The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:129] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: [ADDRESSEE UNKNOWN] / Regarding: Mr Robert Ligertwood (Patient) / 5 May 1781 / (Outgoing)
Reply 'Robert Ligertwood Esqr', warning him about overuse of 'Dr White's Bark tincture' and suggesting that 'the cold bath and riding should serve you without medicine and at least that you should use as little of the latter as you possibly can'. Cullen recommends Peterhead waters and possibly travelling to Spa. Requests to see Mr Ligertwood's essay when finished.
- 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 | 129 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/14/16 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 5 May 1781 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Machine copy |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Reply 'Robert Ligertwood Esqr', warning him about overuse of 'Dr White's Bark tincture' and suggesting that 'the cold bath and riding should serve you without medicine and at least that you should use as little of the latter as you possibly can'. Cullen recommends Peterhead waters and possibly travelling to Spa. Requests to see Mr Ligertwood's essay when finished. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:369] |
Case of Robert Ligertwood who believes himself to have a 'nervous weakness'. |
11 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:92] | Patient | Mr Robert Ligertwood |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:921] | Other Physician / Surgeon | Dr White ( ) |
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 | Aberdeen | East Highlands | Scotland | Europe | inferred | |
| Therapeutic Recommendation | Peterhead | East Highlands | Scotland | Europe | certain | |
| Therapeutic Recommendation | Spa | Belgium | Belgium | Europe | certain |
Normalized Text
Robert Ligertwood Esqr.
I am favoured with yours of the 30th past but
being in the country could not answer it sooner.
I am heartily concerned to find that your nerves & stomach
[a]re not yet so firm as I could wish & that you must yet depend on
medicines more than is to be desired. Your strong dose of emetic
[T]artar once a week is more than I think good for your stomach
[an]d I wish you could bring it to once a fortnight or even a longer
[in]terval. However if you find that such intervals grows gives
[oc]casion to the Bile growing much upon your stomach I cannot
[in]sist on your missing your remedy. I think the aloetic tin¬
[ctu]re a safer medicine but even that may be pushed to excess but
you can by the moderate use of that keep the bile within
[bo]unds I would prefer it to frequent emetics. Dr Whites Bark
[ti]ncture if it sits tolerably well on the stomach may be an use¬
[fu]ull medicine at times but I am certain that the long conti¬
[nu]ed use of it may instead of supporting the tone of the stomach
[des]troy it. I believe that Dr White did himself harm by it,
[Page 2]
and I always advise my patients never to take it for more than a
fortnight or three weeks at one time. 1 I would willingly think that
the cold bath and riding should serve you without medicine and
at least that you should use as little of the latter as you possibly
can. For the month of June & part of July I would have ↑you↑ go to Peter¬
head, bath in the sea every morning, drink after it from a muchkin
to a chopin of the mineral water & for the rest of the day to ride as
much as you conveniently can. If you find the Peterhead water
agree with you I would advise you to spend the month of September
at Spaw in Germany & I am perswaded that these courses of mi¬
neral waters will be of very great service both to your body & mind
With regard to Diet I must think that your own experience
has given you a great deal of instruction. It is enough for me to say
that your diet should neither be very full nor very low. You should
not live entirely on vegetables but that you should be moderate both
in the quantity and quality of animal food. In drinking you
should avoid all kinds of malt liquor and in Wine you should be
very temperate. I am very doubtfull of Milks agreeing with
you but there is no hazard in the trial and if it does agree
is a very proper part of your diet either in the morning or a
[Page 3]
night. If you should not find the plain Cows milk digest easily I
am pretty certain that always mixing with it an equal part of thin
water gruel & sweetening the whole very well with sugar; it will digest
very well.
When your Essay is finished I shall be obliged to you for a sight
of it. I am with entire regard
your most obedient humble servant
1781
Notes:
1: In the letter to which Cullen is responding (Document ID:2007), Ligertwood had reported using a 'tincture of the bark' according to the formula found in Robert Whytt, Observations on the Nature, Causes, and Cure Of those Disorders which have been commonly called Nervous, Hypochondriac, or Hysteric: to which are prefixed some remarks on the sympathy of the nerves (Edinburgh: 1765), p. 337. Cullen would have known Robert Whytt (1714-1766) as a colleague when the former was Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University and one-time President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
Diplomatic Text
Robert Ligertwood Esqr.
I am favoured with yours of the 30th past but
being in the country could not answer it sooner.
I am heartily concerned to find that your nerves & stomach
[a]re not yet so firm as I could wish & that you must yet depend on
medicines more than is to be desired. Your strong dose of emetic
[T]artar once a week is more than I think good for your stomach
[an]d I wish you could bring it to once a fortnight or even a longer
[in]terval. However if you find that such intervals grows gives
[oc]casion to the Bile growing much upon your stomach I cannot
[in]sist on your missing your remedy. I think the aloetic tin¬
[ctu]re a safer medicine but even that may be pushed to excess but
you can by the moderate use of that keep the bile within
[bo]unds I would prefer it to frequent emetics. Dr Whites Bark
[ti]ncture if it sits tolerably well on the stomach may be an use¬
[fu]ull medicine at times but I am certain that the long conti¬
[nu]ed use of it may instead of supporting the tone of the stomach
[des]troy it. I believe that Dr White did himself harm by it,
[Page 2]
and I always advise my patients never to take it for more than a
fortnight or three weeks at one time. 1 I would willingly think that
the cold bath and riding should serve you without medicine and
at least that you should use as little of the latter as you possibly
can. For the month of June & part of July I would have ↑you↑ go to Peter¬
head, bath in the sea every morning, drink after it from a muchkin
to a chopin of the mineral water & for the rest of the day to ride as
much as you conveniently can. If you find the Peterhead water
agree with you I would advise you to spend the month of September
at Spaw in Germany & I am perswaded that these courses of mi¬
neral waters will be of very great service both to your body & mind
With regard to Diet I must think that your own experience
has given you a great deal of instruction. It is enough for me to say
that your diet should neither be very full nor very low. You should
not live entirely on vegetables but that you should be moderate both
in the quantity and quality of animal food. In drinking you
should avoid all kinds of malt liquor and in Wine you should be
very temperate. I am very doubtfull of Milks agreeing with
you but there is no hazard in the trial and if it does agree
is a very proper part of your diet either in the morning or a
[Page 3]
night. If you should not find the plain Cows milk digest easily I
am pretty certain that always mixing with it an equal part of thin
water gruel & sweetening the whole very well with sugar; it will digest
very well.
When your Essay is finished I shall be obliged to you for a sight
of it. I am with entire regard
your most obedient humble servant
1781
Notes:
1: In the letter to which Cullen is responding (Document ID:2007), Ligertwood had reported using a 'tincture of the bark' according to the formula found in Robert Whytt, Observations on the Nature, Causes, and Cure Of those Disorders which have been commonly called Nervous, Hypochondriac, or Hysteric: to which are prefixed some remarks on the sympathy of the nerves (Edinburgh: 1765), p. 337. Cullen would have known Robert Whytt (1714-1766) as a colleague when the former was Professor of Medicine in Edinburgh University and one-time President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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