I was intent upon arranging plants in the method of nature, a ſcorbutic humour which had never before been very trouble-ſome to me, grew to ſuch a height, that it re⯑quired a five weeks courſe of Dock, and I take it in large doſes too, to get the better of it.

Upon theſe conſiderations, and the founda⯑tion of ſo much experience; which I am very ſure has been carefully attended; I may pro⯑poſe ſome general rules of life, which will be ſerviceable to all ſcorbutic patients, whether they undertake their cure by this remedy or by any other; or whether they leave them⯑ſelves, as many do, to nature and a vain hope from time. This hope deceives them always; [30]for howſoever the diſeaſe may more or leſs appear, yet wherever it is in the conſtitu⯑tion, it will, while neglected, be gathering ſtrength; and what is worſe, the older we grow always the more tedious will be the cure.

The firſt thing then to be ſought by the ſcorbutic patient is a good air, and of all good qualities the greateſt in this caſe is that it be dry. The ſide of a hill, upon a gravelly ſoil, with a Weſt aſpect, is the moſt deſirable; the top of a hill, or an expoſure without ſhelter to the North, I have always found tend to fixing eruptions upon the face, or other uncovered parts of the body.

Exerciſe proportioned to the ſtrength, and at the beſt hours of the day, will prove highly ſerviceable; and moſt of all ſo in a courſe of the Eſſence of Water-Dock. Walking or riding out always after taking the doſe; which therefore ſhould be taken in theſe caſes at hours moſt proper for exerciſe. This in⯑creaſes that perſpiration which the Dock na⯑turally brings on; and, with care not to get cold after it, will make one doſe as effectual as two or three.

The amuſement of reading will be as uſe⯑ful, as too much fixed attention would be bad; always being upon the guard that this does not intrench upon the hours of exerciſe.

Meats eaſieſt of digeſtion are beſt: the leſs of ſalted things are eat, at any time the better; but during the uſe of any medicine for the cure of this complaint, ſuch things ſhould be more particularly avoided.

Pepper is beſt let alone, and ſpirituous li⯑quors, which inflame the diſorder, always; and in many inſtances fix it in the face, in the moſt troubleſome manner. As to wine and malt liquors no cure of the ſcurvy, as has before been ſaid, will ever be laſting, which depends upon the abſtaining from theſe; for upon the return to them the diſeaſe itſelf will follow.

This is the general ſtate of ſcorbutic diſor⯑ders, and their cure; but in this diſeaſe as in all others, there will be here and there a ſingular inſtance; where either from the natural con⯑formation of the ſkin, peculiar in ſome parti⯑cular ſubjects, or from an hereditary, or per⯑haps [32]a mixt taint in the blood, a more than ordinary obſtinacy is found in the complaint: but even in theſe, of ſo many of them as have come before me, I never have found the addition of any other medicine neceſſary. A warm bath has ſometimes opened the way to a cure; and if the fair beginning made by that has ſeemed to fail afterwards, I have known a flannel waiſtcoat next the ſkin an⯑ſwer the purpoſe.

Once, and only once, I have ſeen a caſe where nothing but abſtaining from meat, and fermented liquors, would give the medicines their due efficacy; and when the cure was thus obtained, I was in conſtant apprehenſion of a return upon the uſual courſe of life being reſumed. But this was done very gradually; the Dock being at times continued; and the patient, though near three years are now paſ⯑ſed ſince, continues well.