The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:3790] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Dr Benjamin Thomas / Regarding: Miss Evans (Patient) / 28 March 1776 / (Outgoing)
Reply, 'To Dr Thomas q. Miss Evans
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 2 images for this document.
[Page 1]
[Page 2]
Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 3790 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/7/11 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 28 March 1776 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Scribal copy ( includes Casebook Entry) |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Reply, 'To Dr Thomas q. Miss Evans |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:711] |
Case of Miss Evans, a 7-year-old girl 'seized with a Drowsiness attended with a Vomiting'. |
2 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1614] | Addressee | Dr Benjamin Thomas |
| [PERS ID:1615] | Patient | Miss Evans |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1614] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr Benjamin Thomas |
| [PERS ID:1629] | Other Physician / Surgeon | Dr Francois Boissier de Sauvages de Lacroix (Sauvages, Sauvage) |
Places linked to this document
| Role in document | Specific Place | Settlements / Areas | Region | Country | Global Region | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Writing | Cullen's House / Mint Close | Edinburgh | Edinburgh and East | Scotland | Europe | certain |
| Destination of Letter | Kington | Midlands | England | Europe | inferred |
Normalized Text
To Dr Thomas query Miss Evans
Her disorder certainly depend upon a compression of some
part of the Brain & more particularly of the [Ophthalmic Nerve?] I think there is ground to suppose a congestion & in the ves¬
sels of the head & therefore that the disease is not the Ammau¬
rosis Plethorica of Sauvages, neither would I call it the Am¬
maurosis Pituitosa because I think an effusion of water would
have more general effects. I would rather rather call it the Ammaurosis
scrophulosa not that there is any scrophula in the habit,
but that the compression is analogous to some of the causes
mentioned under that title by Sauvages. 1 In this view of the case
the remedy very difficult, but it must not be deserted & would
propose the following
[Page 2]
As the Child is otherwise strong & healthy I would have her
put upon an altorative mercurial course by giving her half a
grain of calomel every night & morning taking care that this medicine
neither operate ↑much↑ by stool nor go to the mouth but in the slightest
manner. If it be easily managed in both these respects I would
have continued for several weeks & if the calomel do not go much
by stool I would have her gently purged once a week with Jalap
& Cream of Tartar & your experience of her constitution may
determine the dose - In the last Edition of the Edinburgh Dispensatory 2
you will find a powdered Jalappa compound which has
may be always ready in the hope a powder Jalap which has
been long triturated with Cream of T. which renders the Jalap
both more powerfull & more mild in its operation & we add
more or less of cream of Tartar at pleasure - In this way you will
find it answer very well with children. While this course is
going ↑on↑ I would also have an Issue made somewhere applied about
the head - that is either a perpetual Blister on the Crown of the
head or a pea Issue in the nape of the neck, either of which may be
continued for a long time - During the Mercurial course I think
the a milk diet is most proper - When the Mercurial course shall have
been sufficiently tried & has not the wished for effect and if
there is the least suspicion of scrophula in the habit, I would
put the child upon a course of salt water which may be managed as well
at home as at the sea side. The quantity of salt water in ought to keep
his belly regular but not to purge
Notes:
1: Francois Boissier de Suavages de Lacroix (1706-1767), a French physician and author of Nosologia Methodica (1763), one of the taxonomies of disease which Cullen first studied when formulating his own nosology. Sauvages' breakdown of different types of amaurosis (total or partial loss of sight owing to damage to the optic nerve), is found in Nosologia Methodica Oculorum: or, a New Treatise on the Diseases of the Eyes. Selected and translated from the Latin [by] George Wallis, M.D. (London: 1785?).
2: Cullen probably refers to the Pharmacopoeia Collegii Regii Medicorum Edinburgensis (Edinburgh: 1774), but a precise reference has not been traced.
Diplomatic Text
To Dr Thomas q Miss Evans
Her disorder certainly depend upon a compression of some
part of the Brain & more particularly of the [Thalami Nerv.
Opt.?] I think there is ground to suppose a congestion & in the ves¬
sels of the head & therefore that the disease is not the Ammau¬
rosis Plethorica of Sauvages, neither would I call it the Am¬
maurosis Pituitosa because I think an effusion of water would
have more genl effects. I would rather rather call it the Amm:
scrophulosa not that there is any scrophula in the habit,
but that the compression is analogous to some of the causes
mentioned under that title by Sauvages. 1 In this view of the case
the remedy very difficult, but it must not be deserted & would
propose the following
[Page 2]
As the Child is otherwise strong & healthy I would have her
put upon an altorative mercurial course by giving her half a
grain of calomel every night & morng taking care that this med.
neither operate ↑much↑ by stool nor go to the mouth but in the slightest
manner. If it be easily managed in both these respects I would
have continued for several weeks & if the calomel do not go much
by stool I would have her gently purged once a week with Jalap
& Cream of Tartar & your experience of her constitution may
determine the dose - In the last Edition of the Edinr Disp 2
you will find a Pulv. Jalappa compt wc has
may be always ready in the hope a powder Jalap wc has
been long triturated with Cream of T. wc renders the Jalap
both more powerfull & more mild in its operation & we add
more or less of Cream of T at pleasure - In this way you will
find it answer very well with children. While this course is
going ↑on↑ I would also have an Issue made somewhere applied about
the head - that is either a perpetual Blister on the Crown of the
head or a pea Issue in the nape of the neck, either of wc may be
continued for a long time - During the Mercurial course I think
the a milk diet is most proper - When the Merc. course shall have
been sufficiently tried & has not the wished for effect and if
there is the least suspicion of scrophula in the habit, I would
put the child upon a course of salt water wc may be managed as well
at home as at the sea side. The qty of salt water in ought to keep
his belly regr but not to purge
Notes:
1: Francois Boissier de Suavages de Lacroix (1706-1767), a French physician and author of Nosologia Methodica (1763), one of the taxonomies of disease which Cullen first studied when formulating his own nosology. Sauvages' breakdown of different types of amaurosis (total or partial loss of sight owing to damage to the optic nerve), is found in Nosologia Methodica Oculorum: or, a New Treatise on the Diseases of the Eyes. Selected and translated from the Latin [by] George Wallis, M.D. (London: 1785?).
2: Cullen probably refers to the Pharmacopoeia Collegii Regii Medicorum Edinburgensis (Edinburgh: 1774), but a precise reference has not been traced.
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