The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:333] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Mrs McKay / Regarding: Mr Alexander Crawfurd (Sandy, Crawford) (Patient) / 16 September 1775 / (Outgoing)
Reply 'To Mrs McKay for Mr. Andrew Crawfurd'. Cullen advises on diet and exercise. The letter implies she brought the case to Cullen in person. There are recipes for three medicines.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 2 images for this document.
[Page 1]
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Metadata
Field | Data |
---|---|
DOC ID | 333 |
RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/6/33 |
Main Language | English |
Document Direction | Outgoing |
Date | 16 September 1775 |
Annotation | None |
Type | Scribal copy ( includes Casebook Entry) |
Enclosure(s) | Enclosure(s) present |
Autopsy | No |
Recipe | Yes |
Regimen | Yes |
Letter of Introduction | No |
Case Note | No |
Summary | Reply 'To Mrs McKay for Mr. Andrew Crawfurd'. Cullen advises on diet and exercise. The letter implies she brought the case to Cullen in person. There are recipes for three medicines. |
Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
---|---|---|
[Case ID:150] |
Case of Alexander 'Sandy' Crawford [Crawfurd, Crauford] who is consumptive and whose life, Cullen believes, is dependent upon him spending the winter in a warmer climate. |
4 |
People linked to this document
Person ID | Role in document | Person |
---|---|---|
[PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
[PERS ID:579] | Addressee | Mrs McKay |
[PERS ID:450] | Patient | Mr Alexander Crawfurd (Sandy, Crawford) |
[PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
[PERS ID:579] | Patient's Relative / Spouse / Friend | Mrs McKay |
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 | Glasgow and West | Scotland | Europe | inferred |
Normalized Text
To Mrs. McKay for Mr. Alexander Crawfurd
I could not possibly wait upon you before you left this
but I hope this shall come to you in time. As long as you have
any tolerable weather, Mr. Crawfurd will be the better for getting
some exercise in a Carriage or on horseback if he can bear it. It is
very possible that you may still have ↑some↑ good weather for this month
and perhaps for the next, but after that you must keep Mr.
Crawfurd close at home for he will get more harm from the
cold than benefit by any exercise. His diet must continue
much as it has been. He may have a little Chicken broth or
beef tea at dinner, and he may have ↑two or three times a week↑ a bit of chicken boiled
or roasted, but for the rest he must keep to milk, grain &
vegetables, and his drink must be water, whey or buttermilk.
If you can get Asse'ss milk, I would let him have a little
new drawn cow's milk in place of it. This is his Regimen, and
for remedies I have few to offer. As soon as you are settled at home
let a Blister & Plaister (not very large) be applied between his
shoulders, and let a part of it be kept open as a perpetual Issue
If hereafter he should have any stitch, that does not soon go
off again, a blister applied to the part will be the most effectual
remedy. When he is not on a course of travelling, I do not expect
that he will be troubled with costiveness, but if he should, it must
be removed by his taking in the morning two or three drahms
of Cream of Tartar mixed with simple syrup, but I am rather
afraid that he may be troubled with a looseness, and therefore
would have laxatives employed very cautiously. If a looseness
should come on, he must employ the Infusion ordered below
The symptoms to be now especially apprehended is the frequency
and violence of his Cough, to relieve which I have ordered some
[Page 2]
pectoral pills below, and of these he should take three every night
at bed time, but if these do not keep him tolerably easy, he must
have the recourse and if his Cough very much precludes sleep, he
must have recourse to the Anodyne draught ↑ordered below↑ to be taken with
his pills at bed time. The repetition of this draught and the in¬
crease of the dose which may become necessary must be left to
the discretion of a practitioner upon the spot. When you have
any questions to put to me I shall always be ready to answer
them &cc ✍
Take half a drachm each of powdered Japanese Earth and crushed Cinnamon, half an ounce of Gum Arabic and 4 ounces of boiling water. Steep, stirring constantly, for three hours, then strain and add an ounce of Poppyhead Syrup. Label: Strengthening Infusion a table spoonfull to be taken two or three times a day or oftener if the looseness is troublesome.
Take a drachm of Liquorice Extract, and enough hot water to soften the extract. Blend to a pulp and add half a drachm each of ground Elecampane, coarse Balsam of Sulphur, and enough Gum Arabic paste to make a mass to be divided into pills of 4 grains each. Label: Pectoral Pills three to be taken every night at bedtime.
Take an ounce of Rosewater, 2 ounces each of plain Cinnamon and Poppyhead Syrup, and 20 drops of liquid Laudanum. Mix. Label: Anodyne Draught to be taken at bedtime.
Diplomatic Text
To Mrs. McKay for Mr. Alexander Crawfurd
I could not possibly wait upon you before you left this
but I hope this shall come to you in time. As long as you have
any tolerable weather, Mr. Crawfurd will be the better for getting
some exercise in a Carriage or on horseback if he can bear it. It is
very possible that you may still have ↑some↑ good weather for this month
and perhaps for the next, but after that you must keep Mr.
Crawfurd close at home for he will get more harm from the
cold than benefit by any exercise. His diet must continue
much as it has been. He may have a little Chicken broth or
beef tea at dinner, and he may have ↑two or three times a week↑ a bit of chicken boiled
or roasted, but for the rest he must keep to milk, grain &
vegetables, and his drink must be water, whey or buttermilk.
If you can get Asse'ss milk, I would let him have a little
new drawn cow's milk in place of it. This is his Regimen, and
for remedies I have few to offer. As soon as you are settled at home
let a Blister & Plaister (not very large) be applied between his
shoulders, and let a part of it be kept open as a perpetual Issue
If hereafter he should have any stitch, that does not soon go
off again, a blister applied to the part will be the most effectual
remedy. When he is not on a course of travelling, I do not expect
that he will be troubled with costiveness, but if he should, it must
be removed by his taking in the morning two or three drahms
of Cream of Tartar mixed with simple syrup, but I am rather
afraid that he may be troubled with a looseness, and therefore
would have laxatives employed very cautiously. If a looseness
should come on, he must employ the Infusion ordered below
The symptoms to be now especially apprehended is the frequency
and violence of his Cough, to relieve which I have ordered some
[Page 2]
pectoral pills below, and of these he should take three every night
at bed time, but if these do not keep him tolerably easy, he must
have the recourse and if his Cough very much precludes sleep, he
must have recourse to the Anodyne draught ↑ordered below↑ to be taken with
his pills at bed time. The repetition of this draught and the in¬
crease of the dose which may become necessary must be left to
the discretion of a practitioner upon the spot. When you have
any questions to put to me I shall always be ready to answer
them &cc ✍
℞ Terr Japonic. pulv. Cinnamom. cont. @ ʒſs Gum. Arab. ℥ſs Aq.
bullient. ℥iv. Digere subinde agitans horas tres dein cola & adde Syr. diacod. ℥i
Sig. Strengthening Infusion a table spoonfull to be taken two or three times a day
or oftener if the looseness is troublesome.
℞ Extract. Glycyrrh. ʒi Aquæ calidæ q. s. mollescat extractum. Confunde in
pulpam et adde pulv. enul. camp. balsam. sulphur. crass @ ʒſs Mucilag. G. Arab.
q. s. ut f. massa dividend. in pil. sing. gr. IV. Sig. Pectoral Pills three to be
taken every night at bedtime.
℞ Aq. rosar. ℥i cinnam. simpl. syr. diacod. @ ℥ii Laud. liq. gtt xx. ℳ.
Sig. Anodyne Draught to be taken at bedtime.
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