The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:4699] From: [AUTHOR UNKNOWN] / To: Dr William Hamilton (in Glasgow) / Regarding: Mr Thomas Alston (Patient), Mr John Alston (of Overhall) (Patient) / 30? August? 1783 / (Outgoing)
Reply to William Hamilton concerning the case of John Alston of Overhall. Cullen gives full instructions for preparing the beef broth to carry and regulate the dose of lixivium (for treating him for the stone). There is a brief mention of his son Thomas Alston.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 3 images for this document.
[Page 1]
[Page 2]
[Page 3]
Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 4699 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/16/103 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 30? August? 1783 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Machine scribal copy |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | Yes |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Reply to William Hamilton concerning the case of John Alston of Overhall. Cullen gives full instructions for preparing the beef broth to carry and regulate the dose of lixivium (for treating him for the stone). There is a brief mention of his son Thomas Alston. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:671] |
Case of Mr Thomas Alston who spits blood and consequently has a poor prognosis and whose case eventually proves fatal. |
13 |
| [Case ID:2040] |
Case of Mr John Alston of Overhall who has a kidney or bladder stone. |
3 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:175] | Addressee | Dr William Hamilton (in Glasgow) |
| [PERS ID:554] | Patient | Mr Thomas Alston |
| [PERS ID:1938] | Patient | Mr John Alston (of Overhall) |
| [PERS ID:175] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Hamilton (in Glasgow) |
| [PERS ID:554] | Patient's Relative / Spouse / Friend | Mr Thomas Alston |
| [PERS ID:1938] | Patient's Relative / Spouse / Friend | Mr John Alston (of Overhall) |
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 | Glasgow and West | Scotland | Europe | inferred |
Normalized Text
Mr Alston
I now send you the advice I promised for Mr.
Alston for the use of the Lixivium. You are to prepare it
as exactly as you can according to the last edition of our
Dispensatory 1 But with all the pains you can take
you will find it almost impossible to make it exactly
of the same degree of strength at different times and
therefore I regulate the dose by the broth it is always
to be taken in and for this purpose I give my patients
the following directions
Take four Ounces of lean Beef. Chop it pretty small
and put it into a Chopin of soft water. Set these this
in a pan over the fire and let it heat slowly till it boils
and let it boil slowly till one half of the water is boiled
away. then strain off the broth through a table napkin.
Take care always that rather more than less of the water
is boiled away and when it is strained off let it be
[Page 2]
measured exactly, supply what is wanting of a mutckin by
adding as much boiling water as will make the broth exactly
of that measure and if you always work exactly by weight
and measure you will have every day as nearly as
possible a broth of the same strength and quality.
Take half a mutkin of this broth and put into
it forty drops of the Lixivium and stir it about among
the broth. If now you can taste in the broth the Lixivium
pretty strongly, the dose of it is enough but as I expect
you will hardly from this quantity find the taste of the
Lixivium you must add five drops more and perhaps
five to that and in short you are to add small quan¬
tities of the Lixivium till the taste of it becomes evident
without being disagreeable & this is the dose you are
to take every day twice if your stomach bears it.
The best times are for the first dose at one oClock
or at least an hour or more before Dinner when
I hope it may stand for part of your Dinner. The
time for the other dose is Eight oClock at night
[Page 3]
when I think with a little dry toast it may stand
for the whole of your Supper. I have only to add that
it will be proper for you to have a small Phial into
which you are to put some of the Lixivium in order
that you may drop it from thence more conveniently
than you could from Mr. Hamiltons bottle.
The meaning of this last article is that I suppose
you will give Mr. Alston an Eight Ounce Phial
of the Lixivium at once and that the frequent opening
of it would weaken the Caustic state
and both for this reason and for more
convenient dropping I proposed the
use of a small Phial. I suppose you will transcribe
the above directions and you will please add a few
things concerning his Diet which must be chiefly
without acids and acescents and therefore without fer¬
mented liquors and with little of fresh Vegetables.
If I had room I would have said a little of Mr Thomas Diet of
{illeg} which I would allow almost every day of a little broth made
[of?] Portable Soup and for the rest he is to employ all the variety of
[farinacea?] and fruit that he can command. Hurrying again to the
{illeg} 2
Diplomatic Text
Mr Alston
I now send you the advice I promised for Mr.
Alston for the use of the Lixivium. You are to prepare it
as exactly as you can according to the last edition of our
Dispensatory 1 But with all the pains you can take
you will find it almost impossible to make it exactly
of the same degree of strength at different times and
therefore I regulate the dose by the broth it is always
to be taken in and for this purpose I give my patients
the following directions
Take four Ounces of lean Beef. Chop it pretty small
and put it into a Chopin of soft water. Set these this
in a pan over the fire and let it heat slowly till it boils
and let it boil slowly till one half of the water is boiled
away. then strain off the broth through a table napkin.
Take care always that rather more than less of the water
is boiled away and when it is strained off let it be
[Page 2]
measured exactly, supply what is wanting of a mutckin by
adding as much boiling water as will make the broth exactly
of that measure and if you always work exactly by weight
and measure you will have every day as nearly as
possible a broth of the same strength and quality.
Take half a mutkin of this broth and put into
it forty drops of the Lixivium and stir it about among
the broth. If now you can taste in the broth the Lixivium
pretty strongly, the dose of it is enough but as I expect
you will hardly from this quantity find the taste of the
Lixivium you must add five drops more and perhaps
five to that and in short you are to add small quan¬
tities of the Lixivium till the taste of it becomes evident
without being disagreeable & this is the dose you are
to take every day twice if your stomach bears it.
The best times are for the first dose at one oClock
or at least an hour or more before Dinner when
I hope it may stand for part of your Dinner. The
time for the other dose is Eight oClock at night
[Page 3]
when I think with a little dry toast it may stand
for the whole of your Supper. I have only to add that
it will be proper for you to have a small Phial into
which you are to put some of the Lixivium in order
that you may drop it from thence more conveniently
than you could from Mr. Hamiltons bottle.
The meaning of this last article is that I suppose
you will give Mr. Alston an Eight Ounce Phial
of the Lixivium at once and that the frequent opening
of it would weaken the Caustic state
and both for this reason and for more
convenient dropping I proposed the
use of a small Phial. I suppose you will transcribe
the above directions and you will please add a few
things concerning his Diet which must be chiefly
without acids and acescents and therefore without fer¬
mented liquors and with little of fresh Vegetables.
If I had room I would have said a little of Mr Thomas Diet of
{illeg} which I would allow almost every day of a little broth made
[of?] Portable Soup and for the rest he is to employ all the variety of
[farinacea?] and fruit that he can command. Hurrying again to the
{illeg} 2
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