The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:2371] From: Mr Arthur Gair / To: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / Regarding: Mr Arthur Gair (Patient) / 19 November 1783 / (Incoming)
Letter from Arthur Gair, surgeon and apothecary in Alnwick, who has worked with Cullen previously on other patients. He now writes about his own case. He is now about 60, and has been generally healthy, bar skin eruptions on his arms when he was younger. He now has chest pains and asthma which he had thought might be angina, but which he now believes to be gouty, as he has also had pains in the feet and hands.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 4 images for this document.
[Page 1]
[Page 2]
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Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 2371 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/2/1427 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Incoming |
| Date | 19 November 1783 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Authorial original |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Letter from Arthur Gair, surgeon and apothecary in Alnwick, who has worked with Cullen previously on other patients. He now writes about his own case. He is now about 60, and has been generally healthy, bar skin eruptions on his arms when he was younger. He now has chest pains and asthma which he had thought might be angina, but which he now believes to be gouty, as he has also had pains in the feet and hands. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | Yes |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:1597] |
Case of Arthur Gair, a surgeon-apothecary, who attributes his dizziness, painful toe, faintness and other symptoms to gout. |
2 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1460] | Author | Mr Arthur Gair |
| [PERS ID:1] | Addressee | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:1460] | Patient | Mr Arthur Gair |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
Places linked to this document
| Role in document | Specific Place | Settlements / Areas | Region | Country | Global Region | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Writing | Alnwick | North-East | England | Europe | certain | |
| Destination of Letter | Edinburgh | Edinburgh and East | Scotland | Europe | certain | |
| Place of Handstamp | Alnwick | North-East | England | Europe | certain |
Normalized Text
I have often consulted you for other Patients
& perhaps you may remember to have seen Me in
this Town & its neighbourhood when you have been
called to Patients, If you do not I must tell you
that I practice as a Surgeon & Apothecary & am in my
60th. year –– that I have enjoyed tolerable good health
(except sometimes a Fever from cold) till within these
5 or 6 years past that my health has become very
precarious. –– I remember of no peculiarities in my
Constitution except that in my younger days ↑till↑ about
30 years ago I used to have eruptions in the outside
of my arms just below the elbows of the dry scurfy
sort, but which sometimes used to itch, inflame &
rise into pustles, I have ↑had↑ the same in my thighs on
the external parts. –––– These I looked upon as salutory
& never used any means to heal. –– I have not been
intemperate in eating or drinking, tho' I have lived
rather fully, eating commonly animal food every day
for dinner, & taking a moderate glass of Ale or Wine
after it –– Suppers I don't take but get always some
Ale before I go to sleep. –– Spirits I seldom take &
have a dislike to them. –– The first of my late complaints
was a Vertigo or rather swimming in my head, which
wou'd sieze Me without any previous warning, attended
with great anxiety & distress, & it was always a great
aggravation of that distress, if I mov'd my Eyes from one
object to another. –– My present relief was to shut my Eyes
& lie down, & it was painfull for Me to stir or be moved:
[Page 2]
this after some time was succeeded by sickness and
vomiting, & that by a profuse sweat & great inclination
to sleep. –– The day following I felt well & went about
my business, & cou'd ↑[never?]↑ find relief from Vomits taken either
then, or at any other times by way of prevention: I have also
once or twice been siezed with a fainting fit, & have found
Myself directly well on its going off: for ↑the↑ Wine or spirits
used to be given Me. –– From both these complaints
I have been free for some time –– Those that succeeded,
& under which I now labour are fits of Asthma of
the nervous spasmodic kind, tho' often succeeded by
a mucous expectoration for a while; & pains in my
knees & feet –– these pains seem to alternate with
the Asthma; if a torpor or coldness siezes the
extremities the Asthma comes on, & when they ↑the pains↑
plague Me I breathe as freely as anybody. ––––
In one of the asthmatic fits about a month ago,
I thought Myself in such danger of suffocation that
I lost blood twice in one day (about 18 ounces) &
since that besides the above pains I have had at
times pains in my breast under the sternum &
Mammæ & shooting from these last down the
insides of my Arms to the palms of my hands;
I have also found of late upon walking & riding
especially if I was chill'd, or the circulation quick¬
ened, that these pains in my breast & arms siezed
Me so much, that I have been obliged to stop, & if
I kept quiet & warm, have had no more of it for
that time. –––– These last mentioned symptoms
[Page 3]
made Me suspect that it was an Angina
Pectoris but the Spasms of my breast having
last night siezed Me in the above mentioned
way at my own fireside, & on retiring to bed, after
immersing my hands & feet ↑in warm water↑ & then applying to
the latter ↑sinapisms &↑ taking some warm Medicines I have
after a very painfull night been relieved ↑&↑ I begin
to flatter Myself all these complaints are but
gouty, & that by your advice & discretion I
yet may be of use & service to the Publick &
my Family. –– The pains in my feet tho' often
confined to the first joint of the great Toe
never swelled or inflamed, & those I have had
last night in my hands & which were most
excruciating in the 1st. Joint of my [Thumbs?]
are {illeg} free from swelling & enable Me to
trouble you with this long tedious detail.
