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Our old friend W. Burnett labours
at present under a very disagreeable and troublesome
complaint, which he desires me to acquaint you with,
and to ask your advice concerning it. - It is an incon¬
tinency of urine while asleep.- He has, as you know
for some years, been troubled with calculous complaints,
and he still continues to pass frequently what have very
much the appearance of frequents of a large stone
there, however, are now, and have been for a considerable
time, attended with no other inconvenience than a fre¬
quent inclination to make water, as they come away
with so little pain, tho' some of them of a pretty large
size, as to be generally unobserv'd. - He has,however,
for a few weeks past, been afflicted with an involuntary
discharge of urine in the night only, with which he

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first made me acquainted about a fortnight since, and
I immediately prescrib'd for him the uva ursi in the
dose of half a drachm twice a day, which I intended to
increase to the quantity of a drachm two or three times
a day; but, it not seeming to have any immediate effect,
and he being rather impatient, I order'd a blistering plas¬
ter to be applied to the region of the os sacrum, of the
efficacy of which remedy in such cases I had observed
several instances related in the second & third volumes
of the London Medical Observations.- The night that
the Blister was applied much more water came away
involuntarily than before; the next night, not quite so
much, but still more than before the application of the
Blister, but the third night none at all came away,
which had never happened before from the beginning of
the disorder.- Since that time the discharge has been
less, but is still so considerable as to be very disagreeable

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and inconvenient to him, and he therefore wishes to have
your opinion and advice.- In all other respects he is much
better now than for many years past, his appetite being
perfectly good and his strength and flesh rather increas'd.
The headach too, to which he was formerly so subject
is now much less violent; he is rather costive, which (↑but this↑)
he impartes to the Lime-Water, which is the only Lithon¬
triptic he now employs.- He has taken none of the
uva ursi since the Blister was applied, and {illeg}
but a very small quantity before, so that I think
he has not, by any means, given it a fair trial,
but, if there is any other medicine to which you give the
preference, I beg you will take the trouble of letting
me know it as soon as your leisure and convenience
will admit.- I proposed to make trial of the Bark
and steel, and perhaps Alum, but shall now do nothing
farther till I have the pleasure of hearing from you.

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Doctor Cullen
Edinburgh

✍

Dr Riddell concerning
Mr Burnet
February 1777
V vi P109