The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:1219] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Dr / Regarding: Mr (Patient) / 1775? / (Outgoing)
Draft by Cullen, much corrected, for a regimen in Latin for a male patient with a venereal disease and swollen testicles. Some medicines are advised, but he recommends pouring cold water over the back, the wearing of a suspensory bandage, and abstinence from 'the company of girls and wanton charms' until he has recovered his strength.
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- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
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Facsimile
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Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 1219 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/2/319 |
| Main Language | Latin |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 1775? |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Authorial original |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | Yes |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Draft by Cullen, much corrected, for a regimen in Latin for a male patient with a venereal disease and swollen testicles. Some medicines are advised, but he recommends pouring cold water over the back, the wearing of a suspensory bandage, and abstinence from 'the company of girls and wanton charms' until he has recovered his strength. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:587] |
Case of an unnamed male patient who is sent a regimen in Latin for what seems to be a venereal disease and swollen testicles. |
1 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1858] | Addressee | Dr |
| [PERS ID:1857] | Patient | Mr |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1858] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr |
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 |
Normalized Text
Bodily exercise, if absolutely moderate, can be of service,
but if in any way vigorous it will certainly be harmful. Therefore, walking
at a fast pace or continuously for a long time is to be avoided, and dancing even more so. Riding
is doubtful, and should always be smooth and not prolonged. Whenever
journeys business conducted have to be made, it will be safest in a carriage, if possible.
The heat of the sun is always to be avoided, but being in temperate
or cool air in day time will be of service.
Let his bedroom be spacious, and not heated by either the sun or
a fire. A soft bed is to be shunned, and he must lie on a firm mattress
with few covers upon him.
He must avoid as much as possible lying on
his back.
Cold bathing for the whole body is unnecessary,
but every morning and evening the genital parts and between the
[Perinea?] should be washed with cold water. If this washing is observed
to produce heat, immediately in lying down,in the washed parts, it will be proper
to ask him to wash two or three hours before bedtime.
In the morning, with hisgenitals washed as said,
it will be of much service to pour cold water from a suitable vessel over his back and loins.
This washing and pouring must be done generally as soon as
he gets out of bed, unless any sweat or moisture of the skin come on,
in which case the washing must be delayed until an hour
after getting out of bed and all sweating has disappeared. In the first days
in which water is poured over the back, it must be in a moderate flow
and from a moderate height, but later the flow can be fuller and
the height can be increased. ↑N.B.↑ In this kind
of disease often a costiveness of the belly comes on, which is most harmful,
and therefore it must always carefully guarded against and corrected.
This can be achieved by a diet or by suitable habit of life or by medicines.
A suitable habit of life he must learn by his own experience alone,
and if this is not permitted, he needs to make use of medicines.
Suitable ones are, first of all, Polychrest Salts or Glauber's Salts, Crystal Tartar, flowers
of sulphur, manna, Cassia and others which are moderately stimulating
and not heating. However, aloetics and bitters of any kind are to be shunned entirely.
It is necessary to support his excessively pendulous testicles
by a bandage, properly appled. But the bandage should be made from
some thin fabric, lest the testicles become overheated.
In the affairs of Venus, he must be very cautious and temperate in
all things. He must assiduously avoid ↑the company of girls and↑ wanton charms.
We do not want to forbid Venus altogether, but surely
until his powers have been restored it must be infrequent, and this indeed we absolutely
demand for: that he must not indulge in venery at all unless he
he is strong enough to practice it manfully.
From the constant observation of all the
above-mentioned we expect the total cure of the disease.
We have adjoined certain medicines, but we know well that
the medicines are of little value unless
accompanied by a thorough regimen.
Only two things are to be expected from the medicines:
one is to amend this very strong irritation,
and the other is to strengthen both the body and, especially, the genitals.
mill Test.
Diplomatic Text
Exercitatio corporis si omnino moderato sit apprime {illeg} (↑sit prodesse poterit↑)
sed Exercitatio vehemens quæcunque ↑certe↑ nocebit. Ambulatio igitur cele[r]
↑festinata↑ vel diu continuata & magis ad huc saltatio vitanda est. Equitatio
dubia est & semper lenis nec diu protracta esse debet. Quoties¬
cunque itinera negotia exagunt (↑facienda sunt↑) tutissimum↑e↑ erit in rheda
vehi{illeg} fieri posss (↑u↑)it.
