The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:3964] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Dr Thomas Yorstoun (Yerstoun, Yorstown, Yorkston) / Regarding: Mr Kennedy (Patient) / 11 December 1776 / (Outgoing)
Reply [to Dr Thomas Yourstoun] titled 'For Mr Kennedy' in which Cullen questions the value of a syrup prescribed by Lord Trimlestone, but sees no harm in it. Cullen suggests they consult him again after this syrup has been tried.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There is 1 image for this document.
[Page 1]
Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 3964 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/8/76 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 11 December 1776 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Authorial original |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Reply [to Dr Thomas Yourstoun] titled 'For Mr Kennedy' in which Cullen questions the value of a syrup prescribed by Lord Trimlestone, but sees no harm in it. Cullen suggests they consult him again after this syrup has been tried. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:333] |
Case of Mr Kennedy whose disease Cullen considers to be 'entirely epileptic'. |
8 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:929] | Addressee | Dr Thomas Yorstoun (Yerstoun, Yorstown, Yorkston) |
| [PERS ID:1054] | Patient | Mr Kennedy |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:929] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr Thomas Yorstoun (Yerstoun, Yorstown, Yorkston) |
| [PERS ID:1778] | Other | Lord Robert Barnewall (12th Baron Trimlestone) |
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 | Dumfries | Borders | Scotland | Europe | inferred |
Normalized Text
For Mr Kennedy
I have considered Lord Trimlestones advice & I must give my opinion
freely that I think it both injudicious & insignificant. The vomit
I would not object to tho I think it ambiguous & may do harm
as well as good. Purging frequently may be of service but a
much less for heating medicine & one more certain of procuring two or three
stools, than the Sacred Tincture, might be found out.
I believe his Lordship means to lay the stress of the Cure
on the Electuary & it is this which I think the most insignificant.
By multiplying ingredients he has prevented anyone of them
from being in a dose that can be of any efficacy as I calculate
from knowing the quantity of the syrup necessary to make the
whole into an Electuary the size of a small nutmeg, the Dose proposed
will not be more than one, hundred & twenty sixth part of the whole
& therefore in any one dose the same proportion of any one of the
ingredients employed. Thus of the wild Valerian which is the
largest in quantity, there are not four grains in a dose & I constantly
find that useless given in 12 times that quantity or more, it has no effect at all.
Anyone who is the least acquainted with Medicine may apply
this calculation to the other ingredients & must thereby see the
absolute insignificance of the whole. But as I cannot per¬
haps make every body sensible of this & some people
may have a high opinion of Lord Trimlestone's skill such may com¬
plain if his medicine be not tried & therefore to [exonere?] 1
all concerned I advise it to be tried & for the same reasons
that I think it insignificant I must think it innocent & to
be tried with great safety. If I had found reason to dissuade
the use of this remedy altogether I should at the same time
have criticised Lord Trimlestone's regimen, but when an advice is to be fol¬
lowed, I think it should not be followed by halves but the
whole taken together, I therefore allow Lord Trimlestone's regimen to
go along with his remedy. But when tried if it do not succed & [therefore?]
I shall have the honour to be farther consulted [please?] then say what regimen
I think most proper
Notes:
1: A transcription error or impromptu contraction for "exonerate".
Diplomatic Text
For Mr Kennedy
I have considered Lord Trimlestones advice & I must give my opinion
freely that I think it both injudicious & insignificant. The vomit
I would not object to tho I think it ambiguous & may do harm
as well as good. Purging frequently may be of service but a
much less for heating med. & one more certain of procuring two or three
stools, than the Sacred Tinct., might be found out.
I believe his Lordship means to lay the stress of the Cure
on the Electuary & it is this which I think the most insignificant.
By multiplying ingredients he has prevented anyone of them
from being in a dose yt can be of any efficacy as I calculate
from knowing the quantity of the syrup necessary to make the
whole into an Electuary the size of a small nutmeg, the Dose proposed
will not be more than one, hundred & twenty sixth part of the whole
& therefore in any one dose the same proportion of any one of the
ingredients employed. Thus of the wild Valerian which is the
largest in quantity, there are not gr. iv in a dose & I constantly
find that useless given in 12 times that qty or more, it has no effect at all.
Anyone who is the least acquainted with Medicine may apply
this calculation to the other ingredients & must thereby see the
absolute insignificance of the whole. But as I cannot per¬
haps make every body sensible of this & some people
may have a high opinion of Ld T. skill such may com¬
plain if his medicine be not tried & therefore to [exonere?] 1
all concerned I advise it to be tried & for the same reasons
that I think it insignificant I must think it innocent & to
be tried with great safety. If I had found reason to dissuade
the use of this remedy altogether I should at the same time
have criticised Ld T. regimen, but when an advice is to be fol¬
lowed, I think it should not be followed by halves but the
whole taken together, I therefore allow Ld T. regimen to
go along with his remedy. But when tried if it do not succed & [thef?]
I shall have the honour to be farther consulted [pls?] then say what regimen
I think most proper
Notes:
1: A transcription error or impromptu contraction for "exonerate".
XML
XML file not yet available.
Feedback
Send us specfic feeback about this document [DOC ID:3964]
Please note that the Cullen Project team have now disbanded but your comments will be logged in our system and we will look at them one day...
