SOME OBSERVATIONS Made upon the Uirginian Nuts, Imported from The INDIES: SHOWING Their Admirable VIRTUE AGAINST THE SCURVY.  
Written by a Doctor of Physic in the Country to Dr. Croon, one of the Royal Society in London, 1681.  
London Printed, & ●. 1682.   

SOME OBSERVATIONS Made upon the Uirginian Nuts, IMPORTED FROM The INDIES: In a LETTER, etc.  
SIR,  
I Remember that the Reverend Dr. Spratt, the present Bishop of Rochester, in his Eloquent History of the Royal Society, tells us, that we are extremely beholding unto my Lord Bacon, for his Communicating to the World the Remedies which were Experimentally found advantageous in the Cure of the Sweeting Sickness, in the time of Henry the Seventh; and therefore I hope I may deserve thanks for informing my Countrymen what I have after long Experience found useful in the Cure of the Scurvy, which now proves as troublesome to England as that Disease did then, though not so mortal.  
And the Remedy is the Virginian Nuts, or rather Kernels, which grow upon the Locus-Tree, described by Mr. Ray, and by Lygon, and several other Authors: But none have made those particular Experiments I have done upon the use of the Nuts, and I find them to answer the same Intentions that the Gum Animi doth, which flows from the same Tree. It mightily opens Obstructions of the Liver, and Refines the whole Mass of Blood, and mends a Scorbutic ill habit of Body, by impregnating that Vital Liquor with such volatile Salts, as restore it when flat and languishing, to a more pure and spirituous State, and thereby preserves it from Fixation, and clears the Skin from Spots and all Impurities.  
I knew a Gentlewoman who was highly Scorbutical, and much afflicted with various Fermentations in her Blood, which caused the Eruption of strange Pimples and troublesome Blemishes in her Face and Hands, with great Faintings, Weariness and Indisposition to Motion, and wandering Pains in her Limbs, her Teeth lose, and Gums sore; her Body covered with Scurf like a Leprosy; and yet by the use of this Medicine mixed with all her Drink and Spoon-meat, in one months' time she was perfectly recovered.  
Mr. Grant observes, that this Disease of the Scurvy doth wonderfully increase every year in our Bills of Mortality, and thereupon wisheth that some effectual Remedies might be found out by Physicians, and I am well satisfied that this is one.  
I could tell you of a Man about Fifty years of Age, who by living in a Gross Air, and using an ill Diet, and wanting Exercise, had his whole Mass of Blood so corrupted, and the Spirits so evaporated, that they became dead and flat, like decayed Drinks, and Eager and sharp like Vinegar: And yet notwithstanding by the use of a Tincture, Spirit and Extract drawn out of these Nuts, he became strong, lively and cheerful, and was fit for all Employments both of Body and Mind.  
An old Gentlewoman, who by a long fit of Sickness was brought into the Scurvy, the fine parts of her Blood were run into a fluid Salt, and she found a universal Languor upon her Spirits, which made her Life uncomfortable; she used many Medicines, and had much Advice, and at length a Friend told her of these Drops, which any one may make if they please to procure the Nuts, for the Medicines are drawn out only with small Wines. These Medicines perfectly recovered her to a state of Health, and good Habit of Body.  
A middle-aged Person who was much afflicted with the Scurvy, and had many blue Spots in his Skin, great Weariness and Faintness upon his Spirits, with wandering Pains in divers parts of his Body, very bad decayed Teeth, and little or no Appetite to Food, with sour Belchings and offensive Fumes arising up to his Nostrils, and several other scorbutical Symptoms; he had taken great Quantities of Spirits of Scurvygrass, and still found himself grow worse and worse; at length I gave him the Drops drawn out of these Nuts, about twelve at a time, the Yellow in the Morning, the White at Noon, and the Black at Night: They may be given in Purging Waters, or in Mum, or in any agreeable Spoon-meat.  
I could give many more Examples, of Cures wrought by them, but 'twill be needless.  
FINIS.