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For Mr Russell.

The Eruption on the lower part of his belly and thighs owing
entirely to the ointment that he applied & upon that supposition
I have no difficulty in accounting for the degree, the spreading &
even the continuance of the Eruption. For removing it I
should have thought nothing necessary but to wash with warm
milk & water two or 3 times a day & after washing & drying
the application in the Evening only of the Solution of the Sugar of
Lead & for the Eruption I would still advise no other measures,
and if we could avoid the sweating he is liable to the
remains of the Eruption would soon go off. But there may
be something Venereal suspected which is a circumstance not so
easily to be judged of. The tickling with the pain & frequency
of making water three months ago was but an ambiguous
sign of Infection & without Chordee or running, I would
impute it to another cause. Neither do I think the little
discharge between the Glans & prepuce, certainly venereal
& I would impute it to the Eruption communicating some inflam¬
mation & scalding to these parts & if the sweatings from
Mercury were over both the Eruption & this consequence of it
would soon yield to the solution of Sacch. Saturn. I therefore
would not conclude any venereal infection except from the
state of his throat. As to these I cannot be positive without
seeing it but have great confidence in Dunlop’s skill and
if he finds the appearance of the throat to be clearly of
the venereal kind, the course he has pursued seems to have been
very proper – but I must make two remarks on the subject
First if there is any dubiety about the appearance of the throat
I would think that dubiety much more and, by the manners in

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in which it came on for not once in a thousand
times is the blood affected with a Venereal taint
without being preceded by some local affection and
in 900 times by some local affection of the Genitals.
A local affection is here alledged; but as I have
said before it is of an ambiguous kind and its
easy yeilding to bleeding & Purging makes it still
more so. – My second remark is, that if it is clear
that the sweating he is at present liable to be
entirely owing to the Mercury, as I have often
known Mercury cure Venereal Affections by sweating
as well as by salivating, so I should not think
it necessary to push the Mercury further merely
for the sake of bringing it to his mouth for if in
the course of 3 weeks the Mercury has had as it should
some effect in mending his throat I would doubt of it
being venereal In short if the throat do not grow sensibly
worse & spread in danger to the parts I would not conti¬
nue the Mercury. Beg Mr Dunlop’s opinion.