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Miss Taylor aged 24 of a healthy vigorous & something Sanguine Constitution
(Excepting a little rough dry scurf onthe Outside of her thighs from her
Infancy & afterwards some appearance of Scurvy in her face) till March
1757 that she was affected with a lowness of spirits & want of sleep
preceeded by a tooth ack & Rheumatic disorder in her head. This lowness
of spirits & want of sleep continued to such a degree till the month
of July that for 14 days together she was scarce sensible of her
having sleeped anyher head being affected & her stomach at same
time muchdisordered with wind, for which She used repeated Vomits Anti
Hysteric & Sudorific medicines, &at last a strong Blister seemed to
remove it, & by riding she recovered her health tollerably well
unless fits of the tooth ack & Rheumatic pains in her head
And upon Catching a little cold some returns of her want of sleep
Till November 1760 that she got a good deal of Cold & fatigue & was
seized with a numbness & pain in her legs, & about 8 days after with
a violent convulsive & fainting fitt, which returned almost every
day about 7 at night for next 12 months, but if the fainting
keeped off for some days, it was more violent in its return about
the same hour, & went off always with a continued belching of wind
sometimes of a very long continuance, Sometimes for an hour, & at
othertimes for whole nights. It was doubtfull at first if not so [I tell?]
whither this fit was more of the Nervous, Rheumatic, ↑Epileptic↑ aguish or Hysteric kind
or a mixture of them all it came on with a coldness ↑or shivering↑ heaviness & Soreness
in her head lowness of spirits difficulty of breathing [thretching?], quick
low & irregular pulse, & sometimes convulsive motions all over her body
& the least noise even in the droping of a Key, Startled & disordered her
much either immediately before or after the fit. She has of late
complained greatly of pains in her left side mostly below her [short?] ribs
tho moving often upwards & downwards, with a creepines down her thigh
at other times affecting her head. She has used vomits ↑blooding↑ & antihysteric
medicines bitters & nervous medicines without any Effects & Blisters with some
relief occasionally, to her lowness of spirits & disorder in her head
Sweating has been tryed by Sarsa & diaphoretic antimony & other things
for Six weeks last Spring, by this & keeping in bed she continued easy
&pretty free of the fits. By which means & riding out the Summer
thereafter, using a little of the bark, bitters & peterhead water
at home it was hoped She would have recovered, but contrary to
expectation ↑Even then↑ her spirits were lower she sleeped worse & was more
troubled with the belchings of wind than in the former winter when
Sweating & mostly in bed Upon the return of the cold weather
the fits & other symptoms returned with more violence than in Summer
preceeding, by the use of a blister bathing her feet almost every night
in warm water using flannel shirts, & rubing her body very severely
with a flannel cloath, using bitters valerian Cammomill snakeroot
She became a little easier of most of her complaints, but the
belching of wind, disorder in her head & side were still very
uneasy & always she was very sensibly affected with the least cold
which sometimes brought on her disorder again --

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But without wasting her body or deminishing her strength greatly
Till about the end of Aprile last that she was seized with the violent
pain in her side whichafter continuing for some days affected her head
& back, she had a quick irregular pulse, ↑clear & pure↑ Urine, a
great thirst, pain & heat within her belly, numbness, pains & creeping
in her legs. She continued in bed sweating for some days, & ever
Since tho out of bed the sweating continues in some measure
& Since that time has been wasted & weakned more than by all
her former ailments, & by a little Cough She has got & shortness
of breathing & other symptoms of Cold it would appear that
the late disorder has been brought on by catching of cold tho
the outmost care has been taken to prevent it by her
keeping in a warm room with a fire, this frightens her
from Venturing out, in a wheel machine even tho ever so well
covered, & by her continuing to sweat within doors it is apprehended
she may gradually waste, without removing the cause of her
disorder tho the weather is presently very warm
Her stomach is so very weak that She cannot digest even a roasted
chicken & scarcely a boiled one, & lives mostly on bread & marmalet
& very little tea. She has been all a long costive & was
advised to use Andersons pills, but now can scarce bear a
third part of what she used to take without purging her
severely. She has been always regular in her evacuations
till this winter, they have been 4 or 5 days longer in coming
than formerly, during which days, she has a hardness in
her belly & weariness over her body, being the two first
days often much pained with Colicks --
1 It is to be remembred that about Martimass 1759 she used a
mercury belt for removing an Infected {illeg} but without any
bad Effect she was sensible of, Except that ever afterwards
she was very sensible of Cold.

2 She complains just now of passing little Urine Except after
belching of the wind when it is quite clear & pure --

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Miss Taylors Case