The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:3491] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Dr Jonathan Anderson Ludford / Regarding: Mrs Ludford (Patient) / 2 April 1789 / (Outgoing)
Letter by Cullen, 'For Mrs. Ludford', probably to her son, medical student Jonathan Ludford. He advises gradual bodily exercise to cure her obesity. Either a retained fair copy or the unposted original letter; [DOC ID:5806] is the casebook copy.
- 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 | 3491 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/2/2382 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 2 April 1789 |
| 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 | Letter by Cullen, 'For Mrs. Ludford', probably to her son, medical student Jonathan Ludford. He advises gradual bodily exercise to cure her obesity. Either a retained fair copy or the unposted original letter; [DOC ID:5806] is the casebook copy. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Draft versions for this document exist:
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:2304] |
Case of Mrs Ludford whose asthma and hypchondriasis are attributed to corpulency. |
3 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:4929] | Addressee | Dr Jonathan Anderson Ludford |
| [PERS ID:4930] | Patient | Mrs Ludford |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:4929] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr Jonathan Anderson Ludford |
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 | Richmond Street | Edinburgh | Edinburgh and East | Scotland | Europe | inferred |
Normalized Text
For Mrs. Ludford
I have considered the case of Mrs. Ludford
with great attention and perceive that her
distresses appear sometimes as Hypochondriac
and sometimes as Asthmatic. These may be
palliated by means that are known to
every practitioner, but they cannot be cured
or even palliated for any lengthy of time, unless
the fundamental cause can be to a great
degree removed.
This fundamental cause I take to have
been and to be the great corpulency and Obe¬
sity of her body. This indeed is difficult to
cure, and can only be effectually cured by bodily
exercise, which however difficult at present
may be recovered by the following measure.
She must begin by walking across her
room only, and by doing no more at first
[Page 2]
She must repeat it only twice a day, but the
next day she must contrive to lengthen her
walk by two yards only, and if she will
thus every day lengthen her walk by two
yards more than before, she may thus by
degrees extend her walks to a length that
may entirely cure her obesity. But let it
be strictly observed that the success of this
must depend upon its being by degrees and
by slow degrees only. In attempting this
a small stretch of walking at the beginning
may defeat the whole purpose of it, and
that she cannot be too strict in proceeding
by the slow degrees I have advised. I have
known it executed exactly, and accordingly
with great success, and I am clearly of opinion
that there is no other measure that can
be of benefit to Mrs. Ludford
William Cullen –
Edinburgh 2d. April
1789
[Page 3]
Mrs. Ludford
April 1789
Diplomatic Text
For Mrs. Ludford
I have considered the case of Mrs. Ludford
with great attention and perceive that her
distresses appear sometimes as Hypochondriac
and sometimes as Asthmatic. These may be
palliated by means that are known to
every practitioner, but they cannot be cured
or even palliated for any lengthy of time, unless
the fundamental cause can be to a great
degree removed.
This fundamental cause I take to have
been and to be the great corpulency and Obe¬
sity of her body. This indeed is difficult to
cure, and can only be effectually cured by bodily
exercise, which however difficult at present
may be recovered by the following measure.
She must begin by walking across her
room only, and by doing no more at first
[Page 2]
She must repeat it only twice a day, but the
next day she must contrive to lengthen her
walk by two yards only, and if she will
thus every day lengthen her walk by two
yards more than before, she may thus by
degrees extend her walks to a length that
may entirely cure her obesity. But let it
be strictly observed that the success of this
must depend upon its being by degrees and
by slow degrees only. In attempting this
a small stretch of walking at the beginning
may defeat the whole purpose of it, and
that she cannot be too strict in proceeding
by the slow degrees I have advised. I have
known it executed exactly, and accordingly
with great success, and I am clearly of opinion
that there is no other measure that can
be of benefit to Mrs. Ludford
William Cullen –
Edinr. 2d. April
1789
[Page 3]
Mrs. Ludford
April 1789
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