Solis ardor omnino (↑semper↑) vitandus est, sed in aere temperato vel
frigidiusculo sub die frequenter esse proderit.
Sit cubiculum ejus amplum neq sole nec vel (↑neque↑) foco calefac¬
tum: Lectum molle fugiendum & super culcitram firmio¬
rem cubare stragulis paucis apertum↑s↑ cubare opertum (↑ortet↑).
Quantum fieri potest caveat ne in dorsum decumbens (↑reclinatum↑) dor¬
miat.
Lavatione frigida ad totum ↑totum↑ Corpus applicata haud opus
est sed quovis mane & vesperi partes genitales & inter
perinea (↑[Pærrinea?] aqua↑) frigida lavanda sunt. Si lavatio ista cubitum
ituro calorem mox (↑lavationem↑) in partibus lavatis ↑calorem protinus↑ inducere observatur
fiat [latvatea?] (↑rectus erit↑) duabus vel tribus horis antequam cubitum
at lav plectum petat lavare.
Quovis mane cum genitalia ut dictum lavata sunt,
proderit multum, aquam frigidam ↑ex vase idoneo dorso et↑ ad lumbis ↑{illeg}↑ affundere
Hæc lavatio & affusio fieri debent ↑plerumqe↑ simul ac ex lecto sur¬
rexerit nisi sudor vel ↑cutis↑ mador aliquis prius adfuerit &
tum lavatio differenda est donec electo per horam ↑relicto↑ sur¬
rectus sit & mador omnis decesserit (↑disparuerit↑). ↑len↑ Primis diebus
quibus dorso affunditur aqua fieri potest modico rivo
& ex m↑o↑dica altitudine ↑fieri potest↑ sed postea tum pleniore unda (↑rivo↑)
tum ex majori altitudine affundi ↑o com↑ potest. ↑N. b.↑ In hujusmodi
morbis plerumque ↑modi↑ adest alvi constipatio, ex multum (↑quam maxime↑) noxia
semper nocet (↑& proinde↑) sedulo semper præ vitanda (↑præcavenda↑) vel corrigenda (↑protinus corrigenda↑) est.
Hac fieri potest vel diæta vel victu ideoneo vel medica¬
mentis. Victus sitidoneus ex ipsius ↑solum↑ experientiæ ↑sol↑ discendus
est & si per iretum l (↑hunc↑) non lice↑a↑t medicamentis fieri (↑uti↑) debet.
Idonea sint (↑sunt imprimis↑) Sal Polychr. vell Glaub. Cryst. Tart. flores
sulph. manna. Cassia. & alia quæ modice stimulant & non
calefaciunt. Aloetica autem et acria quæcunque ↑prorsus↑ fugienda sunt.
[Page 2]
↑A↑ Testiculos nimis propendentes fascia apta
applicata (↑adhibita↑) sustinere oportet. Sed fiat fascia ex tenui
quadam materie confecta (↑fieri debet↑) ne nimis calescant. testiculi.
In rebus venereis cautum et temperatum omnino
esse oportet. ↑Consortium puellarum et↑ Blandimenta lasciva quæcunque sedulo
vitat. Venerem prorsus interdicare nolumus sed semper (↑certe↑)
↑donec viris instauratæ fuerint↑ rara esse debet & hoc quidem obviæ petimus (↑postulamus↑) ut nun¬
quam veneri se indulgeat nisi ↑[cuius?]↑ viriliter ↑omnino↑ eam exercere
potest valeat
Ab observatione mu assidua monitorum omnium
supra (↑jam↑) dicterum expectamus hujus morbi sanationem
præcipue expectamus. Medicamenta tamen (↑quidem↑) adjiciemus
sed bene novimus, sine quod medicamenta etiam optime
sine regimine accurato parum valere possi↑e↑nt.
Ex medicamentis duo tantum proponenda sunt
unum ad corrigendam irritabilitatem hic forte
nimiam alterum ad roborandm tum [vigat?] (↑corpus↑) totum
tum genitalia præsertim.
mill Test.
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