
The Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
[ID:5292] From: Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) / To: Mr William Ingham / Regarding: Miss Ellison (Alison) (Patient) / 30 June 1786 / (Outgoing)
Reply, for 'Miss Ellison'. For Miss Ellison's palpitations, Cullen prescribes a course of carminative drops, for which the recipe is included on page two.
- Facsimile
- Normalized Text
- Diplomatic Text
- Metadata
- Case
- People
- Places
Facsimile
There are 2 images for this document.

[Page 1]

[Page 2]
Metadata
Field | Data |
---|---|
DOC ID | 5292 |
RCPE Catalogue Number | CUL/1/1/19/103 |
Main Language | English |
Document Direction | Outgoing |
Date | 30 June 1786 |
Annotation | None |
Type | Machine copy |
Enclosure(s) | No enclosure(s) |
Autopsy | No |
Recipe | Yes |
Regimen | No |
Letter of Introduction | No |
Case Note | No |
Summary | Reply, for 'Miss Ellison'. For Miss Ellison's palpitations, Cullen prescribes a course of carminative drops, for which the recipe is included on page two. |
Manuscript Incomplete? | No |
Evidence of Commercial Posting | No |
Case
Cases that this document belongs to:
Case ID | Description | Num Docs |
---|---|---|
[Case ID:1572] |
Case of Miss Ellison who suffers from a number of conditions including costiveness, a nervous complaint in her head and an inflamed eye. |
12 |
People linked to this document
Person ID | Role in document | Person |
---|---|---|
[PERS ID:1] | Author | Dr William Cullen (Professor Cullen) |
[PERS ID:82] | Addressee | Mr William Ingham |
[PERS ID:2597] | Patient | Miss Ellison (Alison) |
[PERS ID:82] | Patient's Physician / Surgeon / Apothecary | Mr William Ingham |
[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 | Cullen's House / Mint Close | Edinburgh | Edinburgh and East | Scotland | Europe | certain |
Destination of Letter | Newcastle upon Tyne | North-East | England | Europe | inferred |
Normalized Text
Miss Ellison
I am favoured with yours of 27th. but having
been out of town since it came to hand I could not
answer it till now and had it not been for that
accident I should not have delayed a minute anything
that concerns Miss Ellison.
The new Symptom of a palpitation is but
another form of her former Nervous complaints, and
I am persuaded you judge rightly of the cause, a fla¬
tulent state of the stomach, and your prescription
was equally well judged, but you know well
how often our Nervous medicines disappoint us.
You will please now with make a fetid tincture
instead of Spirit of wine with the Spiritus Vitriol.
dulc. made according to our Edinburgh Dispensatory
and you will find it in this and other cases a
more effectual medicine. In the mean time till
that is {illeg} please give Miss Ellison the
[Page 2]
following
Take an ounce and a half of sweet Spirit of vitriol as per the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia, and half an ounce of Laudanum. Mix. Label: Carminative drops, fifty or Sixty to be taken on a bit of Sugar, or in a small quantity of Brandy and water when the palpitation is troublesome.
This will probably give relief in the time of
fits, but cannot be used often, on account of the
costiveness it is liable to induce and therefore if fits
return more frequently than the drops would be
proper, you must try what a ↑tea↑ spoonful of Ether
taken in a little water will do, but this too upon
frequent repetition becomes ineffectual, and therefore
I must leave it to you to change the three Antispas¬
modics I have mentioned as you shall see proper.
Though you employ any of these, they need not
supersede the acid Elixir of Vitriol. I am glad she
has found an agreeable laxative which I believe will be very
constantly necessary. You may recollect what I formerly
said about tonic medicines and when you think I can be any
further useful please let me know. With respectful Compli¬
ments to Miss Ellison
obedient Servant
Diplomatic Text
Miss Ellison
I am favoured with yours of 27th. but having
been out of town since it came to hand I could not
answer it till now and had it not been for that
accident I should not have delayed a minute anything
that concerns Miss Ellison.
The new Symptom of a palpitation is but
another form of her former Nervous complaints, and
I am persuaded you judge rightly of the cause, a fla¬
tulent state of the stomach, and your prescription
was equally well judged, but you know well
how often our Nervous medicines disappoint us.
You will please now with make a fetid tincture
instead of Spirit of wine with the Spiritus Vitriol.
dulc. made according to our Edinr. Dispensatory
and you will find it in this and other cases a
more effectual medicine. In the mean time till
that is {illeg} please give Miss Ellison the
[Page 2]
following
℞ Spiritus vitriol. dulc. Ph. Ed. ℥iſs. Tinct.
Thebaic ℥ſs. ℳ. Sig. Carminative drops, fifty
or Sixty to be taken on a bit of Sugar, or in a small
quantity of Brandy and water when the palpitation
is troublesome
This will probably give relief in the time of
fits, but cannot be used often, on account of the
costiveness it is liable to induce and therefore if fits
return more frequently than the drops would be
proper, you must try what a ↑tea↑ spoonful of Ether
taken in a little water will do, but this too upon
frequent repetition becomes ineffectual, and therefore
I must leave it to you to change the three Antispas¬
modics I have mentioned as you shall see proper.
Though you employ any of these, they need not
supersede the acid Elixir of Vitriol. I am glad she
has found an agreeable laxative which I believe will be very
constantly necessary. You may recollect what I formerly
said about tonic medicines and when you think I can be any
further useful please let me know. With respectful Compli¬
ments to Miss Ellison
obedient Servant
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