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Accept my best thanks for
the friendly & Speedy letter you were pleased to
favour me with during my distress. I am
now pretty free of complaint, only I have still
some little eruption about my Eyebrows & now
I take the Guaiac in small quantity else I should
be too open in my Bowels & my Patient also is
getting better. Mr. Cook I have not yet
seen, but if it were not giving you too much
trouble I would wish you would prescribe a
particular Form of his medicine, because it
will not be palatable, but if he is assured that
it is exactly your Prescription perhaps he may
be induced to try it

These Days ago I was called to Mrs. Wilson
aged 28 a Grocers Wife of whose case I shall
first give you the History since I saw her, & then
mention what other circumstances I could learn

On the Evening of the 4th. last she com¬
plained of frequent cough with little Expectoration
& a sense of tightness about the Thorax, at times
she said she felt cold, but had never any
shiverings, but sweated often (as she said) by means
of the cough, especially in the night, & principally

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on her Head, Breast & Legs. Her Countenance pale &
she appeared to be emaciated Pulse above 130 & feeble
Tongue of a lively red a feeling of dryness in her
mouth but as she said no great thirst, nights veru
restless, appetite but indifferent (this last perhaps
owing to the use of oily & sweet demulcents which
had been prescribed her), Belly rather costive
Urine high coloured, passed in small quantity
& sometimes a Day without passing any, some little
Lochial discharge, having got her Bed eleven Days
before. She had had Anodynes once or twice to the amount
of twenty five Drops, & there were [found?] to disagree with
her, I however after ordering a Glyster prescribed
a mucilagenous mixture with 24 Drops of Laud:
& 15 of Elix Vitriol. to be taken at Bedtime, she
passed a comfortable quiet, easy night, sweated
little & felt the sense of tightness gone & the cough
abated, her Pulse on the 4th. about 120 before
noon & got much more frequent in the Evening said
she felt better, cough gentle, I ordered the use
of twenty Drops of Elix. of Vitriol three times a
Day, & requested the Draught or the at Bedtime
as before with equally good effect - on the Forenoon
of the 6th. her Pulse ↑was↑ above 90, but in the Evening 120
& after going to Bed before the use of the Anodyne
she became hot & uneasy, got the Draught which afforded
some relief; I was sent for & then her Pulse was
above 130; she had passed no Water for twelve hours
I desired the attendants to give 20 Drops of the Elix
of Vitriol which cooled her & in five minutes she

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voided more ↑than↑ half a Pint of Urine high coloured,
three fourths of what was put into a large glass
appeared as if mixt with Honey, but formed no
proper sediment. This Morning I found she had passed a
tolerably good night, but the cough rather somewhat
more frequent, & some little Perspiration on her Face
Breast & Legs Pulse at eleven 120 & at one much the
same - What little I have seen in her Expectoration is
a tough Phlegm with some Parts of it as if mixed up
with thick Dust - I am alarmed with the quickness of
her Pulse especially as I cannot discover that she has
ever had any hysterical symptoms - Her appetite is
much mended - I have ordered her Diet to consist
chiefly of Fruits, Vegetables & milk, with Asses milk
in the morning - I have prescribed mucilaginous
mixture for the cough, & was resolved to apply a
[B]lister if the tightness of her Breast had continued

Seventeen Days ago after standing in the shop [she]
[was] seized with a severe cough, which continued 2
or 3 Days, she was seized with Labour six Weeks before
her time, this was neither painful nor tedious, but the
cough still continued severe till I saw her - never had
any symptoms to indicate puerperal Fever nor inflam¬
mation of the womb - Her mother thinks she recollects that
she breathed rather difficultly on using any exertion & that she
sometimes had a {illeg} to cough, but these she does not
remember herself Her Fathers Mother died of Phthisis he is
I am told of a florid Complexion & has had a cough many
years - she was very blooming till six months before she
was married that she seemed to lose flesh, & ever since her
marriage two years ago, her mother thinks she has been
turning thinner - Is not sensible of any particular glow
in her Cheeks - The apothecary before I was called had said she
was in no danger - I confess, I have quite other thoughts of the
matter, tho' she thinks herself (& no doubt it) better since I was
called - I cannot easily divert myself of the Idea of her

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being a hectic case - I enclose you two Guineas notes of the British
Linen Co. – If you could write in course it would be obliging
& if you think I if have not treated the Patient improperly it
will be kind to say so - Best Compliments to my good freind
Dr. Henry –– That you may have much happiness in this &
many succeeding years, is the sincere wish of him who is

Doctor William Cullen
Professor of Medicine
Edinburgh

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✍
Dr. Keith
January 1786
V. xviii. P. 8
Concerning Mrs Wilson