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Mr Bruce of Kinloch desires one to state his case to you, &
Begs the favour of your advice. He is aged about 68, was of
a very healthy constitution, & active till in Harvest 1779 he began
to complain of uneasy sensations under the false Ribs and Stomach
pit, & lose his colour which was formerly fresh & good. I suspected
some Hepatic Obstruction forming & advised some easy Deobstruent,
attention to diet, & take moderate Exercise. For some time before
he used to be seized with a Sudden Giddyness which made it unsafe
for him to ride & all his exercise was walking or in a Chaise.
In Spring 1780 he drank a tea cupfull or two of Antiscorbutic
Juices every day for some time or before this time he complained
much of a pain in his feet & legs attended with a numness & Coldness
& a hardness in the Muscular parts of his legs Arms & back for which
we gave two or three tea Spoonfulls of Elixir Guajaci at bedtime
to raise a gentle perspiration & made him try a warm bath
once or twice a week for two weeks in order to soften & relax
these parts & bring on perspiration; this had some times the Effect
of making him perspire but he reaped no benefit from it and
therefore the bathing was given up as it seemed rather to
weaken him than relieve him. All this while his appetite was
pretty good considering the little exercise he took. He was
Habitually Costive which we obviated by Elixr, pill Allo¬
etic. Sapone & Soluble tartar & Manna &c but if any of these
Operated above twice he turned very languid & found himself
weakened which Oblidged us to use them with great Moderation
In harvest Last he began to have a frequent desire of makeing
water upon examining it I found that it was of a wheyish colour

when made & soon seperated a white creamy film to the top and
deposited a white light sedement to the bottom. I suspected that
as he digested his meal well, that the Nutritious parts of it was
going of by urine which accounted for his great loss of strength
& emaciating so fast. He had a Considerable degree of a diabetes
I advised him to take 10 or 12 gutti twice a day of Tincture Cantha¬
radum in a Cup of beef tea or Chicken water & to take a teaspoon¬
full or two of Colombo root tincture an hour before Dinner
The Symptoms of a Diabetes soon went off his urine became
of a light Brandy Colour seemed well & perfectly Digested
& has continued so since. When we found these appearances
gone the Tincture Cantharad. was given up but the Columbo
tinctur. continued. However he continued dayly to lose strength
and flesh till in the beginning of winter Last He was reduced
to Skin and Bone & was not able to walk thro his room without
two men to support him. His feet & hands were generaly numbd
& often pained, & always cold & the Circulation excessively Lan¬
guid. Soon after an Oedematous Swelling came on his ankles
& hands. I wanted to try gently electrifying these parts as it
might be a powerfull mean of {illeg} the Circulation in
these parts & accordingly by continued for or six weeks to
take the spark from these parts beginning to draw them off as
soon as the wheel was set a going to avoid strokes & varying
from Place to place. Since the time he began to be electrified
the numbness & coldness in his extremities is much gone off & he
feels a heat in his soles & hands complains of such an exquisite Irrita¬
bility that he starts at times as if he was Electrified. Can this be
the fidgets? I tried to day to rubb the right foot & hand with a

Mr McAulay Surgeon at Auchtermouchty bearer
of this attended him all along with me & can give you particu¬
lar Information was any thing further you would wish to know

I hope Mrs Cullen & all your famely are well.

Doctor Cullen Physician
Edr

Dr Menzies
C Mr Bruce
March 8. 1781.
V. XI p. 168