The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:2169] From: Earl Dunbar Douglas (Hamilton) (Lord Selkirk, 4th Earl of Selkirk) / To: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / Regarding: John Douglas (Patient), Alexander Douglas (Patient) / 4 March 1782 / (Incoming)
Letter from the Earl of Selkirk, concerning the case of his two sons, John and Alexander, who are both at 'Mr Barbauld's School in Suffolk'. They are both recovering from measles, and Selkirk is particularly concerned about John's eyes.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 4 images for this document.
[Page 1]
[Page 2]
[Page 3]
[Page 4]
Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 2169 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/2/1242 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Incoming |
| Date | 4 March 1782 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Authorial original |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Letter from the Earl of Selkirk, concerning the case of his two sons, John and Alexander, who are both at 'Mr Barbauld's School in Suffolk'. They are both recovering from measles, and Selkirk is particularly concerned about John's eyes. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:366] |
Case of John Douglas, younger son of the Earl of Selkirk, who is 'liable to opthlalmia'. |
2 |
| [Case ID:367] |
Case of Alexander Douglas, younger son of the Earl of Selkirk, with measles. Includes an earlier, isolated letter advising Selkirk on how to treat measles. |
2 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:886] | Author | Earl Dunbar Douglas (Lord Selkirk, 4th Earl of Selkirk) |
| [PERS ID:1] | Addressee | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1068] | Patient | John Douglas |
| [PERS ID:1069] | Patient | Alexander Douglas |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1015] | Other Physician / Surgeon | Mr John Marissal |
| [PERS ID:885] | Patient's Relative / Spouse / Friend | Lord Basil William Douglas (Lord Daer) |
| [PERS ID:886] | Patient's Relative / Spouse / Friend | Earl Dunbar Douglas (Lord Selkirk, 4th Earl of Selkirk) |
| [PERS ID:1016] | Other | Reverend Rochmont Barbauld |
Places linked to this document
| Role in document | Specific Place | Settlements / Areas | Region | Country | Global Region | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Writing | St Mary's Isle | Borders | Scotland | Europe | certain | |
| Destination of Letter | Edinburgh | Edinburgh and East | Scotland | Europe | inferred | |
| Mentioned / Other | Suffolk | East | England | Europe | certain |
Normalized Text
I beg leave to trouble you with this
on account of my two Sons John & Alexander
who are at mr Barbaulds School in Suffolk.
They have just had the Measles, & I hope
in God are recovering well. I have had
two letters, & wrote as soon as I got the first,
to beg the utmost care might be taken about
Johns Eyes, who you may possibly ↑remember↑ was
for more than two years troubled with an
inflamation & weakness in them. I also
remembered in speaking with you about
their taking the Measles, you had said letting
blood at the turn of the disease was of the
greatest advantage, & security against after
complaints, so I mentiond this in my letter,
& as the turn must have been past even
before the first letter reachd me, I said that
in case bleeding had not been used in the
time of the disease, I could wish it to be done
even after it, if the Doctor saw no reason
[Page 2]
against it; for I dreaded the effects the Measles
might have afterwards on Johns Eyes. I also
said I understood that some doses of
Physick were thought good after the ill¬
ness. After I had wrote in that manner
I began to fear that perhaps I had been
rash in sending such a letter; as possibly
tho bleeding during the illness & properly
timed, might be proper, yet afterwards it
might possibly not be so; & that I had in
some measure qualified it, by leaving it
to the Doctors judgement; yet if he should
mistake my proposal, for your opinion,
he might in deference to it not follow
his own opinion. Now Dear Sir will
you be so kind as write a few lines &
give it to my son Daer to send. I have
not yet heard whether John was bled or not,
but he seems to have had them favourably.
I shall mention all I have heard of them.
- On the 16th the Measles appeard on John, &
the first letter was of that date, & said, he
had been ill some days, & that they had
[Page 3]
every reason to suppose it would prove the
measles. -- The post from that place is tedious
at best, & unfortunately the next letter went
round by Edinburgh, so I only got it last night,
it is of the 21st, & says Alexander sickened on
monday, was still ill, & very full, but
without any appearance of danger; & in
particular neither of them had any infla¬
mmation on the breast. -- That John had
then got through the disorder, & only wanted
to recover his strength: that he sate up the
day before from two till eight, & was not
fatigued; & that his Eyes had scarcely at all
been affected. --- These are all the parti¬
culars I have got. Now Dear Sir in case
they were not bled; would you advise the
bleeding so long after, or would it be of
service against the Dregs, which I have
often heard is frequently more fatal than the
measles themselves, & very often hurtful in
various ways. Also are purges proper or
useful so long after. -- I begd that the ut¬
most care should be taken to prevent their
catching cold after the illness; for I recol¬
lected
[Page 3]
that Daer, ↑who had the Measles when a child,↑ after we thought him almost
perfectly recoverd in every respect, got
cold, & immediately his Eyes were affected,
& were uneasy for a long time after it;
tho he never before that had had any
complaint in his Eyes.
