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Although this letter is addressed to you, by
a stranger to your person, yet he is well
assured of your finished Capacity in every
Branch of the medical art, by his Connection
with D.r Butt one of your ingenious pupils,
in whose Hands your Researches appear to great
advantage, (to us at least,) who have not had
[t]he good fortune of imbibing your Doctrines.
The least appearance of flattery must be offen¬
sive to one of your Delicacy & Talents: but I
[m]ust inform you, that had I known, there was such
[a?] Prodigy in our country, I had not quitted Scot¬
[l]and, to push my fortune as a Physician in this
Part of the World, without having studyed for some
years under your Care: for your discerning mind com¬
prehends truth as soon as observed, and separates the
Chaff of false Reasoning from every subject, relying

only on Facts for the Basis of your Systems, which
must endure as long as Nature keeps true to her own
stated Revolutions.

The Gentleman who delivers this to you, is engaged
in Trade at Birmingham, which he pursues with
unwearied attention, to the Prejudice of his Health,
and sometimes the Disquietude of his Mind -- For
some time he has been subject to an Indigestion,
with its Consequences Flatulency & spasm, being
always uncommonly heavy after meals, & suffering
frequently from a boiling Heart-Burn, & ↑this↑ always when
he rides after Dinner, which the urgency of his
Business often obliges him to perform -- This
acetous Fermentation of his stomach loads him
with Wind, that dislends thes stomach to an un¬
common size, which gives him a soreness in the
epigastric Region: for the Food stays too long in
{illeg} stomach from the change of its position in this
swelled stated, & spasms succeed which lock up the

Wind, & from sympathy his Head is seized with
Giddiness which confuses his Thoughts, till the Reso¬
lution of the spasm dispels the Flatulence -- The
muscular tone of his stomach is so far weakned, that
there is a morbid secretion of a viscid Colluvies, wh
has produced Nausea, tho' that symptom is not at
this time so frequent: the Aspera Arteria likewise
is relaxed, for he often hawks up in a morning, a
gross blackish phlegm: [as?] this too is remarkable when
he eats especially at Dinner. To heighten all these
complaints, he is habitually costive -- His skin is
remarkably dry, hot & parched, and the scarfskin often
[p]eales from his Face and Hands: His Hypochondies are
frequently puffed up with Wind, and in the lower
Part of his Back & Belly, he complains of pains
emulating the Gravel -- Vague spasms often give him
a chilly sensation, when the Weather is serene and
mild -- And his Head seems, as if it were tyed down
with a heavy Weight, exciting a dull Pain attended

✍
1761 ✍
with Giddiness, that often brings on Loss of Thought, or
impairs his Judgement --

This Description is tedious & unconnected, but
points out the Disease to be the Morbus hypo¬
chondriacus, which is difficult of Ease, & requires
a Regimen of Life, as well as a set of appropria¬
ted Medicines: to whom therefore could he have
Recourse, but to you, who have had time and
Talents to have completed both the History of cur[es]
of every curable Disease -- I beg, you will give
him full Discretion in every article, as he will not
fail to make a suitable Acknowlegement.

The diseases, which he has been [forbierly?] subject
to were Catarrh & Rheumatism: tho' a severe Course
of Purging, which he unskillfully underwent for a
Gonorrhea, may have have been more unfriendly to
the Alimentary Passages, than any thing he ever suffered.

For the Future, I shall be proud to make you my con¬
sulting oracle in all difficult chronic Cases, when my Pa¬
tients case afford such advice.