As a further proof of my Case being gouty
I am much troubled with Wind in my Stomach
& when I can take any food (which I can't always
in these occasions) I find a glow upon my Extremi¬
ties which relieves Me greatly. –– My Pulse has
always been regular. –– It is naturally strong &
full, but since my being bled has been feeble
to what it was formerly –––– A friend of mine
will be in Edinburgh soon & will wait on you & satisfie
you for this trouble. ––––
[Page 4]
Doctor Cullen
at Edinburgh
Postage paid
Mr. Arthur Gair
November 1783
Vol. XV P. 330
Diplomatic Text
I have often consulted you for other Patients
& perhaps you may remember to have seen Me in
this Town & its neighbourhood when you have been
called to Patients, If you do not I must tell you
that I practice as a Surgeon & Apothecary & am in my
60th. year –– that I have enjoyed tolerable good health
(except sometimes a Fever from cold) till within these
5 or 6 years past that my health has become very
precarious. –– I remember of no peculiarities in my
Constitution except that in my younger days ↑till↑ about
30 years ago I used to have eruptions in the outside
of my arms just below the elbows of the dry scurfy
sort, but which sometimes used to itch, inflame &
rise into pustles, I have ↑had↑ the same in my thighs on
the external parts. –––– These I looked upon as salutory
& never used any means to heal. –– I have not been
intemperate in eating or drinking, tho' I have lived
rather fully, eating commonly animal food every day
for dinner, & taking a moderate glass of Ale or Wine
after it –– Suppers I don't take but get always some
Ale before I go to sleep. –– Spirits I seldom take &
have a dislike to them. –– The first of my late complts.
was a Vertigo or rather swimming in my head, which
wou'd sieze Me without any previous warning, attended
with great anxiety & distress, & it was always a great
aggravation of that distress, if I mov'd my Eyes from one
object to another. –– My present relief was to shut my Eyes
& lie down, & it was painfull for Me to stir or be moved:
[Page 2]
this after some time was succeeded by sickness and
vomiting, & that by a profuse sweat & great inclination
to sleep. –– The day following I felt well & went about
my business, & cou'd ↑[never?]↑ find relief from Vomits taken either
then, or at any other times by way of prevention: I have also
once or twice been siezed with a fainting fit, & have found
Myself directly well on its going off: for ↑the↑ Wine or spirits
used to be given Me. –– From both these complaints
I have been free for some time –– Those that succeeded,
& under which I now labour are fits of Asthma of
the nervous spasmodic kind, tho' often succeeded by
a mucous expectoration for a while; & pains in my
knees & feet –– these pains seem to alternate with
the Asthma; if a torpor or coldness siezes the
extremities the Asthma comes on, & when they ↑the pains↑
plague Me I breathe as freely as anybody. ––––
In one of the asthmatic fits about a month ago,
I thought Myself in such danger of suffocation that
I lost blood twice in one day (about 18 ounces) &
since that besides the above pains I have had at
times pains in my breast under the sternum &
Mammæ & shooting from these last down the
insides of my Arms to the palms of my hands;
I have also found of late upon walking & riding
especially if I was chill'd, or the circulation quick¬
ened, that these pains in my breast & arms siezed
Me so much, that I have been obliged to stop, & if
I kept quiet & warm, have had no more of it for
that time. –––– These last mentioned symptoms
[Page 3]
made Me suspect that it was an Angina
Pectoris but the Spasms of my breast having
last night siezed Me in the above mentioned
way at my own fireside, & on retiring to bed, after
immersing my hands & feet ↑in warm water↑ & then applying to
the latter ↑sinapisms &↑ taking some warm Medicines I have
after a very painfull night been relieved ↑&↑ I begin
to flatter Myself all these complaints are but
gouty, & that by your advice & discretion I
yet may be of use & service to the Publick &
my Family. –– The pains in my feet tho' often
confined to the first joint of the great Toe
never swelled or inflamed, & those I have had
last night in my hands & which were most
excruciating in the 1st. Joint of my [Thumbs?]
are {illeg} free from swelling & enable Me to
trouble you with this long tedious detail.
As a further proof of my Case being gouty
I am much troubled with Wind in my Stomach
& when I can take any food (which I can't always
in these occasions) I find a glow upon my Extremi¬
ties which relieves Me greatly. –– My Pulse has
always been regular. –– It is naturally strong &
full, but since my being bled has been feeble
to what it was formerly –––– A friend of mine
will be in Edr. soon & will wait on you & satisfie
you for this trouble. ––––
[Page 4]
Doctor Cullen
at Edinburgh
Postage paid
Mr. Arthur Gair
Novr. 1783
Vol. XV P. 330
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