Whatever you think proper to write
give it to Daer, & he will inclose it
either to mr Barbauld or to mr Marissa[l]
who attended him when he was ill there,
but mr Marissal does not now practice: but
he will tell or shew your opinion to the
apothecary, which is all they have in com¬
mon: he is however a good sensible man
I believe.
I am Sir your most obedient
humble Servant
To Doctor Cullen
✍
Lord Selkirk
Concerning the Measles
March 1782
V. XIII p332
Diplomatic Text
I beg leave to trouble you with this
on account of my two Sons John & Alexr
who are at mr Barbaulds School in Suffolk.
They have just had the Measles, & I hope
in God are recovering well. I have had
two letters, & wrote as soon as I got the first,
to beg the utmost care might be taken about
Johns Eyes, who you may possibly ↑remember↑ was
for more than two years troubled with an
inflamation & weakness in them. I also
remembered in speaking with you about
their taking the Measles, you had said letting
blood at the turn of the disease was of the
greatest advantage, & security against after
complaints, so I mentiond this in my letter,
& as the turn must have been past even
before the first letter reachd me, I said that
in case bleeding had not been used in the
time of the disease, I could wish it to be done
even after it, if the Doctor saw no reason
[Page 2]
against it; for I dreaded the effects the Measles
might have afterwards on Johns Eyes. I also
said I understood that some doses of
Physick were thought good after the ill¬
ness. After I had wrote in that manner
I began to fear that perhaps I had been
rash in sending such a letter; as possibly
tho bleeding during the illness & properly
timed, might be proper, yet afterwards it
might possibly not be so; & that I had in
some measure qualified it, by leaving it
to the Doctors judgement; yet if he should
mistake my proposal, for your opinion,
he might in deference to it not follow
his own opinion. Now Dear Sir will
you be so kind as write a few lines &
give it to my son Daer to send. I have
not yet heard whether John was bled or not,
but he seems to have had them favourably.
I shall mention all I have heard of them.
- On the 16th the Measles appeard on John, &
the first letter was of that date, & said, he
had been ill some days, & that they had
[Page 3]
every reason to suppose it would prove the
measles. -- The post from that place is tedious
at best, & unfortunately the next letter went
round by Edinr, so I only got it last night,
it is of the 21st, & says Alexr sickened on
monday, was still ill, & very full, but
without any appearance of danger; & in
particular neither of them had any infla¬
mmation on the breast. -- That John had
then got through the disorder, & only wanted
to recover his strength: that he sate up the
day before from two till eight, & was not
fatigued; & that his Eyes had scarcely at all
been affected. --- These are all the parti¬
culars I have got. Now Dear Sir in case
they were not bled; would you advise the
bleeding so long after, or would it be of
service against the Dregs, which I have
often heard is frequently more fatal than the
measles themselves, & very often hurtful in
various ways. Also are purges proper or
useful so long after. -- I begd that the ut¬
most care should be taken to prevent their
catching cold after the illness; for I recol¬
lected
[Page 3]
that Daer, ↑who had the Measles when a child,↑ after we thought him almost
perfectly recoverd in every respect, got
cold, & immediately his Eyes were affected,
& were uneasy for a long time after it;
tho he never before that had had any
complaint in his Eyes.
Whatever you think proper to write
give it to Daer, & he will inclose it
either to mr Barbauld or to mr Marissa[l]
who attended him when he was ill there,
but mr Marissal does not now practice: but
he will tell or shew your opinion to the
apothecary, which is all they have in com¬
mon: he is however a good sensible man
I believe.
I am Sir your most obedt
humble Servt
To Doctor Cullen
✍
Lord Selkirk
C. the Measles
March 1782
V. XIII p332
XML
XML file not yet available.
Feedback
Send us specfic feeback about this document [DOC ID:2169]
Please note that the Cullen Project team have now disbanded but your comments will be logged in our system and we will look at them one day...
