The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:4839] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Mr Robert Clerk (Clarke; Clerke; of Mavisbank) / Regarding: Colonel George Clerk (Clarke, Clark) (Patient) / 29 May 1784 / (Outgoing)
Reply, for 'Col Clarke'. This letter is addressed to Robert Clerk of Mavisbank, concerning his brother, Colonel George Clerk, in response to the extracts from the Colonel's letters which Robert had sent to him. Cullen remarks on the Colonel's treatment and gives some advice on diet and bleeding, to be forwarded. He recommends taking the waters in Buxton.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 4 images for this document.
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Metadata
| Field | Data |
|---|---|
| DOC ID | 4839 |
| RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/17/35 |
| Main Language | English |
| Document Direction | Outgoing |
| Date | 29 May 1784 |
| Annotation | None |
| Type | Machine scribal copy |
| Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
| Autopsy | No |
| Recipe | No |
| Regimen | No |
| Letter of Introduction | No |
| Case Note | No |
| Summary | Reply, for 'Col Clarke'. This letter is addressed to Robert Clerk of Mavisbank, concerning his brother, Colonel George Clerk, in response to the extracts from the Colonel's letters which Robert had sent to him. Cullen remarks on the Colonel's treatment and gives some advice on diet and bleeding, to be forwarded. He recommends taking the waters in Buxton. |
| Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
| Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
| Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
|---|---|---|
| [Case ID:1473] |
Case of Colonel George Clerk [Clark, Clarke, Clerke] who becomes excessively weak and feeble from chronic costiveness, breathlessness, and other chronic complaints. In New York he has a perpetual fever and stomach complaint and mentions consulting Cullen before but no firm evidence traced unless he is the same patient as Case 283 in 1768. |
24 |
People linked to this document
| Person ID | Role in document | Person |
|---|---|---|
| [PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:3181] | Addressee | Mr Robert Clerk (Clarke; Clerke; of Mavisbank) |
| [PERS ID:2507] | Patient | Colonel George Clerk (Clarke, Clark) |
| [PERS ID:1] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
| [PERS ID:3181] | Patient's Relative / Spouse / Friend | Mr Robert Clerk (Clarke; Clerke; of Mavisbank) |
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 | Mavisbank House | Loanhead | Edinburgh and East | Scotland | Europe | certain |
| Therapeutic Recommendation | Buxton | Midlands | England | Europe | certain |
Normalized Text
Col Clarke.
I have considered the whole of the information
you have been pleased to give me and am sorry to find
the Colonels constitution is still so ticklish.
I impute his late weakness to the salts he
took along with the Cheltenham water which were
not only too cold a purgative for him but produced
also a larger evacuation than he is at any time
fit to bear. All this however he might have got
the better of by the bark and other means if some
other accident had not happened to him that
has brought back his headachs and some degree
of inflammation in his blood. I believe his Burgun¬
dy was too much for him but I cannot blame
that alone for any inflammatory state that may
have come on and what else it is only he himself and
the people about him that can determine. In the
meantime I cannot easily believe that in his
constitution much inflammation is likely to come
[Page 2]
on and I should have been very doubtful about the
bleeding but in all cases where inflammation is
suspected and where circumstances are to be deter¬
mined by the day a Physician at a distance can
not give any positive opinion or advice and the
affair must be guided by persons on the spot. But
I am anxious to give Colonel Clarke the best advice
I can and therefore I must say that while the
pulse is not above 80 much inflammation is hardly
to be apprehended and that he is not rashly to have
recourse to blooding and a very low regimen. Even
half a pint and certainly a whole pint of Burgundy
was too much for him but I hope a total abstinence
from wine will not be necessary. I am doubtful
also about his taking entirely to a Vegetable diet.
He may take of them what he can easily digest,
but I am afraid of their being well digested and
my opinion of his constitution leads me to think
that for the most part some Animal food
[Page 3]
will be necessary for him. Let me observe further
that if he has truly any fever or inflammatory symp¬
tom the bark is not a proper medicine for him till
those symptoms disappear. If it shall plainly
appear that his headachs are not the nervous
headachs he was long ago troubled with but are
now attended with a feverish state and with any
beating of his temples he may be relieved by two
or at most three Leeches set upon one or other
temple and upon that the pain shoots most
into.
With respect to Bathing though I sup¬
pose he employs a Bath of a moderate tempe¬
rature I am very doubtful of its being any ways
proper in his present circumstances. If it
shall be thought proper for him to continue
bathing I shall certainly advise him to go
as soon as he can to Buxton where I think
he will both drink water and bathe with
more safety and advantage.
[Page 4]
I have addressed the whole of this letter to you
but as at finishing I find nothing that may not be
communicated to the Colonel himself so I think
you may transmitt it as it stands and when
the Colonel shall have any thing more to say both
he and you may depend upon the punctual
attention of
Your most obedient Servant
Edinburgh 29th. May
1784
Robert Clerke of Mavisbank Esqr.
Diplomatic Text
Col Clarke.
I have considered the whole of the information
you have been pleased to give me and am sorry to find
the Colonels constitution is still so ticklish.
I impute his late weakness to the salts he
took along with the Cheltenham water which were
not only too cold a purgative for him but produced
also a larger evacuation than he is at any time
fit to bear. All this however he might have got
the better of by the bark and other means if some
other accident had not happened to him that
has brought back his headachs and some degree
of inflammation in his blood. I believe his Burgun¬
dy was too much for him but I cannot blame
that alone for any inflammatory state that may
have come on and what else it is only he himself and
the people about him that can determine. In the
meantime I cannot easily believe that in his
constitution much inflammation is likely to come
[Page 2]
on and I should have been very doubtful about the
bleeding but in all cases where inflammation is
suspected and where circumstances are to be deter¬
mined by the day a Physician at a distance can
not give any positive opinion or advice and the
affair must be guided by persons on the spot. But
I am anxious to give Colonel Clarke the best advice
I can and therefore I must say that while the
pulse is not above 80 much inflammation is hardly
to be apprehended and that he is not rashly to have
recourse to blooding and a very low regimen. Even
half a pint and certainly a whole pint of Burgundy
was too much for him but I hope a total abstinence
from wine will not be necessary. I am doubtful
also about his taking entirely to a Vegetable diet.
He may take of them what he can easily digest,
but I am afraid of their being well digested and
my opinion of his constitution leads me to think
that for the most part some Animal food
[Page 3]
will be necessary for him. Let me observe further
that if he has truly any fever or inflammatory symp¬
tom the bark is not a proper medicine for him till
those symptoms disappear. If it shall plainly
appear that his headachs are not the nervous
headachs he was long ago troubled with but are
now attended with a feverish state and with any
beating of his temples he may be relieved by two
or at most three Leeches set upon one or other
temple and upon that the pain shoots most
into.
With respect to Bathing though I sup¬
pose he employs a Bath of a moderate tempe¬
rature I am very doubtful of its being any ways
proper in his present circumstances. If it
shall be thought proper for him to continue
bathing I shall certainly advise him to go
as soon as he can to Buxton where I think
he will both drink water and bathe with
more safety and advantage.
[Page 4]
I have addressed the whole of this letter to you
but as at finishing I find nothing that may not be
communicated to the Colonel himself so I think
you may transmitt it as it stands and when
the Colonel shall have any thing more to say both
he and you may depend upon the punctual
attention of
Your most obedient Servant
Edinr. 29th. May
1784
Robert Clerke of Mavisbank Esqr.
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