The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:4100] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Dr James Kenneth Saunders / Regarding: Dr James Kenneth Saunders (Patient) / 11 August 1777 / (Outgoing)
Reply, 'Dr James Saunders - Banff'. For the treatment Cullen refers to a recipe used by Dr Thomas Dawson and a method devised by the Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave.
- 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 | 4100 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/9/73 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 11 August 1777 |
| 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, 'Dr James Saunders - Banff'. For the treatment Cullen refers to a recipe used by Dr Thomas Dawson and a method devised by the Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:852] |
Case of Dr James Saunders, who had nephritis, had his son surgically remove a stone and now has a bladder problem. |
3 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:596] | Addressee | Dr James Kenneth Saunders |
| [PERS ID:596] | Patient | Dr James Kenneth Saunders |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:925] | Other Physician / Surgeon | Dr Herman Boerhaave |
| [PERS ID:2045] | Other Physician / Surgeon | Dr Thomas Dawson |
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 | Banff (Bamf) | East Highlands | Scotland | Europe | certain |
Normalized Text
Dr James Saunders --- Banff
I cannot enter particular into the reason for my delay.
I am very glad you are quit of your strangury which I thought
was the worst part of your disease; but I must tell you
that while you are affected with the Catarr{illeg}hus Vesicæ
you are in some danger of a return of Strangury: How to
prevent it I cannot certainly advise you; but I have
found all acids & weak wines ready to bring it on, & even
much acescents as Garden things have the same tendency.
You must therefore employ more animal food than
would seem proper for your Gouty complaints. I wish you
had something more of the Uva Ursi, which with Opiates
I have found the most effectual remedy of such Strangury
as you have been liable to. I give these Practical hints
rather than enter into the Theoretical Inquiry which you
suggest to me. This would require a larger discussion than
a letter or my time admits. I have found the mucus in
question attending not only Arthritic & Nephritic complaints;
but also affections of the neck of the Bladder, following Vene¬
real as proceeding Hæmorrhoidal affections. It often attends
Arthritic complaints when these are attended with no other
Nephritic Symptom, but still it is not the Pituita Vitrea 1
of the Ancients or Moderns, nor to me expresses any general
state of the fluids. It depends upon an affection of the neck of
the Bladder producing such an effusion. Make of all this
what you can, but it is only to shew my willingness to gra¬
tify you that I have said anything about it. --
I cannot from your manner of Writing exactly judge whether
you are still liable to the Stiffness & pains of your joints; but
if you are still very much troubled with them, I know no remedy
[Page 2]
but sweating gently in the mornings. For executing this, you
may either take Boerhaaves method with the Volatile alkali 2
or you may try Dovers Powder. I find a late Author Dawson 3
recommending a particular remedy, which is the Volatile [Elixir?]
of Guaiac which he gives sometimes to the quantity of a ½ an ounce
of or a dose, mixing it with Yolk of an egg, Syrup & Water
I think it is not an improbable remedy as I have found the
same elixir usefull in smaller Doses. --
Notes:
1: Translates literally as 'glassy phlegm or mucus'. Cullen's immediate source for making this connection was probably his Edinburgh mentor Dr. John Clerk, who is cited in this very context by Cullen's associate Sir John Pringle in the latter's Observations on the diseases of the army, in camp and garrison. (London: 1752), p. 187.
2: The Leiden professor, Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), the leading academic physician of his generation. His published works being very substantial, a precise reference has not been traced.
3: See Thomas Dawson (c.1725-1782), Cases in the acute rheumatism and the gout; with cursory remarks, and the method of treatment. By Thomas Dawson, M.D. Late Physician to the Middlesex, and the London, Hospital (London: 1774), pp.93-4. Dawson is described in this letter as 'a late author' as if he is deceased, but Cullen must have made a mistake because of the rather ambiguous title of the book.
Diplomatic Text
Dr James Saunders --- Banff
I cannot enter particular into ye reason for my delay.
I am very glad you are quit of your strangury which I thought
was the worst part of your disease; but I must tell you
that while you are affected with the Catarr{illeg}hus Vesicæ
you are in some danger of a return of Strangury: How to
prevent it I cannot certainly advise you; but I have
found all acids & weak wines ready to bring it on, & even
much acescents as Garden things have the same tendency.
You must therefore employ more animal food than
would seem proper for your Gouty complaints. I wish you
had something more of the Uva Ursi, which with Opiates
I have found the most effectual remedy of such Strangury
as you have been liable to. I give these Practical hints
rather than enter into the Theoretical Inquiry which you
suggest to me. This would require a larger discussion than
a letter or my time admits. I have found the mucus in
question attendg not only Arthritic & Nephritic complaints;
but also affections of the neck of the Bladder, followg Vene¬
real as proceedg Hæmorrhoidal affections. It often attends
Arthritic complaints when these are attended with no other
Nephritic Symptom, but still it is not the Pituita Vitrea 1
of the Ancients or Moderns, nor to me expresses any general
state of the fluids. It depends upon an affection of the neck of
the Bladder producing such an effusion. Make of all this
what you can, but it is only to shew my willingness to gra¬
tify you that I have said anything about it. --
I cannot from your manner of Writing exactly judge whether
you are still liable to ye Stiffness & pains of your joints; but
if you are still very much troubled with them, I know no remedy
[Page 2]
but sweating gently in the mornings. For executing this, you
may either take Boerhaaves method with the Volatile alkali 2
or you may try Dovers Powder. I find a late Author Dawson 3
recommending a particular remedy, which is the Volatile [Elixir?]
of Guaiac wh he gives sometimes to ye quantity of a ½ an ounce
of or a dose, mixing it with Yolk of an egg, Syrup & Water
I think it is not an improbable remedy as I have found the
same elixir usefull in smaller Doses. --
Notes:
1: Translates literally as 'glassy phlegm or mucus'. Cullen's immediate source for making this connection was probably his Edinburgh mentor Dr. John Clerk, who is cited in this very context by Cullen's associate Sir John Pringle in the latter's Observations on the diseases of the army, in camp and garrison. (London: 1752), p. 187.
2: The Leiden professor, Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), the leading academic physician of his generation. His published works being very substantial, a precise reference has not been traced.
3: See Thomas Dawson (c.1725-1782), Cases in the acute rheumatism and the gout; with cursory remarks, and the method of treatment. By Thomas Dawson, M.D. Late Physician to the Middlesex, and the London, Hospital (London: 1774), pp.93-4. Dawson is described in this letter as 'a late author' as if he is deceased, but Cullen must have made a mistake because of the rather ambiguous title of the book.
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